raas 14-16
Get your picking chop wp
with his tasty work
outs of Lee Hagin
meet your sat tutor:
lee hodgson
‘Le Hodgson is guitarist
Landon s prestigious Gute
Insets are Module
Leserfinetrctr for Advanced
Ineraenta Tega, to.
Lee har writen agar tater
pecs for Rochacool Ud Lee
has jammed ith bert es,
sew Donahue ad Steve
ea cael ioe It's chicken pickin’ time again — with something akin to the
ia bluesier side of Danny Gatton.
his month we're looking at Incidentally, i's the Fender Telecaster that’s
chicken picking in combination synonymous with the style/players under
with a few pinched harmonics. discussion = those ‘whistles, as Danny Gatton
Chicken picking, socalled used to call them, can sound so sweet and ,
hecause it does indeed produce ethereal on that basic yet possibly most versatile
sounds rather like our elucking of instruments,
farmyard friends, was, as far as [know
style originated by players such as Don Rich performance notes
(quitarist/ Vocalist in Bick Ovens The solo begins with a Jenry Donahue-style
Buck Bi
discovered it on hearin
3)
hack in the 608.1 first prebend (have the second and third strings
of Arlen Roth's early ady bent, by a semitone’s worth in this
solo alburns, called Guitarist, The style has
we, before y
ou make a sound). Incidentally
become synonymous with players as diverse as cchnique is also a passable bluff for
Jomes Burton, Jerry Donahue, Adrian Legg performing pseudo-slide lic
Michael Lee Firkins and, of course, the great Cooder: By the way, it’ important to examine the
Dany Gatton. You might even say Jeff Beck and suggested fretting fingerings (small numbers by
Mark Knopfler both play quite ‘lucky’ at times, the note-heads in the music) because there are
too. The pinched harmonic aspect (see ahead for things here that appear awkward until you
technical description) is perhaps best associated _ discover the knack of which Fingering,
in the style of Ry
with Billy Gibbons and Roy Buchannan, done efficiently, However, there are no universallycorrect feitig finger choices - you should
always experiment to find out what's natural for
‘you (as long as it works up to speed) and the lick
in bar 2is a case in point.
The Jerry Donahue approach is maintained
throughout bar 3, although you might say 1s
reminiscent of Nasties Brent Mason. Look
ahead to bar 8 10 see a similar but extended
idea,
The start of bar 4 was something I played off
the cuff. Incidentally, such gliding or sweeping is
hot normlly part of the chicken picking styl, but
Twas consciously setting up a blues lick so 1
suppose I felt that way inclined as | prepared for
it As regards the idiosyncratic ‘éug-e-de-ba’
rhythm (at beat 2 of bar 4) that's so often heard
when playing this style, what you should realise is
that country pickers typicaly ‘pop (pull away) the
higher-sounsing string with their Mesh (Bren
‘Mason uses his index finger). Many guitarist,
including myself, actually use the middle finger to
pluck the upper note, although James Burton is
‘unique, I believe, in wearing a metal fingerpick on
that dig
Pinched harmonies feature only occasionally in
this particular performance but less is more, a8,
they say... Although they may be consciously
brought to bear, pitched harmonics ate often
happy accidents. Here's how to create them: dig in
with the very tip ofthe plectrum while lecing the
Side of your thumb catch the sing just before the
string is activated, creating a node. IF you want to
add a chunky, funky feel then you may also wish
tw incorporate a thud, clucky sound ~ which is
somewhat synonymous with the style in general
bby emphasising te percussive element This is
achieved by using palm muting (lean the edge of
‘your palm gently on the strings near or even on
the string saddles). Okay, les get back t0 the
specific parts on offer.
In bar 5 there's a
complete flake! The chord fragment I was holding
down just happened to assist in creating that
particular harmonic. Next, observe how I have
targeted a “good” note cay: the Fs note ~ which
conveniently sounds like is fom the € blues
scale in my mind, I realised this would becom
the }7 of the next chord, F). Thinking ahe:
powerful creative tool for an improvising
musician: i's a means to achieve heightened
creativity,
Bar 6 features sixths, whieh are never far
nay in many country pickers minds and fingers
and they are especially suitable for chicken
picking. Note the staccato (short and detached)
sound hereabouts ~ which appears to widen the
dynamics
Bar 9 introduces a particular rhythm: a pair of
‘straight’ sixteenth plus an eighth that may be
vocalised. Think “book-a-da (-uh) and so on.
Remember, though, to experiment with all manner
‘of rhytlims and rhytme displacement (possibly
puting the upper nate vatiously on or off the
‘beat see what tckles your fancy! novel
Approach isto say a word or phrase and mimic
‘hythmically on your guitar (Steve Vat is the
supreme master of this)
tatural harmonic that was a
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| touched upon it a moment or so age Fd just like
to remind you that while chicken picking i's good
to occasionally introduce dead or heavily
rmuted/damped notes, without which it would all
sound rather tame. So, all thase percussive clicks
shown as Xs on the TAB are not mistakes —
they're correet and quite crucial!
The succession of licks scen and heard around
boars 10 and 11 are very much in the style of
James Burton, Maximum twang while using your
bridge pick-up is the order of the day. Avoid ear-
splitting treble though ~ legend has it that in
small clubs, Roy Buchannan used to face is ire
spitting amp's speakers towards the wall! Anyway,
that percussive element I keep on about is quite
prevalent in the form of the guttural, stuttering
sounds which abound hereabouts.
Bar 12's G1 chord could be seen as being a
slash chord (F/G), but in this ease F'd ask you to
consider it as sounding rather ‘C-ish so 10 speak
(play G11-C back and forth in order to appreciate
what I'm getting a). Once viewedheard this way,
them it seems acceptable to have a C blues lick
thereabouts. Also, observe how I instinctively
changed string thrice in succession (on beats 2,3
and 4) in onder to reproduce what is essentially
the same lick aver and over again. IT you enjoy
creating different timbres on the guitar, choosing
particular strings and/or locations on the
fretboard is the way to go.
‘The undoubtedly country lek in bar 16 is
presented her sophisticated context
(F#m755), which isa chord synonym of DSIF#
and D9 is not un-country is it? Whatever, the
move requites nifty shifing of your freting
hhandjfingers: i's @ flowing thing, which is
exemplified in Albert Lee's playing.
Bac 18 is areal challenge in Jerry Reed style
(ery was a big influence on Breat Mason,
incidentally). Still, here [ was actually thinking of
‘the inimitable Danny Gatton as I tried to, e,
Bar 19° fury is just the sort of thing Danny
used fo do when he wanted fo imitate a speedy
organ style-lck, and you'l need good hybrid
picking technique if you want to stand a chance
of nailing it! Warning: is extremely difficult 0
do this ‘cold’, as they say, so practise this
demanding technique only after warming up!
Finally, there's some crazy stuff towards the end,
which is yet another example of me just goin fori
and to hell with the problems of transcribing it wt
em july 2001
Jargon buster
rode
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for touched, paced, tapped and
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REMEMBER toms
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crane on age 86
the sessioneers:
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fave ssn
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danny gatton style
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