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: that stunning American virtuoso in all styles, and super wit to boot, Greg Koch.
Country-blues giant Greg Koch gives his views.
GT: What is it about guitar instrumentals that appeals?
GK: I go through phases between writing vocal tunes and instrumentals. I certainly feel more adventurous writing and performing instrumental selections. I can unleash the unmitigated beast, if you will. I just love the sound of a guitar being abused as the focus a tune.
GT: What can an instrumental provide a listener that a vocal song can’t?
GK: Vocals certainly frame the meaning of the piece in a way that an instrumental doesn’t. You can interpret the intent of the song more broadly without a lyric. I think a vocalist can be polarising in a way too, but then again I know people who can’t stand listening to music without vocals. So, I guess to each their own. I remember going through a phase as a youngster where I wished Led Zeppelin would have been strictly instrumental but then I succumbed to the majesty of the vocal stylings of Mr Plant.
GT: Any tendencies with instrumentals that you aim to embrace or avoid – rhythms, harmony, playing approach)?
GK: The tunes I do with the Koch Marshall trio are a lot more groove oriented and a little more simple in their harmonic approach in comparison to some of my earlier material. That seems to be the stuff I like to listen to more now by other artists as well. The melody is stated and then there is a jam element - although the vast majority of the instrumental tunes I’ve written could have worked as vocal tunes so the song structures and melodic approach of the guitar is in that mindset. Often I’ve developed a nonsense vocal part for my instrumentals with words from a language that doesn’t actually exist… but that version not everyone gets to hear.
GT: Is a typical song structure of intro, verse 1, verse 2, chorus, middle 8, verse 3, chorus, outro etc, always relevant for instrumental writing?
GK: It varies, but I definitely refer to sections of the tunes as verse, chorus, bridge etc. Lately I’ve been purposely keeping the construction a little more simple. For instance, I was always of a mind that tunes required an interesting bridge or C section, but I’ve written a bunch lately where I’ve purposely avoided it. Sometimes I’ll come up with a part or section I think is clever but clearly that opinion is not shared, so it will get thrown aside or get modified and assimilated into something else later.
GT: How useful is studying a vocalist’s approach for creating guitar melodies?
GK: I think it’s very useful. I’ve certainly done it. I can think of Etta James, Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway that I’ve sat down and played along with to glean some phrasing.
GT: How do you start writing an instrumental? Is there a typical approach or inspiration?
GK: It varies but often it starts with a riff or a chord progression that I’ll construct a tune around, and then I’ll dial in the specific melody. Then again, sometimes the melody comes first. Sometimes I finish the tunes quickly and start playing them live right away, and other times I will have bits and pieces lying around for years that I’ll finally paste together. In the videos I do for Wildwood Guitars a lot of riffs and chordal sequences happen extemporaneously that eventually end up as tunes I’ll perform or record some time later.
GT: What do you aim for when your performance is centre stage for the duration of the instrumental?
GK: The way I’ll interpret a melody is always subject to change so I make sure I imbue it with my own batch of stylistic nuances and phrases that, hopefully, makes it memorable for the listener.
GT: Many vocal songs feature a guitar solo that starts low and slow then finishes high and fast. Is this approach useful for instrumental writing, developing pace and dynamics over the instrumental’s duration?
GK: Control and use of dynamics is essential but ending in a powerful way is not always dependent on high and fast. I try for a conversational approach to improvising whether in a vocal tune or an instrumental, and that deranged conversation can fluctuate greatly.
GT: What type of guitar tone do you prefer for instrumentals?
GK: I usually prefer minimal effects - a little reverb, maybe some delay but a tone that never really gets too over saturated so that the playing nuances can be heard. I like to hear most of the different tones that are available on the guitar itself and the sounds that can be pulled out of it by the hands of the manipulator.
GT: Do you have favourite keys or tempos to write or play in?
GK: Not particularly but the guitar keys that employ open strings seem to be used quite a bit - E-A-G-D-C. I do like to employ droning or pedaling open strings in a lot of my tunes so those keys are more conducive to that. I do have a few in C# in the spirit of Hendrix - the open strings and the Major-Minor tonescape they evoke. The tempos vary but I love the swampy grooves.
GT: Do you find Minor or Major keys easier to write in?
GK: No, but I definitely have more Major tunes than Minor tunes. A good chunk of my tunes are bluesy so tend to swim in Dominant 7th land but swim in the nebulous waters of Major and Minor due to their bluesy nature - like tunes in C#.
GT: Do you have any favourite modes to play or write in?
THE WAY I INTERPRET A MELODY IS ALWAYS SUBJECT TO CHANGE SO I MAKE SURE I IMBUE IT WITH MY OWN NUANCES
GK: Dorian for improvising I suppose, if I had to pick one. I do like a good Lydian jam, as in the tune Mysterioso, from the Koch Marshall Trio record. Frank Zappa recorded a bunch of Lydian flavoured jams over the years which I always dug and that tune is kind of in that spirit.
GT: What about modulations into new keys?
GK: I do like to employ odd key changes within songs occasionally. Or I just like putting together chord progressions that take the ear by surprise. A tune like Spanish
Wine off Plays Well With Others is an example. The verse cycles A-C#m-A#-Fsus and then the chorus heads to C6/9 going back and forth to F13 and gets back to the verse via the Esus so it takes the ear on a little journey.
GT: Do you view the backing band in a different way that you would on a vocal song?
GK: When doing predominantly instrumental tunes, it certainly helps to have another soloist and harmonic accompanist. I played as a guitar, bass, drums trio for years and did a combination of vocal and instrumental music. With my current trio with guitar, drums and organ (covering bass parts) I can get away with a whole night of instrumentals and people dig it because of the fullness of the sound and added soloist. We have been adding more vocal tunes to the the live shows lately but it’s like the icing on the cake.
GT: What are your views on harmonising melodies?
GK: I like to employ chordal melodies but I seem to prefer the single-note approach in a band format. When working with another guitar player I like to utilise harmonies and certainly I’m not afraid to overdub an interesting harmony when recording a record. When playing solo guitar I’ll harmonise melodies a lot with block chord voicings.
GT: Which three guitar instrumentals do you feel are iconic, or that have inspired you?
GK: That’s hard! Maybe Jeff Beck’s version of Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers; Freddie King’s Hideaway; and Jessica by The Allman Brothers. I have loved performing these tunes over the years; they seem to possess great power and are open to interpretation.