how do you play with "feeling"

[I_am_the_smartest]

any tips on how to solo with feeling?? don't know about you but it's pretty hard to me. any tips would really help thanks

[Azrael]

hmm.. sounds like you want us to teach you how to love *LOL*

good question though.. i can hardly explain how it "works"

its .. feeling *LOL* when i sit there with just my guitar and nothing else i improvise and try to "live" the tone. its like meditation. i start to lose track of whatever is around me - theres only me and the tone....

i guess that didnt help at all, did it? *LOL* :D

[Kirk_Aimar]

What i do is
Don't use too much force on ur finger when pressing the strings. That will give u tension on ur shoulders..makes you unable to relax..and that will make you tired as you go on playing the song.
So, know the songs, tabs well..and play calmly...and most importantly enjoy it..im sure you can have the 'feelin'.=)

[Kirk_Aimar]

Hey Azrael..hi!
Its been a long time hearing a post from you. lol
Hehe..ur recent post in GB is hella gd..

[Psycho Amram]

i guess it comes from you
when i first played i played the way i did couse i loved playing i didnt do anything bout "feeling"
my drummer friend played with other guitarists but he sais nobody plays as i do cause the dont have the "feeling" i guess my love for playing sounded through the guitar

the best way i know to see if you play somthin good in the right mood is to ask somebody you count on

[Slow Diver]

Certainly it is something that cannot be defined. The "feel" is what makes the difference between guitarists. I would say, paly just what feels right for you, don't think as "hmm now I am in A minor so I can play a very fast run on the Aminor scale and then end with a arpeggio" Just sit back and improvise for many hours, and I'm sure that you will come up with your own feel

[canuck7]

if you like what you're playing and you love guitar, then feeling shouldn't be hard to put into the songs.

[Hootayah]

Learn as many techniques and styles as you can and practice them until they come naturally. Then when you play something, you can transfer what you hear and feel in your head to the fretboard without the technique getting in the way anymore.

[canuck7]

i read a quote that went something like:
"learn all the theory you possibly can, then forget it all and play from the heart."

it just means that if you know how to create music on the guitar, then you can create some music from your heart.

[TheDirt]

"Feeling" is the unteachable aspect of guitar playing. If two people took the same music courses in college, it's the quality that makes them different as musicians. Over an A Minor chord, one would perhaps play, C, B, A, E, whereas the other might play B, A, G, E.

Your "feeling" cannot be taught to you because it's yours. If someone taught you feeling, then you wouldn't have feeling, you'd be a copy.

Play and play and play and play some more over chord progressions. Your inner ear will tell you what's good and what's not. This is your "feeling". You're not playing other people's notes, but the ones that YOU like.

[N4Player]

I would say - for starters - Don't think about your lead - if you think about it, it'll sound stiff and awkward. Leads and solos come from the heart - not the mind. If you know your stuff, your fingers just go by thenselves.
-Bob

[Polera]

Just learn songs and play them well enough so it comes natural. Then you can begin to have fun and improvise to what you like. If you dont know them well enough you get caught up in learning and it becomes methodical and choir which is not to creative. Once learned then your creativity can shine and you will have that "feeling" to do what ever depending on your mod....sad, happy, rage, etc.

[Seiko_Hejiro]

You can either lose yourself in the music you're playing and your love for it or fake it with mechanical control of notes and bends and vibrato, but then you might lose interest. It can be done however, you can learn to control the volume of how you strum the note you can affect the tone of the note, pressing down hard when fretting, picking harder, which ever, personally i prefer letting go and just playing wtih all the emotion of the song, if the music you're playing with has no emotion you can't expect to feel that you should. Humans are not perfect, don't play perfectly, play to the best of your ability or half of it whichever you feel is most appropriate at the time. Play for fun. That is all that matters, don't play to get chicks, unless that makes you play better, if that empowers you to play for their emotions then yours will show through. Eh i am rambling...

[Sam101]

I can't be bothered to write it all out here but I did do some stuff on composition and playing with feel over on my bands website:
Go to the guitar assault down the bottom and head for Composition Techniques

http://www.john-doe.cjb.net

I have been told it's quite helpfull

[noticingthemistake]

Just asking how to play with feeling is the wrong approach. Like what alot of people are saying, it's something that can't be taught. Yeah learn as many techniques as you can so you can play them, but playing with feeling is playing them in a certain way that expresses feeling. Just like with rhythm especially if you use a drum machine or metronome, it's impossible to play with feeling. Yeah the notes "melody" themselves may express feeling, but it's also the way you play them. You notice starting off slow then speeding up in the melody expresses feeling, just like how hard or soft you play those notes. The best way I could think of when guiding someone to play with more feeling is to put your heart into it. Learn how to express what your feeling through your instrument. Music is another form of communication, so really your telling your story through music. SO speak through your instrument. You feel sad, play the notes that sound sad, you feel mad play the notes that sound strong. Put your heart into it, that's all.

[Azrael]

I dunno how many times ive said that, but if you wanna hear the maximum feel that can be gotten out of a guitar, listen to Jeff Becks music. Songs like "Brush with the Blues", "Where were you", "Nadia" or the beatles cover "Day in a life"

you´ll be amazed and inspired. (he plays it all with fingers only! no pick involved - thats a VITAL difference in sound)

[noticingthemistake]

Yeah I heard you guys talk about him before and I got one of his songs, "where were you". Pretty awesome! :) He definitely takes a more sensitive approach to playing than anyone else I've heard.

[Led Zeppelin]

Do loads of blues bends and do what I like to call the "Pornstar Face", where you wince more and more as the note is bent higher. Its also very important to say any guitarist who doesnt meet these standards has no "feeling" or "emotion", cos its all part of being an idiot.

Nah, im just joking ive had a bad day and I hate dealing with people Ive just described. You cant hear feeling, its just there, youll feel it yourself.

[msinia]

I once read here that if you can hum an improvised good solo or melody then the only thing you are lacking is the skill on the guitar (still developing it). So the only thing you need is to practice and practice.

[u10ajf]

My advice is to listen to what may be the best guitar solo ever written.

Group "Rush"
Album "Hemispheres" or "Exit Stage Left" (studio or live respectively)
Song "La Villa Strangiato"

I'll explain some of what makes Lifeson's second solo (The Ghost of the Aragon) so great so that you can apply those principles but you ought to hear it.

1) Fluid movement around the tonic notes.
Lifeson's playing raises expectations and then fulfills them in an odd way that adds interest to his playing. If a regular scale pattern is played the ear can predict what notes "ought" to be played before the tonic note is heard. This is also the case if sequences of notes are repeated (different accenting and timing can prevent this from being dull). Where he plays slowly a backlog of notes (which have to be played to resolve a passage) builds up. To get back to the tonic note in time he must compensate by speeding up, accelerating fluidly in a little burst of notes. When he plays fast at the start of a phrase the converse applies, he doesn't have to rush to the tonal centre. Sometimes notes nudge each other and start cascades, pushing some of the last notes of a phrase past their natural tonal centre until they fall gently back into place. If you've ever seen a slinky spring run down steps you might get what I mean when I say there's a clear analogy there!

(If you want to develop this kind of breathing soulful reprise then listen to bird song, my fave's the European Blackbird, Turdus Merula. You guys are largely North American but you've got hundreds of other species to listen to.)

2) Range of volume and intensity.
Some of this volume range comes from "violining", picking a note with a volume down and gradually unrolling his little finger around his volume knob so that the note swells and the attack of the note isn't heard. His use of dynamics is tied in closely to the emotions from the sense of urgency generated by "falling behind schedule" as discussed previously.

3) Great vibrato and bending.
The rate and depth of vibrato is good tool for rhythmic expression. His vibrato is wide and fast, technically superb. His bending is similarly without flaw.

4) Perfect tone.
He doesn't kill his tone with too much gain or by using wah or cutting the mids like some metal freak. He adds a bit of echo and some chorus.

5) Some technical wizardry.
Violining, pinch harmonics and some dazzlingly fast runs. These are things that many top players can emulate but I am yet to hear anyone who can write solos which rival the feel and melodic content of his playing.

[hairbndrckr]

I am going to attempt to explain the impossible here...
Hopefully, I don't get TOO winded on this one.

When you play a song, think about how the song makes you feel and PLAY that feeling. It's gotta come from the inside or you'll always sound like you're faking it.

Try this....
Pick a simple Pentatonic lick, could be anything, and play it like you were a drone. Pretty lame, huh?
Now I want you to think back to the last time your boyfriend/girlfriend/mother/brother/dog/cat/or whatever pissed you off so back you wanted to explode and try to play the same lick like you felt. You will probably find you have a lot more aggresive attack on the strings....

Watch out now...you're starting to play with feeling...I know it hurts but it will only get better.

Now try the same lick after trying to remember the last time you had something happen that brought you so much pain you wanted to cry, and play that...

Gettin the hint yet....
You gotta live the song to play the song...and you can quote me on that.

There


[Edited by hairbndrckr on 03-23-2003 at 11:04 PM]

[Azrael]

Funny you mention that - of course the term "playing with feeling" encapsulates the use of real, true emotion.

however - a friend of mine does actually CRY when he plays the guitar. The strange thing about it is ,that he also cries when he plays something happy... now that made me think.. next time i´ll probably call the men with the beautifull jackets.. *LOL*

[u10ajf]

The important question here is do your friends neighbours cry also? If so why!

[iiholly]

Relax and don't think too much.

[u10ajf]

Urmph?? Murgbeerr ummmmmm.... Yip. d's goooood!

[Gainer]

to play with feeling is... hard to explain. It depends on the type of song your soloing to.

The best way to solo with feeling is to start with a cry make your guitar (the sound and playabilty) do the work.

Or.. (this is corny) close your eyes, imagine what this solo is. It could be a loving solo, a get out of the way solo, or... any other kind.

Hope this helped a bit!

[iamthe_eggman]

Hey, Andrew - good job on breaking this down into theory. Although many rock musicians will argue that there's no formula to playing with feeling, there are solid theoretical principles behind why one song/solo/passage of a piece will strike us and another will not affect us at all.

I also liked your explanation of how resolution plays an important role.

So, whereas you obviously can't sit down, take a song and run a mathematical formula to produce the best solo for that song, a good solo will have made use of certain aspects of music theory, whether the guitarist is aware of it or not.

This is almost getting me started in a discussion of how people like Beethoven or Mozart were masters of theory, not slaves of it. It's almost as if they "invented" theory to suit their needs and purposes. Anyways, that's off-topic.

[chucklivesoninmyheart]

The 3 things to improve "feeling" within your playing

1.Attack:how hard or soft you hit the notes
2.vibrato/bend:wiggle that string with your heart!
3.approach:you might sound good,but presentation counts too

also remember NOT to play your songs/music with an "exercise" state of mind!!!Learning techniques/ways to express yourself accuratley is essential "practice" as a guitarist but you must remember that the guitar is meant as an outlet for youself to convey feelings....imo
#3 seems wierd but have you ever seen that awsome guitarist heroe of yours play your favorite song and say to yourself "i can play that"...but know that somthings missing?You might have things note for note whether it be your music or somone elses but "presenting" your music "AS ART" or an "artform" is important.Stay loose,relax,and use your skill to "speak"

[Benoit]

I haven't read all posts so I might be saying the same things as the others, sorry if that happens.

I in no way say that I'm good at playing with feeling but I don't know the first thing about theory (ask Azrael lol) and every solo I do is improvised. Rarely do I sit down and take time to analyse a solo and construct it. When I do it takes me years.

So yes I do beleive I play with feeling and do you know how I do it.... I just play man. You've learned tricks to get better and playing, be more accurate but if you only play those tricks in a solo you'll sound like the guy that made them. It's only by trial and error that you'll be able to play like you want, with feeling. Put yourself out there, play over midi files, play over music, sit down in front of the TV and play along video's on MTV but PLAY. It doesn't matter if you're out of key sometimes, with experience you'll learn with key to play. But please don't do like me and at least learn in which key you're in lol

BTW a good midi file to jam over is Confortably numb by Pink Floyd, play over that one.


I've lost so many years of not soling because I was afraid of sounding bad, this is the biggest mistake you'll ever made. Beleive in your talent and you'll see good things will come out. Then as time goes by and you develope you're style you'll realise, like me, that you sound like Sanata lol or another guitarist... man we all end up sounding like someone else, nobody can say he's original but at least you'll play with feeling. At least that how I feel.

that's my 2 cents

[skee1]

I think Developing your own style would help!
You don't learn to play soulfully or with feeling over-nite or Develope your own style over-nite.
I think some of the posts had some good points but this
is a very hard subject to explain.
Jamming with someone else or over a chord progression is
great once you Develope your own style and know how to improv-or adlib=Feeling.
But on the other side of coin i've heard guitarest's
that were great but could'nt improv or adlib but they
did develope thier own style!


Just My 12 cents.

Mark

[Edited by skee1 on 05-27-2003 at 03:02 PM]

[chris mood]

Hey Skee!!

[skee1]

Hi Chris




Mark

[bigmarty]

I think Benoit's little signature phrase at the bottom of his statement kind of sums it up.Just let go and let the music(whatever you're playing)take you places.Music is supposed to bring emotion out of you(happy sad,mad,horny etc...)and as long as you can live that feeling thru your playing then you'll kind of get the idea of what you asked about playing with feeling.