5 Ways To Play Guitar With Feel

Often, seen as some intangible magical ‘something’ which draws our ears, the term ‘feel’ is used when a guitarist can communicate through their playing. Conveying a human quality, vocal-like approach or projecting a given emotion. It’s not the notes they play, its how they play them; I bet you’ve heard that a few times before!

With this is mind, the emotional content of what we play is not one dimensional - slow doesn’t immediately equal soulful, fast or aggressive cannot be sweepingly categorised as bereft of feel.

Harnessing a more feel based approach to your playing does require a close connection to your instrument - an awareness of what you want to say and its reliable reproduction through your fingers. But its not all alchemy and the stuff of myth and legend! There are some ways we can channel this quality into our playing with minimum effort.

In keeping with the idea of sounding ‘human’, one sure fire way to make yourself sound robotic is to attack every note with the same volume. Much like vocal lines or even spoken word, there are rises and falls in volume and attack. Changes in dynamics hold listeners attention - much like a good public speaker.

To employ and apply this, try beginning a lick or phrase as soft and gentle as you can, rising in volume as you play and completing the line at the highest volume you can muster. The next exercise is simply the reverse - begin your phrase/lick at your top volume and gradually decrease your attack, ending your line in a whisper. This level of musical control is harder than it first appears. Having the ability to recall and control a full dynamic range is one of the most impactful ways you can ‘say’ something with our playing.

You don’t need to have any particular vocal prowess to make use of this approach. In the bid to add more emotion and ‘feel’ to your solos, a closer connection to your instrument is essential, bridging the gap between what you hear and what you play. Singing what you play, as you play it, heightens this connection.

Try this for yourself - as you improvise, mimic the notes with your voice. As a disclaimer, you don’t have to match the actual pitch of the notes or give any mind to the quality of your voice; mumble or hum the notes if you like.

When we play, we are so often distracted by the physical act of playing the guitar - fingering, technique, shapes and patterns etc. The point of singing what you play, is to engage a more natural method of creating music - your voice. Unhindered by thoughts of ‘where to put your fingers’ or which scale shapes you are required to play brings out a side of your playing which is supremely ‘you’, allowing you more freedom to communicate and play from a more emotionally honest place.

Continuing on the vocal thread, everyday techniques such as bends, slides and vibrato can be put aside as just that - mainstay guitar techniques which simply present a way of moving from one note to another. It is easy to undervalue these basic nuances and when used well, are the perfect route to adding feel and a human quality to everything you play.

Bends, hammer ons, slides and vibrato all play their part in preventing you from sounding like a robot and add emotional value to every note. Remember - these techniques are not a copy and paste job; you can communicate a range of emotions via the humble string bend alone - a gradual bend will invoke tension, as will bending from a note found outside the ‘safe’ scale tones. Mixing the speed of bends and pre/re bends is also the perfect way to develop a feeling of drama, all centred around a single note. Take the same approach with wide vs narrow vibrato, fast hammer ons, as ghost notes vs delaying a pitch before hammering to the next. In short, experiment with the full potential and expressive range of your core nuances.

Beyond the quality of the notes you play and the expression you apply to them, listeners want to be taken on a musical journey. Who doesn’t love a good story? Think of any great movie; there are equal parts drama, action, tender moments, suspense and plot twists. You could glean these same traits from any good song or solo too!

To translate these movie tropes onto the guitar is actually quite easy. Drama and tension don’t require a knowledge of dissonant or exotic scales. You can create anticipation by simply holding back on those safe sounding notes, ending your licks on pitches which are less predictable. Tension can be built through rhythm too - try adding drama by playing off the beat or syncopating things. Action can be created be your use of speed and wide vibrato, or chaotic effects such as whammy bar abuse. Throw in some plot twists with a change in musical direction - if you are building towards a fast run, challenge expectations by dropping into some slow and sensitive phrases. If you are sitting in a pocket of comfortable pentatonic licks, throw a curve ball with a fast run or some dissonant and outside playing.

This method is not so much about how to employ your expressive tools, but when to introduce them.

When it comes to improvising solos, unless you plan on treating people to an unaccompanied guitar showcase, the chances are your listeners will be drawn as much to the musical backdrop of your playing as they are to the guitar itself. Delivering musical feel is often seen as an instrumentalist ‘being at one’ with the music. As zen as this sounds, playing anything which appears to be at odds with the backing track or band will prevent any listener from becoming absorbed in the music and your best efforts to bring on the goosebumps could fall on deaf ears.

Try to match and harness the feel and vibe of the music to which you are playing; if things are loud and raucous, then some gentle and sombre playing ain’t gonna cut it! The mood and vibe is likely to change at various points too, so listen to the other instrumentation and marry up with its dynamics - rise in volume with the band, add your dramatic playing when there’s a build up, take cues from the complexity of the drum parts & fills for your fast playing.

All of these things are designed to draw the listener in, making them feel immersed in the music experience. This is a sharp reminder too, that whatever you play, should always serve the music.