INSTRUMENTAL inquisition!
Guitar instrumentals have supplied some of music’s most evocative moments. We asked some top guitarists for their take on this iconic movement. This month: guitarist and producer with American prog-rock icon Kansas:
GT: What is it about guitar instrumentals that particularly appeals to you?
ZR: With instrumental music, I’m far more interested in the composition and the arrangement than I am in the guitar (or any other individual instrument or component). I tend to look first for pieces that are musically creative and interesting, before focusing on instrumentation. But with respect to music that is definitively guitar-based, I’d say I’d be looking for playing that is original and unique to the instrument. Anything that might inspire me to up my own game.
GT: What can an instrumental provide a listener that a vocal song can’t?
ZR: As a writer, I simply think of instrumental music as an equally valid alternative to vocal music – I don’t favour one over the other. They just work a little differently. Vocal music, while offering plenty of rewards of its own, tends to revolve around the voice and the lyric, with the instruments (and instrumental sections) always supporting the melodic and lyrical themes of the song. Instrumental music, on the other hand, allows one to focus more on other aspects of music – a particular instrument perhaps, or maybe even just a mood. If you’re sad, you could write a vocal song that describes your sadness in words. Or, you could write a piece of music that, by creatively marrying the right melody with the appropriate harmony, evokes the feeling of sadness. Both are equally valid ways of approaching the subject, but the process, outcome, and audience are going to be a bit different.
GT: What are the tendencies with instrumentals that you aim to embrace or avoid?
ZR: Once again, to me, composition is king. So before I allow myself to get caught up in a ‘guitar player’ state of mind, I try my hardest to first write a worthy piece of music. I find that by actively avoiding the guitar during the writing process, the parts I ultimately come up with are more interesting and unusual than if I’d started with the guitar. As far as tones, I normally use a Strat plugged into my Fractal AX8, which lets me dial up practically any kind of sound the song requires, and then save the tone as a preset in case I need to punch something in a week (or a year!) later. And I’m a big believer in double-tracking – I tend to double everything except solos. I like to be prepared for all possibilities when it comes time to mix the track.
GT: Is a typical song structure of intro, verse, chorus, middle eight, etc - always relevant for instrumental writing?
ZR: Quite the opposite, I’d say. While there’s certainly nothing stopping one from creating instrumentals that follow the above mentioned structure, I personally welcome the structural (as well as melodic and harmonic) freedom from the traditional song forms. After all, the moment you remove vocals and lyrics from the equation no one is going pay attention anyway, so you might as well have some fun with it!
GT: How useful is studying a vocalist’s approach for creating guitar melodies?
ZR: When I’m playing on a vocal song (which is most of the time) I’m always thinking about the vocal and ways to best support both it and the lyric. If there’s a solo, I’ll try to play something that in some way reflects the melody and the mood of the song. While that style of playing can be useful in certain instrumental music, I also strongly feel that instrumentals can be used to explore the aspects of the guitar that are unique to it. Steve Vai has made sounds with his guitar that I didn’t know were possible – thank goodness we have our little world of instrumental music that allows that kind of thing to exist.
GT: How do you start writing one; is there a typical approach or inspiration for you?
Zak Rizvi.
ZR: It almost always starts with a mood, then a tempo, followed by a drum beat. Since it’s instrumental and I don’t have lyrics to tell a story, I’ll focus on the mood and try to expand that into some kind of basic ‘story’ that I can write the music to. It’s kind of like scoring a silent movie that only exists in my head. I slowly work my way through the song, usually writing only on piano, bass, and drums, until the song is at least structurally complete. Then I start adding other parts, including guitars, and this begins an extensive process of re-writing until the arrangement of the thing starts to take shape. When I finally have all the parts done I then spend a substantial amount of time mixing. I’ve learned to do this because the mix will often highlight arrangement and composition problems I may have missed or skirted over while tracking. This final and invaluable mix phase, more often than not, has led me to make huge improvements in not only my arrangements, but in the music as well.
GT: What do you aim for when your performance is centre stage for the duration of the instrumental?
ZR: I don’t know that I’ve ever written or played on anything where my guitar was front and centre for the entire thing. That sounds mildly terrifying and more than a little above my pay grade. But if I was in that position I’d try to play something dynamic, something that provided enough variety as to not bore the audience. But mostly I think I’d be looking around at the other people in the band thinking, ‘Hey, let’s give someone else a go!’
GT: Many vocal songs feature a guitar solo that starts low and slow then finishes high and fast. Is this useful for developing pace and dynamics over the instrumental’s duration?
ZR: Yes, I suppose while this approach has become a bit of a cliché, it has for good reason. Most songs have a tendency to build in intensity before reaching a climax towards the end, and guitars, with all their tonal and sonic possibilities, are a great way to support and accentuate this. And by the way, starting low and fast and building to high and slow also works really well too.
GT: What type of guitar tone do you prefer for instrumentals?
ZR: It depends entirely on the type of song. I’ve written three albums worth of instrumentals for my former band 4Front, and I can honestly say I’ve committed every imaginable kind of guitar tone to tape or disk in service of those records. The freedom of instrumentals has allowed me to take a crack at any style of music or guitar playing that might interest me at any given time
– with 4Front stuff we dipped into country, blues, metal, afro-cuban rhythms, jazz, funk, pop, you name it. But for my basic rock distorted guitar tone, I like a Marshall JMP-like crunch that I record flat and dry from my AX8 into ProTools. Effects are added later within the DAW.
GT: Do you have favourite keys or tempos?
ZR: Well, obviously I’m partial to D minor, the saddest of all keys! Seriously though, no. Any key that’s not the same as the key of the last song I wrote is my favourite on that particular day. As a general rule though: when
I’m writing a group of songs for a single project or album, I try to make sure I’m not repeating myself (as much as possible). If song #1 is in A Major at 130bpm, I’m going to do my best to stay away from that tempo, feel, and tonality as much as possible on song #2. And so on.
GT: Do you find Minor or Major keys preferable to write in?
ZR: Minor keys tend to be slightly easier to write in, as do slower tempos.
GT: Do you have any favourite modes to write or play in?
ZR: Not really. I don’t normally think consciously about modes when I’m soloing, and I suspect that if I analysed my playing I’d find too much ‘mode-crossing’ going to really be able to narrow it down. Usually I’m thinking about chord tones and how I can step outside them without getting silly. But I do love the sound of the Lydian mode.
GT: What about modulations into new keys?
ZR: The stuff I write has so many modulations that I stopped writing key signatures many years ago – I just write in accidentals as they come up. So yes, I’m a huge fan of the modulation. And modulations are equally useful in vocal music too – more often than not I write verses and choruses (and bridges) in different keys. I mean, why on earth does a song have to stay in a single tonality throughout? There have been some huge hit songs with multiple modulations – my favourite is Come On Eileen. Once you get the hang of the way different keys can work together it’s not a particularly difficult thing to do successfully.
I DON’T THINK I’VE EVER PLAYED ON ANYTHING WHERE MY GUITAR WAS CENTRE STAGE FOR THE WHOLE THING
GT: Do you view the backing band in a different way that you would on a vocal song?
ZR: Indeed. I love all the instruments equally and there’s
nothing quite like having a great drummer or bassist or keyboardist at your disposal and being able to say, “just go for it!” In vocal music, we tend to keep our chops under lock and key to serve the vocal (as we should!) – instrumentals let us say, “okay, now it’s time to have a little fun!”
GT: What are your views on harmonising melodies?
It depends. If you do it tastefully and not too often, it can be a wonderful addition. But like anything else, don’t let it become a crutch. If you find yourself harmonising the heck out of everything you record, it might be time to look into some alternative ways of creating texture in an arrangement.
GT: Can you name three guitar instrumentals that have informed or inspired you?
ZR: As I mentioned earlier, I’m not necessarily partial to guitar instrumentals over any other kind. But there have been several influential guitar-based ones in my life. I’d certainly mention Rush’s La Villa Strangiato and YYZ as pivotal tracks in the years I was first learning guitar – Alex
Lifeson has been a massive influence on my playing. I’m also a big fan of the Dixie Dregs and tracks like I’m Freaking Out and Bloodsucking Leeches stand out in my mind even now.
Kansas new studio album – The Absence of Presence is out now. For more information go to www.kansasband.com. This autumn’s European tour is postponed until October 2021.