Soloing Masterclass

Originally published at: Soloing Masterclass. Replies here will cross-post to the original lesson page.

Use this thread to ask questions, share experiences, and discuss the topic at hand.

Have any favorite moments from the lesson? What made you go “a-ha!”?

You mentioned playing a box scale (I think that was your term). I didn’t know what that was, but then I saw your hand position and it reminded me of a chord some one else had shown me called an octave chord, which was formed by fretting with the index on the C string and fretting with the pinkie 3 frets up on the A string. E.g. index at C2 and pinkie at A5. Those two notes are both D an octave apart. The ah ha for me was realizing there is a whole scale between those notes and that they form a box of 4 4 4 notes. So now I can find the song’s key on the C string and play the scale in the “box” on the CEA strings.

Yes! The trick is to also do the same thing between the G- and C-string octave (assuming you’re using low-G) and also the outer G- and A-string octave.

Boxes are great, but always try to move outside of them at an angle once you’re comfortable. Otherwise it’s easy to get stuck playing licks that only work in that box.