Melodic Muse

Articulation, dynamics and detail, and how to play “Electric Gypsy,” part 2

LAST MONTH, I began our examination of the main guitar part in my song “Electric Gypsy,” which is my tribute to Jimi Hendrix that I originally recorded for my 1994 album, Ear Ecstasy. In breaking down this part, three things come to mind as being of the utmost importance: articulation, dynamics and detail. Let’s take a closer look at how these three elements of musical expression reveal themselves in “Electric Gypsy.”

Once you’ve gone over the basic lick and are familiar with the sequence of the phrases, as well as the melodic and chordal relationships between them, you can then zero-in on what I consider essential elements that give the song a sense of musicality. “The devil is in the details,” as they say, and the things that will make this lick sound the way it should come down to the dynamics and the articulation utilized when moving from one phrase to the next.

FIGURE 1a illustrates the first phrase of “Electric Gypsy,” wherein the open D string is played as a pedal tone against an E-to-F#

slide on the G string. Essential to the articulation of this lick is to use a light palm mute on the open D string and then

E-to-F# pick the slide much louder, in order to add musical emphasis to that initial melodic part. In FIGURE 1b, I demonstrate how that first phrase, played over D major, shifts to the melodic line played over A major. As you play, focus on the dynamics of the articulation and the volume of every note as it is played.

At the foundation of the entire riff is the constant motion of the strumming hand, which is alternating between downstrokes and upstrokes in a flowing 16th-note rhythm. Inherent in this strumming motion is a lighter touch on the downbeat (beat 1), followed by heavier, more accentuated picking on beats 2 and 3, after which I lighten up a little on beat 4. To my ears, this serves to impart a natural, “breathing”type quality to the riff that is both musical and vocal in nature.

The significance of this 16th-note rhythm is illustrated in FIGURE 2, as I

D/F# move back and forth between the chord shape and the muted-string accents. In FIGURE 3, the initial riff is filled out a bit more, as I add the quick slides on the D string followed by a single-note phrase based on the A major pentatonic scale (A,

C#, F#).

B, E,

FIGURES 4 and 5 represent where the third chord, Bm, comes into play, and I use my fret-hand to intermittently mute all the strings, so that I can strum across them for percussive effects, incorporating fretting at specific points to outline the next segment of the melody. Keeping the pick-hand loose while strumming in a 16th-note rhythm is essential to achieving the desired sound for this riff. FIGURE 6 then carries the phrase to its conclusion as I move into the phrases that outline the G chord that concludes the four-bar phrase.

A great, helpful thing to do is to simplify the approach down to the chord progression itself — D - A - Bm - G — as shown in FIGURE 7. Whether you’re performing the basic chord pattern or the riff in all its detail, the strumming hand needs to strike the strings in the appropriately musical manner.

Andy Timmons is a world-renowned guitarist known for his work with the Andy Timmons Band, as well as Danger Danger and Simon Phillips. Visit andytimmons.com and guitarxperience.net to check out his recordings and many instructional releases