Transcript
So here’s a way to go about playing a solo in a country ballad, and I’ll use different techniques that I like to use, hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, double-stops, sixes. Obviously you could do several different things. I find that just going for the melody tends to be a sure fire way to get the listener on board with what you’re doing, get them engaged.
I try not to play to guitar players. I try to play to the non-musicians, the civilians, and playing the melody is just a really sure fire way of getting them on board and it’s also a great way for me to hang my little licks and techniques onto something that’s recognizable. But I can put my own flavor in there so there’s that contrast that is easy for people to see and hear and feel.
So let’s take a melody that we all know down cold. We just know this in our sleep and it goes something like this. So I just tried to play the melody and straight as I could, but obviously adding little flavor and flourishes in there. Especially when I maybe got a little lost, that’s kind of where your style really comes through.
So those are some different approaches to dressing up the melody, just making it your own and you can take any country ballad and use any of those techniques and just make it your own musical statement.
