What’s going through your mind during a solo?

[Mad Martigan1]

Howdy from Ky. I’m a relatively new mandolin player mostly play tunes in first position but I know my pentatonics and chop chords up the neck. I’m starting to venture into soloing out of chord changes and I can’t process exactly what’s happening. When you’re soloing are you simply thinking of the chord changes and playing notes based there in? Are you thinking of the main melody of the tune and also the chord changes at the same time? Personally I feel like if I’m simply concentrating on what chord I’m in and the corresponding scale notes contained therein then my music will sound sort of mechanical and bland. If I concentrate on the melody of a tune (which is what I’ve been doing) say St Anne’s reel and start improvising then I don’t think about what chord I’m in, I’m basically just playing out of the parent scale (I think). I’m sure this question has been asked a lot but I need some guidance on what to concentrate on. I realize every person approaches this differently but there has to be a level ground somewhere amongst good players.

[tmsweeney]

It was pretty much the same for me early on, thinking about keys and scales, not so much about chords, playing straight up BG sent me down the arpeggio path and now when soloing I tend to think about what chord we are on where is the root and so on. I tend not to think about scales but more about chord arpeggios when soloing now, I think it sounds less "wandering".

[Mark Gunter]

Mostly whether or not I’m contributing anything musically pleasing to serve the song, or anything entertaining for the audience - or I’m thinking about the notes I’m flubbing, lol

Generally, I’ve already been comping awhile so the key or the chord progression doesn’t get too much thought it’s just there.

[sunburst]

It changes with experience, at least it did for me.
Starting out I was thinking about what to play, often note for note practiced solos, and if I missed a note or phrase it would throw me off for quite a while until I could return to the practiced solo.

With a little more experience I was able to find my way back to where I wanted to be much more quickly and mistakes were hardly noticeable to the listener.

Later, I seldom learned a memorized solos unless I was playing in a band and my solo needed to be counted on by other band members for whatever reason (contained a cue for someone else, contained rhythmic portions, etc.) so I would often start a solo off the cuff and spend most of the time thinking about how I was going to get to where I wanted to be from wherever it was I had ended up!

In other words, when we are beginning we need to think about what notes to play and think about playing in time with proper dynamics. Whether we relate to the chord structure or the melody is not too important IMO, and in fact we can mix the two. It's OK to sound a little mechanical as we develop technique and learn our instrument. That will get better with experience.

As we gain experience I think most of us don't really think anymore but instead let the music come to us and play what we feel.

[Mad Martigan1]

It was pretty much the same for me early on, thinking about keys and scales, not so much about chords, playing straight up BG sent me down the arpeggio path and now when soloing I tend to think about what chord we are on where is the root and so on. I tend not to think about scales but more about chord arpeggios when soloing now, I think it sounds less "wandering".

I’ve been practicing arpeggios from the chop position. Any resource you can recommend for learning more/better arpeggios?

[Bill McCall]

I’ve been practicing arpeggios from the chop position. Any resource you can recommend for learning more/better arpeggios?

In a G chop chord, you can play the arpeggio from the 1,3 or 5. Not a lot more there. It would be useful to have the arpeggios under your fingers without looking for the root, ie, 3,5,b7,1 or just 3,5 1. Or 5,1,3. Or any variation of that.

You could also play M6 or M7 arpeggios, but they may raise eyebrows.

[James Vwaal]

I’ve been practicing arpeggios from the chop position. Any resource you can recommend for learning more/better arpeggios?

I picked up an arpeggio study put together by Mike Marshall and then took some online classes with Matt Flinner. Both got me learning basic phrases from which I venture off from with my own phrasing.

I also studied some transcriptions of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli solos. I never copy an entire solo, but take 2-measure phrases that I then add my own measures to tie them together. Mel Bay has a good book explaining Grappelli's style and showing common phrasings, and using those for practice help me to absorb his style.

I find that I need to know a song well, both the harmonic structure (chords) and melodic structure. Sometimes I can hear an alternate melody in my head and transfer it to the fretboard; sometimes I just have to woodshed through until I find something I like.

Rarely have I met non-pros who could sling an interesting solo together, on the fly, without having practiced the phrasing ahead of time. The easiest thing to do is start an arpeggio from the root and go up, or down. But after doing that in two or three songs, your solos all start sounding the same.

I took a class once in teaching second languages. The facilitator invited in a researcher who said that musicians often learn second languages faster than the general population because they (we) were good at absorbing and using phrasings that we hear, even sub-consciously. Absorption works below the surface, so you have listen a lot in order to hear it in your head eventually. And once you hear it in your head, you can replicate on the instrument provided you know the fretboard well.

[onassis]

For me, the progression started with thinking about key/scale, then moved on to figuring out how to play basic melodies and phrases out of double-stops, and moving through chord progressions with double-stops. The double-stops kind of lead naturally to thinking about arpeggios, since what are double-stops if not arpeggio notes? I think double-stop work has definitely helped raise my awareness of centering more phrases on the 3rd or 5th of the chord.

[pit lenz]

"Oh F**k! this is too fast, why on earth did i nod and take that break...."

That!

[Jacob]

Sing!

No matter what instrument is being played, string or wind, I'm singing the melody in my head.

[Mitch Stein]

I'm just trying to keep track of the chord progression and where we are in it. If I know what chords I'm supposed to be soloing over, I can usually pull something out.

[UsuallyPickin]

Not losing my place in the chord structure or the melody.

[OldSausage]

You know the thoughts you have while you're waiting for a haircut? Same thing.

[Frankdolin]

The "song". Improvising or playing straight. I think about anything else I'm gonna trip. And when it's your turn to solo, there's nothing wrong with just throwing down a better played "straight" version than anyone else.

[maxr]

Too often, I find my self thinking about something irrelevant like what I'm doing tomorrow. The next thought is usually "where am I in the song"?

[rickbella]

I too often think: "I played this really well while practicing alone. I played it fairly well while rehearsing with others. So why in hell am I messing this up NOW?"

[Zach Wilson]

"Maybe if I 'groove out' a bit they won't know I'm winging this one.... Oh, crap! They know I my winging this one."

[danmills]

I think learning about double-stops and harmony singing is a very efficient and rewarding path to playing somewhat more interesting solos as an intermediate level player. When I'm soloing I'm usually doing my best to express the melody, even if I've only just heard it for the first time. At the same time I'm trying to harmonize by hitting double stops (2 string chord fragments) where one note is (hopefully) a melody note and the other is an appropriate harmony note for where it falls in the song, i.e. the current chord (or maybe a chord variation like a dominant 7th, a suspended 4th, or some other blues note). I'm not doing all this too consciously, and when I'm less confident or it's a very unfamiliar melody, then I'll flagrantly rely on well-worn paths that I've kinda traveled before in similar songs.

[dang]

If I am doing it well I am mostly listening, not much conscious thought. Sometimes a few things will sneak in, like where I am going or have I used that double stop too much, where can I add motion to keep it interesting. But I try not to let these linger

I am definitely singing in my head, and I do remind myself to smile

I play regular gigs in bars a lot, and improvisational solos are a learned skill for sure. Now I can take a solo on a song we never played as a band before but just got a request that was backed up with money… My lead singer will pull the lyrics up on his phone and tell us a key, maybe an odd chord coming.

I do find I am a melodic follower rather then the chords, if I can hear the melody or chorus in my solo without too much meandering (or at least pick the melody up again) I feel it fits the song better.

[Old Dog Dave]

Okay, bear with me a moment, because this may sound a bit strange. But, I think all musicians (as well as athletes, craftspeople--well, pretty much anyone) can learn a lot from a writing titled "Letter of Takuan to the Shogun's Fencing Master". It dates to around the 1630s and the one source I am aware of where it can be found is a book titled THE BUDDHIST TRADITION IN INDIA, CHINA AND JAPAN by William Theodore de Bary. Rather than try to give you a summary of this short letter, let me just quote the first line of the letter: "Where should a swordsman fix his mind?" The letter itself gives advice to the Shogun on swordsmanship, and is very representative of the Zen approach which, as I noted, can be applied to so many actions. So, how does that relate to your question? The message of the letter is to not get caught up in a single focus. A swordsman, if he/she focuses on the opponent's hands in wielding the sword, will miss the foot movements; if focused on the eyes, the swordsman may not anticipate the shoulders or body movement of the opponent. In other words--as you perfect your skills you must be holistic in your perception, not narrowly focused or limiting your mind to one specific aspect of your performance. Learn the melody, learn the scale structure, learn the chords, learn the fingering, the arpeggios, etc.; then, when playing, avoid directing you focus to one of those at the expense of the others. Now, the letter that I have referenced, while brief (4 pages), does a much better job than I have here of explaining the Zen approach to the discipline itself. Hope some of y'all get a chance to read it!!

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hanging on for dear life.

[tree]

The melody. Then allowing whatever ideas to flow from, and back to, the melody.

[Drew Egerton]

Oh, I kind of know this song, I guess I'll take a break.
Hey dude look at me, I am nodding that I want a break.
Did they see me?
Yea I think so.
Oh look who's here.
I need another beer.
Oh here comes the break.
What key am I in?
Man that banjo is loud.
Oops, missed that note, it's ok keep going.
This jam is kinda traditional I should probably hold off on that chromatic stuff.
Ah screw it, here's a crazy lick that doesn't make sense.
Did that work, kinda?
How many times did we do the A part?
I'm playing too hard.
Ok tag this thing and get outta here.
Whew, that was messy. Close enough.

[JimKo]

On a good day, running through my mind, is the chord progression and the melody. On most days it is "why did someone stick my head in a box of killer bees and shake it up violently while I am trying to take a break?"
Chord tones and doublestops are you friend. Blues notes add interest an emotion.
Jim

[J.C. Bryant]

If it is not the tune itself, then it will surely be "why everyone is looking at me so funny".
I just can't think too much and play. That is why I love playing, even in my limited way. Whatever is on my mind dissappears when I play and concentrate on the tune.