David Hodge

Back to the “mailbag!” Can I even call it a “mailbag” if it’s an email?

Hi David-

I recently stumbled over your articles regarding Choosing Colors-Turning Scales into Solos.

I’m a 47 year old guitarist that plays great rhythm but has struggled being able to figure what scales to play over what chords for guitar solos. This article series has helped me, but I’m still struggling and still don’t seem to be able to figure out what to play. I’m more of a singer than lead player, but I’m being asked to sing with a guy and take some guitar solos at an acoustic gig coming up very quickly. I really need to figure out what I’m doing wrong.

As an example You Don’t Mess Around with Jim by Jim Croce: On the surface, it’s a I, IV, V progression (E, A, B7). However, when I try playing the E Blues scale, there are a lot of clams in there. Same with the E Major Pentatonic Scale and E Major scale. I’ve tried playing the Blues scale 1 1/2 steps lower, but that also seems funky.

Might I ask what scale you’d use for this song and more importantly, how would I know what to play?
I totally should know how to solo by now, but I’ve always had lead players with me.

Thanks for your time!

Hi

 Thank you for writing and thank you as well for your kind words concerning my Turning Scales into Solos series. I’m glad to hear that they are being of some help.

 When faced with the many choices one has when soloing, sometimes it’s really best, at least at first, to start out very simply. For instance, in the case of You Don’t Mess Around With Jim, you correctly put the song in the key of E major. The flavor of the song is definitely blues-y, especially in terms of the melody line, which contains numerous G and D natural notes in it (two of the three blue notes for the key of E).

 Rather than go with the blues scale, why not simplify somewhat and use the Em pentatonic (E, G, A, B and D). You get the two blue notes that are used extensively in the melody and you avoid the Bb (flatted fifth), which is probably the biggest source of your “clams,” as you put it. Part of the reason for the Bb of the E Blues scale clashing so much is that Croce’s melody line hangs around the B note quite a bit. Dissonance is an important part of soloing, but having that much dissonance front and center can be jarring.

 In addition to using the Em pentatonic (which I believe Maury Muehleisen, in the video, is using to solo, pretty much hanging out between the seventh and twelfth frets), you also want to take a cue from him and play short, sparse fills. Just a phrase of three to seven notes here and there fills up a lot of space. More importantly, it decreases your risk of playing notes you might wish you could take back. Keep your phrases short and clean and you’ll be surprised at how much better you sound and at how much better the song sounds.

 Soloing, like everything else, requires practice. It also is often the result of experience. You’re going to make mistakes, but the more you can hash out ahead of time by coming up with some short-phrase-solos, the fewer mistakes you’re bound to make playing live.

 I hope this helps. Please feel free to write again should you have more questions.

 I look forward to hearing how the gig goes.

 Peace

Technically, winter has only five more weeks to go here in the Northern Hemisphere. But when you’re going through it one day, one hour at a time, that it may never end. You could be stuck forever exactly where you are.

You can certainly feel that way about learning to play the guitar, or learning any instrument for that matter. No matter what you do it’s always the same old, same old, and you are not only going nowhere fast, but you’ve also got a return ticket back to nowhere.

Fortunately, I live with Charley, whom some of you have met either in person or via the Internet. And he has a good philosophy about what to do when it seems like you’re stuck in a rut, or on a “plateau,” as guitarists tend to think of their predicament, and that is to simply take a break. Usually for him, a “break” means a “nap,” but there’s a lot to be said for his idea.

Charley Recharging his Batteries

In fact, ages ago I wrote a column for Guitar Noise called Recharging Your Batteries that discusses how important it is to be able to get past the initial malaise of the dreaded plateau through calm, detached and honest observation of your situation.

And we’ve recently run a great piece by the great guitar teacher, Jamie Andreas, called Guitar Plateaus – What To Do When You’re Stuck, which is also an excellent read.

And when you are feeling stuck, taking time out to unwind and read is an excellent way to rest up your fingers and get the brain fired up to start playing again. Right after a brief nap, of course!

Peace

I’ve talked about FODfest before on these pages, as well as on Guitar Noise. In case you are new to my blog, FOD stands for “Friends of Danny” and “Danny” is Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was murdered in Pakistan in 2002. Besides being a reporter, Daniel was a wonderful musician (primarily the violin) who loved taking part in jams anywhere he’d travel. FODfest, founded by Todd Mack (a good friend and former bandmate of Danny’s) is a series of musical concerts that use music as a medium for promoting peace and harmony in the world.

I’ve been honored to play in several FODfest shows over the last four years. I get to meet and play with many terrific musicians from all over, not to mention meet the people who come to the shows and who get to experience the joy that music can bring. These musicians range in age and abilities. I may have mentioned that the great Corky Siegel played at the show in Oak Park, Illinois last October. Having him perform a harmonica solo for one of my original songs was without a doubt one of the highlights of my life as a musician.

And some of the musicians I meet are younger, but just as talented! I’ve had the privilege of playing with Sam Weiser, ans amazing young violinist (a winner of the Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin – and he’s still in high school!) at a few FODfest shows the past two years and he is quite a talented and exciting performer. He’s just finished his first CD, Sam I Am (available at Amazon, CD Baby and probably also your own music store) and has a short tour this month to promote it. This CD was produced by the Grammy nominated SONiA of Disappear Fear (and she is another person that I’ve had the great pleasure of meeting and playing backup for through FODfest) and I’m sure it’s going to be a great disc of music. He’s donating the profits from his CD to the Daniel Pearl Foundation.

You’ll find him playing at these venues and dates in February:

February 10th 7:00pm – Fairfield Theatre Company – Fairfield, CT

February 12th 7:00pm – Unity Church of God – Somerville, MA

February 13th 3:00pm – Rockwood Music Hall – New York City, NY

February 15th 7:30pm – Saint Mark Presbyterian Church – Rockville, MD

February 21st 7:30pm – The Rutledge – Nashville, TN

If you’re in the area, try to get to a show. You’ll have a great time, hear some great music and help support a great cause.