The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #101

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    Quote Originally Posted by xuoham
    ... Downstrokes, downstrokes ... (which is for me a kind of discovery, as stupid as it might sound,
    since i seldom use a pick. I was until recently squarely thinking that "all downstrokes" is a poor technique and i discarded too hastily this "naive technique" -as ChristianM77 would say- though it sure yields the best sound.
    I've changed my mind about this a number of times. Sometimes, like Johnny Smith, I go for strict alteration of down and up strokes. This is the technique forwarded by Ivor Mairants in his Perfect Pick Technique book, and it also connects with my lute technique, where strong beats are played with the thumb or middle finger, weak beats with the weaker index finger. This gives an inequality of stress, which helps push the music forward.

    However, I've also studied mandolin and plectrum banjo techniques, which introduced me to a different aesthetic. They use downstrokes for everything except when the music gets fast, and alteration takes over. Gypsy jazz players, who are no slouches, also use a similar technique. And often the downstrokes are rest strokes.

    Two opposing techniques. I find myself using each at different times, and I try to avoid saying there is only one technique. Right now I'm working through a book from 1933 by Arthur Black, who outlines a technique of alteration, but always using a downstroke when moving to a higher string. Some modern players use this technique, though it's far from being modern.

    So, no fixed technique, let music tell you what it wants, and go with that. And each piece of music is unique. Flexibility in all things. That's my approach.

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  3. #102

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    Neatomic, thanks for all the support you give me!

  4. #103

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    I felt the first two gauges of the Philippe Bosset strings were a little light for the Big Elf. I asked, and they've agreed, to make me a 14 for the first, and an 18 for the second. I'll get them soon. However, I had a set of GHS strings in a drawer, just those gauges, and they made quite a difference. I'm sure the Bossets will be just as good.