Playing Solo..

[Charlie Bernstein]

It clearly can be done. Great examples above. But to me, piano and acoustic guitar are the only instruments that sound complete played solo.

I once heard Paul Simon play "Sounds of Silence" solo on an electric guitar. Sounded great. But in general, electric guitar without a band is like - uh - mandolin without a band.

[mbruno]

Playing alone / solo can be loads of fun! While many of us on the forum busk from time to time, gigging solo is a whole different ball of wax. Mainly because you can't really stop in the middle and "try that line again".

When I play coffee shops - I almost always play alone (not enough money to bring on anyone else). I use loop pedal for certain tunes (especially useful with an Octave pedal to play "bass" lines) - but I do a lot without any backing or effects. All depends on the song - probably more accurate, how well I know the song. The better I know it - the more likely I'm going to play it completely solo.

One of my favorite things to do when playing solo without accompaniment is to make up fiddle tunes. Basically, I come up with a simple riff that can be an A part and another that can be a B part - then just play around with those parts and add chord type voicings where appropriate. While a chunk of these are completely made up, many could be more accurately described as "re-imagining existing fiddle tunes" as I'll take part or all of an existing tune and play around it.

I usually get the most applause when playing these "made up" (or reimagined) tunes.

[darylcrisp]

Andrew Buckner, haven't saw him on here in a bit, but a few years ago he put out a wonderful album-solo mandolin-"Coffee and a good book".

Here he is on a MM spot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZriwiLYQrGg

[Beanzy]

I always thought Thiele really nailed it with his Dublin performance of "Another New World" by Josh Ritter, the early very spare accompaniment still manages to engage. There can be a temptation to think you have to fill all the space with noise, but it's the spaces that pull you in.

[MikeZito]

Playing alone / solo can be loads of fun! . . . Mainly because you can't really stop in the middle and "try that line again" . . . When I play coffee shops - I almost always play alone (not enough money to bring on anyone else).

I am with him on this. After my first album came out in the summer of 1994, I put together a small trio to play my initial gigs with. They quickly grew tired of my songs and bailed out after just 4 or 5 gigs. In the 25 years since then, the few people that I have asked to join me have never followed up on their un-excited agreements to 'work something out' - but if the truth be told, I find that I very much enjoy playing as a solo because it leaves me unlimited freedom to make drastic changes to the songs that I plan on playing at any particular gig (depending on audience reactions and/or non-reactions), cuts arguments with bandmates completely out of the picture, and it allows me to completely screw up a song and not throw the other musicians into a panic as I fumble for lyrics and chords; (another great advantage to performing original material is that nobody knows the songs, so they have no idea when you have fallen off the tracks!) Not to mention, I get to keep the entire $1.65 that get dropped into the tip jar at the end of the night . . .

[DavidKOS]

But in general, electric guitar without a band is like - uh - mandolin without a band.

Have you heard much of those old Chet Atkins solo electric guitar pieces?#They sound pretty full to me.





Joe Pass was great in another style

[dang]

Josh makes it look easy:


Great sound from the Eastman!