Elliott Smith's Right Hand Technique, Sometimes
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- ...in which I try to scratch the surface of the elusive half-strumming/half-fingerpicking technique that pervades so many of Elliott's songs allowing them to inhabit this tricky world of, "wait, is that one or two guitars playing?", etc.
By no means a tutorial, this video is just an attempt to replicate the tricky thing myself and maybe provide help for other people having trouble figuring out the technique. It's definitely not perfect but I think it's a good starting place.
The song snippets in order are, "You Make It Seem Like Nothing", "Roman Candle", "New Disaster" and "No Name #3". I chose these simply because they're all in the same tuning - both E's tuned down a whole step.
The basic technique as far as I can tell is having the thumb play alternating bass notes on the downbeats, usually root and fifth or root and third while having the fleshy part of the index either a) upstrumming or b) fingerpicking on the upbeats. The element that makes this more exciting is the floppiness of the thumb. Its power comes from the wrist and not the thumb joint as it would if you were simply fingerpicking. Elliott never used fingernails to strum or fingerpick as far as I can tell. This is the closest I've been able to get. If you have a better system or tips for how to get closer to replicating this style, I'd be honored to learn them.
it's always the videos with no talking that teach the most
for real. can’t stand guided tutorials
Holy shit, you changed my life. I just figured out 3 Elliott songs that I could play for years but never sound like him. Seriously, thank you so much.
Look up Travis Picking.
That's how I unlocked it years back.
Which songs?
Sounds accurate! Elliott said in an interview that he played his Yamaha because it was loud, and he needed a loud guitar because he didn’t use a pick and he bit his nails. So I think you’re right that he didn’t use his nails to pick.
Ah good to know. I've wondered already how he could play without getting stuck with his nails all the time. I had to cut my nails for playing his songs.
That " New Disaster" is beautiful.
Your the only person actually trying to show people your strumming style close up to teach. Thank you
Nice, it sounds just right to me.. it’s incredible how many times I’ve been surprised by the subtle nature of Elliott Smiths brilliant artistry, really good guitar techniques here
Man I’d pay to see a full tutorial of New Disaster, great work done on this channel.
pay up. jk. here you go: ua-cam.com/video/gZ7rZ5zvDNM/v-deo.html
@@brushstrokemedallion fucking legend! Thank you for this.
You taught me more in 2 minutes than anyone has in 10 years. Why do others overcomplicate it so much ? ? ? Thank you !
practicing right now! this is super helpful cheers
THIS IS THE BEST VIDEO ON THE INTERNET I owe you everything thank u so much for this
I know so many of his songs that his right hand technique is the only thing I use now 😂 But you’ve got it spot on. It sounds just the records.
wow you’re so cool
Wish I could love this! Been trying to relearn his style. I learned how to finger pick from doing elliott Smith covers growing up but as I got older and moved to Nashville to work for some labels and ghost write they wanted me to learn Travis picking and I haven’t been able to get back to his style since. I was so much more fluid when playing his finger picking styles
this was really moving. thank you.
I never zeroed in on the technique enough to notice this, so this is very eye-(or ear?)opening! Very cool.
thats wonderful ! gotta try this myself
beautiful playing man
Thanks Paul
Great job, it's a surprisingly lazy style but produces such a sound. I also prefer no nails and picking with my flesh, always made elliotts style a natural thing for me. But I learned alot of traditional style so my fingers like to get involved, I like how u use the thumb to strum, sometimes my 3 fingers in a claw do a strum, I think the thumb and one finger is true for alot of elliot songs. Especially early songs.
Really impressive. Its a subtle sound.
Beyond excellent.... 'don't tell, SHOW'.
This is great! I've been trying in the past but couldn't get it as well as you have. Wonder if you could upload more examples of songs that use more strumming than the pick-strum hybrid? For example Wouldn't Mama be Proud :)
“Wouldn’t mama be proud” is your pretty standard strumming as far as I can tell. I haven’t learned it but it doesn’t sound like it uses the same technique used in this video. On figure 8 it sounds like a pick, and live, he’s using his fingers.
Well done you really creates his tone
i’ll be going to sleep to this tonight, thanks 🌿
Delightful.
I play and sing this too . 🙌🏼 A lot … gunna study this cause your guitar playing has more note clarity.
Cheers chief x
This is really cool. Thank you.
This is fantastic. Very accurate
Wild. It’s almost a flamenco technique mixed with like folk and classical thumb stuff.
Magic
played on an Fg180 as well.. nice
Wow, that's amazing
Man this is incredible. I'll have to come back to this a bunch, great job, the new disaster bit made my jaw drop.
in the first examples it looks like you're only using the thumb and the index finger and the other 3 fingers aren't being used (?). so the thumb is in charge of the alternating bass but also the strumming (meaning, the thumb hits 2-3 strings when it strums), and the index finger is for the melody. does that sound right? you're an amazing player btw, you've really got his style down.
yep you got it - thumb and index for everything. thanks!
wow this sounds perfect
Great job.
Pleeaaaaaase do one on Roman Candle!
1:02 that's beautiful
Whoa at 0:40 that almost looks like Tosin Abasi's double thumb technique that he picked up from Victor Wooten iirc. Was Elliott Smith doing that in his indie folk-like fingerstyle way back then (probably in a similar period to Wooten, but I'd have to look) or was that just a flourish you added on?
this video is simply a dart-thrown sampling of snippets of elliott songs. song at :40 is his song called ‘roman candle’. no personal flourishes and no victor wooten here as far as i can tell though i love the idea of elliott privately rocking out to some slap bass and gleaning acoustic guitar techniques circa 1994
well put!!
Do a cover of ,
You Make it seem like nothing and romancandle please 🙏
so is it just the two fingers? thumb and ring? or actually you seem to use your index. I tried to practice this technique but its def tricky. i think of all the examples ive seen over the years you are the closest. nice job! edit: oh wait i see in your description you do mention the index. ill keep trying
Fantastic vid.
so damn sweet
Very Blackbird/McCartney like, which was a big influence on him
i still struggle matching the exact right hand feel of blackbird. paul's demo of the song, "goodbye" is also a great example of this special technique
I just wanna say thank you so much. I've been practicing this technique for the last 3 weeks and im finally getting that percussive thumb sound more consistently. Although, I cant quite figure out how youre strumming so fast with your finger like in Roman Candle and No Name #3. Is the finger up and down strumming for the? Thanks
thanks, i'm glad it's helpful. the thumb is downstroking on each beat and the index is upstroking on each upbeat. it just alternates back and forth.
!!!!!! thank you!!!
Can you do a tutorial on you make it seem like nothing? I have the intro chords decently but the verse confuses me
the dynamic control on the upstroke of new disaster is driving me insane, I can get the melody loud and clear, but the constant drone on the upstroke is so hard for me, i keep tensing my index finger.
this may help more. if not, keep practicing! ua-cam.com/video/gZ7rZ5zvDNM/v-deo.html
So beautiful
oh man i used to own that danelectro on the wall 😭
Nice
How are you getting the downstrokes to sound like that using only your thumb? It sounds amazing. When I do it, I hit the note so hard that ends up buzzing like hell and going out tune
Are you playing standard tuning on No Name #3? And are you starting with your index and pinky on 3rd and 7th Frets on High & Low E strings for the first chord?
practically yeah !! also if anyone ants the exact strings let me know !! i did. research and it's scary when you have the same guitar and strings.. sounds the same
is it possible to have more videos with elliott smith techniques and showing the chords?
hey luc, sweetadeline.net is an amazing resource if you're looking for tabs of his songs. many songs have multiple interpretations tabbed out which is helpful and you can sorta listen to the songs and cobble together what feels like the right version for you. as far as other right hand techniques go, this is what he seems to use when playing most songs. the best thing to do is slow down videos of him playing live and watch over and over again until you can approximate the technique for yourself. it's not easy stuff! if you have a specific song that you're having a hard time figuring out, i can do my best to make a video for you. best, mikey
what is the name of the song? 1:02
see description
what kind of strings do you use?
Exact mechanics aside, could you say it’s similar to “Travis Picking”, especially with the alternating bass notes? Sorry if it’s a dumb question, my music theory is negligible. In awe of your abilities though, and a massive Elliott Smith fan.
i don't know what travis picking is so can't really comment. if travis picking uses alternating bass notes, i supposed there's a similarity there. what makes this technique different from other stuff i've heard is the thumb "strums" a single string in stead of plucks like with traditional finger-picking.
@@brushstrokemedallion cheers - appreciate the response. Keep up the awesome work. Subscribed.
Do you have a tutorial for You Make it Seem Like Nothing? I've been wanting to learn that song for years but I've never found a tutorial
On New Disaster, do you use your index? Maybe only to slightly touch B and E?
bingo ua-cam.com/video/gZ7rZ5zvDNM/v-deo.html
@@brushstrokemedallion oh thanks a lot!
Oh just read the description, never mind
Could you do a 'you make it seem like nothing' toturial. It would be much appreciated.
The chorus chords are C / G / F / C / Dmin / Amin / F / F. I tune my outer strings down a whole step so the shapes will change slightly but it's easy once you start messing around. The chords for the verse are C / Dmin7 / E7 / F. And that's the whole song. You can also leave your guitar in standard tuning and play the regular shapes but it won't sound exactly like Elliott's version with the sliding. The right hand is the tricky part for this song and doing a full tutorial would probably be a half-hour long. Hope this is somewhat helpful!
@@brushstrokemedallion thanks!
Song at 1:02?
Can anyone tell me what songs are being played? Thank you so much
1:04 what song/ chords is ?
Brilliant demo! Seriously impressive playing. Can I ask what strings/gauge and guitar you're using for this? The strings sound nicely dead and I'm guessing they're maybe 13s (like Elliott) but there's also a lovely compressed sound (no spikey attack) so I'm wondering if the guitar has a relatively low action to offset the heavy strings. Any chance you'd share?
Thanks! It’s a Yamaha FG-180 tuned down a step or two. Strings are probably 11s.
@@brushstrokemedallion Lovely guitar! Wow you're getting a great thick tone for 11s. Explains the nice round attack though. Any idea what strings you might have used? Always looking for warmer strings. Thanks again!
@@shane5022 They may even be 10s. I just put on whatever but I also think if you leave a set on your guitar for a couple years, they'll be plenty warm. I never take mine off unless they break.
@@brushstrokemedallion I haven't changed the strings on my main acoustic in God knows how long so they sound super dead
I don't play a Yamaha like Elliott, I play a Seagull but all the factors combined make my guitar sound very similar to his especially when plugged in with the Lawrence A-300 pickup (same model he used)
@@brushstrokemedallion oh i feel u❤ same. Actually playing a 3 strings classical thats infact my first ever guitar. Surreal but this is it. A cheap one. Dont even recall brand. Not a yamaha though. But i got one thats the one i bought right after (some years). Cg142s if im not mistaken. A good one. But as i was saying im just sticking to the old carmudgeon for i guess... I dont even know, just lazy. But it sounds good! It became my bitch of choice so to say. Yea i know it sounds harsh but it's just an upfront way of saying, nothing personal ahah, oh well yea definitely personal although in a loving way. Sprayed white paint on the back in august 2022. Dunno why. Almost by mistake. I might own it since 2006 or so(?) Crazy. Last time i did a strings change been august 2021, exactly a year prior. Crazy. Now i play with three strings. Played this way for a long time now think i got used to it it's fun and dumb all the same! Ahah.. I got the low e the central g and b. No high e no d no a. Well i know it definitely misses quite a lot but it's endearing
i don’t understand how do you do i’m completely lost😣😣
can i have more instructions for the first one please!!
@darina step one is learning the song as regular finger-picking i.e. not moving your wrist very much. once you can do that, start playing around with moving your wrist in order to give your thumb more power. your thumb ends up feeling more like a strum and your index finger continues finger-picking as normal. hope this helps.
@@brushstrokemedallion thanks a lot!! what is the chord you play?
can you add timestamps to the different songs?
1:00 what song iss ? or chordssss plssss
you sure he didn’t use his index fingernail at all to strum? can you back this up? just curious
what is the tunning for the first three songs? Thanks so much btw
more info in description but 1st and 6th strings are tuned down a whole step. i have a capo on somewhere and the guitar is tuned down a step or two. if you want to play along with the video, just put your guitar in standard tuning, put a capo on the 1st fret and tune down the outside strings a whole step. hope that helps!
name of the first song?
"you make it seem like nothing". more info in the description
👍🏻
I have a love hate relationship with what you just did. More hate at first. Please reveal yourself and your sources or i call witchcraft.
i feel the same way but if you work at it enough you can make progress. it still sounds pretty clumsy when i try. this guy is definitely more skilled than he lets on
Oddly too large a percentage of the guitar community thinks John Mayer invented this for Neon.
Great job!
you should really really really do a full guitar shot of you playing Roman Candle 🥲
already forgot it :(
@@brushstrokemedallion :,,(
My biggest issue when I've done stuff to try to emulate the style is that I get caught up on the strings, either my thumb or my index, it happens with both.
yeah it can be really tricky to get enough power to make it sound like strumming and also be precise enough to land on the right strings