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Guitar solo builder: improvise over every chord

You know the pentatonic, but your solo sounds the same over every chord? The solo builder takes your progression and shows you, for each chord, the scale that fits, its arpeggio and the notes to aim for on the change. It also writes a full solo in tab so you can hear the idea at work.

With Premium, or as a one-off module.

Try it free

What the solo builder does

Type a progression (for example Dm7 G7 Cmaj7) or load an example: Blues in A, Jazz II-V-I, Pop I-V-vi-IV or Andalusian minor. The tool then works through every chord and shows:

• the target notes: root, third, fifth and seventh of the chord, with the third and seventh in green;
• the suggested scale for that chord (Dorian over m7, Mixolydian over 7, Ionian over maj7, Locrian ♮2 over m7♭5, and so on);
• an umbrella scale that covers the whole progression, with a compatibility percentage, drawn across 15 frets;
• a complete solo in tab, with 1, 2 or 4 bars per chord.

Click a chord to open its detail view: the scale and the chord tones in the area of the neck where the chord sits, the triads to know, ready-to-play arpeggios and several solo lines (arpeggio, pentatonic lick, chromatic approach, voice leading into the next chord).

The theory behind it: the right note at the right time

A solo "plays the changes" when it outlines the chord of the moment. The surest way to do that is to land target notes on strong beats, especially beat one of a new chord.

Take a ii-V-I in C: Dm7 (D F A C), G7 (G B D F), Cmaj7 (C E G B). The guide tones, third and seventh, either hold or move by a half step:

• the C of Dm7 (G string, 5th fret) falls to the B of G7 (G string, 4th fret);
• the F of G7 (B string, 6th fret) falls to the E of Cmaj7 (B string, 5th fret).

Play those two moves slowly over the chords and you can hear the progression without strumming it. That is exactly what the generated solo does: the last note of each section aims at the third of the next chord, often with a chromatic approach.

The umbrella scale is your safety net. Over Dm7 G7 Cmaj7, a single scale covers 100% of the notes (the seven notes of C major). Over a blues in A (A7 D7 E7), no seven-note scale covers everything: the percentage tells you so, and that is your cue to switch scales or aim at each chord's own notes.

Free, Premium or one-off module: what you get

The solo builder lives in the GuitarHarmony workshop (app.guitar-harmony.com). You need a free account to open the workshop, but this tool is locked on the free plan. There are two ways to unlock it:

• Premium at 4.90 € a month or 39 € a year: the solo builder, every other Premium feature and unlimited AI analysis;
• the Solo builder module at 6.90 €, paid once, lifetime access, no subscription.

The tool is not an AI solo generator: scales, target notes and lines are computed from harmony rules, so they always agree with your chords. Plan details are on the pricing page.

Tips to get the most out of it

• Start with the targets, not the scale. Over each chord, play only the third on beat one, then add the seventh. Fill in with the scale afterwards.
• Switch between Notes and Degrees. In degree view you see that the same fingering is a 3 on one chord and a 7 on the next: this is how you learn to think in intervals.
• Slow the generated solo down. Pick 4 bars per chord, play one bar at a time and check the legend for hammer-ons (h), pull-offs (p), slides (/), bends (b½, b) and vibrato (~).
• Keep your minor pentatonic, but aim. Over a blues in A, the A minor pentatonic at the 5th fret works everywhere, yet moving C# (G string, 6th fret) on A7 down to C (5th fret) for D7 changes everything.

To look for other scales over a progression, the scales and chords tool also has a "find the scale that fits my chords" feature.

How to use it

1. Enter your progression. In "Your progression", type chords separated by spaces (Am7 D7) and press "Add", or click an example: Blues in A, Jazz II-V-I, Pop I-V-vi-IV, Andalusian minor. The cross on a chord removes it, "Clear" empties the list.
2. Generate the solo. Click "Generate my solo". A card appears for every chord with its target notes (third and seventh in green) and suggested scale, followed by the guide line and the umbrella scale.
3. Read the umbrella scale and the full solo. Choose "Notes" or "Degrees" for the fretboard labels, then set "Bars per chord" to 1, 2 or 4. The solo appears as six-string tab, each bar labelled with its chord and technique.
4. Work chord by chord. Click "Show on neck" or a chord tab: scale, chord tones, triads, arpeggios and solo lines appear in the right area of the fretboard. Finish with the target notes recap.

What you can do with it

Your first solo over a ii-V-I

Load the Jazz II-V-I example (Dm7 G7 Cmaj7), play only the green notes, then the arpeggio line for each chord. In one session you hear the difference between "playing the scale" and "playing the chords".

Getting past the pentatonic in a blues

With Blues in A (A7 D7 E7), the tool suggests Mixolydian over each chord and shows the thirds C#, F# and G#. Add them to your pentatonic licks for a blues that really follows the changes.

Preparing a solo for a song

Enter your song's chords, choose 2 bars per chord and use the generated solo as a starting point. Keep the landing notes, change the rhythm and the phrases: you end up with your own solo, built on solid targets.

Terms to know

• Target notes
• Chord tones
• Arpeggio
• Guide tones
• Minor pentatonic scale

More workshop tools

• Guitar scales and chords on the fretboard
• Chord identifier
• Alternate tunings
• Guitar triads
• Interactive circle of fifths
• Chord progressions by style
• Ukulele chords
• Chord substitutions
• Songbook (chord sheets)
• AI chord progression analysis
• Guitar toolbox
• Fretboard and ear games