NEW BOOK : Electric Guitar Solo Styles 1 - Frequently Asked Questions
Want to know more about the new book?
Welcome to our FAQ for Electric Guitar Solo Style 1 by Michelle Nelson. Whether youβre new to soloing or looking to refine your current guitar skills, weβve compiled answers to the most common questions about this book. Here, youβll find everything you need to know about who the book is for, how to use it, and what you can expect to learn. Read on to discover how this guide will help transform your guitar playing with loads of good technical advice and cool solos . . .
WHAT TOPICS ARE COVERED in the book?
Pentatonic minor + blues scales
Lead guitar techniques: Hammer ons, pull offs, slides and grace notes
How to get pitch perfect bends
How to combine techniques into easily repeatable licks, and how to speed them up
How to put it all together to play full blues solos
β¦and much more!
By author, educator and composer Michelle Nelson.
Brand new! Learn all the most important lead guitar techniques and secure your fundamental timing and picking skills with Electric Guitar Solo Style 1. Gradually build your skills, step by step, from basic lead guitar scales, to legato techniques, and work on string bends to get perfect pitching. Once youβve got the fundamentals down pat, then start combining all the techniques to play licks, and build up to playing full blues guitar solos!
What Topics Are Covered?
Pentatonic minor + blues scales
Lead guitar techniques: Hammer ons, pull offs, slides and grace notes
How to get pitch perfect bends
How to combine techniques into easily repeatable licks, and how to speed them up
How to put it all together to play full blues solos
β¦and much more!
By author, educator and composer Michelle Nelson.
Brand new! Learn all the most important lead guitar techniques and secure your fundamental timing and picking skills with Electric Guitar Solo Style 1. Gradually build your skills, step by step, from basic lead guitar scales, to legato techniques, and work on string bends to get perfect pitching. Once youβve got the fundamentals down pat, then start combining all the techniques to play licks, and build up to playing full blues guitar solos!
What Topics Are Covered?
Pentatonic minor + blues scales
Lead guitar techniques: Hammer ons, pull offs, slides and grace notes
How to get pitch perfect bends
How to combine techniques into easily repeatable licks, and how to speed them up
How to put it all together to play full blues solos
β¦and much more!
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This book is designed for beginner to intermediate electric guitar players who already have the basics of guitar technique under control. Players should be comfortable with some single-note picking and able to play the common open-position chords with simple rhythms. Itβs best suited for players over the age of 12, or adults with foundational guitar/music skills.
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The digital download is a ZIP file that includes a PDF of the book & MP3 recordings that correspond to the different exercises.
The tracks help the developing player realise the sound of the scale patterns and related exercises, the picking, and timing exercises and, most important of all, the sound and style of the solos that turn all those techniques into music. Once you have consolidated a new exercise practicing by yourself, you can test yourself by playing it with the recorded sample.
Tip: Slow the recorded samples down using VLC or Windows Media Player first if you need to, then slowly bring the tempo up to full speed over time! Itβs a great practice method!
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Electric Guitar Solo Style 1 features a blend of notation with TAB, but you donβt need to be a traditional music reader to begin this course. Everything is explained as you progress through it. Whilst familiarity with basic notation, timing and TAB will give you a bit of a head start, if you read the text box on each page that presents new material you will learn all you need to know to work on that page. Donβt be tempted to skip material; almost every page contains something new!
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The exercises focus on building lead guitar skills through the core techniques of scale patterns, alternate picking, hammer-on, pull-off, slide notes, and string bending. Each technique is presented in clear, progressive steps and the recorded samples guide you to the intended music outcome. At each step the solos combine the just presented techniques into familiar sounding music.
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The techniques and exercises in the book are designed for use with any standard solid-body, or semi-acoustic electric guitar. An acoustic steel-string guitar can be used for the earlier, simple material (up to page 15) but from there on the material is increasingly electric guitar specific.
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Electric Guitar Solo Style 1 develops your understanding of todayβs electric guitar styles, and the history of the instrument, by tracing the Blues based development of itβs playing style from the earliest years through to the 21st century. In turn, these techniques evolved into the popular RβnβB / Rock sounds of the instrumentβs heyday, leading to todayβs blended style. The Blues came first and gave the electric guitar itβs core techniques that form the foundations of a wide range of modern popular music.
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This depends very much on individual practice habits! Electric Guitar Solo Style 1 is structured to be self-paced and provides a wealth of material to assist your development. Resist the temptation to skip through and just play the main solos; if you canβt play the technique exercises you wonβt fully realize the solos in the second half of the book. Depending on age and practice commitment, Electric Guitar Solo Style should provide you with somewhere between 6 - 12 months of guitar work.
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Yes, the book is ideal for self-taught guitarists. The clear instructions and audio tracks provide practical guidance that can be followed without a teacher and will fill in lots of things you may not yet have picked up by yourself. But do keep in mind, a good teacher will always be able to explain what you are not yet sufficient with. An experienced teacher will shorten you learning time and guide you to advanced material more quickly and efficiently than you are likely to achieve by yourself.
Handy hint : Get in touch with us if you want a bit of help working through the material - We do in-person or online lessons!
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The Electric Guitar Solo Style books are structured differently to other commercially available guitar books. Unlike other Lead Guitar guides that focus mostly on just scales and connecting patterns across the fretboard, EGSS integrates all techniques with full music examples that demonstrate how those techniques create music. The presentation of bending techniques, and the accompanying strength-building cliche exercises are unique to Electric Guitar Solo Style 1 and 2. This course will develop your ability to a higher level, and give you a clearer view of style than other similar looking books provide.
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Practicing regularly is a must! You need to find time within your weekly routine to accommodate daily music practice sessions. Some days this may be a little less than others but aim to practice at least 40 minutes per day. If you can manage an hour most days that will be even better. Music instrument learning needs regular activity to reinforce current, and recent practice material.
Electric Guitar Solo Style 1 will work for you if you work through it methodically. With all new material, focus on slowly mastering the exercises, ensuring you are holding the pick correctly, picking evenly and playing with steady timing. Build speed only after a new technique is established at a slow tempo. As you consolidate new material, practice it with the accompanying audio track. This may well be difficult at first but persevere with it. The scales and exercises are all demonstrated at a moderate tempo (a gentle, medium speed).
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Book 1 of Electric Guitar Solo Style focuses primarily on developing your core guitar techniques. Book 2 of the series (coming soon!) continues that work but starts to encourage some variation in repeat sections, rather than explicit improvisation. Book 3, currently being planned for the second half of 2025, will be primarily about lead guitar improvisation techniques and advanced techniques. If you stick with Book 1 until the material in it has become familiar and playable, youβll be well equipped to begin learning improvising your own solos as you continue with further study.
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Electric Guitar Solo Style 1 covers all the foundational lead guitar techniques. Itβs aim is to get you to a confident intermediate level of ability. Advanced techniques, such as syncopation, funk rhythms, octaves and double-string bending are coming early 2025 in Electric Guitar Solo Style 2 - keep your eyes peeled!
BRAND NEW and out now!
Out Now! Unlock the secrets to mastering electric guitar solos with Michelle Nelsonβs brand new comprehensive guide, Electric Guitar Solo Style 1. Designed for beginner to intermediate players, this book combines essential lead guitar techniques with blues and rock progressions that will take your playing to the next level. With step-by-step exercises, easy-to-follow TAB, and audio backing tracks, youβll be rocking solos with confidence in no time. Get your copy today!
