Phrasing and Dynamics 3 - Pop Rock Solo Lesson

Jose Mena

Phrasing and Dynamics 3 - Pop Rock Solo

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by Jose Mena16 years
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Feedback

- Jose Mena28th May 2009
  QUOTE (Alexiaden93 @ May 27 2009, 01:28 PM)
  Wow ! A perfect collection of solo licks, Jose ! Well done !
  
  Thanks Alexiaden enjoy
- Alexiaden9327th May 2009
  Wow ! A perfect collection of solo licks, Jose ! Well done !
- Jose Mena17th May 2009
  Hey Tsarpf, didn't see this post, I missed it. I guess you want to compose these kind of solos yourself, the best answer I can think of is play the backing and see what you come up with in your head don't touch the guitar, don't look at it, by looking at a fretboard you might be tempted to play a pattern you already know. Even record yourself singing the melody, and then try to imitate it with the guitar, later you can throw in some known patterns of yours in between the lines that were done in your head.
- Tsarpf19th April 2009
  Umm...
  Now when I think about it one second more, this lessons point was to answer to the thing I asked about ^. So maybe I should start with learning all the things you talk about in the lesson?
  
  Thanks again for the awesomeness
- Tsarpf19th April 2009
  Goodgoodgood! It would be awesome to be able to do this kind of stuff myself, could you give any advice on how to practice making something similar?
- Jose Mena31st March 2009
  Hey Guys, been away for a while, I was in Lima last week, still tired from the trip and trying to catch up
  
  QUOTE (Marcus Siepen @ Mar 25 2009, 09:32 AM)
  love it
  
  Thanks Marcus, glad you like it.
  
  QUOTE (Carlos Carrillo @ Mar 25 2009, 08:46 PM)
  I love your style Jose! I again!
  
  Thanks Carlos, that is always nice to hear
  
  QUOTE ([email protected] @ Mar 25 2009, 11:19 PM)
  Very cool solo Jose and nice guitar!
  
  Thanks Gabriel, as said before, its a unique guitar
  
  QUOTE (Dexxter @ Mar 26 2009, 08:47 AM)
  Very nice and very Mena-ish And I'm not kidding
  
  WOW Dexxter, if you are not kidding I might be on to something with my playing
  
  QUOTE (kahall @ Mar 27 2009, 11:26 PM)
  This is going to be fun.
  
  Glad you feel this way
- kahall28th March 2009
  This is going to be fun.
- Dexxter26th March 2009
  Very nice and very Mena-ish And I'm not kidding
- Gabriel Leopardi26th March 2009
  Very cool solo Jose and nice guitar!
- Carlos Carrillo26th March 2009
  I love your style Jose! I again!
- Marcus Siepen25th March 2009
  love it
- Jose Mena24th March 2009
  Thanks guys
- Ivan Milenkovic24th March 2009
  Beautiful licks Jose, sounds excellent!
- Aleksander Sukovic23rd March 2009
  Very nice solo, Jose. And great job on that tele!
- Carlos Carrillo23rd March 2009
  Beautiful lesson Jose! I love it!
- fkalich22nd March 2009
  "Stock" is a common colloquial term meaning "standard original equipment", as it comes from the factory. I was wondering if you had replaced your bridge pickup as you apparently had at the neck, and which of the pickups you were using in this recording.
- Jose Mena21st March 2009
  Thanks guys
  
  QUOTE (Berglmir @ Mar 21 2009, 07:07 AM)
  Your lessons always leave me in awe - great melody and tone.
  How THIS lesson can be rated "4" is quite beyond me, because that´s usually the level I see my skill atm.
  It´ll be summer before I master this lesson vaguely! ;-)
  
  Thanks for the comment. I guess I thought of a 4 first, since it didn't have any fast playing, except for the short triplet part, but then I started thinking about it and should have made it a 5 maybe 6. Just try it out.
  
  QUOTE (kaznie @ Mar 21 2009, 07:37 AM)
  You're tone is the best ever xD do you use Pod Patches? If so, please post it!
  
  Yes, POD XT, will try to reproduce the tone and post it, but again it has to do with the guitar.
- kaznie_NL21st March 2009
  You're tone is the best ever xD do you use Pod Patches? If so, please post it!
- Berglmir21st March 2009
  Your lessons always leave me in awe - great melody and tone.
  How THIS lesson can be rated "4" is quite beyond me, because that´s usually the level I see my skill atm.
  It´ll be summer before I master this lesson vaguely! ;-)
- Vasilije Vukmirovic21st March 2009
  Very melodic solo!
- inertia21st March 2009
  beautiful playing jose, I've missed your lessons man
- Jerry Arcidiacono20th March 2009
  Great solo and great tone here
- Ramiro Delforte20th March 2009
  Lovely lesson Jose!
- Jose Mena20th March 2009
  Thanks Hisham
- Hisham Al-Sanea20th March 2009
  cool lesson jose
- Jose Mena20th March 2009
  QUOTE (AlexLion @ Mar 20 2009, 03:39 PM)
  What a catchy melody here!:) Really nice lesson, as always, and you make awesome guitars! Amazing look and sound is even better!
  p.s.- and stock means that it cames from factory like that(no changes made), but here i see you changed it to Dimarzio as you mentioned:)
  
  Well I made no changes as the guitar had no pickups in it, and the bridge isn't a DiMarzio is a Kent Armstrong I forgot to mention that, not as popular, but good.
- AlexLion20th March 2009
  What a catchy melody here! Really nice lesson, as always, and you make awesome guitars! Amazing look and sound is even better!
  p.s.- and stock means that it cames from factory like that(no changes made), but here i see you changed it to Dimarzio as you mentioned:)
- Jose Mena20th March 2009
  QUOTE (Emir Hot @ Mar 20 2009, 09:19 AM)
  Awesome Jose. I like all your lessons man
  
  Thanks Emir, that is always nice to hear
  
  QUOTE ([email protected] @ Mar 20 2009, 09:22 AM)
  Really awesome lesson here, Jose. This is exactly the type of lesson I love. I would totally try to learn it right now if my B string hadn't broken a few days ago. But, as soon as I get a new set, I'm going to take a crack at learning this. Great job!
  
  Man, go get a B string at least and play something, thanks for the kind words.
  
  QUOTE (Stephane Lucarelli @ Mar 20 2009, 10:20 AM)
  Cool lesson Jose ! I love your tele too
  ( Handmade guitar if I understood ? )
  
  Thanks Stephane, I love this Tele as well
  
  QUOTE (fkalich @ Mar 20 2009, 11:05 AM)
  Which pickup are you using on your tele, the bridge? Also, is the bridge pickup stock? Thanks.
  
  What does stock mean?, sorry not exactly sure, The bridge pickup on this tele sound very sweet somewhere in between neck and bridge pickup, But I believe it has to do with the wood of the neck and body or something else on the guitar itself, I am tempted to make another one with the exact same specifications as this one came out nice.
  
  QUOTE (kian_yip @ Mar 20 2009, 11:30 AM)
  Very nice playing , Jose. Very nice tele too. I hope you can make me one
  
  Thanks kian_yip, I might just make another one of these soon, in some other color. I'll maybe star a thread on the progress of it, and see if you dare do this yourself, I could make you one if you wish.
  
  QUOTE ([email protected] @ Mar 20 2009, 11:38 AM)
  sorry about spamming this feedback but just listened to the demo of the song you've done and now understand how the solo follows the vocal line....superb
  
  Awesome man, that is the idea of the second part of the solo, glad you took the time to listen to the song.
  
  QUOTE (Kuba Szafran @ Mar 20 2009, 12:30 PM)
  Great solo Jose, it's great to hear more stuff from Meno !
  
  Thanks Kuba, the music lends itself to do some tasty solos over it. Can't take complete credit for it, as I co-write this stuff with my brother.
  
  QUOTE (Bondy @ Mar 20 2009, 01:03 PM)
  Thats cool A Jose custom special lol awesome!!!
  
  That's right
- Bondy20th March 2009
  Thats cool A Jose custom special lol awesome!!!
- Nazgul20th March 2009
  Awesome solo, I especially like the second part!
- Kuba Szafran20th March 2009
  Great solo Jose, it's great to hear more stuff from Meno !
- Crazyfret20th March 2009
  sorry about spamming this feedback but just listened to the demo of the song you've done and now understand how the solo follows the vocal line....superb
- SensE20th March 2009
  Very nice playing , Jose. Very nice tele too. I hope you can make me one
- fkalich20th March 2009
  Which pickup are you using on your tele, the bridge? Also, is the bridge pickup stock? Thanks.
- Crazyfret20th March 2009
  I'm addicted to this solo now....can't stop listening to it!
  
  Might have to ask you for advice to master the tripplet section...not very good at such things yet but I know it would add a dimension to my playing.
- Stephane Lucarelli20th March 2009
  Cool lesson Jose ! I love your tele too
  ( Handmade guitar if I understood ? )
- Pi3820th March 2009
  Really awesome lesson here, Jose. This is exactly the type of lesson I love. I would totally try to learn it right now if my B string hadn't broken a few days ago. But, as soon as I get a new set, I'm going to take a crack at learning this. Great job!
- Emir Hot20th March 2009
  Awesome Jose. I like all your lessons man
- Crazyfret20th March 2009
  Gr8 lesson and solo Jose :-).
  
  I'll have to learn this solo some gr8 licks in there.
- Jose Mena20th March 2009
  QUOTE (Bondy @ Mar 20 2009, 07:12 AM)
  Nice lesson Jose, thats a nice Tele BTW what make is it?
  
  Thanks Bondy, it is Jose Mena's Tele , again another one of my experiments, bought the body and neck from WD music, I dyed the wood blue and used tinted blue lacquer for the sunburst, you can barely see it on the video but it is there. DiMarzio pickups, both of them are hum cancelling. I am happy with this guitar great tone, sounds nothing like a real tele, lots of sustain on this one.
  
  QUOTE (David Berntsen @ Mar 20 2009, 07:17 AM)
  I love this series theres so many useful things in them! Can't wait to dig into this one!
  And a really nice Tele!
  
  Glad you liked it, enjoy the lesson.
  
  QUOTE (David Wallimann @ Mar 20 2009, 07:38 AM)
  Very cool lesson with tons of great ideas on tone and control. Good job Jose!
  
  Thanks David, It is the tele not me.
  
  QUOTE (Pedja Simovic @ Mar 20 2009, 08:01 AM)
  Very cool lesson Jose !
  I love how you use triplets in your solos
  
  Now that you mention it, I can't seem to get away from them.
  
  QUOTE (Piotr Kaczor @ Mar 20 2009, 08:12 AM)
  Very cool solo and beautiful Tele!
  
  Thanks Piotr, I am probably going to upload a video of this Tele when I was working on it with my brother.
  
  QUOTE (Bogdan Radovic @ Mar 20 2009, 08:18 AM)
  Lots of great licks and feeling in this lesson Jose!
  
  Thanks Bogdan
- Bogdan Radovic20th March 2009
  Lots of great licks and feeling in this lesson Jose!
- Piotr Kaczor20th March 2009
  Very cool solo and beautiful Tele!
- Pedja Simovic20th March 2009
  Very cool lesson Jose !
  I love how you use triplets in your solos
- David Wallimann20th March 2009
  Very cool lesson with tons of great ideas on tone and control. Good job Jose!
- Zsolt Galambos20th March 2009
  Cool!
- David Berntsen20th March 2009
  I love this series theres so many useful things in them! Can't wait to dig into this one!
  And a really nice Tele!
- Bondy20th March 2009
  Nice lesson Jose, thats a nice Tele BTW what make is it?

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Lesson
My notes

- Tags: F# minor, Vibrato, Sustain, Bending, Bends, Octave melodies, Slides, Rock licks, Luke, Picking, Phrases, Legato
Hello again! Welcome to my new lesson about phrasing, I had some requests for this after the first two I did, so here you go.

This time the solo is simpler, almost no fast playing here, instead for the climax of the solo I play less notes.

This is from a Meno song called Hearts Get Broken, and this is an extended solo version, played live sometimes when we want to make the songs longer and burn some time.

Usually during the climax of a solo I start playing more notes and faster, but an equally efective approach is to play less notes and follow the main melody of the vocals. You will hear that when the chord progression changes I start playing one note over and over, as if the guitar is now the lead singer, when this is done it catches the audience's ear because I am playing something that is familiar to them.

The whole solo is in the key of F#, the rhythm is fun and easy to play to. Hope you like it, and jam with your own ideas over the backing track.

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