Neville Marten talks to the first true legend of instrumental guitar, cited by Eric Clapton, Brian May, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Peter Green and Mark Knopfler as an influence, and today enjoying life in his gypsy jazz band.
GT: What is it about guitar instrumentals that appeals to you?
HBM: I play them so well. Seriously folks, I enjoy the way different guitarists interpret a melody; there’s a variety of genres and also individual styles within the genres that I’m always interested to hear.
GT: What can an instrumental provide the listener that a vocal song can’t?
HBM: The human voice is probably the greatest instrument - easy to carry and doesn’t need a flight case! But the communicative element of a human voice which of course can vocalise the lyric, is enormous. I’m not sure what an instrumental provides the listener that a vocal can’t; perhaps it’s the combination of an appealing tune and the overall sound of the recording. I wish I knew.
GT: Any tendencies when playing them that you like to embrace or avoid?
HBM: When I’m considering an instrumental, whether an interpretation of a known tune or an original, I try to choose a key that will allow me to get the best and most expressive sound (in my opinion) from the guitar appropriate for the composition. I enjoy the variety that different rhythms provide, and as regards harmonies. With ‘pop’ or ‘rock-pop’ instrumentals I don’t usually get into playing ‘outside’ harmonies except on the odd occasion when I feel it works without scaring old ladies. As regards musical styles, I usually avoid getting into Mongolian throat singing and quarter-tone arthritic licks.
GT: Is a typical song structure (verse, chorus, etc) always relevant for an instrumental?
HBM: The typical song structure works very well with instrumentals and it would appear that most follow that format. But I’m sure it’s not the only way to compose a successful instrumental.
GT: How useful is studying a vocalist’s approach for playing guitar melodies?
HBM: There are many vocalists who interpret a song so well that their phrasing is something I believe instrumentalists can learn from and utilise in their interpretation of melodies.
GT: How do you start writing an instrumental? Is there a typical approach, or do you prefer to interpret other artists’compositions?
HBM: When it comes to writing instrumentals there are probably a number of factors to be considered. Are you writing for a specific audience? Is it a ballad, up-tempo, what mood are you trying to create etc? Sometimes an idea for a tune just comes into mind a
