How long should a solo be?

[mr. beaumont]

2-8 choruses depending on the playing situation, song tempo, and whether there are other soloists or not.

For a jam, I was at a jam recently, and the other guitarist only took one chorus cause he was student level so maybe for him it was the best choice but sometimes better players need to wring you out so you get mad at yourself and go home and improve your game. I always look to give at least a couple choruses with an extra if they are cooking at a jam. If they help themselves to more then it's kinda rude unless they are someone doing something special. Sometimes you get a Stevie Ray Vaughan visitor down here who just wants to play as many stevie licks at a TX jam as they can so they might take who knows how many choruses. Kinda funny to see just how far they will go with it.

For a personal recording though, however many choruses you can make slamming.....

Yeah, song form matters too...one chorus on a blues is barely anything. One chorus on Body and Soul can be an eternity.

[ragman1]

I'm surprised, in an organised session, that it's not laid out by whoever's in charge - as you say, depending on the kind of tune it is. They'll always be those who think they're virtuosos.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

If you have a solo lasting more that four hours, you need emergency care.

Oh wait...

[Christian Miller]

Probably worth pointing out that performing music does weird things to your perception of time

[Jimmy blue note]

Probably worth pointing out that performing music does weird things to your perception of time

It's also a sexual dimorphic function. Guys bring a date to a jazz club, to the guys, it's: Last number already? ENCORE!!!. To the date after the first number, it's: ANOTHER ONE? Did I bring my damned phone recharger?

[Doctor Jeff]

^^Ladies rarely like solos. Let's be honest here--soloing on an instrument is usually an onanistic endeavor, and only a special lady digs watching a guy get off (musically or otherwise) for more than 10 seconds.

But in reality it is a conversation with the audience. I agree with whoever said you should play til you run out of ideas. There aren't a lot of people even the great ones than can sustain an idea or at least make it varied and interesting more than a minute or 2.

An example of perfect soloing would be the solos in Miles Davis' So What. Absolutely perfect. And each solo exits gracefully and sets up the next solo. For a more modern example, I am continually astounded by Jonathan Kreisberg's work with Dr. Lonnie Smith, as well as Lonnie's solos themselves and John Ellis' saxophone work. And his daughter's lovely vocals.

I have a thing for short solos, especially in the pop/rock world. Clapton did a lot of this early in his career. After Midnight--sets a nice shuffle, then gets in and gets out. Let It Rain...White Room...etc. When he was strung out he could be impossibly solipsistic though, as in his jams with George Harrison and overlong solos on Derek and the Dominos jams. Stan Getz in his bossa phase, as in Girl from Ipanema--great stuff. George Harrison--another example of just the right number of notes.

And all those great solos on Steely Dan albums. Fagen never let the hired guns go off the rails. (Countdown to Ecstasy being a somewhat counter example where the soloists stretched out for hours, but always in a very tasteful way. My Old School is a classic.)

[hotpepper01]

I play bigband only. In that context, things are pretty clear. Everybody is tied to reading and follow the sheet music. In normal situations, the sheet music dictates the length of the solo. If the conductor feels otherwise, he/she will instruct the band and the soloist with handsigns to either repeat or move on and so to overrule the sheet music. Musicians have to follow the conductor and pay close attention. If not, it becomes a mess in a blink of the eye

[rpjazzguitar]

When I go to a club or concert to hear a really good player(s), I expect multiple choruses. The soloist tells his tale and it takes time.

With lesser players, lengthy solos can easily get boring. In my own quartet, solos are usually a chorus or two, depending on the length of the form. For ballads, we sometimes divide it up, again depending on the length of the form.

[DawgBone]

^^Ladies rarely like solos.

Nebraska and Texas are world's apart!

[Stringswinger]

Abraham Lincoln was once asked how long a man's legs should be. His answer was "long enough to reach the ground"

So how long should a solo be? Easy. Long enough to reach the ground.

[wintermoon]

I believe Sonny Rollins said you should be able to say what you have to say in 2 choruses though I don't think he adhered to it much.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Ladies and solos, I tells yah!

[RobbieAG]

I heard a quote from Wynton Marsalis recently regarding this. It's on a series he did at Harvard University back in 2011 and is on Youtube. He said (kind of tongue in cheek, I'm paraphrasing) it depends on the skill level and politeness of the player.

I think it depends on the type of session it is. Certainly you can play more choruses at a jam session than a tightly arranged concert or recording session. The audience should always be kept in mind too.

[Jimmy Smith]

When I go to a club or concert to hear a really good player(s), I expect multiple choruses. The soloist tells his tale and it takes time.

With lesser players, lengthy solos can easily get boring. In my own quartet, solos are usually a chorus or two, depending on the length of the form. For ballads, we sometimes divide it up, again depending on the length of the form.

This. The pro thing to do is to take several. For novices, you want to try to play something good for 1 or 2 choruses max and get out while you're ahead. Noone wants to hear that crap if it's excessive.

[kris]

Sometimes there are musicians at jam sessions who love to play.
It seems to them that they play interesting long solos, but this is their subjective assessment.

[Christian Miller]

Didn’t miles say ‘end it before it’s finished’?

so end the solo before you think it’s done.

probably good advice…

[Christian Miller]

Everyone’s giving solo lengths in choruses but I wonder if it’s better to think in minutes and seconds

[kris]

Everyone’s giving solo lengths in choruses but I wonder if it’s better to think in minutes and seconds

Time is money
....:-)

[Doctor Jeff]

Didn’t miles say ‘end it before it’s finished’?

so end the solo before you think it’s done.

probably good advice…

Every Miles quote is a koan.

[Christian Miller]

Every Miles quote is a koan.

sometimes I think he just made unintelligible rasping noises and everyone else filled in the blanks with quotes from Zen in the Art of Archery

[pauln]

The length of a solo should not exceed the time it takes to say what you wanted to say, modulo verse/chorus.

It can range from a single note to something played throughout the piece. In the orchestra if the French horn plays a single toot within a clear moment of the piece, that is considered a solo. In a concerto, the feature instrument solos the whole piece.


Any performance in which the performer has no partner or associate and does the thing alone is considered solo, but in jazz, the soloist is rarely playing alone. Is the word "lead" only used in reference to guitar? It seems to carry more functional or intentional implication. We could make up a new term; I like chitarra solista. Might look good in the score marked as C.S.

......................Italian..................German..........French
solo guitar....chitarra solista...solo-Gitarre...guitare solo
lead guitar....chitarra solista...Leadgitarre...guitare solo