Question:
Ok, so I love improvising in scales, I do it everyday cause i come up with some fun stuff on there (more so than with the chords). But I have a problem finding paterns that create a rock/metal feel. I mostly improv blues, and jazzy feeling music on the scales, and I only come close to rock and metal when im doing powerchords.
I was wondering if there were any paterns, or something common to mainly rock and metal that I could try to get me moving away from blues?
Answer:
Sounds like you're playing in the major scale, either major blues or the diatonic scale. Wanna sound metal?
1) Play in natural minor.
2) Use pedal tones for rhythm on your E and A strings
3) Minor blues repeating patterns work well with natural minor: Zakk Wylde
4) Almost always play 5 chords (power chords)
5) Palm mute on the E string
6) Learn harmonic minor and dimished scales
7) Almost NEVER play chords with the 3rd, or 7th in it (there's plenty exceptions to this)
8) Arepggiate, arpeggiate, arpeggiate!!!!! not the kind where you hold a chord and pluck the strings.
9) Learn to tremolo pick
10) Learn to do a vibrato on the E, A, and D strings like you mean BUSINESS!!!!! Make those strings scream for mercy!
Answer:
Harmonic minor scale (same as diatonic minor except w/ sharp 7th), Phryigian mode (same as diatonic/natural minor scale except w/ flat 2nd) and diminished scale/arpeggio would be really common for metal-ish leads and runs.
Incorporating all of the usual bag-of-tricks licks like hammer-ons, pull-offs, legato and staccato muted picking to any of the above scales will put you in the proper metal neighborhood, I would think.
Answer:
and learn how to play killer pinch harmonics. If you can't make it wail, then you're sunk.
Also, to sound really technical in metal, learn how to play as many chromatic notes as fast as you possibly can. That can usually pass for metal soloing nowadays.
Answer:
Originally Posted by MJ_Avalanche Also, to sound really technical in metal, learn how to play as many chromatic notes as fast as you possibly can. That can usually pass for metal soloing nowadays.
I disagree. There is chromaticism in metal, but you just can't say "go chromatic, and you're there". Random chromaticism sounds like a mess.
Here's what you can do to make chromaticism work for you: You have this really cool and really fast repeating lick. You can keep that same fingering pattern and ascend chromatically up to where you want to end the lick. Then you can jump back into the proper fingerings for the key you're in.
Answer:
Kool, thanx guys. Im gonna be sure to try all this stuff. This is a really big help, like you have no idea how big!!
Answer:
Originally Posted by dcunning30 I disagree. There is chromaticism in metal, but you just can't say "go chromatic, and you're there". Random chromaticism sounds like a mess.
Here's what you can do to make chromaticism work for you: You have this really cool and really fast repeating lick. You can keep that same fingering pattern and ascend chromatically up to where you want to end the lick. Then you can jump back into the proper fingerings for the key you're in. Which is why I said usually. I've heard some killer metal solos that didn't have a single chromatic note in them (aside from typical alterations of the scale and key changes). I know it's not always there. But I've also heard several solos that were nothing more than straight up chromatic notes. Some people dig that for some odd reason.
For the record, I don't and can't play metal. Which is why I play Jazz. Plenty of altered tones and chromatic notes in there.
Answer:
I understand you.
Here's a case study. Vernon Reid of Living Color. Cult of Personality is a well written and pretty awesome song. I still love it today. Veronon Reid does this really fast and wammy-filled solo. Everyone (including me) raved! Wow! he's fast! What a shredder! Later, as I began maturing as a musician, I noticed, there's wasn't a whole lot to what he did. He just played random notes, but really really fast! It was pretty spastic, with little sense to it. I listened to other songs by Living Color, and he did the same sort of thing on every other song, spastic flurry of notes and wild wammy work.
I realised everyone raved because he was so fast, and remember, that was back when being really fast was so cool. It didn't matter what you played, just play it fast. I began studying John Petrucci and realized there's definately something to playing articulate and accurate phrases. But what I noticed about him was he can tend to be very cerebral in his playing. It did alot for my mind but little for my heart.
Then I began getting into Steve Vai. Now, his approach to shredding is very soulful. Vai's a shredder in the first order, but he spends most of his time not shredding. His phrased evoked emotion. That's my current thoughs on shredding. It's really great to be able to do it, but when you're performing, do it sparingly. You're making music, not playing exercises on the guitar.
Hmmm, I realize I just meandered away from a discussion on chromaticism to soloing philosophy. Yikes!
Answer:
Some guys can make chromatic scale work to their advantage. Steve Morse is the first that comes to mind. But he's so adept at musicianizing hardcore theory that he makes it work and puts chromatics in their seemingly proper place.
Vernon Reid...there's a name from the past. Vernon is a very, very good guitarist but he approaches guitar solos with an attitude somewhere between the minds of Miles Davis and Neil Young. What I get from his solos (behind all of the audible chaos) is emotionalistic reckless abandon and non-conformity.
It became his trademark. I think he could play a beautiful melodic solo if he cared to...but I don't think he cares to.
Back to metal soloing...back when I lived in L.A. I was fortunate enough to work with Dave Mustaine and Chris Poland on the surround sound release of "Peace sells but who's buying".
Listening to their playing on that record almost 20 years after it was recorded in hi-res surround was awesome and very educational for me (as I wasn't a huge Megadeth fan back-in-the-day...) and gave me insight to their individual approaches to soloing:
Dave is a (no offense D) fairly basic metal player coming from a rock/blues backround. Chris, on the other hand, is modal and what you might call "jazz minded"...maybe fusion is a better term?...and in his soloing at times he's playing what's equal to chord substitutions over the basic rock/metal chord progressions (a lot of flat 2nd and minor 3rd based chord riffs). Chris thinks outside the metal box (so to speak) and introduced Pat Methany/Allan Holdsworth-style playing to where it hadn't gone before.
I don't push a lot of secular music on other people but if you get a chance to buy a copy of a CD from the band "Ohm" (Chris Poland's current band), you'll see what I mean.
Excellent, excellent guitarist.
Answer:
Originally Posted by gtrdave Some guys can make chromatic scale work to their advantage. Steve Morse is the first that comes to mind. But he's so adept at musicianizing hardcore theory that he makes it work and puts chromatics in their seemingly proper place.
Do you think his chromatics might be playing modal but doing in on a note-by-note basis rather than a phrase by phrase basis? What I mean, using your mentioning the flatted 2nd, say you're playing in natural minor, but you really like the Phrygian sound of the relation between the 1 and flat 2. So you might be doing a call-and-response phrasing and in your call you land on the flat2, which technically is a chromatic, but you're thinking Phrygian. Then in the response, you land on the 1 for resolution.
So technically, you're using a chromatic, but you're thinking modal.
Answer:
Originally Posted by dcunning30 Do you think his chromatics might be playing modal but doing in on a note-by-note basis rather than a phrase by phrase basis? What I mean, using your mentioning the flatted 2nd, say you're playing in natural minor, but you really like the Phrygian sound of the relation between the 1 and flat 2. So you might be doing a call-and-response phrasing and in your call you land on the flat2, which technically is a chromatic, but you're thinking Phrygian. Then in the response, you land on the 1 for resolution.
So technically, you're using a chromatic, but you're thinking modal.
Yup. And you can end up wearing a few hats doing as you described; you're playing chromatics and you're favoring a particular mode and doing so can add a cool dimension of tension and resolution in the soloing.
Or something like that...
Answer:
you could just play slow at first and make your own scales that sound right, then improvise those.
Answer:
Originally Posted by nick2282 you could just play slow at first and make your own scales that sound right, then improvise those.
Thanx for the advice, but I have trouble going slow.
Im really hyper, and everytime I try to go slow I just wind up either going off beat trying to go faster, or I get really bored and walk away. I have some serious controll issues where that area is concerned. But I guess I should work on that if I hope to ever become very proficient at this instrument.
Answer:
Originally Posted by demon_hunter Thanx for the advice, but I have trouble going slow.
Im really hyper, and everytime I try to go slow I just wind up either going off beat trying to go faster, or I get really bored and walk away. I have some serious controll issues where that area is concerned. But I guess I should work on that if I hope to ever become very proficient at this instrument. Oh yeah I have that problem sometimes, until I learned to sing along and play but that's hard at first.
Answer:
Originally Posted by demon_hunter Thanx for the advice, but I have trouble going slow.

just play around and listen for all the right notes that you can use over your progression and kind of put together your own scale that sounds right. then play really fast once you figured out all the notes that work and dont work.