Solos - where to begin?

[muttley]

I'm a relative beginner and I'm working through the pieces in Rockschool Grade 4. Most of these pieces have short solo sections and I'm struggling a bit to make them sound, er, [i]interesting[/i]. Soloing is not something that comes naturally to me; shove a sheet of dots in front of me and I can play them. Varying/adapting existing bass lines I'm OK with. Coming up with something totally original doesn't seem to be my forte (yet) .
I've seen that Scott Divine has some tutorials that may be useful. Can anyone suggest some other good background material?

[BassBus]

From what you say in your post you are already starting to develop a soloing style. If you can vary and adapt then keep working on that. Each time you play over a chord progression try something a little different. The earliest jazz soloists simply varied the tune as a solo. It takes time but the more you practice the more you'll start to get it. Scott Devine has a lot of good videos. Looking forward to his Gary Willis tutorials.

[ShergoldSnickers]

As someone who comes at it from completely the other end - i.e. nothing is arranged and the band wholly improvises - I'd start by trying to ignore the theory for now. Concentrate on listening to the overall effect of what you are doing in context, but without analysing and trying to process it first before playing. To start with it's a bit like splashing paint at a canvas. Some occasionally sticks in nice patterns, but an awful lot just drips off to be wasted! Eventually you realise you can use a brush, and not just one. There are all types of brushes.... and paint. Once you can be uninhibited in this way, by all means concentrate on theory to help discipline your output later. Allow your fingers the freedom to roam as they will at first - your brain needs to get used to the idea that you haven't pre-planned anything.

Another angle is to try playing the fewest number of notes that sound harmonically interesting, or dissonantly interesting for that matter. How few notes can you get away with playing, and yet it still makes sense? Build up from there. You will be forced to think about the note choice as you play it, but keeping the number of notes down allows you time to do this.

My problem is the lack of theoretical knowledge or ability to read. Maybe we need to mind-meld.

[Bilbo]

Where to begin? I heard a guy explain it this way once.

You listen. What you hear tells you which note to play and when. When you have decided which note to play where, that decision will tell you what note to play next and when and again and again, You keep going until you don't hear another note. That is when you stop.

Its a bit zen but strangely true.

Soloing is like all art; your concept is entirely your own. All the theory in the world will not give you a single idea. You have to find them yourself. Regurgitating other people's licks will convince most people but it takes more than that if you do it properly. In a nutshell, the place to begin is with listening to other people do it. Not to copy but to be inspired. Let your ears guide you, not your fingers. Sing your solo and play what you are dinging (don't sng what you are playing, that won't work). Relax into it. Don't let your self talk undermine your efforts. Noone ever died from playing a bad solo (although I am occasionally nauseous when playing and have had nose bleeds ). Its the easiest thing you will ever do with a bass and the hardest.

[urb]

Improvising is simply deciding to go from one note to the next - it's that straight forward - but +1 to what Bilbo said too - it all takes time, effort and experimentation...

[discreet]

Bass solos? Nooooooooo!

[paul_5]

from a theoretical standpoint I'd get all of the chord changes and tones under your fingers. It may not yield the best results but you'll have an unshakeable grasp of the tune. Also this is a transferable skill to every other tune you may want to play.

[guildbass]

For me, it's about the way the notes sit. Like a really good blues solo. Few notes perfectly placed...We ran through Nights In White Satin recently and I did the flute solo on bass... Lots of space for expression and an interesting take on that classic piece.

For improv stuff start with a one tone up two strings across octave 'box'. 'Feel in' lazy vibrato and half tone bends. if the key changes move the box. Later when the groove is flowing, lob in a few scales up to and away from the box.

Start with a basic 12 bar and solo through the verses....Everything comes from da bloos!

[muttley]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1329605730' post='1544902']
Bass solos? Nooooooooo!
[/quote]

I know. It's not what I chose the bass for, but there you go.

Thanks for all the advice so far.

[BassBus]

The worst bit I had to deal with in my early days playing jazz, was the cold sweat that went through me when the band leader gave me the nod to say "you're next".

[Hector]

Rely on the primacy of the ear. All music theory, especially Jazz theory, is simply a way to formalise stuff what other people done played that sounded good. Don't get me wrong, theory is lovely and important. Use the theory to inform you about what sounds you like, and how to practice them, but when you're soloing get those ears working. You can even try to play what you sing to get some lovely lines out that are dictated by your ears.

To solo well, I'd recommend doing some ear training - learning to recognise intervals and chord types (or at least the 4 basic triads) is pretty vital. An exercise I like is to play every chromatic tone over each of the 4 basic triads and get them in my head (I'll often try and sing them without an instrument over a triad played on piano). Getting familiar with the sounds of various intervals above triad types allows you to use those sounds in your soloing, they're your pallet of colours if you will. People like those colours differently, and which ones you use when is an essential part of your musical personality. The real music goes on in your head, and that becabled woodchunk and carpetybox are just there to get all that stuff out.