The Whole Band
With bass, drums and guitar, you have the basis of a band. Once they have worked out their parts, all three can lock in together and provide the momentum that makes you want to jump up and sing with them.
Listen to the following examples and notice where notes are played together and where one instrument leaves space for the others. A good general principle to use is: if one part is busy, it is best to have something simple played with it, rather than all the parts being active.
Just as more than one melody can be created from a scale, a guitarist has a wide choice of chords and chord sequences. Listen to the following example. This time the guitarist plays along with some of the bass line and some of the drum part, but also leaves space for other instruments to be heard. The bass and drum parts are the same as the previous example – only the guitar part has changed.
The next example features two guitar parts. Listen to how one leaves space for the other and how they connect at certain points to keep the sound tight. When you have two guitarists in a band, it is important to work out clearly defined parts so that they complement each other, rather than clashing. Careful listening, discipline and lots of rehearsal is the key. Listen to bands like ACDC, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Metallica to hear great examples of two guitarists working together. For guitar and keyboards, check out Little Feat, Steely Dan, The Neville Brothers, The Eagles, Booker T and the MG’s, B.B. King and the Amazing Rhythm Aces.
In this example, the keyboard locks in with the drums and the guitar plays a complementary rhythm and then leaves space for the keyboard to be heard, before doubling the keyboard part just before it repeats. Once you understand how the instruments work together, you can feel much more involved in songwriting and arranging.
