Fill out your sound

Plan for the dreaded dropout in your sound when your guitar solo kicks in

1 Octave shape on low strings

Using this ‘two strings at a time’ shape, you can slide around and make thicker sounding lead lines, avoiding some of the dropout when you stop playing rhythm to go into solo mode. This works when you pair up the sixth and fourth strings and with a fifth- and third-string pairing. The solo in Green Day’s American Idiot is a great example.

2 Octave shape on high strings

The octave shape is different on the high strings – we have to compensate for the lower tuned second string. Remember, it’s a two-string shape. You can pair up the fourth string with the second or the third string with the first. Octaves aren’t as easy or as quick as using single notes but the challenge is worth it for the bigger sound.

3 Muting the idle string

These two-string octave shapes all straddle an idle string – and that string needs to stay quiet, otherwise you can expect some pretty nasty sounds! Simply angle your first finger to touch the unused string to stop it ringing out. Once this becomes second nature, you’ll be able to strum quite aggressively at those octaves without fear of unwanted/wrong notes.