Video Question: Help With Guitar Solos

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Date: February 20th, 2008 | Length: 4.19 | Instructor: Dennis Hodges

3jennijarre asks, "hi i really like your site it has helped me a lot but me and some guys from school have a band everyone tells us we are pretty good but i have a lot of trouble coming up with guitar solos. i cant seem to get one that gos with the music it sounds more like it is coming from outer space. i cant think of one and i hav been trying for a long time. if it helps the major chords in one specific SONG are in this order d a g and e minor. you guys play so well and always make it look so easy that i thought i should ask you to give me a kickstart. thanks for taking the time to read through this letter it means a lot to me and the rest of the band. if u could try to help in some way like make a lesson on guitar solos and how to make them that would be great. thanks again for reading this letter, me and the rest of the guys are very thankful. ROCK ON JARRETT" Another benefit of being a member of JamPlay is the video response section. Our expert staff fields questions from our members and provides video responses each week.

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Ablazich323 asked "Hey guys, I've been going through Mark's lessons for the past few months and those lessons are mostly (if not all) about rhythm guitar and using a pick. However, i do want to expand my playing and i have tried to sorta teach myself how to finger pick but it isn't working out too well. Any advice that you can give me with finger picking and also are there any specific few lessons i can look at to give me some insight? Appreciate all the help." View Response

Finger Exercises - January 6th, 2009 (2 minutes, 42 seconds)

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Coopercanuck asked "What an awesome style! I have just begun but find myself walking back to my room all day and picking up my guitar just to play it "one more time". Thanks for making this style available it is a really chilled out style and is a lot of fun. My question is: Can you post some more songs in Slack key for us to learn? And if not where can I find some! Thanks Jason." View Response

Setting Neck Without a Truss Rod - May 12th, 2009 (6 minutes, 18 seconds)

Niandra asked "Hi guys...i'm not sure whether a question similar to this one has been already asked. I have a '51 Martin 0-15. All in all the guitar is in a nice condition but im not sure whether it would be the right time for a new neck setting. What is an indicator for that? As far as i am informed martins from this age didn't yet have theese/those TrussRods (or how it is spelled-sorry for my english it's beschissen ;-) so in case IF i have to bring it to a professional luthier. Actually i think the playing is very very nice and the spaces between fretboard and strings up to the 12th fret seem normal but im not sure and what do you think would be the "average" price? And bye the way--- can you tell what's up with mr . fishmann's lessons???? Thanks." View Response

Recording - August 7th, 2008 (6 minutes, 90 seconds)

Mav67 asks, "Hey guys I was wondering if I could get some advise on dealing with RBS (Record Button Syndrome). I learn these tunes, get the guitar part down and practice it extensively, slowly working in the singing with it, not that I can sing worth a damn but who cares. But everytime I go to record it I turn into a retard on the guitar. Everytime I mess up one way or another, if it isn't the guitar itself, I forget lines of lyrics or miss a vocal cue or try and change to the wrong chord or miss fret a given chord or what is becoming my personal favourite, messing up the picking or strum pattern. What frustrates me more than anything is that any other time I can do this with the minimum of fuss, but as soon as that Record button is pressed, it is like my mind, my voice and my fingers are on separate planets. Any advice on this matter would be appreciated, thanks in advance." View Response