A great song consists of more than just notes and rhythms. Here’s how to put the pieces together to create that extra sonic magic.
Chops: Beginner
Theory: Intermediate
Lesson Overview:
• Create simple and meaningful blues phrases in the style of B.B. King.
• Understand how to emphasize chord tones over a blues progression.
• Learn how to use repetition to build tension in your solos.
Click here to download a printable PDF of this lesson's notation.
It’s not about you. Don’t worry, though, it’s not about the bass player, keyboardist, drummer, or the singer either. It’s about all of you, and most importantly, it’s about the song. A fellow bandmate said to me recently that being in a band is the ultimate form of socialism, and I’d have to agree. I’ve been a “band guy” my whole life and it’s the place I feel most comfortable making music. When everyone checks their ego at the door, walks into rehearsal or a gig, and plays for each other and for the song, it’s truly transcendental. Since I started playing guitar, I’ve always been interested in arranging and orchestrating within the context of a band. The way the pieces fit together fascinates me and being the guitarist and singer in the bands I’ve performed with has taught me a great deal about the art of an ensemble.
Less Is More
You’ve heard this one ad nauseam. Our instrument—especially electric guitars—can take up a lot of aural real estate, so lay back. Don’t hit every note in that chord you’re about to play. Play a partial chord, an inversion, a countermelody, or double the bass line. Or here’s a novel idea: Don’t play anything. To illustrate, I’ll give you an eight-bar progression (Ex. 1) that pays homage to the Beatles. If the rest of the band is driving and filling up space harmonically and rhythmically, you don’t necessarily have to as well.
Click here for Ex. 1
Interweave Guitar Parts
Another strategy: Combine or layer multiple guitar parts, especially on intros or other important sections of the song, like a breakdown before your searing guitar solo. Consider Ex. 2, which is something in the style of Earth, Wind & Fire.
Click here for Ex. 2
Here’s the point in the lesson where a simple looper would be effective. Start a loop with Ex. 2 and then play a double-stop part like Ex. 3 over it. Cool stuff, huh?
Click here for Ex. 3
Find Different Textures
Play a part on a different pickup from the other guitarist or roll off the tone knob a bit. Time for that loop pedal again. I backed off the tone knob for Ex. 4, which is a fairly simple boogie part in the key of G.
Click here for Ex. 4
Once you have that going, turn the tone knob back up and play the bright and sparse part in Ex. 5. In this example, I’ve combined some two-note chordal stabs with some melodic bends and plenty of space.
Click here for Ex. 5
Remember to Share
Maybe that intricate and impressive guitar part you’ve come up with is exciting to play, but is it really serving the song? Would it sound better on another instrument, freeing you up to play what the song needs, such as some solid rhythm guitar? I humbly offer up one of my own, “City Boy” from my band, Shotgun Wedding. The main piano riff in the intro was originally a guitar riff. Take a listen to a live version in the video below.
It’s really fun to emulate a banjo (Ex. 6), but when you’ve got a percussive instrument like a piano and a jaw-dropping pianist playing it … use them! Switching that part to keyboard really opened up the song, creating a different vibe. In the process, it freed me to sing and play what ultimately became a much better and more appropriate guitar part.
Click here for Ex. 6
Remember, it’s about the song. If people can’t hear the melody and lyrics because we guitarists are too busy wanking away, there’s no point in performing the song.
Lastly, I’d like to share a piece of wisdom I was given when I was younger. “Be the best rhythm guitarist on the block. You’ll always get the gig.”
The bluesman goes back to basics with his coalescing live band to capture a raw, late-’60s vintage vibe on his third solo LP.
Davy Knowles was barely 20 in 2007 when his former band Back Door Slam’s debut album, Roll Away, hit the streets and Knowles hit the road—which proved an eye-opening experience for a youngster from the sheltered environs of the Isle of Man. Though he's traveled many miles since, his sound still harkens back to his homeland on his third studio album, Three Miles from Avalon, premiered here exclusively by Premier Guitar.
The eight-song set summons the spirit of late-’60s, powerhouse British blues—the kind played by Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac and the legendary Irish firebrand Rory Gallagher—and explores the genre’s enduring themes, like blackmail, gambling, and regret.
Guitar beacon Joe Satriani called 2009 tourmate Knowles his “favorite modern bluesman.” That’s not a light compliment, and Knowles hasn’t stopped building upon his chops. Following his sophomore solo album, 2014’s The Outsider, came an ambitious full-length documentary Island Bound, which follows the migration of indigenous music from Celtic and European cultures, and explores the influence of roots music on contemporary popular music.
Knowles chose his current hometown of Chicago, the capital of electric blues, to record his new collection, which he co-produced with engineer Anthony Gravino. After extensive touring, Knowles’ says his band is hitting a stride. “The band and myself have racked up a lot of playing time together, and we have really started to gel,” he says. “I wanted to capture that ‘live’ feel in the studio.”
A self-professed rabid vinyl collector, Knowles set out with a specific sound in mind. “My favorite sounding records are certainly older ones, recorded to tape, with minimal fuss or overdubs,” the bluesman continues. “I wanted that lovely warm, vintage sound that only tape and glowing tubes can do.”
Knowles’ current go-to guitar is a 1966 Fender Telecaster, and while the band went for a stripped vibe, Knowles found inspiration in a pedal by Foxrox Electronics, called the Octron. The octave-up and octave-down pedal became the catalyst that helped him finish the album’s third track, “Falling Apart,” which features a dark, driving, ominous riff that recalls Jimmy Page’s haunting tone on “Dazed and Confused.”
Avalon features a few tips of the hat to Knowles’ heroes, including a reworking of Willie Dixon’s “What in the World,” while the track “What You’re Made Of,” pays homage to the late Gallagher. “Rory has been a huge influence for me—his energy and drive were so mesmerizing,” says Knowles. “I wanted to get back to that high-energy, big guitar riff style of writing.”
In the latest Conversations in the Key of Life podcast, Esoterica Electrica columnist/Hamer Guitars cofounder Jol Dantzig recounts the theft of the first Hamer bass, and PG fan Caleb Keeter recalls his double-whammy nightmare.
Jol Dantzig onstage with the first Hamer bass—a flying V with a guitar neck humbucker and a Vibrola handle. The instrument was stolen at a gig in the mid '70s but was later recovered, thanks to a vigilant guitar shop worker.
Esoterica Electrica columnist/Hamer Guitars cofounder Jol Dantzig recounts the theft of the first Hamer bass, and PG fan Caleb Keeter recalls his double-whammy nightmare.
Conversations in the Key of Life is the podcast that talks to you about your musical journeys. Each episode finds Premier Guitar's Shawn Hammond talking to everyday guitarists and bassists about their hilarious, jealousy-inducing, sometimes tear-jerking experiences on a specific theme. Subjects range from hair-raising stories about meeting guitar heroes to insane gear finds, using the guitar to cope with tragedy, gigs from hell, and more.
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