Exploring Melody Embellishments

Okay, then. So the next approach I want to talk about is taking a melody. We're going to use the same melody over and over again and think about ways to embellish that melody.

What is an Embellishment?

An embellishment could be something as simple as:

• Adding vibrato
• Approaching a specific note in different ways:
  • Sliding into it
  • Picking it
  • Playing legato with hammer-ons and pull-offs
  • Tapping the note
  • Bending up to the note

There are so many different ways to approach playing even one single note on the guitar.

Broken Down Example: Sweet Child of Mine

What I thought would be a good idea is to take a melody that I imagine a lot of you will know. We're going to use the vocal melody, just one bar of it, from "Sweet Child of Mine" by Guns N' Roses.

Hopefully, this melody is familiar to you; if you're not familiar with that song, go and check it out. Just have a listen to the opening vocal phrase. Instantly, you'll recognize that melody.

Starting Point

• Key: D major
• Starting Note: B string with your little finger
• Technique: Picking it three times and then descending down, across the G string for the last two notes.

It's a really simple melody to play at the moment. However, it sounds a little flat since I'm not adding any articulation or embellishment to those notes whatsoever, making it sound a little stale.

Your Task

What I'd like you to work on is playing that same melody, but thinking about different ways of approaching various notes within that.

Try Adding:

• Bends: Perhaps bend up to the third note that you're repeating.
• Slides: Add some slides in there.
• Vibrato: There are many different ways we could try playing that melody.

You might also change the position of it to get a different tone. You might end up playing it up here for a warmer sound.

Technique Application

To start with, restrict yourself and just apply one technique at a time. For example, if we were to focus just on slides:

• Example: "Yeah, it's kind of overdoing the slides a bit, but it just gives you an idea."

Yes, perhaps a little more musical there, but we don't want to do it on every single note, that's going to be overkill.

Finding the Right Spots

You have to find the spots where it suits a specific technique. Certainly, on any sustained notes, those notes that have a reasonable duration, let's get some vibrato added in there.

• Focus Note: The third note there.
• Final Note: That final note of that phrase, get some nice vibrato on that one!

Combining Techniques

Let's have a look at combining a few different techniques:

• Slides and Bends: Throw in a few bends.
• Pre-bends: Get some vibrato on that way.

It truly opens up almost infinite possibilities just by sticking with that melody and changing the way you approach playing it.

Think Like a Vocalist

I think it's a really nice example using that particular melody because:

• It's a vocal phrase.
• You can get a lot from trying to think a bit more like a vocalist would in terms of your phrasing.

When you play your notes as a guitar player, we can keep going up and down shapes all day long without needing to take a breath.

Consider Phrasing

Whereas a vocalist, when performing or in conversation, has to physically breathe, having a gap before starting again.

• Think about this when you're doing your phrasing.
• Play a little, breathe, and let it sit.
• Next phrase: play a bit, let it breathe.

You combine all these little things together, and suddenly your improvisations start to sound a lot more musical, rather than just playing up and down shapes you might be familiar with from scales.

Final Thoughts

Do give that a try and experiment with your own melodies as well.

• Not just melodies from songs you like.
• That's a great thing to practice!
• Work those out, but also come up with your own melodies using the methods we've talked about previously.

Then try keeping those melodies the same while varying how you embellish them:

• Will you bend up to notes?
• Slide into notes?
• Where will you put vibrato?

Think about all that stuff rather than the note choice, since you've already settled on a melody that you like and think works.

It's a really cool thing to experiment with, so good luck with that!