Guitar solo

[2] A classical guitar solo concert is typically called a recital; it may include a variety of works, e.g. works written originally for the lute or vihuela by composers such as John Dowland (b. Ireland 1563) and Luis de Narváez (b. Spain c. 1500), and also music written for the harpsichord by Domenico Scarlatti (b. Italy 1685), for the baroque lute by Sylvius Leopold Weiss (b. Germany 1687), for the baroque guitar by Robert de Visée (b. France c. 1650) or even Spanish-inspired music written for the piano by Isaac Albéniz (b. Spain 1860) and Enrique Granados (b. Spain 1867).

Johann Sebastian Bach (b. Germany 1685) is another composer who did not write for the guitar specifically, but whose music is often played on it as his baroque lute works have proved highly adaptable to the instrument.

[4] They include Fernando Sor (b. Spain 1778) and Mauro Giuliani (b. Italy 1781),[5] it is noted that their music can be seen to be potentially influenced by Viennese classicism.

In the 19th century guitar composers such as Johann Kaspar Mertz (b. Slovakia, Austria 1806) were influenced by music written for the piano.

[6] I Francisco Tárrega (b. Spain 1852) wrote more uniquely guitar music, incorporating stylized aspects of flamenco's Moorish influences into his romantic miniatures.

[12] From approximately 1780 to 1850, the guitar had composers and performers including: Filippo Gragnani (1767–1820), Antoine de Lhoyer (1768–1852), Ferdinando Carulli (1770–1841), Francesco Molino (1774–1847), Fernando Sor (1778–1839), Mauro Giuliani (1781–1829), Niccolò Paganini (1782–1840), Dionisio Aguado (1784 – 1849), Luigi Legnani (1790–1877), Matteo Carcassi (1792–1853), Napoléon Coste (1805–1883) and Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806–1856).

The use of a guitar solo as an instrumental interlude was developed by blues musicians such as Lonnie Johnson, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, and T-Bone Walker, and jazz like Charlie Christian.

[15] In the late 1950s, a new blues style emerged on Chicago's West Side pioneered by Magic Sam, Buddy Guy and Otis Rush on Cobra Records.

The earliest rock guitar solos, as exemplified by popular recordings of Duane Eddy and Link Wray in the late 1950s, were relatively simple instrumental melodies.

[22] In the early 1960s, instrumental surf music represented a step forward in the sonic complexity of rock guitar melodies.

In 1963, the dramatic, technically advanced electric guitar solo rose to the fore with Lonnie Mack's hit records, "Memphis" and "Wham!"

Extended guitar solos are sometimes used as a song's outro, such as Christopher Cross' "Ride Like the Wind", Radiohead's "Paranoid Android", Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird", The Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog", Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb", Guns N' Roses' "November Rain", Metallica's "Fade to Black", Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog", Journey's "Who's Crying Now", The Cult's "Love Removal Machine", The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", .38 Special's "Hold On Loosely", The Rolling Stones' "Sway", Pearl Jam's "Alive", Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dani California", Cream's "White Room", AC/DC's "Let There Be Rock", Outlaws' "Green Grass and High Tides", The Alan Parsons Project's "Eye in the Sky" and Eagles' "Hotel California".

Solos can take place in the intro, such as "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" by Jimi Hendrix, "Since I've Been Loving You" by Led Zeppelin, "One" by Metallica, "Lazy" by Deep Purple, "I Want It All" by Queen, "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry, "Don't Take Me Alive" by Steely Dan, "Sails of Charon" by Scorpions and "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd.

In rarer cases, the guitar solo may come after the first chorus as opposed to the second, such as "Beast and the Harlot" by Avenged Sevenfold, "The Importance of Being Idle" by Oasis and "Black Summer" by Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Some rock bands use harmonized dual lead guitar solos as part of their signature sound, such as Wishbone Ash and Lovebites.

In the 1970s, Aerosmith's bassist, Tom Hamilton, played a bass intro on the song "Sweet Emotion" from their album Toys in the Attic.

Thrash metal group Metallica's 1983 debut album Kill 'Em All features a solo by bassist Cliff Burton on "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth", which some consider his greatest work.[who?]

Heavy metal bass players such as Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath), Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse), Cliff Burton (Metallica), jazz fusion bassist Jaco Pastorius (Weather Report), and Les Claypool (Primus, Blind Illusion) used chime-like harmonics and rapid plucking techniques in their bass solos.

The slapping and popping technique incorporates a large number of muted (or 'ghost' tones) to normal notes to add to the rhythmic effect.