I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around soloing and bluegrass etiquette, when creating a solo I understand that I should stay in accordance with the chord progression, but how do you go further in phrasing and variation? Using different octaves seems like a logical choice, but I’m stuck. Do you create “go-to” solos or licks to tie together in major and minor keys so you can be covered in a jam setting. I found myself floundering in my most recent jam because we were playing songs that I had never played before, even though I knew the key and basic chord progression. Even though I survived I was disappointed in how I played,
Stuck with solos
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I’ve been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Ben’s build-a-break videos are a great tool in learning how to create your own solos - basically, you pick out the melody and then build around that with licks and rolls (on banjo - not sure what instrument you are playing). But I don’t yet have the ability to do that on the fly in a jam setting on a song for which I don’t already know a break. In that setting, I often find myself reverting to licks and rolls that fit the chord progression, which sounds good to the untrained ear, but doesn’t always do a good job of capturing the melody. But…I am getting a little better at it, so maybe there’s hope that I will get there one day…and I’m sure you will, too!
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Keep practicing and showing up to jams. This is just more experience. Use the disappointment to motivate yourself to learn that new song or play a little faster than your comfortable tempo in practice. I keep a running list of regular songs that I liked at each jam and work on them a little every day. Another thing that I do is if I can find another song that I know that fits the chord progression of the song in the jam, I will completely pull out that solo instead, almost no one will notice and it will sound surprising. You Are My Sunshine and Lonesome Road Blues are good examples of the same progression. You see that a ton, especially at the end of phrases. Also, remember there is no shame in passing to something that you are not familiar with… If there is a less common progression with a 2 chord in it or a strange rhythm I’m not familiar with I will pass all the time…,
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Which instrument are you talking about @david_coleman1?
I"m about to be traveling but @Michael_Mark will be able to lead you in the right direction.
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For guitar, I learned to stop looking at the fretboard and constantly trying to hit out notes in scale.
Let your ears and soul guide you as you play. Scales and chords are maps but you need to create your own routes within those area maps.