The Most Important Aspect Of Improvising Great Blues Guitar Solos
Have you ever watched a band or jam session where the sound of the two guitars in a way ‘clashed’ with each other? There are many different reasons as to why this happens, but the most important one is that these guitar players don’t understand the concept of musical dynamics. Nothing will sound really good as long as you don’t let your guitar playing really ‘breath’. This is applicable to both playing solos as well as playing rhythm guitar.
In a jam session you should be able to ‘back down’ your volume if your swapping solos back and forth. Intermediate guitarists play at the same volume every time, without giving attention to what the other guitarist is doing.
Dynamics In Jam Sessions
Next time you are jamming with another guitarist (or musician in general) try ‘backing off’ a bit when playing rhythm, as a way to give ‘space’ to the lead guitarist to use dynamics to make his soloing more interesting.
So for instance, if you hear that the guitarist that is soloing is playing quieter, also back down in volume. Or you can just decide to start playing a part more quiet and watch the guitarist pick up on this idea in his solo. You will soon find yourselves playing as quiet as possible, giving the music ‘a breather’ and observe how this change in dynamics totally affects everything from band dynamics to the reaction of the crowd (prepare yourself for some cheers!).
You can also use this idea the other way around. Simply try to play as loud as possible. There might be some issues with muting technique when you hit all the strings. If you are unable to mute all the unwanted strings when you play, don’t bother playing sloppy when you do this exercise for now, since laying out all the foundation exercises to develop a reliable muting technique would require an in-depth study of itself. For now just focus an raw power and emotion instead of ‘perfect technique’.
Dynamics In Improvising Blues Solos
Also when improvising guitar solos, you should consider dynamics carefully. It doesn’t matter how good you play, if you use the same volume and rhythmic density in your playing all the time, it’s not going to sound really great. So let’s look at some exercises to get used to the feeling of using dynamics to create interesting solos.
Creativity Exercises For Dynamics:
• Exercise 1:
In this exercise we’re simply going to play a part more quiet, and then play a next part louder. As simple as this may sound, it is something that is overlooked in the playing of tens of thousands ‘intermediate’ blues guitarists. You can immediately pick out an intermediate guitarist from a higher intermediate or advanced guitarist if you listen for this
seemingly obvious point.
• Exercise 2:
When it’s your turn in a jam session to play, start out playing nothing for a while. This will immediately draw attention to you and make people want to hear what you have to say. Have you ever noticed that the most respected person in a group of people often will keep it’s mouth shut for a very long time when debating about a certain topic, instead of jumping straight in and arguing all over the place? In music this works the same way; if you don’t go nuts and play all you have in the beginning of your solo, people will pay more attention to your playing. It takes musical courage to stop playing all of a sudden or don’t play anything at the first bar of your solo, but if developed this strategy can do wonders for you.
• Exercise 3:
When improvising, play a lick and then suddenly stop playing for a while. See how far you can stretch this, until the atmosphere becomes really awkward. This is one of the most effective ways to draw the listener’s attention back to you.
Do You Know Exactly How To Master Blues Guitar Every Step Of The Way?
