Pat Metheny's itsy bitsy guitar?

[mr quick]

say what?

[roegtr]

so that`s how he holds the pick

[docbop]

so that`s how he holds the pick

A year or so ago I posted a picture of Pat's right hand from a video that you could get a real good look at his way he holds his pick with three fingers and kind of points it down. Strange, but it works for him.

[mr quick]

That's pretty remarkable, given the speeds and clarity he's able to achieve.

[Cunamara]

PM's success at playing is in spite of his technique, not because of it.

[Jazz_175]

PM's success at playing is in spite of his technique, not because of it.

So how is he able to achieve speed and clarity?

[Eric Rowland]

Practice, practice and more practice. ..and a lot of gigs.

[Jabberwocky]

So how is he able to achieve speed and clarity?

I'm surprised that Pat Metheny does not have his own line of Ibanez picks. George Benson got one. Paul Gilbert got one. Steve Vai got one. John Scofield got one. But not Pat Metheny.

Why?

What's that itsy-bitsy guitar? Looks like it says 'Ibanez' on the headstock.

[JoshGuitar]

It's actually a regular sized guitar, but Pat is in reality 13ft tall.

My guess is that it is a piccolo guitar. I know Ibanez recently made an acoustic piccolo guitar, so that is my guess.

[David B]

From Pat Metheny : Question & Answer

"QUESTION: Dear Pat (or other readers), What tunes do you use the soprano guitar on? I recently made one at a workshop and have transcribed "A Map of the World", "No Calej Polaci Snieg", and "Polskie Drogi". I’m hunting through my records for more tunes but haven’t found any so far. It’s a wonderful sound."

PAT'S ANSWER: Hi Richard. Not exactly the same guitar - the one you are referring to is a Manzer - but both In Her Family and Letter from Home are both tunes I wrote on piano and the only way I could eventually play them on guitar was to use an extended range instrument like the sopranos you are talking about. In both of those cases it was the Ibanez mini PM20. I actually tune that one an entire octave higher - the Manzer is just a 4th or 5th higher. Thanks from Pat.

[mr quick]

Thanks, David!
Ibanez should totally put it into production. I'd buy it, and I know it'd probably go over well with the fusion/progressive jazz community.

[AlainJazz]

That is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard. Just wow. Anyone know where one could get a soprano guitar like that. I've never seen or heard one before but I love the sound of it on that piece.

[icr]

Gibson used to make a baby ES-175. The ES-140 (this one is an oddball with a ES-150 pickup) Not mine, I just found the picture.

[AlainJazz]

Ok, I seem to be obsessed with this tune. I tried to play it last night on my Uke. I can get all the notes but of course a Uke doesn't sustain like a guitar. Anyone have an idea what I could do to get that sound on a more conventional instrument? Maybe a mandolin with the paired strings removed?

[mr quick]

An electric guitalele!

[Nils]

What about this? Just stumbled across it on Google...


DeCava “Small Elf” Semi-Acoustic Guitalele

[AlainJazz]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I tried all kinds of searches but couldn't find anything. This looks like what I'm looking for!

[Nils]

Yeah, looks great, doesn't it? Don't really know anything about it/the maker, but if I had that for my travel guitar, I'd travel a lot more

If you manage to track down some info on it, do let us know...

[AlainJazz]

I will.

[Bluedawg]

PM's success at playing is in spite of his technique, not because of it.

He makes it look like he's working hard .....

[Eric Rowland]

...btw, "Letter From Home" is a beautiful tune!

[amkaplan]

PM's success at playing is in spite of his technique, not because of it.

I’m afraid I don’t follow your point; are you saying he’s got lousy technique, but manages to get good results anyway?

Thanks,

Allan

[Spook410]

That is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard. Just wow. Anyone know where one could get a soprano guitar like that. I've never seen or heard one before but I love the sound of it on that piece.

Off topic, but if you like this, you may also like the album 'Beyond the Missouri Sky (Short Stories)' by Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden.

[BigMikeinNJ]

What about this? Just stumbled across it on Google...


DeCava “Small Elf” Semi-Acoustic Guitalele

If I remember correctly DeCava instruments are made pretty much at a factory not unlike Yunzhi... I've no affiliation with them but remember seeing them years ago and following the bread crumbs there... (ala Hansel and Gretel).

[JPG]

Ok, I seem to be obsessed with this tune. I tried to play it last night on my Uke. I can get all the notes but of course a Uke doesn't sustain like a guitar. Anyone have an idea what I could do to get that sound on a more conventional instrument? Maybe a mandolin with the paired strings removed?

I spent a lot of time obsessed with this tune, too. As a matter of fact each time I hear it, it all comes over again.

And the other thing is, when I tune has this kind of quality it really does not matter what instrument is playing it. Here's a version on electric bass. I gave it to one of my students a while ago and it was an instant success at the music school

Be sure to hold on until the somewhat unnecessary intro finishes...