Great to see you here and equally great to actually see a Canadian made Larivee guitar in a video! Cool and thank from an Ontarioan who has 2 Normans and a Simon and Patrick.
David Rawlings is the master of acoustic soloing. Electric soloing technique doesn’t translate very well to acoustic but conversely acoustic soloing techniques work extremely well when applied to electric and are a great way to get out of your personal box and offer more to the listener.
Celtic guitar also utilises a lot of open strings when playing and soloing, it works really well for the instrument. It also suits more melodic solos in my opinion. Prime example being Lindsay Buckingham's live solo s on the Fleetwood Mac song Landslide.
One of the biggest takeaways from this video for me is about not resting your forearm on the guitar and holding the body of the guitar away from your body to allow it to resonate. Wow, that is a huge tip. Been playing acoustic since I was 8 and I am 54 this year and it never dawned on me. I've always been looking to get better acoustic tone. Wow, thank you Rhrett & Steve. Great video!
@goswo I think for the average player the answer is somewhere in the middle, finding the sweet spot between having firm control of the guitar and getting maximum resonance. Occasionally when I want to practice nylon guitar in a more classical manner, I'll have the guitar tilted fairly high and rest the guitar body on my sternum, but otherwise putting only enough forearm pressure to feel comfortable. It's crazy what kind of feedback you can get from the resonance like this.
@@icoz7Shallower body depth guitars that still project a comparatively big acoustic sound CAN be found, and mitigate this physical comfort issue a great deal.
0:28 main reason for the "plinky" sound is the right hand technique. If you want more "body" and attack it's worth to practice "rest stroke" technique, very often used in gypsy jazz. A friend of mine showed me the difference it makes in sound, and it was almost like he was playing a different instrument. Joscho Stephan is one of the greatest in that realm.
Clapton Unplugged is a master class in acoustic soloing (slide/nylon/steel). It’s all there, melodic, soulful and serves the song/performance. Tim Reynolds work on Dave Matthews Live at Luther College is also incredible.
Lovely stuff, guys. Getting big Dave Rawlings vibes. Rhett: do a feature on Dave Rawlings! One of the only guitarists I've seen live who gets gasps during solos and rapturous applause every time he finishes one! That concept of creating a story out of your solo is huge, and, Dave is a master of it. Keep up the great work: big fan of you both. Awesome collab!
To call me a novice would be giving me far more credit then I deserve. Two profound things I learned from this video were how much more the open strings ring out than the fretted strings. The other was when Sam played and pressed his finger against the guitar and let off. I never would have thought I would be able to hear a difference. I'm sure most real guitarist know these things but I found it fascinating. Thanks Rhett for a great video
Anyone here heard Clapton’s Unplugged? It’s the perfect counter-example of the video’s title. (edit: or Al di Meola / Paco de Lucia / John Mclaughlin's Guitar Trio album... and so many others...)
That could make a great follow up video. What did Clapton do that made that performance one of the best acoustic sets ever? How did he translate his electric playing to acoustic?
I think you are absolutely bang on. The unplugged album encouraged me to play solos and riffs more. Not that I would in any way compare my playing to these guys but anyone that says they hate acoustic solos is just talking nonsense.
I recently saw Al di Meola live. Worst show I have endured in my life, the piezo sound of an acoustic guitar doesn't really suit his music, in my opinion. Enduring it for almost two hours straight gave me a massive headache. Don't get me wrong, he's a musical prodigy and a genius, but the sound of an acoustic guitar, with all those transients jumping for your attention, I found listening to it for a prolonged period of time very unpleasant.
@@MashaT22I first listened to that album before I turned 10, the old love solo still blows me away. Personally? You want a solo to sound good on accoustic? Get rid of the pick, dig your fingers in, and pluck them outwardly... There's countless examples of ppl sounding good without doing that, but it sure as hell works for me
Thank you. I love these guys but this video is embarrassingly naive. They obviously have little familiarity with bluegrass guitar. They should put Tony Rice in their playlist.
@@WillyPDX94 i've recently dived into the bluegrass rabbithole after recently buying an acoustic guitar. I hadn't heard of a lot of the artists in the bluegrass genre. It's unfortunately not a widely known genre. It's a shame because a lot of what i've seen so far has been amazing.
It's so good to see Sammy G on the channel! Awesome seeing a collaboration with you both, as you guys have helped my musical journey in a huge way the past couple years. Much love and support!
Matthew Scott ‘where you been’ has got an awesome acoustic solo in the middle of a mostly electric guitar song. Second only to Turin brakes Underdog. Oh and maybe the goat more than words with the longer outro. Nuno always the man.
Profoundly grateful for this video. Please do more collabs. Lots of 'takeaways' especially for guitarists who play alone which I enjoy. In a sense create your own orchestra with the humble acoustic guitar. I have acquired an electric and acoustic - electric guitar but my affinity for my humble acoustic is so strong, inexplicable. Warm regards from Sunny South Africa
Great jam session with soloing, clearly a lot of influences from Bluegrass and also Trad Irish and Scottish Folk tunes. As a Brit who loves Traditional Folk from various parts of the UK I can find a lot of inspiration from this. Cheers 🍻 chaps.
Thank you. Tony Rice. Bryan Sutton. Tommy Emmanuel, Glen Campbell, Paco de Lucia, John McGlothlin, Jerry Reed and on and on and on. But Tony Rice. Yes.
Surprisingly, and I mean this because one would figure Rhett as such an accomplished player would undersrand this, the problem here is poor technique. Electric and acoustic guitars are different and need to be approached differently. Rhett's flat picking just isn't very good. Tell me that Bruce Cockburn can't solo well on an acoustic guitar. Of course he can. His fingers are gold.
Cool! Glad you did this. I had this aha moment when I moved to Kentucky and sought out a jam. Someone starts something like Big Sciota. Then they each take 16 bar (NO MORE!) breaks improvising around the basic tune. They weren’t anything but everyday folk, maybe the occasional musician from Nashville, but just folks with good ears and hands. Watch some videos of these folks. Go to the local Bluegrass jam. There is a lot to learn. $20 sounds a bargain
Epic stuff fellas! Thanks!! As someone who enjoys both the electric and acoustic side this was great info to think about and focus on doing in each soloing
Thanks for this video Rhett. And yes to open strings! After 4 years on the acoustic and learning scale patterns I almost never use, I've started learning scales that use open strings. It has left me with a big question, why is it with all the guitar TH-cam videos out there very few talk about or teach learning scales and riffs closest to the nut?
Two of my favorite guitarists of all time are Michael Hedges and Tim Reynolds. The 1st time I heard each of their music, I was in as much awe as when anyone heard Eddie play "Eruption" before everyone else started copying him. It's kinda bittersweet that they never caught on as much as VH did.
It's so excellent to see the two of you working together! Two great guitar minds for the price of one! And some cross-border cooperation too; when does Rhett come to Canada?
I Love Sammy G! So glad he was coming through and you guys got a good video together lol! Would love to see more collabs of you all! He should of came down for that Bike Festival to jam with Josh Scott lol!!
I heard a big click as I was watching this video and it was the sound of the lightbulb in my head coming on. Thank you for posting this! I have always hated soloing on acoustic and now I realize that my approach was all wrong. This is so simple, yet, I've never had somebody tell me this. Thanks, Guys!
I mean, for an american perspective it makes sense. He's basically talking about country-folk-bluegrass guitar, and in that context these principles are true.
This was great! One solution for soloing on an acoustic guitar without reworking your technique too much...play an Ovation. Feel and attack and therefore I would say results are much closer to an electric guitar. You can move much faster on an Ovation. If it is set up you can play the licks you play on an electric (excluding Hendrix and Van Halen, though if you can play Spanish Fly, you probably can disregard this caveat). Ovation also projects differently than a traditional acoustic. Try it.
1000% an acoustic and electric are NOT the same, even hybrids! I like both, but being an old fart, I started in the early 70's with acoustics and while I love all the wonderful and creative sounds I can make with my electrics, I respect my acoustics for what they enhance in my ever going, never stop learning, guitar journey. Kudos to this video, respect the instrument you are playing!
One thing that I find key to soloing on an acoustic is landing phrases on the beat. You can noodle around more freely on an electric, but for an acoustic where you don't have that kind of volume and sustain, it helps to have the support of the rhythm section especially when you hit a first or last note of a phrase. (It's pretty good on electric solos, too.)
No, you cannot noodle more freely. You can noodle exactly the same, and it does not sound good on either instrument if it is not good in first place (does not have any rhytm or any sense of melody or general flow of the music [like chord changes etc]).
Love the video. Bending on acoustic presents challenges simply because of tuning issues. I used to play heavier guage acoustic strings for sustain but not necessarily good for bending. I like to listen and play eastern music on guitar. It's a good lesson in bending on acoustic, especially with microtonal music. I'm also thinking that some of the concepts here are more for playing in a group setting. If you are the lone instrument, the soloing approach would be different - just the dynamics alone. How would you approach that?
Great video. There comes a point in most electric guitarists learning where you drift over to acoustic and discover that although they have the same 6 strings, tunings, and general theory, they therefor SHOULD be the same - they aren't. (I'm sure this occurs in the opposite direction for those who begin acoustic and pick up electric too). It's my belief that if you can learn both you will be a much more flexible player and enjoy playing that much more because your scope for creativity is suddenly widened. I've been playing electric on and off 40+ years, but I only started playing acoustic seriously in lock-down and it blew away all the apathy and general boredness I was feeling at the time, and I'm now almost acoustic only. And for goodness sake don't think that playing oldey-timey tunes on an acoustic is naff, because some of it is hard as hell and it WILL expand your abilities.
Neil Young made beautiful solos on the acoustic guitar."Ramada inn" ,for exemple … Thanks for this channel and the job! Cheers from deep south of France , 🖐😎🦊 🎸
Great points raised here about the different characteristics of acoustic versus electric playing. You guys should check out Jonathan Stout (a/k/a Campus Five) to see how to approach the acoustic guitar without relying so much on open strings; i.e., in a jazz setting.
Excellent video. When producing, I would ask guitarists that play constantly solo notes if they talk that way. That would trigger them to think about taking "breaths" in their solos. Thanks for putting this together. Ya'll need to put out a dual acoustic album in this style. I would listen to this all day.
The best advice I ever got (especially for approaching a fiddle tune like Big Sciota that they were playing here, although it applies to breaks over vocal tunes here): Play the melody. Or at least play the bones of it. You can improvise and throw in hot licks, but ultimately you want the listener to be able to tell what tune you're playing over.
I only do solos on an acoustic guitar, because I think there’s something lost in transition while playing on an electric guitar through amp and that said, the main tip to a good sound on an acoustic is to use a correct guitar pick for the style in question. Myself I have tree choices: for high treble attack I use 0.53 thickness Jim Dunlop nylon, and for smoother sound I use Jazz III and for the BEST sound I use my five fingers!
Totally agree with Sammy G. Acoustic guitars and electric guitars are as different as pianos and organs are, maybe even more. They're different instruments. John Mayer's 2012 Performances EP has some great examples of acoustic guitar solos on it (that version of Queen of California comes to mind specifically). Individual note runs need help on acoustic guitars, 100%
Glad to see you drop that 2012 EP. Picked a part a couple of those songs earlier this year. Played mostly electric last year then hopped back to acoustic this year. Went from blues soloing to acoustic. That EP is brilliant. Shadow Days especially is so tactful. So many little diads and just playing through the scale in a tactful rhythmic way. Awesome stuff.
I've disovered that EP a few weeks back, actually, thank you spotify💪 I agree, when you compare actual album versions and EP acoustic stuff, it brings about a different, special feel. If any of you would like to discuss or maybe demonstrate how to play some of that stuff, I'd be thrilled to connect and chat! Take care!
Rhett, if you have not heard " I was only joking " by Rod Stewart, give it a listen. The acoustic solo translons to electric. It was knockout for us in the 70's. Knock if you will but I used an Ovation and it's the only guitar I wish I still had. My 63 stat that I have had from new is still with thankfully. Cheers mate.
Watch Glen campbell jamming with Leon Russell in Hamilton 1983 if you want to see some mighty fine acoustic soloing. It just seems so easy for Glen to tear it up on anything he played.
You guys need to get out more. Go to a Bluegrass festival where people are camping, walk around to the various camp jams and you will find that the per capita of awesome players within the Bluegrass audience is far and away higher than any other genre. The best pickers in the world come from Bluegrass and that's not an opinion. I had the good fortune of witnessing Billy Strings (William Apastol) at my local festivals here in west Michigan go from great to super stardom. Billy was by no means alone with his level of skill.
Good stuff. If you listen to a couple dozen bluegrass players doing fiddle tunes (like "Big Sioty") you will get a master class on how to solo on acoustic guitar while following the melody and chord changes. Learning a bunch of fiddle tunes is the way to learn this style. Note: all bluegrass rhythm players know to tone down your strumming and use mic control so as not to drown out the soloist. I'm looking at you Rhett, lol.
I think of guys like Clapton and Gilmore and my memory comes back to solos I've seen and heard them play. They do it with finesse and grace. Sparsely often. Licks and stuff are short and concise and theres breathing room before the next phrase. (eg Wish you were here)
Your electric playing will transfer over to acoustic if you restring it with electric guitar strings (11's). Also drill holes into the side of the body to get the "boominess" out of them. The midrange introduced from the side sound holes will completely change the instrument's sound profile making it more percussive and tight.
Great video, and i dig watching you both quite a bit! Do have to agree there may be a bit of naivete, but I wonder have you guys started on electric? Im mostly totally an acoustic player and have my whole concept of soloing rought from acoustic. Funny thing is, i just got my first strat electric and leaning to solo electric now lol. Been a process for sure. You guys can for sure rip it on acoustic too! But yea, to add to this list of crazy acoustic players throw on that Tommy Emmanuel and Billy Strings vid and see that insanity.
Ok, cheefs nice , i recomend also to look in to ,, crosspicking" Molly Tootle"s wersion of White freightliner, Tony Rice's Chuch street blues and for writing in flatpicking perhaps Manzanita , and all Of acoustics of Clarence White, must I mentioned Tommy Emanuel and Billy Strings ?
I've always thought this was an interesting topic. I could never think of a good acoustic solo. Until that is, I heard old shoes (& picture postcards) by Tom Waits one day. Shep cooke plays an absolutely beautiful solo on acoustic guitar for that song, one of the best I've heard. I think that's the basis for a good solo on an acoustic, simple great feel, and not at all flashy
There is a great acoustic guitar solo in Make Me Smile by Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel that I think spans the electric and acoustic cross over point. And No Doubt's Don't Speak also has a great solo. They are out there if we hunt around.
I play acoustic but in a blues/ trad jazz contest. I find very useful using mainly downstrokes when solo, so I can focus more on tone and I cannot do fast stuff lol
It's tough when playing alone - I try to figure out how to do fit in a simple solo while still keeping open bass strings ringing out so that the feel of the song doesn't stop.
The first regular paying gigs I had were playing Celtic folk and purely acoustic for a dinner crowd, no amp or mics, my guitar was a vintage arch top ,so you have to learn how to fill all the air , open strings and capo letting strings interact with each other like a harp type cascade
Use lighter strings and E flat tuning so you have some bending movement. I spent my formative years on a cutaway Yamaha acoustic with electric strings (46-10) and this is the origin of my skillset. A really good acoustic with really low action also helps a lot. If you regularly fight the instrument to ring out or hold a solid chord, as many do, and compensate by playing harder, that's the wrong guitar. Set it up so you're not battling the instrument. Also learn your licks on a 12 string. That's so damn hard a 6 string becomes so easy,
Great point! Guitarists don't know they can string an acoustic w/ electric guitar strings to get an unwound g-string and change the instruments sound profile, though I'd suggest 11's on acoustic.
@@s.lander1751 Ernie Ball Aluminum Bronze lights are 11-52 and do a decent job on my Gibson J45, which is more of a picker than a strummer anyway. Its a balanced approach for the occasional leads, but the set you like best on electric is more versatile for leads.
Dude, Matthew Scott's track "Where You Been" features super nice acoustic solos, I highly recommend checking it out! I like it even more than his soulful electric playing, which is already bonkers!
Thanks for the hang, good luck to all those looking to learn how to not hate soloing on acoustic!
Great to see you here and equally great to actually see a Canadian made Larivee guitar in a video! Cool and thank from an Ontarioan who has 2 Normans and a Simon and Patrick.
backhanded compliment, i'm not the biggest fan of your channel, but this was a great little video and i'm clearly mistaken.
@samuraiguitarist I think you may just be becoming a bluegrass nerd! I recognize that Big Sciotia in the intermission breaks 😃
Good job Steve! LoL
Great tips
David Rawlings is the master of acoustic soloing. Electric soloing technique doesn’t translate very well to acoustic but conversely acoustic soloing techniques work extremely well when applied to electric and are a great way to get out of your personal box and offer more to the listener.
Absolutely. He's one of my favourite guitarists, period. I love how he weaves notes in his solos. So tasteful!
Also... Kenneth Pattongale!
@@jellofarce yes!
A solo done right on an acoustic is the most beautiful thing ever. So unforgiving.
Wish You Were Here comes to mind
Django Reinhardt comes to my mind. And Paco de Lucia
Nutshell AiC MTV Unplugged
@@Thomas-xs2kqJerry Reed!
Not really. lectric guitar solos would still destroy that and knock it off the park. Acoustic guitar is a much inferior instrument to electric guitar.
Celtic guitar also utilises a lot of open strings when playing and soloing, it works really well for the instrument. It also suits more melodic solos in my opinion. Prime example being Lindsay Buckingham's live solo s on the Fleetwood Mac song Landslide.
Also check out some of the traditional Irish fiddle tunes John Doyle plays on guitar.
One of the biggest takeaways from this video for me is about not resting your forearm on the guitar and holding the body of the guitar away from your body to allow it to resonate. Wow, that is a huge tip. Been playing acoustic since I was 8 and I am 54 this year and it never dawned on me. I've always been looking to get better acoustic tone. Wow, thank you Rhrett & Steve. Great video!
It blew my mind when I learned it too
Other, really amazing, acoustic players, will argue that its all about getting a good rest 😀😀
@goswo I think for the average player the answer is somewhere in the middle, finding the sweet spot between having firm control of the guitar and getting maximum resonance.
Occasionally when I want to practice nylon guitar in a more classical manner, I'll have the guitar tilted fairly high and rest the guitar body on my sternum, but otherwise putting only enough forearm pressure to feel comfortable. It's crazy what kind of feedback you can get from the resonance like this.
How can it work with a dread and playing while standing?
@@icoz7Shallower body depth guitars that still project a comparatively big acoustic sound CAN be found, and mitigate this physical comfort issue a great deal.
0:28 main reason for the "plinky" sound is the right hand technique. If you want more "body" and attack it's worth to practice "rest stroke" technique, very often used in gypsy jazz. A friend of mine showed me the difference it makes in sound, and it was almost like he was playing a different instrument. Joscho Stephan is one of the greatest in that realm.
I agree 100 per cent….rest strokes help a lot to get a full sound.
Thanks for the info! 🙏
Check out Duved Dunayevsky for one of the most authentic "early Django" style players of today.
Clapton Unplugged is a master class in acoustic soloing (slide/nylon/steel). It’s all there, melodic, soulful and serves the song/performance. Tim Reynolds work on Dave Matthews Live at Luther College is also incredible.
Hendrix on 12 string acoustic played Hear My Train a comming, masterpiece.
Lovely stuff, guys. Getting big Dave Rawlings vibes. Rhett: do a feature on Dave Rawlings! One of the only guitarists I've seen live who gets gasps during solos and rapturous applause every time he finishes one! That concept of creating a story out of your solo is huge, and, Dave is a master of it. Keep up the great work: big fan of you both. Awesome collab!
To call me a novice would be giving me far more credit then I deserve. Two profound things I learned from this video were how much more the open strings ring out than the fretted strings. The other was when Sam played and pressed his finger against the guitar and let off. I never would have thought I would be able to hear a difference. I'm sure most real guitarist know these things but I found it fascinating. Thanks Rhett for a great video
Anyone here heard Clapton’s Unplugged? It’s the perfect counter-example of the video’s title. (edit: or Al di Meola / Paco de Lucia / John Mclaughlin's Guitar Trio album... and so many others...)
That could make a great follow up video. What did Clapton do that made that performance one of the best acoustic sets ever? How did he translate his electric playing to acoustic?
I think you are absolutely bang on. The unplugged album encouraged me to play solos and riffs more. Not that I would in any way compare my playing to these guys but anyone that says they hate acoustic solos is just talking nonsense.
I recently saw Al di Meola live. Worst show I have endured in my life, the piezo sound of an acoustic guitar doesn't really suit his music, in my opinion. Enduring it for almost two hours straight gave me a massive headache. Don't get me wrong, he's a musical prodigy and a genius, but the sound of an acoustic guitar, with all those transients jumping for your attention, I found listening to it for a prolonged period of time very unpleasant.
@@MashaT22I first listened to that album before I turned 10, the old love solo still blows me away. Personally? You want a solo to sound good on accoustic? Get rid of the pick, dig your fingers in, and pluck them outwardly... There's countless examples of ppl sounding good without doing that, but it sure as hell works for me
the di Meola / de Lucia /McLaughlin trio album was, and is, magic and majesty ! Highest level of artistry and skill on acoustic guitar.
It’s bluegrass music. Dem boys been doing this for years. Thanks for bringing it up guys.
Exactly!
Thank you. I love these guys but this video is embarrassingly naive. They obviously have little familiarity with bluegrass guitar. They should put Tony Rice in their playlist.
That’s what I was thinking.
@@WillyPDX94 i've recently dived into the bluegrass rabbithole after recently buying an acoustic guitar. I hadn't heard of a lot of the artists in the bluegrass genre. It's unfortunately not a widely known genre. It's a shame because a lot of what i've seen so far has been amazing.
Brian Sutton!!!
It's so good to see Sammy G on the channel! Awesome seeing a collaboration with you both, as you guys have helped my musical journey in a huge way the past couple years. Much love and support!
Matthew Scott ‘where you been’ has got an awesome acoustic solo in the middle of a mostly electric guitar song. Second only to Turin brakes Underdog. Oh and maybe the goat more than words with the longer outro. Nuno always the man.
Profoundly grateful for this video. Please do more collabs. Lots of 'takeaways' especially for guitarists who play alone which I enjoy. In a sense create your own orchestra with the humble acoustic guitar. I have acquired an electric and acoustic - electric guitar but my affinity for my humble acoustic is so strong, inexplicable. Warm regards from Sunny South Africa
Thanks For Having SamG on. Love your channel and Samuris channel. Its great to see you together.
He’s the best
Thanks for mentioning what I thought was the obvious; when in doubt, play the melody. That has always been my fall back strategy. Good video.
This was fun to watch. Well done you guys!
Great jam session with soloing, clearly a lot of influences from Bluegrass and also Trad Irish and Scottish Folk tunes.
As a Brit who loves Traditional Folk from various parts of the UK I can find a lot of inspiration from this.
Cheers 🍻 chaps.
Tony Rice: Backwaters...the entire album. You can definitely solo with authority on an acoustic guitar.,
Thank you. Tony Rice. Bryan Sutton. Tommy Emmanuel, Glen Campbell, Paco de Lucia, John McGlothlin, Jerry Reed and on and on and on. But Tony Rice. Yes.
@@garywhitt98 The list can go on quite a ways...
Yes. And of course Clarence White’s work or Tony McManus. Right hand is even more important than with electric in my observation.
Surprisingly, and I mean this because one would figure Rhett as such an accomplished player would undersrand this, the problem here is poor technique. Electric and acoustic guitars are different and need to be approached differently. Rhett's flat picking just isn't very good. Tell me that Bruce Cockburn can't solo well on an acoustic guitar. Of course he can. His fingers are gold.
@samuraiguitarist is among the realest, glad to see Steve here. Great tones, brothers
The tone on that slope shoulder is throaty and rich! I love it, very nice.
Cool! Glad you did this. I had this aha moment when I moved to Kentucky and sought out a jam. Someone starts something like Big Sciota. Then they each take 16 bar (NO MORE!) breaks improvising around the basic tune. They weren’t anything but everyday folk, maybe the occasional musician from Nashville, but just folks with good ears and hands. Watch some videos of these folks. Go to the local Bluegrass jam. There is a lot to learn. $20 sounds a bargain
Epic stuff fellas! Thanks!! As someone who enjoys both the electric and acoustic side this was great info to think about and focus on doing in each soloing
Thanks for this video Rhett. And yes to open strings! After 4 years on the acoustic and learning scale patterns I almost never use, I've started learning scales that use open strings. It has left me with a big question, why is it with all the guitar TH-cam videos out there very few talk about or teach learning scales and riffs closest to the nut?
Great collab Rhett! Thx Sam too! Learned a ton.Thanks for posting!
Loved the sound quality on this segment! Would be interested in a Rig rundown,all the finest and most expensive.
I was like, "Wow, is that samuraiguitarist?" It is!
Me too! I was like the Samurai and Rhett, seems like a super team to me! Well done gentlemen!
Two of my favorite guitarists of all time are Michael Hedges and Tim Reynolds. The 1st time I heard each of their music, I was in as much awe as when anyone heard Eddie play "Eruption" before everyone else started copying him. It's kinda bittersweet that they never caught on as much as VH did.
Great video and info. This is where I am trying to improve and the journey continues.
This was incredibly helpful and practical. Have been trying to improve my acoustic solo without it becoming a bluegrass exercise.
It's so excellent to see the two of you working together! Two great guitar minds for the price of one! And some cross-border cooperation too; when does Rhett come to Canada?
Days of the New had some awesome acoustic soloing. "Touch, Peel, and Stand" and "Shelf in the Room" both come to mind.
Tim Renwick on Al Stewart's Year of the Cat. fabulous acoustic solo segues to a fabulous electric solo
I Love Sammy G! So glad he was coming through and you guys got a good video together lol! Would love to see more collabs of you all! He should of came down for that Bike Festival to jam with Josh Scott lol!!
Two of my faves in the same spot. Perfect! Good video gents.
I heard a big click as I was watching this video and it was the sound of the lightbulb in my head coming on. Thank you for posting this! I have always hated soloing on acoustic and now I realize that my approach was all wrong. This is so simple, yet, I've never had somebody tell me this. Thanks, Guys!
Django is screaming from his grave
Aiee😂
Right? This was Rhett's worst video. Really highlighting that he only knows electric. "I almost never bend on acoustic" 😢😱
@@DoctorMandible I read an interview with Jimmy Page who said that he practices only on acoustic.
I mean, for an american perspective it makes sense. He's basically talking about country-folk-bluegrass guitar, and in that context these principles are true.
Lmao
This was great! One solution for soloing on an acoustic guitar without reworking your technique too much...play an Ovation. Feel and attack and therefore I would say results are much closer to an electric guitar. You can move much faster on an Ovation. If it is set up you can play the licks you play on an electric (excluding Hendrix and Van Halen, though if you can play Spanish Fly, you probably can disregard this caveat). Ovation also projects differently than a traditional acoustic. Try it.
1000% an acoustic and electric are NOT the same, even hybrids! I like both, but being an old fart, I started in the early 70's with acoustics and while I love all the wonderful and creative sounds I can make with my electrics, I respect my acoustics for what they enhance in my ever going, never stop learning, guitar journey. Kudos to this video, respect the instrument you are playing!
Great info, many electric players also allow too much string noise when playing acoustic. The open string emphasis helps a lot with that.
"What is this, a crossover episode?"
Cool to see 2 channels I like collaborating
One thing that I find key to soloing on an acoustic is landing phrases on the beat. You can noodle around more freely on an electric, but for an acoustic where you don't have that kind of volume and sustain, it helps to have the support of the rhythm section especially when you hit a first or last note of a phrase. (It's pretty good on electric solos, too.)
No, you cannot noodle more freely. You can noodle exactly the same, and it does not sound good on either instrument if it is not good in first place (does not have any rhytm or any sense of melody or general flow of the music [like chord changes etc]).
Love the video.
Bending on acoustic presents challenges simply because of tuning issues. I used to play heavier guage acoustic strings for sustain but not necessarily good for bending. I like to listen and play eastern music on guitar. It's a good lesson in bending on acoustic, especially with microtonal music.
I'm also thinking that some of the concepts here are more for playing in a group setting. If you are the lone instrument, the soloing approach would be different - just the dynamics alone. How would you approach that?
For having to fall to a backup plan, your basement studio looks great in these shots.
That was so informative! I had never seen that technique demonstrated before. Really helpful.
Mad respect for these two guys.
Great sounding Eastman guitar..pretty, too. Thanks for upload. Some good ideas here . 👍🏽
Great video. There comes a point in most electric guitarists learning where you drift over to acoustic and discover that although they have the same 6 strings, tunings, and general theory, they therefor SHOULD be the same - they aren't. (I'm sure this occurs in the opposite direction for those who begin acoustic and pick up electric too). It's my belief that if you can learn both you will be a much more flexible player and enjoy playing that much more because your scope for creativity is suddenly widened. I've been playing electric on and off 40+ years, but I only started playing acoustic seriously in lock-down and it blew away all the apathy and general boredness I was feeling at the time, and I'm now almost acoustic only. And for goodness sake don't think that playing oldey-timey tunes on an acoustic is naff, because some of it is hard as hell and it WILL expand your abilities.
Great playing, great content. This becoming my go to guitar channel.
Great video. One of my favorites in the genre is the acoustic solos in Pure Prairie League Amie. I think a good example of "how to".
Neil Young made beautiful solos on the acoustic guitar."Ramada inn" ,for exemple …
Thanks for this channel and the job!
Cheers from deep south of France ,
🖐😎🦊
🎸
Rhett, did you put a pickup in your DB Banjo Killer?? Which?
It's just a joy watching two great guitar players trade techniques on acoustic guitars!
Just to be the next to be with you was pretty epic. Especially that low e pop!
Sammy G is always fantastic! Love the two guys together. Do this more often.
Man, this is a great collaboration.
Wow, this is great.
Great points raised here about the different characteristics of acoustic versus electric playing. You guys should check out Jonathan Stout (a/k/a Campus Five) to see how to approach the acoustic guitar without relying so much on open strings; i.e., in a jazz setting.
Great advice here. It brings out the music in the acoustic guitar.
Really hope you guys go down in history. Some of the most beautiful picking I've ever heard! Thank you. 🙏
Brilliant needed this…been struggling with acoustic solos and chasing electric sounds…
Always treat watching Rhett’s videos with headphones on
Great discussion! Thanks
Excellent video. When producing, I would ask guitarists that play constantly solo notes if they talk that way. That would trigger them to think about taking "breaths" in their solos. Thanks for putting this together.
Ya'll need to put out a dual acoustic album in this style. I would listen to this all day.
The best advice I ever got (especially for approaching a fiddle tune like Big Sciota that they were playing here, although it applies to breaks over vocal tunes here): Play the melody. Or at least play the bones of it. You can improvise and throw in hot licks, but ultimately you want the listener to be able to tell what tune you're playing over.
I only do solos on an acoustic guitar, because I think there’s something lost in transition while playing on an electric guitar through amp and that said, the main tip to a good sound on an acoustic is to use a correct guitar pick for the style in question. Myself I have tree choices: for high treble attack I use 0.53 thickness Jim Dunlop nylon, and for smoother sound I use Jazz III and for the BEST sound I use my five fingers!
Totally agree with Sammy G. Acoustic guitars and electric guitars are as different as pianos and organs are, maybe even more. They're different instruments.
John Mayer's 2012 Performances EP has some great examples of acoustic guitar solos on it (that version of Queen of California comes to mind specifically). Individual note runs need help on acoustic guitars, 100%
Glad to see you drop that 2012 EP. Picked a part a couple of those songs earlier this year. Played mostly electric last year then hopped back to acoustic this year. Went from blues soloing to acoustic. That EP is brilliant. Shadow Days especially is so tactful. So many little diads and just playing through the scale in a tactful rhythmic way. Awesome stuff.
I've disovered that EP a few weeks back, actually, thank you spotify💪
I agree, when you compare actual album versions and EP acoustic stuff, it brings about a different, special feel. If any of you would like to discuss or maybe demonstrate how to play some of that stuff, I'd be thrilled to connect and chat! Take care!
Rhett, if you have not heard " I was only joking " by Rod Stewart, give it a listen. The acoustic solo translons to electric. It was knockout for us in the 70's. Knock if you will but I used an Ovation and it's the only guitar I wish I still had. My 63 stat that I have had from new is still with thankfully. Cheers mate.
Watch Glen campbell jamming with Leon Russell in Hamilton 1983 if you want to see some mighty fine acoustic soloing.
It just seems so easy for Glen to tear it up on anything he played.
You guys need to get out more. Go to a Bluegrass festival where people are camping, walk around to the various camp jams and you will find that the per capita of awesome players within the Bluegrass audience is far and away higher than any other genre. The best pickers in the world come from Bluegrass and that's not an opinion. I had the good fortune of witnessing Billy Strings (William Apastol) at my local festivals here in west Michigan go from great to super stardom. Billy was by no means alone with his level of skill.
great great video this. Learnt a lot.
Good stuff. If you listen to a couple dozen bluegrass players doing fiddle tunes (like "Big Sioty") you will get a master class on how to solo on acoustic guitar while following the melody and chord changes. Learning a bunch of fiddle tunes is the way to learn this style. Note: all bluegrass rhythm players know to tone down your strumming and use mic control so as not to drown out the soloist. I'm looking at you Rhett, lol.
I think of guys like Clapton and Gilmore and my memory comes back to solos I've seen and heard them play. They do it with finesse and grace. Sparsely often. Licks and stuff are short and concise and theres breathing room before the next phrase. (eg Wish you were here)
Your electric playing will transfer over to acoustic if you restring it with electric guitar strings (11's). Also drill holes into the side of the body to get the "boominess" out of them. The midrange introduced from the side sound holes will completely change the instrument's sound profile making it more percussive and tight.
Great work guys!
Listen to the solo in Taste I'm moving on. Sounds awesome. 😄
Great video, and i dig watching you both quite a bit! Do have to agree there may be a bit of naivete, but I wonder have you guys started on electric? Im mostly totally an acoustic player and have my whole concept of soloing rought from acoustic. Funny thing is, i just got my first strat electric and leaning to solo electric now lol. Been a process for sure. You guys can for sure rip it on acoustic too! But yea, to add to this list of crazy acoustic players throw on that Tommy Emmanuel and Billy Strings vid and see that insanity.
Ok, cheefs nice , i recomend also to look in to ,, crosspicking" Molly Tootle"s wersion of White freightliner, Tony Rice's Chuch street blues and for writing in flatpicking perhaps Manzanita , and all Of acoustics of Clarence White, must I mentioned Tommy Emanuel and Billy Strings ?
I've always thought this was an interesting topic. I could never think of a good acoustic solo. Until that is, I heard old shoes (& picture postcards) by Tom Waits one day. Shep cooke plays an absolutely beautiful solo on acoustic guitar for that song, one of the best I've heard. I think that's the basis for a good solo on an acoustic, simple great feel, and not at all flashy
Don’t know if ToneGard got mentioned but for mandolin and guitar it helps avoid damping. Also did crosspicking get mentioned?
Good segment.
always liked the first half of free bird (acoustic part)…open strings being played between the chords…a nice touch by whoever played it…
Excellent content. Thank you both.🙏🏼🙏🏼
There is a great acoustic guitar solo in Make Me Smile by Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel that I think spans the electric and acoustic cross over point. And No Doubt's Don't Speak also has a great solo. They are out there if we hunt around.
I play acoustic but in a blues/ trad jazz contest. I find very useful using mainly downstrokes when solo, so I can focus more on tone and I cannot do fast stuff lol
It's tough when playing alone - I try to figure out how to do fit in a simple solo while still keeping open bass strings ringing out so that the feel of the song doesn't stop.
😱 two of my favourite TH-cam guitarists on one video ❤️
Just need to get Chris Buck in there as well 😉
Great video. Subbed to both 👍 really enjoyed this
Hey that was great man, thanks!
Love Slash's acoustic soloing on Lies -bends and all!
Love it on Patience
Good advice and beautiful playing. For a study on the differences look at Richard Thompson.
So Rhett, seriously, what wood is that top made out of? It has those beautiful flecks in the grain, almost like a figured top. Absolutely gorgeous!!
Daryl Stuermer on a Jean-Luc Ponty tune called Renaissance . Emotive af
The first regular paying gigs I had were playing Celtic folk and purely acoustic for a dinner crowd, no amp or mics, my guitar was a vintage arch top ,so you have to learn how to fill all the air , open strings and capo letting strings interact with each other like a harp type cascade
Love to see Eastman getting some love!!
Really underrated guitars.
It’s such a great guitar
Yes. I have a few and think they are great.
@@moserthemusic9200 I have an OM and a gypsy from them, great guitars!
Use lighter strings and E flat tuning so you have some bending movement. I spent my formative years on a cutaway Yamaha acoustic with electric strings (46-10) and this is the origin of my skillset. A really good acoustic with really low action also helps a lot. If you regularly fight the instrument to ring out or hold a solid chord, as many do, and compensate by playing harder, that's the wrong guitar. Set it up so you're not battling the instrument.
Also learn your licks on a 12 string. That's so damn hard a 6 string becomes so easy,
Great point! Guitarists don't know they can string an acoustic w/ electric guitar strings to get an unwound g-string and change the instruments sound profile, though I'd suggest 11's on acoustic.
@@s.lander1751 Ernie Ball Aluminum Bronze lights are 11-52 and do a decent job on my Gibson J45, which is more of a picker than a strummer anyway. Its a balanced approach for the occasional leads, but the set you like best on electric is more versatile for leads.
Love it!
Honestly I love the combination of SammyG and Rhett haha
Great video!
Great video Guys!
Dude, Matthew Scott's track "Where You Been" features super nice acoustic solos, I highly recommend checking it out! I like it even more than his soulful electric playing, which is already bonkers!
The bit from 9:40 is just straight up beautiful.