farasmith67
Verified buyer
10/29/26
How to solo review
Great course my playing has improved tremendously and I feel confident to improve. I am very happy with this course
The How to Solo Handbook
Hands-On, Fast-Track Soloing Method
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About this course
Lindsay Ell's rare combination of skills as a master guitarist, profound singer-songwriter, dynamic performer, and passionate educator power this fast-track, hands-on How to Solo Handbook. Leveraging years of experience and a deep passion for music education, Lindsay distills her unique teaching methods and TrueFire’s learning technologies to provide guitar students with an accelerated, immersive learning experience.
“Okay, so you play guitar already and are now anxious to learn how to solo—awesome! I love soloing so much that it’s something I work on every day of my life. I’m excited to share with you the magical building blocks I use in my solos. The great news is that it’s so easy to get started.
I’ve organized this handbook into three sections. We’ll start by understanding chord progression structures using “chord boxes” to lay out a road map of notes on the neck in any key.
Then, we’ll practice the five pentatonic scale patterns and look at how they fit together over the chord boxes – giving us notes that are easy to find and sound great anywhere you play them in a progression.
And as the cherry on top, we'll introduce major scale notes to add color to your solos. I'll reveal my hacks for identifying the key of any song, and we'll explore ways to infuse your soloing with that soulful, expressive touch.
The best part? You and I are in this together. We'll jam through it all, practicing what we learn over song progressions I've crafted for this course, spanning various styles and keys. I’ve also included a practice journal with diagrams and tools to help guide your soloing learning journey.”
The How to Solo Handbook will accelerate your journey in guitar soloing, using techniques developed by Lindsay herself. Here, every lesson embodies her commitment to nurturing and expanding your musical abilities. Join Lindsay Ell and tap into a wealth of knowledge, skill, and passion as you embark on a transformative guitar-playing adventure.
You’ll have TrueFire’s interactive learning tools at your fingertips to customize your workspace and learn at your own pace.
The demonstrations and performances are tabbed, notated, and synced to the video lessons with controls for looping, slow motion, fretboard animation, and other tools designed to accelerate your progress.
You’ll also get the tab and standard notation files to print out, downloadable Guitar Pro files, and backing tracks to practice and record with.
Grab your guitar, and let’s dig in with Lindsay Ell!
“Okay, so you play guitar already and are now anxious to learn how to solo—awesome! I love soloing so much that it’s something I work on every day of my life. I’m excited to share with you the magical building blocks I use in my solos. The great news is that it’s so easy to get started.
I’ve organized this handbook into three sections. We’ll start by understanding chord progression structures using “chord boxes” to lay out a road map of notes on the neck in any key.
Then, we’ll practice the five pentatonic scale patterns and look at how they fit together over the chord boxes – giving us notes that are easy to find and sound great anywhere you play them in a progression.
And as the cherry on top, we'll introduce major scale notes to add color to your solos. I'll reveal my hacks for identifying the key of any song, and we'll explore ways to infuse your soloing with that soulful, expressive touch.
The best part? You and I are in this together. We'll jam through it all, practicing what we learn over song progressions I've crafted for this course, spanning various styles and keys. I’ve also included a practice journal with diagrams and tools to help guide your soloing learning journey.”
The How to Solo Handbook will accelerate your journey in guitar soloing, using techniques developed by Lindsay herself. Here, every lesson embodies her commitment to nurturing and expanding your musical abilities. Join Lindsay Ell and tap into a wealth of knowledge, skill, and passion as you embark on a transformative guitar-playing adventure.
You’ll have TrueFire’s interactive learning tools at your fingertips to customize your workspace and learn at your own pace.
The demonstrations and performances are tabbed, notated, and synced to the video lessons with controls for looping, slow motion, fretboard animation, and other tools designed to accelerate your progress.
You’ll also get the tab and standard notation files to print out, downloadable Guitar Pro files, and backing tracks to practice and record with.
Grab your guitar, and let’s dig in with Lindsay Ell!
What you'll learn
- Navigate different areas of the fretboard
- Practice moving from lower to higher positions during a solo
- Practice soloing in D# major
- Develop confidence in taking musical risks
- Build vocabulary of licks in a new key
Release date: 06/13/2024 • 2h 14m runtime
Sample lessons
A Taste For Changes: Solo Improv
Performance Example
Minor Pentatonic Solo Jam
Overview
Minor Pentatonic Solo Jam
Practice Play-along
Bringing Major & Minor Together
Concept & Demo
What's included
42 lessons • 26 charts • 10 Jam Tracks
Hey, everybody, it's Lindsay Ell!Okay, so you play guitar already, but you want to learn how to play solos. Awesome. I love soloing so much that it's something I work on every day of my life. I'm excited to share with you the magical building blocks that I use in my solos. And the great news is it's easy.It's so easy to get started. I've organized this handbook into three sections. We'll start by understanding chord progression structures and using what I call chord boxes to lay out a roadmap of any notes on the neck in any key. Then we'll practice the five pentatonic scale patterns and look at how they fit together over the chord boxes, giving us notes that are easy to find and sound great anywhere you play them in a progression.And lastly, we'll introduce major scale notes to add some color to your solos. I'll reveal my hacks for identifying the key of any song, and we'll explore ways to infuse your solo with that soulful, expressive touch. We'll jam our way through it all, practicing what we learn over song progressions that I've crafted just for you.All of my solos are tabbed and synced to the videos with looping and slow-motion controls so you can play and practice at your own pace. I've also put together a practice journal with some diagrams and tools to help you on your soloing journey. So, grab your guitar and let's go!
Welcome! In this first section of the course, I want to talk about chords. I think one of the most important things about soloing is the chords that you're playing over. They really determine what kind of notes you choose and the flavors that come out in your solos. So we're going to talk about the Nashville number system.We're going to talk about what I call chord boxes, chord box one and chord box two. We're also going to go through some root note exercises and some chord exercises. This way, you can really branch out on the chords that you may or may not know. So let's dive in.
Hey everyone! In this lesson, I'm diving into the Nashville number system, a game-changer for understanding the guitar neck and connecting scales to chords. When I first moved to Nashville, this system transformed how I played, letting me ditch the capo and play in any key effortlessly.The Nashville number system assigns numbers to chords within any key, making it easy to transpose and recognize patterns. For example, in E major, E is the 1 chord, F# minor is the 2 chord, and so on. This system simplifies common progressions, like the 1-4-5 or 1-6-5-4, which are staples in mainstream music. By using the chart in this lesson, you'll quickly learn to transpose chords without a capo, opening up the neck for limitless possibilities. Let's get started and unlock the magic of the Nashville number system!
I'm excited to show you how to unlock the full potential of the guitar neck using chord boxes. We’ll start with Chord Box One, a powerful tool that eliminates the need for a capo and allows you to play in any key effortlessly. By understanding how to connect chords using the Nashville number system, you'll be able to move seamlessly across the neck.We’ll dive into common progressions, like the 1-4-5-6, and explore how adding chords like the 2, 3, and flat 7 can bring more color and emotion to your solos. This approach not only makes your solos more melodic but also helps you understand the harmonic possibilities available to you. By the end of this lesson, you'll be ready to improvise and create expressive solos in any key.
Hey everyone! In this lesson, I'm taking you through a cool chord progression in the key of C major using Chord Box One. We'll start on the eighth fret, and the verse uses a 6-4-5 progression with some added flavors. We'll incorporate a sharp 5 diminished and a 3 chord, which really spices things up. The progression will help you get used to hearing these passing tones, which will be incredibly helpful for your soloing.For the chorus, we'll begin on a 1 chord (C), then move to a 5 minor (G minor), a 4 (F), and a 2 minor (D minor). We'll also add a flat 7 (B flat) and a 4 minor for some beautiful variations. This might seem like a lot of chords, but trust me, it's going to pay off. In the next video, we'll play these changes together, helping you get comfortable with these tones. Getting familiar with these chords will make you a better soloist, so let's dive in and have some fun!
Now let's jump into a performance!
Okay, so there you go—so many chord changes, more than you probably will have in a song that you're playing. But I just really want you to get familiar with hearing those tones. Next, I want to show you where we can take this, where you can play over some of those changes. I still want you to play chords with me, and I'm going to solo a little bit over them so that you can see where you can go to play the chord changes. I'll solo a little bit over it.
+ 35 more lessons
Reviews
22 results
dmbagess
Verified buyer
10/07/26
Good intermediate lesson
The concepts in this lesson are very useful and I am learning by taking each section very slow. However, I think a beginner or anyone with no music theory would struggle with this lesson. Overall I am satisfied with this purchase.
fjh23
Verified buyer
08/22/26
Clarifies relating solos to chords, keys, the neck, root notes etc which is essential
I really like Lindsay’s enthusiasm and how the course is focused on understanding how to relate solos to chords and understand the neck, root notes and the relationships to barre chords and scales. I have only sampled parts so far as I am working on other courses but this fits right into where I’m trying to go and will deserve detailed practice, warranted by the effort that has gone into creating the course. I'm not sure it is really a beginner course even though it shows up there in beginner searches. It is clear that one needs to understand this course to avoid just random noodling to make solos.
Kodjo
Verified buyer
06/11/26
Super méthod
Super method
DavidMcN
Verified buyer
05/19/26
Good ideas, great tutor
Lindsay has clearly put a lot of thought into this course. It's well structured and she's a very engaging tutor. She explains concepts in a way that's easy to understand and the practice routines work well. It's a different way of approaching soloing for me and I'm enjoying that. I can feel how my playing is improving. The support materials are a big help.
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