INSTRUMENTAL INQUISITION!
Guitar instrumentals have supplied some of music’s most evocative moments. Jason Sidwell asks top guitarists for their take on this iconic movement. This month, American virtuosic rock legend, Vinnie Moore.
GT: What is it about guitar instrumentals that appeals to you?
VM: I love playing and writing, and instrumentals seem like a direct and immediate way for me to express myself. I learned to improvise by recording chord progressions that I made up, and then playing over them every day. So without really being aware that I was writing instrumentals, I was well down the path when my intention was really just to work on my playing. Hearing Jeff Beck, Larry Carlton, Al Di Meola, and Carlos Santana opened up all kinds of doors in my mind.
GT: What can an instrumental provide a listener that a vocal song can’t?
VM: An instrumental can provide a more intricate melody because there are less limitations than with a voice. I don’t actually prefer one over the other, a good song is a good song. So I guess the best of both worlds is a great vocal song with some awesome guitar melodies and solos in there too. You could maybe say that since an instrumental song has no lyrics, it can leave more to the imagination whereas a vocal song clearly tells you what it is about.
GT: Any tendencies with instrumentals that you like to embrace or avoid?
VM: I mostly aim to avoid things I’ve done too many times before. If I become aware that I have done something similar, it kind of kills the spirit for me. So ignorance is bliss in a way. Having said that, there are a million great songs with the same chord changes. But I do get a big thrill when I’m writing and I do something I haven’t done before.
GT: Is a typical song structure always relevant for an instrumental?
VM: It’s a good blueprint but there are many ways to arrange a song and there is no rule. I find that I tend to also have a pre-chorus in my songs. So there are three main parts, verse, pre-chorus, chorus. I like the way the pre-chorus makes a transition from the verse to chorus and connects them. But I've never been interested in recording a riff or chord progression and then just jamming and shredding over it for four minutes. I like to do that when I’m just playing, but to me that doesn’t make a song and is boring.
GT: How useful is studying a vocalist's approach for guitar melodies?
VM: In one way it’s not very useful because vocals tend to be more limited in terms of melody compared to an instrument. I have attempted to do instrumental versions of vocal tunes and it can be really challenging to make it sound good because often a singer is only using three or four notes. There are many things to be learned from vocalists though, such as their use of dynamics. You’ll often hear someone singing softly and then really belt it out. Sometimes these chan
