What makes a song that is a guitar instrumental good?

[ejecta]

I know its very subjective, but given that in an instrumental song you don't have lyrics that speak to you as in relating to a story that the lyrics can tell that may speak to you personally....... what speaks to you as guitar player when it some to music that is instrumental?

 

[dstroud]

I think for me it starts with having a cool melody against a good chord progression - from there it's all about the arrangement that keeps the song moving forward. I remember listening to Yngwie/Tony McAlpine/Vinnie Moore type stuff - then I heard Surfing With the Alien and Surfing With the Alien totally spoke to me in a way that other stuff did not. I could listen to Surfing over and over again - the more shreddy stuff I could only take a little at a time.

 

[sebby123]

I think for me it starts with having a cool melody against a good chord progression - from there it's all about the arrangement that keeps the song moving forward. I remember listening to Yngwie/Tony McAlpine/Vinnie Moore type stuff - then I heard Surfing With the Alien and Surfing With the Alien totally spoke to me in a way that other stuff did not. I could listen to Surfing over and over again - the more shreddy stuff I could only take a little at a time.

+1 i was going to say the same prior to reading you response melody , progression and how those 2 work together are huge for me and that the player keeps you intreasting by not just pulling from his same bag-o-tricks *cough*Yngwie...

 

[skoora]

Our brains respond to structure and just because there's no vocals doesn't mean there can't be a beginning a middle and an end or verse chorus bridge type arrangements for instrumentals. The average listener will always respond to this more than something more free form or out there. The Metallica instrumentals like Orion and Call Of Ktulu are good examples of this too. Even lengthy they carry good structure.

 

[shadowfax29]

I agree with what others have said but would also add that what feelings the instrumental conveys is important to me. If I were to do an instrumental, that's what it would be about, getting emotion to come through the music. I think it's easier to relate through vocals but on an instrumental level, it's a different ball game.

 

[King Guitar]

IMO gotta have a big...

Soaring melody that is memorable and vocal in quality. Jeff Beck is good at this...

 

[Telephant]

The guys from Plankton are the masters.

 

[Digital Jams]

The guys from Plankton are the masters.

Posting this is much better than trying to communicate my thoughts on this subject, there are others as well but this is what got me to change my outlook on tone and feel,

https://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... ID=4830564

I throw this in the GT when detoxing from a hard day at dusk and hit the long back roads............................bliss

 

[Telephant]

The guys from Plankton are the masters.

Posting this is much better than trying to communicate my thoughts on this subject, there are others as well but this is what got me to change my outlook on tone and feel,

https://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... ID=4830564

I throw this in the GT when detoxing from a hard day at dusk and hit the long back roads............................bliss

You robbed that from the variac thread.

Ant is what I like to call, "a bad motherfucker."

 

[Digital Jams]

The guys from Plankton are the masters.

Posting this is much better than trying to communicate my thoughts on this subject, there are others as well but this is what got me to change my outlook on tone and feel,

https://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... ID=4830564

I throw this in the GT when detoxing from a hard day at dusk and hit the long back roads............................bliss

You robbed that from the variac thread.

Ant is what I like to call, "a bad motherfucker."

Different one n00b He has three different Genesis tracks on his page

Bad motherfucker is an understatement

 

[jonny toetags]

I love anything similar to Russian Circles - This Will Destroy You - Maserati.
That is the only type of guitar based instrumental i like.

 

[degenaro]

From what folks usually view as guitar instrumentals do much for me. Seems the second it's guitar anything it won't do a thing for me as a listener. That said take something like while my Guitar Gently Weeps, whether it be Harrison doing it as a vocal tune, Vinnie Moore as a high gain hang, Thomas leeb as an acoustic Fingerstyle thing, or Birdland done by Weather Report, or Lukather or as an acoustic hang...when the harmony and melody is happening the tune is happening regardless of instrumentation.

 

[Meathead]

Shred doesn't do it for me as far as an instrumental guitar CD...couldn't care less about how fast a guitar player can play.
It's the same as listening to a vocalist that scats and uses too many fills everywhere...gets real tiring, real quick.

'Tales From The Bulge' by Michael Landau and 'Blow By Blow' by Jeff Beck are just full of great songs.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm gonna say lotsa pentatonic tapping and wammy dives!

Steve

 

[amiller]

Andy Timmons.

 

[EWSEthan]

Andy Timmons.

+1

 

[ejecta]

The guys from Plankton are the masters.

Dem boyz is good fo sho.

 

[ejecta]

From what folks usually view as guitar instrumentals do much for me. Seems the second it's guitar anything it won't do a thing for me as a listener. That said take something like while my Guitar Gently Weeps, whether it be Harrison doing it as a vocal tune, Vinnie Moore as a high gain hang, Thomas leeb as an acoustic Fingerstyle thing, or Birdland done by Weather Report, or Lukather or as an acoustic hang...when the harmony and melody is happening the tune is happening regardless of instrumentation.

I like this answer!

 

[PeteLaramee]

For me there's no one thing or any formula. I just like anything that makes the little hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

...but good melodies and catchy hooks help.

 

[MisterBulbous]

That's a tough one. Like a lot of the guys here, I got started when Guitar Player Magazine was giving away plastic flexible albums with their magazine. Songs like Yngwie's "Black Star", Cacophany's "Go Off", and Satriani, got me introduced to the genre. At the time, (for me), it was anything that could be cranked up loud and sound impressive to my friends. I worked backwards and got into Jeff Beck and Ronnie Earl and I really liked the feel and emotion they had. From there, it got a little squirrely because their was suddenly a glut of neo-classical stuff that was either top notch or 2nd tier (like Joey Tafolla, Alex Masi, David Chastain), and that's when I really began to develop an ear for what is good and bad. For me, I really like guitar instrumentals that have a good mix of spontaneity and melody. I like a lot of Vinnie Moore's stuff because it has great melody, whereas Doug Aldrich seems to really have the spontaneous feel down. I guess, in a way both lack a lot of the "wankery" that is present in instrumental music from all era's.