Guitar Solos for Better Phrasing: 5 Songs to Improve Your Technique
Slow and steady wins the race
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Guitar Solos for Better Phrasing: 5 Songs to Improve Your Technique · Source: Alamy Stock Photo / Brother's Art
These guitar solos for better phrasing will help level up your soloing skills. It’s not always about speed, sometimes the best playing is done slowly and cleanly.
5 Guitar Solos for Better Phrasing:
Why Slow Guitar Solos are Better:
- Playing slower guitar solos can not only improve your phrasing, but your vibrato, bending, and timing by encouraging you to appreciate every note.
- Solos by players such as Slash, John Mayer and Garry Moore perfectly showcase how less is more.
- Learning expressive solos note-by-note can help players to improve their own style, and will allow their respective creativity to flourish.
How Can Guitarists Improve Their Phrasing?
These 5 guitar solos are slow and steady. Yet, they’re not exactly easy. Guitar solos are very cool when they’re fast and loud, but they can be just as good when they’re quieter and slower. By learning refined tracks such as these, players can take time to appreciate all of the micro-movements in a solo, leading to better transitions, appreciation of techniques, and overall phrasing.
Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door – Guns N’ Roses
Our first look at guitar solos for better phrasing is a Slash staple. This Bob Dylan cover is one of the better versions out there. So, downtune your guitar to Eb, and get ready for our first solo.
This really is the epitome of low and slow. 132bpm, and in the key of Gb major. A *Les Paul responds so well to being half a step down, and this solo highlights that dynamic response.
By learning this solo, you’ll get a better appreciation for bends, and the 5th position of the major penatonic scale. Moreover, it’s only 8 bars long with plenty of pauses between phrases. Therefore, it’s easy enough to remember without the TAB, allowing players to perfect the bends and vibrato. Above all though, I love how this Guns N’ Roses solo memorable, meaning you can hum along as you play which is good for retention.
And I Love Her – The Beatles
Jumping back in time to the early 1960s now, with this Bossa Nova style entry from The Beatles. What’s amazing to me, as a die hard Beatles fan and guitarist, is that George Harrison was just 21 years old when he laid down this stunning solo.
And I Love Her is a steady track, and a great barre chord exercise. When it comes to the acoustic solo though, we jump up in key. The track goes from F#m, up to Gm. It gives the solo an injection of spice, without any of the techniques going over the top.
There aren’t many techniques to talk about, other than some slides and hammer ons that aid to the slick and direct delivery. Overall, it’s another example that’s memorable and suits the vibe of the song perfectly. It’ll also sound best on a classical acoustic, such as George’s own nylon strung José Ramírez *classical guitar.
Nutshell – Alice In Chains
Up next in our hunt for guitar solos for better phrasing, we’re in Eb again for another acoustic masterclass. However, Jerry Cantrell’s lead guitar is like a hot knife through butter. Let’s see why.
Nutshell has such an ambiguous feel in the rhythm, it’s really hard to get hold of the pulse. That mysterious feel helps to make this track what it is. Therefore, the solo is just as distant, but with a load of gain and sustain to contrast against the clean cut acoustic vibes.
There’s lots of vibrato, and some bends that last longer than what feels comfortable. The half step bends are great for players looking to improve their ear, as it’s very easy to go too far. I think that this replicates Layne Staley’s perfect imperfect vocal tone. Once again, the overall speed is steady enough to get a hold of it.
Still Got The Blues – Garry Moore
When it comes to guitar solos for better phrasing, Garry Moore is the ultimate G.O.A.T for this kind of thing. His feel and vibrato is still unmatched, and despite this being one of his biggest hits, there is loads to learn from it.
What I like most about Still Got The Blues is that the solo develops and builds upon the main riff, just adding a couple of tweaks here and there. As a guitarist, you want value for money on what you’re learning. Therefore, by leaning the intro, you’ve also learnt the first half of the solo.
Moore also switches from his neck to bridge pickup halfway through the solo, helping his *Les Paul to sing a little more. A lot of players need to appreciate the tonal benefits of which pickup to use, and where, across the frets. Players such as Garry Moore do it perfectly, using the neck pickup beyond the 12th fret of the neck, otherwise the bridge is just too harsh. Unless, you’ve really got something to say.
Edge Of Desire – John Mayer
Something a little more modern to round off our pick of guitar solos for better phrasing. We’re in 3/4 this time, so the timing is a little funky if you’ve not played in it before. But the bends… Oh, the bends!
What does this John Mayer solo teach guitarists? Here, we’ve got some beautiful major penatonic phrases, half and full bends, vibrato, and some guitar harmonies. This has bluesy underpinnings, but is nice enough to put in a chill playlist.
Above all though, the best thing about the solo in Edge Of Desire is that it develops. It starts slow, steady and reserved. However, by the end of it, it’s louder and more aggressive. This is vital for your own improvisation as a player. So many guitarists start their improvisation too abruptly, so this solo shows how effective it is to break this cycle.
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