Thread: The Art of the Solo

Popular music, jazz, and rock have another thing in common that classical music does not have. That is the concept of the "solo." I use quotation marks because I think it is a misnomer -- often the other instruments still play a supportive role during a solo. Sure, classical music has its concertos and cadenzas and you may think that is the ultimate form of soloing, but there is a vast qualitative difference between the intent of a concerto and a rock guitar solo, as there is usually not a whole lot of wiggle room in classical music for improvisation.

Lately in pop music soloing has become less fashionable, but there are still some great jam bands out there. Also I think there is some interest in retro styles that promote soloing as an art form once again.

So I'd like to hear your picks of some of the most moving, shredding, or memorable recorded solos of all time, whether they are guitar solos, drum solos, keyboard solos, flute solos, kazoo solos, or whatever, in any genre.

I have a list of favorites I will post later. Some are a bit obscure, so I would like to track down samples first.

One of the best drum solo, imo, is the one from Deep Purple. Ian Paice is hitting those drums like there's no tomorrow for like, 7-8 minutes continuous. The whole concert is, probably, one of the best I've ever heard.



As for guitar solos I think there are quite a lot.. Hmm, I'll think about some and post them later

- my number one, heee

No, seriously, I think this parody really sums up all those guitar solos in mainstream rock since 70's to present. It's all for wet girls and nerdish metalheads that think they are coneisseurs of music and these solos are peak of musical craft.

I'm sure anyone who listened to rock or metal before getting into classical had situation in which he got back to some piece that he liked back then and had huge laugh of it and himself.

As former Led Zeppelin fan I watched amost all recorded concerts and I must say that Jimmy Page's improvisations with violin bow are silly. Not any better than Nigel's thing.

This one isn't bad though:

There are several killer solos in art music ... from Bach to Stockhausen ...

Originally Posted by Aramis

As former Led Zeppelin fan

Never forget your roots. Zeppelin rule.

Where to start with solos.

Freebird

Eddie Hazel - Maggot Brain

Paul Gonsalves - Crescendo and Diminuendo in Blue at Newport

Andy Powell and Ted Turner - Phoenix

Tony Iommi - Everything he's done.(Snowblind and Into the Void spring to mind, Planet Caravan, SBS, Lukes Wall at the end of War Pigs etc)

John McLaughlin - Birds of Fire and Lila's Dance

Robert Fripp - Baby's on Fire and St Elmo's Fire

Miles Davis - Right Off

Duane Allman and Dickey Betts - In Memory of Elizabeth Reed

Roger McGuinn - Eight Miles High

Jan Akkerman - Hocus Pocus

Frank Zappa - Willie the Pimp

Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd - Marquee Moon

Elliot Randall - Reelin in the Years

Jeff Baxter - Rikki Don't Lose That Number

Lindsey Buckingham - The Chain

Andy Fraser - Mr Big

Andy Latimer - Lady Fantasy

Manuel Gottsching - E2E4

Neil Young - Like a Hurricane

Martin Barre - Aqualung and We Used to Know

Jimi Hendrix - AAtWT, Machine Gun and Voodoo Chile

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson - YYZ and Working Man

Mick Ronson - Moonage Daydream

Ted Nugent - Stranglehold

Scott Gorham - Dancing in the Moonlight

Rev. Billy Gibbons - Gimme All Your Lovin'

Trevor Rabin - Owner of a Lonely Heart

Dave Davies - You Really Got Me

Dave Gilmour - Everything from Meddle to The Wall was gold

Kirk Hammett - Fade to Black

Joe Walsh - Hotel California (that bit where he repeatedly picks on the down bend is )

Dick Dale - Misirlou

Angus Young - Whole Lotta Rosie

Ray Manzarek - Riders on the Storm

Besides through composed solos in art music (the best really) ... in an improvised vein ... i tend to avoid guitarists for the most part (bottom of the musical food-chain really); listen to jazz horn players or pianists which are far more advanced & sophisticated musically on all fronts as soloists & general improvisors (lot more going on, broader & more advanced vocabulary)... melodically, color, harmony, rhythm, development etc ... Trane, Jarrett, Brecker, Parker, Rollins, Marsalis, Miles, Monk, Tatum, Gillespie, Corea, Taylor, Evans, Zawinul, Hancock, Konitz, Powell, Tyner etc

Originally Posted by JMJ

Besides through composed solos in art music (the best really) ... in an improvised vein ... i tend to avoid guitarists for the most part (bottom of the musical food-chain really)

i'm curious to know what you think about those guys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-B06-pRjTY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zkuo2...next=1&index=4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhrgSA4hDMU

An obvious one would be Jimi Hendrix. Not being of that generation (he died before I was born) I am not highly familiar with his music, but I did get a cd of some of his stuff recently (for $2 at a bargain shop). I was surprised how bluesy his stuff really is, it seems to have that kind of feel. I think that he was not afraid to let his hair down, and get out of control a bit, a thing which I really like, since I'm into the more contemporary classical music...

Originally Posted by Aramis

- my number one, heee

Hey man -- Nigel is a god! Those Brits really know how to shred. That other guy in the next link, whatshisname, is pretty good too.

@Argus. I only know about half the stuff on your list! But of those I do know, I tend to agree with you.

Iommi I think of more as a riffmeister than a solo or lead guitarist. He's done some great solos, but I can't say any stuck in my head even though he's one of my favorites.

Roger McGuinn - Eight Miles High. I confess I never really understood this solo. It doesn't flow for me. I love the song though.

Jan Akkerman - Hocus Pocus. Everything this man does is superb. I have a solo album of his containing a lot of Renaissance music, John Dowland and so forth, and it is quite good.

Frank Zappa - Willie the Pimp. I might have chosen Apostrophe, except Zappa is a bit upstaged by Jack Bruce in that one. Zappa should make some people on these forums happy, having been a Varese inspired classical composer who did the rock thing partly to support his composing habit.

Neil Young - Like a Hurricane. I appreciate Young a lot. He doesn't so much play the guitar as wield it in a barely controlled berserk rage. And he makes aging look cool.

Martin Barre - Aqualung One of my favorite guitarists of all time, and one of the more underrated. For some reason though I think Aqualung is among his weakest efforts - maybe because it is overplayed.

Ted Nugent - Stranglehold. I despise the fact that I am forced to live on the same planet as this Neanderthal, but I have to admit Stanglehold is a great piece.

Ray Manzarek - Riders on the Storm. Now you're talkin'! That solo sounds like rain.


@Andre. Yes, Hendrix was very blues and R&B oriented, especially toward the end. You're right about the getting out of control. Maybe that's the quality I see in the solos that can't be found in most classical. JMJ may prefer "more advanced & sophisticated," and more often than not I do too. But the heady experience of seeing and hearing musicians barely corralling the onslaught of their instruments is hard to beat.

Originally Posted by JMJ

Trane, Jarrett, Brecker, Parker, Rollins, Marsalis, Miles, Monk, Tatum, Gillespie, Corea, Taylor, Evans, Zawinul, Hancock, Konitz, Powell, Tyner etc

I like a lot of those guys but could not really pick one or two solos that stood out from the pack. I named Davis on Righ Off from Jack Johnson because that really sticks in my minds as being perfect for the tune, So What too. Coltrane on My Favourite Things takes a great solo but it draws heavily on the original Rogers motif and goes into a trance-like mode. I'm not saying they can't solo or anything ridiculous (unlike your guitarist generalisation), just that I don't enjoy any of their solos in singularity as much as the ones I listed.

Try some Derek Bailey or Sonny Sharrock if you want awesome sophisticated guitar playing.

Originally Posted by Andre

An obvious one would be Jimi Hendrix. Not being of that generation (he died before I was born) I am not highly familiar with his music

This is a classical music forum. Most people aren't of the same generation as the composers they listen to. Most of his songs are excellent, with great solos to boot. The Wind Cries Mary and Hey Joe have short solos that fit great. The Little Wing solo is so good that it feels like it could go on a lot longer than it does. Third Stone from the Sun, Castles Made of Sand, 1983 (A Merman I should turn to be) are all top class.

Originally Posted by Weston

Iommi I think of more as a riffmeister than a solo or lead guitarist. He's done some great solos, but I can't say any stuck in my head even though he's one of my favorites.

I like fast E minor pentatonic licks with lots of bends into the fifth and unison. He is capable of more variety though, like on Planet Caravan:

(about 2:30 in)

Frank Zappa - Willie the Pimp. I might have chosen Apostrophe, except Zappa is a bit upstaged by Jack Bruce in that one. Zappa should make some people on these forums happy, having been a Varese inspired classical composer who did the rock thing partly to support his composing habit.

I could have picked Black Napkins or some of his solos on Roxy and Elsewhere, but basically the whole song is a solo.

Martin Barre - Aqualung One of my favorite guitarists of all time, and one of the more underrated. For some reason though I think Aqualung is among his weakest efforts - maybe because it is overplayed.

I suppose that's the benefit of not listening to much classic rock radio. It sounds great everytime I hear it.

What's strange is I listen to a fair bit of music with synths, organs and electric pianos and stuff, but I found it really hard to think of any memorable solos featuring them. Yeah, Jimmy Smith, Booker T, Rick Wakeman, Jon Lord all help shape the sound of the music, but I don't think their solos are all great. Actually, I think Wakeman on Sabra Cadabra is pretty good.

why not try the mainstream guitarist like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. In second layer there is Vinnie Moore among many neoclassical style guitarist (but the rest is just a copy paste lick from maybe Yngwie Malmsteen). Then the progressive John Petrucci in his solo album Suspended Animation.

Then the 'standard' American bluesy rock solo like Andy Timmons and Paul Gilbert. Then another name is like Marty Friedman, whom previously Megadeth's thrashmetal axeman turn to New Age influence solo guitarist. Search youtube for a song like Tibet or Mama, which may a bit interest the classical fan.

There are still hundred of able to shred guitarist from metal band, but will only attract criticism rather than appreciation overhere.

For non metal/rock, I admire guitarist like Tommy Emmanuel and Al Di Meola

Originally Posted by Weston

Sure, classical music has its concertos and cadenzas and you may think that is the ultimate form of soloing, but there is a vast qualitative difference between the intent of a concerto and a rock guitar solo, as there is usually not a whole lot of wiggle room in classical music for improvisation.

Actually, cadenzas were improvised at first

Originally Posted by Argus

I like a lot of those guys but could not really pick one or two solos that stood out from the pack [...] just that I don't enjoy any of their solos in singularity as much as the ones I listed.

Try some Derek Bailey or Sonny Sharrock if you want awesome sophisticated guitar playing.

which says more about you as a listener than all else ... and i've heard Bailey & Sharrock; can't stand either .. and they aren't on the level of the art as the improvising soloists i mentioned, same applies to all the other guitarists mentioned in this thread, sure they have some moments, and many of them have their own little voices but it's a much shallower well (musically speaking) and that for me, gets tired quickly.

Originally Posted by JMJ

ame applies to all the other guitarists mentioned in this thread

what a ridicolous statement.

Originally Posted by norman bates

what a ridicolous statement.

No it's actually not a ridiculous statement ... keep listening.