JAZZGUITARHARDBALL
JIM BASTIAN
Everyone Raise Your Hands
How many of you have had trouble developing a right-hand, or left-hand, picking
technique that you are happy and comfortable with? I have rarely met a student or
player that didn’t struggle with this issue
at some point. This question seems to
cross stylistic lines; if your play with a flat
pick in rock, shred, jazz, blues, or pop, you
have likely studied the problem and sought
ways to develop whichever technique you
have been using.
Over our music history, the guitar has often
lagged behind the piano when it comes
to the study of technique-related matters.
Much more has been written about correct
piano technique, and much less scholarly
work has been produced when it comes
to the guitar, although this has begun to
change in recent years. Many students,
especially rock students, start out playing
the guitar on their own, and by the time
serious study takes place a right-hand picking method is pretty well fixed in place. If
one considers that it takes years of repetition and a process involving muscle memory to ingrain a technique, it is no wonder
that many students show up at their first
lessons with impossibly bad right-hand
techniques, making it quite a challenge for
the student to reverse this.
In jazz circles, there are five basic established picking techniques, which are
generally connected with well-known
performers:
1. The closed-fist floating right hand
This method has the hand tightly closed,
pick grasped between thumb and forefinger, no anchor, and much of the motion
coming from the wrist. Barney Kessel used
this technique and preferred removal of the
pickguard for its proper execution.
2. Right hand accordion method
In this approach, there is a loose anchor of
the pinky to the pickguard. The fingers are
curled in a very loose fist, but splay apart
as needed in order for the pick to cross
the strings. Joe Pass and many other modern bebop players used this method. Much
of the picking is in a ‘glide’ fashion, where
a note on an adjacent string is played by
continuing the down motion of the pick
rather than actually picking the note again.
Pull-offs are often used rather than picking
every single note. Little motion is used
from the forearm or elbow.
3. Straight arm technique
Johnny Smith’s success with this method made it famous among technique
hounds. Most of the motion comes
from the forearm and elbow. There is no
anchor although the hand glides over the
pickguard, just touching it. Alternate picking is the norm, so most notes have a
picked articulation.
4. George Benson style
Defying gravity and logic, George has
made this technique famous in connection
with his machine-gun rapid-fire execution
of long lines, where every note is picked, in
a strict up-down picking motion. Oddly, the
pick is held by thumb and first two fingers
and the hand held almost sideways against
the pickguard. Forearm and wrist motions
are pronounced.
5. Modern approach used in
many programs
This technique blends some features of
the other methods, but emphasizes natural
body position, no anchor, and a relaxed
approach; these are thought to be the key
to getting the best tone, making this idea
transferable to any style. If you were to
stand straight and relaxed, letting your arm
hang free, the natural position of the hand
is what should appear when moved up
over the pickguard, although in a loose fist
with pick held between the thumb and first
finger. The technique combines the natural
motion of wrist, forearm and elbow. The
most important feature is that everything
is to be done in a relaxed motion, with no
tension anywhere. With muscle memory
processes in mind, any technical etudes –
or actual songs – are practiced slowly and
repetitively, in a relaxed fashion, and using
a strict up and down, alternate picking
technique. See Kenny Werner’s Effortless
Mastery for more on the topic of relaxed
practice. The strong part of any beat gets
a down-stroke while the “and” of the beat
usually gets an up-stroke. It is generally
thought that the absence of a tight anchor,
and the presence of relaxed and naturally
employed muscles aid in the production of
the best possible and most natural tone.
Whichever picking style you prefer, the
most important element for the development of technique is relaxed, slow, and
repetitive practice. The development of
technique, a secondary process, should
be done for the sole purpose of allowing
you to express an inner musical flow – the
primary process.
Jim Bastian
A clinician and jazz educator, Jim Bastian is a 10 year veteran
of teaching guitar in higher education. Jim holds two masters
degrees and has published 6 jazz studies texts, including
the best-selling How to Play Chordal Bebop Lines, for Guitar
(available from Jamey Aebersold). He actively performs on both
guitar and bass on the East Coast. An avid collector and trader
in the vintage market, you can visit Jim’s store in Gear Search at
premierguitar.com (dealer: IslandFunhouse).
