Three Ways to be More Melodic on Guitar

We’ve all heard it said from time to time, “Play what you can sing”. I fully agree with it. Not that there aren’t times to step out of that realm for a second. But the more your playing comes from the source called “melodic ideas” rather than a collection of grid patterns relating to the neck, the more people will relate to it.

That became more clear to me than ever in around 1984, when I had a broken arm. I couldn’t play, so I joined a band as a lead singer. It was a challenge for me vocally, but a learning experience in projecting to the audience. It was more directly from me to them. The day I realized that was after my cast was off. We were playing our second set that night, and I had never played guitar with this band. My fingers were still weak from atrophy.

Anyway, the guitar player handed me his guitar and stepped off the stage. I took the guitar and played probably the best solo I had done ever. What I realized is that, in my singing frame of mind, I wasn’t caught up with the usual things I might get obsessed with, like searching the neck for the right fret or pattern. I had been generating melodies already for an hour with no guitar at all. THAT mindset transferred into my fingers. I was flinging melodic lines from my brain, straight into the listeners’ ears. My energy was projected more forward, and less downward toward the neck. It’s not that I never looked down, although that’s a great way to get there. It’s just that the guitar, which had been an obstacle between me and the audience, was now a conduit.

As I’m telling this I’m realizing another thing could have been at play too. It’s possible that to some degree, since I wasn’t completely restored, I wasn’t trying to live up to my usual standard of “chops”. I was just into having fun with this object that was tossed in my direction. I’m sure something can be said for not taking ourselves too seriously. Ideas flow better if we’re more relaxed.

Here are some exercises I’ve used to get more melodic.

1. Find a friend or family member or spouse to practice in front of. As you play your phrases, look at them intently, trying to convey the very emotion you’re playing, as you play. Be animated. You can use a mirror if you can’t find a person.

2. On the guitar, find several different ways to play the same phrase. (I wrote a book that focuses on this, called “Classic Rock Rudiments”.) My idea is that, by finding several ways to put the same melody across, it becomes less about the mechanics, and more about the phrase itself. Use different strings and frets. Substitute a slide for a bend. Play it with and without slides and bends. But make it the same melody, to where if you sang it, you wouldn’t actually sing anything different.

3. Sing the lines you play while improvising. You may or may not want to take this on stage a la George Benson, but as an exercise it will help you tap into the melodic way of thinking, and override the graphical way of looking at the neck. After you’ve done this for a few minutes, start singing the line first, and then trying to play what you sang. Once you get tuned in to this you’ll see it’s very liberating.

Thanks, hope this gives you some things you can use.

J

www.blues-e-news.com

Video is produced by Doug Reid of Augustwolf Productions

The Guns of Freedom is my new country video. The song download is being digitally distributed by iTunes and more.

Mark your calendars for a great night of music. Monday, January 23rd – Steve Morse, Jerry Jennings Band.
Details here: www.boardwalkrocks.com

My band will contain the usual suspects:
Tim Morse – Keys
Nick Eble – Bass
Moss Hudson – Guitar
Gordon Stizzo – Drums

This will be our first time out in about 8 months or so. I’ve been busy writing for film and tv. So we’re dusting off some existing tunes, and adding a couple of new ones.

Other news is, I’m getting close to finishing my 6th book, Triad Magic. It’s a bunch of cool exercises and songs that teach the construction of basic chords on the neck. Also, I’ve released a country song I wrote, called The Guns of Freedom. I performed it at a few pro-freedom events last year. You can view the video here: The Guns of Freedom. The video was produced by my friend Doug Reid of Augustwolf Productions.

Thanks, hope to see you all at the Steve Morse show.
J

Jerry Jennings
916-549-0387
jerry@jenningspublishing.com