Tips for Improving Playing Dynamics?

[Steely Glen]

The last few months I feel like I learned a lot about playing in front of people. I'm playing out twice a week or so and working hard on being a better musician. One aspect of this has been getting better as a vocalist. Related to this has been working on guitar dynamics to move the songs along.

I feel like I'm learning how to play less, if that makes sense. Instead of just strumming away on a song, I'm realizing how critical dynamics are to bringing the audience (in my case, a congregation which is also participating in the music) along on the journey.

Any tips out there for improving dynamics? Outside of some palm-muting and arpeggiated chords, I'm wondering what else is out there. Half the time I play with a pianist, which helps out a lot, but the other half of the time, it's just me and my guitar.

Thanks!

[bluesbassdad]

For our last concert my community band played a transcription of Strauss' Die Fledermaus. It has many instances of a call/response pattern (as bluesmen would call it), with a phrase being played loudly and then repeated very softly.

Unaware of the actual translation (until just now) of the title I assumed it was something like "The Field Mouse". Accordingly I pictured a mouse alternately tiptoeing and running full speed. Those images helped me internalize the changes in dynamics.

Imagine my dismay to learn that the actual translation is "The Bat".

However, my point is that visualization can be an aid in arriving at dynamics changes and internalizing them.