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Sweep, economy, circular, Benson, alternate, all downstrokes, cracking the code etc - I find a hybrid of SweConUlar* and BenTernate* techniques (with a healthy dose of downstrokes) best; unless you are playing gypsy or surf music, then all bets are off.
It seems obvious that one technique won't work for all players, styles, or even lines. I like to sample techniques, and see what works (control and comfort), and toss the rest.
Tuck Andress has some thoughts on all the variables that effect picking and finger style techniques. Worth a look if you have not seen it before and it gives you plenty of ideas on what to experiment with. It's old but still valid.
Tuck & Patti: Pick & Fingerstyle Techniques
BTW - I hope to have some high def slow motion videos covering SweConUlar* and BenTernate* techniques on my web page soon, well as soon as I have a web page. It's a little known fact that most players don't even they are using these techniques but after reviewing over a 1,000 hours of the ten best guitarists, I found over six seconds of super slo mo hi def video that shows them using these techniques while noodling.
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04-24-2016 04:43 PM
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I think every technique has its place. Downstroke picking is almost an obligation, circular picking is great but is difficult to obtain volume and speed with it. Benson it is not great for hybrid,..., Gambale himself sounds very poor on acoustic,...
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yeah, gambale sounds "awful here", lol.
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Well, I would have to say that acoustic clip sounds good to me. Must have been a different clip? Acoustic, electric, whatever, it doesn't really address the point of my post. There is no holy grail, one size fits all, picking technique. Wes, Django, Benson, or whoever you like, there are many ways to get where you want to be.
What is that guitar he's playing, a nylon string shredder? Even though his acoustic tone is lacking, I actually like it better than what he uses for effects on electric guitar. It just shows chops trump gear, as always.
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Gambale is an awesome player, no doubt about it, but for me the sound of the guitar in that video is as tacky as an 80s synth.
I am not a good player it is only an opinion, don' t make it personal please.
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we'll have to agree to disagree then. It's not going to sound like John Mayer when you're playing jazz on it.
Originally Posted by sjl
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Sure it's me. I am a big Sylvain Luc fan but sometimes I want him to put his nylon guitar apart and to play more his electric.
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gambale reminds me of dimeola or mclaughlin when they were shredding on their acoustics in terms of tone. You're never going to be able to play super fast on an acoustic without having low action. It's part of the charm and pedagogy of the instrument IMO. Originally Posted by sjl
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The traditional GJ lead guitar set up has a 3mm action - the strings are a bit higher tension than the standard electric ones too.... Some of those players have comparable speed. Originally Posted by jzucker
That said, steel string flat-tops with a medium string and action are hard to play lead on - the instrument counts for a lot... That said anyone knows what's standard for Bluegrass pickers? Those guys might not be up to FG warp speed, but they don't hang around.
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Do feel FG's sound is a bit buzzy here... If it were me I would raise the action or stick in some neck relief and not play so fast. Aesthetic choice - i'd choose tone over speed. But then, I am not a world famous guitar player;-) Originally Posted by jzucker
I much prefer the way FG sounds on acoustic to DiMeola BTW, much more musical IMO.
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Originally Posted by christianm77
you city boys with yer low action and amplifiers.....
When you live out here, fast and loud on the front porch with a cowboy guitar is what summertime is all about
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Yee-haw Originally Posted by Nate Miller
you city boys with yer low action and amplifiers.....
When you live out here, fast and loud on the front porch with a cowboy guitar is what summertime is all about
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that pic is about 100 yards up the road from my house. In a big city, sure there's more musicians to play with, but when I want to enjoy a beautiful day, I just walk outside.
this is the view of my property from the front porch. I went fishing yesterday and all I did was walk outside. I keep one of my fishing rods rigged up and on the front porch all summer.
so after growing up with asphalt, traffic and crowds, I'll settle for playing with the same bass and drummer for 20 years and living in some of the prettiest countryside I've ever seen
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Romero Lubambo - Trio da Paz, tours with Diana Krall. No fizzy sounding acoustic, and he rips.
BTW - lots of good close up video. Course it's fingerstyle, but he's got it all going, not just playing fast.Last edited by Bosko; 04-25-2016 at 10:28 AM.
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I think targuit posted this one, Birelli on the nylons:
Savage chops as always... Check out the solo around 5:00. Great tone.
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Man, Bireli should do nylon more often. That was killin.
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He's good but his speed is not even 1/2 what gambales is plus nylon strings have way less tension. Not making a value judgement , just commenting that it's not apples/apples.
Originally Posted by Bosko
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I thought that Paco De Lucia smoked Al Di Meola. While Di Meola had speed, De Lucia had duende. No picks, just fingers.
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Whatever Bireli plays is a new dogma. That man is not from this planet.
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I'd stick with easy listening John Pizzarelli, thank you very much. Personally, that is the kind of jazz I try to emulate. Gets me some nice dates. Not hard-core or intellectual or technique-challenging enough for some folks. And the man is a sharp dresser. No tank tops and sweat pants as the height of sartorial splendour. No louche bald pate as tonsorial statement either. We had all that back in the 80s. Well, maybe not the bald pate. Which guitarist dresses as if he were working out at the gym? The 330bpm guys, that's who. Hard graft, yes?
Some players fill seats. Some players hear their own cleverness echoing back at them from a nearly empty hall save a few acolytes.
The ultimate backhander is to be called a guitarist's guitarist.
I couldn't wait for the FG video to end. For a fast player that took a surprisingly long time. All the notes but where's the damn song?
But I am in the easy listening camp. So, I have no place in this discussion.
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Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
I thought that Paco De Lucia smoked Al Di Meola. While Di Meola had speed, De Lucia had duende. No picks, just fingers.
Whenever I put on "Saturday Night," I just find myself waiting patiently for Paco's solos.
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I agree he's not as fast as FG. The tone/speed trade off perhaps. Originally Posted by jzucker
I know who I prefer listening to myself, that's all I can say. Also I suspect FG wouldn't be heard acoustic, so I can't really count him as an acoustic guitar player at all.... He's playing acoustic like electric, it's a different thing.
That said I can't find any guitarists playing GJ technique on steel string flat top. I wonder if it's well suited to instrument. I know some bluesgrass guys use a similar approach for cross picking but that's not super speedy...
I'm sure I got find some Birelli where he plays as fast as FG. Probably not as continuously fast perhaps, because the GJ approach tends not to encourage it, but certainly as quick... There's some super chopsy GJ guys out there...Last edited by christianm77; 04-25-2016 at 03:57 PM.
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There's some excellent mandolin shred on this tune. Not sure about the song, but it's the sort of things the craft beer crowd like ;-) Prob not as fast as FG...
Acoustic shred is cool. Electric shred is totally passe... :-)Last edited by christianm77; 04-25-2016 at 04:14 PM.
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ROTFLOL Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
I saw a fairly well-known Southeast based blues-rock guitarist 12 or 13 years back who walked on stage in sweatpants and sweatshirt that looked slept in and unwashed.
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I agree that Gambale often sounds bad on an acoustic. Definitely people like Kreisberg and Lage play in a different league tonewise, imho.
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