WAYLON PLUS TELE AND PHASE SHIFTER-- "LONESOME, ON'RY AND MEAN"

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DOCUMENT WATSON

Here's an excerpt from a Japanese website. I'm a big fan of Document Watson's playing, too.


"The following are the top ten countries guitarist to hear in some countries playing skills.

1. Chet Atkins

2. Merle Travis

3. Jerry Reed

4.罗伊克拉克

5. Hank Garland

6. Albert Lee

7. Mei Li Kate 100

8. Document Watson

9.诺曼布莱克

10. Tony Rice

ClassicElectric guitar sound of country music is characterized by the classic single-coil guitar sound pickup, usually the fender or fender telecaster pickups, and the fair has been distorted to enlarge the employment of the most frequent, a fender dual 100-watt amplifier reverberation."
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GLEN CAMPBELL, "LITTLE DOLL"

Here's more early Glen, a cheesy song and a cheesy guitar (Teisco Del Rey), but there's nothing cheesy about his solo.

(I poached this from Marc O'Hara's guitar blog, uniqueguitar.blogspot.com/)
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"HANK'S DREAM" BY THE SMOKIN' 45's

WARNING! THIS AUDIO IS PAINFULLY DISTORTED!

I'm posting it, regardless, because the guitarist (Dusty Ciggaar, from the Netherlands) has copped these Hank Garland licks so well. I suggest turning your speakers down pretty low, and watching his left hand for some clues about how Hank Garland played doublestops and moved around the neck. I haven't checked the original version to see if it's note-for-note, but he's definitely got the flavor. It's one of those Hank things where he seems to be playing rockabilly, hillbilly boogie, and western swing all at the same time. Hank Garland was one of the players who kept reminding us that all these styles are closely related, and it's nice to see that young pickers are still stealing from the master.

note-- the Garland family have been leaving very kind comments on this blog, and they've passed along the link to this clip of the Smokin' 45's. It's a rehearsal, and although the visual of Dusty's playing is not ideal, the sound is a little less distorted than on the live clip.

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GRADY MARTIN, "Y'ALL COME" WITH ARLIE DUFF AND RED FOLEY'S BAND

There's precious little Grady Martin on this clip, unfortunately. We only get a brief glimpse of him standing up to play a hot solo on what appears to be a Bigsby doubleneck, before the camera cuts away to a closeup of Arlie Duff's shoes. (The shoes are pretty striking, it must be said.) Mostly, when we see Grady, he's not soloing, and when he's soloing, we don't see him. Still, any footage of him is essential.
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LEFTY FRIZZELL, "IF YOU'VE GOT THE MONEY" AND "SAGINAW"

I have no idea who the guitar picker is here. It might be two different guys, and it might even be lip-synching-- either way, good guitar playing.
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MERLE AS A BUCKAROO

Here's a little trivia-- I'd heard that Merle Haggard suggested the name "Buckaroos" for Buck Owens's band, but I didn't know there was a story behind it. Thanks to Alvin Blaine on the steel guitar forum, I can pass along the story to you. Merle played bass with Buck for a while, and Buck bought matching outfits for the band. When Merle tried his on, with the fringe cowhide jacket, he said, "What are we, some fuckin' Buckaroos?"
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GRADY MARTIN ON 78, "HOT LIPS"

The guitar playing on this corny arrangement is pretty hot-- but if you can't take tinny sound, and warped vinyl warbling, you might want to move along to the next post.
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JUNE CARTER LEAVES US ALL IN THE DUST

Johnny Cash is great, of course, but watch this clip where June Carter leaves him in the dust. Damn, June-- she really steals this song. I love the line where she's "dancin' on a pony keg." (That can't be easy to do-)
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LLOYD GREEN WITH FARON YOUNG, 1957

Here's another moment for the Lloyd Green disciples listening in. It's interesting to see how Lloyd sounded in an older style than we tend to associate with his mature work. I like how it's very, very musical, sort of a look ahead to the sixties which still fits the fifties vibe.
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JAMES BURTON, WITH THE SHINDOGS AND PATTY DUKE, "I'M HENRY THE VIIITH I AM"

James plays a hot solo here, a great example of how he could take a pretty stale song and breathe some life into it with his twangy rock and roll sound. Burton's country playing is generally my favorite stuff by him, but it's always interesting to see how he approaches a melody, no matter how generic the track is otherwise. Burton's work from this period shows how he was a master of the same skill I associate with Nokie Edwards from the Ventures-- the ability to take virtually any tune and attack it from a surf/trash/twang perspective.
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GENE MOLES, UNSUNG PICKER, WITH RED SIMPSON, "DIESEL SMOKE AND DANGEROUS CURVES"

There's plenty of twang from the unsung Gene Moles, on this Red Simpson trucking cut. It may be a Mosrite he's playing here; Moles was the quality control man at Mosrite. (Incidentally, Mosrite and Moles were both based in Bakersfield. I found Gene Moles's name on an early Merle Haggard personnel credit while I was researching Roy Nichols. Apparently Moles also hung out with Nokie Edwards of the Ventures; obviously I need to investigate Gene's work further!)
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ROY NICHOLS, "MAMA TRIED," 1978

Here's a rare live clip of Merle Haggard in 1978. Roy Nichols plays his classic intro lick, and the solo more or less like the original, but then tears into a nifty three-part (with Merle and the saxophonist) western swing version of the melody. (Most likely this was arranged by Eldon Shamblin, visible in the clip.) It's an interesting melding of Merle's earlier Bakersfield style with his Bob Wills influence.
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ROY NICHOLS, "WORKINGMAN'S BLUES," PLUS A BONUS-- TINY MOORE

Here, finally, is some earlier Roy Nichols than I've previously posted. You can buy this clip on the great shoutfactory Haggard dvd "Legendary Performances." (There's not nearly enough Roy on there for my taste, but that's mainly because I want to hear Roy playing five minute solos on every tune. Also, a few clips have Merle on shows without the Strangers. The house bands are still pretty hot, though.)

Here's one from the great period where Roy was still getting a lot of solo space, but you also had Tiny Moore on electric mandolin. (Tiny sounds like he's using phase shifter on this clip-- perhaps everyone won't consider that a bonus, but it sure doesn't stop him from picking a hot solo.)

Note for gear fanatics-- Roy has something that looks like a Charlie Christian pickup in the neck position on his Tele. Should you care? Only you know the answer to that.

WAIT AROUND FOR THE ENDING-- Roy gets in a few more bends at the tag.
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WAYLON, "MENTAL REVENGE"

Here's a great but obscure Mel Tillis song, with Waylon picking a few Tele licks.
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PHIL BAUGH ON MOSRITE WITH FUZZ, GLEN CAMPBELL PICKING ACTUAL COUNTRY MUSIC

Here's a real oddity-- an artifact from the pre-Cambrian Glen Campbell career, when he was picking some serious old-school country. Then you get Phil Baugh with a Mosrite doubleneck and fuzztone-- I like fuzztone in general, but it's a special treat when the hillbilly pickers break out the fuzz. It's always interesting to see what a country picker will do with fuzz, and Phil does a cool whammy bar trick that sounds like a truck revving up. Hot!
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JAMES BURTON FEATURE ON SHINDIG

I would guess there's lots of James Burton pickin' on old Shindig clips. I haven't been able to find much more than this one so far, though.
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UNSUNG PICKERS- GENE SLONE W/DON GIBSON

Excellent solo and fills by Gene Slone. I saw a post where some know-it-all wrote that Hank Garland would have played a better solo, but he guessed Gene Slone did all right. What a bunch of horseshit! No-one digs Hank Garland more than I do; he was arguably the best Nashville guitar picker ever. That doesn't take anything away from Slone's great solo here-- interestingly, he plays a bunch of Hank Garland/Grady Martin single-note fills early on, then plays a solo with pedal steel-like phrasing and tone. The fills later in the song sound like they could be a steel player-- but I wouldn't be surprised to find that it's Slone again. (note for non-players-- it's not easy to get that steel sound on guitar.) It's fun to obsess about the legends like Garland and Martin, and search around for their work, but it's important to remember that for every hot A-list guy, there were hundreds of great pickers yapping at their heels. The fact that producers chose to use the same players on session after session doesn't mean there weren't tons of also-rans that could play "clean as country water," and I'm happy to learn from 'em-- in Nashville, a fourth string guy is often better than the first string in any normal town.
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"WILDWOOD FLOWER," CHET ATKINS

The usual jaw-dropping (yet still mild-mannered) arrangement by the great Chet Atkins. It's interesting to compare this to Maybelle Carter's classic version.

karlstraubguitar.blogspot.com/2009/11/wildwood-flower-maybelle-carter.html
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LLOYD GREEN, WITH CHARLEY PRIDE (LAWRENCE WELK SHOW)

"Just Between You and Me," a honky-tonk weeper (but with some bounce to it!), was a memorable cut on the famous Panther Hall live album. Here's a version from a couple years earlier, with the great Lloyd Green joining Charley Pride on the Lawrence Welk show.
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CLIFF GALLUP SOLO, RECREATED BY ESTONIAN ROCKABILLY GUITARIST ARTUR SKROPNIK

Artur Skropnik plays this Cliff Gallup solo beautifully in this clip. The original solo, from Gene Vincent's version of pop chestnut "Peg O' My Heart," eloquently illustrates the solution to a problem I've been struggling with for years. Apparently, if I had just taken the time to learn this Cliff Gallup solo, I would have figured out the solution.

The problem-- how to use double stops to outline chord changes. I've mostly clung to the major/minor thirds method, which constantly paints me into a corner-- using only thirds, you often wind up with a harmonized line that doesn't outline the chord too well. Often it won't sound "wrong," exactly, but just kind of bland in a context including seventh chords and other extensions. The solution? Mix your thirds with sixths, and throw in some triple/quadruple stops too when you can fit them.

There's more to it than that, but that is enough to give me some ideas. Here's a link to Artur's transcription of the solo. (I believe his transcription omits his pickup entry.) Thanks, Artur!

www.rockabillybash.com/article.php?id=118
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JIMMY BRYANT, (I THINK!) WITH TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD, "SHOTGUN BOOGIE"

I'm not sure this is Jimmy Bryant, but it sure sounds like him back there, filling around Ernie's vocal. If you look close, you can see a guy who looks like Jimmy, playing what looks like a Telecaster. I'm not sure this evidence would stand up in court, but Jimmy or no Jimmy, there's great playing here. I hear a snippet of what sounds like Speedy in there too.
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GRADY MARTIN, "FREIGHT TRAIN BOOGIE," WITH RED FOLEY

Grady Martin's on a ton of records, but this is the first clip I ever saw where you can actually see him play. He plays a hot hillbilly boogie figure around :37, (notated here) and danged if he isn't playing it on a Bigsby double-neck. A few nice licks at the top really nail that fifties country guitar sound, and he plays some nice backup double-stop figures at 1:08.

If anyone else has found any other Grady Martin clips, let me know!
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LEON RHODES WITH ERNEST TUBB, "DRIVING NAILS IN MY COFFIN"

Typically great fills from Leon Rhodes, with solo around :57. Great Emmons solo too!
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JIMMY BRYANT AND SPEEDY WEST, "FLYIN' HIGH"

Here's the great Jimmy Bryant, playing a tune that was eventually recorded as "Cotton Pickin'". This live version from TV is arguably not as hot as the studio version, but who cares? It's still killer, and although the kinescope is pretty grainy, you get some chances to see Jimmy's technique up close. It's amazing how much of the soloing is up above the 12th fret-- it really jumps out at you sonically in that register.

Bonus-- you get to see the interaction between Jimmy and Speedy-- Bryant does a few goofy Speedy-esque moves while comping. I never noticed anything like this on the studio stuff; maybe on the show Bryant got more into the clowning and upmanship.

thanks to Howard Parker for sending this; he says there's more of it so I'll investigate and keep you posted.
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HOT COUNTRY LICK IN E

This lick spans four positions (every one but E position) and uses bends and slides. The key element here is the use of half-step grace note slides to give your picking hand a break. This can be used to get into a new position, but I think the most significant advantage to using these slides is to take some of the pressure off your picking hand; this helps you with speed because you don't have to work as hard. (The rock way to do this is to use lots of hammers and pulloffs-- this works in country too, but the sliding technique sounds a little hipper to my ears. (It's also common in jazz guitar.)

I came up with this lick while working with Doug Seven's excellent "modern" country guitar instructional material, available from his site sizzlingguitarlicks.com/.

I think Doug got this idea from Brent Mason and others.

At some point I'm planning to put up video of me playing in this vein, but in the meantime here's the notation.
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JOE MAPHIS WITH WANDA JACKSON, "HARD-HEADED WOMAN"

Joe Maphis takes a hot break here; although Joe was one of the first country pickers to figure out how to transfer fiddle tunes to electric guitar (along with Jimmy Bryant), he was also one of the few "straight country" guys who fit in well with rockabilly, Grady Martin being another.

As an aside, I'll just mention it's refreshing to hear a woman say "you betcha" and then hear Joe Maphis's Mosrite next, rather than a bunch of phony soundbite politics.

THANKS, Howard Parker, for forwarding this.
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TRUCK DRIVER TELECASTER (DAVE DUDLEY, "COMIN' HOME")

Records like this are Telecaster twang ground zero. I need to pick up a good collection of Dave Dudley and his trucker country colleagues, if anyone has a suggestion--
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HANK GARLAND, ROCKABILLY SESSION

Here's an obscure rockabilly side, with hot solo and fills from Hank Garland. Gene Maltais's "Crazy Baby" is pretty boilerplate rockabilly, except for Garland's over-the-top playing. With players like Garland and Grady Martin, the true story of the work is not always on the hits.
(And speaking of Grady Martin-- I didn't do any web detective work to confirm the youtube claim that this track is Hank Garland. Hank could do just about anything, so it could be him, but it sure sounds a lot like Grady Martin to me. He had an idiosyncratic way of playing rockabilly that was very raunchy, but still somehow sounded country too. Martin sounded more country than most rockabilly players, but he had as much edge and rock and roll in his playing as any rockabilly specialist. If anyone cares enough to do some research, please let me know what you find about the identity of this guitarist.)
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HANK GARLAND TRANSCRIPTION BOOK, "VELVET GUITAR" ALBUM

Guitarist Mike Joiner has done guitar transcriptions from Hank Garland's "Velvet Guitar" album.

Hank was a true musician's musician-- aside from playing on countless Nashville country sessions, he made a handful of top-notch jazz recordings before a car accident in 1960 made it impossible for him to play professionally. Garland's "Jazz Winds from Another Direction" is his most celebrated jazz album, but the "Velvet Guitar" lp has some beautiful playing as well. This album, currently available as part of the "Move" two-disc collection, may have been originally promoted and packaged as a "mood music" type of record, but it's nonetheless excellent. It actually has one advantage over the more well-known "Jazz Winds;" Garland is virtually the whole show. Impeccable single-note lines alternate with hip double-stops and some of the sweetest chord melody playing I've ever heard.

I'm looking forward to spicing up my playing with as many of these Hank Garland licks as I can steal!


Mike's notation/tab book is in PDF form. Anyone interested can contact Mike Joiner at jazzguitarist27@yahoo.com.


Here's a sample from Mike's book. "Ed's Place" is a slow and swinging blues. The hammer-ons and pulloffs are a great example of how to use slurs to get a bluesy jazz flavor. Listen to the track here--

www.karlstraubmusic.com/2-03 Ed's Place.mp3

click on "MORE" to see track listing from Mike's book.

. The tracklisting is:

1. Secret Love
2. Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair)
3. Greensleeves
4. Tammy
5. Polka Dots And Moonbeams
6. Autumn Leaves
7. Like Someone In Love
8. Ain't Nothing Wrong With That, Baby
9. Blame It On My Youth
10. Ed's Place

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STEVE TROVATO, "TIGER RAG"

Steve Trovato is a real rarity-- a sophisticated player/educator who can play older styles with the right feel. I hear so many different influences in his playing-- Chet,
Albert Lee, Les Paul, Jimmy Bryant, Hank Garland, etc. etc. Beautiful stuff.


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HOT COUNTRY LICK IN G (D POSITION)

I got the idea for this lick while trying to steal some Nashville stuff from a Steve Trovato clip.

This lick will help you develop your ability to play out of D shapes. A lot of great country and blues licks come out of D shapes, but the D positions require a lot of stretching and shifting and they're tough to use. Inefficient though this position may be, don't neglect it! Its value lies in its special sound. The lick I have here can be played more easily in open G, or in its neighboring E position, but it sounds very different in a D position. That's because it uses a lot of the G string, giving you less of the thin B and E string sound. Of course, when you're going for that brittle twang tone, the B and high E are indispensable, but this position gives you more of a modern Nashville tone.

It's also a great pinky workout, and we all can use more of those.
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LEON RHODES GUITAR SOLO TRANSCRIPTION from "MY WINDOW FACES THE SOUTH," WILLIE WITH THE TROUBADOURS

Here's a cool artifact-- Willie Nelson sings Bob Wills's "My Window Faces the South" with the Texas Troubadours. That's about as Texas as you can get. Check out Leon Rhodes burning throughout--- lots of fast eighth-note runs and nice chord stabs behind the vocal, then a real workout of a solo. Another great opportunity to watch the technique of a master.

I have this solo transcribed below-- click on "MORE" to get to it, and you can click on the music to enlarge.

Most of the time with Ernest Tubb you get Leon's version of the Billy Byrd style. Tubb was very generous in giving space to his sidemen to stretch out, though, and here's a fascinating example of Leon in a lickety-split western swing setting. He starts down in an open G position, with Jimmy Bryant-esque fiddle-tune runs (throwing in a cool whole-tone lick!) and works his way up three octaves. "Window" is a great tune for improvising, because you get eight bars of G before the chords start moving into "rhythm changes" territory. When this happens, the chords move mighty fast, and Leon shifts into arpeggio mode. This is a common technique in this kind of music.

Check the tablature carefully-- some of these position choices had me scratching my head at first, but I watched the video and tried to play the notes exactly where Leon did, and eventually it made sense. In fact, in several cases, Leon's choice of fingerings and positions made it easier to play these lines.

IMPORTANT TIP ABOUT PLAYING FAST! Whenever I study the work of fast players, I almost always find interesting fingerings, use of positions, shifting techniques, etc. I think most fast players have spent a lot of time finding out efficient ways to move around the fingerboard. Players trying to play faster often focus too much on the right hand, not realizing that you have to plan out your left-hand moves on the fingerboard so that you know where you can go. If you're burning down the road in your hot rod, you can't pull over to ask directions.

Check Leon's right hand picking angle too-- keeping wrist relaxed, and experimenting with the angle of pick to string is important, but it won't help you if you don't know where the notes are. Good luck!

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WESTERN SWING CHORD MELODY VOICINGS

(Note-- I'm hoping to put some examples of this either in notation or maybe on a video at some point. I'm swamped with work for a while, but if anyone out there hounds me about it, I might get to it a little quicker.)

This approach is inspired by a quote from Lenny Breau to the effect that he mostly just used thirds and sevenths (guide tones) to harmonize melody lines. You have to have some theory and fretboard knowledge to make this work, but if you've been playing jazz changes for a while this method shouldn't be too hard for you. The way I'd been harmonizing melody lines for chord melody style felt a little clunky to me, and since I've been experimenting with this Lenny Breau system, it's really freed up my playing.

I thought I'd try doing this in a western swing setting, and I figured out some interesting things in the process.

When I was playing in more of a jazz style and using this system, I ran into some trouble when the melody note was either the third or the seventh of the chord. Doubling the melody note in the guide tones usually sounds bad to my ears, so I've tried putting other chord tones in to replace the note already in the melody. This works okay, but the obvious notes left over are the root and the fifth, and using these notes defeats the purpose somewhat of the guide tone approach. The genius of harmonizing with guide tones is that they outline the harmony while still giving you an open kind of sound. When you add roots and fifths, they add weight and density to the texture-- perfect for many musical styles, but for most kinds of jazz the result is a sluggish, cluttered feeling. When you're arranging a standard in chord melody this way, it's not a serious problem because the chord tones are not going to be thirds and sevenths all the time. Still, I couldn't wondering if there were some other options I should try.

When I started thinking in western swing terms, some interesting solutions popped up. I've noticed over the years that steel players like to use voicings that include whole step dissonance on adjacent strings. A fifth can be voiced right under a sixth, and likewise a ninth under a high third. Major sixth chords are also usually used where a jazz player might go with a major seventh. These sounds are characteristic of western swing.

When I tried voicing fifth and sixth under a third in the melody, and a ninth and third under a seventh, it worked pretty well. For dominant seventh chords, I still use guide tones as the harmony. For major type chords, I'll use thirds and sixths as my guide tones. (If the third is in the melody, I like to use sixth, root, third.)

If I'm playing jazz, I'll still run into trouble, I guess; since I usually walk a fine line between jazz and western swing, though, I'll probably start throwing in these western voicings and hope for the best.

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TRANSCRIBING AND TAB FOR COUNTRY GUITAR, ETC.

I can transcribe guitar parts from records for you. (Examples of my transcribing can be found on my Karl Straub Guitar blog, karlstraubguitar.blogspot.com/)
If you're looking for something you can't find online, I can transcribe to order for less than you'd probably pay for a lesson. My base price for a transcription is $30.00. This can vary depending on various elements. (note-- if you're interested in me writing western swing arrangements for you, here's an example I recorded. straubcountryguitar.blogspot.com/2009/08/panhandle-rag-straub-arrangement-for.html

CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
(Karl transcribed various instrument parts from several Warren Zevon recordings. He then arranged the parts for three horns.)

"Karl helped transcribe my most basic head arrangements into three perfectly harmonized horn parts for my performance fronting a thirteen piece band. There was only one run through just prior to the show and so the notation had to be correct, and it was. His experience as a musician playing in many different styles makes him especially easy to relate to conceptually and I would recommend him for any project requiring a keen ear and an accurate transcription."

David Kitchen

PRICING AND POLICIES

MORE EXPENSIVE

Complicated music, such as chord voicings on a jazz record, 3-part harmonized lines such as you'd find on a Bob Wills record, Chet Atkins fingerstyle arrangements, etc.
These kinds of things take a long time to transcribe. It also takes much longer if you want notation, as opposed to tablature. Notation includes rhythms, adding a lot of extra work. I can also provide a video clip of me demonstrating how to play the parts, or certain techniques. That takes a lot more time, of course.

LESS EXPENSIVE

Single-note solos and fills are easier to transcribe. It's also easier for me to transcribe using tab only, and not notating rhythms. I prefer notation myself, because it's more accurate than tab, but if you don't read notation or rhythms, I can do tab-only quicker for you. The tablature will tell you frets and strings, but you'll have to figure out the rhythms on your own.

BULK RATE

If you are interested in an ongoing service, like taking lessons, I may be able to offer a discount.

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT THE VALUE AND COST OF THIS WORK.

I've already had some customers tell me my prices are too high. Naturally, I understand the concept of "what the market will bear." If you honestly can't afford what I'm charging, please tell me that and we may be able to work something out. If you think I'm overcharging, please consider the following information.

If you take a guitar lesson with a qualified professional, you would very likely pay even more than my transcribing price for one lesson. If your teacher has to write down something he's figuring out by ear, that takes additional time. This is assuming you can find a teacher you trust to figure things out accurately.

Transcribing is not like raking leaves-- it's very complex work, and not everyone can do it. I have a music degree and years of experience teaching and performing many different styles. I think sometimes people have trouble thinking of musicians as qualified professionals who should be paid well. Part of the problem is that there is so much free tab and online information. This conditions people into thinking they should be able to get tab without paying for it. Some of the free stuff is good, but much of it is worthless. There is also an awful lot of music you will never find free tab for.

I provide a service for people who are serious about music, and want their transcription to be accurate. I also am doing this for people interested in music that's hard (or impossible) to find in tab form. If I charged my hourly teaching rate for my transcriptions, my price would be much higher! I'm charging less than I think I'm worth because I'm trying to establish an online reputation and not scare people away.

PAYMENT POLICIES

At this time, I ask for payment by mailed check at the conclusion of the work. My address is Karl Straub, 406 Cloverway, Alexandria, Virginia, 22314. I can post the transcription while it's in progress, in case a customer wants to give suggestions for me to do it differently in some way.

MY TRANSCRIBING SYSTEM

I can email a file with the transcription to you. I usually post it on my private site, where you can watch it in progress, and print it out for your own use.

WHAT I NEED FROM YOU

Customers must make the recording available to me in one of the following ways.

1. Mail me a burned CD of the music.

2. Email me an mp3, using YouSendIt (www.yousendit.com/) or similar program. (Note-- if you have ITunes program, it's easy to make an mp3, drag it to your desktop, and send it it to me in an email using YouSendIt. My email address is karlstraub@hotmail.com.)

3. If the song is on YouTube, send me the link. I can usually transcribe from a YouTube clip.

I also need very clear information from you about what you want. This means a clear description of which parts, solos, chords, etc. I also need to know the timings of where a part comes in. (i.e. if you want a guitar solo, I need to know that it is 1:40 to 1:58.)

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PANHANDLE RAG, STRAUB ARRANGEMENT FOR TWO, FOUR, OR EVEN FIVE GUITARS

www.karlstraubmusic.com/PANHANDLE RAG straub arrangement.mp3

Here are three different Straub arrangements of "Panhandle Rag."

(Please note-- anyone who would like a copy of these arrangements should email me at karlstraub@hotmail.com. I'm happy to sell it to anyone who would like to use it for their own group. I'm also available to write similar arrangements for anyone who wants to spice up their country or western swing music with harmonized stuff like this. Want a Bob Wills style arrangement written for your group? I'm here to help!)


Some of this is in four-part style-- I played these sections as two parts, both playing double stops. It takes a lot of work to play a four-part arrangement with just two players-- the double stops are tough, and it took me many takes to get it right.

(Of course, if I learned how to punchin while overdubbing, it would be easier. But one man can only do so much.) It's a lot easier to play these kinds of lines with four players, but how many groups have that many soloists handy? (In fact, this arranging approach is even stronger with five players-- with a fifth line an octave below the top line.)

The eight bar intro is four-part style.

Next is thirty-two bars (the whole head) in two-part style. This is two lines, and could be more easily played by two players. This section is a fairly straight rendition of the original melody, harmonized.

Then I have more four-part style, thirty-two bars. This is again played by two guitars with double-stops.

Last, I have another two-part section. This is the variation that departs most from the original melody. It's hotter and more swinging.

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BUDDY MERRILL, STEEL GUITAR, ON LAWRENCE WELK SHOW

Call me old-fashioned, but I'd rather watch the Welk show than the hideous "American Idol." I think we've somehow reached a point where our current mainstream pop music is actually less hip than Lawrence Welk.

(thanks to Charlie McCardell for sending this along.)
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LEON RHODES WITH BUDDY EMMONS-- "WALKIN' THE FLOOR OVER YOU"

The Troubadours with Charleton and Rhodes are usually considered the hottest lineup Tubb had, but it must be said-- before Charleton came on board, this guy Emmons wasn't bad.
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BUDDY CHARLETON WITH LEON RHODES ON FLATTOP GUITAR, "COOL IT"

This is a feature for Charleton, with the bonus of Leon playing what Ernest Tubb refers to as the "grammar guitar." He's struggling to keep it near the mike, but playing great as usual. It's interesting to watch a guy who usually plays electric when he's playing single-note stuff on acoustic-- he doesn't really change his style much here. Pretty swinging, as usual.
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MERLE HAGGARD PLAYS WITH SOME REAL BITE ON THIS SOLO, WITH GUEST TAMMY WYNETTE

At 1:21, Haggard plays a Tele solo worthy of the great Roy Nichols. I've seen and heard a lot of Merle Tele solos-- he always has a great feel and tone, but sometimes his execution paints him into corners he can't get out of. Getting out of corners was Roy's specialty-- and it takes a lot of practicing to learn how to do that! At any rate, this is probably the best and tightest solo I've ever heard Merle play. He's still slightly tentative compared to a top-drawer picker, but it's beautiful playing, with the twang and some tasty overdriven raunch. Years ago, Haggard had an interesting influence on Roy's playing-- supposedly at Merle's suggestion, Roy started experimenting with what I call an "unbend" lick. The pre-bent note struck and unbent became a Roy Nichols trademark.
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HANK GARLAND-- "SUGARFOOT RAG"

Here's a great clip of Hank playing Sugarfoot Rag. This clip is unusual because there are some nice closeups of both left and right hand; if you look fast you can get some great insight into the approach of one of the best country guitarists ever. Another bonus-- this version has more of a clean Les Paul/Chet Atkins kind of tone than Hank's earlier Nashville session work. Not to say it's better, just that it's an interesting middle ground between his fifties country and sixties jazz styles.

Note-- the slapback Hank uses here is the main reason for the tone having less bite and twang than some of his other recordings. I've noticed that when I turn on the slapback, it cleans up my tone a lot. Even if I am using overdrive pedals, a lot of the raunch and grit are minimized. No doubt there are technical reasons for this--

but I don't know them. I just know that your tone is squashed a bit by slapback. Hank provides some good ideas here for what to do with slapback-- he works with the slapback, leaving space in his lines so the effect can come through. When he goes to an extreme muted sound, the slapback jumps out even more. Presumably he learned these methods from Les Paul records, as most everyone did.

I'll be using this clip as a frame of reference for my own work-- it's a nice blend of fiddle tune type playing with Les Paul ideas. It's not surprising that the different styles work well together, since along with jazz Les had a lot of country guitar in his sound.

My last point-- the studio version I've heard of this has Hank playing less, and other players trading with him. I would guess that he used the different styles here to keep it from getting stale, since the arrangement is all him. This is another thing I'll keep in mind for my own playing-- I already try to do this when I play long solos, although I have to say I don't do it this well. Check in with me in a few years-- maybe Hank will rub off on me some more by then!

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GEORGE, WE HARDLY KNEW YE

www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-george-fullerton8-2009jul08,0,5638626.story

George Fullerton, Leo Fender's right hand man, passed away the other day. Michael Jackson was a hell of a dancer, as I've been reminded again and again recently, but George Fullerton is part of my life every time I pick up a Tele, or plug into a Fender amp.

Thanks, George, for all the twang.
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JUNIOR BARNARD WITH BOB WILLS

The usual hot solo from Junior, at 1:05.

(thanks to Howard Parker for forwarding this clip.)
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HANK GARLAND, WITH DON GIBSON "BLUE, BLUE, DAY"

Hank Garland is one of the prototypes (Jimmy Bryant being another) of the country guitarist who can mix twang and jazz.
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TUXES, BATSHIRTS, THUMBS CARLILLE, A PRETTY BLEARY-EYED ROGER MILLER, ETC.

http://youtu.be/Mc5WLLjsd7c
(NOTE--since posting this, the link with the entire TV appearance has flown. Here's a healthy chunk of it, and there is more on youtube.) 
This clip has Thumbs Carlille, some country-jazz playing, another excellent unsung picker named Jimmy Colvard (he played on Dave Dudley's "Six Days On the Road") and much, much more. There's really too much great music and weirdness to explain. Enjoy, and thank Charlie McCardell for passing this along. (Bill Kirchen passed it to him, evidently.)

I am quite sure I have never seen anything on TV in my life that was as real and strange as this long clip. (I didn't even mention a hung-over Roger Miller.)
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SOME BILLY BYRD (FINALLY!)

here's some Ernest Tubb with Billy Byrd. Leon Rhodes came along and took the Billy Byrd style to another level, arguably, but it's important not to forget how perfect and melodic Byrd's lines were. Sort of like Bach, but with twang.

Note-- since I wrote this, I've seen some early (pre-Byrd) clips of Tubb, with Jimmie Short playing some excellent guitar. I'd like to clarify that the "Billy Byrd" style is really Byrd's expansion of the earlier style played by Short and others. I think Byrd really set the standard, though, taking Tubb's style and combining it with a jazzman's familiarity with the whole guitar neck. (Incidentally, I always read that Byrd was really a jazzman at heart, but I haven't heard any recorded evidence that he played jazz. There's plenty of Troubadours stuff where you can hear Leon and Charleton demonstrating jazz chops, but nothing comparable with Byrd, to my knowledge. If anyone out there can enlighten me about this, please do!)
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THUMBS CARLILLE, "SPRINGFIELD GUITAR SOCIAL"

This is pretty similar to the Phil Baugh showcase I posted a while back, with the bonus that more obscure guitarists are included. Even a sick Speedy West imitation!
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BILL HARKLEROAD (WITH MALLARD, "BACK ON THE PAVEMENT" )

Here's Bill Harkleroad, aka Zoot Horn Rollo, with his post-Captain Beefheart band Mallard. While I don't like this nearly as much as I like the Magic Band, Mallard is a great ensemble with some unusual ideas. Harkleroad's solos and background riffs under the vocals are a lesson in how to incorporate Beefheart guitar ideas into a more conventional context. Great Telecaster sound-- trebly, slightly overdriven. Harkleroad can't really be called underrated, because most people, even guitarists, haven't heard of him. He's one of my heroes, though-- anyone interested in the traditional/avant-garde kind of playing Tom Waits featured on his records (esp. guitarist Marc Ribot) should listen to Harkleroad's work to hear one of the guys that pioneered it.

The music here is somewhere in or around bluesy/funky Little Feat/Joe Cocker territory, with just enough off-kilter rhythms and phrasing to distinguish it from the mainstream. (Some of the other youtube cuts have more of a prog-rock flavor, and some of the keyboard soloing sounds Cecil Taylor-esque.) I suspect the band wasn't accessible enough for the mainstream, yet too connected to roots music to please the prog crowd.
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ROY BUCHANAN, "SWEET DREAMS"

Here's Roy in a clip from 1974. (I believe it's from the Musik Laden program.) The person who posted it says he has more material from the famous PBS tv special, some of it with Merle Haggard and Roy Nichols.
(see earlier post, karlstraubcountryguitar.blogspot.com/2008/12/buchanan-rides-alone.html)

If I see that around, I'll put some of it here. I had it on video, and have no way to transfer it and post excerpts as of yet--

Anyone who has the "Snake Stretchers" album knows that "Sweet Dreams" is one of Roy's great performances, and any version of it is welcome, especially on video.
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JIMMY BRYANT (WITH TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD)

Jimmy plays a great short solo here, a great example of how he can go from western swing boogie licks to bebop-type lines, and then wrap it up with some double-time fiddle tune style playing. Killer, as always-- (and, as usual, a great Speedy West solo too.)
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USING HALFTIME IDEAS TO PLAY LINES AT FAST TEMPOS

My style revolves around shifting positions, shifting between major-scale ideas and blues ideas, varying rhythms, articulation, etc. It works well for me in slow and medium tempos, but in fast tempos I flounder-- mainly because at a tempo like 200 quarter notes per minute, eighths are hard to sustain. I've been frustrated that tempos like that tend to make me play bad ideas; I fall back on treading-water licks, repeated notes, and all the lame stuff that even great players sometimes use at fast tempos.

I came up with an approach that is starting to help. It involves thinking of the tempo in a different way. It's based on my theory that fast tempos intimidate me, causing my hands to tense up. Anything that helps you relax is good, and thinking in half-time seems to help.

1. If you are at a fast tempo (like quarter note equals 200), think of the quarter notes as eighth notes. (Tapping your foot on two and four in the half time tempo can help. This is the equivalent of tapping foot on three in the actual tempo. Practice the transition back and forth along with a metronome.)

2. Once you're thinking in half-time, play eighth-note lines. These are the equivalent of quarter notes in the actual tempo.

3. When you have the eighths together, switch to "double-time" runs for half a bar at a time. Now you're playing eighths for half a bar, and sixteenths for half a bar. (This means you're playing quarters and eighths in the actual tempo.)

4. If you can keep this up for eight bars or so, you've probably got something that will do the job when you have to solo. You can make it more interesting by making it less a rigid ratio between eighths and sixteenths, mixing it up a bit and being less symmetrical. Using some rests is also good-- practice starting ideas on something besides beat one.

5. Eventually, you'll be able to sustain the half-time sixteenths longer; in the meantime, you'll have a solo that sounds more musical. Ideally, by the time you can keep the half-time sixteenths going, you'll be using less treading-water ideas.

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ROY NICHOLS WITH HAG, "BOTTLE LET ME DOWN" 1978

This is the best Roy Nichols playing I've seen in a clip. It's a great example of how Roy mixes western swing ideas with chicken pickin'. Also, (although some may balk at this generalization!) Roy's playing here shows an approach to melody that is all too rare today. I spend many hours studying the work of today's Tele hotshots, and I learn a lot from them, but it does sometimes feel that the goal today is to play hot licks and move around the fingerboard fluidly. I'd like to hear more playing that puts the hot licks where they should be-- part of the discussion, but secondary to melody.


I should confess that now I'm just poaching clips from the Telecaster Forum. I hope no-one objects!
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LEON RHODES WITH ERNEST TUBB, "I'LL TAKE A BACKSEAT FOR YOU"

It occurred to me that the Troubadours stuff I've been posting was more the "hot" kind of number than the typical Tubb style. Here's Leon Rhodes playing some lines in his modified Billy Byrd style. As on the Tubb live 65 album, (essential!) in this context you get more guitar than on a lot of the studio stuff. Tubb's studio recordings often used session players to augment his touring band. This means great playing by Nashville cats, but less Rhodes and Charleton. Live, those two guys played tons of great background fills along with the solos.

interesting detail-- Leon plays the original Tubb signature quarter note triplet on the intro, then for his solo he plays the modified Leon version with eighth note triplets.
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more sick THUMBS CARLILLE "MYSTERY TRAIN"

Here's more of Thumbs.
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more THUMBS CARLILLE, WITH BRENDA LEE

Here's young Brenda Lee's cover of "Hound Dog," with Thumbs Carlile on guitar. Nice fills, but wait til the solo-- definitely the hottest guitar solo ever played by a guy wearing a dog suit. After the solo, more hot fills.
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JAMES BURTON "TRUCK DRIVIN' MAN"

Here's a cool clip of Ricky Nelson on the "Ozzie and Harriet" show. A bit of tasteful "steel guitar style" backup from James on the first number (a ballad), but on "Truck Drivin' Man" you get to hear some of the earliest examples of Burton's chicken pickin' style. Unfortunately, there's some dated sitcom dialog obscuring part of Burton's solo, but plenty of great fills.

Here's my two cents-- if James Burton ever released a followup to his excellent first instructional dvd, and he demonstrated more of this kind of playing, I'd buy a copy and talk about it ad nauseam on this blog. If it will help, I'll buy two copies.
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ALBERT LEE "COUNTRY BOY"

Albert is one of the progenitors of modern country lead guitar. He's more or less in the Joe Maphis tradition-- rapidfire fiddle-tune eighths are the fundamental element of his style and that's mostly what he does here. He's got a lot more going on, too, of course-- "banjo" rolls, rockabilly comp patterns, double stops, bending, chicken pickin', etc. but his basic approach is built mostly on the rapid run style. I'll confess i prefer the players who are more "melodic" and play with time a little more (Roy Nichols comes to mind) but Albert is sure a gas to listen to.

(thanks to Marv Egolf for posting this clip on facebook.)
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MORE LEON RHODES and a bit of BUDDY CHARLETON- "HONEY FINGERS"

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THUMBS CARLILLE AND CURLY CHALKER, "LITTLE LIZA JANE"

Any footage of these unsung greats is welcome. On this clip, Curly is more or less playing in Speedy West's style. Cool as that is, it's only a tiny fraction of the sophisticated stuff Curly could play. Thumbs, as you can see, is playing in his own totally bizarre personal style-- brilliant.


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SCOTTY ANDERSON-- AS HOT AS ANY PICKER I'VE EVER HEARD

Here's some sick playing from unsung picker Scotty Anderson. I just got his instructional dvd; it immediately goes to the head of the class among my country and telecaster dvds. I'm trying to grab some of his ideas-- wish me luck!


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LEON RHODES AND BUDDY CHARLETON, "RHODES-BUD BOOGIE"

Here's a great clip of Leon Rhodes and Buddy Charleton, the amazing guitarist and steel player from Ernest Tubb's last classic edition of the Texas Troubabours. (Lately I've been practicin' more than bloggin', but at some point I'll be sure to write about Leon and his playing. He took the guitar style already perfected by Billy Byrd and somehow perfected it even more.)


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PRIVATE LESSONS ON VIDEO

I now have the technology to record myself playing guitar on video, and send it to you in an email. You can then watch it on your computer, or even put it on your Ipod/Iphone.

If you're interested in doing a "virtual lesson" where I record short musical examples on video, please email me at karlstraub@hotmail.com to discuss what you're looking for, and how much it will cost.

A video lesson done this way could be structured in a variety of ways, just like a regular in-person lesson. Examples-- I could play a lick you're trying to learn, or a solo from a record. I could demonstrate a technique like string bending. I could also show how I might improvise in various styles, or over a certain chord progression, etc.
Don't be shy about asking for something crazy! Want me to play "Strawberry Fields Forever" the way Clarence White might have played it? No problem. The Bee Gees' "Nights on Broadway," played in a Norman Blake style? That could work. Charlie Parker's "Yardbird Suite," in Jeff Beck's psychedelic Yardbirds style? It might cost you, but sure.
Please note-- it doesn't have to be shot in the "point-of-view" angle. Some people find that camera angle offputting-- I can shoot it traditional style if needed. (If you are going to put it on your Ipod, you can have your cake and eat it too, though, because you can just hold the Ipod upside down.)
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MONK'S "'ROUND MIDNIGHT" ON TELECASTER

Here's a video of me playing a solo arrangement of Thelonious Monk's classic "Round Midnight". It's a little better played than the other version on the other blog, but this one is compressed a different way, quality slightly less, and plus I cut off because I couldn't decide where to go next. Otherwise, it's stronger-- this is the version I'll watch more when I'm preparing for the recording session coming up.

It's a mishmash of different sounds and influences-- There's a very lowbudget Ted Greene/Joe Pass counterpoint that crops up occasionally, but as you can hear I don't have the bass line developed. It's mostly just some roots here and there. I'm trying to make up for it by using Joe Pass's dictum that you should tap your foot when you play solo, because it really needs to swing all the time. Monk's advice to Steve Lacy, (and probably many others) was, "When you're swinging, swing some more." I'm trying to! I think this version, in spite of its flaws, swings more than the other one.

I also like the slightly dirty, but still brittle and trebly sound. It reminds me a little of some of the sounds on Captain Beefheart's "Trout Mask Replica" album. I got this sound by setting a Tube Screamer with no gain along with a Blues Driver, also no gain. (Also, a Z. Vex Super Duper Two-in-one.) The Tube Screamer can't really give you a completely clean sound, although the Blues Driver can, so together you get a little trash, a little twang. A nice combination-- whether you really need the Rube Goldberg pedal setup to get it, I don't know. Probably the amp turned up could get it, but I'm glad I don't have to turn up that loud. It allows me to keep the underground sound laboratory humming along by day, even though it's a residential neighborhood. (Essentially, if you're just willing to spend about 650 dollars on pedals, you can get this sound with your Fender Deluxe Reverb amp on two instead of four or five.)

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FOUL OWL ON THE PROWL

We used to do this tune "Foul Owl on the Prowl" in the Roratonga Rodeo shows years ago. Here's the clip from "In the Heat of the Night." As my brother Phil pointed out, the song's kinda like "Little Red Hiding Hood" by Sam the Sham-- Mark Noone used to sing that song with the Slickees. Nice chord changes-- listen up close, and you may hear something I stole and used in "Back in Love Again."

I guess, in retrospect, this is one of many ludicrous songs that taught me a little bit about chords. ("Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" being another one in that list.)
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"CRAZY" instrumental

Here's a live version of Willie Nelson's "Crazy," with my band Chicken Fried Swing. This was the first gig, in baking heat outside at a Del Ray festival in 2008. Matt Tebo is on drums, Jerry Del Rosso is on bass, and Ira Gitlin plays some tasteful lines on a Gretsch.
http://www.karlstraubmusic.com/Crazy.mp3

and an August 08 version with Honky Tonk Heart at JV's.
www.karlstraubmusic.com/crazyjvaug08.mp3
Howard Parker played a tasteful western swing solo with a lot of chord stuff, and Bob Adamcik was on rhythm guitar, Jimmy Gapinski on drums, stretching out a little more than usual. Ira Gitlin showed up, straight from another gig, and sat in. He played some nice stuff here, including some chromatic double stop ideas that I'll have to steal when I get a chance. I think we played better than usual because we wanted to impress Ira. I'm in a "Django with slapback" mode (does that make it a Les Paul mode?) with a little Roy Buchanan on the second break.

I've been working on this tune for a while, playing it initially with Honky Tonk Heart, then with my Karl Straub Combo. The Chicken Fried Swing version here is my favorite of the ones that got recorded-- it's still not everything I'm trying to do with the tune, but it's getting there. I take the first break, in a trashy Django/western swing mode, with a Roy Buchanan harmonic thing here and there. Ira takes the middle chorus, very nice; then I come back in for the "crazy" chorus. Here's where I crank up the raunch. I like what I'm doing here, but I hope to get better at integrating jazz and trash for a more interesting blend. Stay tuned! If you come a live gig of any of the above-mentioned bands, you can watch me developing this approach.
The Honky Tonk Heart version I put up here after writing my comments above-- I thought it had some interesting different approaches, so it should be heard. Maybe for the fanatics I'll keep putting more versions up-- we'll see.

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"JUST WALK ON BY" guitar solo sketches

I have an upcoming demo session with the country band Honky Tonk Heart. I need to work up a solo for "Just Walk On By." Here are a few sketches.

1. CHORD MELODY. This is the melody of the tune, more or less, with chords voiced under it. I like to start out by working up chord melody, because it usually sounds pretty good, and you can develop in just about any direction from there.
www.karlstraubmusic.com/just walk solo chord melody.mp3

2. SINGLE NOTE. This take has its moments. Here I'm playing in my default "Ray Price shuffle" style, where I try to play long lines, high up, with kind of a floating quality.
www.karlstraubmusic.com/just walk solo single note.mp3

3. SINGLE NOTE, MOTIVIC. On this take, I tried to reuse short ideas and vary them, giving the solo more cohesion. I also tried to work in a bit of the melody, and a couple string bends. (There's a tiny bit of Django Reinhardt flavor in there somewhere also.)
www.karlstraubmusic.com/just walk solo motivic.mp3

4. DUET. Here I combined my two favorite takes, just for the hell of it. When you're making a record, this approach is something of an indulgence, but sometimes you get something great this way. I doubt I'd go with something like this at the session, because after all it's a country band demo, mainly for the purpose of getting gigs. (If it were my own band, I might go with something a little odd like this. It's a good idea to go with your instincts on a record, if you'd prefer to gig less rather than more.)
www.karlstraubmusic.com/just walk solo duet-01.mp3

At this point, I'll take some time to listen to these, and think about what to keep and what to ditch. I'll also try to figure out why the tone was so different from the warmer sound I had the other day at the gig, even though I used virtually the same gear and settings! (Dead strings might account for some of the brittle sound I got today-- after a three set gig, especially in a sweaty and smoky bar, my strings never sound as good. )

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DUO-LECTAR, 1960

Here's a crazy clip of Dave Bunker from 1960, playing the Duo-Lectar which he designed and built. This instrument was an early example of the "touch" method of playing guitar, where you have enough sustain on your instrument that just touching or tapping the neck will give you the sound. With this method, you can play two parts like a pianist. After the clip (it sounds like the Wills tune "Right or Wrong") I'll include some thoughts of mine about the pros and cons of this approach, which tends to polarize listeners. You may or not want to read my blather about it-- that's okay with me. (thanks to Charlie McCardell for sending me the Dave Bunker clip.)

"Tapping" and "touch" playing tend to polarize listeners. Here's where I stand, if anyone cares. I like to hear a variety of articulation and attacks on guitar-- originally the guitar was technically a percussion instrument, at least in part. Electricity has moved the instrument away from that, and I like to try to keep at least some percussiveness in my playing; if you work at it, you can develop a variety of attacks and keep some snap and bite in your sound. The touch approach takes all the edge off your attack, and for me the monochromatic result is less than thrilling. I remember when Stanley Jordan was hot years ago, and in a Blindfold Test in some magazine Leslie West (I think it was Leslie West) said he thought Jordan sounded like two lame players playing a duet. Jordan's hard work and virtuosic technique deserve credit, certainly, but I thought Leslie had a point.

I like Dave Bunker's sound. He essentially is playing in a Chet Atkins style, but the two-handed approach enables him to play a Chet backup part with chords and bass while he adds slides and double/triple stops in the melody. It sounds nice, but arguably has the same pros and cons of Chet's work. Don't get me wrong; I love Chet, Merle Travis, Mose Rager, et al. but they fall into the category with Stanley Jordan, Johnny Smith, and everyone else who uses a complex and unorthodox system to get more out of the guitar at one time than most players can get. These approaches, which often sound very beautiful and musical, mostly involve heavily practiced patterns and little or no improvising. There's nothing wrong with that, obviously, and I've stolen what I can from some of these guys, but I'm generally more excited by the improvising players. The placid quality of most of these maverick players loses me after a while. I feel the same way about the many whizkids you can find on youtube, playing heavy-metal two-handed versions of classical pieces, Queen songs, etc. For me there's a staleness about this kind of music-- it's fun watching someone play two or more parts at once, but ultimately it seems more a circus trick than creative art.

For anyone who feels that these are "fightin' words" I would encourage everyone to check out the late genius Ted Greene. Greene blended Bach-inspired counterpoint with jazz vocabulary, improvising in this style. I think there's a lot more going on musically in Ted's work than in that of the touch and tap guys. Check out the tribute site for Ted's music and teaching--

tedgreene.com/default.asp

The site has killer video and audio clips, plus many lessons for anyone serious or crazy enough to try to play this way. I have a few lessons on my guitar blog
karlstraubguitar.blogspot.com/2008/12/bach-counterpoint-exercise.html
karlstraubguitar.blogspot.com/2008/12/improvising-counterpoint-two-voices.html
about counterpoint playing; my stuff is pretty crude compared to Ted but it can get you started.

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