Blues Headlines with Richard Barrett

HOWEVER MUCH WE MIGHT move with the times, there will always be an audience for epic guitar solos.Joe Bonamassa and John Mayer seem to have no trouble selling tickets, and I didn’t notice too many spare seats at David Gilmour’s Live At Pompeii, either… Taking a blues approach (most great guitar solos do this, don’t they?) and going for some melodic pentatonic phrases is a large part of what is going on here – there are many more subtleties, though. These details are not always the kind of thing you want to think about in the heat of the moment, as you may risk becoming somewhat mechanical as a player. However, techniques such as string bends, vibrato and slides do require work, and most great players acknowledge this. While there will always be characteristics about our playing that we simply can’t help (others will call this your style), there are also elements of technique that benefit greatly from careful evaluation and refining.

The best way to evaluate your own playing is to record yourself improvising as un-self-consciously as you can manage (this also improves with practice) and check your pitching, vibrato, rhythmic phrasing and so on. It may surprise you to find that the areas that seemed strongest while you were playing are the areas you like least on playback. Conversely, you may have been struggling in another section, yet this comes across as fresh and inventive when separated from the physical experience of playing it.

Ultimately, it’s very helpful to get to know your playing as a listener. The more you do this, the more you can apply the lessons learned to your playing in real-time. All these examples are played using the E minor pentatonic scale in its various positions. Hope you enjoy the licks and see you next time!