How John Mayer Improvises Solos

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[@BrandonDeon]

Join my god damn newsletter for daily guitar tips you mother fookers: brandondeon.com/newsletter

[@Questtangy]

Bro hearted his own comment 💀

[@guitarandotherthings6090]

I cant take a guitarist seriously who thinks a Telecaster Ultra sounds good.

[@oliverj.8266]

"they're just playing shapes they've already memorized" well excuse me and my beloved pentatonic scales 😤

[@jarnovanderzee2469]

Nothing wrong with pentatonic, just dont play it up and down but experiment by skipping and repeating notes (Maybe youre already doing that but im just saying it in case your not)

[@oliverj.8266]

@@jarnovanderzee2469 i agree 100%. I've only been playing for circa 3 months (learned pentatonics fast, to give myself small victories haha), but its easy to digest the fact it isn't very impressive to just slay them. So as you say, i try to skip notes and repeat others - i also try to hammer on a note a few times, before i bend it. Just to spice it up a little. Should you have any suggestions or tips for someone like me, feel free to drop 'em down below 😂

[@jarnovanderzee2469]

@@oliverj.8266 Sounds like good progress honestly, it just takes some time before it feels natural.

[@McWizard420]

@@oliverj.8266sounds like awesome progress bro!! I’ve been playin for circa year and a half, and I learned pentatonic scale probably before anything, and I really feel it has helped me progress tremendously, call me Kirk Wahmett cause I love that pentatonic scale

[@bryanespinoza7171]

😂😂😂😂

[@murasaki-sama]

Tim Henson once said: "A good guitar solo is a guitar solo that you can sing"

[@kovacskolos8477]

Ironic lol

[@Childofbhaal]

Honestly you can kind of sing almost any solo there is

[@MeatbagYourBuddy]

Ace Frehley says that too :)

[@youztuber5000]

Don't think Tim Henson came up with that idea 🙄

[@cotopaximusic]

People were saying that way before Tim came around making arcade machine noises

[@VicRattlehead1985]

“Play shapes that they’ve already memorized” man’s describing me right there

[@super7o]

John Mayer is a genius, the way he finds the notes and uses them In the right place is truly impressive

[@gunnarmarks5754]

Not just playing lines a singer would sing but you can literally play the melody of the song. Adding extra notes and embellishments each time you do it through so by the end of the solo there’s hits on the melody but still has the epic solo vibe

[@TheLuke...]

No, guitar is an instrument, and though sounds probably closer to vocals than other instruments, still has things that sound good and don’t sound good, just like how if the sweet child o mine riff was on a piano, it wouldn’t sound that good.

[@gunnarmarks5754]

@@TheLuke... a melody is a string of notes, it doesn’t exists to only (or to not be) played on certain instruments. The vocal melody in modern commercial music is the typically the most identifiable part of a song. If you play the vocal hook during your guitar solo, you are playing something that the audience has in their ear. Any ballad this works amazingly with

[@thisissourya]

Brandon, so glad you speaked on Mayer. As a mayer fan and someone who keeps up with you, this was surprising. More Mayer content please.

[@thejanglingjones6164]

That performance in the background at the beginning is one of my faves, John and Keith Urban are brilliant

[@DasMachineBrettK]

A singer wouldn’t belt out everything out the gate….. insert Bowser’s classic Peaches here

[@talentedbat7323]

he doesnt?

[@TheLuke...]

Also, sure u can slowly build up, or you can shock the listener which is also cool

[@brycethomas1138]

Great short. Def something I have caught onto over my years of playing and trying to get better at lead.

[@adamproductions4529]

The dead and company Althea playing in the sands version is a great example of John’s soling

[@danielsgrunge]

These are good advices

[@fernandoaguilera4418]

Amazing

[@rodrigospelz2258]

Great video, useful and stuff

[@Zu89]

Whoa.When you showed Mayer playing the lick, then singing it, that was a aha!, moment for me. Thank you.

[@Apatheory]

“A singer won’t suddenly scream when the song starts” idk man slipknot kinda do

[@ronjhayespeleta4164]

he said "typically"

[@kurtttttttt]

There you are! I forgot to subscribe when I discovered you ages ago, but yay the algorithm has reunited us lol

[@virtualnuke-bl5ym]

Whenever I write a guitar solo, I like to write it out as sheet music first. And yea "ohh what da hell why are you using sheet music just use MIDI" well using sheet music means that if you do put a note out of key that it has to be intentional, and it lets you see the relationships between notes better which leads to better writing in my opinion. Anyway the point is that by writing out the solo long before ever playing it or noodling over the solo section, you completely break away from all limitations you have as a player, be it your memorized shapes, your comfort zone, etc. it means you can write something you cannot play yet, or it means you can write something so easy to play yet so catchy that you never would've played that by writing on your guitar.

[@justinwest4088]

For me personally playing a guitar is like having a conversation. Reminds me of the element of playing called call and response.

[@isaiahneilguitaristofficia549]

I would rush out of the gate and play a fast, dissonant lick to grab the audience’s attention then play a blusey, home base nice resolution lick, because I am not a singer I am a guitarist…however, John Mayer’s approach to improvisation and soloing is a very valid and great place to start to learn how to solo..

[@evanschubert1113]

One of the things that made Jerry Garcia so great was his vocabulary was so large that he could shoot out of a rocket even before the first bar of the solo and sustain that energy through the whole solo without repeating himself and still maintaining the melody

[@ethancharles7843]

So the guitar was needed for this video

[@yeoss]

this is good advice becos leads are leads, thats why its good to have your guitar sound like a singer especially during the solo, a good example is Hysteria, the solo almost sounds like the chorus vocals,

[@toddatisme8063]

John Mayer is the truth 🙌

[@holidaytrout5174]

Totally. You gotta think of the guitar as a voice or group of voices

[@RvstyClvtch]

Yo Brandon Boss. Do a video about Frusciante solos!!!

[@ac_ligma_john50n]

Check out guthrie Govan please.

[@trentonbrock6376]

I want one of your guitar but signed

[@Mrlanesaccount]

Ya know buddy, that’s not good advice. That’s fucking great advice! Thank you.

[@theguyofalltrades]

Learned from the great B.B. King

[@gnarf250]

What a hot take

[@seancook4948]

It’s kinda funny how I hated this dude when I first saw his videos years ago but now he’s one of my favorite teachers on the internet lol

[@tomg204]

Dude jams like a gangster.

[@krissimms4775]

Sure okay ,,B.B .King lifts

[@rosewood_ca]

Me, I'm sending this to myself

[@HDChubbydude]

Yea but what if I wanna play a line in my head but I don't know which notes to play on the spot? 😭😭

[@asuryan]

Ear training

[@Questtangy]

I don’t have the patience to sit through a John Mayer solo

[@albertwilson5028]

Well clearly u dumb

[@knockdown5124]

Ngl as a bass player I don’t love guitar. But that guitar is beautiful.

[@jahvonfrancis3875]

I think like that but my technical ability cant keep up yet😢😢

[@abnuridd24]

Jazz guitar players like George Benson do that, singing the lines then playing or while playing them. Jazz singers sing lines and it amazes me because they're are more than just a singer. With their voice they are a true musician.

[@MeowMeowNickgar]

Am moving up holy Sh*t

[@Opious2]

Why did i just see this now,-,

[@mr.mouthfeel3975]

look up john mayer crayola box quote

[@mrthunderwar4819]

Good 👍

[@MattD86]

Nice Ultra Tele

[@hartfeltworld]

Mayer the goat

[@masterstomastersmxm8236]

make your own.

[@hyprz5]

This makes me think of Zakks solo in “I Dont Wanna Stop” its sort of the opposite to this mentality. Starts and finishes at 100, starts and ends pretty high.. as opposed to something like “No More Tears” which is just great in every way

[@nickandrews2255]

CHEERS BVRO CHEERS CHEERS

[@andrewgoldin675]

aboot aboot aboot aboot

[@smartaleckduck4135]

Musicians under promise and over deliver, it’s how you keep people coming back for more. If you start with your lost impressive stuff what’s stopping people from leaving once you’ve run out?

[@TakeHit0]

"Why don't we start up here, go down there and go up even higher over there." -Kirk hammet

[@user-bp1rz3vb1d]

i’m a john mayer fan so do i send this to myself?

[@TheArbiterOfTruth]

lol, a boat 😂

[@diigdugg]

shoutout to theo katzman, who consistently sings what he solos when he plays live

[@Sensei.shonuff]

Ppl think be bas bedhead hes actually a super Saiyan he does the transformation before every video it makes his playing 10x better

[@donovanskillman2557]

If you can sing something you can play it even better

[@benjaminbellestlandawatson4965]

Singing and playing after. Sounds like my man mark knopfler

[@dreno-]

Meanwhile deathcore singers take everything out as soon as the song starts

[@ConsultingHumor]

What are rests?

[@Mattspsycho]

You hear that polyphia

[@gerardorojas9304]

Canadian ey?

[@cerbi2720]

Well, it's about realizing that melodical instrumental lines are similiar to vocal lines

[@69hunter55]

How about Send a John Mayer to video fan instead?

[@SenorGermaine]

Bro why’s this guy always so mad

[@goosetoo1997]

its intentional, i think its funny

[@RenThrash]

No

[@Newfsters]

Why does bruh own a Tele-Strat. 💀

[@nangkiewartetrina8214]

How to play like John petrucci

[@snap-off5383]

Yeah never "play shapes" that will make you listen to shapes, "play SOUNDS" and listen to the sound coming out of the speaker.

[@roderickbalt8993]

Yeah John is lovely, and always will be nr1 in my heart but the authority musically on guitar playing solos would be mr Derek Trucks. John has soul and theoretically gets it, but Trucks just transcends the boundaries John Mayer and many other guitarists are bound by😮

[@archibaldgregory1348]

i diagree

[@guitary]

Steve Perry. Oh Sherri. GOAT. This means all singers should come in hot. John Mayer is wrong!

[@toenailtom654]

So... play up the neck, up the scale, build to a crescendo , then play back down. Sounds like standard music.

[@harleyjo4875]

Alternative title, but still yelled at the camera: “HOW ANY MUSICIAN WORTH THEIR SALT THINKS ABOUT A NORMAL SOLO WHERE THEY ARENT TRYING TO SPECIFICALLY DO FACE MELTERS”

[@lestalkmorebasss]

Well…. I am definitely NOT a fan of Mayer BUT I can respect his approach, abilities, and style.

[@josephfrancis1601]

Dude... Jerry brah... same shit 50 years earlier...

[@davidheywood5112]

I'm a john mayer fan

[@user-lg6yu8zg4b]

Hey man, phish?

[@azzystillborne9125]

“Send this to a John Mayer fan” So nobody is getting sent this.

[@victoriapearce6006]

Incorrect

[@azzystillborne9125]

@@victoriapearce6006 incorrect 🤓

[@jecht3]

Wish I could see the dislikes on this comment 😅😂

[@heirrose1606]

I'm sure through pop osmosis and store soundtracks I've listened to some Mayer but all I remember is a line about fathers being good to daughters and absolutely nothing from his guitar work. I don't consider any of his quitar work memorable

[@hetanshparmar1426]

First

[@Lostsoulmedia]

You should check out Rory Gallagher shadow play live I think it’s in German not sure you’ll know when you know

[@thesystem4025]

Because I’m not a singer 😎

[@Sensei.shonuff]

Ppl think be bas bedhead hes actually a super Saiyan he does the transformation before every video it makes his playing 10x better