David,
I've been reading everyone's postings here about Shetland guitar playing
traditions. It does seem to parrallel American JAzz guitar evolutions.
My question pertains to playing back up. Do your descriptions apply to
palying backup to strathspeys?
Please excuse this potentially dumb question, if indeed it is.
Thanks.
Jeff
> The story goes that Peerie Willie first picked up the style from Joe
Venuti
> and Eddie Lang records heard on short wave radio back in the thirties.
> The percussive element is very important, so the voicings used will be
three
> and four note voicings, often with the fifth missed out (the third and the
> seventh characterise the chord), a technique refined by the great Freddie
> Green, Count Basie's guitarist. The strings used for these voicings would
> often be 6, 4,3,2 or 5, 3,2 with the intervening string damped, and the
top
> string played only if you really wanted it. The satirical Mr Evans once
> demonstrated 'Shetland style' guitar to a group of students by inserting a
> match book under the top four strings and playing only the bass notes,
while
> still retaining the percussive sound.
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