Wondering How To Make Your Guitar Solos Flow better?

Meet Motif Development, your new best friend!

I’ve mentioned a few times already that repetition is a great thing. Musically, it's a powerful tool to help your improvising make more sense to the listener. Exact repetition can be a lot more exciting than just playing the same thing over and over.

In a nutshell, the idea is to make a short statement and then explore it. You need to keep at least one element the same and explore things around it. There are loads of ways of doing this!

In this lesson, let's explore motif development and improve your guitar solo skills!

Repeat 3 Times - Then Go Crazy

Repeat the same element three times, and then go crazy! This trick is very well-used in most styles, super common in Blues. It's a fun way of developing a solo!

This method is awesome when improvising! The idea is to repeat a motif three times using any of the options shown below. Then, play something completely different.

The repetition makes the listener get in tune with what you're saying. Then, the contrast of something different makes it sounds even cooler than it might have on its own.

Straight Repetition

Repeating the same idea over and over can work great. But - keeping things interesting takes practice and consideration. Many great lead solos repeat one only idea over and over while chords change underneath it. It's so, so cool - but very easy to overdo it!

Playing the same phrase but changing the last note to fit the chord changes can be nice too! Exact repetitions with a different ending are something to explore!

Example

Some great pop songs use repetition very effectively. Single Ladies by Beyonce is a great example - each section repeats the same motif. It's worth listening to how effective it is, even if that kind of R’n’B isn’t your bag!

Rhythm Statement

Take a rhythm statement, a long note followed by two short notes… doooo da da. Then, explore this idea with the scale shape.

You can play any notes you like but keep that same rhythm pattern and see what happens.

You don't have to be strict about it, and you can change it up as you like. One thing that works well is to develop one motif. Then, when you stumble upon something exciting or different, you make it the new motif!

Examples

Probably the most famous example of this is Beethoven's 5th Symphony. Da Da Da Duuum. You know the one! Take a listen and see how often that same idea and variations on it come up.

The melody of the jazz standard Autumn Leaves also repeats the same rhythmic line for the A Section.

Chet Baker and Paul Desmond also explore motif development in their improvisations. Incredible players! I linked both of them in this lesson.

Another one you might have heard of is We Will Rock You by Queen. That “Boom Boom Clap” carries on through most of the song and ties it all together.

Melody Statement

Making a melodic statement and exploring its rhythm is also a lot of fun! Many of the great guitar players use this trick.

Take a lick or a phrase and mess with it for as long as it's fun! Play it slow, play it fast. Change the feel from straight to swing. Switch up from even eighth notes to triplets - and so on!

You're free to explore the melodic statement as much as you like. Get creative-there are so many things to try! :)

Switch up Your Technique!

Suppose I'm about to start a solo, and I'm not feeling connected with my musical imagination. In that case, I often call on a technique to provide a theme to riff off.

It might be big string bends, so I'll start exploring it until I stumble onto another motif. It might be flick-offs to open strings, extreme slides, tapping, double stops, or anything!

Almost always, a technique motif will lead me to another form at some point. So, if you're feeling stuck, it's an easy thing to explore!

Melodic Sequences

We've already started to explore a Melodic Sequence of 3rds, but we can still expand this content. It can become as complex or fun as you want to make it!

Let's say that you go up a 3rd from the starting note. Then, another 3rd and then scale steps back down to the starting note. You could move an idea like that and start on any note in the scale. You'd be developing a melodic sequence!

Examples

The jazz standard All The Things You Are repeats the melodic line down a 4th and then goes back to the original pitch. It's quite a long sequence, and there are some variations - but the idea is strong!

In jazz, the game is about playing around with the melody. So, it’s hard to find a ‘real straight’ example, but I hope you get the idea!

Inversions/Retrograde

If you want to get a little more technical, you can explore Inversions or Retrograde. Let's take a look at them!

Inversions are where you play a melodic idea upside down. Retrograde is where you play the idea backward.

To invert a line, you'd go up to where you went down in the original line. With practice, you'll be able to do this on the fly! To start with, this is the kind of thing that you might spend time working out in advance.

Retrograde can be easy if you think of playing a scale-up and then back down. Keep the same rhythm phrasing if you want a true retrograde.

The Thread

I remember seeing a Stevie Ray Vaughn interview where he talks about the importance of having a thread that ties your solos together. A motif development is a great way to get into that! I can't find that video anywhere right now - if you know it, please let me know!

You can change the motif at any point. There's nothing that says you have to make 'the thread' evident to the listener. It's much more about how you feel it, and being aware of this idea will add strength and interest to your solos. :)

Unit 4 Practice Schedule

Homework

The homework for this unit is 10 minutes. There's a lot to learn here, so I suggest doing at least 20 sessions before moving on. If you five days a week, it means you'll follow this schedule for 1 month!

It is much better to spend some time practicing this well and make up a good solo than hurry to the next pattern. Another pattern won’t make you a better player, but more work on this will. :)

5 Minutes - Scales in 3rds
Start with Pattern 1 and stay on it until you can play it up and down in 3rds with confidence. Don’t worry about speed at all. Just get the notes right and train up the muscle memory!

Only when Pattern 1 in 3rds feels good (and you've memorized it, of course) should you move on to Pattern 2. Spend some time thinking about the fingering options and what feels right for you.

Figuring out the fingerings on your own is a great thing to do, but I'd follow my suggestion as a starting point. I’ll let you figure out fingerings Patterns 4 and 5 in 3rds on your own!

5 Minutes - Improvisation with Motif Development
You should use a different key backing track on each practice session. Start using only Patten 1 and explore one Motif Development idea for the full 5 minutes!

Try a different Motif Development idea for each practice session. Explore what feels right for you. What do you find inspiring? What do you find difficult?

You can choose to explore your strengths, develop your style, or focus on your weaknesses and be a well-rounded guitarist! When you feel confident with Pattern 1 in a few keys, try using Pattern 2, and then combined both patterns. But don’t hurry it - enjoy the ride!

Keep your ear open and always use Re-Active Listening when improvising!

Feedback And Support

Try to make a video of yourself at each stage of this journey. You’ll love looking back on it, and it can be very inspiring to see how far you have come. Don't forget you can share it with our community of guitarists.

It allows you to get feedback and help if needed! It also inspires the guitar players starting their journey. I hope you’re enjoying it and I'm looking forward to watching and hearing you soon! :)