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Music vocabulary · Performance and Practice

Solo

Meaning in music, with examples

/ˈsoʊloʊ/nounCore term

In music, solo means: A section of music played or sung by one performer, often featured above the rest of the band, or a whole piece written for a single performer.

In Turkish: solo

How it is used

In rock and jazz, players 'take a solo' or 'play a guitar solo', and the audience claps after a good one. 'Solo' is also an adjective ('a solo career', 'solo piano') and an adverb ('she performs solo').

Example sentences

  1. After the second chorus, the saxophone takes a sixteen-bar solo.

  2. He left the band last year to start a solo career.

Common collocations

  • take a solo
  • guitar solo
  • solo career
  • solo artist
  • play solo
  • improviseTo create music in the moment while performing, without reading it from written notes, usually over a known chord progression or within a mode.
  • riffA short, catchy musical phrase that is repeated many times, often on guitar, bass or keyboard, and becomes the signature idea of a song.
  • jazzA genre that developed in African American communities in New Orleans in the early 20th century, known for swing rhythm, rich harmony and improvisation.
  • accompanimentThe music that supports a main melody or soloist, for example the piano part under a singer or the chords a guitarist plays behind a violin.
  • bandA group of musicians who play together, especially in pop, rock or jazz, or a group of wind and percussion players such as a marching band.

More terms: Performance and Practice

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