If there is one thing that Nuno Bettencourt knows how to do, it is to pick up an electric guitar and put together a guitar solo that is pure fire. Here, the Extreme guitarist checks in to discuss some things you should keep in mind when putting together one of your own.
No, he's not talking modes or techniques. The string-skipping exercises can wait for another day. No, you don't have to be a shredder. This advice is for players of all styles and abilities, and it all begins with – and ends with – the song...
1. Let the song tell you what to play
“My first piece of advice is that the song always wins. Always. If you abandon the song and you become a guitar player first, you’ve lost already. To me that’s what was amazing about Edward Van Halen, and about Jimmy Page and all the greats: they still somehow stayed in the culture, the tonality, and the melody of the song. The song is giving you three-and-a-half minutes of clues and inspiration.
“You have vocal melody, you’ve got lyrics, so you get what the song’s about. There’s a mood; there’s a tone. If you go rogue, it’s going to be just you on your own, and that’s hard to carry. If you say ‘A bunch of horses are going and I’m gonna ride with you', then you have them all with you, riding a posse of melody and strength and power. #Rebel is a great example.
“The melody when I’m doing the fast descending tapping part is the same as the backing vocal melody of the previous bridge section. I ripped it off because it was there to be taken and to keep building off. The song just gave you a foundation. Don’t go in on a mission to make yourself look good and sound good. Surrender to the song and it will do it for you.
2. The song’s arrangement can make a solo better
“One of the main reasons the end of Rise works is because it went to half-time. It was a downshift. If I’d kept that going at full speed people would be like, ‘Oh, it’s just like a Racer X/Yngwie, whatever.’ Those holes, that space to allow that thing to happen, is everything.
“You have to play the culture of the song. It’s like Hurricane, a song about my best friend that passed away. When somebody loses somebody, what are you gonna do – come in and fucking rip through it? No, you’re gonna hit that one note like I did.
3. Only solo when you have something to say
“I always see the solo as its own song… and I always make it long enough to make sure it’s a song! The band’s like, ‘Come on, dude, can’t you do a 20-second solo?’ I’m like, ‘All right, I’ll try that… nope!’ I can’t do it. Well, I do it in a couple of songs. In Here’s To The Losers I’m actually just answering the vocal. It’s how much the guitar player has to say.
“Don’t do length because you want to play more. I only give myself the usual eight or 16 bars around, but then I feel like I might have more to say. If I can be creative within that I’ll leave it. There were two or three songs on this album that I actually cut back the solos, because it’s not saying anything anymore. If it’s not turning me on in the room, it’s not going to turn you on when you’re listening to it.”
- Six is out now via earMusic.
