What Are The Best Improvised Guitar Solos Of All Time?
Hearing a top-tier improvised guitar solo is something that instantly strikes you. The sounds and fluidity of a guitarist at work are unparalleled when witnessed first-hand.
The best-improvised guitar solos arise when the guitarist matches the feel of the piece by utilizing a variety of techniques, mixing standard scales and chord progressions into a seamless section. Some songs featuring the best improvised guitar solos include “Voodoo Chile” by Jimi Hendrix, “Beat It” by Michael Jackson, and “Fade To Black” by Metallica.
Many of the greatest guitarists of all time have shone when improvising. Sometimes, their on-the-spot actions have left significant moments in pop culture.
What you will find is that these solos transcend their immediate genres. No matter if it is hard rock, heavy metal or even a pop smash, a good guitar solo will always create headlines.
So what are the best-improvised guitar solos of all time?
How To Identify An Improvised Guitar Solo
Unless you speak with the guitarists themselves, you aren’t going to know first-hand whether a solo is planned for weeks or improvised on the spot. Or so you would think.
However, if you listen closely to a recording, you can tell if a guitarist has improvised when laying their tracks down in the studio by a few telltale signs.
So what should you look for?
Improv clues in a recording
There are several good ways to look at an improvised solo in a song – particularly when you hear the studio version of the track.
The biggest clue often comes from how the main song melodies are manipulated. Most planned solos will stick to manipulating basic scales and chords involved in the melody.
However, an improvised solo will deviate from this. It might involve any of the following:
- Rapid changes in tempo
- Deliberate sustained or shortened notes
- Effect manipulation eg. whammy bar
- Added playing techniques eg. tapping or picking
When a player is improvising, these attributes are strung together in quick succession creating a unique sound that the listener won’t expect.
As the music changes, so does the direction of the solo. Combining all these aspects quickly gives you a good indicator of whether the solo was put together in pieces or improvised on the spot.
The Best Improvised Guitar Solos Of All Time
Voodoo Chile – Jimi Hendrix
No guitar player in history has been as spontaneous with a guitar quite like Jimi Hendrix.
Any iconic image of Hendrix playing shows him at one with the music and feeling each note.
There’s no shortage of great improvised guitar solos from Hendrix, but “Voodoo Chile” is one of his most iconic.
What makes this shine is Hendrix taking basic blues scales and manipulating the pace to create great harmonies.
Alternating between organ and harmonica pieces, the middle solo in “Voodoo Chile” particularly shows Hendrix flowing at his best. And all of it stemmed from one jam session during the recording for Electric Ladyland. Truly iconic.
Tornado of Souls – Megadeth
You won’t find many guitarists as technically sound as Marty Friedman. And that is what makes his solo from “Tornado of Souls” so rewarding to listen to.
Stemming after a melodic bridge, Friedman builds this solo up into a sonic fury. Starting slowly following the breakdown, you hear manipulated arpeggios spliced in every few bars.
Until the end becomes a tapping masterclass across scales to symbolize a whirlwind. It winds down with some sustained notes before handing the song back to Dave Mustaine’s vocals. A great improvised guitar solo from one of heavy metal’s finest axemen.
Beat It – Michael Jackson
“Beat It” stands out as one of Michael Jackson’s biggest hits, and what makes the song stand out is the iconic solo from Eddie Van Halen.
Chiming in from major riffage in the bridge, EVH shines with a solo for the ages. Kicking off with whammy notes, Van Halen unleashes his signature tapping for much of the first half of the solo.
Add in a rapid-fire second half and mix in a crying whine to finish and it’s an iconic moment in 80’s pop. The whole solo was done in just two takes. And it amazingly left session guitarist Steve Lukather (Toto’s lead axeman) in awe. Timeless.
Parisienne Walkways– Gary Moore
You often don’t think of Gary Moore at the top of the guitar legends list.
However, the ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist could get a guitar to whine like the best. His iconic 1979 hit “Parisienne Walkways” showcased his emotive playing at his best.
Highlighted by a huge elongated whammy note at the start, he flows into taking the main riff in all directions.
From working basic blues scales to rapid-fire tapping, Moore makes the guitar cry like very few cry. All while a slow, mournful beat ticks away in the background. One of the best-improvised guitar solo outros to be found anywhere around.
Rock Bottom – UFO
Few guitarists lit up the 1980s like Michael Schenker.
Yet, it was his early work with UFO that is often the German guitarist’s most lauded work.
And his solo in 1974 hit “Rock Bottom” was what put Schenker on the map. When Schenker takes over the song, it sounds like your standard 1970s rock. But Schenker elevates this with a two-minute masterclass.
The first half takes a main riff and turns it around several ways before Schenker unleashes it in the second half.
Throw in extremely quick picking note changes, continuous scale changes and a clean wail to finish, taking “Rock Bottom” to a whole new level.
Being one of Schenker’s first big showcases, it laid down what the then 19-year-old could do and a guitar star was born.
Fade To Black – Metallica
Metallica has immortalized heavy metal, and “Fade To Black” is one of their most signature songs.
Although the song has numerous highlights, it’s the end solo that garners our attention. Kirk Hammett strides out from the outro’s melodies to work his way through a mesmerizing solo.
Starting by slowly manipulating scales, Hammett goes all out within the final minute.
Featuring some epic tapping, huge whammy notes and speed changes, it’s Metallica at their very best. And a track that pleases rock fans worldwide.
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Live) – The Beatles (as performed by Prince)
The original version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” featuring The Beatles and Eric Clapton is lauded as a classic.
However, the song got a new lease of life in 2004 when several of rock’s greats covered the song shortly after George Harrison’s death at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Awards.
Although greats like Steve Winwood and Tom Petty performed in the song, Prince performed the iconic solo. And Prince did what he does best: upstage everyone else.
During the second half of the performance, he unleashed every technique imaginable. Beautiful melodies, insane picking, huge notes all covered with the showmanship of Prince playing. A fitting tribute and one of the best-improvised guitar solos played live or in the studio.
Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Everyone knows Free Bird and its iconic second-half guitar solo. It’s one that many have tried and failed to replicate.
What makes the solo even more incredible is that was laid down in just one take. And by just one person – Allen Collins.
Collins unleashes a bevvy of bluesy solos and rapid-fire arpeggios for several minutes.
To add further gleam, Collins improvised both parts of the solo in one take before splicing them together to create the iconic tapping duet halfway through the solo.
All this combined to lay down one of the greatest solos of all time. And one that troubles guitar virtuosos to this very day.
Paradise City – Guns ‘N’ Roses
Where would a guitar solo list be without Slash? Slash has put together plenty of iconic solos, but his improvising best comes during the end of Paradise City.
As the song kicks into double-time during the outro, Slash unleashes an improvising masterclass in the background behind the vocals.
It includes some of his fastest playing on any record. Between huge tapping moments and even mimicking Duff Mackagan’s huge bass riffs, there’s no greater crescendo in rock than the end of Paradise City. An improvisation masterclass from a true guitar hero.
Conclusion
In the end, some of the biggest moments in rock have come from improvised guitar solos. Using basic skills such as scale manipulation and holding notes, guitarists can create magic from nothing.
Icons like Jimi Hendrix and Gary Moore put emotion into their music to make epic stretches.
Others like Marty Friedman and Slash quicken the pace to stun audiences. Some like Eddie Van Halen and Prince just take one go to nail things down and underline their legacy.
No matter how it’s done though, the best improvised guitar solos always stand the test of time.
