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Topic: Buddy Emmons and â€playing the words†|
Dave Magram
From:
San Jose, California, USA
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Posted 23 Mar 2014 8:57 am |
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I was talking with a fiddler I know about “playing the wordsâ€; making one’s instrument seem to sing the words. He told me about something John Hartford had said on a fiddle instruction video about how Buddy Emmons “plays the words†that I had never heard before…
With help from Mr. Google, I found this quote on (of all places) the Uilleann Pipe forum:
“Old time fiddler John Hartford had an instructional video with some interesting/funny remarks on this phenomenon; for instance he would practice talking through the violin, much to his wife's irritation: "Stop playing that thing and go walk the dog!" "I-WILL-IN-A-MINUTE!" - delivered in tandem with the music, including its pitch….
John also related how a friend of his, the great pedal steel guitarist Buddy Emmons, would silently sing the music at a jam session. While not actually making any sound, by the end of an evening his voice would be completely hoarse.â€
http://forums.chiffandfipple.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=96848&start=15
-Dave |
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Les Cargill
From:
Oklahoma City, Ok, USA
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Posted 23 Mar 2014 9:54 am
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| So far as I know, this is exactly how jazz teachers teach phrasing. In jazz, this can progress (degenerate?) into scat, so there are no words per se. |
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Steve English
From:
Baja, Arizona
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Posted 23 Mar 2014 12:44 pm
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Seems as though that's about the same as playing the melody.
I think Buddy has played the words, the syllables, and the letters also....and even thrown in a little punctuation at will 
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Always remember you're unique..... Just like everyone else |
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Jack Aldrich
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 23 Mar 2014 3:14 pm
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Lester Young said that he didn't understand how someone could improvise on a ballad without knowing the words.
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Jack Aldrich
Carter & ShoBud D10's
D8 & T8 Stringmaster
Rickenbacher B6
3 Resonator guitars
Asher Alan Akaka Special SN 6
Canopus D8 |
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CrowBear Schmitt
From:
Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France
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Posted 24 Mar 2014 6:22 am
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| who parked the car who parked the car : 6/8 |
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John Macy
From:
Rockport TX/Denver CO
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Posted 24 Mar 2014 9:40 am
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Nobody "plays the words" like Chuck Campbell and some of the other sacred steel players--they have been emulating singers in church since they started playing....
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John Macy
Rockport, TX
Engineer/Producer/Steel Guitar |
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George Kimery
From:
Limestone, TN, USA
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Posted 24 Mar 2014 1:01 pm Buddy Emmons and playing the words.
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Jeff Newman said Buddy "hummed" when he played. I have noticed Jim Lossberg moving his mouth while he is playing. I have tried humming, thinking that is all that is keeping me from sounding like Buddy or Jim. No luck at all and the beautiful lyrics of the song quickly changed into cussing like a sailor at the guitar. I haven't tried singing the words yet. I don't know if my brain can process remembering the words to a song on top of which strings, which pedals, which keys, which chords, etc.
I find this whole approach to playing to be very interesting. I wonder if it is something that us mere mortals can learn with practice and if it would improve our playing. |
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Jack Aldrich
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 24 Mar 2014 8:44 pm Re: Buddy Emmons and playing the words.
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| George Kimery wrote: |
Jeff Newman said Buddy "hummed" when he played. I have noticed Jim Lossberg moving his mouth while he is playing. I have tried humming, thinking that is all that is keeping me from sounding like Buddy or Jim. No luck at all and the beautiful lyrics of the song quickly changed into cussing like a sailor at the guitar. I haven't tried singing the words yet. I don't know if my brain can process remembering the words to a song on top of which strings, which pedals, which keys, which chords, etc.
I find this whole approach to playing to be very interesting. I wonder if it is something that us mere mortals can learn with practice and if it would improve our playing. |
Johnny Gimbel hummed what he was improvising on fiddle. Also, Errol Garner was a famous hummer, but he hummed off-key, IMHO.
_________________
Jack Aldrich
Carter & ShoBud D10's
D8 & T8 Stringmaster
Rickenbacher B6
3 Resonator guitars
Asher Alan Akaka Special SN 6
Canopus D8 |
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George Kimery
From:
Limestone, TN, USA
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Posted 25 Mar 2014 5:57 am Buddy Emmons and playing the words.
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| Jack, maybe Errol played flat and hummed sharp. That way, when he played flat what he was humming, it came out in perfect pitch. Now if I can just get our fiddle player to master that techique........ |
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Jack Aldrich
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 25 Mar 2014 9:11 am Re: Buddy Emmons and playing the words.
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| George Kimery wrote: |
| Jack, maybe Errol played flat and hummed sharp. That way, when he played flat what he was humming, it came out in perfect pitch. Now if I can just get our fiddle player to master that techique........ |
_________________
Jack Aldrich
Carter & ShoBud D10's
D8 & T8 Stringmaster
Rickenbacher B6
3 Resonator guitars
Asher Alan Akaka Special SN 6
Canopus D8 |
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Mark Greenway
From:
Lake Kiowa, Texas
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Posted 25 Mar 2014 5:55 pm
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I remember Jeff Newman telling us at a seminar once, "if you can't hum it, you can't play it." I have never forgotten that.
Last edited by Mark Greenway on 25 Mar 2014 8:23 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Jack Aldrich
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 25 Mar 2014 7:21 pm
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Along this line, I was playing Dobro for Rose Maddox at the San Diego Folk Festival back in the mid 70's, and Rose (a tough cookie who knew what she wanted) had Kate Wolf, the wonderful singer/songwriter, playing rhythm guitar. In the middle of a song, Kate played a wrong chord. Rose threw he hands up and yelled "Stop", which we did. She turned toward Kate and said "If you don't know it, honey, don't play it!" I have never seen Kate wilt like she did them. Later, she and Rose became fast friends. The last time I played with Rose, it was standup bass at the Santa Rosa Folk Festival in 1977. It was the last time I played standup bass, because I was wrapped around my pedal steel and didn't have time to keep my callouses up on the bass. I still play electric bass.
_________________
Jack Aldrich
Carter & ShoBud D10's
D8 & T8 Stringmaster
Rickenbacher B6
3 Resonator guitars
Asher Alan Akaka Special SN 6
Canopus D8 |
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