8c4g4vwm6k
Verified buyer
07/10/23
useful but not sure how it will be practical
Take 5: Lyrical Soloing
Accelerated Study Program for Building More Lyrical Guitar Solos
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About this course
From a listener’s perspective, solos with a lyrical, vocal-like quality tend to be the most memorable and evocative. As guitarists, however, we tend to play many notes, across a wide range of octaves, with our technical guns blazing -- the very opposite of a lyrical approach.
Adam Levy’s Lyrical Solos edition of Take 5 is an accelerated curriculum designed to impart the essential technical and conceptual approaches you’ll need to craft engaging lyrical solos and improvisations.
”Quite often when we practice the guitar, we practice in positions and scales, going across the six strings. And, if you think about how the human voice works, it's really nothing like that at all - certainly no strings and pick involved. In this course, we’ll be exploring the things that we can do to bring out the lyrical quality in a technical way, but also in a conceptual way, as that's really as much of a part of it as well.”
Adam kicks off the course with a lyrical soloing primer where he explains how to craft lyrical solos with expressive techniques like legato slurs, slides, bends and vibrato. He’ll also cover conceptual approaches like repetition, vocal-like phrasing, and limiting the overall range of notes.
Adam will then guide you through five Lyrical Solo performance studies, from basic to more sophisticated approaches. Adam will first perform the studies over a backing track and then break them down emphasizing the key technical and conceptual approaches being applied.
All of the performance studies are tabbed and notated and you’ll have the jam tracks to work with on your own. You can loop and slow down the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace.
Grab your guitar and let’s get lyrical with Adam Levy!
Adam Levy’s Lyrical Solos edition of Take 5 is an accelerated curriculum designed to impart the essential technical and conceptual approaches you’ll need to craft engaging lyrical solos and improvisations.
”Quite often when we practice the guitar, we practice in positions and scales, going across the six strings. And, if you think about how the human voice works, it's really nothing like that at all - certainly no strings and pick involved. In this course, we’ll be exploring the things that we can do to bring out the lyrical quality in a technical way, but also in a conceptual way, as that's really as much of a part of it as well.”
Adam kicks off the course with a lyrical soloing primer where he explains how to craft lyrical solos with expressive techniques like legato slurs, slides, bends and vibrato. He’ll also cover conceptual approaches like repetition, vocal-like phrasing, and limiting the overall range of notes.
Adam will then guide you through five Lyrical Solo performance studies, from basic to more sophisticated approaches. Adam will first perform the studies over a backing track and then break them down emphasizing the key technical and conceptual approaches being applied.
All of the performance studies are tabbed and notated and you’ll have the jam tracks to work with on your own. You can loop and slow down the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace.
Grab your guitar and let’s get lyrical with Adam Levy!
What you'll learn
- Navigate position shifts while maintaining legato technique
- Execute a complete 32-bar solo over an AAB form country progression
- Control unwanted string noise with both right and left hand muting
- Understand the difference between technical and lyrical soloing approaches
- Learn how to craft solos with vocal-like quality
Release date: 11/08/2018 • 1h 19m runtime
Sample lessons
Level 3: Lyrical Soloing
Overview
Level 3: Lyrical Soloing
Performance
Level 3: Lyrical Soloing
Breakdown
What's included
18 lessons • 5 charts • 5 Jam Tracks
Take 5: Lyrical Soloing
Hi, I'm Adam Levy. Welcome to this Lyrical Solos edition of Take 5!
From a listener's perspective, solos with a lyrical, vocal-like quality tend to be the most memorable and evocative. As guitarists, however, we tend to play many notes, across a wide range of octaves, with our technical guns blazing -- the very opposite of a lyrical approach.
We'll start this course with a quick primer where I'll explain how to craft lyrical solos with expressive techniques like legato slurs, slides, bends and vibrato. We'll also look at conceptual approaches like repetition, vocal-like phrasing, and limiting the overall range of notes.
I'll then guide you through five lyrical soloing performance studies, from basic to more sophisticated approaches.
All of the performance studies are tabbed and notated and you'll have the jam tracks to work with on your own. You can loop and slow down the videos so you can work at your own pace.
Grab your guitar and let's get started!
From a listener's perspective, solos with a lyrical, vocal-like quality tend to be the most memorable and evocative. As guitarists, however, we tend to play many notes, across a wide range of octaves, with our technical guns blazing -- the very opposite of a lyrical approach.
We'll start this course with a quick primer where I'll explain how to craft lyrical solos with expressive techniques like legato slurs, slides, bends and vibrato. We'll also look at conceptual approaches like repetition, vocal-like phrasing, and limiting the overall range of notes.
I'll then guide you through five lyrical soloing performance studies, from basic to more sophisticated approaches.
All of the performance studies are tabbed and notated and you'll have the jam tracks to work with on your own. You can loop and slow down the videos so you can work at your own pace.
Grab your guitar and let's get started!
Lyrical Soloing
Before we get into the five solos in this course, I just want to talk a little bit about what lyricism means as it relates to the guitar. Quite often when we practice the guitar, we practice in positions and scales, going across the six strings. And, if you think about how the human voice works, it's really nothing like that at all - certainly no strings and pick involved.
We'll be talking about some of the things that we can do to bring out the lyrical quality in a technical way, but also in a conceptual way, as that's really as much of a part of it as well.
On the technical side of it, one thing that we're going to do is minimize vibrato. Which is not because singers don't use vibrato — they do, and the reason we use vibrato on the guitar in the first place is probably to sound more vocal. But, as the years have gone on, and the strings have got thinner, and rock music happened, vibrato has gotten wider and wild, which isn't so much related to the sound of human voices. I would recommend that you take it down a notch or two (or three), and think of vibrato differently. Really listen to some singers that you like, and check out how and when they use their vibrato to get into that mindset.
Another thing that can help give your playing a lyrical quality is limiting the range of what you're doing. Try taking a solo that's just within one octave. Try finding all the music there without moving to another octave. We can also repeat a note ‐ something that we don't often do when playing guitar, but it's always possible. Why not?
I also wanted to talk a little bit about getting the tone down for this course. Right now I'm in the middle position, with both humbucking pick-ups on. I'm using a mild overdrive pedal here as well. You want it where when you dig in, you get a bit of grit, but when you use a light touch it goes away. This is similar to a singer's voice — when a singer sings louder the quality of their voice changes (because they're pushing harder), and when they sing quietly, they sound mellower. This can happen all within a phrase, so you want to be able to move quickly like that.
Muting is another technique that we'll be using here. Now, if you have this overdrive sound, your guitar is going to be pretty lively. It's going to be easy to get a string to sound even if you just barely touch it. So, you have to be a little more "judicious" with your muting, with it coming from either hand.
In this course, you'll see that each solo is built around one of two techniques, or using a specific conceptual technique to build the solo. We'll be using things like hammer-ons and pull-offs, slides, bends, etc. as well. Let's get started.
We'll be talking about some of the things that we can do to bring out the lyrical quality in a technical way, but also in a conceptual way, as that's really as much of a part of it as well.
On the technical side of it, one thing that we're going to do is minimize vibrato. Which is not because singers don't use vibrato — they do, and the reason we use vibrato on the guitar in the first place is probably to sound more vocal. But, as the years have gone on, and the strings have got thinner, and rock music happened, vibrato has gotten wider and wild, which isn't so much related to the sound of human voices. I would recommend that you take it down a notch or two (or three), and think of vibrato differently. Really listen to some singers that you like, and check out how and when they use their vibrato to get into that mindset.
Another thing that can help give your playing a lyrical quality is limiting the range of what you're doing. Try taking a solo that's just within one octave. Try finding all the music there without moving to another octave. We can also repeat a note ‐ something that we don't often do when playing guitar, but it's always possible. Why not?
I also wanted to talk a little bit about getting the tone down for this course. Right now I'm in the middle position, with both humbucking pick-ups on. I'm using a mild overdrive pedal here as well. You want it where when you dig in, you get a bit of grit, but when you use a light touch it goes away. This is similar to a singer's voice — when a singer sings louder the quality of their voice changes (because they're pushing harder), and when they sing quietly, they sound mellower. This can happen all within a phrase, so you want to be able to move quickly like that.
Muting is another technique that we'll be using here. Now, if you have this overdrive sound, your guitar is going to be pretty lively. It's going to be easy to get a string to sound even if you just barely touch it. So, you have to be a little more "judicious" with your muting, with it coming from either hand.
In this course, you'll see that each solo is built around one of two techniques, or using a specific conceptual technique to build the solo. We'll be using things like hammer-ons and pull-offs, slides, bends, etc. as well. Let's get started.
Level 1: Lyrical Soloing
This is an old-school R&B vibe solo, maybe a Wilson Pickett kind of groove. It's in the key of Bb, with the changes being fairly straight forward — it's just a I-IV-V with a slight twist. We're keeping things simple here. I'll think you'll have a good time with this one.
Level 1: Lyrical Soloing
The primary technique for this first solo is octave limitation. "Why?", you may wonder. As this course is about learning to play guitar lyrically — that is, more like a singer — limiting a solo to a one-octave range is a great exercise because most vocal melodies are within an octave or just a bit more. Guitar is, by its nature, very different. Within any given position, you've got more than two octaves within easy reach. To play lyrically, you'll have to narrow your focus. This groove and chord progression were inspired by Alvin Robinson's recording of "Something You Got".
Level 1: Lyrical Soloing
The primary technique for this first solo is octave limitation. "Why?", you may wonder. As this course is about learning to play guitar lyrically — that is, more like a singer — limiting a solo to a one-octave range is a great exercise because most vocal melodies are within an octave or just a bit more. Guitar is, by its nature, very different. Within any given position, you've got more than two octaves within easy reach. To play lyrically, you'll have to narrow your focus. This groove and chord progression were inspired by Alvin Robinson's recording of "Something You Got".
Level 2: Lyrical Soloing
This solo is called "Heavy Boots". It's in the key of G, and the chord progression might sound familiar to you, as it's based on John Mayer's "Gravity".
Level 2: Lyrical Soloing
This solo is literally lyrical. I found the lyrics to John Mayer's song "Gravity" online and studied them (you should do the same). Then, I composed a solo based on his words, set to a new melody, using a similar chord progression. Try this with any song you love. You're bound to construct a solo that feels closely related to the song but is also fresh and original.
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Reviews
11 results
Dave58
Verified buyer
04/07/23
Less is more
Fantastic course, virtuoso teacher, everything I start from Adam Levy is a must of interesting teaching material. Very clearly explained and fascinating teaching material, with beautiful video images and meaningful tabs. His courses are a joy to learn and that teacher will teach you so much with as few notes as possible. It's all about phrasing. Recommended!
DonFKitch
Verified buyer
10/04/21
Lyrical Soloing
Great lesson with 'out of the boxes' ideas!
willisdav
Verified buyer
09/22/21
Melodic!
This is a great course. Not about speed, but about the right notes that propel the song. I love all His courses. Feels like studio work.
Luaral
Verified buyer
08/16/21
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