A solo is a piece or passage of vocal or instrumental music for one performer that is often accompanied by the rest of the band although the solo will be the main feature of the section and usually takes place around the middle or near the end of a song. Below are some of the techniques that you may find embedded in the solo:
HAMMER ON: A hammer-on is a playing technique performed on a stringed instrument usually with frets, by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down on to the fingerboard behind a fret, causing a note to sound. A hammer on is illustrated by a curved line an ‘H’ written above it.
PULL OFF: A pull-off is a stringed instrument playing and articulation technique performed by plucking or "pulling" the finger that is grasping the sounding part of a string off the fingerboard of either a fretted instrument. A pull off is illustrated by a curved line an ‘PO’ written above it.
BEND: String bending is a basic technique, used a lot in blues and rock but also found a bit in most other styles (except classical). The idea is to "bend" (push a string across or over the fingerboard with your fretting hand fingers) so that the string gets tighter and the pitch goes up. There are varying types of bends. Watch the video tutorial below for more info.
SLIDE: Sliding is a technique used to get swiftly from one note to a higher note on the same string, or a lower note depending on whether the pitch is sliding up or down. As well as individual notes, you can also slide entire chord shapes. A slide in tab is illustrated with an arrow and ‘Sl’ above it.
VIBRATO: The word vibrato comes from the Latin word ‘vibrāre’, which literally means "to shake." Just like when a singer holds a note and makes it waver back and forth, vibrato on ukulele involves bending and releasing or pushing and pulling the fretted string in repeated pulses, tightening and slackening it. A vibrato is illustrated in tab with a squiggly line above the notation
Watch the video tutorial below for a demonstration of all of these techniques: