Hi,
How are you?
It's been a long time, hope all is well!
When composing a song, I am usually in a particular emotional state. That's when I start improvising riffs, rhythms, and depending on the style of the song, I eather work on the main riff and the chorus at first.
The first thing is the structure of the song. The basic structure would be verse-bridge-chorus-verse-bridge-chorus-lead-chorus-chorus.
The riffs are very inmportant for me whether it's a classical rock, a power metal or thrash metal song we're talking about. So I keep playing it and changig it utill I'm completely satisfyed with it. The same is with the chorus. I work on it untill I'm completely satisfyed with it as these are the most important in a song, next to the solo, which is the No1
Now if I start composing a thrash song, I will try and make some variations on the main riff, and play it before the first verse. You yourself can experiment with it, but the most important thing is that a particular riff should lead to another easily and flowingly, because I don't want a feel that I've thrown a couple of riffs here-and-there.
The solo is another story. First I want to get in the mood of the song, next I want to consciously thing about how do I feel while playing the song and what is my goal with the solo. Sometimes I simply improvise stuff, mut mainly I consciously think about the chord progression and the scales I can use on a particular powerchord or chord. Perhaps the best way to approach a solo in the beginning is to know in what key you are and play in the corresponding scale. If you are in E minor for example, you can use the E pentatonic/blues pentatonic, E minor scale and the E minor sweep shape (root-third-fifth) and it's variations: third-fifth-root, fifth-root-third, depending on the actual chord/powerchord you want to use it. Later on you can add as many scales as you wish.
Remember that in the solo, quote from Friedman : "Every note is important". So you simply have to use the metronome
That's basically it. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask!
Cheers
QUOTE (BM @ Apr 21 2010, 06:29 PM)
Hey Zsolt!
I know it's been a while since I last messaged you. I didn't have the funds to keep going on the site for a while but I recently paid them and all is well!
I have a question or two for you about how you write your riffs and your solos.
I am still working on my album. 3 of the tracks are completely done after 3 months of HARD work on them and the result is a pure thrash sound with my own touch to it. I have come to mix Dave Mustaine-like snarls with melodic choruses. The only thing I don't do is screams. However, the 3 songs I have come up with were pretty much improvised and were created out of chance. I feel that to finish this album I should figure ways to create riffs better. How do you approach riffs in general? Do you base them on the theme of the song or the album or do you write a bunch down and then decide what goes where? (Lately I go by the song's subject or mood and I try to make the riff fit that).
Same question basically with soloing. I'm not the best at adding solos that aren't improvised. What is your approach to writing solos? And how do I decide what sweeps are appropriate (in the right key) for the solo? I have been practicing 4 string sweeps (I started with 4 string) and I would love to incorporate them into some of my solos.
Thanks.
Connor
P.S.
I have a demo of my newest song on my facebook page. The link should be in our previous thread of conversation. The song is called Dementia. There is also a cover of the song Train of Consequences by Megadeth in which I nail Marty's solo (so that you can see my level of lead playing haha) Let me know what you think of them.
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GMC Forum > Discussion Boards > VINTAGE GMC > Community Activities and Tutorials > Ask an Instructor > Zsolt Galambos > Techniques (Zsolt)
