Flurry VS Hurry

How to solo with more taste and impact

Tutor: Richard Barrett | Gear used: Knaggs Choptank, Vox AC15C1

When improvising, it’s nice to have the freedom to add a ‘flurry’ of notes now and again. Listen to how sax players often begin a phrase, or tail off at the end, and you’ll see what I mean. Rather than it becoming a full-on shred moment (not that there is anything wrong with that, of course), the flurries should sound effortlessly thrown in within the context of an otherwise understated blues solo. That’s our objective anyway…

One way to achieve this is to rake across a triad, a device used by Mark Knopfler and David Gilmour. Another way could be adding in a couple of rapid notes after a big sustained bend, as Albert or BB King were fond of doing. Legato is another way to add ‘pizazz’ without sounding like you’re breaking too much of a sweat. In this solo, I’ve combined elements of all these approaches, adding in some economy picking, too. Adopting these techniques will allow you to articulate phrases rapidly across the strings with minimal effort.

The recurring theme here is groups of triplets/sextuplets in pentatonic/bluesscale based patterns: pick the first two notes of each grouping of three with a down- or upstroke across adjacent strings, then hammer on or pull off to the 3rd. This isn’t sweep picking, but it has the central principle in common. Be prepared to work up to tempo, paying attention to posture and finger placement. In the same way that tapping can put fast licks under the fingers of rock players with comparatively little effort, this technique can supercharge your blues solos – but bear in mind that the example solo demonstrates a strong concentration of these ideas for you ‘dilute’ to taste. See you next time!