(I'm not sure which is the proper subforum to post this, but this place seemed a likely choice. If it needs to be moved, so be it.)

The background

The band I'm playing in right now had previously been a quartet, with two guitars, bass, and drums. We'd occasionally have a keyboardist sit in, but he was unreliable. My "role" is basically that of frontman. I write and sing the vast majority of the songs, and I play rhythm guitar. A few months ago the other guitar player quit because he felt like he wasn't good enough to play with the rest of us and felt self-conscious about it. He was right about that, but, since it was in effect "his" band - he organized and hosted practices, owned the PA, etc. - we decided to take a couple of months off around the holidays to regroup and reassess. The bass player wanted to bring in a friend of his to play lead. We had one practice with him, and he was very proficient, but seemed noncommital about everything. This past weekend we had another practice without him (he had a prior commitment) and the bass player told us the lead guy felt he had too much going on, and didn't want to play with us. We talked about bringing someone else in, but the bassist and drummer both felt I could handle all the guitar duties in addition to the vocals. I will, at least for now, defer to their wishes...

The issue

I've never been in this situation before, where I'm the only guitar player in a trio. I've fronted a band as a bass player, and I've played in a band with a keyboard player where I was the only guitarist, but this is a different situation. So, I'm asking if anyone else out here fronts a trio as a guitar player. What do you do to compensate for being the only guitar player? How does it affect your soloing, choice of effects, choice of guitars, etc.? I'm a competent lead player, but certainly nothing to write home about. For the practice we had this weekend I modified my sound by having a slightly dirtier tone than usual, for added sustain, and I also left on my delay pedal most of the time, to fill up the sound. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

I don't front a band, but my band is a three piece with lots of fun guitar solos going on. You really have to learn to rely on your bassist and drummer to fill in. You can do it with dirt and delay if it works, but don't try to make your personal tone bigger just to cover for the lack of a guitarist, especially if it compromises your tone.

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thesteve

I'm actually kind of curious about this (considering I suck at playing and singing at the same time). I'm working on a project right now as the soul songwriter and I'm going to need maybe two individuals to fill in and I only need one guitar player (and I'd like to keep those duties).

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I have fronted both a quartet and a trio - in a similar situation of me being the primary singer/songwriter. I think you are already experiencing one of the downsides of having a trio - the guitarist (and bassist) has to work twice as hard to fill out the sound.

Though I can name more than a few great trios, and some with even less members (Suicide anyone?), IMO life is just easier as a quartet. I would keep looking for a second guitarist.

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It's not really much of a compromise, since I like using delay anyway. The main thing I'm concerned about is twofold:

1. During verses I sometimes "forget" to play guitar. This is a technique I've developed to vary the texture and dynamics throughout songs, especially when there's another guitar in the mix. I now worry whether this will make our sound too empty, especially since this technique (for lack of a better term) is by this point an ingrained subconscious thing.

2. I have similar worries about guitar soloing. I don't want the energy level to drop out when I'm playing solos. I figure one way to get around that is to limit the one note phrasing to a minimum, and emulate the Pete Townshend approach to lead playing. This isn't much of a stretch since he's one of my main influences anyway.

Both the bass player and drummer are very good, and the bass player in particular likes the idea of a three piece, since it allows him to by "busy". I'm fine with that, quite frankly.

Actually, my largest concern is with song arrangements, since many of them I wrote with two guitars in mind, and I don't know how well they work with only one.

Thanks for the feedback.

The bassist might change a bit too, to thicken out. I think most trio's benifit a little with an overdriven/dist/fuzzed bass (of coarse using a pedal that also allows the clean to mix in too).

Just having the bassist switch this kind of setup on when you solo, will help fill in what a rhythm guitarist would be doing if you were a quartet. It would fill in that missing higher rhythm while you solo.

Also a fuzzed bass is just sweat anyway

edit: Don't worry too much about sounding thin during verses without guitar, I know Nirvana did it as well as other trio's. Sometimes, just bass, drums, and vocals sound great. This also allows you to come in a bit later during the verse to build it up.

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I'm in a similar situation now, though I left my quartet and am now starting a new trio. With the added challenge of a completely different genre of music as well.

I'm finding myself rearranging my whole rig to incorporate a looper to use live, but that can be really tricky without the right arrangement for the songs.

Having a killer and versatile rhythm section is probably the most important thing.

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cool

Quote:

1. During verses I sometimes "forget" to play guitar. This is a technique I've developed to vary the texture and dynamics throughout songs, especially when there's another guitar in the mix. I now worry whether this will make our sound too empty, especially since this technique (for lack of a better term) is by this point an ingrained subconscious thing.

if you do it in consistent spots, it might just become part of your sound and overall dynamics. There's nothing wrong with a bit of bass and drum action going on. It can make for a really cool feeling in songs

Quote:

2. I have similar worries about guitar soloing. I don't want the energy level to drop out when I'm playing solos. I figure one way to get around that is to limit the one note phrasing to a minimum, and emulate the Pete Townshend approach to lead playing. This isn't much of a stretch since he's one of my main influences anyway.

This is a spot where having a rock solid bassist really helps. I've found that maintaining a solid bass line that doesn't walk over the guitar solo is key to keeping energy high. if the rhythm section is strong enough to stand alone, then you shouldn't lose energy during solos. This might not be the style you're playing, but this is my three piece www.myspace.com/yourfavoriteband. Our guitarist is a bit solo crazy at time, but consistency in the rhythm section (drum and bass) keeps everything in line.

Quote:

Both the bass player and drummer are very good, and the bass player in particular likes the idea of a three piece, since it allows him to by "busy". I'm fine with that, quite frankly.

that's why I like it to

Quote:

Actually, my largest concern is with song arrangements, since many of them I wrote with two guitars in mind, and I don't know how well they work with only one.

This would be the tricky thing. I would stay focused with a strong rhythm on guitar and solo only when it's adding something to the song. Also, you may find that giving your bassist more freedom, while it won't exactly replace the second guitar, can give you a very good but different sound that can give a very pleasing groove.

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thesteve

Even though my band is a quartet, we only have one guitarist (guitar, bass {thats me}, drums, and dedicated vocals). When my guitarist goes to solo, Ill boost the volume a little, and kick on a guitarlike distortion. This keeps the energy up and keeps the song rocking and on track.

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look at Prince at superbowl, he sings when it's singing time and shreds when it's shredding time, look, learn, rock, don't be afraid to get minimal, the awesomness will shine through.

To thicken up you may consider putting some fx on the bass, eg the akai unibass which, if it does what it says it does, gives the impression of an additional rhythm guitarist from the bass part, it was certainly used to amazing effect (pun) on Muse's recent "Later with Jools Holland" show.

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I agree with what everyone has said here. Tightening the screws on your current line up will make you guys find the flaws and fix them. Having a proficient trio is easy if everyone works together. Having that tight rhythm section makes up for the lack of a second guitar player.

As for your playing. I would strip some parts down to a minimal approach for the verses where it doesn't leave room to forget. When it comes time for leads, use some octaves too, they really fill in your sound in places and help carry a rhythm. Your bassist should focus on the rhythm for your lead parts as to keep everything from becoming convoluted. That's just my personal advice as being the only guitar player in all the bands I've ever been in up until this last one and one of my current projects.

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//Effects:
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I currently have 2 projects and one of them is a trio,, I just brought with me the bass player and drummer from my other rock band to do this jazz project, my drummer was already great but I found out the bass player wasn't as solid as I thought and couldn't lock in and keep with the changes, so I replaced him.
The main thing for me to play in a trio is a solid bassist that keeps a solid groove and also backs you up harmonically.

Don't be afraid to let the drums and bass take over some times, it brings more variety to the songs, especially if you pull it of really tight.

You can also start to use bigger chords or diferent voicings for a fuller sound, other thing I noticed is if I'm playing a heavy rhytm is kind of hard to go to a single note lead, so I needed to write better breakdowns and be more creative, (effects can be your friend in this area, octaves especially help) I also started to notice that lately we are playing much more freely that when we started, it is a little harder at first, at least for me it was, but you'll get used to it.

And of course you cant mess up as much!!!.... in a trio mistakes are really hard to hide.
I play jazz because mistakes are just pasing tones , hehehe.