Critique of Slow Blues Solo

artyman

Fareham UK
Sounded pretty good to me, although I sort of got the feeling that you were a bit hesitant on the timing in some places. as though you weren't sure if it was the note you wanted.
 

CaptainMoto

Blues Voyager
Hey Dr.
I thought it was all good.
I could hear a few notes that helped break out of the standard scale playing.

The only critique I would offer up has to do with tone and recording:
You had a nice clear and rather clean tone on that which was good but............
the vibe and tone on the backing track was a little more mellow.
So, I thought the lead jumped out a tad too much from the track.
Maybe if you darkened it up a bit I would have felt like it fit better.

That's it...........playing was very good.
 

JPsuff

Blackstar Artist
The phrasing was fine.

The tone was a bit sharp and as the Captain said, it needed to be more mellow, (but that's just a matter of few knob adjustments).

The thing that jumped out at me was that it seemed as if you were playing too "on top" and staccato - as if you were stabbing the notes instead of playing them. I think a tune like that calls for the notes to lay back more and to stretch out longer before moving on.

More vibrato, less attack.

Anyway, that's my two-cents worth.
 

Dr. Ron

Nuthin’ But The Blues!
Thank you all. Your honest thoughts give me something to work on. I have been playing with my tone
and will keep adjusting. I seem to sharply attack in my pick style. I feel like I am too heavy handed but
can't seem to get away from it. Anyway, thanks guys... to the practice room.
 
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Elio

Student Of The Blues
Thank you all. Your honest thoughts give me something to work on. I have been playing with my tone
and will keep adjusting. I seem to sharply attack in my pick style. I feel like I am too heavy handed but
can't seem to get away from it. Anyway, thanks guys... to the practice room.

Really nice playing, Doc! I thought the same thing about the tone in that it seemed a bit too bright for the track. I little bit more sustain and vibrato on some of the notes would give it some more feeling. Really nice playing, though! Did you put the solo together yourself? It's really nice.
 

Dr. Ron

Nuthin’ But The Blues!
Thanks Elio...The inspiration was Robben Ford's, "Sweet Sixteen" from "Discovering The Blues".
I copied the first 2-3 bars as best I could. His was a bit slower; but, I used the slowest backing
track I could find. As far as my tone, I tried to emulate Robben's; but, I don't think it went over too
well!
 

PapaRaptor

Father Vyvian O'Blivion
Staff member
Ron, I thought your tone was great. My only comment would be to echo what Artyman said. Your phrasing is excellent!
 

Dr. Ron

Nuthin’ But The Blues!
Thanks Papa, and to everybody. You know, this critique is really useful. The comments, so far,
are a little different than what I expected. I'm trying to tighten up my playing and get away from
just hitting random scale notes to fill out a phrase. But, it's easier said than done. Hopefully,
this will motivate me.
 

Marv

I play 'err' guitar.
I also thought the tone was fine, perhaps just a bit loud on your volume relative to the rest of the track. And if you're going for a BB feel, I thought the attack was fine. Liked the "rake" you played with some of the bends. That added a lot to the expressiveness of your playing.
 

mpaq

Canfield, Ontario, Canada
...to add to what Marv said, I might also try throwing in some sliding double stop licks for a bluesier sound that might fit well with that backing track.
Your playing and phrasing sounded great to me!
 

johnc

systematic
Well Dr. Ron, Nice playing. I thought your phrasing was going well and it had a good vibe about it overall. I liked it a lot.
The tone wasn't my favourite, a bit sharp for me, but that is personal taste so not a criticism at all.
So for me to appreciate even more.
I would possibly add a bit more of room (reverb) and a touch more drive just to fatten the tone up a little, roll a bit of the sharpness off. Maybe switch PUs between neck an bridge for suitable parts. So just a couple of minor tonal variations.
On the playing side it may be nice just to have the odd little quick flurry in there just to add a little more dynamics. Slow blues presents us with great opportunity to put in some quick little licks here and there.
Thanks for sharing your playing.
 

Thatman

Playin' for the fun of it.
First off I found it good to listen to and to be honest I couldn't offer any points for your improvement, however, having read the comments above I can see what is meant, so in a way I'm learning points from your efforts so thanks for the post. (y)
 

gpower

Blues Junior
Nice work! I thought the tone was fine just needing a bit more sustain in places to smooth it out. I wouldn't mind getting tat backing track from you.
 

Dr. Ron

Nuthin’ But The Blues!
I appreciate the critique Gary. I have changed a few things since I made this recording. I should
do it again. Here is the virgin backing track I used:

Slow Blues in C

Enjoy!
 

PapaBear

Guit Fiddlier
I too, had no issue with your tone, for the first 30 seconds your phrasing seemed spot on to me, but then it seemed to start ending short of the mark. I think what Jeff and Gary said about letting the notes sustain more was good advice. All and all it's far better than anything I could do.
 
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