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Q: Hey, Ive been playing guitar for about 2 years now and I can play pretty good. I’ve been wanting to get better at solos and playing faster solos. What are your suggestions for me to practice to get better at soloing in general?

A: To get good at soloing you need to first learn some scales (the major, minor, and pentatonic). Learning these scales and how to connect them across the neck is a great place to start. This way you will be able to visualize the fretboard in a given key signature. It is also advised to have basic techniques down like bending, vibrato, picking, tapping, and maybe even sweeping. Start listening to other people’s solos and learn a bunch of licks. You should also learn solos by your favorite guitarists as well. Once you get a good variety of licks down, you should practice soloing either over CDs or jam tracks. By constraining yourself at first to do things like only solo in minor pentatonic, it allows you to get comfortable with limited options. Focus on developing your rhythmic phrasing, your bends, and tastefully placing licks. The more you practicing soloing, the faster that you will get comfortable with it.

After you start developing a basic style, you should go out and learn some new licks or create a collection of your own. Try to incorporate these into your solos. Eventually you will start developing an identifiable, fluent style. As you get more comfortable with soloing, try doing solos over faster tempo songs. Also, try to write your own licks by combining your knowledge of scales and techniques. Again, you can always use how other guitar players placed licks in a solo as a reference. Key real key is to keep practicing your soloing and improvising every day. The more you practice, the better you will get at it. Good luck!