I FIND THAT PLAYING ONSTAGE CAN BE BOTH INCREDIBLY SATISFYING AND INCREDIBLY INFURIATING AT THE SAME TIME. I THINK THAT THE BEST ANYONE CAN HOPE FOR IS THAT THEY MANAGE TO ACHIEVE A PERFORMANCE STANDARD OF ABOUT 80% OF WHAT THEY KNOW THEY ARE CAPABLE OF ACHIEVING. THE TRICK IS TO CONSTANTLY, VIA PRODUCTIVE PRACTICE, KEEP MOVING THIS IDEAL STANDARD UPWARD. HOWEVER, THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT I THINK CAN HELP MAKE THE MOST OF A LIVE PERFORMANCE.

THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE FOR ME IS TO ALWAYS KNOW THE CHORD CHANGES I’M SOLOING OVER. OF COURSE, THIS IS FAIRLY OBVIOUS WHEN IT’S A TUNE YOU’VE WRITTEN YOURSELF, BUT IT’S STILL CRUCIAL. FOR EXAMPLE, I TRY AND MAKE SURE THAT I CAN PLAY THE CHANGES CHORDALLY IN AS MANY POSITIONS ON THE GUITAR AS POSSIBLE. I THEN MAKE SURE THAT I CAN PLAY THE ARPEGGIOS FOR EVERY CHORD IN THE PROGRESSION – TRIADS, FOUR NOTES, FIVE NOTES, ETC. I THEN MAKE SURE I KNOW THE FUNCTION OF ALL THE CHORDS – KEY CENTRES, ETC, AND THE APPROPRIATE SCALES FOR THESE. AN OLD STANDBY FROM MY ROCK PLAYING DAYS IS TO ALSO KNOW THE APPROPRIATE BLUES SCALE APPLICATIONS.

THE REASON FOR ALL THIS IS THAT I FIND IT IS THEN POSSIBLE TO PLAY (HOPEFULLY) A SOLO THAT IS AT WORST REASONABLE. BY KNOWING ALL THOSE LEVELS, I CONSTRUCT LAYERS OF SORT OF ‘SAFETY NETS’, OR PLATFORMS, WHERE, AS ONE LEVEL BECOMES COMFORTABLE, I CAN MOVE UP TO THE NEXT, AND SO ON. IF THINGS START TO FALL APART, I CAN MOVE DOWN A LEVEL OR TWO UNTIL IT (IMPROVISING) IS COMFORTABLE AGAIN. THE AUDIENCE DOES NOT PICK UP ON THIS AT ALL. ALL THEY HEAR IS A FAIRLY WELL CONSTRUCTED SOLO – THAT’S THE PLAN, ANYWAY!

BACK IN MY ROCK DAYS, WHEN IT WAS NORMAL TO PLAY THE SAME FOUR SETS SIX NIGHTS A WEEK IN THE SAME VENUE, I WOULD OFTEN LOOK AT THE SET LIST AND SEE SIX SONGS IN A ROW, ALL IN THE KEY OF A MAJOR, AND ALL WITH GUITAR SOLOS OVER I, VI, IV, V CHANGES. THE DANGER HERE OF COURSE, WAS WINDING UP PLAYING BASICALLY THE SAME SOLO FOR ALL THE TUNES! I FOUND THE WAY TO AVOID REPEATING MYSELF WAS TO MAKE A LIST OF A SELECTION OF TECHNIQUES, AND USE THEM SPARINGLY IN EACH TUNE. SO TODAY FOR INDABA TUNES AT A LIVE GIG, I WILL MAKE A LIST COMPRISING OF, FOR EXAMPLE – CLOSED SCALES, BLUES SCALES, ARPEGGIOS, SWEEP PICKING, EXTENDED SCALES, ETC., AND THEN APPLY ONLY TWO FOR EACH TUNE. I FIND THIS IS A NICE WAY OF KEEPING THINGS INTERESTING.

ANOTHER APPROACH TO SOLOING THAT I FIND WORKS NICELY, IS TO HAVE THE FIRST COUPLE OF BARS OF THE SOLO MAPPED OUT. THIS CREATES A KIND OF COMFORT ZONE THAT WORKS LIKE A SPRINGBOARD INTO THE IMPROVISED SECTION. FOR THE OTHER PLAYERS IN THE BAND, IT ALSO HELPS TO HAVE THE END OF THE SOLO CUED TOO. I USED TO ALWAYS BE IMPRESSED WITH LARRY CARLTON’S PLAYING, AND ONE OF THE THINGS I NOTICED ABOUT HIS PLAYING WAS THAT HE ALWAYS HAD MELODIC AND DECISIVE ENDINGS TO HIS SOLOS. I HATE SOLOS THAT END BY ANNOUNCING ‘I HAVE RUN OUT OF IDEAS!’ TO THIS DAY, I ALWAYS TRY AND HAVE A MAPPED ENDING. THIS IS ALSO A GOOD WAY OF GETTING TIDILY BETWEEN SECTIONS OF TUNES.

OVERALL, I HAVE TWO PHILOSOPHIES THAT I TRY TO ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND WHEN I’M SOLOING. BOTH ATTITUDES I TRY AND GET MY GUITAR STUDENTS TO APPLY, TOO. THE FIRST IS ‘IF YOUR CAN’T IMPROVISE, JUST MAKE SOMETHING UP’. ITS NOT AS SILLY AS IT SOUNDS! SOMETIMES BY TAKING A STEP BACK AND SIMPLY LISTENING RATHER THAN TRYING TOO HARD, A GOOD SOLO WILL MAKE ITSELF.

THE SECOND IS ‘DON’T MUMBLE!’ HAVE YOU NOTICED HOW ANNOYING IT IS WHEN YOU HAVE TO CONSTANTLY SAY TO SOMEONE ‘PARDON?’ THE SAME GOES FOR SOLOING. I DON’T MEAN THIS AS A VOLUME ISSUE, BUT AS A CONCEPT ISSUE. TRY TO AVOID MAKING MUSICAL STATEMENTS WHICH ARE THE EQUIVALENT OF SAYING “UM, AHH, WELL I …YEAH, BUT NO…HMM...?” STATE YOUR IDEA FIRMLY, WITH CONVICTION AND AUTHORITY, AND IT WILL USUALLY SOUND BETTER THAN IT WOULD IF ‘MUMBLED’.

I GUESS THE LAST OF MY PERFORMANCE NOTES IS ABOUT GETTING COMPLIMENTS. I FIND IT REALLY INSULTING WHEN I SAY TO A PLAYER AT A GIG “GEE WHIZ, YOU PLAYED VERY WELL IN THAT BIT” AND THEY REPLY, “NO I DIDN’T, IT WAS AWFUL”. ARE THEY TELLING ME I HAVEN’T A CLUE OR WHAT? IF SOMEONE TAKES THE TIME TO PAY YOU A COMPLIMENT, I THINK ITS NICE TO SAY SOMETHING LIKE “VERY NICE OF YOU TO SAY SO – THANK YOU” EVEN YOU THINK IT WAS AWFUL.