Robert Fripp Cross Picking Guitar Technique Lesson
Please watch video above for detailed info:
Hi Guys,
Just a short blog to explain what I mean by employing the “Down Down Up” guitar picking technique.
If we look at the patten below we can see the “Down Down Up” Picking pattern:
This is a very useful picking pattern/device that will hold you in good stead: But the key is to employ it sparingly.
Why is this?
This is because sometimes the rhythms we see and sometimes feel can be different than our natural inclinations when picking/plucking the strings.
So, if we look below we will see that the picking hand/subconcious wants to pluck a group of 5 notes and 3 notes to make up the 4 and 4 groups of 16th notes.
This is because of the “Crossing” of the strings, the order of the notes or the way the actual groups of notes on the guitar fingerboard work out:
EXAMPLE:
OR:
Notation Example:
PICKING STROKES:
The other reason to put this “Down Down Up” into what would otherwise be an alternate picking pattern is because:
“Sometimes where you have adown stroke you may want an upstroke to complete the phrase”.
This can be because of one note that has to be played on a down or upstroke specifically otherwise the whole passage is awkward to play. So, to execute “Down Down Up” for that one part makes sense.
FULL EXERCISE:
Below, is the full exercise that deliberately mixesup“Down Down Up” and “Down up” Alternate Picking”. It’s only an exercise [Larks Tongues in Aspic III Style] but, hopefully it gets the point across.
Exercise:
Conclusion:
This technique can also be found in Al Di Meola’s REH video from the 1980’s. Al di Meola employs this for chordal/Arpggeio Picking, [as does Fripp sometimes].
Again, if used sparingly this right hand picking pattern/technique is absolutely essential for this type of art/creative style guitar music.
Lastly, picking one note per string is way more difficult and precise than plucking standard 3 notes per string as there’s so much string crossing going on.
Many of you have asked me to publish more pages from the unpublished book on intervallic studies by jazz guitar legend Pat Martino:
Here are some excerpts/pages from the book that you might find interesting/insightful and useful:
SCALES:
Firstly, we see Pats thoughts on the many scales available to create his intervallic studies:[He seems to have had an impressive encyclopaedic knowledge ofscales].
Here, Pat lays out the main/commonly used scales to his preferred/choice of harmony [inversions/voicing’s]
Here, his harmonicexpansion is continued: Again, scale to harmony [chord voicing’s].
This page demonstrates once again, scales and harmony with possibilities and personal choices. It’s interesting to see Pats chord voicing’s available for development with his unique intervallic concept:
[It presenst a unique glimpse into Pat’s theoretical outlook, considerations and harmonic outlook].
Full Study: The Melodic minor scale EXAMPLE:
Now, let’s take a complete study. Here is the first one of the melodic minor set :
Pat’s studies to be completed:
Towards the end of the book we find that Pat was either still working on the book or he didn’t have time to complete [in all 12 keys] everything that was in his mind.
Here is an Example:
Although incomplete, here we see Pat preparing studies for the Spanish Gypsy scale, with the key points of string order and correct guitar fingering:
LAST EXAMPLE: FULL STUDY
Lastly, we have a full study with the Hungarian minor scale: Once again notice the string order and Pat’s choice/recommended guitar fingering.
IN CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, these are some of the important pages of the book, although there are lots more studies of interest and some more interesting pages [chords/scales] that I will publish in a later blog. But, this is the main core for those interested.
Judging by this book, although, Pat was an amazing jazz guitarist/composer and improviser he also seems to have been a great theoretician and super creative individual with a vast knowledge of music and not just jazz:
Finally, I would like to say a big thanks to Mark Koch for sending me the book and making all of this possible.
