The Plain Old Codes

Solo writer As beforePlanned (landings first)Melody + player (long notes become licks that come back to the note)Tune first (a melody of 2 to 4 bar phrases that answer each other) Solo rhythm motif (Melody + player) OffOn (a phrase repeats its first beats of rhythm) Solo breaths (Melody + player) OffOn (after a busy stretch of quick notes, the next note is left plain) Solo figures on the 8th grid (Melody + player) OffOn (in a straight groove: no odd 16ths, no triplets at the start or the landing) Solo core notes (Melody + player) Every phrase (as before)Chosen bars, cores only (about half the bars, the notes that stand out)Chosen bars, with moves between (step 2)Chosen bars, story plan only (step 2b: no licks yet, read the card)Chosen bars, story told in licks (step 2c: ramp, sung phrase + bend and pull-offs)Chosen bars, story told in licks + the lick library, no rest over a beat (step 2d) Solo climax played (core notes) Off (held plain)On (the climax note is bent and held with vibrato, bent again, or a pedal lick) Lead guitar sounds (every solo writer) OffOn (pinch and natural harmonics, whammy dives, feedback, a pick scrape into the solo, by genre) Solo polish (core notes: the player dresses the story) Off (the story as written)On (step 2e: vibrato, bends, pickups and figures like Melody + player; the cores stay) Solo shape (core notes: the story's dynamics) Off (as written)On (step 2f: loudness follows the arc, a laid-back start in soft moods, the last note rings) Solo mood (Tune first: the mood in the intervals, jumps, pace and colour notes) Off (Tune first as it was)On (each mood has its own jumps, quick and slow parts, colour notes and rough edges) Mood scale (Tune first + Solo mood: over power chords the mood picks the 3rd and 6th) Off (the song's own scale)On (bright moods play major notes, dark moods minor notes, whatever the key) Solo story (Tune first: the plot comes from the chords) Off (a random energy shape)On (phrases end where the chords end, the peak lands on an arrival or the strongest pull, the build follows the section's tension and the mood) Solo story shape (Solo story on: the shape of the energy) Auto (picked by the chords, the loops, the sections either side, the mood and the genre)Arch (up to one peak, then down)Rounds (up and down once a time through, each crest higher)Climb and hold (up, then stay up)Fall and stay low (an early peak, then low)Valley (high, down low, high again)Level (steady, one small lift)Steps (hold, lift, hold) Notes follow the chords (needs Solo story on) Off (the strong notes are picked by height and the mood only)On (a call on a chord that wants to move leans (the 3rd or 7th); an answer on home lands on the root or 3rd; a phrase one loop later plays the figure again) Tension notes (needs Solo story on) Off (the notes inside a phrase ignore how much the chord wants to move)On (over a chord that wants to move the line plays notes that want to move, such as the leading note; over home it plays notes that rest) Last note leads into the next section (needs Solo story on) Off (the last note is the root of the solo's last chord)On (the last note is a note of the next section's first chord, or a semitone from one, so the bend at the bar line is small) Story score (needs Solo story on) Off (the best of the twelve versions is the one that sounds most like a tune)On (among the versions that sound like a tune, the one whose build follows the plot's energy, whose peak stands out and whose phrase ends fit their chords wins) Solo expression (Tune first: bends, runs, 32nd pairs, muted bursts and breaths in windows of any length) Off (the tune as written; Solo polish if on)On (held bent notes, quick runs, flurries and breaths; the tune's goal notes stay; replaces Solo polish) Expression follows story (needs Solo story and Solo expression on) Off (expression plays by its own dice)On (quick notes and bends rise and fall with the story's energy: more at the crests, fewer in the lows; held notes at the crests are dressed) Solo amount (needs Solo expression on) Normal (as before)Light (most of the tune left as written; fewer, shorter changes)Full (more windows played another way) Solo bends (needs Solo expression on) Plain (every bend at the engine's one speed)Dials (each bend its own speed, shape and timing: a snap, a lean, a slow singing crawl; the climax and the last note sing) Solo recast (needs Solo expression on) Off (the runs as they were)On (some runs become a library lick, a legato roll, a pedal figure or a trill climb; held notes slide in or trill) Solo echo (needs Solo expression on) Off (every window on its own)On (an answer plays its call's figure again on its own notes; one signature figure comes back near the climax and the end) Solo backing (what the band plays under a solo) As written (the section's own chords)Held chords (the song's chords kept; the rhythm guitar rings each one, power or full chords, instead of its riff; the bass holds the root) Solo variation (solos of 16 bars or more) Off (the same band all through)On (one stretch of 4 or 8 bars changes: lighter, half-time or lifted drums; the other section's chords, or held chords; the solo's energy follows)