In the last two āWorking Guitaristā segments, Iāve answered questions from members of The Gear Page web forum [āAsk a Working Guitarist, Part 1ā and āPart 2ā], and also answered questions from Premier Guitar readers. This month, Iām going to dig deeper into studio work, thanks to some specific questions from TGP member Jhumber. Letās jump right in.
How do you decipher instructions from a producer? For instance, if someone gives you a "can you give this a Kelly Clarkson vibe," what does that trigger in your brain? Both in terms of parts, and gear, I guess. And how about the more abstract "can you make this float more?"-style input?
No two producers are the same, and in fact, no two gigs are the same. That goes for sessions as well. So being able to adapt to different situations is a great skill to nurture. Some producers are easy to understand, while others can be really confusing. I once had a producer say to me, āItās not right, and I have no idea what will make it better.ā Ugh. What do you do with that?
With regards to directing you towards a specific vibe or style, those types of directions can be very helpful. If someone says āColdplay,ā I immediately think of droning chorus melody hook guitar parts. If they say āU2,ā I think of dotted 8th delays coming from an EHX Memory Man and a Vox AC30. The list goes on. Your iPod, iPad, or laptop can be a great studio asset! If a producer references a certain track or band that's unfamiliar, you can call up a song or two on iTunes, Spotify, or YouTube and take a quick listen.
Abstract instructions can also be hit or miss. The main thing is this: keep an open mind and donāt get discouraged. If the first thing you try isnāt received favorably, donāt get frustrated. Shrug it off and immediately try something else, without taking it personally. The producer and everyone else on the session will note your perseverance and positive attitude, and eventually youāll hit on a cool part that will work.
Do you get asked to read much in the studio?
I read charts sometimes, but Iām terrible at reading notation, unfortunately. So if a session requires me to read, I would be inclined to bow out. This has never happened though. Most rock and pop music sessions donāt require you to read. Film dates do, but Iām not in that world. I highly recommend learning to read, and itās something I plan on studying at some point.
Are you normally the only guitarist on a date (and therefore doing the whole track), or are you called in to give an almost-done track some PT-fairy dust?
Once again, no two sessions are the same. I do quite a bit of work out of my home studio, emailing tracks back and forth, so in these instances I am the only guitarist (unless there are guitars already on the track). As far as studio dates, It's probably an even splitāsometimes Iām solo and other times there are two or even three of us. Working with other guitarists is really enjoyable for me, because it allows me to play off someone elseās ideas and also to learn new approaches that I can add to my arsenal for future sessions.
Are you usually given free reign on the gear you use, or are producers at your level saying "grab your Strat"?
Hate to sound like a broken record, but it varies. Linda Perry has an amazing collection of instruments, amps, and effects at her Kung Fu Gardens studio, and I know I can show up there for a session and be all set gear-wise. I think she really likes to say, āGrab the Fender 12-string electric and the Vox AC15, and come up with something.ā And I enjoy the challenge of getting knocked out of my comfort zone. Itās really interesting to plug into a completely unfamiliar rig and just see what happens. That said, I have a pretty extensive collection myself, and itās also fun for me to hear a bare track, and imagine how to fill it up with parts and tones, using my choice of gear. This is why I enjoy tracking in my own studio so muchāitās like my playground! I get to be āmeā without someone looking over my shoulder. And nine times out of 10, producers are usually very happy with what I send them, sometimes suggesting small changes, but sometimes not. I think this is because producers usually hire you to be you. They want your thing, and that goes for your parts and your tonesāyour instincts, basically.
Any other āstudio tricksā you use?
Sure, hereās a quick list of tried-and-true tips:
- When doubling a part, always vary the tone slightly, be it by using a different pickup setting, a different guitar, or varying the amp tone slightly. This will create a more complex doubled sound.
- Instead of tracking a 12-string acoustic part, try tracking a 6-string acoustic and doubling it with a guitar strung for āNashville tuningā (just the high strings of a 12-string set). The result can be a great alternative to the 12-string sound, and you can balance the 6 and 12 for the right blend of āfundamentalā and āchime.ā
- If an amp sounds great in the room but is too bright or dark when micād, learn to move the mic instead of changing the tone controls on the amp to achieve the desired tone. Closer to the center of the speaker is brighter; closer to the edge is darker.
- Always have a slide, a capo, and a wide selection of picks when going to a session, along with any other studio gizmos you can think ofāEbow, pedals, etc.Ā
Pete Thorn is a Los Angeles-based guitarist, currently touring with Melissa Etheridge. His solo album Guitar Nerd is out now.You can read more about his career and music at peterthorn.com.
Onstage, Tommy Emmanuel executes a move that is not from the playbook of his hero, Chet Atkins.
āMy biggest decision every day on tour is, āWhat do I want to start with? How do I want to come out of the gate?āā Emmanuel explains to me over a video call. āA good opener has to have everything. It has to be full of surprise, it has to have lots of good ideas, lots of light and shade, and then, hit it again,ā he says, illustrating each phrase with his hands and ending with a punch.āYou lift off straightaway with the first song, you get airborne, you start reaching, and then itās time to level out and take people on a journey.ā
In May 2023, Emmanuel played two shows at the Sydney Opera House, the best performances from which have been combined on his new release, Live at the Sydney Opera House. The venueās Concert Hall, which has a capacity of 2,679, is a familiar room for Emmanuel, but I think at this point in his career he wouldnāt bring a setlist if he was playing Wembley Stadium. On the recording, Emmanuelās mind-blowingly dexterous chops, distinctive attack and flair, and knack for culturally resonant compositions are on full display. His opening song for the shows? An original, āCountrywide,ā with a segue into Chet Atkinsā āEl Vaquero.ā
āWhen I was going to high school in the ā60s, I heard āEl Vaqueroā on Chet Atkinsā record, [1964ās My Favorite Guitars],ā Emmanuel shares. āAnd when I wrote āCountrywideā in around ā76 or ā77, I suddenly realized, āAh! Itās a bit like āEl Vaquero!āā So I then worked out āEl Vaqueroā as a solo piece, because it wasnāt recorded like that [by Atkins originally].
āThe co-writer of āEl Vaqueroā is Wayne Moss, whoās a famous Nashville session guy who played āda da daā [sings the guitar riff from Roy Orbisonās āPretty Womanā]. And he played on a lot of Chetās records as a rhythm guy. So once when I played āEl Vaqueroā live, Wayne Moss came up to me and said, āYou know, you did my part and Chetās at the same time. Thatās not fair!āā Emmanuel says, laughing.
Atkins is the reason Emmanuel got into performing. His mother had been teaching him rhythm guitar for a couple years when he heard Atkins on the radio and, at 6, was able to immediately mimic his fingerpicking technique. His father recognized Emmanuelās prodigious talent and got him on the road that year, which kicked off his professional career. He says, āBy the time I was 6, I was already sleep-deprived, working too hard, and being forced to be educated. Because all I was interested in was playing music.ā
Emmanuel talks about Atkins as if the way he viewed him as a boy hasnāt changed. The title Atkins bestowed upon him, C.G.P. (Certified Guitar Player), appears on Emmanuelās album covers, in his record label (C.G.P. Sounds), and is inlaid at the 12th fret on his Maton Custom Shop TE Personal signature acoustic. (Atkins named only five guitarists C.G.P.s. The others are John Knowles, Steve Wariner, Jerry Reed, and Atkins himself.) For Emmanuel, even today most roads lead to Atkins.
When I ask Emmanuel about his approach to arranging for solo acoustic guitar, he says, āIt was really hit home for me by my hero, Chet Atkins, when I read an interview with him a long time ago and he said, āMake your arrangement interesting.ā And I thought, āWow!ā Because I was so keen to be true to the composer and play the song as everyone knows it. But then again, Iām recreating it like everyone else has, and I might as well get in line with the rest of them and jump off the cliff into nowhere. So it struck me: āHow can I make my arrangements interesting?ā Well, make them full of surprises.ā
When Emmanuel was invited to contribute to 2015ās Burt Bacharach: This Guitarās in Love with You, featuring acoustic-guitar tributes to Bacharachās classic compositions by various artists, Emmanuel expresses that nobody wanted to take ā(They Long to Be) Close to You,ā due to its āsyrupyā nature. But for Emmanuel, this presented an entertaining challenge.
He explains, āI thought, āOkay, how can I reboot āClose to You?ā So even the most jaded listener will say, āHoly fuckāI didnāt expect that! Wow, I really like that; that is a good melody!ā So I found a good key to play the song in, which allowed me to get some open notes that sustain while I move the chords. Then what I did is, in every phrase, I made the chord unresolve, then resolve.
Tommy Emmanuel's Gear
āIām writing music for the film thatās in my head,ā Emmanuel says. āSo, I donāt think, āIām just the guitar,ā ever.ā
Photo by Simone Cecchetti
Guitars
- Three Maton Custom Shop TE Personals, each with an AP5 PRO pickup system
Amps
- Udo Roesner Da Capo 75
Effects
- AER Pocket Tools preamp
Strings & Picks
- Martin TE Signature Phosphor Bronze (.012ā.054)
- Martin SP strings
- Ernie Ball Paradigm strings
- DāAndrea Pro Plec 1.5 mm
- Dunlop medium thumbpicks
āAnd then to really put the nail in the coffin, at the end, āClose to youā [sings melody]. I finished on a major 9 chord which had that note in it, but it wasnāt the key the song was in, which is a typical Stevie Wonder trick. All the tricks I know, the wonderful ideas that Iāve stolen, are from Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, James Taylor, Carole King, Neil Diamond. All of the people who wrote really incredibly great pop songs and R&B musicāI stole every idea I could, and I tried to make my little two-and-a -half minutes as interesting and entertaining as possible. Because entertainment equals: Surprise me.ā
I share with Emmanuel that the performances on Live at the Sydney Opera House, which include his popular āBeatles Medley,ā reminded me of another possible arrangement trick. In Harpo Marxās autobiography, Harpo Speaks, I preface, Marx writes of a lesson he learned as a performerāto āanswer the audienceās questions.ā (Emmanuel says heās a big fan of the book and read it in the early ā70s.) That happened for me while listening to the medley, when, after sampling melodies from āSheās a Womanā and āPlease Please Me,ā Emmanuel suddenly lands on āWhile My Guitar Gently Weeps.ā
I say, āIām waiting for something that hits more recognizably to me, and when āWhile My Guitarā comes in, thatās like answering my question.ā
āItās also Paul and John, Paul and John, George,ā Emmanuel replies. āYou think, āThatās great, thatās great pop music,ā then, āWow! Look at the depth of this.āā
Often Emmanuelās flights on his acoustic guitar are seemingly superhumanāas well as supremely entertaining.
Photo by Ekaterina Gorbacheva
A trick I like to employ as a writer, I say to Emmanuel, is that when Iām describing something, Iāll provide the reader with just enough context so that they can complete the thought on their own.
āYou can do that musically as well,ā says Emmanuel. He explains how, in his arrangement of āWhat a Wonderful World,ā heāll play only the vocal melody. āWhen people are asking me at a workshop, āHow come you donāt put chords behind that part?ā I say, āIām drawing the melody and youāre putting in all the background in your head. I donāt need to tell you what the chords are. You already know what the chords are.āā
āWayne Moss came up to me and said, āYou know, you did my part and Chetās at the same time. Thatās not fair!āā
Another track featured on Live at the Sydney Opera House is a cover of Paul Simonās āAmerican Tuneā (which Emmanuel then jumps into an adaptation of the Australian bush ballad, āWaltzing Matildaā). Itās been a while since I really spent time with There GoesRhyminā Simon (on which āAmerican Tuneā was first released), and yet it sounded so familiar to me. A little digging revealed that its melody is based on the 17th-century Christian hymn, āO Sacred Head, Now Wounded,ā which was arranged and repurposed by Bach in a few of the composerās works. The cross-chronological and genre-lackadaisical intersections that come up in popular music sometimes is fascinating.
āI think the principle right there,ā Emmanuel muses, āis people like Bach and Beethoven and Mozart found the right language to touch the heart of a human being through their ears and through their senses ... that really did something to them deep in their soul. They found a way with the right chords and the right notes, somehow. It could be as primitive as that.
Tommy Emmanuel has been on the road as a performing guitarist for 64 years. Eat your heart out, Bob Dylan.
Photo by Jan Anderson
āItās like when youāre a young composer and someone tells you, āHave a listen to Elton Johnās āCandle in the Wind,āā he continues. āāListen to how those notes work with those chords.ā And every time you hear it, you go, āWhy does it touch me like that? Why do I feel this way when I hear those chordsāthose notes against those chords?ā I say, itās just human nature. Then you wanna go, āHow can I do that!āā he concludes with a grin.
āYou draw from such a variety of genres in your arrangements,ā I posit. āDo you try to lean into the side of converting those songs to solo acoustic guitar, or the side of bridging the genreās culture to that of your audience?ā
āI stole every idea I could, and I tried to make my little two-and-a-half minutes as interesting and entertaining as possible. Because entertainment equals: Surprise me.ā
āIf I was a method actor,ā Emmanuel explains, āwhat Iām doing isāIām writing music for the film thatās in my head. So, I donāt think, āIām just the guitar,ā ever. I always think it has to have that kind of orchestral, not grandeur, but ā¦ palette to it. Because of the influence of Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, and Elton John, especiallyāthe piano guysāI try to use piano ideas, like putting the third in the low bass a lot, because guitar players donāt necessarily do that. And I try to always do something that makes what I do different.
āI want to be different and recognizable,ā he continues. āI remember when people talked about how some playersāyou just hear one note and you go, āOh, thatās Chet Atkins.ā And it hit me like a train, the reason why a guy like Hank Marvin, the lead guitar player from the Shadows.... I can tell you: He had a tone that I hear in other players now. Everyone copied himāthey just donāt know itāincluding Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, all those people. I got him up to play with me a few times when he moved to Australia, and even playing acoustic, he still had that sound. I donāt know how he did it, but it was him. He invented himself.ā
YouTube It
Emmanuel performs his arrangement of āWhat a Wonderful World,ā illustrating how omitting a harmonic backdrop can have a more powerful effect, especially when playing such a well-known melody.
