Guitar solo
- For the Fred Frith album, see Guitar Solos (album).
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The guitar is used in many genres to provide rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment to a voice or other instrument, or to fill in the harmony in a ensemble. The guitar is also used to perform solo parts either unaccompanied or with accompaniment from other instruments.
Unaccompanied guitar music is found in folk and classical music dating as far back as the instrument has existed, and the use of a guitar as a solo voice within an ensemble dates back at least to the Baroque concerto. The guitar is also prominently used as a solo instrument in jazz and blues.
Guitar solos in rock music
Today the term guitar solo is commonly taken to refer specifically to the rock music genre. Although solo passages for guitar are found in many musical genres, the 'guitar solo' has become characteristic part of rock music. Guitar solos are usually performed with electric guitar with the timbral effect known as distortion. Rock bands sometimes have two guitarists, designated 'lead' and 'rhythm', the 'lead' player taking the solos while the 'rhythm' player accompanies.
Most examples of rock music are based around songs in very traditional forms. The main formal features are therefore verses, choruses, and bridges. The guitar solo is usually the most significant instrumental (that is, non-vocal) section of a mainstream rock song. In other rock-related genres such as pop and dance music, the keyboard synthesizer usually plays this melodic role.
This use of an instrumental interlude to a song is influenced by blues musicians like John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters, who were influential in the development of rhythm and blues (e.g., Bo Diddley), rock and roll (e.g. Chuck Berry) and hence more modern forms of rock music. In most cases, the rock guitar solo is a short instrumental section of the song. In the classic verse-chorus form it quite often falls between the second chorus and third verse.[citation needed] As well, extended guitar solos are sometimes uses the end of songs, such as Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird".
In the progressive rock genre, however, extended instrumental passages or even whole instrumental pieces became commonplace during live performances. In hard rock bands, extended guitar solos are often used even in songs which have a short solo on the recorded version.
The accompaniment to the solo can vary. Probably the most common style is merely a continuation of verse and/or chorus instrumentation performed by the electric bass player, drummer, and any chordal rhythm section instruments (e.g., rhythm guitar, Hammond organ, electric piano, etc.). The solo is given the same backing as if it were a vocal passage. Other songs use a newly arranged section, with rhythm parts written specifically for the solo. More rarely, a guitar solo has no backing at all; this poses a challenge for the guitar player, since they must continue to keep the drive of the music going.
The use of the guitar solo in heavy metal music was especially notable during the 1980s, where guitar solos were common, and a lead guitarist of a band might be as well-known as the singer. During this time the use of techniques such as harmonics and hair popping became more widely used. Later, guitarists who had developed considerable technical facility began to release albums which consisted only of guitar compositions.
Guitar solos in popular music went out of fashion towards the end of the 1990s, and since then the guitar solo in pop and popular rock music declined in popularity; when present at all, solos tended to be more subdued and understated. As the 2000s progressed, the guitar solo has faded out of mainstream, nevertheless, it maintains its importance in Rock, heavy metal, blues, and jazz music.
Bass Guitar Solos
Although less common in popular music, some bands also include bass guitar solos in some songs, particularly heavy metal, funk, progressive rock, and fusion-oriented bands. Bass guitar solos are structured and performed in a similar fashion as a guitar solo, often with the musical accompaniment from the verse or chorus sections. While bass guitar solos appear on few studio albums from rock or pop bands, genres such as progressive rock, fusion-influenced rock, and some types of heavy metal are more likely to include bass solos, both in studio albums and in live performances.
Bass solos are performed using a range of different techniques. Bass solos are often performed by using plucking or fingerpicking. In the 1960s, The Who's bassist, John Entwistle, performed a bass solo on the song "My Generation" using a pick; bass players from heavy metal and punk rock styles often perform bass solos with a pick. Jazz fusion bassist Jaco Pastorius (Weather report) used chime like harmonics and rapid plucking techniques in his bass solos.
In the 1970s, funk bassists such as Larry Graham began using slapping and popping techniques for their bass solos, which coupled a percussive thumb-slapping technique of the lower strings with an aggressive finger-snap of the higher strings, often in rhythmic alternation. The slap and pop technique incorporates a large ratio of muted (or 'ghost' tones) to normal notes, to add to the rhythmic effect. Slapping and popping solos were prominent in the 1980s and they are still used by more recent bands.
When playing bass solos, rock bassists sometimes use effects such as distortion or Wah-wah pedals to produce a more pronounced sound. Due to the lower range of the bass, bass guitar solos usually have a much lighter accompaniment than solos for other instruments; in some cases, the bass guitar solo is unaccompanied, or it is accompanied only by the drums.
Some bands and artists who use bass solos include: Larry Graham, Cannibal Corpse, Rush, The Who, Motörhead, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Dire Straits, Red Hot Chili Peppers, 311, Metallica,Muse, Dream Theater, Black Sabbath, Kyuss, Manowar, Victor Wooten, Rancid, TNT, Mudvayne, Green Day and Primus.
Music Samples
Rock Guitar Solos
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Blues Guitar Solos
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Bass Guitar Solos
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See also
External links
References
Goetz, Philip, ed. (1990), Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 5 (Fifteenth Edition ed.), Chicago, p. 982, ISBN 0-85229-511-1 {{citation}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Text "author2-link" ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).