You don't need much, but you need the basics to be solid. Before a soloing course, you should be able to play a minor pentatonic shape in at least one position, bend a string reasonably close to pitch, and keep time with a backing track. If you've played for years, you probably clear that bar already, and the real question is whether you can use what you know.
A practical checklist
- Open and barre chords. You should be able to change between them without stalling, since soloing is usually learned over chord progressions.
- One pentatonic box. Minor pentatonic, position one, from memory. Knowing the other four positions helps but isn't a prerequisite.
- Basic technique. Hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides and a simple bend. Vibrato can be rough; most courses work on it anyway.
- Steady timing. Playing along with a metronome or backing track without drifting matters more than speed.
- Note names on the low E and A strings. This lets you move shapes to other keys, which is where a lot of lesson material goes.
What experienced players should check instead
If you've played for years but your solos feel stuck, the gap is usually not a missing skill from the list above. It's often one of these:
- You rely on one or two positions and can't connect them across the neck.
- You know scales but not how to target chord tones as the changes go by.
- Your phrases repeat because you haven't built much melodic vocabulary.
A good course should address those directly. Look at the syllabus and sample lessons to see whether it does, rather than relying on the marketing copy.
Recommended for youGuitar Course Reddit Recommendations: What Guitarists Suggest and Where It Falls Short for SoloingWhat we can and can't tell you
We haven't taken Adam Loves Guitar's course ourselves, so we can't tell you how it feels to work through it. We rely on publicly documented information, and the course's stated prerequisites, lesson list and current pricing should be confirmed on the official site, since these can change. Also note that we may earn a commission if you buy through some links on this site. That doesn't change the checklist above, which applies to any soloing course.
| If you can already... | Then a soloing course is likely to... |
|---|---|
| Play one pentatonic box and keep time | Be a reasonable starting point |
| Play all five positions but sound repetitive | Be useful if it teaches phrasing and chord-tone targeting |
| Struggle with chord changes or timing | Be premature; fix those first |
Related
To weigh this course against others, see Adam Loves Guitar vs Other Guitar Courses and Adam Loves Guitar Alternatives: Other Soloing Courses Worth Comparing. For community opinions and their limits, read Guitar Course Reddit Recommendations: What Guitarists Suggest and Where It Falls Short for Soloing.
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