Impact Soloing

Skill Building Guitar Course from Prashant Aswani

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Tired of playing the same old things when it's time for you to take a solo? Prashant's methodical approach to breaking out of normal patterns and making traditional 'guitar-isms' sound fresh and new will give your playing new legs.

29 Lessons

Complete course with step-by-step lessons and practice examples.

Multi-Camera

Course filmed with 6 cameras for the perfect angles.

97% Appoval

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Tabs & Info

Download tabs, helpers, JamTracks and docs included with lessons.

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Full Course Breakdown

Tired of playing the same old things when it's time for you to take a solo? Prashant's methodical approach to breaking out of normal patterns and making traditional 'guitar-isms' sound fresh and new will give your playing new legs. Explore what it means to connect with your instrument and play from the heart. Look at new ways to approach arpeggios and modes! Most importantly, learn how to improvise without repeating yourself over and over again!

Begin the Course
1

Impact Soloing Series Intro

Do you want to play more musical sounding solos? Do you want to play solos with more emotion behind them? Maybe you're the kind of player that feels stuck playing the same patterns over and over again. If so, Prashant Aswani's Impact Soloing was created for you. Connect your music to your mind and soul in this extensive series on making your solos count!

5:29 Runtime

0.5 Difficulty

View this Lesson
2

Learn Those Arpeggios

Before you can play effortless, amazing solos, you need to lay the groundwork. Prashant explains and demonstrates some basic minor 7th arpeggio forms that will be blown wide open in the lessons to come!

13:32 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

3

With and Around The Major 7ths

In similar fashion to the minor 7th arpeggios, Prashant goes over the diatonic major shapes. Practice the major and minor shapes in different sequences for a challenging warm up.

8:40 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

4

The Odd Ones

Complete the major scale harmony in this string of lessons based on 5th string arpeggios. Learn some clever fingering and note substitution tricks, and play them with the others for more finger dancing fun!

8:35 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

5

Displacement

Now that you have all the arpeggio shapes under your fingers and hot on your mind, it's time to have some fun with them. Prashant shows some cool ways to make these patterns sound very 'un-pattern' like.

13:12 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

6

Linear Additions

Do you want to make your patterns NOT sound like patterns? Prashant looks at some of his favorite ways to add scale elements to the arpeggio patterns shared in this series. The result is a free-flowing and diverse sound that sounds anything but calculated!

11:12 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

7

First Finger Pivoting

Running out of fingers is a common problem when trying to navigate to different familiar patterns on the fly. This lesson focuses on developing the ability to pivot using your first finger in certain parts of an arpeggio so that your other fingers remain available to pick up the slack.

7:22 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

8

Linear Pivoting

Now it's time to combine the concepts from the last two lessons. Take the linear additions to the arpeggios and practice moving from pattern to pattern on the fly using your first finger as a pivot point.

8:38 Runtime

3.5 Difficulty

9

Fun With Upper Structure Triads

What the heck are upper structure triads? To get the answer, start by counting by odd numbers. Then, watch this lesson. Using upper structure triads helps you add colorful chord tones to any progression. It doesn't matter how basic the native chord structure sounds. Using this technique, you can flare up anything, even a static "one" chord!

17:36 Runtime

3.5 Difficulty

10

How to Get into Hybrid Picking

If you have tried hybrid picking before and considered to feel a bit awkward, Prashant's approach may be just what you need. He first starts by focusing on the rhythm aspect of the technique while keeping the left hand simple. Give it a try, stick with it, and perhaps you can add a new dimension to your playing!

12:23 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

11

Think Through Two Modal Progressions

Here's one of the greatest ear training exercises: pick a chord progression, listen to it, play it, and try to hear which mode might sound the best over it. Once you have done this mental work, pick up the guitar, use some of the patterns you've worked on in this series and see what comes out!

8:57 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

12

Voice Leading & Singing

Chords need melody, and a melody is always stronger with the right chords underneath. Learn Prashant's approach to connecting chords together with melody. Try playing a melody within a moving chord progression, but before you do that, just hum or sing over the chord progression you're working on and see what comes out!

10:40 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

13

Melodic Motifs

Learn to put melody first and connect patterns, runs, and other ideas with your melody in mind. Prashant is a master at this! Learn from the best!

8:18 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

14

Double Barring & Lead

Double barring isn't just for rhythm players. Learn how take this technique and inject new clarity and speed into your melodic lines and fast runs!

13:11 Runtime

3.5 Difficulty

15

Double Barring Two String Sequences

Work horizontally on the neck with the double barring technique discussed in the last lesson. Work on each set of two strings for different timbre and harmonic ideas.

11:21 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

16

New Licks, Combining Techniques

Blend the double barring technique with many of the other techniques taught in this series and learn 3 extended licks or passages that will help you work everything in musically.

12:59 Runtime

3.5 Difficulty

17

Voice Leading & Rhythm Playing

As a guitar player, playing rhythm is your primary responsibility. This lesson demonstrates how to make rhythm playing interesting and even a little 'lead-like' by using voice leading. Learn how to weave a melody into your rhythm guitar part!

13:01 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

18

Simple Alternate Tunings & Groove

By altering your low E string and keeping it simple, you'll open up some great riffing and rhythm opportunities. Prashant shows you how to work with Drop D and Drop C# for some massive lines and catchy ideas!

16:07 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

19

Groovin' with the Kick Drum

Listening and grooving with the kick drum may be a big priority for bass players, but it is still extremely important for rhythm guitar players! Learn how to play with and around a kick pattern and focus on the pocket you are creating with your drummer. Keep it simple!

7:13 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

20

Musical Bending & Vibrato

Have you ever heard a new song or guitar solo and been able to identify the guitar player simply by how they sound? The odds are that you were able to guess correctly because you recognized how they use bends and vibrato. Learn how to develop your own unique style with these important techniques.

17:26 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

21

Whammy Bar Techniques

The idea of a whammy bar is pretty straight forward, but implementing it musically isn't always so easy. Prashant shows you how to create everything from obvious whammy bar fun to subtle East Indian-tinged sounds.

15:17 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

22

Everyone Loves a Good Gear Talk!

Prashant discusses his guitar and gear choices for his signature tone. He also reveals his love for messing with guitar aesthetics.

11:29 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

23

Vibrato & Bends in Context

Now that you've honed in on pitch and accuracy with bending and vibrato, take the concepts and drills presented in the last lesson and apply them in time. You'll be surprised by the cool, quirky sounds you can make when you dial up the metronome!

7:35 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

24

Dark Day

Prashant improvises over an original track called "Dark Day" and teaches some key passages from the solo. Learn the whole improvised solo from the transcription in the supplemental content section!

7:37 Runtime

4.0 Difficulty

25

Face First

Welcome to the 2nd massive and juicy improvised solo from Prashant Aswani! Tracks like this are where it all comes together. Apply what you have been working on in this series HERE!

7:25 Runtime

4.0 Difficulty

26

Horizon

Melody is key! In this track, practice putting melody first and make arpeggios, hybrid picking lines, and flash a strong second. Learn a few key licks and check out the tab for the full transcription!

9:56 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

27

Rush Hour

Learn a VERY melodic solo and hone in on the intricate rhythm beneath it. Focus on creating hooks and melody in your soloing and making that the main thing that people hear.

8:04 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

28

Suspended

Mix blues elements with progressive rock and you get this cool improvised solo by Prashant Aswani. Learn the solo and figure out the rhythm, then take parts of both and apply them to your own writing!

8:44 Runtime

3.5 Difficulty

29

Your Call

Learn this full song off of Prashant's album "Visions". Learn the melody, the rhythm and the complete improvised solo. This is a MONSTER lesson! Dig in and enjoy!

44:06 Runtime

4.0 Difficulty

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Prashant Aswani

181
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Playing since 1984
  • 169 lessons at JamPlay
Begin Course
Few musicians can say they’ve had such a diverse background in music, ranging from Indian classical to rock fusion, and many genres in between. Even fewer can say they recorded their first solo album while still attending Berklee College of Music. Prashant Aswani, however, can attest to these, and even more, jaw-dropping experiences.

Prashant has recorded Four Solo albums including “Revelation”, “Duality”, “Sonically Speaking”, “Visions” and one soundtrack “Frequency” released by Lakeshore Entertainment. Currently, Prashant is the featured artist on iFrankenstein Movie Soundtrack (Lakeshore Entertainment) and is Producing AJ Mclean’s(Back Street Boys) solo album. In addition he is currently recording his fifth solo album with Jose Pasillas (Incubus) and Rhonda Smith (Prince, Jeff Beck).
Reviews & Feedback 97/100 with 184 ratings
cth018

all of the above

stauffer

Also teacher explains things very well!

guitarlynxx

Exactly what I believe I need at this point. Can solo, but hitting the wrong target notes and looking for more flow and better selection & phrasing. I'm thinking this is going to help.

okcman

great lesson

Gordon3344

i like his wisdom

marcofi

Prashant Aswani lessons are incredibly well explained and easy to understand. Some of the things he does are very complex, but he is really able to break it down in a simple way. I hope he does more series

AL+1

Very well put. Always wondered how to slice and dice the scales. To make it sound less predictable. I'll try it out with my scale practices.

StevenAxe82

was looking to make arpeggios sound more like music and integrate with scales, this is what i need