There are more guitar players today with incredible technical chops then ever before. Yet, so many of their solos and improvisations sound a bit dry and lifeless. This is often because they’re too focused on developing technical skills and strictly following harmonic rules and rhythmic approaches rather than letting their ears and emotions guide their note choices and phrasing.
Of course, it’s important to learn harmony and theory, but you can’t let that part of it override the musicality. It’s easy to forget how much fun playing guitar can and should be. That’s what we’ll focus on in this performance.
One thing that’s very flattering is that there are several versions of this song on YouTube. I really wanted to walk through “Falling Up” because it’s a tricky song, and there aren’t many of them that are played correctly! It kind of started off with a guy I heard playing at a guitar store I used to go to, who’d pick out one note in a chord and bend it, kind of like a pedal steel player would. I started playing around with it, and it lent itself to the melody. So, here I’ll perform “Falling Up” in its entirety.