ROCKIN’ & A-ROLLIN’
10 INFLUENTIAL 50s PICKERS
Fresh back from a UK tour with rock and roll legend Shakin’ Stevens, Jon Bishop guides us through some of the key components of the rock and roll guitar style.
VIDEO & AUDIO https://bit.ly/3pw0dAh
In this feature we are taking an in-depth look at a guitar style that provided the foundation to the playing of later legends including Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Angus Young. It’s an exiting style that’s a fusion of several music genres, most notably country, blues, jazz, and western swing.
We have selected 10 of the best- known 50s pickers as our inspiration. These are: Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Duane Eddy, Link Wray, Dan Cedrone (Bill Haley and His Comets), Cliff Gallup (Gene Vincent’s Blue Caps), Carl Perkins, Scotty Moore (Elvis Presley) Bo Diddley, and James Burton (Ricky Nelson and later Elvis Presley).
TECHNIQUE FOCUS
Picking techniques
When playing through the examples it’s well worth considering your picking technique. Most of the ideas here can be played with a standard plectrum (flat pick) but for extra dexterity the second and third fingers can be used in addition to the plectrum. This is often referred to as hybrid picking and is very much a favourite for playing rock and roll and country guitar styles in particular. The flesh of the fingers provides a warm tone for the upper strings and the string-skipping abilities of the fingers is handy for fast arpeggios, or licks that require the string crossing. A thumbpick can also be employed and this frees up the remaining fingers as the thumbpick slips onto the thumb and doesn’t require holding. The use of a thumbpick also provides a tight and percussive attack to bass notes. If you combine this percussive attack with some palm muting, a bright, bridge pickup selection and some slap-back echo that classic rock and roll sound can be produced. Both Scotty Moore and Carl Perkins were great hybrid picking advocates.