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Originally Posted by Phil in London
Here's a video I made of him five years ago at my house in Portland playing the same song as the vid in the OP with a very different guitar.
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02-23-2015 05:35 PM
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He uses his middle finger of the RH to play many of the melody notes on the higher strings.
He gets a good balance between the pick and m too.
Using m buys time to get the pick back down to the lower strings.
Interesting to note that it's the m finger that he uses...anyone who's played classical
or other fingerstyle knows that the m finger gets the biggest, warmest sound due to its
"fatness" at the tip and width of nail [if nail is used at all].
Also he used the usual hybrid thing for grabbing chords.
Haven't seen him doing sweeps [up or down] as much before...interesting.
I'm sure John isn't consciously thinking about this stuff when he's playing.
His is certainly a singular style......for me it's quite enigmatic.....like the most ornate question mark.
Love listening/watching him whenever I can.
Jim, thanks for your anecdote about the pick just sticking to his index finger.
I remember when that topic was discussed a while back.
....For me I'd be freaked out that I'd drop the pick all the time.....John is like a guitar shaman......something else.
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My detailed analysis is:
"Wow."
I don't know near as much about Jazz as you guys- but the tone and the arrangement and those gorgeous but still " Blue" and so modern chord voicings underpinning the Melody ...what an Artist.
I agree about Amazing Player and beautiful piece .Last edited by Robertkoa; 10-04-2015 at 01:01 AM.
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I hate technology, especially computers... my comment got erased by my space bar...
Okay... John Stowell and Sid Jacobs are the reason why I am not totally upset about moving to Cali and following my gf for work. John Stowell and Kenny Wessel are close friends, and Kenny had him over for a masterclass 4-5 years ago. Kenny invited me and his other top students (I had been studying with him for a good while) and I was so excited. But I had to finish a term paper for an English Lit class... Ugh . Next time, I hope there is a next time.
Sid has a heart of gold, as we've discussed here previously. He gave me his Monk transcriptions free of charge
They are both down to earth and extremely committed to the craft.
"this stretch might seem large, but I have small fingers. I angle my guitar so I can grab these voicings"
says Stowell
But just as exciting,
ROB IS BACK
Now I have another person to geek out about old guitar literature and classical rep. I listen to David Russell, John Williams, and then your stuff on youtube when I am studying tone production for my own playing. Love your SoundCloud, Rob! Especially the classical and banjo compositionsLast edited by Irez87; 10-04-2015 at 07:26 AM.
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he's amazing, he plays the notes that count.
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I reckon he's a member of the magic circle (looks like a coin-palming trick to me). Pretty impressive, however he's doing it.
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Great-sounding Soloway!
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Listen to John Stowell play this Jobim chart on the L-5...pretty breathtaking.
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I could listen to John every day. Such an expressive musician, with ear-tingling harmonies, twists and turns, and not a cliche within a country mile. Nice to see him play a beautiful L5 for a change!
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For acoustic stuff, I like your playing better Rob, he hits several chords not cleanly. I give him the benefit of the doubt though: a- he might be playing amplified most of the time, b-he might be playing this tune without having practiced much since it is a guitar demo not a concert performance, c-my playing sucks compared to his (for those who will ask me to post my own playing before I criticize a professional musician).
The greatest value of his technique for me here is his posture. He is very relaxed, both hands can float without much twisting and it allows for larger hand stretches (although he doesn't need it). Being able to relax like that ought to improve creativity and perception. I wish I could close my eyes for most of my playing too.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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LOL. He's on a different planet from me, but I thank you for your nice comment. But really, we are worlds apart.
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Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
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That's more like it.
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I could be wrong, but I believe that is _his_ guitar. It's a '71 ES-175. Notice the Lindy Fralin pickup in the neck position. Those are excellent pickups. Sounds great on that guitar. Stowell seems very, very comfortable on it, too.
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Jim's #7 post above also shows that (longer scale length and still chord melody style) he produces cleaner notes with electric playing.
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Hmm? I think most people do. Acoustic playing takes lots of practice and discipline to achieve, say, a flatpicker's clarity. I live in the heart of bluegrass music country. Those guys are wizards. One of my former students is the winningest flatpicker in history. He is downright scary.
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Originally Posted by Greentone
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Pure legerdemain. I don't know how Mr. Stowell does it. At times, it looks as if the pick is stuck to his index finger. Other times, he seems to drop the pick into the crook of his other fingers. With a little flick it is back between thumb and index finger. He never misses.
It looks like a half pick too, like what Joe Pass used.
I wish I could play like that.
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I've heard John play on a lot of different guitars (including a bunch that we built). I never would have thought of him playing a Tele but I really think this guitar works surprisingly well for him and fits his tonal vision very well.
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Always amazed at John's immense talent! Trying to put a home concert together for him at the end of June in Spokane, since he will be passing through, will be good to hear him live, again. What a genius that guy is!
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actually the tele lends itself to johns "guitar posture" very well...he'd probably benefit from a different neck pup (with a little more low end), but overall....super nice!
cheers
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Originally Posted by neatomic
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yes nice.. more traditional warm jazz tone...lovely..are those the lollar firebird pups on there?
cheers
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Originally Posted by neatomic
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Interesting, never seen him play before. I'm going to be unpopular but I don't get it. To me it seems a very awkward posture. Good instrument positioning skips the acute angles to maximize blood flow and minimize tendon strain. It looks like he stepped in a puddle and pulled out his foot while trying to catch the groceries that went flying but he makes it work for. him. Did he develop this position for a visual effect or was there a practical reason? Just trying to understand.
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