Just curious how many of you actually do the whole guitar slapping, tuner tweaking (thinking of Passion Flower by Jon Gomm..), half-capo use, harp harmonics tricks etc a lot of these modern players are doing? Personally... I do a few (badly performed) flamenco hand techniques, I do the alternating thumb thing, and I like to sing along whilst fingerpicking (like Lindsey Buckingham's "Big Love" acoustic version). I really just wondered... is it only these "advanced" acoustic players that are doing all those other things?
Hand on heart.. a few of those types of pieces I love, but a whole album-full is a hard swallow (and I think can sound very "same-y"). I much prefer the whole singer-songwriter thing. And I love listening to tunes with alternate tunings on the guitar, but I'm too big a scaredy-cat to give it a proper go!
I like Ewan Dobson's stuff but even when watching it on YouTube, I must admit I was dying to hear a bit of vocals chucked in there.. the exception to this rule is Tommy Emmanuel whose guitar playing I rarely tire of listening to.
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I see it in the same light as the over-use of loop pedals - I appreciate the artistry of people who do it very well but when it's too central a part of the piece it can make for some very tedious music imo.
My favourite instance will always be this
It can sound amazing, and sometimes does. Very, very few people seem to be able to do it and retain a real musical element. It ends up as pure showmanship, whereas good music is something that sounds good.
I think there is a huge amount of difference to be had between watching a YT video, or live performance vs listening to the same thing without the visual aspect.
With a lot of the percussive acoustic stuff I think once the visual aspect is lost, the interest wains quickly.
I can't help about the shape I'm in, I can't sing I ain't pretty and my legs are thin
But don't ask me what I think of you, I might not give the answer that you want me to
I thought it was only me who thought this!
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I just think that most of the examples of the resulting music that gets made that way doesn't really move me or appeal to me.
To be honest I have a similar reaction to solo finger style arrangements of pretty much anything - the technical challenge of playing the baseline, melody and vocal line, and some percussion isn't lost on me, I just think I'd enjoy the performance more if the hundreds of hours of technique development had gone into singing lessons and just performing the song :-)
Go here to see what I mean...
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I like the slapped harmonics as used by Michael Hedges ( but I've never really pursued it as a technique) and the aggressive Bert Jansch style of plucking the strings so they slap against the fretboard, such as on Black Waterside.
The only time I slap the strings is when I've got the Bass out.
The techniques I tend to work on are basics like alternate thumb which I've always found difficult and string skipping with plectrum when trying Bluegrass style melodies/pieces. Sometimes I'll play Bach with a plectrum as an exercise.
The other thing with finger style on steel strings is trying to get a good tone out of the high E and B strings, as they can sound a bit thin when using nails or fingertips.
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Interesting because I think his technique in the video is the only way of achieving that balance of driving bass with higher string fills. Just using thumb or thumbpick is unlikely (but perhaps not impossible) to give the same degree of drive. I use a thumbpick most the time, a Herco Flat-thumbpick, but I would still hold it between thumb and forefinger hybrid-style to achieve what he is doing in that vid.
It's a very useable technique but not one I think of as having anything to do with the slapping style.
Fyi I don't even use a thumb pick. Nether does Tommy Emmanuel. The difference is.. he can play the guitar
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Tommy who?
Oh, you mean this fella......