How To Play Better Guitar Solos By Improving Them One Lick At A Time

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Here are a few more ways to make your guitar solos better: 

Lead Guitar Solo Tip #1: Add Rubato To Your Guitar Licks And Guitar Solos.

Rubato is a little-known (and simple) technique that makes your guitar solos almost as unique to you as your fingerprints.
It has nothing to do with playing fast.

It has nothing to do with knowing a lot of scales.

(Or knowing a lot about music theory.)

It has nothing to do with your vibrato.

(As cool as vibrato is, it’s pretty easy to match someone’s vibrato… not so with this little-known technique.)
Yngwie, Jason Becker, Eddie Van Halen, Paul Gilbert, Steve Vai and others all use it in their solos.

And although it is simple, it’s very hard to do this technique the same way as someone else.

That’s why, when you start using it, you may hear others say:

“This totally sounds like you”

...the moment they hear your solos.

How does it work? It’s based around expanding and contracting the timing of your licks. 

Instead of playing in strict note values (like 8th notes, 16th notes or triplets)… you speed up or slow down in unexpected ways.
This makes your licks unpredictable and help you build musical tension.

Check out this rubato tutorial that shows how to do this technique. 
 

Lead Guitar Solo Tip #2: Listen To Singers And Copy Their Phrasing

By far the best influence on my guitar phrasing have been great singers.

Here is why:

Singers can only sing so many notes on a single breath. And they cannot sing nearly as fast as guitar players can play.

This means: they are forced to make every note count and pack as much phrasing (drama, emotion and musical tension) as possible into every pitch.

Guitar players can learn a lot from this. Here is your assignment: 

Make a list of 10 of your favorite vocal parts.

Then transcribe them on your guitar. But focus on matching not just the notes… but all the phrasing nuances of each note. 

This not only helps you refine your guitar phrasing…

… but also gives you many new lead guitar lick ideas for your next guitar solo.
 

Lead Guitar Solo Tip #3: Use Delayed Resolution In Your Guitar Licks. 

Delayed resolution happens anytime a listener expects something to happen in a solo… 

… and you either avoid or delay that event. 

Here is an easy example of using delayed resolution in a guitar solo:

Play the first 7 notes of a D major scale (D E F# G A B C#).

Notice how your ear craves to hear the next note? (D).

That’s an example of building tension.

To delay the resolution of that tension, simply hold off on playing the D note. 

It can be as simple as that.

Another great example of delayed resolution can happen during string bends.

Simply delay the release of the bend. Slow it down and don’t give your listeners the satisfaction of hearing the bent note come down all the way.

Now that you know how to make your guitar solos sound better, the next step is to improve all your other musical skills and transform your playing into something you can feel proud of.

I can help you with this in my Breakthrough Guitar Lessons.

Here is how it works:

 First, you tell me all about your guitar playing, your musical skills and your goals in a detailed evaluation form.

Then, I go to work for you. I create your lesson strategy and lesson materials that develop the skills you need to play guitar the way you want.

As you practice your lessons, I'm there for you to answer your questions, give you feedback on your playing and support you in any way. 

And if you do what I tell you for at least 30 minutes per day, you will very likely be highly pleased with the results.

Here is the progress my other guitar students are making: