I just stumbled on something that is good to practice. Try mixing all the major ideas that I have spoken of in the past. Start by learning to play the whole tone idea I presented in my May 27th, 2004 weblog entry. Learn to play it very fast and then try mixing it with some of the major patterns. Think of the whole tone as an idea you might play over a major chord (or maj9th) maybe? Of course, over a minor chord, I shift the wholetone scale over a fret.
The main idea here is to sit down alone with your guitar and try to make up new ideas after you have learned to mix all the major ideas together. First start with a foundation of how to play over major tonality and then try to play those ideas in all sorts of different order and phrasing. Experiment and try to make unique melody.
The weblog entries that cover these ideas are:
May 27th, 2004
Dec 31st, 2003
Nov 3rd, 2003
Oct 23, 2003

I found a huge weakness in my playing that I didn’t even realize was there. I was playing with my metronome and trying to clap on the off-beat.
I found that I was able to sustain “the swing” in my clapping going up to a tempo of 108 (on my metronome, which goes up to 180 i think). after 108, i gradually lose the ability to keep my timing. at 152 I start to not be able to do it at all.
I am going to work really hard until I am able to clap reliably past the 200 mark. I figure this is going to take about 4+ hours of hard work.
Another weakness that I have at very slow tempos is get a nice la Pompe. On songs such as Nuages, Djangos Castle, Blue Drag, and Tears, it can be very hard to get the rhythm right. Getting the proper sound in my upstroke can be daunting. This could take months to work out.
My third big weakness is that I can’t play the rhythm to Caravan very well and I need to work on that one. The advice I was given was to start slow using the rhythm that Robin Nolan describes in his Book #3 and then speed it up about 52 times.

If your not sure if you are playing your rhythm correctly then check with your peers and friends. Make sure you are always open minded and looking for new ways to improve your playing, particularly in terms of rhythm. It is important to keep your eyes open and try to learn from each other.
Rhythm is a complex thing. Everyone has a different opinion on how exactly it should sound. I think a metronome is a good basic guide and the rest of the technique follows. Get out your metronomes.

I just realized that while I solo I SEEM TO have a toolbox which so far consists of the following distinct items. These items cover almost all the things I have learned over the last year.
1. All the minor 6th arpeggios (from Wrembel)
2. The diminished arpeggios and their inversions (from Romane Nashville vid)
3. The whole tone scale (From Espirit Manouche book)
4. Major 7th arp (I rarely use this)
6. Tracing the basic major and minor arpeggios (from Wrembel)
7. Major 6th arp (like in Appel Indirect)
8. Tri-tone and the tri-tone chord sub (from Wrembel)
9. Stacked triads (from the Romane Espirit Manouche book)
10. Dominant arpeggios (from Horowitz)
As a beginner, if you master these 10 bullets then I think you can say that you have started to become a player. It is interesting to look at this list, which sort of represents a 10 mile high view of what I have learned so far in regards to soloing.

Over the G minor chord in Dark Eyes, here is something that I might play over it. The beautiful thing about this is connecting first the diminished arpeggio with the G minor arpeggio which ends this lick. The note at the 4th fret is just a tri-tone of the G minor, which I use as a passing tone.

———–6-3———————–6-10-6-10-
———5—–5——————-8———–
—–3-6———6-3————-7————-
-2-5————————-5-8—————
———————4—–5——————-
———————–3-6———————