[Music] before the solo there is silence and in that silence there is power [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] now this is a concept that I think uh people can use in their everyday life it’s not just in music it can be in conversation it can be in how you carry yourself uh think before you speak think before you play and be in control of what you do uh like I said this is something that you can carry into your everyday life and it’s a powerful thing that I learned over time when you’re a young player or you’re a young person you’re quick to react with emotion you’re quick to oh it’s my time to solo and you just immediately start flying around the neck playing as many notes or or talking as much as possible and giving way too much information and not pacing yourself uh life is a marathon not a Sprint and the same could be said for a solo now in my later years I learned to solo I first allowing silence you know it it’s the spaces that you leave between notes that you leave between licks show great wisdom uh you know if you’re playing with a great band if you’re playing with a great uh Rhythm Section a great drummer a great Bas player um they are going to play Such amazing things that if you listen they will inspire you and make you play better but if you’re constantly playing if you’re constantly filling every space you’re not truly listening you have not evolved you must evolve as a player nobody wants to play I don’t want to play how I played when I was 18 years old uh yeah I might had lots of energy and I might have been faster and and all of those things but man I didn’t know what the heck I was doing I lacked maturity in my playing and I don’t want to go through life being one thing now there are times when it’s time to rip and it’s time to let fly and and not allow a lot of space certain certain types of songs C certain types of uh certain genres and certain things sometimes dictate that approach but understand that if you know where the spaces are you allow the music to breathe that you’re going to show great maturity and confidence you know it’s everyone’s waiting for you when it’s your time to solo everybody’s waiting on you to do something and just like uh you know perhaps a love interest in your life uh sometimes lingering sometimes lingering and not giving them all the information right away sometimes not spilling your heart out every single moment can lead to a greater and deeper relationship you don’t always want to show your hand and you can often you know build a solo think of it look I’m not talking about a pop song where you’ve got 15 seconds uh to play a nice melodic little earworm that’s going to sit in your thing that that’s a whole different approach talking about playing real music with real musicians creating on the spot an improvised solo and improvised Masterpiece and if you’ve got time to build a solo like that and you’re playing in a situation you’re playing with great musicians Sometimes the best thing you can do is start the solo with space and start at the lowest Dynamic Point perhaps a single note played with Precision in an exact spot with perfect intonation perfect vibr or lack thereof okay show great wisdom and great depth in your playe and you know what if you’re somebody who likes to start off their solos just ripping and ripping and ripping try this one time try it try starting your solo with one note letting it sustained have a pleasing vibr be in control of your fingers don’t let your fing ERS control you try something different you know uh it’s something that I think a lot of young players uh just haven’t experienced maybe they haven’t played in the right situation maybe they haven’t um had older musicians to Mentor them and I think that’s important uh if you get on a gig and there’s a young player sometimes that a young player is brought up to sit in with a band of of veterans and you know the kid is going to get if the kid goes up there and plays anything remotely sounding good the audience is going to just act like they just seen God because they’ve seen this young kid that’s full of talent and all that and it could be hard uh somebody you know that age could get inside their head and start believing the hype look we all know when you’re young uh you people are going to love anything you do it’s like a cute kid coming in and and singing a song out of key everyone’s like oh isn’t that so cute isn’t that wonderful but you’ve got to evolve from that point um you’ve got to seek to improve your playing has to mature nobody wants to hear a a 13-year-old kid uh at level of playing when you’re a 30-year-old guitar player and so evolving and realizing that that the space the silence the silence is power and showing control showing control to not run up and down the neck wait till the appropriate time to do that that can be some of the most uh best advice that I can give anyone and it and it like I said this channel is is sort of the philosophy of guitar but it also relates to everyday life if you’re confronted with a problem and it becomes your time to improvise a solution to improvise an answer start with a single word well I must think about this and what I think see that already is a much calmer approach than going well what you need to do is everyone needs to do this and if you guys you guys are all idiots that approach will not win you any fans the approach of well this is quite a situation we are in and what we must do is thank this thing through and we must think and realize we have several options and the first option is we do this and the second option is we can do this and the third option is we do this now if we do the first option here is what could happen think through each step if we do the second option this is what could happen these are the repercussions of doing that and if we do the third option this is what could result and analyze what will happen by you doing that and it’s the same thing with a guitar solo you’re having a conversation with the audience you’re having a conversation you’re telling the audience a story but you’re having a conversation with the band they’re interjecting and they’re adding their two cents I mean if you’re playing with great players that’s what they’re doing that’s what they’re doing not everybody we play with is capable of that level of musical conversation but you must you know think about hey what would happen you know if I start my soul just shredding from a point A to point B and not allow any space and um you know that that could get an immense reaction from the audience but if you did that all night their ears would get fatigued their ears would get tired now I get it if you you’re playing an hourlong show and you get one moment in the show to shine then maybe uh allowing a lot of silence and a lot of space is is perhaps the not the right approach but I’m talking about a band that’s got to play somewhere all night if you’ve got to play four hours in a night giving all the information right out of the gate and every time you soloing you know running up and down the neck I mean that’s one way to do it but there are going to be some people it’s going to be overload after a while it’s like that Fusion album that you love to listen to and you Marvel at how amazing it is but you can only take so much it’s like all of the Instagram players that are doing all these amazing things but you can only take so much sometimes that heartfelt note played with emotion the right note at the right time can be a greater way of expressing yourself what is the greatest note ever played on guitar it’s it’s perhaps that long sustained note in machine gun Jimmy Hendricks with the band of gypsies it’s in my opinion it’s the greatest note ever played on a guitar now something could come along in the future that will do that but look the the the tools of the trade at the time the Marshall stack the fuzz face the uh I think there’s univi on that uh you know those those things aren’t the same anymore people aren’t going on stage with Marshall stacks and univ viibes I mean maybe there’s some retro bands out there that are doing stuff like that uh if you know of one let me know in the comments but you know the tools of the trade were much different in Jimmy’s day and you could coax that amount of sustain out of this huge you know Marshall stack that makes it sound like you’re playing in a electric violin with all the warble and sustain and torment that Jimmy Hendrick coaxes out of his instrument and that is uh one of the greatest things ever played on an electric guitar one note you know the rest of the solo is great but it’s that one note it’s the control that he exhibits it’s the fact that uh you know he doesn’t have to overplay yet he is heard uh you know it it’s silence and space and and showing maturity in your playing can be one of the greatest things that you can ever do as a player and and the the most important thing is before you solo realize before you soloed there is silence if you’re G to break that silence make sure that every note counts [Music]
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