Wes Montgomery's Thumb - Upstrokes for Single Note Lines?

[ncs]

bluewaterpig: I didn't say that it's bad to learn by copying Wes or others - but I came to the conclusion that I cannot do it better than them. That's all!
Of course I have been experimenting with Wes' octave style technique (30 years ago or so) and I am still using it from time to time but I dont want to be a "clone" (as benson has been for a long time - now he mostly plays commercial stuff).
But I assure you: although I have many transcriptions of guitar players I never tried to play exactly like them - I just try to get the spirit of their music.

[ncs]

sammiewammie: I learned a lot from the fingerstyle players (lennie breau, martin taylor for example) bec

[ncs]

sorry - wrong key...
... bec I loved the idea to be independent of a pick (rock players cannot relate to this). And: Wes was the first I heard who wasn't using a pick and I simply liked that pure & mellow sound

[bluewaterpig]

bluewaterpig: I didn't say that it's bad to learn by copying Wes or others

That's actually exactly what you said.

We all know that it's more valuable to learn why a great player plays a certain phrase instead of just learning how to play it note for note and not learning where it comes from. That's obvious stuff.

We're all "getting the spirit" of the players we love, I don't think that's something that you need to consciously put effort into.

But if you've stopped yourself from listening to Wes or any other great player, transcribing one of their licks, and implementing it into your own playing just because you're afraid that someone will hear you play it and say "Oh he just played a Wes lick. That was not his original lick", then you have missed out on seriously advancing your playing. All of the greats that I listen to have done that exact thing and I absolutely do it too.

[SammieWammie]

I came to the conclusion that I cannot do it better than them.

Not with that attitude!