Every guitarist has their solo. The solo that just shakes them to the bone. That one guitar solo that makes the world a better place. That legendary solo.

For me it’s Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd. When David rips into the most beautiful, melodic, flawless solo that I’ve ever heard, my day is instantly better.

The tone, the power, the careful phrasing is so moving.  So how did he, and so many other rock greats, create their legendary solo?
Let’s dissect some of the greatest guitar solos of all time, and unlock the secrets that you can start using in your soloing today.

Step 1 – Tempo is more important than you think!

When I was young and wet behind the ears, all I ever wanted to do is play fast. I figure if I could play faster than anyone else, then I would be better than anyone else.

Nothing can be further from the truth.

Now, the only the thing I think about while playing my guitar is how little can I play.

Music is the language of life, and if you want to truly live as a musician you must learn how to listen.

Think about it, what makes a good conversation? The person who talks non-stop, or the person who sits there and listens.

So think about setting back into the moment, into the groove. Let the music breathe, and then begin your solo. Play a few notes, then rest. What is the music saying back. Then respond with a few more notes. Then rest.

I know that this sounds a little kooky, but it’s the secret to being great. Just because you can play 300 notes a beat and never repeat the same lick twice doesn’t mean you’re great, it just means you you’re fast. In a relationship, would you rather be known for being great or fast? We’ll just leave that one alone.

So how do you add space and make your solos remarkable?

Step 2 – Hooks are everything, it’s what catches the biggest fish.

A musician is nothing without his audience (fish), the bigger the audience the bigger the musician. Writing hooks within your phrases is the key to getting a bigger audience.

That’s why it’s so important to learn the melody of every song you play. Jimi Hendrix did it. He could play every note that he sang, and it added an element to his music that many people of that time didn’t have.

Most guitarists just want to know what key they are playing in, that way they can just pull out their bag of recycled licks.

Always learn the melodies first. You can then use your licks or knowledge to expand on the melody, but it’ll give you a base to solo around. By sticking with the melody and creating hooks, you ensure that people remember you.

Step 3 – Tone, Tone, Tone, Tone, Tone!

Spend time crafting your tone. Distortion can kill the mood! This is something that has been lost over the years. If you look at the list of best solos of all time, even the hard southern rock giants, Lynyrd Skynyrd, had relatively clean tones. Many people misinterpret the intensity of their music as just distortion.

They just played with pure passion, raw intensity, and power, and that’s why they have landed themselves as one of the greatest rock bands of all time.

Concentrate on making great music, not just a great solo, play with everything you have. Use hooks, melodies, and space to craft your solo, and you’ll create something that will be remembered for ages to come.

Feel free to add your favorite solos, and any personal tips and tricks in the comments below!

I’ve dedicated this post to the most important decision you’ll ever make in your life. How to chose the perfect rock guitar for under $500.

This is a subject that shouldn’t be taken lightly, because current statistics prove that the your guitar will out last your first marriage 10 to 1!

After owning a very decent collection of guitars in my day, I wanted to pass on some knowledge that will help your buying decision, and give you some tips that will make sure that with whatever you decide to purchase you’ll be happy.

Let’s begin:

1st step to choosing the perfect guitar – Opt for tone over looks any day!

Whether you’re new to the guitar or not, it’s easy to get caught up in a guitar that ‘looks cool’, but rest assured after you lay out the dough for that axe the hype will quickly fade if it sounds like crap.

Tone is king. Nothing will make the worlds greatest guitarist sound like horrible faster than a crappy sounding guitar. Not only for the obvious reasons (it sounds like crap), but because it’s near impossible to play good on a rig that you’re not 100% satisfied with.

The licks you used to be able to shred through with ease now sounds like pure mush, and that KILLS your confidence no matter how good of a player you are.

Lack of confidence means hesitation. That hesitation will make you sound sloppy, which will soon bring an overwhelming embarrassment that will take weeks to recover from.

If you’re looking at a guitar in the entry level market ($500 or less) then I would highly suggest staying away from Ibanez, Jackson, Danelectro, or any type of flying V, SG, or explorer type bodies.

Although these companies/brands have some sought after models in the higher price range, the cheaper counter parts have second rate electronics. (aka – crap tone)

2nd step to choosing the perfect guitar – Cheap guitar shouldn’t equal cheap craftsmanship!

The first thing you should always do is tune up the guitar (with an actual tuner, not your ear!). Play around with it, and play hard. Then re-check the tuning after about 10 minutes. If there is a drastic difference in the pitch, then that’s a little indicator that the guitar isn’t made well at all.

Itís normal for a guitar, even expensive ones, to lose tune in music shops. This is caused from dead, old, strings that are either rusted or have a years worth of caked on finger grease.

But if after playing it for ten minutes, it’s so out of tune that you can’t even distinguish what key you’re playing in, then you need to set that guitar down, and run far, far away.

This could be cause from defective hardware, often times cheap or improperly installed tremolo systems.

That’s a problem that you can not fix without paying almost as much for the repair as you did for the entire guitar in the first place.

My recommendation: If you want a good entry level guitar, that you can make sure will sound great, play great, and it’s something that you can actually keep long term, then look at a Jimmy Vaughn Signature Fender Strat.

This would be my first go to guitar for under $500 hands down. It’s built to last, sounds great, and no matter what style you want to play you’ll feel comfortable playing it on that.

Now if you want to up your budget a little bit, then we can definitely get you into an axe thatís tailored made for you, but we’ll have to deal with that on another post.