Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
  • Guitars
  • Amps
  • Pedals
  • Drums
  • Synths
  • Software
  • Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Recording
  • Buyer’s guides
  • Live
  • DJ
  • Advice
  • Acoustic
  • Bass
  • About Us
  • More
    • Reviews
Magazines
  • Computer Music
  • Electronic Musician
  • Future Music
  • Keyboard Magazine
  • Guitarist
  • Guitar Techniques
  • Total Guitar
  • Bass Player
More
  • Purdie on the Purdie shuffle
  • Type beats
  • 86000+ free music samples
  • How to make an AI cover song
  • Three-chord trick

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  1. News

Dan Patlansky talks improvisation, phrasing and playing more expressive blues

By Matt Frost
( Guitarist )
published 22 March 2016

Sage advice from the South African blues ace

Introduction
(Image credit: Yolanda Saayman)

Introduction

Since 2007, South African blues-rock sensation Dan Patlansky has been running an annual series of residential Guitar Weekends in a number of beautiful out-of-town locations in his native country.

Dan's one of the finest bluesmen in the Southern Hemisphere, if not the world

As a result of working with improving classic rock and blues players of all levels, Dan has garnered a reputation as a revelatory guitar tutor and he was more than happy to pass on a slew of pointers, showcasing some of the techniques that make him one of the finest bluesmen in the Southern Hemisphere, if not the world.

And if you haven’t yet sampled Patlansky’s playing - he was most recently seen on these shores shaking up stages as main support for Joe Satriani on his much-lauded Shockwave Tour - then be sure to pick up a copy of his superb 2015 long-player, Dear Silence Thieves. It’s still getting our pulses racing, that’s for sure…

When growing up, which blues-rock and blues guitarists influenced your playing?

“I started off with guys who weren’t really blues guys and who were doing more the classic-rock thing – David Gilmour and Jimmy Page and guys like that. Those are the guys that kind of got me into the guitar-playing thing. I think both those guys came from the blues and my favourite licks they played were from the bluesier side of their playing.

I really got into Clapton, and he does a lot of that kind of looping playing where he’ll take three notes and just loop it and build the tension

“[Hearing] David Gilmour and the Shine On You Crazy Diamond solo really was a massive turning point for me, and that was a blues approach to a solo. It was real sparse, and it was that real ‘phrased’ type of playing. I was like, ‘Wow!’ and all the guys were saying, ‘Well, that’s the blues, man!’

“Then I really got into Clapton, and he does a lot of that kind of looping playing where he’ll take three notes and just loop it and build the tension. Then, I went across the pond to the States, and I discovered Stevie Ray Vaughan and I think, as a blues player, it’s so difficult to ignore a guy like Stevie Ray Vaughan.

“From there, I checked out Stevie Ray Vaughan’s influences and all the Kings – you know, Albert King, the whole Freddie King thing and the BB King thing. Then, I just went back further and got into guys like the slide-guitar players, such as Son House and Robert Johnson and everything in between.”

Dan Patlansky's new album Introvertigo is out in the UK on Friday 6 May 2016.

KING KING: MAY 2016 UK TOUR WITH SPECIAL GUEST DAN PATLANSKY
TICKETS: www.thegigcartel.com

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, THURSDAY 12 MAY
GATESHEAD SAGE, FRIDAY 13 MAY
GLASGOW O2 ABC, SATURDAY 14 MAY
SHEFFIELD CITY HALL, SUNDAY 15 MAY
GLOUCESTER GUILDHALL, WEDNESDAY 18 MAY
CRAWLEY HAWTH, THURSDAY 19 MAY
SALISBURY CITY HALL, FRIDAY 20 MAY
BIRMINGHAM TOWN HALL, SATURDAY 21 MAY

DAN PATLANSKY: MAY-JUNE UK HEADLINE CONCERTS

POOLE, MR KYPS, SUNDAY 22 MAY
SHOREHAM ROPETACKLE, MONDAY 6 JUNE
CARDIFF GLOBE, TUESDAY 7 JUNE
LONDON JAZZ CAFÉ, THURSDAY 9 JUNE
FOXLOW ARTS CENTRE, LEEK, FRIDAY 10 JUNE
CHESTERFIELD REAL TIME LIVE, SATURDAY 11 JUNE
CHESTER LIVE ROOMS, SUNDAY 12 JUNE

Don't Miss

On the radar: Dan Patlansky

Page 1 of 5
Page 1 of 5
Improvised approach
(Image credit: Laurence Harvey)

Improvised approach

How would you sum up your approach to soloing and the balance of improvised elements you typically incorporate?

“I’d say that 90 per cent of the time, the solos are improvised, but I always find you can run out of ideas and licks, so I kind of approach it quite differently. I do this technique called ‘milking’. When you think you’re out of ideas, it’s a cool thing just to practise anyway. So, I take four notes and just milk them for every possibility they have in them.

At home, I will just sit with four notes and try and make music... you can bend them, so effectively you get a lot more than four notes out of them

“At home, when I’m feeling like I’m out of tune with the whole playing thing, I will just sit with four notes and try and make music out of them. And you can bend them, so effectively you can actually get a lot more than four notes out of them… but just that little box pattern kind of opens up the rest of the neck to you and you’ve got endless possibilities.

“Also, it means you’re not thinking about note choice, you’re just thinking about feeling the music and trying to make music out of nothing. I find that it’s just such a fantastic tool to open up your playing.”

Do you have any tips in terms of developing an ear for invention in solos?

“I’m telling you [trusting your gut instinct] is the way forward, man. It makes so much sense. If you take all the best improvisers in the world - jazz musicians like Charlie Parker and those kind of guys - I don’t think they were going, ‘I’m playing the Mixolydian scale now’ or ‘I’m going to go to a harmonic minor now!’ They were just playing with their ears and making music, and they were so damn good at it.

“Pentatonics are really easy ones: they’re easy to play and they’re soulful, but you don’t have to think too much about them. If you add all the notes in between and on the outside, you get all the scales anyway and you always know what your safe notes are. So, if you think of your pentatonic notes as safe notes, then that’s home base.

“Any one of those is going to sound pretty good against whatever key you’re playing. Then, use the others as your kind of ‘out-there’ notes, tension notes, and you can kind of cover everything.”

Page 2 of 5
Page 2 of 5
Get rhythm
(Image credit: Laurence Harvey)

Get rhythm

What advice would you give to guitarists looking to improve their rhythm playing?

“Yeah, I think rhythm playing is something that most guitar players forget about because they just want to get into the soloing and the flashy things. But rhythm guitar playing is possibly even more important than lead-guitar playing.

You’re going to be doing a lot more rhythm when you’re playing in a band than you’re going to be doing soloing

“You’re going to be doing a lot more rhythm when you’re playing in a band than you’re going to be doing soloing, so I think it is such a crucial thing to get under your fingers.

“A cool thing that pushes you in the right direction and makes you want to practise rhythm playing is learning cool chord voicings… when you play a different voicing, they can suggest different rhythms to play. Also, any great guitar player you’ve heard is a fantastic rhythm guitar player.

“I mean, Hendrix was a sublime rhythm guitar player. For the most part, he was playing in a three-piece band where you’ve got to handle the rhythm as much as the soloing. Stevie Ray Vaughan is a great example, too… he was kind of the iconic guy of being able - without even a band - to just play a slow blues, which is a tough thing to play.

“Slow blues is a cool thing to practise, as is taking a song that isn’t a blues and having - I don’t know - three chords like A, C# minor and D and playing off them like Hendrix did, while trying and to keep some sort of rhythm going.”

Page 3 of 5
Page 3 of 5
A resonant truth
(Image credit: Glenn Ashley)

A resonant truth

We noticed that one of your guitar workshops was labelled ‘Chords And Harmonies.’ Tell us more…

“Yeah, that’s something that no-one’s ever very keen on! Everyone’s like, ‘Oh boring… that sounds like a theory workshop!’ but it’s actually a really important thing. It’s not really about rhythmic patterns, it’s more about opening up your chord playing, changing a familiar shape… the way Hendrix did it, because that opens you up to all sorts of stuff.

We all, as guitar players, are our own worst enemies. There are certain things that you avoid playing and practising, because they’re just a drag

“This workshop is also about getting all these fantastic voicings and adding some tension to your chords. I think the more you explore the chord voicing thing from the rhythmic side, then the more interesting your guitar playing becomes. You can take some boring old songs that you’ve been playing for years and years, and you can really reinvent them - and you do so just by using a different chord voicing. It can become fantastic.”

How far do you notice common elements that particularly hold back players?

“I think we all, as guitar players, are our own worst enemies. There are certain things that you avoid playing and practising, because they’re just a drag to practise. I notice that on [Guitar] Weekends and I always say to the guys about that ‘milking’ technique, taking four notes so you can really sound good.

People saying, ‘That resonates with me because I’m feeling it’ is the most important thing

“A handful of people will do it and you see big results in those guys, because then they go out onto the stage and they do a proper solo and it just sounds more refined and more musical. It’s musical because, all of a sudden, it’s the important things in music that are coming out. It’s the feel and the phrasing and that’s all the listeners are hearing.

“People saying, ‘That resonates with me because I’m feeling it’ is the most important thing. That’s the mindset that you’ve got to change. It’s fantastic to know all the stuff, but it’s got to be a musically listenable thing… and the guys that do that milking exercise do see tremendous results.

“It takes so much willpower to sit for an hour with four notes on a 12-bar blues, busting out every kind of option you can and trying to make music with it. But it pays off, man! I still do it today.”

Page 4 of 5
Page 4 of 5
Hold the line
(Image credit: Bakkes Images)

Hold the line

What techniques can make guitarists more expressive in a blues context?

“It seems obvious, but listen to the right sort of stuff. Constantly listen to blues stuff if you want to be a blues player and metal stuff if you want to be a metal player, you know what I mean? And obviously that milking technique really does bring out a lot of soul in your playing.

As a modern player, you’ve got to be able to play fast and slow. It’s not all about just hanging back

“As a modern player, you’ve got to be able to play fast and slow. It’s not all about just hanging back. It’s great to play fast, because it creates another element to your playing - it makes it more three-dimensional - but it’s [important] to know when to use and not to use that.

“When you’re sitting behind the guitar, you’re thinking, ‘I’m holding back’, but if someone films you playing, you’re never holding back as much as you thought you were. If you’re on stage playing, hold back more than you think you are, and take it one step further back. You’ll be shocked what you hear on the other side - it will be much more musical…”

Don't Miss

On the radar: Dan Patlansky

Page 5 of 5
Page 5 of 5
Matt Frost
Social Links Navigation
More about guitars
Black Friday headphone deals

Black Friday studio headphone deals 2023: Everything you need to know ahead of this year's Cyber Weekend sales

Headrush Core

What could the new Headrush Core offer that the multi-effects pedal competition doesn't?

Latest
hania rani

Hania Rani on bringing synths and drum machines into contemporary classical: “I spent 20 years playing one instrument, but I’m still interested in investigating others”

See more latest ►
Most Popular
Gibson teams up with Gene Simmons for a Custom Shop EB-0 bass – a short-scale doozy based on the God of Thunder’s heavily modded 1959 model

By Jonathan Horsley19 September 2023

Keeley Electronics launches the Noble Screamer Overdrive and Boost, a four-in-one pedal that offers ODR-1 and TS flavours and lets you mix and match

By Jonathan Horsley19 September 2023

“Right now I’d like to do a song, it’s a little thing by Howlin’ Wolf…”: Listen to Jimi Hendrix’s newly unearthed performance of Killing Floor at the Hollywood Bowl, 1967

By Jonathan Horsley19 September 2023

James Hype: "The kick drum is everything in dance music. The best way to fix a shit track is to change the kick"

By Si Truss19 September 2023

“He doesn’t do Zoom”: Mick Jagger reflects on how his songwriting partnership with Keith Richards has changed and discusses Paul McCartney’s bass playing on new Rolling Stones album Hackney Diamonds

By Ben Rogerson19 September 2023

Fender launches the Vintera II series, offering new vintage-inspired models in rare custom colour finishes, and the return of rosewood fingerboards

By Jonathan Horsley19 September 2023

The NoInputMixer app is a no-input-mixer with no input and... no mixer

By Matt Mullen19 September 2023

Paul Rodgers shared a simple tip with us that's helped him maintain his legendary singing voice

By Rob Laing19 September 2023

Crazy Tube Circuits wants to take you back to the '80s again with its new Sidekick Jr modulation, delay and reverb combo pedal

By Rob Laing19 September 2023

Sammy Ash, the US gear retail legend who gave the Tube Screamer its name, dies aged 65

By Jonathan Horsley19 September 2023

Cindy Blackman Santana tackles the iconic In The Air Tonight drum fill as she joins Chris Stapleton and Snoop Dogg on a new version of the song for ESPN’s Monday Night Football

By Ben Rogerson19 September 2023

  1. Marty Friedman
    1
    Marty Friedman’s guitar teacher told him to take a bong hit every time he played an exercise correctly, but the ex-Megadeth guitarist has better advice for students
  2. 2
    "It's become so elitist" – Joe Bonamassa weighs in on players being priced out of the vintage guitar and amp market
  3. 3
    “Sometimes Jimi Hendrix’s girlfriend would go and buy us breakfast because we had no money”: Rod Stewart says early days of the Jeff Beck Group were no picnic
  4. 4
    16 famous musicians who almost joined very famous bands
  5. 5
    "The minute I stopped mixing my stuff, I became my most creative": Should electronic artists mix their own tracks?
  1. skream
    1
    "The minute I stopped mixing my stuff, I became my most creative": Should electronic artists mix their own tracks?
  2. 2
    Fantastic (stock) plugins and how to use them: Logic Pro Delay Designer
  3. 3
    10 artists share 50 ways to make your music better: "If something in your mix sounds crap, it’s probably you - not the gear!"
  4. 4
    1997 interview reveals that Aphex Twin owned a tank, wanted to buy a submarine and used the vault of the former bank he owned as a reverb: "It would be great for parties"
  5. 5
    Cindy Blackman Santana tackles the iconic In The Air Tonight drum fill as she joins Chris Stapleton and Snoop Dogg on a new version of the song for ESPN’s Monday Night Football

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.