By now, perhaps you are coming along well with the exercises. But you may wonder how on earth do you apply technique to soloing? This is a difficult question and is similar to the equally difficult question, "How do you play lead"? There are no strict answers to these types of questions. Some people prefer to learn a handful of riffs, and then their playing becomes dominated by their riffs. I prefer to view solos like vocal sections. Whether it is a solo, or a melody, I feel that something is always being communicated, and what better way to communicate than treating your guitar like a voice. So when I write solos, they usually are inspired by a melody and are dominated by the melody. A solo may have several main parts, and technique comes into the picture when I try to connect the parts meaningfully.

The exercises that follow show riffs from a few songs I recorded (some in dire need of a re-recording!). In the included audio files, you will notice that you don't hear the riff until several seconds after you start playing the file. I did this so that you can hear the musical context of the riff (i.e. what led up to it).

Ok, this one really isn't as long as it looks! I have said it many times. I love harmonically interesting lines. I particularly like wide intervals. I like coming up with interval-based riffs and repeating the pattern. It really helps put a solo in motion. Sometimes when I am lacking solo ideas, I just create riffs at random til I find something pleasing to the ear. That was the case with this one. The pattern I suppose can be viewed as arpeggios executed with legato and picking. The placement of accents is crucial to the feel of these types of riffs. You want to create a rhythmic mocement with the riff and then lead it into whatever you desire - in this case a descending run. Note that if the descending run was played with strictly alternate picking, then it would sound too agressive and would lose the fluidity that legato gives it. You'll want brush up on your legato and picking skills for this one!

The toughest part of this riff is the stretching needed to play the wide intervals, and the position shifting between the 2 interval licks. Try nailing the interval licks by themselves before playing the entire lick.