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. Today we meet: top session man and blues-fusion supremo, Michael Landau.
GT: What is it about instrumentals that appeals to you?
ML: You can travel down any road you like in an instrumental, even within the performance itself. Instrumentals give you the freedom to paint any and all emotions, and a great instrumental can be timeless.
GT: What can an instrumental provide a listener that a vocal song can’t?
ML: I do a lot of instrumentals and improvising at my shows; it gets very interesting when the whole becomes bigger than the sum of the individual players. I’m addicted to this, it’s like musical poetry that everyone experiences together. A great vocal song of course is just as powerful but in a very different way. The meaning of a vocal song is usually spelled out for you, which can be a good thing.
GT: Is a typical song structure of intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, middle, chorus, outro, always relevant for an instrumental?
ML: Not in my opinion. An instrumental can be single chord for 10 minutes and still be very effective if its arranged cleverly and performed properly.
GT: How useful is studying a vocalist’s approach for creating guitar melodies?
ML: I’m a fan of many vocalists… Donny Hathaway, Todd Rundgren, Bill Carter, Hazey Jane, Gillian Welch, Chrissie Hynde and John Lennon just to name a few. Phrasing and tone are everything to me; a great vocalist has their own brilliant way of delivering a phrase and a lyric, and the tone of their voice goes hand in hand with their delivery and their intension. So
I try and make the guitar ‘sing’ as much as possible…
GT: How do you start writing one; is there a typical approach or inspiration for you?
ML: I play a lot around the house. I don’t necessarily have a regular practising routine but I do play quite a bit every day, sometimes as much as three or four hours. Most of the time a song starts with a
chord progression or a riff that keeps coming up… but I also write songs away from the guitar. I imagine myself being the listener; I can sometimes hear completely realised songs with this method, or at least a complete verse or chorus which is a good start.
GT: What do you aim for when you and your performance are centre stage for the entire duration of the instrumental?
ML: I always attempt to tell a story when I’m improvising, to take the audience on a bit of a ride. An improvisation on an instrumental tune can be a powerful experience for everyone involved, when it’s done right and the music is flowing. I definitely live for those moments.
GT: Many vocal songs feature a guitar solo that starts low and slow then finishes high and fast. Is this structure useful for instrumental writing, developing pace and dynamics over the instrumental’s duration?
ML: I’m a true believer in the ‘no rules’ concept of music so my answer to that would definitely be no, not as a rule. All of my favourite artists have completely broken the rules… it’s what makes them unique… this includes musicians, painters, comedians, on and on.
GT: What type of guitar tone do you prefer for instrumentals?
ML: The guitar is capable of endless possibilities for sounds, textures and tones. Usually the instrumental itself would point me in the right direction of the tone I’d like to use. Again, though, sometimes I like to step away from the guitar and imagine what I’d like to hear, then at that point, it’s recreating that tone in my head and that can be a fun challenge.
GT: Do you have favourite keys or tempos to write or play in?
ML: I tend to write instrumentals in more of a medium to slow tempo. Music seems to resonate there for me, and since I play with a lot of space, the slower to mid tempos are more comfortable. In fact, I only have a handful of uptempo instrumentals that I can think of, Sneaker Wave being one of them. I do like to push the vocal tunes in a more manic tempo though, get the angst out if you know what I mean.
GT: Do you find minor or major keys easier to write in?
ML: Since they are polar opposites for me it’s necessary to have both, as they are the yin-yang and the push-pull of music. Major keys bring on the feeling of moving forward and upwards, the minor keys are usually more of a reflective state in my music; time can seem to stand still more easily in a minor key. That being said, it’s common for me to have both major and minor within my instrumentals.
GT: What about modulations into new keys?
ML: I do love it in music when it’s done properly and with style, everything from Count Basie to Mozart. I tend to stay in a single key in my music and attempt to move people by a different means. A modulation can feel very forced to a listener if it’s not done right, you don’t have much of a choice. When a modulation is done right though, it’s felt and not heard.
my favourite instrumental is jimi hendrix doing a demo of have you ever been (to electric ladyland)
GT: What are your views on harmonising melodies?
ML: Actually I’ve never been one to put harmonies on a solo or on a melody, because it’s always sounded corny to my ears when I try and do it. I like stating the melodies straight up, loud and clear. I will say though that (session guitarist) Jay Graydon used to do some great harmonising on his solos back in the day, and they’re really fun to listen to. Jay used to call it his ‘wire choir’.
GT: What three guitar instrumentals would you consider iconic, or have inspired you?
ML: These three pop into my mind immediately: Jeff Beck’s Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers; Wayne Krantz’s Comprachicos from the Good Piranha Bad Piranha record. And my absolute favorite would be a recording of Jimi Hendrix doing a demo of Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland); it’s on the Loose Ends album. It’s just Jimi and his guitar, no vocal… it’s so moving and powerful. To me, an original demo has a special holiness about it; it’s where the song began. That’s why it’s important for me to stay very true to my original demos, that’s where all the true emotion lies.