What are the most important notes of a guitar solo - Tension and Resolution in Music
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The two most important notes in any solo are the first and the last — one brings the listener in, the other satisfies them. Here's how to choose them, using the notes of A Dorian against an A minor chord.
What you'll learn
- The first and last notes matter most — start with color, end with resolution
- The 9th (B) is a great opening note; it has color and intrigue
- The 5th (E) has a resting quality — use it to end a phrase like a period
- End on the 5th or root to resolve; use the tritone (6th) sparingly for tension
Start with a note that has color
The first note is what brings your listener in. Play something bland and you won't grab them the way a note with a little color will — the kind that makes them think "what was that? sounds cool." Before you even play it, you want to know how it'll sound against the chord. Adam often starts on the B — the 9th over an A minor chord — for exactly that intriguing color.
Every note against A minor has a flavor
Using A Dorian (A, B, C, D, E, F♯, G) over an A minor chord, each note does something different. The A (root) always works, but everyone in the band is probably already playing an A, so you may want something else. The B (9th) has great color. The C (♭3) sounds good. The D (the sus4 or 11) suspends the listener beautifully over a minor chord.
The E (5th) has a very satisfying resting quality — it's like a period at the end of a sentence. The F♯ (6th) clashes with the C in the chord to form a tritone: funky and bluesy, the kind of tension Miles Davis used, but best used cautiously. The G (♭7) is a chord tone that sounds good and a little bluesy.
Ready to take this further? Best Minor Pentatonic Course
Turn scales into solos that actually sing.
End the solo on purpose
You can start right on your chosen note, or play pickups leading into it and then hold it. Endings work the same way. When you're winding down, you want to give the listener something that says "this is the end, and it ended in a cool way." To put a real period on it, end on the 5th or the root — Adam also likes ending on the 9th for color. The point is to be conscious of it: you're not just randomly stopping because time ran out. Think about your first note and your last note — pull them in, then satisfy them.
