The guitar solo in rock music

Hello, welcome to today's lesson entitled The Guitar Solo in Rock Music. My name's Mr. Norris, and today we're gonna be branching out a little bit to look at a really key feature of many styles of rock and often one of the most iconic features that we hear when we listen to rock, which is the virtuosic guitar solo. So I'm gonna get stuck in explore a few and then have a go at creating our own as well. I'm sure it'll be great fun. Let's get into it. Our outcome for today's lesson is that I've created a virtuosity guitar solo incorporating idiomatic guitar techniques. So we're gonna be looking at some of the really typical techniques that create a great guitar solo. Here's some key words. First is virtuosic. And playing in a virtuosic style means to play in a way that shows off your technical and musical ability. Note bending. This is when a musician bends the pitch of a note so they change the pitch of a note during it. Hammer-on. A hammer-on is a technique where the guitarist presses their finger onto a fret to play a note rather than plucking the string. Tapping. This is a guitar technique in which both hands tap the fret, allowing very fast patterns to be played. And finally, harmonic. A harmonic is a very high pitch sound the guitarist often played to add excitement to solos. The first part of our lesson today is looking at the development of rock in the 1980s. Rock continued to be hugely popular in the 1980s. Many earlier rock genres such as heavy metal and punk rock continued their commercial success but rock also evolved so it continued to grow and evolve from its roots. Music technology transformed in 1960s and '70s. Amplification had improved, meaning that bands could perform in increasingly large venues. This allowed for the emergence of stadium rock through the 1970s and '80s. Stadium rock was rock music written to appeal to a wide audience and be performed in huge venues. And we often hear these songs and these artists referred to as rock anthems. You might hear that phrase used. "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi is a classic example of a rock anthem. This is a really well known song from the '90s. I'd like to pause my video and have a listen to the click there and see if you can pick out what typical rock features you can hear in this rock anthem. So you can do that now. Let's look back at some of our key rock features there. So typical rock features include 4/4 time signature, instrumentation based around vocals, electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit. Use of riffs, driving rhythms and verse/chorus structure. Those are really core features of many of the different rock styles. When looking at rock anthems, we'll often have catchy, memorable, sort of sing-along melodies of big choruses, so things that you'll go away singing. Inoffensive and repetitive lyrics to appeal to as many people as possible. So this is rock music that is trying to have mass appeal and it wants to be catchy and it wants to be inoffensive as well. Use of strong riffs or hooks. Again, memorable musical ideas. And a moderately fast or fast tempo usually rock anthems are pretty upbeat and energetic. Which of the following artists are known for singing rock anthems? Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Michael Jackson or Bon Bon Jovi? I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answer then is Bon Jovi. They were a really big rock band, particularly in the 1980s and many of their songs would be classed as rock anthem. So well done if you got that. Which of the following is not the typical feature of a rock anthem? Moderately slow tempo, strong riffs and hooks or catchy melodies of big choruses? I'll give you a few seconds, which one is not a typical feature? And the correct answer here is moderately slow tempo. Normally, rock anthems are a little bit upbeat and energetic. In 1983, Yamaha released the DX7, which was a digital synthesizer that gave bands a huge range of synth sounds they could easily use. This was the start of an explosion in the use of synthesizers in rock. So this particular invention really paved the way for a lot of the way that rock music developed. And although other key synthesizers became really important, this was a real turning point towards the start of the 1980s. That's a picture of the DX7 there. But today's standards it would seem like quite a simple and basic synthesizer, but back then this was a real game changer for rock musicians. I'd like you to listen to this clip, and try and identify what traditional guitar roles does the synthesizer take in this clip? So think about what you'd expect a guitar to be doing in rock and then try and pick out the synthesizer and identify which roles it's taking in this example. So you can pause my video and have a go at that. So well done if you identified that the synthesizer plays chords and a melodic riff, both of which are traditional guitar roles in rock music, so some combining codes and also melodic riff and hook that repeats. I'd like you to listen to the riff again. What harmonic feature or harmonic device can you hear in the bass here? So pause my video and have another listen. Now that you've correctly identified then that the harmonic feature here is a pedal. So there's a pedal note playing in the bass and the bass stays on the same note and the chords change above it. The synthesizer is very versatile. It can play bass lines, chords, riffs, melodies, and sound effects. It's effectively an instrument where you can create any kind of sound you want, so it's extremely versatile and adaptable. In this clip I'd like to listen and see if you can work out which role the synth is playing here. And I'd also like to try and identify what's the guitar doing, what's the role of that instrument? So you can pause my video and have a go at that. Let's take a look then. In this example, the synth is playing short melodic riffs and hooks, and the guitar is playing chords. The guitar is playing a more accompanying part and the synth is playing a more melodic part. And we can see there this real interaction of the two instruments and how the roles can overlap and take each other's roles. Rock was also drawn into changing musical trends. I like to listen to this example and see if you can pick out what style has been fused with rock in this song? So what example of musical fusion can you hear going on here? Pause my video and have a listen. And that's quite an interesting example of a fusion of hip hop with rock. That's what that is there. And in the 1980s, this was the period when hip hop was growing in popularity as well. So we increasingly saw crossover between genres like that example. In this rock song, what other musical influences can you pick up here? I'll pause my video, have a listen. And that's obviously a very different example of rock music. Here we've got some African or Latin percussion, which might be influenced by some Latin styles or African styles. And we've also got slap bass, which might be influenced by funk or soul. So we've got influences being drawn from other styles into rock. Which of these could synthesize that play? I'd like to choose all that apply. Melody, chords, bass line or riff? Some few seconds left. And the correct answer then is all of them. The synthesizer is extremely versatile and adaptable. It could play melody, it could play chords, it could play bass line and it could play riff. So well done if you correctly identified all four. The development of which technology gradually made it easier for bands to perform in large venues, whether the synthesizer, microphone, amplifier or a record player? Give you a few seconds. And here the key answer really is the amplification systems improved massively between the 1960s and the 1980s and that made increasingly more possible for bands to perform in huge venues. Task A, I'd like to listen to each clip and answer the questions. For the first example I'd like to answer the questions, what is the role of the synthesizer? Describe one way that the rhythm guitar part is typical of 1970s and '80s rock? And describe two features of the drum groove that are typical of pop rock styles. Example two, list two features that are typical of rock anthems or stadium rock? And then suggest a suitable artist. So the kind of artist you might expect to be playing this song. So you can pause my video now, give this task your best shot. Let's review that task then. The first question, the role the synthesize that was playing a chordal riff, so it was playing chords but these are in the form of a repeating riff. The rhythm guitar part is typical because it uses distortion, uses power chords and it uses repeated quavers. All of those are quite typical of repeated rhythm guitar patterns in the '70s and 80s. And then two features of the drum groove that are typical of pop and rock. Well we've got a strong snare backbeat that's on beat two and four, repeated hi-hat quavers and it kicked on emphasizing the strong beats, that's beat one and beat three. Well done if you picked up on any of those. And for example, two, two features that typical of rock anthems? Well there was a catchy memorable melody, a strong guitar ray, also a repetition and a repeated melody and inoffensive lyrics. And then a suitable artist might be Bon Jovi, but there are lots of others that would also be suitable for that one. Well done if you got any of those answers correct. And now we're gonna move on to the second part of that lesson. And here we're looking at the virtuosic guitar solo. The guitar solo was a key aspect of many rock styles from the 1970s onwards. Often though we guitarist plays an improvised or in many cases pre composed solo in a virtuosic style to show off their technical and musical ability. This usually takes place near the end of a song before the final chorus, and the accompanying instruments will either play the chords or riff from the verse or from the chorus. So they'll carry on some of the familiar accompaniment from what the other sections of the song while the guitar is solos over the top. I'd like to listen to this clip, and in it I'd like to try and work out what makes this guitar solo sound virtuosic. So what is it about it that shows off the guitarist technical and musical ability? I'm gonna pause my video and have a listen. So in this instance, the guitarist plays in the virtuosity style by playing lots of fast repeated notes and patterns that show technical skill. Unlike most guitar solos, it's high pitched and very high energy. Often the guitar solo as it is in this example is the climax of the song real point, the energetic climax of the song. So well done if you picked up on any of those ways that they're showing virtuosity. Often the guitarist also builds up through their solo, so they'll start with a simple melody, then they'll gradually show more of their skill as the solo builds. So growing complexity. How does this guitarist, this clip build up their solo? So what are they doing that makes their solo gradually build in complexity and excitement? You can pause my video and have a listen. You might have picked up then that they build it up by making the pitch higher and making the rhythms faster and more accented. So it's getting rhythmically more complex and exciting. And as the pitch rises and they start playing higher up the instrument, it also sounds more exciting and more intense as well. Many guitar solos are based on rapid movement around a particular scale such as the blues scale with pentatonic scale. They also use many different techniques to play in a virtuosic style. These include note bending, which is where the player bends the string, changing the pitch. Let's see what that looks like. (note bending) So we can see there the bending of that note. They play the note and then bend it up and back down. That's a really common technique in guitar solos. Another common technique is hammer-ons. This is when the player presses their finger into a fret to play a note rather than plucking string. So watch the fret hand in this video. I'm try to notice how pressing the finger into the fret is what changes the note rather than the other hand plucking the string. (finger pressing the fret) So you can see there that left hand on the fret board is pressing into the frets and that's what changes the note. Again, a really common technique and one that allows plays to play lots of really fast intricate patterns. A similar technique is tapping, which is where both hands pressing the fret, allowing very fast, very complex patterns to be played. Let's have a look at that one. (guitar tapping) So you see both hands there on the fret board, pressing notes really fast and that creates this really complex, really impressive sounding effect. And then finally, harmonics. These are very high pitch notes that add excitement and this is a specific technique that electric guitarists often used. (harmonic notes) So we can see that the guitarist is normally on the string, but the technique they're using allows that pitch to go screaming really high up and that creates this really exciting intense effect. So those are four techniques that are really common in electric guitar solos of this period. And there are tools that guitarist will often use to show off their skill and to make really exciting solos. I'd like to pause my video and have a listen to this example now, and see if you can pick out any of those techniques. Which of those are they using? You can pause my video and have a listen. Well done if you identified them, that that one featured hammer-ons, note bends, tapping and harmonics. So that explored lots of those different techniques and there's a really virtuosic solo. I'd like to listen to these two solos now. See if you can identify which scale is being used. And before you do, think about what scales you might expect to be used in rock guitar solos. Pause my video and have a listen to those too. And the correct answer then was both of them are based on the blues scale. So it's interesting here that we've still got those features that are drawn from rock's roots back in blues and rock and roll. We're still using the blues scale here, and that's really common throughout lots of rock music is the use of the scale, particularly for improvisation and for solos. Which of these is not a virtuosic guitar technique? Is it tapping, clip back, hammer-on or harmonic? And the correct answer then is clip back. Tapping, hammer-on and harmonic are all virtuosic guitar techniques, but clip back is not. Which of these is a very high-pitched note that's often used in virtuosic solos? Is it a tap, a note bend, a hammer-on or harmonic? So which ones that really high-pitch sound? And the correct answer here then is a harmonic. Tapping is when both hands press in the frets. A note bend is just when the picture of the note changes. A hammer-on is when the left hand or the fret board hand presses in the fret. And a harmonic is that very high-pitched screeching sound. It creates such an intense and exciting mood. The task B. You're gonna listen to these two guitar solos. I'd like to complete the table. For each solo, I'd like to identify is it based on the blue scale, so that's yes or no? Does it build in complexity, yes or no? And then try and name one specific guitar technique that is featured. You might be able to name more than one if you listen very carefully. So you can pause my video now, give this task your best shot up. Let's review that task then. So the first example was based on the blue scale? It did build in complexity and features that you might have picked up on were note bending and hammer-on. So well done if you've got that. The second solo, it wasn't based on the blue scale, but it did build in complexity and featured note bending, harmonics and tapping. So both of these solos are using a few different techniques there. Now I'm gonna move on to the third and final part in today's lesson. And here we're looking at crafting a guitar solo. Along with typical guitar techniques, the defining features of a great guitar solo are, that it builds up to a climax, so it starts simple and gets more complex. It's virtuosic, so it shows off with fast notes and exciting playing. It fits within the key of the song and in our case, we're writing in the key A minor. Let's watch a video now that shows us how to craft a guitar solo for a rock piece, here we go. So finally I'm gonna have a go at crafting a guitar solo based on the a blue scale. And here I'm gonna be trying to make it as virtuosic as possible. So that means showing off as much as I can. Now I'm gonna try and use some of the stylistic features of guitar solos that we've been looking at. Some of them are very difficult to recreate without using a real guitar. So for example, creating the effect of tapping or harmonics is quite difficult. But we can try and do some of the stylistic features to make it sound like a sort of classic rock guitar solo. All I've done on my project here is I've created a new track and found an electric guitar, quite a distorted all lead guitar kind of sound that I'm going to use for my solo. And then I'm gonna be sewing for 16 bars. I'm gonna solo over my first section, which is the first eight bars where I've got that unison riff. And then we're gonna carry on soloing over the eight bars there, which is where I've got my chord sequence riff and my pedal. And that's quite typical that often when a guitarist is taking a solo, they will solo over the backing music for both the verse and the chorus. So that's quite common. A couple of things I'm gonna try and do is firstly I'm gonna try and start simple and gradually build up to climax. So start with some slower rhythms, maybe some slightly lower pitch notes and gradually build up to faster notes towards the end. More interesting, exciting rhythms and exciting playing. I'm gonna make sure I stick to the a blue scale 'cause that fits in with the key of our song, and I'm gonna try and be as virtuosic towards the end as I can. So playing some fast notes, doing lots of exciting playing. I'm just gonna hit record. I've had a practice on my a blue scale, so I'm happy with where those notes are, and let's give it a shot, see what happens. (instrumental music) So that's my attempt at a virtuosic solo. There are some things you might have picked up on there that I was trying to recreate typical features. So one of them is the idea of a note bend. Now there's a couple of ways of doing that when you're doing your solo. One of them is if you have a pitch bend wheel on your keyboard, you can play a note and then use pitch bend to bend it as if a guitarist is bending a note. (guitar bending note) Like that. Or the other thing you can do is you can use the note just below it on the keyboard to create that effect as well like this. (guitar grace note) So I'm doing a little grace note, we call that, really fast note and that creates the effect of a note bend that guitarists might often use. So we can also see looking at that solo that I've started quite simple. I've started a bit lower pitched and then I've gradually built up towards the end of the solo. So the climax is sort of those last few bars there, which is really typical of virtuosic guitar solos. So you can have a go at doing your own one, try make it as virtuosic as possible and see what you can come up with. Let's go through those steps then. To craft your own guitar solo, use the a blue scale, 'cause in this case we're working on the key of A minor. Solo over the verse and the chorus. Find a balance of repeating some short ideas and using a variety of different motifs. So try and strike the balance between repetition and contrast. Increasing complexity, and consider high pitches as your solo develops. And use grace notes to give the impression of a note bend. So there's a few different things there to consider that will help you craft your own guitar solo. Let's check your understanding. How many bars of compliment would be most suitable for your guitar solo? Is eight, 16, that's two sets of eight, or 24, that's three sets of eight? And the credit answer here then would be 16. So that'd be two sets of eight and that'd be equivalent to soloing or your verse and your chorus, which will be eight bars each. The task C, I'd like to create a virtuosity guitar solo based on a blue scale. The steps are start by creating a new electric guitar track and try and choose a suitable sound for it, and then record a 16 bar improvisation that uses that a blue scale. We can see it on the right hand side there, that builds up to a climax by starting simple and getting more complex. I'd like to be as virtuosic as possible. So show off just many fast notes and impressive things as you can. And then balance some repeated and contrasting ideas. So when you improvising, you might find a nice idea that you play in. You can repeat it a bit, but don't just repeat, try and build in some contrast and variety as well. So without further ado, pause my video and give this task your best shot. For the final part of this task, I'd like to listen to this guitar solo and identify how could this performer improve their guitar solo based on the success criteria, the steps that we've been following. So I'll pull you in now and see if you can think of a few things. (instrumental music) And if you still need to finish your answer, you can just quickly pause my video. Let's review that then. So it does use the aim on the blue scale and some repetition, however, it could be less repetitive and gradually explore more of the range of the instruments, show more virtuosity. At the moment, it doesn't really build up by using lots of different pitches and by getting more complex. It repeats lots of ideas over and over and has quite a narrow range and uses a small amount of the range of the electric guitar, which as we know has a big range. So really it's about building and doing something less repetitive and a bit more exciting. Well done if you picked up on some of those points. It's time to review our lesson. In the 1980s, rock continued to be hugely commercially successful. Artists drew influence from other styles and often used developing technology in their music. A common feature of many rock style is the virtuosic guitar solo. These are normally based on the blues or the pentatonic scale and are played above the riff or the chords in the encampment. And guitarists often use specific techniques such as hammer-ons, note bending, tapping, and harmonics in these solos. So that brings us to the end of today's lesson and to the end of this unit as well. I hope you've really enjoyed getting stuck into some brilliant rock music and feel inspired to go off and work on your rock composing and rock performing as well. And hopefully you feel that this has given you a few tools to understand what's going on in rock music when we listen to it, but also with how to use rock in composition more effectively. So thanks for taking part and I look forward seeing you in lesson.