DAVID GRISSOM

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 it's the stunning blues-rocker and tone master from Austin, Texas.

- Jason Sidwell

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

DG: Let me start by saying that I’m referencing instrumentals outside the jazz realm here. Writing an instrumental feels like a completely different genre to me. I feel like I’m tapping into a different part of my brain and heart than when writing lyrics and putting those to a melody (or having a melody and writing lyrics to fit). I’m not constrained by any rhyme scheme or the need to have repeated vocal hook lines.

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

DG: Obviously there is more space for improvisation and soloing. Often instrumentals are basically just vehicles to solo over. The listener’s imagination is not influenced by lyrics, so I think instrumentals can evoke a broader range of emotional responses and feelings. A lot is left to the listener’s imagination.

GT: Any tendencies with instrumentals that you like to embrace or avoid - rhythms, harmony, playing approach, etc?

DG: As with lyrics I try to avoid cliché or retreading ground that has been done a million times before, and that includes not re-writing something I’ve done in the past, which is easier said than done, as we all have certain rhythms and melodic ideas that resonate with us. I like ‘exploiting’ the unique sounds available in different keys, often dictated by the open strings that can be used both in chord voicings and melodies.

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