5 Tips for Learning Guitar Solos
- Jayant Doraiburu
- Jun 20, 2020
- 2 min read
In January of 2020 I left my band to venture back into my Guitar life. In all my 10 years of drumming i had continued to play guitar but i had fallen too far behind in my game.
From February i decided to get back fully into guitar and discover ways on how to improve my guitar skills and the easiest way was to learn Guitar solos from your favorite artists.
Learning Guitar pieces of other guitarists is always a fun way to learn new techniques and it also gives you a finishing point. If you have a finishing point in what you are learning it inspires you more to continue learning. So let's dive into some thing i experienced and learnt as i started as a Guitarist once more
1. Slow down the Music while Learning Solos by Ear
Learning new music pieces by ear is one of the best ways to learn but often some songs may be too fast to follow, and even after several play through you will not be able to find the right notes.
The intelligent way here is to slow down songs using a DAW or if your Media Player has a slow down function without altering pitch (e.g. VLC Player) use that function to figure out what notes are being played.
2. Break down the Solo into Small Sections
Guitar Pieces by amazing guitarists like Marty Friedman or Paul Gilbert contain such a huge number of notes that it looks impossible to learn or remember them.
The easiest way to tackle this problem is to divide the solo into smaller manageable sections. Then Focus on Learning one section at a time.
3. Look for Tabs on the Internet
Learning to read tabs and learning a new song with tabs is an easy task. It removes the frustration of going through a puzzle and gives you a straight answer.
Often there are incorrect tabs on the internet but they will give you a staring point in learning a new song.
4. Practice on Slower Tempo and gradually Speed Up
Practicing on slower tempo will improve accuracy and gives more space to work on perfecting technique. When you reach the desired tempo try playing on even higher tempos to improve further accuracy and technique.
5. Look for lessons on Youtube
If the pressure of teaching yourself gets too hard you can always try looking up Lesson on a particular Guitar solo on Youtube. A lot of times you will be able to find popular guitar solos being completely broken down and explained in detail.
So, in conclusion this is how i go about when i cover a guitar solo or song. These tips might help you , might not. If you have a unique method for learning guitar solos, feel free to comment below.
Ready to start strumming now without any prior experience or a physical instrument? Online virtual guitars make it possible! These tools often provide a user-friendly interface where you can select chords and "strum" them with your mouse or keyboard, or play individual notes. It's a fun and interactive way to get a feel for how guitar music is made, learn basic chord shapes, and even try playing along to simple tunes. For anyone curious about learning guitar, it’s a fantastic, zero-cost way to begin exploring.