00:00Have some discipline, because through discipline comes freedom. So get that discipline, and
00:05then bring a bit of chaos in. How's it going? My name is John Butler, and I'm here to show
00:15you some plucking patterns and some guitar techniques that I do. So I'm going to try
00:21to kind of separate what I do, because it all kind of ends up melting into one. First
00:28we'll just do kind of a version of a hammer-on. So it's not very right-handy,
00:33but it's very left-handy. So sometimes if I'm playing something like Ocean, for example...
01:03I always like to start with my thumb, just so I have more room as I sweep through the
01:08strings. And I find that to be, I don't know, useful in amongst whatever I'm doing. It could
01:16be in minor. It could be...
01:34So going straight into the second technique is, once you've got hammer-ons and levers,
01:39and them together is like almost everything I kind of do, really. It's just...
01:45And then...
01:46So the same is that you can do the hammer-ons, kind of like...
01:50Then you can do levers...
01:53And then open tuning, this particular one, C, G, C, G, C, E, it's in B, but...
01:59Yeah, you can just kind of rip right through those kind of bastardized scales.
02:09And I kind of like it. I like the rhythm of it. I like the kind of...
02:13I flow it.
02:37So that's two I've kind of showed you. Then the next thing would be...
02:40This is kind of... It's kind of a hammer-on, but with a plucking pattern. So you're going...
02:50And then you can kind of also like slide into this. You go...
03:13Yeah, and so all that together, you know...
03:24Three techniques. Number four, I guess, is one that a lot of you probably will know.
03:29And I'd say most of you might know how to do it better than me, but it's fun.
03:34Yeah. And it's called double thumbing. Some people call it hybrid thumbing. I don't know.
03:41The people I've been inspired by who have really good...
03:44A really strong thumb when they're doing it is people like Mississippi John Hurt, G Love, and...
03:51A fantastic, fantastic double thumb player, Steve Piglam.
03:57He's from the Northwest of Western Australia in the Kimberleys.
04:01And he has the strongest... His thumb is like a locomotive. It just holds.
04:06Holds the whole thing down. And basically, it's just this.
04:16E string, D string. You can do it without...
04:19I mean, for many years I did it without.
04:25But now I like to do it with a pick.
04:27And so this song is like one of mine called Faith.
04:31And I think what's nice, once you kind of get this guy going, what I suggest to do is...
04:41When you hit the D string, try to use your index finger at the same time as you go...
04:47And what you want to try to do, it took me ages to learn.
04:50I sat in this van outside my house so I didn't annoy all my roommates until 3 o'clock in
04:58the morning.
04:58It was just like, I can't do it! It just bent my mind.
05:01And then I showed my partner and she got it in like 5 minutes.
05:04So it says more about me than anything.
05:07So I try to go...
05:08Then you go with the index finger.
05:10The next one you go...
05:12Middle finger.
05:13The B string.
05:14And the next one...
05:16Ring finger.
05:17So you're gonna go...
05:22Now that's not really the technique, but it's just...
05:25It's a way to get you there.
05:26And then what you want to end up doing is something like this.
05:41So here's go.
05:42Turn your finger, whatever you see...
05:46Shall I go...
05:48how do you see the fullest...
05:52How do you...?
05:56What you want to do, you share this...
05:56Are you sharing this about music?
05:56Let's do that.
05:57I'm a bl 살.
05:57There's a lot of people!
05:58dozens of all the zeros.
05:58You have to do that.
06:13So that pattern would be something like this, so we're going to go and we're going to hit
06:20the middle finger on the A string, or B string, sorry. I'm going to do that. And I'm going to
06:27go, I'm going to go, I'm going to go, I've never slowed
06:35this down, sorry. And sometimes, you know, and sometimes I might go, instead of going with my middle finger, I
06:49might go,
06:51now I might go, so it can be on that boom, boom, it's going to be boom, boom, or boom,
06:57boom, depending on what I'm doing. And then, you know, some people can really keep it going and be really
07:02ornate here, like, say, Tommy Emanuel and stuff, it's just outstanding. I tend to go in and out depending on
07:09the riffs I'm playing. So, you know, if I'm going, I'm going.
07:20So, I'm not doing it every time, because the riff wanted me to do something else.
07:30So, yeah, that's double thumbing, and there's, you know, there's lovely things you can do with it.
07:36I'll tune to tuning in and show you something you can do with it. We'll be right back with more
07:40double thumbing.
07:41Back, I don't know, a technique for double thumbing part two. That last tuning was Dad Fad with a sharp
07:49F, so basically D major.
07:52This is one of my favorite tunings. It's a G tuning from the A string down.
07:56G, D, G, B, D, but instead of having a D here, I have a C, and that means that
08:05I just get, like, all the three major chords of blues and country.
08:09You know, it's a, the, the, and then you can do C, and then D, and C.
08:27I can do that all without, so I can do riffs at the same time.
08:43So yeah, you can change all the chords and be doing melodies the whole time, which I
08:46love.
08:47For double thumbing, we'll ignore this string right now, the low E, and we're only going
08:53to concentrate double thumbing now from the A to the G down.
08:59And what I want to show you is this because there's this beautiful double stop you can
09:03do in this tuning.
09:13This is a major scale.
09:18And I use it in almost every song.
09:21You'll find I just kind of constantly do circles with all those riffs and kind of just invert
09:27them all the time and make new songs out of them because I'm kind of simple that way.
09:32But this is a nice way to use that double thumbing.
09:35And I'm going to, instead of going, separating the strings with the double, having one string,
09:42a gap string, and then, you know, usually double thumbing the strings, they're one apart.
09:49They have one in between.
09:51So this one, instead of doing that, I'm going to go just for the A and the D string, double
09:58thumbing there.
09:59And I'm going to do that double stop chord at the same time.
10:01So I'm going to go.
10:02And how I showed you, boom, and then on the second hit, you can go.
10:15And I would just practice that for a while.
10:18But, you know, most of you will probably be already able to do that.
10:22And then you can start kind of going.
10:29What I love about it is once you kind of get that, this is a song called Spring To Come,
10:37which is on Flesh and Blood, an album of mine.
10:42Then you can bring that C in.
10:48G.
10:50That A string down.
10:52Then I'm going to go to the low E again.
11:05And then, then we can try to get some riffs in there.
11:21Name the music.
11:21It's like a mina.
11:21So, when you're here to play, I'm going to go to the bottom half.
11:21So if you can play, we'll get some riffs in there.
11:21And that's all right.
11:21So, let's go to the bottom half of the instrument.
11:28If you can use a little riffs in there if you can play around, you can play around, you can
11:28play around, you can play around.
11:29If you should always play with your hands.
11:29So, now, I'm gonna go to the bottom half of the field, and go to the bottom half of the
11:38ground.
11:38So, here's the bottom half of the pilfer.
12:00If you can get that pattern and then stop thinking about it and then just start doing
12:13shapes.
12:16And then if you want to get those riffs, the riff is just like, it's really simple and all
12:24you're trying to do is make it dance in between the double thumbing.
12:28And I look at a lot of guitars just as a very rhythmic and percussive instrument so I'm
12:33always just like, I'm looking at this dance between both hands so I'm like, I want to
12:47keep that going.
12:48And then I'm just looking at where these guys can fit in.
13:03And sometimes the best way is once you kind of just get the basic technique down that,
13:08you know, have some discipline.
13:10Because through discipline comes freedom.
13:12To get that discipline.
13:14And then bring a bit of chaos in and just see what happens over here.
13:18Because that's just a happy accident.
13:21For me.
13:23It's just a happy accident.
13:24I was like, oh, that just feels like what my fingers want to do there.
13:27And I'm not like, oh, I want to go there on the semi crotchet and then I'll go down here.
13:31Like, I don't, I would not be able to do that.
13:34So that's double thumbing the way that I do it.
13:37Second to last technique.
13:38Technique number five is chicken picking.
13:40Something I came across in Byron Bay, east coast of Australia.
13:45After a gig one night, this guy named Dave showed me this sick pattern.
13:50And it's really simple but so powerful.
13:53So powerful.
13:54And I use it in so many songs.
13:56And it's my favorite go-to.
13:59So, essentially, I'm in.
14:03Let's go to standard.
14:04Let's go to standard tuning.
14:05So, chicken picking.
14:09Good to do with the thumb pick.
14:10We don't need to.
14:12And it's quite simple.
14:14And very effective.
14:15It is a hammer on.
14:18Let's start somewhere else here.
14:21We'll start on the G string here.
14:26So, all you're going to do is thumb down once.
14:29And then middle finger and index finger.
14:33Middle finger first.
14:35And index finger second.
14:37And you're just going to do this.
14:42Essentially, it's like a reverse roll.
14:44I think it's like a banjo kind of thing.
14:46You can do a forward roll, which would be hammer on and then index middle finger.
14:55Or the other way, reverse.
14:59I gravitate towards the middle finger, then index finger.
15:04But what I love about it is it just gets that really rolling kind of, like, it's a gallop.
15:09And it's just so much fun.
15:15And then you can slide into it.
15:21And then you can start tingling the other strings.
15:35And so, um, yeah.
15:37So, essentially, it's just...
15:41That's all it really is.
15:43And then you can kind of start sliding.
15:44And you start leading with your thumb a little bit at times.
15:46So, it's not always exactly the same, but like...
15:59So, this would be the technique that I'd use for running to keep up on, um, still searching
16:04my instrumental album, so...
16:32Do you chords with it?
16:50And chicken picking is so much fun.
16:51So, like, so...
16:54For those of you who might know my song, Funky Tonight or something, that's all chicken picking.
16:58That's just...
17:03But I'm skanking in between, so I'm just going...
17:07And chuck up, chuck.
17:08And then...
17:35Chicken picking is sickening picking.
17:38Last one will be...
17:40What would I show you?
17:42Last one will be just, I guess, like, little embellishments you can do.
17:47I like to often, like, sweep into notes.
17:50Let's see.
17:51Let's...
17:52Let's see.
17:54Let's see.
18:20Yeah, sweeping and I mean that's all, that's all hammers
18:25and levers.
18:41That's literally almost every technique I've showed you all in one, like the sweep, hammer,
18:49lever and hammer and then that chicken knee at the very end.
19:08I just wonder if I could show you any, I don't really know much flat picking.
19:15I tend to use it like a drumming thing again, so I'm, you know, I wish I could do what
19:20Billy
19:20Strings does or something like that, you know, that, I kind of more, I just do a lot of hammer
19:27and levers off when I'm doing it, so I go like that.
19:44That's kind of like my version of flat picking, once again it's just this like this, kind
19:49of a, there's six techniques of how to play a guitar in some kind of weird bastard way,
20:04by me.
20:04Take care, lots of love.
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