Solo (music)
The terms solo or solo ( it. Solo : "alone"; Pl. Soli ) have several meanings in music.
On the one hand, it refers to a solo piece that is performed by an instrument or a singing voice. Since there is an extensive repertoire of such works, especially for the piano , and to a lesser extent for violin , flute , violoncello and others, it is often differentiated from chamber music for two or more players.
On the other hand, it describes music for one or more soloists and accompaniment by an orchestra , basso continuo or other ensembles. If the entire work is designed for soloist and accompaniment, it is an instrumental concert .
With Solo also a passage can mean within a piece of music in which a soloist or several soloists have to deal with a challenging game in which she as an individual expressive step forward and musically and acoustically stand out from the accompaniment.
In the classical orchestra, the solo contrasts with the tutti , especially with string instruments that otherwise play the same voice within groups. In the baroque Concerto Grosso , the musical form is based on the interplay between tutti and solo passages. Here solo means a group of soloists who each perform their own voice.
In music mainly of the 19th and 20th centuries, the instruction solo can also appear in solo ensembles, such as a wind quintet. There she draws musicians' attention to a particularly exposed passage and demands that the voice emerge.
In the Jazz have solos central importance. The short fills and the somewhat more extensive breaks that mark the boundaries between the molded parts are also solo activities; A “solo” is typically used when an entire molded part or the entire piece is characterized by a soloist. A solo in jazz is often improvised .
Well-known guitar solos in rock music come from Pink Floyd in Comfortably Numb , Led Zeppelin in Stairway to Heaven , Genesis in Firth of Fifth , the Eagles in Hotel California or Guns N 'Roses in November Rain , while in metal the most famous solos from Metallica in Master of Puppets , Judas Priest in Painkiller or Iron Maiden in Powerslave .
Rock guitarists like Eric Clapton in his time with Cream or Ritchie Blackmore with Deep Purple have also improvised live and not only reproduced their studio solos.
