Hey there @Pickin1,
I think thatâs a super good and interesting question! Also (as you suggest yourself) a bit hard to answer in a very exact manner, BUT Iâll offer my own advice as best I can. Again, by nature of the question, these will just be my own opinions - take from them what you will ![:wink: :wink:](https://community.justinguitar.com/images/emoji/twitter/wink.png?v=12)
The first thing to say is that âplaying with emotionâ is everything! Itâs the most important thing/skill you can learn on the instrument. A soulful player that plays simple stuff will always sound 1000 times better than an amateur playing some fast/technical stuff but sounding stiff and soulless.
So the first advice I can give for learning to play more soulful - when practicing this, you should play something a lot simpler than your current maximum technical ability. You can only sound soulful when youâre playing from the heart, which means you must be free from any technical struggles and also not have to think too much about playing the actual notes.
So, to be concrete, I would suggest you find a super simple and melodic lead line / solo that you really enjoy the sound off. Depending on your skill level and tastes, perhaps:
- First solo from GunsâNâRoses - Knocking on Heavens Door
- First solo from Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
- Solo from Claptons - Wonderful Tonight
- Solo in Robbie Williams - Angels
You get the ideaâŚ
First step - learn the notes of the solo, until you can play it on auto pilot. Ideally find a backing track for the solo, set up a loop and play over it again and again.
Now you can start to âplayâ with the solo, modifying it from the original and applying your own ideas and small changes to it. This is where a lot of the soulfulness will come from. Really listen while you play, and pay attention to how you like the sound when you:
- Play with the timing of bends (subtly or more radically). Start the bend a bit early? Bend slower? Bend faster? Pick a couple of times to make the bend more staccato?
- Play with vibrato. Speed. Intensity. Using a trem bar, using fingers.
- Experiment with your picking: where exactly on the string (it affects tone a lot if you pick near the neck, or near the bridge). How hard do you pick?
- Experiment with rhythm in the phrasings.
- Experiment with tone. Can you make a note really âsingâ?
Next level - you can also modify the solo a lot, until youâre playing your own melodic phrases, perhaps your own entire solo. Just get into it, enjoy the sound of the track and your own playing. Personally, I can sometimes loose myself for an hour, playing over the same solo or backing track.
A few example from myself that you may or may not find useful. These are solos that - for my skill level - doesnât require any technical straining and where I can focus 100% on my own version of âsoulful playingâ. For example, this solo - Iâm playing the notes close to the recording⌠but I never sat down and studies âthe little thingsâ. Like exactly how fast/slow the bends are, the âslide offâ on strings, small noises, small rhythmic scratches with my picking hand, speed or type of vibrato etc. That all came from the performance:
Here is another one where the tone, the bends, the âwailingâ quality of some phrases, the attack on picking etc makes the whole thing: