INSTRUMENTAL INQUISITION! JULIAN LAGE

Guitar instrumentals have supplied some of music’s most evocative moments. Jason Sidwell asks top guitarists for their take on this iconic movement.

This month: US jazz virtuoso, Julian Lage.

GT: What is it about guitar instrumentals that appeals to you?

JL: I think inherently the guitar is an orchestral instrument. It has a wealth of possibilities and combinations, harmonically, rhythmically, timbrally. It makes so much sense that there could be almost a distinctive vocabulary of writing, something that's distinct to the guitar that the composer is using. What I love about it is the marriage of the sounds that guitars can make and what the guitar asks of the player; the techniques and approaches. In other words, writing on the guitar is one of the ways I practise the guitar.

GT: What can an instrumental provide a listener that a vocal song can't?

JL: I'm a fan of abstract art and there's something abstract about instrumental music. It's not literally saying the intent. The trouble with that argument though, is that often the best songs with lyrics aren't literal either. So instrumental and vocal songs can deal in abstraction. That said, one works differently than the other. In many respects, I think both lyric based music and instrumental music have an abstraction element that allows the listener to project their own feelings onto. That's a very powerful mechanism to me.

GT: Any tendencies you aim to embrace or avoid, like rhythm, harmony, playing approach, tones?

JL: When composing on the guitar you don't want to just write the same stuff because there can be a muscle memory element to playing. You can easily go for familiar chord shapes and lines with the danger of sounding the same. I am of the school of thinking that says it's okay to write music that comes easily. Maybe you don't want to write them again and again though. But there's no reason to avoid the obvious, at least as you develop as a composer. I try to remind myself that you can write it even if it's easy, you've done it before or even if you don't think it's a big deal. To create something is the point for me, and hopefully you exhaust the familiar approaches to see newer vistas and have different freedoms. You kind of have to go through the processes. That's a good thing.

GT: Is a typical song structure of intro, verse, chorus, verse chorus, middle outro chorus always relevant for an instrumental?

JL: It doesn't have to. The question is, is it relevant? It absolutely can be if that's what the writer wants. I don't think it's mandatory. As a listener, my experience is that I want to make sense of the songs I'm hearing. So I tend to project forms; this must be with the middle, this must be the bridge. And whether the composer intended that or not, it doesn't take away from the fact that I'm subconsciously or consciously trying to make sense of the music. It's one of the things I love about improvised music, I hear different structures. And I know with great humility that I have no idea what those players were actually thinking. So I like that at least there's a question mark around that. But yes, that typical song form can absolutely work great. But it's not the only way.

form of communication that has the intent of communicating a message is really what's of interest to me.

GT: How do you start writing one? Is there a typical approach or inspiration for you?

JL: I can't say that I have one way of doing it. I will say I write with pencil and paper and a guitar; that format is pretty set and gives me a place to start. Is it a one-page song? Is it a two-page song? Or how far are the notes spaced out? Is it a dense page? Is it a really spacious page? Those kinds of decisions actually help me even though they might not seem as glamorous as hearing a melody and then writing it down. I think the practicality of sitting down and trying to fill a page with music that looks like a song has been very helpful for me thus far.

GT: What do you aim for when your performance is centre stage?

GT: How useful is studying a vocalist approach for guitar melodies?

JL: I think it's very important. There's a certain concept that the voice is natural and playing the guitar is not. Therefore you have to adapt the guitar to be like the voice. I get that, the logic is sound. But I also think it's important to embrace the notion that musical development, much like a voice, is organic. So if a hand moves a certain way, or both hands move a certain way on the guitar, while it might not sound lyrical it doesn't mean it's not native, natural or compelling. Often of more interest to me than the singer is a speaker, the way we talk, the way others speak, often has a very organic idiosyncratic cadence to it. Fundamentally, it’s about communication. Singing, just like playing, can at times fall into similar traps; the act of singing doesn't necessarily mean you're communicating, it can be a fabrication or facsimile of communication. Ultimately, any

JL: Although I can't say I relate to it entirely, I don't think there's a time when you are putting your instrument for every performance at centre stage. You know, even if you're in a position of accompanying someone, your role for the listener who chooses to focus on you needs to be compelling. I think keeping a zoomed-out approach where you're able to is the best way to view this. Metabolise the music as a whole, not just your own part, is something that I'm constantly trying to get better at.

GT: Many vocal songs feature a guitar solo that starts low and slow then finishes high and fast. Is this useful for developing pace? JL: Yeah, it certainly can be. There's also a lot of great solos that are very exciting upfront, and then once the ears are captivated, the player can guide us into areas that are less obvious. I think the notion that we have to generate architecture can act as a burden on creativity. Like, you have got to get somewhere to achieve a result. Educationally speaking, academically speaking, that soloing approach is typically taught. It's my experience to counteract with an apathetic solo that might read as kind of flat. I think, alternatively, you can have solos that aren't necessarily flat but are more conversational, where something happens, then something doesn't and then something happens again. You get distracted, you find something else that’s cool, then there's a pause and then you go back to the beginning. In other words, they can be circuitous, albeit very compelling. There are many directions a solo can go, not unlike listening to someone speak or give a monologue.

GT: What type of guitar tone do you prefer for playing instrumentals? Do you like to vary it or do have a set kind of sound?

JL: That totally depends. I wouldn't say I have one in mind. Something with nice lows and middle, and not too bright often works. And I don't say that facetiously; I like a full sound and then changing the attack and the touch to promote those frequency ranges.

GT: Do you have a favourite key or tempos?

JL: I love the key of Ab. I don't have a favourite tempo but I do like slow tempos that have fast subdivisions built into them so that they kind of feel tempo-less.

GT: Do you find Minor or Major keys easier to write in?

JL: I do not.

GT: Do you have any favourite modes?

JL: I do not.

GT: What about modulations into new keys?

JL: It's great if you can do it.

GT: Would you view the backing band in a different way than on a vocal song?

JL: I don't know. Keep in mind I don't sing so I don't come from a vocal song background. All I do is instrumental ensemble chamber-like playing so that's very, very important to me. So I would imagine it might be different.

GT: What about harmonising melodies?

JL: I'm not sure if I have any views on it. I think a lot of my favourite players feature it in their musical identity. In the ways they harmonise melody, someone like Jacki Byard

(US jazz multi-instrumentalist - Ed) is very different to Thelonious Monk who is very different to Keith Jarrett, different to Jim Hall, but they all have a piece of their musical DNA. Other people may lean more heavily into rhythmic and interpretive adjustments to the melodies to showcase but harmonising them is one of the most potent forms of introducing your voice to a song.

GT: What three guitar instrumentals would you consider iconic, or have inspired you?

JL: Villa Lobos’ Prelude Number 1 is very important to me. And there's a recording of Jim Hall playing Careful, one of his own songs, a live performance on YouTube of him playing it solo; you get the whole picture of what's possible on the guitar. There's many Toru Takemitsu pieces too so it's hard to pick just one. These are all instrumentals that feature solo guitar in all its glory.