I'm too ingrained in blues, really. And I've noticed that RHH and others often blast you with chords or arpeggio shapes in the midst of what would otherwise be straight-ahead 50s type solos.
Any suggestions? I'm looking for everything from meat-and-potatoes kicks to Tarantinoesque clangs...
K
Great question Konrad. I am also ingrained in blues.Really am trying to reach out for the other side. Have bought a few rockabilly dvds but still need a little more insight.
Have you noticed that the rockabilly dvds often seem to be almost too quirky? Years ago, when I learned the banjo, I bought some books with tapes. The solos were not impossible, but they were really out there. Later I bought some from the Homespun Tapes series. Meat and potatoes and a real foundation. I ended up being a pro-level player.
THen I broke my first finger, which has also hurt my flatpicking, but not like it did with banjo picking.
Anyway, the point is, I get more out of solid, basic, straight-ahead lessons than I do the latest nutty riff.
On the other hand, we all love the nutty riffs, don't we?
Anyway, if anyone can throw anything my way regarding my post, I'll probably chunk it into everything I play. 
K
Actually, while it's not fantastically wonderful, there's a Jim Weider rockabilly dvd that's pretty good in explaining some basics, you might want to check that one out.
Otherwise, learn as many inversions of six, seven, ninth, thirteenth, etc...chords all over the neck, and go from there. Visualise the shapes, relate them to other chord positions and scales you know, try to arpeggiate the same chords in different positions, and you'll be on your way.
Scotty Moore is extremely creative and clever on Elvis' Sun sessions, and while extremely clever, often not extremely hard to figure out or play, and he's often playing different inversions of the same chord all over the neck.
Hmmm. I know my chords and inversions, but some of the doublestops or chord clangs I hear are just incredible - maybe I have a mental block, but they don't come to me naturally in solos.
K
Put some slurs and stops in the solo. That always works.
A slur is sliding your finger across two strings towards the desired fret.
Pick up Chord Chemistry it will change the way you look at the guitar.
EDIT! BOOK
Thanks Ratrod, Curt.
P
Chromatics, Man! That is the rockabilly ticket. 
Also Major and blusey minor sounding licks in the same solo
billydlight said: Chromatics, Man! That is the rockabilly ticket
What's that? It sounds cool but I'm lost.
Here's some crap from the top of my tired, late-night head.
Use open strings when you can.
Try to use your pick hand like a percussionist would. Everyone has their own personal rhythmic "strangeness". We're not metronomes. This can let some of your own "style" come through.
Throw in quirky notes and bends in your phrases. If they sound wrong, play them twice, like you meant to. Then play it again.
Every now and then, don't play anything. Stop in mid-phrase, and just stand there like a dork, soaking up the bass and drums behind you. (Like Albert and B.B. King did and do). Then refer to #3, and start in on a quirky note. And then play it twice.
It's okay to play stock licks (Chuck Berry double-stops, blues licks, etc.) if you throw in something off the wall between them.
Play whatever you WANT to play, wherever you want to play it. If it doesn't sound right the first time, at least the next time you're in that situation you'll get a feeling of, "uh, wait, I've been here before. Last time I screwed up when I..." Then throw in one of your tried-and-true licks, giving you time to think about what you'll do next. Then, refer to step #3.
billydlight said: Chromatics, Man! That is the rockabilly ticket.
Wishinfora(nother)Falcon said ..What's that? It sounds cool but I'm lost.
I think what billydlight is referring to is using all 12 notes in an octave or at least not just strictly stick to the notes on a particular scale. ie get off scale, scales can be pretty confining. But that is only my guess.
very simple (minded) example (but not really rockabillyish):
3rd string: 6,7 2nd: 6, 8,9 , 8, 6 4th: 6,7,8
The same can be applied to chords and plying arpeggios.
Well, this is not Rockabilly ... but I have been learning some cool licks by watching this one ... It all translates ...
Triads are pretty obvious and best learned on your own... Sorry it's just a good exorcise to figure them out that way ... (CAGED)
The Paul Pigat video is great
There is no easy way to do this stuff. One of the things I really like about roots music is that it encompasses any number of styles. There is no "right or wrong" way to play rockabilly.
It should be about fun, energy, and adding to the song. A one note vamp could be just as cool as a 50 million note run. Put your own feel into it (i.e your own musical experiences) and IMO thats the coolest stuff to listen to. That's what rockabilly was about to begin with.
Chromatics are cool precisely because they work within the structure of chords. A major 7th is the major third of the five, for example. Notes that aren't present in the scale act as "leading tones" - in an ascending run, that same major 7th DEMANDS a tonic as a resolution - except that if you build a diminished scale off it, you have a major second and a fourth as the next steps up in the scale, followed by a flat five, which is a leading tone for either a regular ("perfect") fifth or the tonic again! A confusing mess, perhaps, but it's all about delayed gratification, or evading the expected resolution. Every time that you don't wrap the phrase up as expected, you heighten tension. There are a lot of precedents for how this can be accomplished, but the gist is the same: the longer you wait to blow your top, the bigger the payoff. Just pretend that it's sex and not music. All roads lead to Rome, but you want to enjoy the trip and not get there too quickly!
Even though I almost understand that and can sort of explain it, I still can't play like Cliff Gallup. Of course, it took Jeff Beck thirty years to do that, and he's about as good as it gets.
You may be better of worse than you think you are. It doesn't matter. No one else is better at being YOU than you are, so just concentrate on being you. Or don't think about it. You'll still be you.
I've been looking at Jazz lately too; I'm become so bored with how I play. I want to (here it comes) jazz it up a bit.
Seadevil - that's perhaps the best explanation I've heard for the use of chromatics in soloing. I almost have that funny feeling in my special place.
But seriously... it's a very good analogy.
Also over the top face making is a big key to great rockabilly playing . I PRESENT MY CASE BELOW
One of my personal favorites
PLease forgive me for being silly 
Heh, heh. These are awesom, Billy!
Anyway, but what cool CLANGS do you guys do? Weird 6th chords? Bizarre double stops?
I'm looking for the appropriate BRRRANNNNNNG!
You know what I mean?
I play lots of 6's, 7's and 9's.
I have a day off and I am waisting my time watching dull rockabilly "lessons" on youtube.
I need more fast sounding things.
So I am watching this topic as well.
I learn a lot from copying Hillbilly Hellcats solo's. These are just a little out of my league but when I try really hard I can do them. Actually I did only one yet, the White Trash solo. Anyway in that solo there are many phrases I can use in other tunes as well. Nobody even notices it (I hope) :D
We have sound of White Trash on our myspace http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=7834...
Hey the Hillbilly Hellcats have it on their own page http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=3636...
Crazy Little Baby is also on their page. I am gonna learn that one as my next project.
