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Was it Mick Goodrick who sort of pioneered the "sitar guitar" sound of playing up and down one string? And didn't he "codify" (maybe just to have a standard method) the use of only first finger and ring finger of the left hand for all the "hand carrying" -- is this making any sense?
Metheny does this and he did a lot of it on his New Chautauqua album. A beautiful sound for guitar -- eastern, exotic, open-sounding, but HARD to pull off -- to make it sound like music. I can't really do it.
But here's an .mp3 -- not meant to be anything great, but just to show what I'm talking about. The microphone here is literally a $4.00 mic I got at a flea market, so don't expect much. Might have to turn your speakers down a notch, as the record level is a bit high.
It's all played on the high E string w/1st finger and ring finger.
Do any of you use this technique? If so, what do you call it? Where'd you learn it?
kj
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07-09-2011 06:54 AM
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Nice. I've seen Mick demonstrate it but I've done it only as an exercise it's great for fretless bass. There is an Indian (Ragacatz or something like that) who is frighteningly, jaw dropping good at it.
I'm going to have to take it more seriously, I love the sound. So I got it from Mick, and I think he called it playing 'Unitar' in the class.
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Abercrombie does a similar thing.
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All those guys hang out together, so is it the 'Boston School' of playing?
Originally Posted by Soco
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Mick presented the unitar idea (playing on one string) in The Advancing Guitarist as a way to see the fingerboard more clearly since guitarists spend most of their time playing in position.
Single string in combination with position playing he called something like the realm of the electric ice skating rink.
As you note, there are some great results sonically to be had playing this way as well.
Like everything it takes practice, with effortless shifting being the major challenge.
Sitarists make it work, why not guitarists.
Playing on one string has been written into scores for a long time, generally because the tonal nuances of that string best express the musical passage.
Mick is a perpetuator and not the inventor of this idea.
Nice sounding example Kojo.
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I do one string playing from time to time - fingerings vary depending on articulation. I don't do it as much any more because it makes me think I'm trying to sound like Metheny.
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Originally Posted by Billnc
YES - "Unitar." That's the word I couldn't think of. I gotta get Goodrick's book; I see all you guys raving about it.
And I love the skating rink analogy.
Making yourself improvise like this is invaluable practice, even if you never intend to use it live. I can't think of anything that better emblazons onto your brain the layout of the fingerboard.
This little ditty is just noodling around in the key of G, on one string. When you say, "Okay, now I'm going to play A-flat harmonic minor, on the B string...or whatever...wow. I'm nowhere near that good at it, but I can foresee how this could 1) develop one's ability to keep a melody interesting without relying on too many frills, and 2) develop [explode, maybe?] one's knowledge of the fingerboard.
And just think when you let yourself have two strings: adjacent or not. Then three strings. Four, five... : )
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Bill: is this 'cat' a guitar player or fretless bass player? Would love to hear him/her. Originally Posted by Billnc
Bako - I haven't yet read the Goodrick book; does he suggest that you play using only the first and third fingers? I thought this would be limiting when I first heard of it, but actually it might be the key to making it work. Even when playing half-step legato, do it with 1st & 3rd fingers. Put gobs of tape on your middle and little fingertips -- it *really* does a good service to the brain, because when you're trying to use all four fingers, you drift back into familiar four-finger combinations and it ceases to sound new. Give it a shot, really. Originally Posted by bako
Any idea where it started? Did Metheny ever study with Mick?Mick is a perpetuator and not the inventor of this idea.
Maybe try to make yourself sound like you're trying NOT to sound like Metheny? Originally Posted by JakeAcci
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Mick Goodrick suggest the following fingering possibilities to explore. Originally Posted by Kojo27
1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 1 2 // 1 3 // 1 4 // 2 3 // 2 4 // 3 4 // 1 2 3 // 1 2 4 // 1 3 4 // 2 3 4 // 1 2 3 4 //
I am sure some were influenced in this direction by Mick's book.Some may have been influenced by sitarists,
others perhaps by violin family instruments playing long passages on one string (indication Sul Re- only on the D string).
It is not a new idea. I think Metheny and Goodrick played together at one time in Gary Burton's band.
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Pat never studied with Mick per se, but you learn a lot from one another when you work together which they did after Pat joined Gary Burton's band in the mid '70's. They occasionally do a duo thing, Montreal a few years ago and later this summer at a jazz camp in Ct. somewhere. Originally Posted by Kojo27
Mick has all but retired from public performance, but he did play with John Abercrombie in April, and as mentioned, with Pat this summer.
David
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Got the name wrong! Here's a link, I'm heavily (listening, not intellectually, although that might change, a student of mine's mother is a classical Indian singer) into Indian music, found these guys when Myspace was still happening and conversed quite often. Originally Posted by Kojo27
This one has more shots of Sumesh playing guitar The damned video is not synched but this is not stuff I can find a bunch of links to, wonderful music. I get the impression whatever they are doing they are the best at it! I do love it.
Not much time for me to search right now, the bass player is insane (in a good way!) If I find anything better I'll let you know.Last edited by Billnc; 07-10-2011 at 12:10 AM.
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The world is a big place. Some nice single string playing:
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and in India if you are one in a million there are over one thousand people just like you
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I've had the pleasure of seeing Mick perform dozens of times back in the late 70' & early 80's in Boston. He use to play weekly at Club Casablanca in Harvard square. I've walked miles in bitter cold MANY times to hear him.
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Hey Whiskey, I must have sat next to you if not at your table countless times! There were not a whole lot of tables "for the music" just a little ring of jazz geeks. Jimmy Mosher and Ed Felson right? Mordy Ferber was as regular as any fan. Funny memory. Yeah, I must have seen you, I became a fixture. Originally Posted by whiskey02
David
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Thanks Bill, David, everybody -- this is amazing music. The slap bass player hails from some planet unknown, I think. Wow.
This technique of playing along one string really is worth exploring, seems to me. Gotta keep in mind, it doesn't have to be a whole solo or a whole tune of this. It can be a small or large "feature" of a solo -- like playing with octaves, or with string bends.
I wonder how the Indian players are tuned...
kj
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Just stumbled upon this thread, so let me mention slide guitar and steel guitar (especially lap steel/dobro/console steel - anything without pedals or levers). How are they related to this topic? I recently started practicing on these and realized quickly that my usual licks and positional way of thinking are not gonna work, because of the impossible moves it would require to play them clean with a single slide or steel bar. Single string lines however - that's where these instruments start to really sing. Not only that, but I do find that my slide style of single string phrasing is starting to occur in my regular guitar playing. So taking up slide or lap steel seems to be a great training if someone wants to get into this style.
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this is all true, but just as an aside, it it possible to play slide guitar using more of a positional approach. it just takes a very adroit right hand technique Originally Posted by Vihar
check out David Tronzo to hear what it sounds like when someone really it down. very different sound than someone like, say, Derek Trucks
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Thanks for the suggestion!
Inspiring. Is he in standard tuning? That's what I'm dabbling with, went back to it even on lap steel after a short open D stint. Picking hand damping or as steel guys call it, "blocking" is crucial for this, and my recent conversion to fingerpicks doesn't make it easier. lol
It seems like even David pulls longer slides on a single string than what a usual 4 fret position would suggest. Another thing I find really inspiring is sacred steel players, like Darick Campbell:
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standard tuning, except the high E string is tuned down to D. not sure what you'd call it... maybe a backwards drop D? Originally Posted by Vihar
it gives you more double stop possibilities with a slide.
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John Abercrombie and Mike Stern both discuss it in their instructional videos.
I usually include some single-string playing when practicing scales. It really helps with developing good octave-playing technique. For single-string I generally just use the index finger. I'm also interested to hear if anyone has worked out a more methodical approach involving other fingerings.
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Just to add another perspective, when I took private lessons from Mick in the 1970s and asked him similar question about fingerings, he said something like "I don't care if you play it with your {male private part} as long as it works".
Also, Mick was very much into ... When faced with multiple choices, work on them all. Each has a subtly different effect. This applied to fingerings along with other aspects of guitar playing.
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Mick's phrasing in this solo is magical, he utilizes the one string playing approach you mentioned.
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Hey nice article! That's ancient! From when they both taught at Berklee. But still sounds modern as ever. Over the years, Mick's style evolved to incorporate many different and varied techniques, but the uni-tar was always central to the lyrical moving line. Thanks for posting this! Originally Posted by Mick-7
Mick's phrasing in this solo is magical, he utilizes the one string playing approach you mentioned.
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Peter Bernstein also advocates learning all the scales on a single string, which he says he got from studying with Gene Bertoncini. Gene covers this in his book "Approaching The Guitar."
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