James Bay explains how his hit songs are made on Fender’s Technique of the Week

Fender’s Technique of the Week is great for picking up guitar playing tips.

This time around, British singer-songwriter James Bay offers some pointers on using open strings in riffs for greater resonance and power.

Using his top ten 2014 single Hold Back the River as an example, the Telecaster Deluxe-wielding maestro demonstrates how the song’s memorable fingerstyle riff utilizes open strings to add, as Bay puts it, “an atonal constant throughout what is a very moving melody.”

Reminiscent of Jimmy Page’s acoustic technique, the open strings in Hold Back the River fill out the sliding melody, adding harmony as Bay moves up and down the fretboard.

“I wanted to create as much dynamic scale as I possibly could,” he explains.

Moving on to his 2015 hit Let It Go, Bay breaks down the song’s intertwining guitar parts, pointing out how the use of an open G string creates a sense of tension.

“In this case, it's a lot more kind of dissonant,” he points out. “It kind of creates a rub against the notes – the melody of the notes within the main part.”

Dissecting the chord progression of Let It Go, Bay demonstrates how open strings can elevate the simplest of ideas.

“It adds to the emotion of the song,” he says. “There’s something about that G string ringing through. It just gives a little bit of extra complexity and richness to the riff and the part.

“It just broadens the scope and scale of what I can get coming off the stage to the audience. Particularly when I'm up there [playing] solo.”

Watch the video here to learn more…

Explore the James Bay catalogue here.