TakeLessons Offers Mardi Gras Guide to Music Solos

Online, February 20, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Today is Fat Tuesday, a day dedicated to celebrations, costumes, pancakes and, well, going a little bit crazy. And just like Mardi Gras is all about standing out from the crowd, many musicians can get that same rush when they have the opportunity to solo - anything from an awesome riff on the lead guitar to a flashy improvised solo in a jazz band. It's the musician's chance to really express him or herself as a musician - not to mention show off a little!

TakeLessons (http://takelessons.com), the nation's fastest growing music lessons provider, expanded on the metaphor and took the opportunity to share a few important tips for preparing for a improvised solo. The following is an excerpt from the TakeLessons blog post:

"1. Be Fluent in your Scales
Since improvised solos are based heavily around scales, it is obviously a good idea to know your scales inside and out. The scales that you need to know are largely based on what style of music you're improvising. But it is a good idea to know the basic major and minor scales, as well as the major and minor pentatonic, no matter what your genre is, as those four scales are universal in music.

When improvising, you shouldn't have to be thinking about what note comes next. This is probably the main cause of "improvisation freeze-up," or when instrumentalists don't know their scales fluently enough, causing them to blank in the middle of their solo.

2. Understand Scale Modes
This is kind of the same thing as being fluent in scales. It's a good skill to understand scales modes and be able to utilize different modes in one solo. Practice switching between modes, and find combinations that you like. Scale modes aren't extremely crucial to improvising a good solo, but being able to utilize modes is what can separate the "good" soloists from the "great" soloists.

3. Know Your Key!
This one is probably the most obvious, and very little needs to be explained. You'd be surprised how many people just start ripping a solo in any key they choose! Also, be sure that if there is a key change, you know it's coming."

By sharing the tips with blog readers, TakeLessons aims to continue engaging current students and teachers. Readers are invited to share their thoughts by commenting on the TakeLessons blog, where they can also learn the benefits of music lessons for adults, and comments are also welcomed on Facebook (http://facebook.com/takelessons).