Approaching Acoustic Guitar Solos

A Recorder or An Accompanist.

To play this solos, you will need to either have someone to play the chords, or a recorder. Record the chord changes and play along with it. Guitar1 is the melody, guitar2 are arpeggios that belong to the chord. The tabs are written to assist you to play guitar2. These acoustic guitar solos are short, but they will give you the gist of what happens in a solo.

Acoustic Guitar Solos - Slow Mood

Click here to download the Slow Mood Chart.

In this four bar measure, the chords of Ami, FMaj9, Dmi, and G are used. The chords and tempo will indicate to you the type of mood or feel to approach the melody. The scale used to compose the melody notes comes from the Cmaj scale.

Strumming the Chords in Acoustic Guitar Solos

Play and strumm the chords with a down stroke. In the first two measures we have the Amin chord. Note the position of the left hand fingers. Hold down the relevant notes (C, E, A) and make sure the open strings like the A, 5th string and the E, 1st string are played. In measure three, we have the FMaj9 chord. Here the F note, 4th string is fretted and the G note, 3rd string open is played. The C note on the 2nd string is fretted and the E note, 1st open string is played.

In measure 4, we have the Dmi chord. Begin by playing the 4th string open D note, play the 3rd string 2nd fret for the A note. Go to the 2nd string, 3rd fret for the D note. Then play the 1st string, 1st fret for the F note. The last chord is the G chord. Start on the 6th string, 3rd fret for the Low G note. Move down to the 5th string, 2nd fret for the B note. The 4th, 3rd, and 2nd strings are all open strings. Lastly play the 1st string, 3rd fret for the G note.

We now have all the positions and chords for this four bar melody. Strum through and note the sounds the chords produce. When you are confident in your strumming, we will move to Guitar 1.

Acoustic Guitar Solos - Guitar 1

Guitar 1 plays the melody. The melody is derived from the scale. The C major scale is used for this example. In the first measure, the C minim or whole note is played on the 2nd string, 1st fret. It then goes down a 1/2 step to the crotchet or quarter note B on the 2nd open string. It goes down a tone to the 3rd string, 2nd fret A note also a crotchet or quarter note.

In the 2nd measure, we have the C note, a semibreve which is held for four counts. It is played on the 2nd string, 1st fret.

The 3rd measure has a minim an A note. It is played on the 3rd string 2nd fret followed with a C crotchet note, played on the 5th string, 3rd fret, followed with a crotchet rest on the fourth beat.

The 4th measure has a F note. It is called a minim or half note. It is played on the 4th string, 2nd fret. The next two notes are Crotchets, an A note on the 3rd string, 2nd fret and moves up a per 5th to an E note, on the 1st open string. <

The fifth measure has two minus, the D note is played on the 2nd string, 3rd fret followed by the G note played on the 3rd open string.

Note the intervals and how the leaps create the melodic interest. To create more color in your playing, try out the Major and Pentatonic scales. The Pentatonic scale sounds good over these chord changes. The use of the Cmajor scale is another option to go for.

Slurs in Acoustic Guitar Solos

Slurs are meant to connect and have the notes played smoothly. The slur markings on guitar1, signifies that the notes are meant to be played legato or smoothly. The mf symbol indicates playing moderately loud. The symbol p indicates a soft passage, the f symbol is meant to be played loud. As you make your way through the music, try to spot the various intervals in the melodic content.

Arpeggios in Acoustic Guitar Solos Music

Most of the accompaniment parts of acoustic guitar is played either in arpeggios or chords. Guitar2 and the TAB symbol are combined for easier playing. The Ami chord is played in arpeggios for two measures. View the notes and the positions for the chord.

The 3rd measure has a FMaj9 chord and the chord of Ami is used on the 3rd beat.

The 4th measure outlines a Dmi chord.

The 5th measure has a G chord in it.

We have covered the basics of how to approach acoustic guitar solos.

Guidelines for Acoustic Guitar Solos

1. Define what kind of solo feel is required.

2. What are the choice notes that can be used from the scale of the moment. For example, Ami, Fmaj9, Dmi, G.

All the notes of the C major scale or the, Amin Pentatonic scale can be applied over these chords. Choose the best notes and play over the chord changes.

3. When juggling notes, the imagination is a very creative area to explore.

4. Practice and store your new licks. They will come in handy when jamming around.

5. There are some really fine acoustic music CDs on the net. Check them out.

Acoustic Guitar Solos - Bossa Nova Feel

Click here to download the Bossa Nova Feel Chart.

Here are some interesting chord changes : FMaj7, Emi, Ami, FMaj9/A, G/B and the Cmaj69 chord. These chords will definitely stimulate your creative mind. The melody is derived from the C scale. All the notes of the chords belong to the C scale. The tempo of this bossa tune is moderately fast but approach it from your perspective. Familiarize yourself with the chords and than play through the four measures.

Chord Changes

Guitar2 and the TABs are there to assist you in the chords. The chord diagrams indicate the positions and the notes to use.

Play the 1st measure Fmaj7, Emi. When you feel comfortable, then move to the 2nd measure Ami and G6.

The 3rd measure has a FMaj9/A and a G/B chord.

The 4th measure is a CMaj69 chord. These are the basic chords that support the melody.

In the FMaj7 chord, you need to stretch for the F bass note. The Ami triad belongs to the FMaj7 chord.

In the Emi chord, the E bass note is important to the tonality.

The 2nd measure Ami, G6 requires an open sound.

The 3rd measure FMaj9/A requires you to have the A note in the bass and to stretch the F and C notes. G/B chord require that the B note is played in the bass. The last chord is CMaj69 which is made up of three perfect 4th intervals and a major 3rd.

Playing the Melody

The melody starts on the 2nd beat, C note. It is played on the 2nd string, 1st fret. It than moves up a perfect 5th to the G note played on the 1st string, 3rd fret, it than goes down a perfect 5th to the C note of the 2nd string, 1st fret, and down a 1/2 step to the B note on the 2nd open string. Down a tone to the 4th measure, 3rd string, 2nd fret A note and up a perfect 5th to to the 1st open string E note, Down a tone to the D note on the 2nd string, 3rd fret and leaps to the G note a perfect 5th below it, and lastly up a perfect 5th.

Interesting Acoustic Guitar Solos

To make solos more interesting, use the Cmajor scale the Ami pentatonic or mix the scales over the changes. You can come up with some very interesting modern sounding lines. In fact, playing the Ami pentatonic scale over these changes sound very hip. Do take a little care when playing the G6 and G/B chords. Avoid stressing the C note on these dominant chords. But as a passing note, C is fine. Note the shapes and diagrams. Keep an eye on the scales and your ears to what is being played.

Acoustic Guitar Solos - Folk Feel

Click here to download the Folk Feel Chart.

This guitar solo is a folk type feel of four measures. We will begin with guitar1.

In the first measure, there is a crotchet rest on the 1st beat and an 8th note rest on the 2nd in-beat. The E note is played on the second up beat. The position of the E note is on the 4th string, 2nd fret. The rest of the notes are quavers. The C note is played on the 2nd string, 1st fret.

The interval of the notes E - C is a minor 6th. C - B is an interval of a minor 2nd. The B note is played on the 2nd open string. B - A is a Maj 2nd. The A note is played on the 3rd string, 2nd fret. A - G is a maj 2nd. The G note is played on the 3rd open string. The G note moves up a Maj 2nd to the A note. The A note is played on the 3rd string, 2nd fret. The A note moves down a perfect 5th to the E note. The E note is played on the 4th string, 2nd fret.

The E note moves down a tone to the D note. The D note is played on the 4th open string. The D notes moves up a perfect 4th to the G note. The G note is played on the 3rd open string. The G note moves down a minor 3rd to the E note which is a whole note or semibreve.

Study the outline of the intervals and see how the notes move from one note to the other.

The learning of intervals is a must in composing, arranging and improvisation. Memorize the chords, get a friend to play the chords and jam on the chord changes.

Now let's proceed to guitar2.

Arpeggios

Playing and developing arpeggios is an important skill in acoustic guitar solos playing.

This next example in guitar 2 is about playing arpeggios. The popular chords of Ami, FMaj7, G6 and CMaj7 are used.

In guitar 2, the arpeggios or broken chords are written and are duplicated in the Tab format.

Note that in guitar 2, all the notes are quavers or eight notes.

Starting at the 1st measure of guitar 2, the notes of the Ami chord are in use: A, C, E, A.= Ami.

The 2nd measure outlines the notes of the FMaj7 chord= F, A, C, E.

The 3rd measure has a G6 chord= G, B, D, E.

The 4th measure has a CMaj7 chord= C, E, G, B.

Having problems with the notes and values of the chords?

Refer back to Guitar Notes to understand the values and the types of notes played. The two dots placed at the beginning and at the end of the measures indicate that the four measures are meant to be repeated.

All these examples will show you the mechanics of approaching acoustic guitar playing. To expand your vocabulary on scales is a wise thing to do.

All solos come from the scale of the moment.

Click here to download the Scale Chart.

Creating Your Own Acoustic Guitar Solos

To do this, the chord chart must be clearly defined. The style, mood and feel are important to your acoustic guitar solos. The simplest key to play in is in the the key of C major. No sharps or flats in the key signature. The scales that we are using are the C major scale, C Pentatonic scale, Ami Pentatonic scale, A Natural minor and A blues scales. These scales and chords must be transposed to all twelve keys.

This diagram will list the chords and you will be playing the scales over these chord changes.

For your acoustic guitar solos, you can specifically mix the scales on different chords. Sometimes, certain scales can be used over all the chords. For example, the Cmajor scale. All the notes are Diatonic to the 1 chord. Variety is the spice of live so use your ears. Remember, wide intervals give color. Get some licks, write them out, and use them in your playing. We will now proceed to Acoustic Guitar Tabs.

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