George Benson's picking style explained?
Sorceror777
that I dont have a single freakin clue about what he's getting at--well maybe
not THAT bad, but Im still definetly lost. Translation, Rotation,
Oscillation?....Anybody whose really got this particular method down care to
dumb it down a shade for me?
Much appreciated,
jesse malone
Skip Moy
him using this technique. I've recently started my right hand on this and
find that it does help, but it does take some time to learn.
Skip
"Sorceror777" <sorce...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030830233022...@mb-m13.aol.com...
Scot Gormley
I used the Benson technique when I first started playing. It's not the
easiest thing to explain, but basically the right hand attacks the strings
from below, that is, "home base" for the right hand is about the level of a
pickguard on an archtop. The unused right hand fingers lightly brush
against the pickguard (this technique does not work very well on guitars
without pickguards). The pick will be angled upward, too (compare this to
the method I see most players using where the pick is angled downward, and
home bass is above the 6th string). You can really work up to some great
speed with the Benson technique (especially with 2-note-per-string
pentatonic patterns), but it doesn't work for everything. I found hybrid
(pick and fingers) playing to be severely impeded by the method. You'll
probably end up with a slightly scratched pickguard, too.
Additionally, the technique makes it very hard to stop ringing strings with
the heel of the right hand, so you may have more problems with feedback.
George has commented about how his chop "go out the window" once he exceeds
a certain volume level, and I think that's partly due to the
feedback-control issue. If it's possible to master several picking methods,
then I think the Benson technique is worth working on; however, I found that
I had to pick a method and then stick with it (and the method I've "stuck
with" is not the Benson technique).
EHHackney
it," I'll know I have it.
I think of the "classical" way of holding a pick like this. Make a closed fist
with your hand, with the thumb up. Place the pick on the up side of the first
joint of your index finger, pointing out, then clamp down on it with your
thumb. WIth your hand in the playing position, the edge of the pick nearest
the headstock point down towards your left leg, the other side up to your right
shoulder. On a downstroke the side of the pick nearest the headstock strikes
the string.
My understnading of the "Benson" method. With your right hand near the playing
position, point your thumb up in the air, almost in the hitchhiking position,
then "pinch" the pick between the pad of your thumb and the pad of your index
finger. You end up with the edge of the pick nearest the headstock pointing
almost to your left shoulder and the other edge of the pick pointing at your
right leg. On a downstroke the edge of the pick nearest the bridge strikes the
string.
I have never used the standard grip. I taught myself to play and, for no
particular reason I know of, ended up holding the pick more like the Benson
style.
So - is this it? I hope so. If not I'm giving up on this thread.
Hack
--//--
Scot Gormley
"EHHackney" <ehha...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030831100124...@mb-m23.aol.com...
D.Onstenk
Would be so much better.
#####
"EHHackney" <ehha...@aol.com> schreef in bericht
news:20030831100124...@mb-m23.aol.com...
EHHackney
Thank's, Scott.
Hack
--//-->
Christophe Pinson
I too tried to understand the Benson technique, from these Tuck
Andress site, and quickly got lost as well. As I never saw GB playing
, neither live neither on video, it didn't help.
I finally found myself holding the pick " with the edge of the pick
nearest the headstock pointing almost to your left shoulder and the
other edge of the pick pointing at your right leg " as Hack describes.
My palm rests on the middle of the bridge though. I stopped using
heavy picks, and swapped for .90 or 1 mm only, but holding them nearly
at 50-60 ° angle with the strings, and using the round edge gives a
warm sound. I dunno wether this is close to GB playing or not, all I
know is I think I found what works for me.
D.Onstenk
WIth your hand in the playing position, the edge of the pick nearest
the headstock point down towards your left leg, the other side up to your
right
shoulder. On a downstroke the side of the pick nearest the headstock
strikes
the string.
A pick nearest the headstock?????? Left leg????? Please rephrase.
#####
Max Leggett
wrote:
As this is "Benson picking", what it means is play great jazz lines
inventively, cleanly, and tastefully. Is that clearer?
:-)
icarusi
news:B4g4b.2892$Lk5....@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> You can really work up to some great
> speed with the Benson technique (especially with 2-note-per-string
> pentatonic patterns), but it doesn't work for everything. I found
hybrid
> (pick and fingers) playing to be severely impeded by the method.
You'll
> probably end up with a slightly scratched pickguard, too.
I noticed when Benson does hybrid or fingerstyle picking his
wrist/elbow takes on a severe crank due to the guitar position to suit
the 'underhand' technique. It always looks like a thumb technique
modified later to use a pick. I'd steer clear of it personally as it
looks like it could cause strain problems.
Icarusi
--
remove the 00 to reply
fpirrone
Dick,
I don't have the advantage of this thread in front of me, but this
comment sounds backwards and seems to refer to the standard pick attack
angle. With Benson's style the pick angles from top to bottom like this
as you look down in playing position from above the guitar at your hand,
the pick and the strings:
-------\----> toward bridge
whereas, with the conventional pick grip it is at best reversed like this:
-------/----> toward bridge
and at its worst though a little hard to show, according to Andress:
----- __ ---> toward bridge
so, to describe it, you might say the top edge of the pick points up and
toward the nut or headstock and the bottom edge points down and toward
the bridge.
The pick is actually moving down into the strings more edge-on than with
a conventional grip where it might be flat-on with the edges pointing up
and down the string's length.
One consequence of this, and what I understand to be largely the point
of it all, is that the pick moving in its plane striking the string with
its edge gives you better control and more speed than with the pick
striking on the flat where it's got to ride up and over the string with
each down stroke,
You can vary the attack of the pick to alter the tone of the notes quite
smoothly and efficiently. The extreme, using limited ASCII characters
is with the plane of the pick totally perpendicular to the axis of the
string - striking the string on the absolute edge, like this:
-------|----> toward bridge
I've been working on this for a while and am convinced it is more
efficient. My tremelo is very fast as are my chromatic runs. Picking
across the strings is effective as well.
What I have been using for several months are lignum vitae wooded picks
from www.welcomesite.com by a guy RA who reads and occasionally posts to
this group. They are fairly thick, totally rigid, grip well, and sound
terrific. The note picking and chord strumming and stroking with this
picking style and these picks sounds rich and harmonic and quite varied.
I tried an agate pick and it sounds extremely smooth and mellow, but the
ones I got were a little too small, felt a bit slippery, and were in
fact a bit too mellow for my tastes and style.
Hope this has, first of all been a correct interpretation of this
technique and a clear explanation, but secondly of some help.
Frank
Scot Gormley
"icarusi" <icar...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:EQw4b.2646$4L1.4...@wards.force9.net...
> I noticed when Benson does hybrid or fingerstyle picking his
> wrist/elbow takes on a severe crank due to the guitar position to suit
> the 'underhand' technique. It always looks like a thumb technique
> modified later to use a pick. I'd steer clear of it personally as it
> looks like it could cause strain problems.
>
> Icarusi
> --
(although we never called it that), and he now has tendonitis that causes
him a lot of grief. Of course, there's no way to be sure that it's from his
picking style.
Charlie Robinson
>
>#####
-------------------------------------------------------------
If you hold the pick between your thumb and index finger you can view it this
way:
Place your hand in the position for regular alternate picking and then turn the
knuckle of the index finger up towards yourself so that now the other edge of
the pick is striking the string.
Charlie Robinson Jazz Guitarist, Composer
You can hear me online at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/robinsonchazz
or http://www.soundclick.com/bands/rmmgj_music.htm
Dan Adler
> wrist/elbow takes on a severe crank due to the guitar position to suit
> the 'underhand' technique. It always looks like a thumb technique
> modified later to use a pick. I'd steer clear of it personally as it
> looks like it could cause strain problems.
I think that is indeed the point. A thumb technique modified. It
creates no strain. Bending the wrist creates a "buffer" that stops
wrist motion and arm motion from mixing, unless you actively want them
to. What usually causes forearm strain and tendonitis is when people
do things with their hands that translate into tendon movement in the
forearm without being aware of it. Bending the wrist isolates the
movements so you become more aware of them separately. Then you can
put them together, and in fact, then you can even straighten the
wrist, once your body understands how to isolate the different
movements. The two basic movements are: (1) shaking the wrist (forearm
stays loose) and (2) moving the arm up and down (wrist stays loose,
but not locked). Everything else is a combination of these two
movements. I think most people underestand (2) intuitively, but
getting (1) to work with no strain is lots and lots of work. That's
where I found the gypsy technique useful, because it focuses on (1).
Interestinlgly, Jimmy Bruno's "Art of Picking" and web site video
clips all focus on (2), so I guess you can do pretty well with either
or both or neither or whatever :-)
icarusi
news:820e87.030903...@posting.google.com...
Then you can
> put them together, and in fact, then you can even straighten the
> wrist, once your body understands how to isolate the different
> movements.
I don't think you can straighten the wrist much with the Benson action
(unless you raise the guitar position, but you also sharpen the elbow
angle). If it was the thumb only, the thumb (joint) angle can increase
to allow the wrist to straighten. Once a pick 'grip' is used there's
less leeway to increase the thumb (joint) angle independently of the
wrist.