Tuning, Slants, Split String and Bars

Jack Byrd · From: Kalamazoo, Michigan

I have been sending Jerry the various different forum threads concerning the topics of this subject for several years. I have posted some responses from him on these subjects in the past and will not attempt to repeat those in this thread. You can do a search on me and can retrieve those yourself if you are interested. .I do want to relate some things about Jerry and maybe explain a couple to things that you may not be aware of. You will see how this ties into the more recent subjects appearing concerning some of these topics.

A few years ago I had the opportunity to spend some one on one time with Jerry. It was during the final days of our younger brother when were alone. I asked Jerry why he never went to the pedal guitar. Most all of you already know why so I won’t go into that. As a result of that we got to talking about all the mechanical gimmicks being invented today and got over on the subject of tuners. He related this story. As many may know Jerry has a studio for teaching in a local Music store in Honolulu. One of the salespeople was all excited about a new tuner they just got in and wanted Jerry to try it. Of course he didn’t and told the salesman by the time I got that thingy ready to use I could already be tuned up. And many of you know that to be the truth who have seen him tune up. That has already been related several times on the forum in the past. Jerry has been blessed with what he calls a “critical ear”. Others of you call it perfect pitch. He calls it critical ear. He hears many pitches others do not. Many years ago he had the pleasure of working with a backup vocal group on many recordings in Nashville led by Anita Kerr who has perfect pitch. Jerry said you could pick a note or blow a horn and she could tell you what note it was. The noise a quarter dropping on the floor she could tell you what note it was making when striking the floor. She was that good. She remembers or refers to Jerry as the “man who never played a bad note”. That is quite a compliment from a real professional. Anita now lives in Switzerland.

Now when it comes to some of the exotic slants and split string notes he obtains during his playing no gimmicks are used. I received an email from a fan of Jerry’s several years ago who lived out on the West coast somewhere. He said he had not heard any of Jerry’s playing for some time and on the radio one day they were playing a tune from his album Admirable Byrd. He said he realized then that Jerry went to a pedal guitar. He could not believe anyone could get the sounds he was getting without playing a pedal guitar. I asked Jerry about this album. He said he did most of the tunes on it to show the many pedals players and those who were not that you could get those notes to come true on a lap guitar without pedals. It still comes up now and then and people still believed he used a pedal guitar on that album. You can’t convince them of anything different. How does he do it. Well I think a lot of that has been covered already on the forum also. And of course in his instructional material and video. But those slants and split string notes have much to do with it.

Now on the split sting notes not being in tune. Jerry does not take credit for discovering this technique. He says the early Hawaiians were doing this before him. But they were all doing it out of tune on that middle note that has been the subject of much recent discussion. He said I knew they were out of tune, I could hear it. Others could not and thought it was just great. It was not great to Jerry. He spent many hours practicing to get it right and does take credit for being the first to do that. I have previously covered this technique on the forum and won’t go into that. As someone said if you want to play like Jerry it takes surgical precision. Jerry says he never played a sharp or flat note unless he intended it to be that way, like in blues. But they (the old time Hawaiian players) were playing it off pitch. To Jerry if you can’t get it in pitch don’t do it. But that’s not the thought process of a lot of players, they’ll try it, if it comes close they say that is close enough.

A person whose name comes up quite often on the forum who is a fellow player and good friend of Jerry’s seldom if ever did any slants, none. They were talking about this one time and he said to Jerry, “Hoss, if it ain’t on a straight line I ain’t going to get it”. So he never did slants and if he did he just made a pass at them, right in and off of them. Several of the more recent Hawaiian players who have since passed away did the same thing. Jerry gave his friend credit, if it’s going to be out of tune, don’t even try to do it, better to play something else, which he did.

The Stevens bar keeps coming up on the forum. I have posted what Jerry has said about that in the past. In his last tape I received from him he again went into these reasons. Here is what he said. “It immobilizes the left hand. Swishing the whole arm back and forth trying to get the right angle instead of using your fingers you just can’t do it fast enough and can’t do it true – it won’t come to the right angle – won’t work. I’ve seen every kind of bar you can think of that is supposed to make playing easier and when it gets down to it nothing makes it easier you just go to do it and do it! No artificial invention is going to make it easier”.

Those who say they use this bar and can do the slants must be a more accomplished player than Jerry or maybe they do not have a “critical ear” for that true pitch.

I guess this post is reaching the limit of some of Jody’s so I better close it off. In doing so I’ll go back to the phrase Dewitt Scott coined several years ago that described Jerry. And that is this “Master of Touch and Tone”. Maybe that critical ear and those many hours spent practicing those forward and reverse slants with the split string technique to get those notes in pitch surely earned Jerry this description. And that is why when you hear some of the backup playing and those sweet melodies he is able to bring out of that guitar the touch and tone comes forth in the most pleasant manner.

Jesse Pearson · From: San Diego , CA

Great story Jack, Thanks...

Jeff Au Hoy · From: Honolulu, Hawai'i

Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

Right on JEFF! You described it very well. Many players of today and of old.....play a couple of notes in one fret position; then, breaking the flow of melody line, they jump to the next bar position and so on. Those breaks are distracting and do not lend themselves in any way to the character of the song.
Many Forumites, when referring to Jerry Byrd, direct a readers attention to one of JB's own albums......for their comments.
What many of we old time Jerry Byrd Fans discovered years ago, is the indescribable work Jerry has done over the years while performing on hundreds of records by various artists/vocalists where Jerry's name is not even mentioned in small print.
I'd like to challenge any of you newer JB fans to a special LISTENING task. Take a special LISTEN to the BACK-UP work JB's doing. One can almost hear a melody line in the easy flow of music Jerry is contributing.
These clearly ARE NOT melody lines but very tasteful, rich choices of what to play and when. I know of no one that can match this artist when it comes to back-up.
On tunes like Jimmy Wakely's old Capital
record "You're Only In My Arms to Cry on My Shoulder"; Bob Eatons' old Decca "Somebody's Been Steelin' My Sweet, Sweet Sugar" and countless others..........the left hand BAR WORK has not been equalled by ANYONE! And that Ricky "moan" is clearly evident in each.
It's a tremendous learning experience to follow JB's back-up styling/technique thro' the hundreds of records he's played on. It's in these little known displays that one can truly discover the fabulous talent of this man. His own albums are just teasers.
We all have our preferences, so I'm not suggesting that "no one can play steel but JB". BUT there is a lesson to be learned and will prove to be well worth the time you invest in studying this great artistic work.
Many of today's frantic picking steel players have "missed the boat" when it come to knowing WHAT to play; When to play it; and WHEN NOT TO PLAY this or that! Most display little or no FEELING in their picking and sliding stuff......in spite of all the electrical gadgets they're plugged into. That's the truth..........TRUST ME!

[This message was edited by Ray Montee on 19 February 2003 at 08:57 PM.]

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