I got such a great question about soloing in the style of… [insert your favorite guitar player here.]

The question was basiscally:

“If all those guys were playing the same box shapes and scales, then how is it that they sound so distinctive?”

Or in other words, how is it that a lick played by Stevie Ray Vaughan, using the same notes and the same box shapes, sounds nothing like a lick played by Eric Clapton? How is it that you can tell one from the other almost instantly just by hearing a few notes?

It’s a fantastic question and boils down to 3 elements… because when it comes to playing the blues scale (which they all use) there are only 3 things you can do to it:

  1. You can alter the order of the notes. In other words, instead of A B C D, you could play A D C B, or D C A B or any other combination you can think of. So part of what makes on player unique is how he/she decides to connect the notes from the blues scale.
  2. You can alter the rhythmic components of the scale. If you play in nothing but 1/8th notes, it gets pretty old pretty quick. Listen to Johnny Winter blaze through a lick and then listen to David Gilmour go through the same lick at 1/3 the speed – it’s going to be a VERY different experience. Albert King does a great job of putting in little 1/16th note bursts and Freddie King used rests and syncopation better than anyone (in my opinion.)
  3. You can alter the dynamics and how you attack each note. Listen to Robben Ford caress a note and then listen to Stevie Ray Vaughan bludgeon the same note – again a very different experience.

It would be hard to list all of the subtle little things that make each famous guitar player sound unique, but if you start listing them you quickly see that they all fall into 1 of those 3 elements.

And if I can use the analogy of playing guitar and talking (yet again,) imagine Christopher Walken reciting Hamlet compared to Al Pacino… talk about a VERY different experience using the exact same words!

Talk amongst yourselves in the comments if you like 🙂


    66 replies to "Soloing In The Style Of…"

    • JimmyD

      So….
      I guess cover bands are out. I know they don’t get much respect but I have seen several that were GREAT playing as close to someone else as they could. Hell, even Roger Waters had his favorite Pink Floyd cover band play at his birthday party!
      Griff sounds fabulous playing like someone else……so…..
      …..I guess this one went over my head.

    • Thomas

      Do not try to sound like anyone else. Be yourself! Record yourself, and develop your own sound. Enjoy your playing. Listen to and enjoy the playing of others. You will waste a great deal of time trying to chase the sound of another player, and may well never get to where you think you should be. Your sound is not in finding the right guitar, strings, pedals or amplifiers.

      Some of those great guitarists were drug addicts. Perhaps you should choose the drugs your favorite guitarist used. Whatever works! I just want to be me! 🙂

    • David Rosen

      Griff,
      Ultimately, aren’t those three components another way of articulating “soul”? Or is “feeling” the fourth component? (like trying to tell a stranger about rock ‘n’ roll?)

    • Jean Dominique

      The conclusion is that one has to listen to a lick or phrase so many times, until you can turn it upside down. That’s why it takes so many years to get good. Just my opinion.

    • Mr. Ron

      Thanks Again Griff for another great idea and thoughtful topic for discussion!
      It is amazing how all great guitar players as the many have been mentioned have there own style and
      we are able to recognize them, .especially the King… B.B. King!
      I feel the same thing happens with many different kinds of artist’s, including actor’s as Griff mentioned.
      The real good ones have reached that level where they have a style of their own. As someone who has done photography for many years, I find the same thing happens, everyone can recognize the great photographers. They have developed their own style with there images, after a lot of work… taking many photographs, seriously printing and editing.
      With guitar playing it seems to follow you have to work at it
      make the effort to somehow record yourself and listen closely to your own playing
      over and over until you improve and are good enough where you will develop and find your own style.
      That’s my discovery…
      .Just listen to Griff’s CD and you hear his own style from many years of work, playing AND recording!

    • Stephen Sandorf

      So as long we are in time with the music and ourselves it doesn’t matter what we play.

      • WILLEM

        THAT’S WHAT I ALWAYS SAID.

    • Charles Lee Pealer II

      How about tone? Though I guess dynamics kind of covers that. What do you think?

    • Mike

      That’s what make,s it fun.

    • chris clemans

      When I was listening to the BB King BLUES radio channel 74 he put out similar words of wisdom you can never sound like someone they have been playing longer and you are not that person you are trying to sound like. You can never feel what they were feeling when the played that cool riff, chord or note. When you play it will sound similar but it will be you! Play on my friends. Thanks again Griff. I the star spangled banner on th 4th oh yes

      • chris clemans

        Oops I played the star spangled banner

    • Anne

      Good points to take away and to inspire

    • Jim

      Griff, you nailed it when you used two actors to demonstrate your point. We are all actors trying to play another’s way due to the expectations of the crowd while playing covers. We haven’t earned our spot to be who we are yet. We are students.
      We have to improve our foundation by studying the greats. You are good at spotting the relevant specialties of each of the great blues artists. Develop the craft and then we may have random experiences with artistic moments.

    • Lynn R Parker Sr

      I had a Radio Ham license some years back and used the Morse Code to communicate. Did not take long for an individuals personality to come across so that you knew, if you met them in person whether you would like them. Even dots and dashes bring out personalities, so not too hard to realize that as we make music on our guitars, we leave our own mark on it.

    • tony

      a piece of music by a musician will not sound exactly the same each time. just like the fact we do not look alike. this is why the guitar is so versatile it can fit each ones taste and sound .it brings out our individual creativity . much does come from our emotions .

    • Ian Robins

      I’d like to venture another component to the mix – tone. Or perhaps tonality. It’s interesting to listen to Mark Knopfler and Jeff Beck – both players that have given away the plectrum. Yup, the pick is gone. Again, they both sound very different from one another. But so may different tones and feels can come from just using the finger tips and nails and fleshy bits.

      I came back to playing electric after a long hiatus and never could get used to a pick again. I’d try it for five minutes and then put it down and immediately feel comfortable, somehow more intimate with the instrument. I have sacrificed some speed [gave up trying to be the fastest years ago] and had to get around up and down picking with hammer-ons and pull-offs, but the result is pleasing to my ears. And it’s surprising how many different sounds and tones you can get.

      We all find our voice eventually, even when we steal from the best. Picasso once said, “Good artists borrow – great artists steal.” Just thinking.

    • JC

      And Griff just explained why the majority of a guitarist’s “Tone is in the fingers/hand” and not the gear that is used. When 2 guitarists using the same equipment on the same stage playing the same licks sound “different” the only variables to make them distinctive are what Griff outlined. It is the player themselves and not the gear.

      Put Walken and Pacino on the same stage, breathing the same air, using the same microphone and reciting the same passage and …… well, you know what the difference is – the person.

      • Scotty Fatman

        Christopher Walken would be doing the Mark Knophler
        Al Pacino would be doing Angus Young,
        Say hello to my little friend.
        Would love to hear How Angus would play one of Dire Straits songs.
        And Mark Knophler play Whole lotta Rosie

    • DaveyJoe

      This should be very enlightening to all of us..RIGHT?

    • Pete D

      Another critical factor I have found is they all have a set of techniques which they use in tasteful repetition so our ear becomes familiar to their unique way of using those notes and sounds. I recall that you touched on this in one of your previous daily notes.
      Thanks Griff…

    • Steven Siegel

      How do they sound so different ? lets see, Pick ups,Strings, Stop boxes,And last but not least there own style of who and how they play from inside them selves and bring it out. And also they play in a style that is them and not just a copy of others. Yet might be well hidden in there playing.

    • Gary Hylton

      Griff,

      Loved your analogy of Christopher Walken and Al Pacino reciting Shakespeare!

      THANKS for reminding me that I didn’t have your “Pentatonic Scale And Technique Mastery” course. Well, I just ordered it!

      And thanks for helping those of us who play guitar – play a little better.

      Old School & Still Rockin’

      • Walt

        Nice analogy!

        I think Pee Wee and Lawrence Olivier would be funny too!

      • PAUL

        SO YOU MEAN TO SOUND DIFFERENT,, BUT STILL PLAYING THE SAME NOTES? WELL AL PACINO, WOULD SAY. ALLAS POOR YORWICK, I MADE HIM AN OFFER HE COULD NOT REFUSE. WALKEN WOULD SAY, ALLAS POOR YORICK I THINK I KNEW HIM, WELL? JUST ADD SOME SURGER!!

    • Rohn

      just when I think im making progress I feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface, and Im suppose to pick up a new (used) Ax today when I cant do justice to the ones I have. Its gonna be a long endless journey. Griff and all the comments help me press on as I know Im not alone.

    • Mark d.

      Thanks again Griff a great analogy. I read once somewhere that the bars hold the Tiger the spaces between the bars hold the music. Use the spaces as long or as short as you like it extends the five notes even that much more it’s infinite keep them coming Griff so proud that you are my sensei 🙂

    • Mark Wales uk

      Cheers Griff
      For the advice I think touch tone and vibrato comes into it as well
      😎🎶

    • Ken moree

      Great analogy , makes you really consider all the elements that goes into a particular individuals style

    • Warren I

      Griff, great as always. But I would like to also say, Hats Off, to all the GREAT replies!

    • Sue

      Hi All,

      I treat the three examples from Griff as a great basis for distinction and then, like other folk have pointed out, add in the other sugar and spice.

      Bends, vibrato, sliding in or out of notes etc are just a few examples of some of the ways the greats carve a unique sound.

      I think even if we were to assume we could pull apart EVERY nuance to look for distinguishing features, there is still each individual’s musicality…which is the one piece that can’t really be measured.

      Lastly, at least once a day, I am blown away with what we are able to create with just FIVE notes using Pentatonic and how it constantly humbles me that Western music, at the end of the day, still only has 12 pitches to create something musical and memorable with!

      Thanks again to Griff for sharing your knowledge (and funny examples) — and to all the Blues Unleashed gang, who make this a welcoming space.

      Sue

    • Dan

      Don’t forget that the equipment a guitarist uses also makes a difference in their sound ! I still remember the radio interview Duane Allman gave after Layla came out – when asked who was who he responded ; “I’m the Gibson – Eric’s the Fender”

      • Boll

        A similar, but perhaps more pressing question- why does a more accomplished player sound better playing the same notes than a less skilled player? And precisely how does the less skilled player practice to sound better?

      • Larry

        Good one!

    • Michael Chappell

      Great Griff,
      You hit the nail on the Head as I have often wondered why so many Guitarists paly the same thing and it sounds so different and not just the Key they are in. The Vibrato makes a great difference, not yet my strong point.
      I play your 4 Note Solo quite differently to the way you taught us…I give it a bit more Guts and a stronger Rhythm just experimenting as I can never remember what way I played it to sound Great other than copy it on a looper. Not good enough yet to remember the Dynamics.

      These tips are very helpful towards styling our method of playing songs from the greats one day in the future.

      Michael-St Andrews-Australia

      • Chaplain Ed

        As I watch Griff’s videos I realize that his years of experience and practice give him a seemingly effortless and fluid flow of motion over the fretboard as compared to my amateurish and deliberate journey from note to note.
        I pray that with practice and confidence my techniques will smooth out and my appreciation for the subtlties of the music will mature.

    • Warwick

      I can’t say this is Brilliant like some others, To me it Is an Observation, It’s a good one.

    • Greg Henderson

      Griff ;just presenting the analogy of the two actors said it all. As with the apples, so it is also with the oranges.

    • Bill

      I once heard Eric Clapton in an interview say that the thing that most clearly distinguishes one guitarist’s sound from another is their vibrato.

    • Warwick Smiley

      What are track backs?

    • Allan Etskine-Lindop

      How do I work out what $19 is in English money, if you had let me know I would have subscribed to your recent offer. Allan.

      • Anthony Ingoglia

        call them

      • Warwick Smiley

        Google it.

        • Warwick

          In Response to Allan Lindop–You have a Computer then Google is very Smart.

    • Ravi

      No two signatures are the same.

    • Phil

      Yes! That makes total sense. It gives us all the freedom to do our own thing on the guitar!!

    • Joe Accardo

      Great advise Griff. It also had to do with how you attack a note. You could slide to it, pick it, hammer it or bend it. That all adds to the variety of playing the same lick and making it sound different.

    • Dave

      Always a pleasure to read your advice Griff. Keep up the good work! I think of all the online tutors ive tried yours has made the biggest positive impact on my playing.

    • Ken Terrill

      Thanks, Griff. That is probably the best explanation of a phenomenon that I have recognized but not understood since I started playing. I will definitely keep it in mind as I continue to play and try to create a bit of my own sound.

    • john

      I always open my e-mail account with anticipation that I will get another gem from Griff – and I am rarely disappointed! Thanks again for your insight and great lessons/thoughts. Your dedication and communications always inspire. Don’t quit!
      Thanks again.

      John

    • Thomas R. Pappas

      I am not sure how to edit by I meant to say “but Clapton” and not “buy Clapton”

      and

      To clarify the last sentence of the post, when I say modern bluesmen, I am referring to Clapton, Hendrix, Gibbons and SRV. I consider early electric bluesmen to be the guys who influenced Clapton, Hendrix etc…electric blues pioneers such as the three Kings, Rush, James, Hooker, Brown-basically the guys who dominated the 50s, 60s and 70s blues scene as the old school electric bluesman. I know that Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Lightning Hopkins, Hound Dog Taylor, Buddy Guy, Lonnie Brooks, Steve Cropper and countless others are also instantly recognizable and influential so I am in no way making a judgment or comparison as to who is “better” as I do not believe in “better” when dealing with high level musicians

    • Zeke

      Your absolutely right To each his own. I enjoy all your daily insights and bits of solo s I ve learned more in the last few months than years of lessons by so called teachers.

    • TerryH

      There’s a very nice Youtube clip of Joe Bonamassa on the forum at the moment talking about his forthcoming tour. He plays a bit as well – Jimmy Page, Clapton, Jeff Beck, Peter Green. He sounds great and it’s really interesting hearing him talk about their different styles. Yet somehow he still sounds like Joe Bonamassa.

    • cowboy

      gotta love that about guitar playing…add in different guitars and amps and it allows everyone to find their own “voice”…all part of the fun…thanks…later.

      cowboy

    • Paul Warner

      It is very interesting, and has been as long as I can remember, the differences in the sound of the same note, when two different guitarists play that note. Almost magical how some of these guitarists play lead solos that give you goose bumps because they are so good, so soulful, so emotional and so hard to copy.

    • Thomas R. Pappas

      Griff:

      I agree with you in terms of (1) Note choice; (2) phrasing and (3) pick attack.

      Under what category would you place vibrato. The reason I ask is this: All players have different ways that they use their fretting hand to really get all they can from a note. Some have a wide slow vibrato like
      Clapton, some have a stinging Vibrato like Angus Young, some have a sweet singing vibrato like BB King. For me, Vibrato is what enables me to determine a player’s influences: For example, listening to Clapton vs. Hendrix is apples and oranges other than the fact that they both use a blues style buy with Clapton I hear much more BB King, Freddie King and Robert Johnson. With Hendrix I hear Albert King, John Lee Hooker, Otis Rush.

      Another example are two Texans in Billy Gibbons and Stevie Ray Vaughn
      with Billy Gibbons I hear Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Elmore James whereas I hear Albert King, Hendrix, Wes Montgomery yet both have a Boogie thing reminiscent of Hooker, Gatemouth Brown.

      To me the vibe is not only in the dynamics of the pick attack, note choice and phrasing but also in the vibrato which can be subtle (Wes Montgomery or just incredibly aggressive like Albert King.

      All 4 of the great players that I named are, in my personal opinion, some of the most instantly recognizable modern bluesmen and their influences are as well.

      • Griff

        I would include vibrato with (3) articulation… even though it’s usually in how you strike a note, it can also be how to handle the note. Do you “add a little sugar” or make it fall off or cut it short or bend it up just a smidge right at the end? All of those are possibilities on just one note.

    • Mike

      MORE cowbell.

    • WS

      My issue has always been the feeling that I’m not creative enough to figure out how different players can come up with all these variations on a theme. Then criticizing my own ability to copy them.

      Then the more I play the more I realize that not trying to be anyone but myself is actually pretty damned good. (Not via comparison to anyone else) it’s kind of released me to just play and realize my own creativity.

      Technically I need a lot of work but creatively I can do a lot and I’m building a body of work I’m enjoying and can feel proud of.

      Thanks Al & Christopher for being yourselves!

    • Thomas Holmes

      Thanks Griff — Even though I can execute the licks fairly well, I always come out sounding like me, not you. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing and how it should be..lol

    • Scott R

      Interesting that you bring David Gilmour into the mix. A month or so back I saw a tab for the solos in Comfortably Numb. And my reaction was “That’s it? I though there were a lot more notes…”
      Good examples Griff….

      • Pat

        Check out BB on The thrill is gone. I thought there had to be a mistake. Gotta be more to it. Nope.

    • Paparaptor

      And I thought we were going to get “soloing in the style of Christopher Walken.”

      • legoge47

        Actually soloing in the style of Al Pacino “making you an offer you can’t refuse.” 🙂

    • Bob L

      So that’s how its done! Thank You again still learning, always will be! Learning electric has really defined my accoustic playing. Thanks for all the tips!?

    • Rod

      Brilliant Griff, as always. Cheers

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