Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange
Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [solos]

A solo is a section or complete piece of music played or sung by one musician, with or without additional accompaniment by an ensemble or tape.

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What to do when you get lost in a jazz song?

A problem a lot of beginners in jazz have is that they tend to get lost in the solos (theirs and their bandmates' solos, where they accompany the soloist). Trying to follow the chord progressions with their many modulations, while thinking about…
Shevliaskovic
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What is "Phrasing" in the context of playing a Solo?

What is meant when a listener says"His phrasing was spot on"- specifically when talking about solo's but sometimes when referring to a pianist "comping". What does it mean when referring to a guitarists solo/accompaniment?
JustnBeaver
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Incorporating modes in solos

I have been playing and improvising quite happily for many years on a few different instruments but can't seem to get my head around incorporating modes into my day-to-day playing. I am from a blues / rock background and have got rather tired of…
Addsy
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Should the soloist watch the conductor?

I have been watching many videos of concert band performances which has a soloist standing just beside the conductor. Let's now assume that we are talking about a trombone concerto with a solo trombone player, should he/she be looking at the…
Hydra
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Guitar solo techniques

I have been playing guitar for a while now and I've decided (after playing with a guy I know and seeing how expressive his solos are) that I need to improve my improvisation. My improvisations are dull to say the least. It sounds as if I am just…
Tim Hargreaves
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How can I encourage a soloist to play louder?

In the training band I conduct, we sometimes choose pieces that focus on one player as a soloist. Many of the players have no previous experience of playing in public. Often, the children's natural shyness takes over, and they play more quietly to…
Dan Hulme
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Why does pentatonic + diatonic embellishments sound so much better than just using the diatonic for guitar solos?

I've learned both diatonic and pentatonic scales across the fretboard but when I go to solo, it sounds so much better to me if I use the pentatonic as a base and then pepper in some of the diatonic notes instead of just using the diatonic scale. Why…
dcw6751
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What other scales can be played over ii chord in ii-V-I besides Dorian?

Soloing over ii-V-I is usually associated with modes. Dorian-Myxolydian-Ionian. I'm trying to expand my soloing by playing "outside", so I wanted to find out what other scales can be played over Dorian in ii-V-I?
Phemelo Khetho
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What is the purpose of knowing the relative minor of a particular major scale?

I know that the relative minor of any major scale shares all the notes of that major scale. I'm also aware that the concept of relative minor seems to be useful for the purpose of soloing and improvising. However, the two sentences above don't…
Joebevo
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How can I play a solo when there is no chord progression?

Ok I'll explain the situation. I have to play a guitar solo during one section of a song. The problem is that during that section the other guitar only plays the D5 chord in an irregular pattern with considerable time between strummings. The song is…
ElShakes
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When/how to switch in between major and minor pentatonic

I'm trying to figure out how I can mix major and minor pentatonic scales and was wondering if someone could explain the underlying theory concepts that would dictate under what chords/chord changes does a switch sound good and also from which notes…
user2495518
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Getting the most out of a Jazz standard

I recently started practising Jazz standards. I started with Take Five, and Girl from Ipanema as they seemed relatively easy to play and their melody easy to remember. I would like advice on how I can get the most out of each standard I practice.…
user1953384
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Improvising in two pulses/tempos at once

In this documentary, Brad Mehldau states this about his trio with Jorge Rossy and Larry Grenadier: It’s pretty specific what I’m doing, I think, especially with the trio. We have the regular pulse that’s going on, and then we have another pulse…
jdjazz
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Question concerning the integration of jazz solos into the rest of the ensemble

I am a relatively new jazz player. I do know a sizable amount of theory, though. My question was if there were any tips and advice you could give me concerning if and how soloists try to adjust their solo to the rest of the ensemble (specifically…
Techable
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What is it called when one voice type sings a 'solo'?

We have three groups (soprano, alto, and baritone) and for one of the songs we're singing, each vocal section has a piece or section that we have to sing while the other ones stay silent. Our conductor referred to it as a specific word but I don't…
Vivi eyre
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