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Harmonix's freestyle guitar solo feature is probably the most interesting, innovative thing we'll see in Rock Band 4 flexibility with vocals and drums , it left us wondering what sort of personal stamp we could put on our guitar play -- and it's a modified, improved version of the frantic shredding from earlier Rock Band games, now with a little more sense and science behind it.

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In Rock Band 4, guitar solos are not the same old, totally open-ended shred-fest they used to be. The chaos of hitting random buttons and strumming like crazy is gone, replaced by a system that rewards players for performing their solo in a specific way. At the same time, it doesn't compromise creativity, and playing a Rock Band 4 solo feels really, really good as a result.Visual cues indicate what Rock Band 4 is asking of you in a given song. Colors and iconography clue you into which buttons on the guitar -- the five up top, or the more solo-centric buttons on the bottom -- you should use. Holding a single note lets that "string" sing, while holding two or more buttons and strumming creates a lick. Rock Band 4 uses a bit of behind-the-scenes trickery and theory to give your solo, whether slow and consistent or frantic and fast a great sound. Each note segues pleasantly into another without the old Rock Band problem of mismatched, awful-sounding notes bashing into one another.Gestures, such as lifting the guitar to create feedback, allow for more freedom as well. Strumming upward and holding the note gives it a bend sound, and holding all five note buttons creates a heavy, clunky noise that can give your solo a different kind of flavor. I loved mashing these techniques together to create strong, believable solos for songs I know intimately. It surprised me how much I enjoyed actually listening to these solos when I expected to hear something familiar. If you'd rather hear Hendrix as he was meant to be heard, you can also default back to the scripted beat-match guitar solos. Neat.Best of all, you can finger-tap the high notes on the bottom of the guitar to really let loose with rock star rapidity. It's silly, fun, and satisfying -- exactly how Rock Band guitar solos should feel.For more on Rock Band 4, stay tuned to IGN and our E3 Hub

Mitch Dyer is an Editor at IGN. He hosts IGN Arena , a podcast about MOBAs. Talk to Mitch about Dota 2, movies, books, and other stuff on Twitter at @MitchyD and subscribe to MitchyD on Twitch