If you practice the right steps, you will find it easy to create a guitar solo in any key using just one pattern, the minor pentatonic scale. Many guitar players are drawn to the guitar because they want to play guitar solos that their favorite guitar players play. Trying to dive right in and learn your favorite solos is very challenging and often leads to frustration for most guitar players. Most guitar players just want to know which notes to hit to make a solo sound good and learning how to make up your own guitar solos in any key will help you develop your ear, your rhythm, and technique so you can ultimately learn other guitar solos from your favorite players.
The 3 steps you must take be able to play a guitar solo in any key
1. You must learn the notes on the low E string.
This will help you learn how to put your hands in the right position when it comes to play your solo. If you know what fret you need to move to to be in the right key, you will be able to quickly find the correct notes to use in the scale.
2. You must learn to visualize and play the minor pentatonic scale.
This is the fastest and easiest way for learning guitar student to start soloing in any key. You must practice this scale from lowest note to highest note (ASCENDING THE SCALE). In addition, you must practice the highest note to lowest note (DESCENDING THE SCALE). You must practice these as separate skills because they are in fact separate skills for your hand and brain to process.
3. Develop muscle memory in both hands by SLOWLY playing up and down the scale.
Try to make the notes long and clear. We are not trying to develop speed at this stage of the game. You must teach your hands to learn this scale in a relaxed, clear manner. If you practice the scale too fast at this point, you will develop bad habits and miss the point of this whole exercise.
Do this every day for at least 10 minutes to train your ears and hands for what you will need for step 2. This is the fastest way to create a guitar solo in any key.
Come back next week for part 2 of “How To Play A Guitar Solo In Any Key Using One Scale Pattern”