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#1
09-18-2014, 09:15 AM
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Questions about Pluck and Chuck guitar technique
Hey Acoustic Guitar People,
about a year and a half ago I started working on a youtube series for guitar techniques that I called 'pluck and chuck' techniques. I'm going further into the work and I want to see if I can get some more ideas from the community before I go forward. No need to reinvent the wheel, right? I'm not totally sure where the term 'pluck and chuck' came from, but I'm fairly certain I didn't come up with it. I'm also fairly certain not many people use that term, but I think it describes the technique very well. Since the 70's singer-songwriters especially have been using thumb slaps and flicks to get percussive effects on the guitar, and as the years have gone on the techniques have become more advanced. Some of the most advanced examples that I know of are in these videos... Sungha Jung - Magic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CALrMuIfJu8 John Mayer 3x5 (the technique comes in around :52 and gets gnastier as time goes on...) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pvx__tYZ0I Ben Howard - Further Away https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ITHG--QRBg It's similar to frailing banjo, but the techniques are applied a little more to mainstream styles so the vocabulary is different. Anyway, I hope that helps you get the idea of what I'm thinking of... So now for my questions... #1; What are the earliest songs to use this technique? The earliest examples of the thumb slap/flick technique (which I call the chuck for short) is Kenny Loggins "Return to Pooh Corner" but if I can find earlier things I'd be thrilled. My suspicion is that some pop artists took the technique from frailing banjo artists, but I'm trying to trace the the actual lineage of the technique to its earliest roots. Any leads would help. link to the Kenny Loggins song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzW3rb57Ks0 #2 What are some songs that actually use this? For the first part of the YouTube series I literally scrounged every song I could find anywhere that used this technique. Now I've started to find a few more, but as many as I can find and catalog I would be grateful for. If you know any songs that you think are "pluck and chuck songs" just let me know the title and the artist and I'd be eternally grateful. #3 In my view, the most important fundamental techniques in this style, as distinct from other kinds of fingerstyle guitar are... -The percussive thumb slap -The flick -The chuck (which is a simultaneous thumb slap/flick) -The funk bass thumb slap (lets you play a note while still sounding like a thumb slap) -The bass heel (might want another name for it later, but you'll see in the Sungha Jung video that he is is using the heel of his hand to sound like a bass drum) the key is that all these techniques keep your hand near the sound hole so that you are directly integrating them with fingerstyle playing. To me, this is different from a lot of the other percussive guitar styles going on right now. Take Andy McKee for example; I feel like Rylynn is a 'pluck and chuck' song since he's using the thumb slap but pretty much playing fingerpicking stuff, where "Drifting" is a lot more drum hits and tapping so it doesn't quite fit the bill I'm looking for. I'm starting development on the advanced pluck and chuck series and I want it to be as good as possible, so I'm hoping I can get some knowledge from outside of my normal circles to make sure I'm covering as many bases as possible. Thanks in advance for whatever ideas you may share, Peace, Jon Michael Swift 
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#2
09-18-2014, 10:10 AM
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I've read that John Martyn was one of the first to use this technique, not sure if that is first to use it on a recording though.
I have a feeling the technique probably can't be traced back to a single player, more a place, and that would probably be Les Cousins.
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#3
09-19-2014, 07:50 AM
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The late Bob Brozman, notable slide player and musicologist, said that if you study "World" music you realize that people all over the planet have used stringed instruments as drums while playing.
I imagine it would be very hard to trace the roots of this. I admit I don't care for the technique, but maybe it's just a case of an old dog being daunted by new tricks. I have enough problems with jazz chords and standard tuning.
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#4
09-19-2014, 08:17 AM
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Hi JMS...
First of all, Hello and Welcome to the Forum! Glad you joined and jumped in with a thread. There is one technique which is quite a bit 'heartier' sounding where one drives the nails through the strings and the palm mutes right behind it (as opposed to a drop mute which some of your YouTube examples feature). The driven mute is more solid and less metallic since it doesn't cause strings to hit frets producing the metallic sound of the dropped thumb of Sungha Jung, for example. There are tons of really great rhythmic players 'out there' who would not fit into the tapping community at all. They use mutes, palm mutes, finger/thumb drops to supply the drum beat and increase the drive of a piece. They are just playing Brown Eyed Girl, California Dreamin, Wonderful Tonight, Margaritaville and other covers with a lot more drive than they used to. The results are similar...techniques vary a lot. As a guitar player and teacher, my observation is they are often producing their rhythms quite different from other equally talented players who use muting techniques. A finger style player will often get equally good results as the guy who uses a flat pick. A player like Tommy Emmanuel can produce them several ways (and does).
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Baby #1.1 Baby #1.2 Baby #02 Baby #03 Baby #04 Baby #05 Larry's songs... …Just because you've argued someone into silence doesn't mean you have convinced them…
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#5
09-19-2014, 09:14 AM
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#6
09-19-2014, 10:11 AM
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Not where I can video one right now - we are prepping for a month long trip and tied up. If I find time, I'll do an iPhone recording…no promises.
__________________
Baby #1.1 Baby #1.2 Baby #02 Baby #03 Baby #04 Baby #05 Larry's songs... …Just because you've argued someone into silence doesn't mean you have convinced them…
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#7
09-19-2014, 03:09 PM
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welcome indeed Jon.
hey gang, this is my teacher. I started a thread about him a couple weeks ago. I super highly recommend checking out his website, videos, lessons, and original and cover songs. the Pluck and Chuck technique that he teaches is really really cool. he is imho an absolutely superb stellar teacher of many other techniques too. I also highly recommend taking lessons from him. this guy is so talented and so gifted in so many ways...........playing, teaching, singing, musicianship........ he knows a lot about a lot of things he can help you to become a better musician. he knows a lot about the mechanics of how we learn, psychologically, and physically. and he is familiar with the Alexander technique. honestly, I can see Jon starting a music academy someday. watch his series of tutorial videos on the Pluck and Chuck technique. he's already designed a curriculum. and he is working on more series. and advanced Pluck and Chuck series, and a Raga Blues series. disclaimer: I stand to benefit financially zero from any of this. my wish is only that Jon gets noticed, for his good. and I am telling you, if you would check him out, he may do a ton of good for many of us. I just decided that I am going to copy and paste this in my thread about Jon from a couple weeks ago. and include a link to Jon's thread here. peace guys, Chas
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#8
09-19-2014, 07:55 PM
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| Tags |
| new fingerstyle pieces, percussive guitar, sungha jung, tommy emmanuel, youtube |
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