(playing guitar)
- Hey, this is a Cilia from Gothic Tropic,
and I'm gonna show you something I'm calling
staccato soloing.
So I'm playing a Strat and I'm using a Fez pedal,
I don't have any reverb or delay on it
because of the nature of the technique that I'm showing you.
It's just about getting that really staccato sound
and observing space.
So I wanted to make it really kind of dry and clean
so you can hear the enunciation there.
So I chose my song Drunk On A Rhythm because
it's a good example of observing space in a solo,
And I wanted to kind of nod my head to give you the tempo
to show you where I'm at,
and that's an eight bar solo.
I didn't want to bog you down with the whole thing.
So let me break that down with you right now.
So from the top,
we started the G string and we're on the fifth fret,
and you just want to sort of (guitar chord playing).
Just a mean little vibrato,
and just out with a little slide,
just to give it some flare on the tail.
Let's say the tempo's something like,
(vocalizing tempo)
(playing note repetitively)
Just a little mean little riff, right at the top.
And it comes in strong and confidently.
So it goes,
(playing guitar)
Going into the second part, there's a little
ghost picking that happens,
that I feel sort of serves
the turnaround, keeps you in this little pocket.
It's kind of like a base moment to me,
but I'll show you what I mean.
So
(playing guitar)
I played it, but usually I just
(plucks chord)
See? So,
(playing guitar)
So between every riff, you could say, is a little
(imitates guitar sound)
I'll sing it for you so you,
so it's less nebulous,
Cause it can be difficult to pick up on all those nuances.
(vocalizes to guitar)
So I'll do that on the guitar.
(playing guitar)
I'll do it again.
(playing guitar)
Yeah, I like observing little ghost notes
because in a staccato solo,
you can observe the space, you can bow out,
but sometimes it's nice to hint at the pocket.
Maybe the high hats doing something and you're mirroring it,
Maybe the bass is doing something and you're mirroring it,
So that's part of my solo process.
So I'll play the first half,
I'll loop it a couple of times and we can try it together.
Am I slating it in halves because
they're pretty similar.
First four bars is that riff,
Second four bars is the riff with the little
(imitates guitar sound)
and the slidey guy to finish it off.
So here's the first half just isolated looped,
four bar loop.
We can do it together and I'll show you how much
space I am observing, Cause I'm going to do it to tempo.
Hopefully you can hear my foot tapping.
Here we go,
Two, Three, four,
(playing guitar while tapping tempo with foot)
So let's say the tempos more like
(tapping tempo with foot)
One, two, three, and,
(playing guitar while tapping tempo with foot)
- All right, Well,
I just wanted to talk to you about
staccato soloing
because something that I'm not a huge fan of
is just unnecessary notes.
I like to argue for all my note choices
based off the philosophy that it needs to be there.
My dad has a good quote:
'It's not as good as it is fast.'
And that's one of my favorite ways to sum up
taste within a solo.
It's fun to tap and sweep and get crazy
and impress your peers, but sometimes it's
really tasty to just find the pocket and
be very selective on your note choice,
And that's my favorite thing to do.
That's sort of my philosophy on Gothic Tropic,
And I think that's probably why Fender asked me
to show you about observing space within a solo,
because it's more about melodic information and feel,
- Okay,
So here's a little treat at the end of the video
here is the guitar solo from the bridge
and it sort of ties into the theory of observing space
and that sort of staccato solo,
So here we go.
(playing guitar)
All right, I hope you enjoyed this lesson!
Let's talk about soloing, slide into my DM'S,
If you have any questions, let me know!