5 Tips For Playing Slow Solos

It might sound like a cliché so simple that it’s beginning to lose its meaning but trust me, it will always retain its meaning in this context. When it comes to laying down a take for a slower piece, melody and harmony are going to beat flashy tricks and licks to the crown 99% of the time. Take time to get to know what you’re playing over: the chord progression, time feel, and importantly; how many bars you are going to be soloing for.

This is going to directly impact the way in which you feel whatever you may be playing over, which arguably, is the highest contributing factor as to whether your solo is going to make the final cut or not. In most cases, a slower solo tends to ask for more “taste” or “feel” which often requires you spend some one-to-one time with track before you can get the best out of your playing.

Preparation breeds confidence which leads to more fluid improvisation and therefore, a more musical and human connection with the language of the music you are going to be playing over; instead of relying on your trick bag in the heat of panic.

Once you get that workflow in place, the ‘less is more’ element tends to take care of itself.

It goes without saying that if there is a guitar solo in a slow song that it’s obviously planned part of its structure.

If we use Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ as an example, the main solo alone is almost 2 minutes long whilst being a hugely iconic part of the song. Imagine the track without that solo! It suddenly seems less interesting, right? More importantly, if the guitar tone sucked, it’s likely it wouldn’t be the iconic solo we’ve come to know.

The same can be said of classics like ‘Hotel California’ or ‘Little Wing.’ These are perfect instances of the power of a slow guitar solo and how important one can be within the structure of a song, as well as making your guitar sound as great as it can, when the spotlight is on, is never something you should skim over.

If it calls for taste in the playing, the ingredients are in the tone. Be thankful your solo is on the menu!

Following on from the previous tip, if a guitar solo is structured into a slow song and we want it to be heard or more importantly, felt, then it would be in our best interests to take inspiration from the human voice.

Here, expressive techniques are going to be your best friend. If bends are your strength, use them. If slides make your lines more vocal, use them. If vibrato isn’t your most confident technique, work on it.

Notes and phrasing are nothing without life played into them and our expressive techniques are paramount in achieving the listeners perceived emotive response to a solo, whether we feel what we’re playing or not.

I’d bet my pedal collection that ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ wouldn’t have been the historic number one smash it was without Freddie’s signature vocal vibrato – something to remember when putting life into your solos.

If we’re not used it, sometimes playing slow and more concentrated can seem daunting and even unnatural. I’ve seen this dozens of times, in my students over the years; when it’s shred time they’re in their element but when it comes to slowing down and feeling it, they get lost in the colour of embarrassment.

No player should ever feel overwhelmed by slowing down the pace and getting to know their expressive side, because not only is it an awesome addition to your toolset, it also gives you a break in more ways than one!

Firstly, our tendons can stop smoking from your 200bpm alternate picking workout. And second, your muscle memory is broken.

The latter is very important because the more you practice being out of your comfort zone, the more you’re improving your musical fundamentals. If you take the time to prepare and focus on your expressive techniques, all you need to do is take a breath, relax and play.

You’ve probably guessed it by now, but we can in fact use the minor pentatonic scale too much. It has surely been almost every guitar player’s life jacket when we feel our playing might be figuratively sinking the ship but alas, it can only keep us afloat for so long.

The problem with this overuse is that it makes us lazy and boring players, often switching off our ears to ostentatiously project our ego, whilst diminishing the quality of creativity we’re capable of.

With that in mind, don’t be afraid to mix it up and think outside of the box. Even if it’s as simple as a raising that minor 7th interval a semitone over a minor progression to add in some harmonic minor flavour, or aiming to create melodic ambiguity by avoiding playing the root note until your final phrase.

These are examples of elements that, when used creatively, can transform a good solo into a great solo.