Update on Benson picking
ScotGormley
with pretty good results. I'm damping the unplayed strings and tilting
the pick up--so it's a little different that George's right hand (he
does not appear to damp unplayed notes with his right hand). I
actually prefer to position my hand just like George does, but then I
need a pickguard (some of my guitars don't have them), and notes mix
together too much with a high-gain sound, which I do like to use
sometimes.
It may be because I originally played this way back in the 80s, so it
feels more natural to me than it does to some folks, but it seems that
this hand position really facilitates the clean executon of jazz
lines. I have to remind myself to lock the thumb and bend it back.
What does this technique not work well for? Stevie Ray "Pride and Joy"
type scratch-rhythm (not sure how else to describe this).
sheetsofsound
i've seen guys play funk rhythm and srv pride and joy with benson
picking
charles robinson
"ScotGormley" <scot.g...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:873afca8-d30d-4d0c...@g7g2000yqe.googlegroups.com...
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I have trouble with a lot of bop tunes like Confirmation or Donna Lee if
played at a fast tempo while using Benson Picking but I've gotten to the
place over the years that I can just turn my pick to the best position to
compensate (you get the right feeling in your hand). Most of the time I
don't know what type of picking that I'm using unless I look.
Charlie
pmfan57
>
> - Show quoted text -
Seeing as you have been having some right hand/arm issues, when you're
using a flat pick (which I know is no longer what you do) did you find
Benson style right hand position made things better or worse. I was
practicing the other day and I noticed that I was starting to pick
with the other side of the pick like Benson, but without the
exaggerated hand position. It worked pretty well and allowed a
steadier shallower pick attack, at least for the bass strings.
ScotGormley
I found this post from Henry Johnson on a newsgroup somewhere. Pretty
interesting:
-----------------------------------
Hello all,
It's very interesting that everyone is ever inquisitive about picking
techniques. I can tell you that I like you, have tried many, but I
never had one I could depend on for everything until I met George
Benson in 1975. When I first saw George, Earl Klugh, who was only 17
at the time, was in his band. I didn't even know the kinds of things
George was playing was technically possible on the guitar until I saw
him doing it. When I saw him again, it was in 1976 and I was playing
at a jazz club in New Jersey struggling to keep up with the rest of
the band on faster tempos. The band leader was jazz organist, Jack
McDuff.
GB saw me having problems and had pity on me. On the break, I asked
him how he dealt with the tempo problems since he had also worked with
same band leader when he was 17. That evening we spent together
changed my musical life forever. He sat down with me and showed me his
picking technique and how to practice it. It took me 3 or 4 months to
transition to where it was second nature and I no longer had to think
about it. After that, I never had another problem playing tempos, or
any technical difficulties playing anything on the guitar ever again.
Over the years, every time we'd get together, I'd find out there were
other subtle levels of George's technique; each one he'd show me when
he felt I was ready for it. And to this day, he is always adding other
levels to it so it keeps evolving. Many years later, I find out that I
am one of only four people in the US that George has personally taught
his picking technique to. Of course I was freaked! Anyway guys, I just
want to clarify that GB's picking technique is not based on sweeping,
alternate picking, using the forearm, or any of that stuff. And yes,
GB can mute if he wants to, but that's just not a sound he likes so
you wont hear him doing it.
Also, GB has been using this technique since he developed it the mid-
sixties, so every period of music in GB's career, he has been using
this picking technique. And we're talking about Blues, Bebop, Funk,
R&B, you name it, GB has played it. I think the other George in this
discussion is confused when he says, "i believe is the perfect
technique for shredding and things like that but not for blues or jazz
etc...no...we need our feelings and action to be controlled and the
benson technique doesn't allow that in my opinion.. george".
Let's be clear: you cannot shred using GB's technique. It doesn't work
for that kind of music and that's exactly why you will not hear GB
shredding. That's not the kind of music he plays. But what GB does
play is exactly what the other George said he didn't, which is Blues
and Jazz. This is why I said that he may be a bit confused as to what
GB actually plays. Another thing: GB does not pick every note. It may
sound that way because his technique is dead-on accurate and the notes
are so clean, but if you slow his solos down, you can hear many slurs,
hammer-ons, and pull-offs. Well guys, I hope that sheds some light on
GB's picking technique. Till next time.
Henry
sheetsofsound
Al
How did someone manage to do that?
sheetsofsound
Henry Johnson. Amazing player but was treated with very little respect
here.
skip
nice guy too
sheetsofsound
Super nice guy
Bg
Bg
pmfan57
The whole thing was actually only in one thread, and only a couple of
people did that. Jimmy Bruno, on the other hand, was pounded on in
this group in the late 90s. Some people thought it wasn't even him,
as I recall.
ScotGormley
I miss Jimmy, and I think he has a good perspective on this art--
something like "It's just music," rather than something mystical. I
really appreciate all the input the contributors to this group offer,
and it keeps me motivated to keep working on this art of jazz guitar.
We may tend to critique through a harsh microscope sometimes, but I
don't mind that, and I hope it does not keep people from adding to
discussions.
pmfan57
Jimmy still posts now and then.
Joe Finn
>I miss Jimmy, and I think he has a good perspective on this art--
>something like "It's just music," rather than something mystical. I
>really appreciate all the input the contributors to this group offer,
>and it keeps me motivated to keep working on this art of jazz guitar.
>We may tend to critique through a harsh microscope sometimes, but I
>don't mind that, and I hope it does not keep people from adding to
>discussions.
Please keep reading this group. Jimmy and other top professionals continue
to comment here. Hang tough .
.............joe
--
Visit me on the web www.JoeFinn.net
sheetsofsound
> The whole thing was actually only in one thread, and only a couple of
> people did that. Jimmy Bruno, on the other hand, was pounded on in
> this group in the late 90s. Some people thought it wasn't even him,
> as I recall.
It doesn't matter. Where I grew up, you respected someone who could
play and you gave them the benefit of the doubt and Henry's earned
that. To have guys sitting behind a desk at a day gig posting on
usenet when they're bored lecturing someone like Henry or Rodney Jones
is simply ridiculous. Guys can pound their chests all they want but
that's the sole reason guys like bruno, dan wilson, rodney jones,
henry johnson, paul bollenback and many others don't post here.
I remember Paul telling me how he was on one of the forums and folks
kept asking him about what picks and strings he used. He thought that
was so ridiculous and a waste of time...
pmfan57
There are hundreds of people that lurk and it's impossible to be sure
no one is going to say something that might offend. This is not
really a group as much as a forum. The posts aren't moderated.
sheetsofsound
right, that's my point.
charles robinson
"sheetsofsound" <jackz...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:4e5bcac4-b0b2-49ff...@o30g2000yqb.googlegroups.com...
> Great stuff. Too bad he got chased outta here.
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I don't remember him ever posting here much less being chased out but like
everyone one else I'm not here all of the time.
Charlie
Gerry
Who chased him out? I'd like to see the thread.
Certainly I don't need proof that there are no-knowledge assholes, in
music and politics, who are hell bent on making those who think
differently (or should be accorded respect) miserable. It's now
beginning to happen even outside usenet, I understand.
--
Dogmatism kills jazz. Iconoclasm kills rock. Rock dulls scissors.
Greger Hoel
<jackz...@gmail.com>:
> On Mar 5, 12:43ï¿œpm, Al <e...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> George Benson was chased out of here?
>> How did someone manage to do that?
>>
>> On Mar 5, 7:14ï¿œam, sheetsofsound <jackzuc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Great stuff. Too bad he got chased outta here.
>
> Henry Johnson. Amazing player but was treated with very little respect
> here.
AFAI can remember, he left because somebody argued that Django was a more
influental guitarist than Wes Montgomery. This occurrence stuck in my
memory cuz it seemed really weird. No insults, no disrespect, no trolling,
just disagreement over an issue there really is no inhrent reason a great
player would know more about than a less accomplished player would.
Knowing who's most influental of Django and Wes is more a question of
scholarship than musicianship, IMO.
Anyhow, if anybody regularly interprets disagreement as disrespect,
Usenet is always gonna suck and one's better off leaving right away. The
masters of this art we all love want to enjoy the respect they feel
they're entitled to, here like everywhere else where jazz guitar is an
issue, but that's not compatible with Usenet's 'information is everything'
nature, like it or loathe it. There's been a lot of funny cracks here
about typing a good solo, but the fact of the matter is that on Usenet you
are only as good as you type. Players of Tony DeCaprio and Jimmy Bruno's
level will always be second guessed about musical issues they have an
order of magnitude deeper knowledge of than the naysayer, something I'm
sure they tire of, but Usenet wouldn't be Usenet anymore if measures to
avoid this dynamic were taken.
I have no reason to doubt your statement, Jack, that a large number of
jazz guitar big guns avoid this place because of disrespect. You are
probably right. But it makes me all the more appreciative of the top tier
guys who do choose to stick around and bestow their knowledge on us, even
if they have to suffer all kinds of, to them, asinine counter arguments.
--
Always cross a vampire; never moon a werewolf
pmfan57
> On 2010-03-06 07:36:41 -0800, charles robinson said:
>
>
>
Search his name in google groups. Then, among the results you'll see
his post in a thread about influences, started by Dan Adler. Greger
recalls it correctly. That's such a close call anyway it's absurd to
get upset about it. Like arguing whether Pops or Bird is more
influential.
drthoma...@gmail.com
My recollection is that someone simply disagreed with Henry and he
couldn't handle it. I don't remember anyone being disrespectful to him
at all.