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Old 09-28-2014, 12:08 PM
KarlK KarlK is offline
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Default Ryan Adam Techniques-Pickless Strum-A&D Chord Fingering

I thought the AGF might like to see this close in view of Ryan Adams signature strumming methods and left hand technique (on what appears to be a Martin Sunburst, minus the pickguard?), covering the Grateful Dead's "Wharf Rat."

Opening monologue is interesting, song begins at 0:40.

The pickless strumming technique uses both a full sweep and a thumb, with individual notes attacked with thumb and index finger together. I have always been impressed with his ability to maintain a consistent volume and projection with this approach; it's a lot more difficult than it looks.

The other interesting aspect of this playing, for me, is the fingering of Asus2, Emin, and D chords. which frees up the index finger to do the hammers and pulls essential to give the song its distinctive melodic riff between the lines of the verse.

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Old 09-28-2014, 03:15 PM
Pixelfergus Pixelfergus is offline
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wow very cool, I wondered how he got that sound. He certainly has
an instantly recognizable style, thanks for sharing this
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Old 09-28-2014, 06:03 PM
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tdrake tdrake is offline
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Wow, thanks for that.

His last couple albums have left me a little flat, but whenever you stumble across something like this -- just his voice and a guitar in some random context -- he still utterly floors me.

td
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Old 09-28-2014, 06:46 PM
rickwaugh rickwaugh is offline
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Killer voice. It's funny, I have always been better at strumming with my hand like that than with a pick. You can do way more stuff, and have better control. I use a thumbpick now, which is even harder to get a good tone from while strumming.

The different chord fingerings are something you should always think about. There's no "right" way to play a chord, it all depends on the context of the song, and changing them up often means you can do something much better.
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Old 09-28-2014, 07:37 PM
mr. beaumont mr. beaumont is offline
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Never thought anything of him til I watched that (big Dead fan). Good stuff.
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Old 09-29-2014, 05:19 PM
starr starr is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KarlK View Post
(on what appears to be a Martin Sunburst, minus the pickguard?)
I believe it's a Bedell Coffeehouse Dreadnought.
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Old 09-29-2014, 09:08 PM
KarlK KarlK is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by starr View Post
I believe it's a Bedell Coffeehouse Dreadnought.
Yes, that's right -- you can tell by the rosette.

It's odd for him to play such a new guitar -- acoustically he's a vintage Gibson, Harmony guy.

This vid puts the Bedell through its paces.

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