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30 Second Solo Contest


SilverLesterStd

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Lookin' for a little guidance. Reese has a 30 second solo contest in two weeks.

If you were competing in such a contest what format would you choose? Also,

what songs might make your top 3? No cliches in other words... No Stairway,

No Smoke On The Water...LOL The competition is for ages 7-17. I have a group

in mind but I am interested in hearing your thoughts. #-o

 

 

Thanks, SLS

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I chose "Combo of riff and lead-one song".

 

My top 2 would be:

 

Afraid to Shoot Strangers - Iron Maiden (one of the best solo-rifs ever IMHO)

 

Still Got The Blues - Gary Moore (can't beat this one)

 

Sadly I can only think of those 2 right now... they are kind of easy (for the riff part and half of the solos, the hard part you can leave out of the 30 second mark).

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I chose "Combo of riff and lead-one song".

 

My top 2 would be:

 

Afraid to Shoot Strangers - Iron Maiden (one of the best solo-rifs ever IMHO)

 

Still Got The Blues - Gary Moore (can't beat this one)

 

Sadly I can only think of those 2 right now... they are kind of easy (for the riff part and half of the solos' date=' the hard part you can leave out of the 30 second mark).

[/quote']

 

Good change of pace here. I would also add the main riff to Rush's YYZ or even the solo (nice Spanish Phrygian mode showcase)...

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Hey SilverLes! Good to know you & family are well. When I read this, I was thinking about Pat Thrall's solo on the song Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights) from Pat Traver's Go For What you Know Live! album. Good & soulful blues based rock solo. It's a lively song!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Yea, I skow I'm a spaz and haven't posted for awhile. The competition was a real blast for Reese. He enjoyed jamming with the other boys afterwards, than playing his part. But he relished that as well.

 

Here is how it went: He played an excerpt from Yes's Temput Fugit (Drama EP) on bass at the first competition at 11AM @ GC. His performance was good. The kid who won it, played some kind of slap bass composition. There was a 2 person playoff between a guitarist and the kid with the Rickenbacker bass. More slap won the competition. The bassist was very good. Counting Reese, there were 4 bassists, about 4 drummers, and 5 or so guitarists. Reese got to jamm a few minutes with a drummer and guitarist on a blues number.

 

We got some lunch afterwards and headed over to Sam Ash for the 3PM competion. The makeup of the 2nd comp's players was much different. There were no bassists, maybe 11 guitarists, 5 drummers and 2 keyboardists. Reese played his trusty LP Studio VM. The solo consisted of an excerpt from Zep's "Whole Lot Of Love", beginnin right after the drum roll (the lead), then the riff, and an invinted flurry of an ending. The boy just nailed it.

 

That got him into a final 5 (3 guitarists & 2 drummers) playoff. He played another Led Zep tune - "Bring It On Home." He had the audience clapping along to the riff. He lost out to a young guitarist (the runerup from the GC competition). The winner had two very enjoyable pieces to play. He jammed with the guys afterwards and had the best time.

 

Reese performed like a winner! No whining afterwards. He played his pieces just like practice. The main things were: that the got to see what a competition was like, learned that the rules can change ( many of the other guys solos lasted longer than 30 secs.), experienced what it takes to play well when it counts, saw the stage presence of the other competitors, and had a great time meeting others and jamming with them.

 

Now lastly, but not the least, thank you to all my Gibson Les Paul Forum & Gibson Lounge friends. Your input was invalueble! [-X=D> =D> We prepared just like the poll results showed. The best thing is that Reese's lead playing improved emensely by learning the solo at the end of WLOL! It was hard for him a few days out, but he made the improvement needed at the end to make it smoke. My hat's off to Reese for this part. He didn't give up on the Led Zep, even though it was difficult.

 

Oh BTW - Reese seemed to be the youngest in both competitions. The kids who won (a week at Camp Jam) were in the neighborhood of 15 to 17. I know the bassist was 16 years old. I am so proud of Reese for not being intimidated. He did his thing!

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