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Lesson 3 of 4
In Progress

Leave Space

This second idea is conceptually very easy to grasp, but more challenging to implement.

Almost all of the blues guitarists that I have ever worked with overplay when they first start out. They pack a lot of phrases on top of each other in the hope that this will bring a sense of energy and momentum to their solos.

However, just like trying to play fast – this approach creates a variety of problems for players starting out. When you don’t leave any space between phrases, you don’t give yourself any time to think and plan your next idea.

This compromises the quality of your individual ideas, leads to more mistakes and generally makes improvising more stressful.

Not only this, but there are almost no benefits of playing in this way. Even guitarists like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gary Moore and Joe Bonamassa – all of whom play fast and pack a lot into their solos – leave space between their ideas.

Although these spaces might be small, they alter the way that these guitarists phrase and alter the overall feel of their solos.

This is because leaving space allows each of your individual ideas to shine. If you play without space (as I do in the example from the 1.58 minute mark in the video above) then all of your ideas wash together.

Although some of these ideas might be interesting, they aren’t given sufficient breathing room to really stand out and cut through the overall ‘noise’ of the playing.

For most players starting out, leaving more space between each phrase is the quickest way to instantly improve the quality of their solos. It will give your improvisations a more vocal and expressive feel, and it will also give you more time to think.

This in turn allows you to be more intentional with your ideas and to play in a relaxed manner. You’re not chasing one lick after the next, and instead can listen to your playing and react to the quality of your ideas.

Leaving space is much more difficult than it sounds. It requires confidence, and the ability to feel comfortable not playing.

So whilst this might all sound quite straightforward, I’d recommend focusing on this idea until it starts to become more natural. There are two ways of doing this:

The first of these is to try and play 50% of the notes you do normally. Drastically work on reducing the number of notes you play, so that it feels like you are playing very little.

This will feel awkward at the beginning. However by swinging out to the other end of the spectrum and focusing on playing much less, you will adjust towards a more musical position where each of your phrases has space to shine.

Assessing your ability to do this effectively is challenging – especially when you are playing. So my second tip here is to record yourself working on this idea once or twice a week.

When you watch the recording back you’ll be able to see how much space you are actually leaving between your phrases. You can then adjust again as needed, if you find that you’re packing your phrases together too tightly.

If you have been neglecting spacing in your solos, then cutting down the amount you play in this way won’t happen overnight.

As such, try to be be patient and keep this point in mind whenever you come to improvise. It is a fundamental skill that will do so much to improve the quality of all of your lead blues playing.

Good luck – and when you’re ready, head over to the next lesson, where we’ll take a look at the importance of note choice! 😁