You remember the pentatonic scale? You know blues, B.B.King, and all that good stuff. Rock, metal and even country players use it as well.

Just a word on jamming. When some start playing pentatonic scales they like to jam it out as fast as they can. Yeah, that’s fun, I agree. But if you listen to a lot of shredding, it can sometimes get old when it’s the same thing over and over. You’re going to solo better if you take some time and practice playing slowly.

So here’s the challenge: play around on the scale and try to make up slow melodies. How do you do this? Play, experiment, no rules for a few minutes to get used to it. If you still have no idea what to do, try listening to some B.B. King solos. Play your pentatonic. Sound similar? Do your best to imitate these guys for guidance, then start playing your own solos.

Now play it slow. Make each note sing! (Rock the finger back and forth for a vibrato sound.) Another thing you want to do is create spaces or rests. Play a riff, and be quiet for a couple seconds. Let the accompanying band jam. Then play again.

Now that you can tone it down, try playing a fast riff. Then a slow riff. Keep switchin it up, and you’ll have plenty of variety for a great solo!