mm@vaxine.UUCP (Mark Mudgett) (11/05/85)
>> What is special about Stanley Jordan is that he plays the guitar in a way >> that I believe no one else has ever done it - he taps the strings along >> the fretboard, playing it like a keyboard (I believe that they do >> something special with the amplification of the guitar). This enables >> him to play independent bass and treble parts simultaneously on different >> parts of the fretboard... >From: boyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN) >While I have no dearth of admiration for Stanley Jordan, this technique you >describe is not new, though Jordan has used it more extensively than most. >This "two-handed tapping" is relatively common amongst heavy metal guitarists. >Eddie Van Halen is a maestro of this technique, and he is the one responsible >for its current popularity. >And actually, Jeff Beck was doing a bit of it back in the 60's, and I would >not be at all surprised if someone like Chet Atkins or Les Paul was doing it >a decade or two earlier than that. >From: todd@scirtp.UUCP (Todd Jones) >Ever since Eddie Van Halen stole this ancient trick from the great blues >masters, electric guitarists have been beating it into the ground. Sorry, >Stanley. What do you expect from a Princeton graduate anyway? First of all, Van Halen didn't STEAL the technique, he LEARNED it. Would you say he stole a G7 chord just because some other guitarist played it before him ?? Eddie usually uses this technique to play three-note trills that would not be possible using the left hand alone (without using a non- standard tuning). Generally, he holds one finger on a string at one fret, and plays two other notes by "hammering-on" and "pulling-off" (these techniques are known collectively as "ligado", and were known before the blues existed) with another finger of the left hand and a finger of the right hand. He also moves this whole structure up and down the neck, creating the moving three-note trills that are part of the characteristic Eddie Van Halen sound. Yes, other guitarists before Van Halen used this technique. Beck, Belew, and Zappa come to mind. Stanley Jordan goes beyond the use of the right hand to make chords that would be impossible with the left hand alone. He uses his right hand to play a part that is independent of the part his left hand is playing. While he "comps" with bass and chords with the left, he plays lead with the right. I have never heard this from Van Halen (no offense meant to Eddie -- I really enjoy his playing). Stanley makes very innovative use of techniques that others have used, but I wouldn't accuse him of stealing -- and his use of the right hand on the fretboard is far more advanced than Van Halen's. I don't doubt that Stick technique influenced Jordan, but to say that he is just a mimic and Chapman is THE innovator ignores the fact that these techniques pre-date them both. I suspect that some North African oud player had them beat by centuries. Did he invent it? Did he STEAL it? (From Kate Bush? :-) Chapman, Jordan, Van Halen, Belew, et al. learned from others, and refined the technique to suit their own needs. Chet Atkins has been able to play bass, chords, melody, and even countermelody using "conventional" left and right hand technique. His version of Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever" is a good example. >From: todd@scirtp.UUCP (Todd Jones) >For your own edification, the "Steinberger" bass you refer to is >a significantly different bass compared to the Fenders and Rickenbackers >you're probably familiar with. Some people like the sound, some people >hate it. But those willing to spend near $2000 often do so because the >instrument is so sensitive and the output is so "hot" that it requires >very little force to produce adequate output. A lot of the bass players >I have talked to have purchased one in spite of their hideous appearance, >in order to get a certain tone or feel. ... yes, very true. There are also other reasons: The tuning mechanism on a Steinberger is different from that on most basses, and some bassists feel that a Steinberger stays in tune better than a Fender. The short neck makes performing on a crowded stage (such as a small barroom might have) much easier. Those who have stood to the left of a right-handed guitarist on a 6' X 4' stage know what I mean. And the thing is smaller, lighter, and easier to transport. AND ... some bass players don't think it's hideous (although appearance is not usually the prime consideration when a musician chooses an instrument) -- ------------------------------------ Mark C. Mudgett uucp: ...!decvax!encore!vaxine!mm phone: 617-667-7900x2394 ------------------------------------
ryan@fremen.DEC (DTN 264-8280 MKO1-2/E25) (11/06/85)
---------------------Reply to mail dated 4-NOV-1985 22:50--------------------- >Posted by: decwrl!decvax!wanginst!vaxine!mm >Organization: Automatix, Inc., Billerica, MA > Chet Atkins has been able to play bass, chords, melody, and even >countermelody using "conventional" left and right hand technique. His >version of Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever" is a good example. >------------------------------------ > Mark C. Mudgett > uucp: ...!decvax!encore!vaxine!mm > phone: 617-667-7900x2394 >------------------------------------ Speaking of stealing - Chet got that arrangement from Guy Van Duser (and took his time giving credit where credit was due). Any folk finger-picker can play bass, chords, and melody simultaneously (that's the point of finger-picking), even me (no, I can't do "Stars and Stripes" yet - maybe someday...). Mike Ryan ARPA: ryan%fremen.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA UUCP: {decvax,allegra,ihnp4,ucbvax,...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-fremen!ryan
mls@husky.uucp (Mark Stevans) (11/08/85)
There has been a spate of discussion about what some guitarists call "two-handed hammer-ons": >>> What is special about Stanley Jordan is that he plays the guitar in a way >>> that I believe no one else has ever done it - he taps the strings along >>> the fretboard, playing it like a keyboard >>While I have no dearth of admiration for Stanley Jordan, this technique you >>describe is not new, though Jordan has used it more extensively than most. >>This "two-handed tapping" is relatively common amongst heavy metal guitarists. >>Eddie Van Halen is a maestro of this technique, and he is the one responsible >>for its current popularity. >>And actually, Jeff Beck was doing a bit of it back in the 60's, and I would >>not be at all surprised if someone like Chet Atkins or Les Paul was doing it >>a decade or two earlier than that. >>Ever since Eddie Van Halen stole this ancient trick from the great blues >>masters, electric guitarists have been beating it into the ground >First of all, Van Halen didn't STEAL the technique, he LEARNED it. >Would you say he stole a G7 chord just because some other guitarist >played it before him ?? >Generally, he holds one finger on a string at one >fret, and plays two other notes by "hammering-on" and "pulling-off" >(these techniques are known collectively as "ligado", and were known >before the blues existed) I read an interview with Billy Sheehan in some magazine recently. Sheehan is the best-known obscure bass player in the world, if you get my meaning. He is regarded by many as the best bass player in rock. Anyhow, he used to hang out with EVH (Eddie Van Halen, of course) back in the old days, and they developed their skills in this technique from watching each other, EVH on six string, BS on bass. BS is reputed to "sound just like Hendrix, only an octave lower". Sheehan said in the interview that this technique is not at all new, and that he possesses a photo of some completely unknown blues guitarist in the fifties doing it. Sheehan also said that the earliest known two-handed hammer-on-er was Paganini, who did it on violins in the 1800's. Paganini single-handedly (:-)) invented instrumental virtuosity. He could do things with a violin that no other human being could do. He had to write his own music, just to have something difficult enough to challenge his skills. Paganini was frighteningly tall and skeletal. People said that he had sold his soul to the devil to gain his skills, and one or two people even said that they saw the figure of the devil behind him on stage moving his hands. Paganini encouraged these rumors, which helped form his legend. It is also said that during his solos, women in the audience would sometimes climax spontaneously. Paganini seems to have combined the most interesting elements of Kiss, Van Halen, and Elvis Presley. Truly, there is nothing new in music.... Mark Stevans ritcv!husky!mls