Guitar solo

For the Fred Frith album, seeGuitar Solos.

GuitaristBrian Raysoloing.

Aguitar solois amelodicpassage, instrumentalsection,or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on aclassical,electric,oracoustic guitar.In 20th and 21st centurytraditional musicandpopular musicsuch asblues,swing,jazz,jazz fusion,rockandheavy metal,guitarsolosoften contain virtuoso techniques and varying degrees ofimprovisation.Guitar solos onclassical guitar,which are typically written inmusical notation,are also used inclassical musicforms such aschamber musicandconcertos.

Guitar solos range from unaccompanied works for a single guitar to compositions withaccompanimentfrom a few other instruments or a large ensemble. The accompaniment musicians for a guitar solo can range from a small ensemble such as ajazz quartetor a rockband,to a large ensemble such as anorchestraorbig band.Unaccompanied acoustic guitar music is found infolkandclassicalmusic dating as far back as theinstrument'sfirst use in western music, the use of an acoustic guitar as a solo voice within an ensemble dates back at least to theBaroqueconcerto.

Classical guitar

Classical guitar soloistAndrés Segovia(1962)

Theclassical guitaris an acoustical wooden guitar with six strings, usually nylon, as opposed to the metal strings used in metal stringed acoustic guitars used in other genres.Classical guitar is typically played by plucking individual strings with the fingernails or the fingertips.A classical guitar solo concert is typically called arecital;it may include a variety of works, e.g. works written originally for the lute or vihuela by composers such asJohn Dowland(b. Ireland 1563) andLuis de Narváez(b. Spain c. 1500), and also music written for the harpsichord byDomenico Scarlatti(b. Italy 1685), for the baroque lute bySylvius Leopold Weiss(b. Germany 1687), for the baroque guitar byRobert de Visée(b. France c. 1650) or even Spanish-inspired music written for the piano byIsaac Albéniz(b. Spain 1860) andEnrique Granados(b. Spain 1867).Johann Sebastian Bach(b. Germany 1685) is another composer who did not write for the guitar specifically, but whose music is often played on it as his baroqueluteworks have proved highly adaptable to the instrument.

Of music written originally for guitar, the earliest influential composers stem from the classical period.They includeFernando Sor(b. Spain 1778) andMauro Giuliani(b. Italy 1781),it is noted that their music can be seen to be potentially influenced by Viennese classicism. In the 19th century guitar composers such asJohann Kaspar Mertz(b. Slovakia, Austria 1806) were influenced by music written for the piano.IFrancisco Tárrega(b. Spain 1852) wrote more uniquely guitar music, incorporating stylized aspects of flamenco's Moorish influences into his romantic miniatures. This was part of late 19th century European trend towardsmusical nationalism.Albéniz and Granados contributed to this movement as they wrote within the same time period.

Some classical guitarists playconcertos,which are solos written for performance with the accompaniment of anorchestra.Fewer classical guitar concertos have been written compared to concertos for multi-instrumental orchestras.Some potentially notable ones could includeJoaquín Rodrigo'sConcierto de AranjuezandFantasía para un gentilhombre.In the 2000s, it has been noted that classical guitar is appearing more in classical music, as contemporary composers are increasingly writing guitar concertos.

History

Composers of the Renaissance period who wrote for four course guitar includeAlonso Mudarra,Miguel de Fuenllana,Adrian Le RoyandGuillaume de Morlaye.Composers of the baroque guitar includeGaspar Sanz,Robert de ViséeandFrancesco Corbetta.From approximately 1780 to 1850, the guitar had composers and performers including:Filippo Gragnani(1767–1820),Antoine de Lhoyer(1768–1852),Ferdinando Carulli(1770–1841),Francesco Molino(1774–1847),Fernando Sor(1778–1839),Mauro Giuliani(1781–1829),Niccolò Paganini(1782–1840),Dionisio Aguado(1784 – 1849),Luigi Legnani(1790–1877),Matteo Carcassi(1792–1853),Napoléon Coste(1805–1883) andJohann Kaspar Mertz(1806–1856). Guitar soloistAndrés Segoviapopularized the guitar with tours and early phonograph recordings in the 1920s. Modern classical guitar solo performers who are known for playing modern repertoire includeKazuhito Yamashita,Agustín Barrios,Paul Galbraith,andJohn Williams.

Traditional and popular music

Blues, R&B and rock and roll

American blues guitarist and singerB.B. Kingin 2009

The term "guitar solo" often refers toelectric guitarsolos played inbluesand inrock.The use of a guitar solo as an instrumental interlude was developed by blues musicians such asLonnie Johnson,John Lee Hooker,Muddy Waters,andT-Bone Walker,andjazzlikeCharlie Christian.Ernest Tubb's 1940honky tonkclassic, "Walking the Floor over You"was the first" hit "recording to feature and highlight a solo by a standard electric guitar—though earlier hits featured electriclap steel guitars.

Howlin' Wolf,Muddy Waters,Willie Dixon,andJimmy Reedplayed in Chicago in a style characterized by the use of electric guitar, sometimesslide guitar,harmonica,and arhythm sectionof bass and drums.In the late 1950s, a new blues style emerged on Chicago'sWest Sidepioneered byMagic Sam,Buddy GuyandOtis RushonCobra Records.The 'West Side Sound' had strong rhythmic support from a rhythm guitar, bass guitar and drums and as perfected by Guy,Freddie King,Magic SlimandLuther Allisonwas dominated by amplified electric lead guitar.Other blues artists, such as John Lee Hooker had influences not directly related to the Chicago style. John Lee Hooker's blues is more "personal," based on Hooker's deep rough voice accompanied by a single electric guitar.

These and other blues guitarists as well as the fast-picking techniques derived fromcountryandbluegrassinspired the appearance of many virtuosoblues rockfusion soloists, beginning in 1963 withLonnie Mack's first major recordings.Jimi Hendrixwas a psychedelic guitarist, and a pioneer in the use ofdistortionandaudio feedbackin his music.Through these artists and others, blues music influenced the development of rock music.Another important blues rock guitar soloist in the 1960s and 1970s wasEric Clapton.In the early 1970s, theTexas rock-blues styleemerged, which used guitars in both solo and rhythm roles (e.g.,Stevie Ray Vaughan).

Rock

The earliest rock guitar solos, as exemplified by popular recordings ofDuane EddyandLink Wrayin the late 1950s, were relatively simple instrumental melodies.In the early 1960s, instrumentalsurf musicrepresented a step forward in the sonic complexity of rock guitar melodies. In 1963, the dramatic, technically advanced electric guitar solo rose to the fore with Lonnie Mack's hit records, "Memphis" and "Wham!" (later covered byThe Ventures,Stevie Ray Vaughan and others), and soon, with the advent of blues rock andpsychedelic rockin the mid-late 1960s, became a characteristic part of rock music. Later still, guitar solos became a defining feature of the rock genre ofheavy metal,in which most songs feature a solo. Metal solos often showcase the virtuosity of the guitarists, especially in metal styles that useshred guitartechniques for rapid playing of scales and arpeggios. Since the 1960s, electric guitarists have often altered thetimbreof their guitar adding electronicguitar effectssuch asreverb,distortion,delay,andchorusto make the sound fuller and add harmonic overtones. Other effects used in solos include thewah-wah pedaland thetalk box.

Rock bands often have two guitarists, designated "lead"and"rhythm",with the lead player performing the solos and instrumental melody lines while the rhythm player accompanies with chords orriffs.In some cases, two guitarists share the lead role. Most rock music is based around songs in traditionalforms.The main formal features areverses,choruses,andbridges.The guitar solo is usually the most significantinstrumentalsection of a mainstream rock song. In other rock-related genres, such as pop and dance music, thesynthesizerusually plays this role.

Eddie Van Halenin 1977

In classicverse–chorus form,it often falls between the second chorus and third verse. Extended guitar solos are sometimes used as a song's outro, such asChristopher Cross' "Ride Like the Wind",Radiohead's "Paranoid Android",Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird",The Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog",Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb",Guns N' Roses' "November Rain",Metallica's "Fade to Black",Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog",Journey's "Who's Crying Now",The Cult's "Love Removal Machine",The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps",.38 Special's "Hold On Loosely",The Rolling Stones' "Sway",Pearl Jam's "Alive",Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dani California",Cream's "White Room",AC/DC's "Let There Be Rock",Outlaws' "Green Grass and High Tides",The Alan Parsons Project's "Eye in the Sky"andEagles' "Hotel California".

Guitar solo

Solos can take place in the intro, such as "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"byJimi Hendrix,"Since I've Been Loving You"by Led Zeppelin,"One"by Metallica,"Lazy"byDeep Purple,"I Want It All"byQueen,"Johnny B. Goode"byChuck Berry,"Don't Take Me Alive"bySteely Dan,"Sails of Charon"byScorpionsand "Wish You Were Here"by Pink Floyd. In rarer cases, the guitar solo may come after the first chorus as opposed to the second, such as"Beast and the Harlot"byAvenged Sevenfold,"The Importance of Being Idle"byOasisand "Black Summer"byRed Hot Chili Peppers.

The use of guitar solos inhard rockand heavy metal was notable during the 1980s, when rapid-fire "shredding" solos were common; a virtuoso lead guitarist of a band might be more well-known than the singer (although in a few cases one artist held both roles). During this time, players began to use advancedharmonicstechniques more widely. Later, guitarists who had developed considerable technical facility began to release albums with instrumental-only guitarcompositions.Guitar solos in popular music waned in fashion in the middle 1990s, coinciding with the rise in popularity ofnu metalandgrunge.Nu metal differed significantly from previous sub-genres of metal and abandoned guitar solos altogether, except for a few rare lead fills here and there, whilst grunge did not wholly abandon solos and included them from time to time. Guitar solos likewise became less prominent in manypopand popular rock music styles; either being trimmed down to a short four-bar transition or omitted entirely, in a vast departure from the heavy usage of solos in classic rock music from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s. Classic rock revival music heavily features soloing, along with classic rock bands that are still active as of 2018.

Occasionally, a song contains a two-part guitar solo with both rhythm and lead guitar taking solos (e.g., "Master of Puppets"by Metallica), or dual solos with both lead and rhythm playing complementary solos—such as withTwisted Sister's "30", Iron Maiden's "Hallowed Be Thy Name","The Trooper",Megadeth's "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due"orDeep Purple’s "Highway Star".Some rock bands use harmonized dual lead guitar solos as part of their signature sound, such asWishbone AshandLovebites.This was first popularized bythe Allman Brothers Bandin their albumAt Fillmore East.

Bass guitar solos

The bass guitar is played through aspecialized amplifierto make the instrument louder and provided control over tone. The bass guitar came into use in popular music in the 1950s.Whilebass guitarsolos are not common in popular music, some bands include bass solos in some songs, particularly heavy metal,funk,andprogressive rockbands. Some genres use bass guitar solos in most songs, such as jazz bands orjazz fusiongroups. Bass solos are also common in certain styles of punk music. In a rock context, bass guitar solos are structured and performed in a similar fashion as rock guitar solos, often with the musical accompaniment from the verse or chorus sections. While bass guitar solos appear on few studio albums from rock or pop bands, genres such as progressive rock,fusion-influenced rock, and some types of heavy metal are more likely to include bass solos, both in studio albums and in live performances.

Players perform bass solos with a range of techniques, such as plucking or finger picking. In the 1960s,The Who's bassist,John Entwistle,performed abass breakon the song "My Generation"using aplectrum,though he intended to use his fingers—he simply could not drop the plectrum quickly enough. Many consider this one of the first bass solos in rock music, and one of the most recognizable.John Paul JonesofLed Zeppelin,on "Good Times Bad Times",the first song on theirfirst album,uses two bass solos in an influentially dynamic way, as a bridge (when the band drops out after the choruses) to the next verse (after the first chorus) and the guitar solo-driven coda (after the third chorus).Queen's bassist,John Deacon,occasionally played bass solos, notably in "Under Pressure"and"Liar".In the 1970s,Aerosmith's bassist,Tom Hamilton,played a bass intro on the song "Sweet Emotion"from their albumToys in the Attic.Thrash metal groupMetallica's 1983 debut albumKill 'Em Allfeatures a solo by bassistCliff Burtonon "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth", which some consider his greatest work.John McVieofFleetwood Macperformed a notable bass solo on "The Chain"from the record-setting 1977 albumRumours.

Manowar's bassistJoey DeMaiouses special piccolo bass for his extremely fast bass solos like "Sting of the Bumblebee" and "William's Tale".Green DaybassistMike Dirntplayed a bass solo on the song "No One Knows" from the 1992 albumKerplunk!and on the song "Makeout Party" from the 2012 album¡Dos!.U2includes a bass solo most notably on "Gloria",in whichAdam Claytonutilizes several techniques. Bassist Matt Freeman ofRancidhas a very speedy, guitar-like bass solo in the song ' "Maxwell Murder".Blink-182's "Voyeur" has a bass solo on both their studio albumDude Ranchand their live albumThe Mark, Tom and Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back!),in which they must "prepare for the bass solo."

Heavy metal bass players such asGeezer Butler(Black Sabbath),Alex Webster(Cannibal Corpse), Cliff Burton (Metallica), jazz fusion bassistJaco Pastorius(Weather Report), andLes Claypool(Primus,Blind Illusion) used chime-like harmonics and rapid plucking techniques in their bass solos.Geddy LeeofRushperformed a number of solos, most notably in "YYZ".Also, in both publishedVan Halenconcert videos,Michael Anthonyperforms unique maneuvers and actions during his solos. Funk bassists, such asLarry Graham,began using slapping and popping techniques for their bass solos, which coupled a percussive thumb-slapping technique of the lower strings with an aggressive finger-snap of the higher strings, often in rhythmic alternation. Theslapping and poppingtechnique incorporates a large number of muted (or 'ghost' tones) to normal notes to add to the rhythmic effect. Slapping and popping solos were prominent in 1980s pop and R&B, and they are still used by some 2000s-era funk and Latin bands.

Bass effectssuch asfuzz bassor wah-wah pedals to produce a more pronounced sound can be used when playing bass solos, hard rock and heavy metal bassists. Notably, Cliff Burton of Metallica used both distortion and wah-wah.Bass guitar solos have a much lighter accompaniment than solos for other instruments due to the lower range of the bass. The bass guitar solo can also be unaccompanied or accompanied only by the drums.

See also

• Drum solo
• Solo (music)
• Air guitar- a form of dance and movement in which the performerpretendsto playrock/heavy metal-styleelectric guitarsolos
• Ostinato
• Lead guitar

Bibliography

• Atlas, Allan W. "Anthology of Renaissance music music in Western Europe, 1400-1600" New York: W.W. Norton, 1998.
• Berg, Christopher.The Classical Guitar CompanionNew York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2019.
• Bohlman, Philip V.Focus: Music, Nationalism, and the Making of the New Europe.London: Routledge, 2011.
• Goetz, Philip,ed. (1990).Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 5 (Fifteenth ed.). Chicago. p. 982.ISBN0-85229-511-1.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
• O'Toole, Michael.John Williams : Changing the Culture of the Classical Guitar : Performance, Perception, Education and ConstructionAbingdon, Oxon: New York, NY : Routledge, 2019.
• Tomalin, Marcus. "Lutes, Vihuelas and Guitars—filling in Some Gaps."Early music46, no. 4 (2018): 694–697.
• Randall Zwally. "William Kanengiser: Classical Guitar and Beyond."Notes64, no. 1 (2007): 128–129.

External links

• Top 100 Guitar Solos of All TimeArchived2016-03-05 atarchive.today