« December 2007 | Main | February 2008 »
My review of Gustavo Assis-Brasil's instructional book Hybrid Picking for Guitar has been posted at Modern Guitars Magazine.
Review: Gustavo Assis-Brasil - Hybrid Picking for Guitar
UPDATE 1/29/08: I've republished my review below.
"Hybrid Picking" is a technique that combines the 2 most common methods of playing the guitar - finger picking and flat picking. Using a flat pick alone is a great technique, but large interval skips can be difficult, and you can't play all the notes of a chord at the same time. With finger picking, you can execute these intervallic leaps and chordal ideas with ease, but you lose the ability to perform many common flat picking techniques (funk rhythms, alternate picking, etc). By combining the techniques you get the best of both worlds. Most flat-picking guitarists use some amount of hybrid picking, maybe without even realizing it. You may not consider yourself a "hybrid picker", but how many times have you grabbed all the notes of a chord using the pick and your right hand fingers? Ever pick a note then pluck another with a right hand finger in the middle of a line? Technically, you're hybrid picking. While it's quite common for country guitarists to use hybrid picking, many rock, jazz, and fusion players use the technique as well (personally, I was bitten by the hybrid picking bug back in the early '90s after seeing rock fusion great Brett Garsed use the technique for the first time).
With his self-published instructional book Hybrid Picking for Guitar, jazz guitarist and hybrid picking guru Gustavo Assis-Brasil lays out a full curriculum for developing this technique that is applicable to both beginning and advanced hybrid pickers. A fine player with numerous recording credits, Assis-Brasil is the director of the Jazz and Contemporary Music department of the Cambridge School of Weston, and a Berklee College of Music grad.
The book is broken down into 4 sections: "Hybrid Picking Exercises," "Lines," "Compositions," and "Charts". The bulk of the book's material is contained in the "Hybrid Picking Exercises" and "Lines" sections. The "Compositions" section features seven complete songs, and the "Charts" section at the end is essentially an appendix showing pick/finger permutations for both chordal and single note applications. A CD is also included containing recorded examples of everything from the "Lines" and "Compositions" sections.
Note: For the purposes of this review, the picking hand will be referred to as the right hand throughout.
After an introduction that gives general tips for developing proper hybrid picking technique (such as nail care and picking angles), the "Hybrid Picking Exercises" section focuses on building your technique from the ground up. In general, a hybrid picked phrase involves picking a note with a flat-pick, then using a right hand finger to pluck another note, usually on another string. As this first section of the book demonstrates, there are countless variations on this approach. These early lessons are geared towards building strength and independence in the your right hand fingers. To that end, several of the exercises include alternate right hand fingering instructions that omit the pick entirely. Many of the examples in this section use only open strings as well so the focus stays squarely on what your right hand is doing. Every possible combination of pick, second, third, and fourth finger is covered here, so it's a pretty intense workout program. Obviously you can just take bits and pieces from this section if you prefer. If you're just looking to throw your second and third fingers into the mix once in a while, there are exercises here to help you develop that. If you're looking to get more advanced, you can certainly do that too. Hybrid picking is a technique that you can use as much or as little of as you want.
Now comes the fun stuff. The "Lines" section concentrates on putting your new-found hybrid picking prowess to good musical use. Chock full of great jazz and fusion lines, this section is the real meat-and-potatoes of Hybrid Picking for Guitar. One of the great advantages of hybrid-picking is the ease at which one can execute wide interval jumps. That's certainly reflected in the musical examples Assis-Brasil presents here. Some of these lines, such as examples 9 and 24, are reminiscent of Carl Verheyen's angular, intervallic approach. There are plenty of odd meter and atonal examples as well. Overall there's a wealth of material in this part of the book that will keep even an advanced player busy for some time.
Assis-Brasil also includes seven fully transcribed, original compositions in Hybrid Picking For Guitar. The songs represent a wide variety styles and hybrid picking approaches to demonstrate the versatility of the technique. In "Sem Partidas," for example, Assis-Brasil uses hybrid picking in a chrodal jazz context. "Jaywalker" on the other hand is a great, fast country tune that relies mainly on single note lines. "Next Week", with it's upbeat mood and liberal use of open strings, is a real standout as well (Assis-Brasil also recorded this song with his band Dig Trio on their self-titled studio release).
Hybrid Picking for Guitar is to hybrid picking what Ted Greene's classic Chord Chemistry is to chord voicings. The point being it's as much a reference tool as it is an an instructional one. Long after you're comfortable with the technique, you'll be combing it's pages for new ideas and approaches. While the musical examples are mainly jazz-oriented, guitarists of all styles can vastly improve their hybrid picking technique by using this book.
Guitar Jam Daily has posted part one of an interview with session ace/solo artist Carl Verheyen for their Jamcast feature. In the interview, conducted by Ken Volpe, Verheyen discusses his early influences and much more.
Artist Interview: Carl Verheyen on The Jamcast - Session 1
NOTE: Verheyen also has a great article on improvising in the Feb 2008 issue of Guitar Player Magazine.
The Guitar Channel is giving away one copy of the Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007 DVD! This incredible 2-DVD set chronicling the marathon July 28 2007 concert features performances by Eric Clapton, John McLaughlin, Jeff Beck, John Mayer, Vince Gill, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, and many more. In addition to the performances, you'll find some great interviews and backstage footage as well.
To enter to win, simply send an email to [email protected] with the subject Crossroads DVD Giveaway. One winner will be chosen at random on January 31st 2008 and will be notified via email.
All About Jazz has a nice interview up with keyboardist T Lavitz. Lavitz discusses his new album School Of The Arts, his work with guitarist Steve Morse, and much more.
InnerViewWorld has a nice 3-part video interview up with guitarist Mike Stern. All 3 parts are in .mov format. Topics discussed include his early days with Miles Davis, and his upcoming project with the Yellowjackets.
Paul Gilbert's new instrumental album will be called Silence Followed By A Deafening Roar. In Japan, the title will be Hoko which translates to "Roar". The Japanese release date is Jan 23rd, no word on release dates for other territories yet. Here is the album personnel:
Paul Gilbert: Guitar
Mike Szuter: Bass
Jeff Bowders: Drums
Emi Gilbert: B3 and Piano
Also, Gilbert will be making several NAMM show appearances, including a Saturday Jan 19th appearance at 12:30pm at the Marshall booth, where he will be performing some songs from the new album. Gilbert's other NAMM show appearances will be:
An autograph session for Tortex Picks at the Jim Dunlop booth at 11am on Sat. Jan. 19.
An autograph session for Ibanez Guitars at the Hoshino booth at 3pm on Saturday, Jan. 19th
Sitting in with Joe Satriani at his JS guitar anniversary concert, Saturday night. (Venue TBA)
An autograph session for my Instructional DVDs at the Alfred Publishing booth on Sunday, Jan. 20th at noon
I'll be attending the NAMM show this year (more on that later), so I'm pretty psyched to be able to see Paul show off some of his new tunes.
There's a review of John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension - Official Pirate at All About Jazz. This download-only album is available through Abstract Logix Digital Downloads.
Review: John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension - Official Pirate
