Improvising solos in Rock

The Question is

  • Do you always improvise your solos?

    Votes: 6 37.5%

  • Do you sometimes improvise your solos?

    Votes: 10 62.5%

  • Do you never improvise your solos?

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    16
Scott_Abene

Scott_Abene

Resident Noodge
Well Then,

What are your thoughts on this topic?

Do you play the same solo every time?

Do you improvise it every time?

If you are playing covers do you play the original solo note for note or do you change it up?
 
i voted "always".....which i not entirely true.....but i play in blues bands and so, most of those are made up as i go along......but usually after playing them for a while, i'll kinda settle on what i want to do on that song, and kinda stay with that.

some stuff requires that i play it like the record.....the intro to "messin' with the kid" is one.....ya gotta play those licks that way, or the song doesn't work.
 
My current band is a cover/tribute act, so I do it pretty much like the record.
I have improvised in many different settings over the years, though.
 
I used to always compose them, but now with Kicking Up Cinders I have a basic frame of key licks i want to hit and then just improvise the connections.
 
I generally start off improvising a solo for a given song, then as I play it more and more, I play a lot of the same licks, but it's never exactly the same. I couldn't play one of my solos note-for-note again if I tried.
 
I voted "sometimes", but it's really more like "usually". Even then several bits/phrases that fit the song are go-to's, but the stuff around them is improvised...if that makes sense. All of it is pretty marginal playing though, lol.
 
I voted always but like others have said certain licks tend to end up sticking to certain changes so it tends to evolve into a framework for each song. There are a couple of songs we do where I have learnt some of the signature phrases for audience familiarity but outside of that it'll be improvised.
 
It really depends on what I am playing. On my cover gigs if a solo is important to the song (like "Just what I needed" or "You Shook me all night long") I play it note for note. Even on my original stuff I try and stick close to the recordings but every night has a place to improvise or jam.
 
I can't really improvise, my OCD forbids it. I try to get note for note as much as my ability allows.

Then there are guys like Billy Duffy who have never played the same solo twice.
 
i have been in cover band situations where it's fairly important to get it right 100% and also played in bands where there was freedom to do whatever i wanted to do. my approach to improvisation is similar to how others here have responded; i latch on to certain phrases or patterns and then work around those (notes and space) in order to get it done.

what i love are those "happy accidents" when i've been on stage and i reach for a phrase and something happens that causes me to make it different (different phrase, introduce different notes, start or end at a different measure) and it triggers another path that ends up sounding really cool. that happened during the last show i played. something about that night was magical. i'm really happy with how i played during our set. it was songs i'd played forever, but for some reason i just approached them so differently and the band allowed me to indulge and we were all taking the right queues in the right way and it was great. i listen back to some of it and think "where did THAT phrase come from? i've never played that before... that was pretty cool."
 
@great dane.....

yea....i've had the same thing happen....but what kills me is when i hear something back (after knowing i did something kool) and then for the life of me , i can not figure out exactly how i did it......not just the exact notes.....but the timing was very cool....but not exactly ON the beat, but worked out really well.
 
mongooz said:
@great dane.....

yea....i've had the same thing happen....but what kills me is when i hear something back (after knowing i did something kool) and then for the life of me , i can not figure out exactly how i did it......not just the exact notes.....but the timing was very cool....but not exactly ON the beat, but worked out really well.
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that's happened to me too - it's like my fingers make new shapes or something that my brain can't actively process. maybe that's what they mean when they say they were "in the zone". i don't know, but that's like the pinnacle of playing for me. i crave it so much, it's very addictive, IMO.
 
GreatDane said:
that's happened to me too - it's like my fingers make new shapes or something that my brain can't actively process. maybe that's what they mean when they say they were "in the zone". i don't know, but that's like the pinnacle of playing for me. i crave it so much, it's very addictive, IMO.
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exactly......and when you "chase" it.....it inevitably turns into a train wreck. thwap0
 
GreatDane said:
agreed!
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have you ever "channeled" a particular famous player...not on purpose.....but you're "in the zone" and it just happens.....yer playing stuff that you KNOW you can't play....but you ARE playing it.
while i LOVE when it happens.....it drives me crazy....cuz i'd like to be able to call it up at will......but it just does not happen that way.
 
mongooz said:
have you ever "channeled" a particular famous player...not on purpose.....but you're "in the zone" and it just happens.....yer playing stuff that you KNOW you can't play....but you ARE playing it.
while i LOVE when it happens.....it drives me crazy....cuz i'd like to be able to call it up at will......but it just does not happen that way.
Click to expand...

i don't think that's happened to me beyond maybe the occasional passing phrase where i'm thinking "i KNOW what that's from but i just can't place it". then i'll be listening to some track i haven't listened to in a while and BAM - there it is. mostly though, i always tend to sound like... me. even when i'm going all zen and shit on stage, it's still basically me.
 
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