As a guitarist, I’ve been compli- mented more for being tasteful
than I ever have for being speedy.
Yet deep down in my psyche, I
don’t always feel like I’ve really
done anything worth listening to
unless it was some intense riff that
sounded ridiculously impossible
and made every head in the room
turn and mouths hang open. I
always preach to students, up-and-comers, and fans that it’s not about
being flashy, but being tasteful. Yet,
I think it’s those wacko, out-there,
speed-demon riffs that attracted
most of us to be lead players in the
first place. For us, if music were just
about playing a solid, groovin’ part,
we’d all be bass players!
It’s well and fine to have a
bag of tricky, fast licks that will
impress other guitarists (and,
of course, the ladies), but it’s a
whole other deal to use that flash
and technique while playing
something people actually want
to hear. When I listen to vintage
Toto, Steve Lukather shows he
knows how to blend undeniably
impressive chops with tasteful
melodies and rich tone. Music
lovers don’t really know or care
how difficult the solo they just
heard was to play or how many
hours it took to perfect. If they
can feel it and it moves them,
you’ve hit your bull’s-eye!
In order to make your living as
a musician, you don’t always have
the luxury to pick and choose the
quality of the project that’s going
to pay your bills each month.
I’ve been hired to cut demos of
a lot of bad songs over the years,
but I still managed to turn them
into something listenable by laying down a groove and playing
solid, tasteful solos. That’s really
the foundation behind what we
do. All of the flashy “soundcheck
licks” or “NAMM chops” (as
I’ve heard them referred to) are
fine exercises to help develop
your skills, but when it’s go-time,
the refined, more musical parts
always work best.
When you think of some of
the great guitar music out there,
you’re going to find a solid song
with a catchy hook. The golden
guitar era of the ’70s was full of
them. The Doobie Brothers made
a career out of playing songs with
catchy guitar hooks like “Listen
to the Music,” “Long Train
Runnin’,” and “China Grove.”
When founding Doobie Tom
Johnson described writing those
songs, he said the riffs would
come first and the lyrics were secondary. The opening to the song
pulls you in and makes you want
to hear where it’s going to go.
Another great example is
Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey
Buckingham. Although he’s mostly known for his vocals, he has the
ability to lay down a guitar part
that becomes an essential piece of
the song, and his solos aren’t just
an extended jam over the chord
changes. There’s a true talent
to being able to play a melodic
phrase that is so identifiable, it
merges with the arrangement.
When soloing, it’s good to
think melodically and lay down
something that compliments the
song and makes sense within the
structure of the changes. A guitar
solo is a mini concerto within the
bigger context of the song, and
not simply a chance to show the
world what you may be capable
of pulling out of your fretboard.
You should be thinking,
“What line would fit best and
can I sing it?” A solo should take
you somewhere. It should start
where the melody left off and
wrap up where the song is going
next. Really, it’s a way to segue
between musical sections, and an
important building block in the
song’s emotional structure. Also,
you should always play every note
like it counts. Kurt Cobain’s solo
in “Smells Like Teen Spirit” isn’t
difficult to play, but it fits all the
major criteria of a great solo: It
has energy, it’s melodic, and it fits
well in the context of the song.
Watching Nigel Tufnel solo with Spinal Tap provides an entertaining
lesson in how an audience might perceive grandstanding riffage.
¨
A guitar solo is a mini concerto within the
bigger context of the song, and not simply a
chance to show the world what you may be
capable of pulling out of your fretboard.
One of my favorite guitar solos of all time is Rick
Derringer’s assault on “Rock and
Roll Hoochie Koo.” Beginning
high above the 12th fret, he
hits you square in the face with
an earsplitting, two-measure
pentatonic marvel. Then he lets
it breathe for a moment before
repeating the line and embellishing it on the second pass. The
solo clearly shows off his superior
ability on the fretboard, but more
importantly, it illustrates his sense
of melody and drama.
It’s essential to let the song
guide you stylistically and creative-
ly. To me, there’s nothing more
irritating than listening to a guitar-
ist who’s main purpose is to show
you how fast or even how “outside”
he can play while ignoring what
the song itself is expressing.
RICH ECKHARDT is a
Nashville guitarist who has
performed with singers
ranging from Steven Tyler
to Shania Twain. He currently plays lead guitar for
Toby Keith, and also works
as a spokesperson for the Soles4Souls
charity ( soles4souls.org). His new album,
Cottage City Firehouse, is available at
richeckhardt.com and CDBaby.com.
