One Note Solos

mc2

mc2

New member
Supporter
The old "less is more" concept.

While driving around listening to a USB drive I kept a couple thousand songs on, "Down By the River" by Neil Young and Crazy Horse happened to pop up. That solo starts off with the same note played nearly 40 times. It has to be one of the best, if not the best, uses of a single note in a solo.

What other songs make great use of same note solos?

 
I don't know if it's completely accurate, but I learned the I Wanna Be Sedated solo as a string of open Es. It seems to work well even if it's wrong, and it's one of the few solos I can almost get through without too many mistakes.

 
The title of the post makes me think of the one note master Neil Young, but BB King gets some single note bone tone that I really dig.

 
In a mid-'90s interview, Lesle West recounted:

"Let me give you a story about 'tone and style': A long time ago, I went to a club in the Village called the Cafe Au Go Go when I was first starting out. In fact, it was the week I first saw the Cream at the Village Theatre...

There was a jam session at the Cafe Au Go Go; Elvin Bishop was there, Bloomfield, Clapton, Hendrix, and B.B. King, too. Hendrix plugged into his pedals and played everything he knew around a twelve-bar prgression. Everybody got up and played every lick they ever knew in about 30 seconds.

Then came B.B. King's turn, and of course, he wasn't a 'speed demon' but he had a certain style. He hit one note, got it to feed back and sustain, and held that note throughout the entire progression.

The place went absolutely crazy! Now, if that's not 'saying it', I don't know what is!"

 
On the BB King single note reference......There seem to be many such stories from people (inc SRV) that felt compelled to impress the master with their speed, number of notes, etc, then "learned" from the one perfect (and perfectly placed) note.

Sorta related (I reckon I have relayed it before).......Several years ago, Buddy Guy was headlining at the Long Beach Blues Festival. He did a demo of all sorts of "technique"......."Jimi Hendrix? Yeah, I can play all that shit!" (and proceeded to show he could.....Strat into a Marshall and all).

BUT, the band started off a blues and when it came time to solo, he played ONE note. And he played it over multiple choruses, God knows how many bars of 12. He held that note, bent it, sustained it, played off/controlled the feedback. Since he bent the crap out of it, maybe it was not TECHNICALLY one note. Unforgettable! May well be he got that from BB.

As BG seems compelled to say at least once every show........"I'm gonna make it so funky you can smell it!"

 
I just came back from a friend's house, a guy who has done evictions for me for years. His two daughters both work at The Paramount on Long Island. I think the older one is a manager. She actually went to college on a violin scholarship. The other one also is a musician.

When I was just there we were talking about some of the recent acts that played The Paramount. Billy Joel did a surprise concert last week and they were saying how the Governor (Cuomo's) and other big shots had box seats.

But I was most impressed that his 19 y.o. daughter had been most taken with BB King...marveling that he was 88 y.o. and still playing and said that she actually cried when he played.

There is still hope in the world when you hear a kid say that, while still talking about all the current bands on tour.

HERE ARE SOME MORE SOLOS I FOUND THAT HAVE ONE NOTE SECTIONS:

The Who

The Who - I Can See For Miles - YouTube

► 4:24► 4:24

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0iqg2UanEc

Nov 1, 2012 - Uploaded by The Best Of - Home Of Classic Music

Subscribe to The Best Of for more classic music history, videos and playlists: http: //bit.ly/WdJ36u ...

The Melvin's

Melvins - If I Had An Exorcism - YouTube

► 3:07► 3:07

www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8a44EQdOJ8

Jun 10, 2008 - Uploaded by brian5655

Melvins Bullhead If I Had An Exorcism. ... Melvins - If I Had an Exorcism - live 1992by ...

The Coasters

The Coasters - I'm A Hog For You Baby - YouTube

► 2:01► 2:01

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGn9TNsXECQ

Apr 6, 2013 - Uploaded by Jarski J.

The Coasters - I'm A Hog For You Baby. Jarski J.·559 videos. Subscribe ...

Robert Fripp

ROBERT FRIPP Exposure - YouTube

► 4:27► 4:27

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzFsDQeTUT4

Feb 2, 2010 - Uploaded by mebear88

ROBERT FRIPP Exposure. ... 26:14. Watch Later Prog Review 100: Exposure - Robert ...

Fleetwood Mac

The Chain - Fleetwood Mac - YouTube

► 4:47► 4:47

www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1iuSmZHcwY

Jan 15, 2010 - Uploaded by VirtualMusicGoddess

INTRO FREE VERSION - NO INTRO CAN BE VIEWED HERE: http://youtu.be/ XAqdnACpud8 ...

The Police

http://www.last.fm/music/The+Police/Message+In+A+Box/Bring+On+The+Night

Katrina & The Waves - Walking On Sunshine - YouTube

► 3:49► 3:49

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPUmE-tne5U

Mar 11, 2009 - Uploaded by emimusic

Official video of Katrina & The Waves performing Walking On Sunshine from the album ...

YArdbirds. Jazz are blues

http://www.last.fm/music/The+Yardbirds/_/The+Nazz+Are+Blue

 
Last edited by a moderator:
This is a two-note, or maybe three-note sax solo (by Clarence Clemons), but it gets kudos IMO for brevity:

 
The emperor heard about Kakua when he returned to Japan and asked him to preach Zen for his edification and that of his subjects.

Kakua stood before the emperor in silence. He then produced a flute from the folds of his robe, and blew one short note. Bowing politely, he disappeared.

 
Getting off the PURE topic - but this is the HFC after all - there are/were some players who can/could so an awful lot with a few notes though brevity, phrasig, taste.

  • BB King as noted
  • Miles Davis. I don't think he had the pure CHOPS of, say, Gillespie but man just listen to how he solos. His first solo in "So What" off Kind of Blue is famous for the clam about 14 bars in but it's a great example of how to say a lot by saying little
  • Ahmad Jamal. The man can play the piano but is a fierce minimalist. "Poinciana" live off But Not For Me he has a couple choruses with just a note or two, and the beauty is in making you WANT that next one
Not a lot of minimalist rockers.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Feynman III said:
I don't know if it's completely accurate, but I learned the I Wanna Be Sedated solo as a string of open Es. It seems to work well even if it's wrong, and it's one of the few solos I can almost get through without too many mistakes.
Click to expand...
Back in the day, I asked my buddy to help me figure our this really weird solo. I told him I just couldn't figure it out... so he sat down all serious, started the tape for a few notes... found it... listened intently to the rest and got all pissed off at me.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top