Joined: 10 Sep 2004 Posts: 2783 Location: Chino, CA
Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 3:28 am Post subject: Myriad Techniques Guthrie Has Mastered
When you think about all the techniques Guthrie has mastered and applies so effortlessly on the guitar, you just wonder, "How is this possible???"
Alternate Picking - Easily in the class of the uber pickers like DiMeola, Yngwie, Gilbert, Ray Gomez, Petrucci, etc.
Left-Hand Legato - Certainly comparable to Holdsworth, Connors, Greg Howe, Kotzen, etc.
Tapping - Can do the pianistic thing (distorted or clean) to 8-fingered rolls a la Jeff Watson and TJ Helmrich to the "standard" EVH-based tapping thing that Satch and Vai also use often, etc.
Pick and Fingers - He seems to have picked this up from Brett Garsed and uses this technique when going across strings along with hammer-ons and pull-offs and sounds much smoother than sweeping.
Sweeping - Guthrie doesn't sweep much but when he does, he's as clean of a sweep picker as any I have ever seen or heard. He likes to use arpeggio sweeps for accents to begin or end a run than using it constantly a la Gambale.
Chicken-Picking - He can chicken-pick with the best of 'em. He may not be a Brent Mason or a Danny Gatton or an Albert Lee or a Steve Travato, but he'd be able to go up there with the likes of those country legends and hold his ground.
Funk Strumming - I had never seen anybody strum so fast on the money and in the pocket. He can strum like drummers do drum rolls on a snare!
Chord Melodies/Fingerpicking - He can do the Joe Pass kind of thing and do walking bass lines with melodies on top like he's been only working on that for all of his life. Oh yeah, and he's studied Tuck Andress as well.
Slide - Haven't seen him do much of this, but he loves great slide players like Sonny Landreth and Derek Trucks. He did the Mississippi Delta Blues slide thing with his fingers on a Vigier fretless during the clinic and I thought that was the highlight of the night!
Bends - Guthrie will do some extreme bends and pull strings off the fingerboard without having to resort to using a Floyd Rose. His intonation on the bends are always spot on.
Vibrato - A rather overlooked aspect of Guthrie's playing due to his mind-boggling command of so many other techniques, but Guthrie's soulful phrasing coupled with his tasteful vibrato are as strong of a point in his playing as anything else.
Anything else I forget??? _________________ Ed Yoon
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Joined: 10 Sep 2004 Posts: 27 Location: Highcation; it's all the same really...
Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 9:44 am Post subject:
Dude, next time you see him, ask him to play 'Popcorn' - you know the tune?
Well, he plays it with the edge of his pick, off the neck by tapping the strings over and between the pickups. One handed, perfect intonation........ quite worrying really. _________________ I before E except after C? Man, what a weird society.....
Joined: 10 Sep 2004 Posts: 2783 Location: Chino, CA
Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 9:56 pm Post subject:
Duncan M wrote:
Dude, next time you see him, ask him to play 'Popcorn' - you know the tune?
Well, he plays it with the edge of his pick, off the neck by tapping the strings over and between the pickups. One handed, perfect intonation........ quite worrying really.
No, which tune is that? Nothing Guthrie would do would surprise me now, even though I'm sure it'll blow my mind.
Oh yeah, there are a few more things that I didn't mention on the earlier post. He's also stunningly good on applying bass techniques like slapping and popping on the guitar. And he also does these fingerpicking "rolls" that sound like a what a piano player would do. And he also taps on the pickups to produce drum sounds and things like that to sound llike a percussionist. And he has mastered the Boomerang to point where he can layer sounds to sound like a whole band or an orchestra - LIVE, off the cuff. And I just heard that he got himself a banjo! Watch out, Bela Fleck! _________________ Ed Yoon
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Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 10:00 pm Post subject:
But you know, Guthrie's greatest "technique" is in being able to transistion from all these different techniques into another real smoothly with a real smooth flow. You really see it and hear it when he's live with a band or playing to backing tracks. For many, that transition is tough and can make the flow of your playing sound choppy, but Guthrie weaves in and out so effortlessly that he makes it seem like second nature. _________________ Ed Yoon
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Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 12:10 am Post subject: Another Technique!
Oh yeah, and then there's this technique of spitting out harmonics:
_________________ Ed Yoon
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Joined: 10 Sep 2004 Posts: 27 Location: Highcation; it's all the same really...
Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 1:28 am Post subject:
alexkhan wrote:
Duncan M wrote:
Dude, next time you see him, ask him to play 'Popcorn' - you know the tune?
No, which tune is that?
Dang. I dunno, I'd probably have to sing it to ya!! I'm sure you'd know the tune if you heard it! It's a quirky, staccato type thing.
Also, look out for Guthrie using his cigarette lighter as an impromptu slide, or a la Bumblefoot to do some killer squeaks and whistles like the latter's thimble work. _________________ I before E except after C? Man, what a weird society.....
All of the above is really impressive, however it's Guthrie's playing over changes that separates him from the many technique endowed rock guitarists, IMO.
All of the above is really impressive, however it's Guthrie's playing over changes that separates him from the many technique endowed rock guitarists, IMO.
so true! guthrie is the only rock/shred guitarist i've seen or heard who could playreal jazz and play over them changes. now let's see if vai, satriani and other rock and shredmeisters do that!
Sorry to turn this away from Guthrie for a second, , but there are some other players who have rock chops and cool jazz changes, mind you Guthrie's amongst the very best of 'em!
I should probably have stuck this on the "Other Players" thread, but guys like Richard Hallebeek, Joel Rivard & Scott Jones are worth a listen for that kind of "shred with changes" style. None are better than Guthrie, though, who is also the bluesiest (with the exception of possibly Scott Henderson) at it.
even with all those techniques at his command, he is always tasteful and uses each technique to great effect, plus his compositions (at least the ones I heard from the DVD) are always interesting. That sweep/tapping run at the end of Wonderful Slippery Thing just kills me....he just knows when to whip that stuff out and stun the audience.
I should probably have stuck this on the "Other Players" thread, but guys like Richard Hallebeek, Joel Rivard & Scott Jones are worth a listen for that kind of "shred with changes" style. None are better than Guthrie, though, who is also the bluesiest (with the exception of possibly Scott Henderson) at it.
I bought Richard's new album, with Shawn Lane and Brett Garsed.....fantastic guitar player...great technique but those songs just bored the hell out of me in most parts. It sounded too Holdsworth-esque....and I can't stand synth axe solos sometimes. He's an incredible guitar player though.
Joined: 10 Sep 2004 Posts: 2783 Location: Chino, CA
Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 6:24 pm Post subject: Guthrie - Metal Maniac?!?!?
I only saw Guthrie play metal briefly at the Hollywood studio when bassist John Payne, who is also the producer, was going through a bunch of these Line 6 Amp Farm presets on the computer while Guthrie was plugged in. John was just going through trying to adjust and EQ the levels on the board properly or something of that sort and this over-the-top metal distortion preset came about. Guthrie didn't seem to particularly care for the sound as he was noodling and working on some tasteful lead lines at that moment, but when that death metal sound popped up, Guthrie started playing these hyper-speed metal riffs that was just exhilrating to watch! _________________ Ed Yoon
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Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2004 5:51 am Post subject:
Well, Guthrie's rhythm playing and his sense of groove and mastery over time is also easy to overlook. The jazz comping he does on the Fellowship DVD is amongst the most tasteful and one of the most rhythmically interesting things I've heard in a long time from any guitarist. You start looking at all these different aspects of every little detail of what he's doing and he does all of them so exceptionally well! _________________ Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
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Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
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Sorry to turn this away from Guthrie for a second, , but there are some other players who have rock chops and cool jazz changes, mind you Guthrie's amongst the very best of 'em!
I should probably have stuck this on the "Other Players" thread, but guys like Richard Hallebeek, Joel Rivard & Scott Jones are worth a listen for that kind of "shred with changes" style. None are better than Guthrie, though, who is also the bluesiest (with the exception of possibly Scott Henderson) at it.
i'm sure there are others who could do shred with changes. i've heard a few of those names but haven't heard any of their stuff. i've seen others who have the shred chops try jazz, but they just don't sound right.
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guthrie is the only rock/shred guitarist i've seen or heard who could play
, but there 