- Year 10
- Edexcel
The guitar solo in rock music
I have created a virtuosic guitar solo incorporating idiomatic guitar techniques.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
- Year 10
- Edexcel
The guitar solo in rock music
I have created a virtuosic guitar solo incorporating idiomatic guitar techniques.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- In the 1980s rock continued to be hugely commercially successful.
- Artists drew influence from other styles and often used developing technology in their music.
- A common feature of many rock styles is the virtuosic guitar solo.
- These are normally based on the blues or pentatonic scale, and are played above the riff or chords.
- Guitarists often used specific techniques such as note bending, hammer-ons, tapping, and harmonics.
Keywords
Virtuosic - playing in a virtuosic style means to play in a way that shows off technical and musical ability
Note bending - note bending is when a musician ‘bends’ the pitch of a note
Hammer-on - a hammer-on is a technique where the guitarist presses their finger into a fret to play a note, rather than plucking the string
Tapping - tapping is a guitar technique in which both hands 'tap' the frets, allowing very fast patterns to be played
Harmonic - a harmonic is a very high-pitched sound that guitarists often play to add excitement to solos
Common misconception
A solo should just use as many fast notes as possible.
To be really effective, a solo should gradually build up in intensity. If it is extremely virtuosic from the beginning, it loses its impact. Building up to a very flashy, virtuosic climax is most effective.
To help you plan your year 10 music lesson on: The guitar solo in rock music, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 10 music lesson on: The guitar solo in rock music, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom.
Explore more key stage 4 music lessons from the Developing understanding of pop music: rock, blues and rock 'n' roll unit, dive into the full secondary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
DAW and MIDI keyboards
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