Probably just in general he's one of the most underrated guitarists because the Pumpkins are one of those unique bands that don't fit in with the masses. His playing was/is far more interesting than many middle of the road guitarists that get hailed as gods all the time. But hey, it's one of those "if you know, you know" things
I was kinda hoping the answer to be: A MELODY Call it a lead line, a motif or whatever. I think most solos lack a unique set of notes that set them apart form all other melodies. Don't get me wrong, I love Kirk's soloes. They're certainly recogniseable, but most of them feel like he's throwing licks at us. Compare that to just the 6 first notes of Hendrix's "Little Wing". Unmistakeable. That, to me, is what makes a guitar really sing
I thought the same. I switched from drums to guitar because of Siamese Dream, so I read a bunch of Corgan guitar mag interviews back in the 90's. The single biggest concept I remember regarding solos was: they needed to go somewhere. They should take the song to a different place by the end of it - up or down in energy. Cherub Rock is a good example. Even though the chords are familiar coming out of the solo, he's augmented it with a different vocal line / melody. Gave the same chords new lift towards the end of the song.
Most of Kirk's best solos where they "sing" are anything before "Death Magnetic" onward (well that last "Unforgiven III" solo is amazing, aside from that nothing else). But yeah, he really got lazy in the late 00's, he barely soloed in the 90's, so idk if that counts.
I love Corgan’s philosophy on his article on how the music you wind up playing because it connects to you might be different from what you listen to and are inspired by. Corgan’s big influence was surprisingly Yngwie and there’s a few mid eighties videos of Corgan shredding on a Les Paul. But as much as I like it I’m glad he went with what he truly connected with.
Billy was the best songwriter of the 90's alternative rock scene from a compositional perspective and those first three albums from SP are three of the greatest albums in rock history in my opinion with "Siamese Dream" being my favorite album of the 90's and his guitar tone on it pushed me to swap my stock strat pickups for the lace sensor pickups (blue, silver, and red) that he used religiously on those first three albums. Without a doubt the most versatile pickups I have used out of the seven electrics I own in regards to the wide range they offer in controlling your tone.
@@Zappappappappa To place Corgan within a genre or temporal era completely guts his true greatness. I'm not trying to sound like some sort of intellectual snob or something, I just think it confines and cheapens the value of the art itself and removes the transcendence of it.
I remember thee was someone in the comments under one of the Corgan shredding compilations describing him as an "80's guitarist who successfully managed to adapt to the 90's"
Kerry's method for recording solos in the studio is really interesting, actually. For each one he consumes the tape for up to 3 hours' worth of tasteful shred. Actually eats it. He then takes five doses of Ex-lax, squats over an SM-57 and records whatever comes out.
For me a big issue is when I get locked into a repetitive pattern of fingering. I've caught myself multiple times using a lot of repeated motions, but in different spots along the fretboard. Ultimately it feels like if writers block and muscle memory had a bastard child
Honestly that can still work if done right. Think of the middle climbing part of Enter Sandman's solo if you take away the wah. (Or even with wah, still sounds good) That's just the same 3 note lick starting on the 12th fret, then up to the 14th, then ending on the 15th. I love that little climb, as simple as it is.
I feel like after a point though that’s not necessarily a bad thing, if you’re not playing prog there’s only so many ways you can go up and down a scale that sound ‘good’ in a conventional setting
What i do is the moment i catch myself doing that, use a different finger, mive the finger somewhere else or move to a different string. From there you can decide whether you wanna resolve or branch out into another idea. Nothing wrong with those "safety licks" , especially if youre just sorta showing off for people. Hope this helps :)
Funny, but I do hope you know that the meme of "Hammett Solo = Wah" is entirely untrue. Oh sure, he went through a wah period, but it's not the end-all, be-all of Hammett's soloing.
This is why a dude like Chuck Shuldiner is such a great guitarist to learn from--all his solos show off a ton of technique--but ultimately they are part of the song, and tell their own musical story. Also, a good one to learn from jazz is having the band as a whole change dynamics, and call and response and react to the soloist, rather than just be a back track for an individual to show off.
Pretty sure I read that Billy Corgan article when it came out, he has some great ideas about using guitar for the purpose of making good songs, not just for the sake of playing guitar
I figure solos are "neat", but useless without context. As far as I'm concerned, the solo has to serve the song. Whether the solo is created around the song or vice versa, if there's no song then there's no solo - it's just a lick or an idea.
I am inclined to agree, one solo i love is seize the day by avenged sevenfold. Its a beautiful solo on its own, but the emotional power only comes through fully when its in its proper place in the song
I think one great example is Stairway to Heaven. I don`t think the solo itself is anything incredible, but the way it interacts with the song and the fact that it comes like a sun ray after such a great journey is what makes it so good and legendary
Corgan is in my opinion the best songwriter that came out of the 90's alternative rock scene when looking at it from a purely compositional perspective and Billy's love for a wide range of different artists and genres really shows with how unique the Pumpkins' sound was and the amount of different elements Billy utilized as a way to pay homage to his inspirations. His approach to playing on "Siamese Dream" is what makes it the best album to come out of the American alternative rock scene in the 90's and in my view top three for the entire decade.
In an interview with guitar world Angus Young said, "Why play a thousand notes when you can get your point across with a few notes". This was in reference to his solos. While he's not my favorite soloist, he definitely gets the job done. 🎸.
One of my favourite guitar solos ever is the one by Alex Lifeson on ´Limelight´. If you only heard the isolated track of the solo without knowing the song you'd never get it. But it perfectly matches the mood of the lyrics (feeling isolated amongst the crowds of fans).
One of the most influential tips I ever read was that the best (i.e. most memorable) solos are ones you can easily sing along with. David Gilmour and John Mayer immediately come to mind for this. Flashy licks have their place but a good solo has a melody and a well thought out progression from beginning to end.
Yep, I’ve always said it. A solo can only be as great as the song it’s a part of. A solo should take the essence of the song and express it in a way that’s not possible with words. Take that feeling to a next level if you will and create a moment of catharsis.
Billy once said, there is no wrong way to play a guitar. After decades of playing I agree, it's a noise maker and my goal is to make sounds myself and other people enjoy its that easy.
Yes, a very important fact, the song is king or rather the end result is king. But to acquire the skillset to put the right solos/riffs in their proper place one has to grind seemingly mindless scales like forever. Think of it like building oneself a toolbox with fully working tools instead of sticks and stones.
Billy has such a great sense of musicality, how sounds will fit together, what creates and colors the landscape/structure of a song, and even his wildest, most technical solos are just so tastefully done. Some people later too much and the feel is gone, his layers just added and added and added until your heart, ears, and brain were the same organ. Sometimes I can’t believe I saw them play live. I mean, I loved Kurt, Mike, Kim, Dean, Chi, Jerry, and other GREAT guitarists from that era but Corgan and the whole SP concept will always speak to me the most. From a guitar standpoint to the overall sound and execution. It’s literally ART.
The story isnt about soloing but it does feel related to what you're talking about: I was in a power-pop band in Reno from 2003-2006. Our guitarist, Ty, was our primary song writer. What's cool is that he was also the primary songwriter for a metalcore band in Holland but his pop music sensibilities were so strong that, while writing a six song EP for his metalcore band, he ended up with like 10 other songs that were failed attempts at metalcore songs that worked perfectly in our power-pop band. We ended up with more songs than his Holland band and all of our early songs were scraps from that band. In fact, our best songs were always the songs that started off as him trying to write for the other band.
Real interesting video, not what I expected. I thought you were going to point out the one thing that a great solo needs is space, not just a predictable, endless barrage of notes. That kills the dynamics and musicality 99 times out of a hundred.
I think it's partly because someone like Billy is as much of an artist as he is a player, which unfortunately not all people are. Anyone can study and practice to become a brilliant player technically speaking, but the true artists are born with that mind and develop/hone it with hard work into songwriting. Those videos of Billy in the 80s shredding some amazing stuff on some Les Paul type guitar show he'd mastered the technicalities of the instrument by a fairly young age but hadn't yet developed his artistic approach to music and songwriting. It's about knowing when to call on the difficult solo playing as well as the far more simplistic, melodic or textural soloing to best suit the song. I'm sure other artists as well as Billy sometimes have to work a lot on ideas when writing but I get the feeling intuition comes into it too. He just knows what works best for any style of song he's written. The moment you stop trying to impress the listener and instead focus on serving the song can be a pretty profound thing
This gave me a big kick as a new guitarist. I tend to focus on just getting the scale right or just noodling with no structure, but the music and the songs need to be the reason I do this.
It’s so cool to look back on your early guitar solos and see what has evolved. What licks you now use or always go back to. It makes the journey of playing that much better
I remember when Corgan had a column in Guitar World I think it was. He also recommended experimenting with little things like different picks, different tunings, etc.
Great lesson. As soon as you first played the solo by itself, no backing..I knew exactly where you were going with the lesson. And sure enough, once you dropped the backing in...it erupted! Night. And. Day !!
I remember an interview the late Dimebag Darrell did where he said his dad told him to learn one new lick a day. That was all he had to do -- learn one lick a day and add it to his repertoire. After a while, you will build up an arsenal of licks you can draw from when composing a solo or riff. Another valuable piece of advice I got was an article interview with Joe Satriani, where he said to locate the root note of any key you're playing in everywhere across the fretboard. That way, you have reference points all across the neck and places you know you can land on in case you get stuck in a rut.
I don't care how awesome a solo is. If it doesn't evoke emotions and actually be interesting, I could care less for it. It needs soul, character, emotion, and a purpose. If you can take a guitar solo out of the song and the song doesn't change in a meaningful manner, it doesn't have a proper purpose and detracts from the song
Perfect example is Sweet Child o Mine solo. The song wouldn't exist without it. Compared to many uninspired shelf solos... To me a solo needs to have it's own intro development climax and resolution as a mini song within a song
kinda why Billy Corgan has always been one of my favorite guitarists. his solos have so much feel and are put in the perfect place in each song to just make them explode and push the song to that next level.
I recognized that first solo you played, even without the backing track. Sometimes I write the song, then come up with a solo or melody, then other times the solo first and the rest of it comes later. And sometimes a riff I recorded 50 years ago inspires a song today. IMO a guitar "god" is one that can generate an emotional response to the whole song, not just be gobsmacked by how fast you can play or how many notes you can cram into one second. That's why I record everything, even the noodling. Something will pop.
I'm a bassist and really dig your channel! I'm actively writing and performing in two bands and find your perspectives useful while I'm thinking on song bits. Thanks!
One of the best solos on rock n' roll history was the Soma solo by Billy Corgan. It wasn't guitar wankery at all. It went along with the song and it was so perfect. A lot of people forget that Billy Corgan was a great guitarist and a superb soloist. In my opinion, a solo should fit the song. I'm not a big fan of guitar wankery in which a guitarist will play a backing track and recklessly shred through tons of scales and various arpeggios. It just seems excessive to me and it doesn't sound good. But if you build a solo around an actual good song, such as Soma, it sounds much better. Another great solo was Cherub Rock by Smashing Pumpkins. Again, it was a tasteful solo that revolved around a great song.
When I was in a band, the song we were playing didn't have a solo, so I just borrowed one from a different song, and it worked, possibly passed as semi original due to different song keys.
Im actually a Bassist but I take these lessons, all of them to heart. I think I could add on to this the concept of revisiting licks and finding new way to recreate them, or even probably just update them. You might end with something much much better than before
I used to have a subscription to Guitar, and Guitar School magazine that my grandfather used to renew for me as a Christmas gift every year. I still have every single issue in boxes in the basement now. The "Guitar" magazines aren't still in as good a condition as my Guitar School magazines because the spines on the Guitar school magazines were better quality. Every now and then I will pull those boxes out and go through those magazines. I think it's awesome that you kept yours around too. (To a certain degree) haha.
The secret to a good solo is write the song first. To often people write a bunch solos or ideas and then try to force the idea into a song just write the song and then play the solo that fits.
In my opinion, most solos are missing a sense of melody and structure. Often, I'll listen to a solo and it just sounds like a bunch of fast notes. I want a solo that follows the chord changes. I want a solo that shifts moods. I want a solo that tells a story or captures an emotional arc, even if you can't articulate what that arc is.
This is exactly the way i see it too, you know even if its quick give me a change of pace in there somewhere you know. Instead of playing at just the same speed (slow or quick) change the tempo up some, take it from quick and aggressive to slow and vulnerable; i mean its a solo be creative and give some character and variation
When I started playing guitar all my friends wanted to be slash because of his solos but every one always misses the point that his rhythm playing is just as good
Watched quite a few of your videos, never commented before, but this was a great one, I gotta say that you're a pretty cool dude! Thanka for sharing the knowledge and great tips! Stay safe out there everyone! GOOD LUCK!
It might not be the most popular statement to say, but after so many years of the electric guitar where every inch of fretboard and every nuance of amplifier has been played on, built up, torn down, recreated and blown up a thousand times, it's really getting more & more difficult to come up with something that makes people's ears perk up. That's why most people in 2021 use the guitar for a stress reducer/relaxation tool, rather than a magic wand that makes everyone think you're a hero. Much of what the instrument does has already been laid out & claimed.
You mentioned synchronicities in this video and this video itself is a synchronicity for me right now. I didn't record a lot of my little licks and riffs that i came up with as much as I would transcribe them in this huge binder I used to have. I always dated everything too. The other day I accidentally found that binder that was from almost 20 years ago. (I had forgotten all about it) In it I found a ton of shit that I wrote and completely forgot about. (I used to have a heavy opiate addiction). If I hadn't of kept all those notes and ideas, they would've been lost forever. Finding this video today is a sign of some kind i think. Thank you 😊
Mick Taylor, is my favorite player. He understood there were 12 nites, 8 of which work well inside any given key. From those 8, 5 are hugely impactful, whether major ir minor, and 3 were passing tones for flavor. He's obviously capable of anythig his mind heard, but always chose the right notes for the tension and release while still showing restraint. Slash also has that appraoch. I can't stand noodler ala Lynch, etc. EVH is an obvious exception, as he wrote a real composition within a compostiton.
Great video Brad... with either a liquor or a riff or even just a melodic idea that could be a vocal or some kind of a lead... I'll often sing them into my phone recorder... then we create them either on the piano keyboard base or guitar... And even sometimes it's a rhythm idea that I come up with at a gym night or something and I just hit record on my phone to capture the sound or the feel... developing into a completed song is always the dream and of course the best feeling when you have it done! 😎🤘🎸
mike, thankyou for this video. you are a really good guitar teacher and in all the ways, not just one. it seems that every one of your videos are hitting on really important things for me music wise. keep up the great work and it did indeed trigger a lot of ideas and motivation. have good one
YES, I LOVE IT! You 20-30-somethings can keep your smartphones and tablets. There's nothing more reliable than the good 'ol fashioned three ring binder. There's something about touching the slightly rough paper the tabs were printed on in magazine's. It's like an indescribable connection, not only to the music but also to the band. My teenage self in the 80's imagined my favorite guitar players were so cool they actually took the time to write out the tabs of their songs so their fans could learn to play them too. lol. But the best part was the smell of the paper when you found that 2 year old copy of Guitar World with Eddie Van Halen on the cover holding his Frankinstrat.
Smashing Pumpkins are the mold on the wall of a small town mall Hot Topic stockroom that grew until it became sentient, divided into four, and started a band. If you move a box of old faux leather chokers you’ll see the stain where the started, right next to the circuit breaker box.
I love hearing you talk about your old cassettes. I’d imagine we are close to same age and the only reason my recordings aren’t on cassette is because I didn’t start playing till I was 17.
The only reason my music isn't on cassette's is, they weren't invented when I started playing. I used a reel to reel tape deck. Allowed me to overdub from track to track.
I like to keep the whole magazine. I don't throw things away, I pay for. Also, I love pulling out my old guitar world magazines and rediscovering the gear, tabs, and interviews I may not have been interested in years ago.
Guitar World had some great columns in it back in the 90s. J Zombie also had a great one that focussed more on forming and running a band, some very sage advice in that one. Not weird at all to have kept these old magazines.
Great insights to soloing and making them sound even more artful and musical that inspires me as a guitarist and I love the passionate melodic playing!
see, I never just come up with solos - I ALWAYS have the song first, then the melodies on top come and I construct something that sits on that bed but also flows through it seamlessly. I like to think of a solo as telling a story of it's own or expressing a raw emotions or sonic coloration. Sometimes it's mood and aesthetic and atmosphere and other times it's lyrical. My band's original song "My Friend" on my channel reflects these principals pretty well I think.
I totally agree, one thing I’ve always done ever since i started was just add some chords or riffs in there before and after a solo; a pretty simple thing, but its something that helps determine me figure out the direction I’ll take + I’ll record almost any of my “noodling” still not too the point of a “song” but i could definitely imagine a bass line in the back if my head or some drums after I listen too it so i may just get into some midi stuff just to mess around with it; still wanna learn bass though 😁
I have boxes of guitar magazines going back to the early 80s. Guitar World, Guitar Player ect.. Those guitar magazines can fetch a pretty penny. I can’t see tearing pages out of them. Some of them used to come with a record that you can tear out and actually play.
I remember the days when we had to take things similar to your binder, like books made of paper, flip the pages and read the sheet music or tablature. We also had to leave our houses and go to a music store to buy those old paper books. It was a terrible, terrible time. It took a gargantuan effort just to learn a new lick or riff in those dark, gloomy days! 🤣
I was wrong. I clicked on this video because of the Title, not so much BC Billy Corgan, but the topic... Then I almost left because I thought oh this is another shredder with amazing chops showing me how bad my solos are... lol You definitely have some serious chops, overall technique is clean like someone who practices allot... So your idea about putting solos in a frame, so it’s a composition , it makes a world of difference, it is what makes a solo memorable, Bark at the moon is a good example, that solo section, 3singable...ithe more memorized & practice can give the brain a chance to explore & try new ways .
