Introduction

In The Segovia Technique,¹ Vladimir Bobri describes what the guitarist’s gesture should be in order to reach virtuosity. This search for perfection in the “classical” gesture was, however, questioned by another type of virtuosity: that of rock music. “The success and continuation of the electric guitar come from the innovative musical language it birthed,” André Duchossoir underlines while specifying that an electric guitar “is not just an amplified acoustic guitar with the help of electricity. Its specific characteristics in the fields of sonority, power, and sustain or even left-hand and right-hand play make it an instrument of its own kind.”² We can then better understand that a classical guitarist such as Andrés Segovia, who could be considered a traditionalist, has castigated this new instrument, dubbing it “an abomination, underlining, in a contemptible manner, the great difference existing between the various types of six-string ‘boxes.’”³ The feeling, expressed by Segovia as quoted by Duchossoir, is in line with that of Bobri, who sees in the classical guitar a “handmade thing of beauty” versus “the morass of folksy twanging, sentimental balladeering, and brutality of the electrified horned monsters.”⁴

It is a fact: through its specific properties, the electric guitar has afforded new technical gestures and new ways of playing. Robert Springer reiterates:

Mainstream or scholarly, the twentieth century had a great number of guitar “genres” rub shoulders with one another:

The “classical” gesture does not, however, completely vanish from the rock scene. Not to fall into the cliché of categorizing genres, it might be in 1970s prog rock that “classical standards”—both in virtuosity and in the actual gesture—are more obviously observed. Either in Genesis (with Steve Hackett) or in Yes (with Steve Howe), we encounter some of the most compelling examples of classical writing in rock albums. Two tracks, in particular, seem to represent this movement: “Mood For A Day” (Yes, 1971) and “Blood On The Rooftops” (Genesis, 1976).⁷ Howe and Hackett use nylon strings on these tracks instead of an electric guitar or a steel-string acoustic guitar, reminding us even more of the “classical” sound and gesture.

Even if certain rock musicians adopted a “classical” gesture with a “rock” sound, others continued to break the rules of this idealized gesture. This transformation can also be explained by the technical innovations that came alongside the electric guitar’s evolution: the use of distortion, feedback, and various effects allowed the electric guitar to produce new sounds.

In return, contemporary music captured the rock “gesture” and these new sounds. In this regard, the examples of Vampyr! by Tristan Murail (1984), La Cité des Saules by Hugues Dufourt (1997), Zap’Init by Claude Ledoux (2008), and, in some way—because responding to other questions—Gonin’s A Floyd Chamber Concerto (2014) are good examples. My experience of arranging and conducting a version of In C by Terry Riley (Dijon, Atheneum (2004) and Paris, Philharmonie (2016)) played entirely on the electric guitar, an interpretation centered around tone—what tone to choose and how to combine tones to give the piece a nonuniform dimension? What effects to put into place?—shows that the porosity of popular and art music genres today, and the interaction of the “gestures” associated with them, has become an established phenomenon.

The ambition of this chapter is to synthesize a reflection aimed at putting the instrumental gesture at the center of musical creation. It does not deny or hide all it owes to the works of Steve Waksman⁸ or Robert Walser,⁹ or the works accomplished during the international conference Quand la guitare [s’]électrise held at the Philharmonie de Paris in 2016, whose proceedings can now be accessed.¹⁰ In the first part of the chapter, this study briefly covers the electrification of the guitar and its consequences for guitar manufacturing and development of the effects dedicated to guitar playing. I will then focus on the possible range of crossbreeding the classically inspired instrumental gesture before addressing Eddie Van Halen’s contribution. Finally, I will consider the influence that the rock virtuosos’ legacies, from Jimi Hendrix to Van Halen, brought to the instrumental gesture and the tones used by composers of contemporary repertoire, whose knowing use of technique has furthered the hybridization of genres.

A New Gesture to Serve a New Virtuosity, and the Influence of Lutherie

In The Art and Times of the Guitar, Frederic Grunfeld states that before Hendrix, Charlie Christian had already profoundly changed the status of the electric guitar. “There is the guitar before Christian and the guitar after Christian,” Grunfeld writes.¹¹ Waksman adds: “The electric guitar was a different instrument, offering sonic possibilities that allowed the guitar to break away from its standard role in the jazz rhythm section … Christian’s achievement lay in tapping into the electric guitar’s potential, not simply to make his playing more audible, but to expand the instrument’s vocabulary.”¹²

But electricity is not the only reason that led to a change in the instrumental gesture. The actual changes in guitar manufacturing are significant factors. The disappearance of the sound box led to the creation of the solid-body guitar (Gibson Les Paul, Fender Telecaster, or Stratocaster, to name only the most iconic ones) and modifications to the body itself, with simple or double cutaways that allowed the player to reach the frets closest to the base of the neck on electric models, a feature later incorporated on certain acoustic models. The whammy bar was also added on some electric models, such as the Bigsby or Floyd Rose models, whose influence on technical gestures and virtuosity is fundamental. “Electric guitarists have been notable for the attention they have devoted to the quality and the character of the sounds they produce, and for the creative use of electric technologies in the making of popular music,” writes Waksman.¹³ Within the evolution of a gesture linked both to evolution in technique and guitar manufacturing, Jimi Hendrix undoubtedly played a major role. Kevin Dawe and Andy Bennett note: “In 1966, African-American guitarist Jimi Hendrix arrived in Britain and took electric blues playing to an altogether different level, single-handedly pioneering a new style. Superlative manual dexterity was combined with a skillful manipulation of volume and electronic effects units such as the wah-wah pedal, the fuzz tone, and the univibe.”¹⁴

The video of Hendrix playing the Troggs’ “Wild Thing” at Monterey Pop Festival in 1967¹⁵ is significant here. Hendrix utilizes his guitar as a sound generator: using the distortion and feedback in these few introductory minutes, he only plays with volume and the whammy bar.

“Classical” perfection requires an elaborated technical gesture that must meet certain requirements and postures, aiming at making the gesture efficient. The ideal position of the body is thus presented; Bobri underlines with details: “The instrument is supported at four points: the right thigh, the left thigh, the underside of the right arm, and the chest. The incurved bout of the guitar rests on the left thigh. The right upper arm rests on the broadest part of the guitar body, leaving the forearm hanging completely free.”¹⁶ This ideal position changes with the so-called folk guitar. Its larger sound box requires rebalancing the gesture (in the sitting position). However, Bobri presents the “bad habits to be avoided”¹⁷ with drawings that show cross-legged guitarists resting their guitar on their right leg (and not on the left). These drawings remind us of one of the only pictures we have of Robert Johnson, sitting in a suit and wearing a hat, his right leg holding his guitar over his left leg (Figure 8.1).

Figure 8.1 Robert Johnson

(©Jean-Baptiste Gonin)

Another noteworthy example is the position that the thumb is supposed to hold on the neck. When Bobri, while translating the thinking of Segovia, writes, “one will never acquire a good technique by squeezing the neck between the thumb and the index finger [; this gesture] immediately shows a mediocre guitarist,”¹⁸ I cannot help but think about the “mediocrity” of a guitarist such as Jimi Hendrix who notably barred the neck with the help of his thumb. This gesture allowed him to create bass lines with his thumb and give his other fingers greater freedom of movement (Figure 8.2), as demonstrated in Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” (1967), “The Wind Cries Mary” (1967), or “Little Wing” (1967).¹⁹

Figure 8.2 Jimi Hendrix’s right hand

(©Jean-Baptiste Gonin)

We could also mention Robert Smith’s habit when he reaches the highest notes on his guitar, contradicting once again the “purity” of the technical gesture advocated by Segovia. In this position, reaching close to the body of the guitar, we observe that when Segovia reaches for the 12th to 19th frets “without contortions,” he leaves his thumb on “the edge of the neck.”²⁰ On the contrary, Smith, especially when he plays on his Fender Bass VI, moves his thumb under the neck; it is then not held by the pinch created by the thumb and other fingers; it simply rests on the base of the thumb itself (Figures 8.3 and 8.4) (see, for example, the live performances of “Picture of You”).²¹

Figure 8.3 Segovia’s left hand

(adapted from Bobri, The Segovia Technique, p. 70 ©Jean-Baptiste Gonin)

Figure 8.4 Robert Smith’s (The Cure) left hand

(©Jean-Baptiste Gonin)

Not to be forgotten, the right hand also led to questioning the ideal posture: the use of the pick, of course, but also, and most importantly, the presence of the whammy bar and the possibility of reaching volume and tone knobs. Jimi Hendrix is significant here once again, but one of the most striking cases is Jeff Beck.²² His gesture is reminiscent of “classical” fingerpicking, and the presence of the whammy bar and volume knobs induces a slight modification of this position. Let me illustrate: the thumb, index finger, and middle finger are used to pinch strings, and the ring finger (and sometimes the middle finger) handle the whammy bar, while the pinkie handles the volume knobs and tone.²³

Guitarists adjusted their hand position not only due to a lack of proper training but out of the pursuit of distinctive and desirable tones. The effort to obtain a pure sound was the goal of one of the most famous inventors in the history of the electric guitar: Les Paul. Steve Waksman writes:

However, the use of distortion and its integration into rock music is one of the biggest sonic paradoxes to have existed since the invention of recording, as Greg Milner notes:

To put it in other words, instead of trying to obtain the purest sound possible, the idea was rather to “soil” the electric guitar tone, to make it harsher, more bitter, less smooth, and to play with it to create, beyond new sounds, new technical gestures.

Virtuosity, Bach, and Heavy Metal – or the Electric Technique to Serve a Classical-Writing-Inspired Music

What impact do these distinctive gestures and guitar manufacturing techniques have on the virtuosity of the instrument’s players?²⁶ They can be measured in different ways. They sometimes have no actual impact on the virtuosity, so to speak (as exemplified by Robert Smith), but the inherent specificities of the electric guitar (lutherie, emission of sound through amplification) will induce new gestures that might, in turn, have an impact through a subtle back and forth influence on the instrumental gesture, integrated by contemporary composers.

The most obvious example might be tapping—mostly two-handed tapping—a groundbreaking technique, albeit not entirely new. Eddie Van Halen developed and popularized this playing mode with “Eruption” (1978), although its roots are relatively old. Prior to Van Halen, one can find this technique used by other rock guitarists, although less systematically, such as: Randy Resnick in the late 1960s; Kiss’s Ace Frehley, notably at the end of his solo for the song “Shock Me” on their 1977 tour;²⁷ and Steve Hackett, who used it sporadically in “The Musical Box” (Genesis, 1971) and “Dancing with the Moonlit Knight”²⁸ (Genesis, 1973). One cannot ignore the close links this playing has with classical composition. Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, or Yngwie Malmsteen—to cite only these four virtuosos (all being heavy metal guitarists)—all have classical influences in their playing. Robert Walser reminds us: “From the very beginnings of heavy metal in the late 1960s, guitar players had experimented with the musical materials of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European composers.”²⁹ Mentioning the renowned virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen, Walser even underlines: “In the liner notes for his 1988 album Odyssey, heavy metal guitarist Yngwie J. Malmsteen claimed a musical genealogy that confounds the stability of conventional categorizations of music into classical and popular spheres.”³⁰

In these liner notes, Malmsteen acknowledges he owes a debt to J.S. Bach, Nicolo Paganini, Antonio Vivaldi, and Ludwig Van Beethoven, admitting that he soaks in their influence, inspires himself with their compositions, and “tries to reproduce their melodic essence,” but that he “never learned any of their compositions by heart.”³¹ It is impossible for Malmsteen to play Paganini’s 24 Caprices for violin on a guitar because he says, “you can reach a phenomenal velocity with a bow, far beyond anything you can achieve with a guitar.”³²

Let us remember that this musician—just like Clapton, Gilmour, Andy Summers, and Mark Knopfler, among others—was honored with his own Stratocaster signature model by Fender. Among other technicalities, this model has a conchoidal touch, a curved neck close to that of the Indian sitar. “With a curved touch … the contact with the strings is far better, the sound richer and the possible velocity, much faster.”³³ Malmsteen does not, however, use this guitar’s specificity to change his way of executing bendings by pressing on the string, for instance, rather than pushing it upwards or pulling it downwards, explaining: “I always pull my strings the Clapton way! When I do, that is … [s]ince it is a technique I use rather rarely.”³⁴

Van Halen’s “Eruption” and the Creation of an Archetype

“Where would we be as guitarists if Eddie Van Halen had not existed?” asks Matt Blackett in the Guitar Player special tribute issue following Van Halen’s passing.³⁵ If one can say there is a way to conceive electric guitar playing before and after Jimi Hendrix,³⁶ one cannot deny the crucial importance of another musician: Eddie Van Halen. There is, undeniably, in the world of rock music in general and in that of heavy metal in particular, a time before and after Van Halen. “Eruption,” the second track on their self-titled debut album (Van Halen, 1978), held people’s attention to the point that it became almost a paragon, the reference for heavy metal solos. The track almost did not make it on the album, according to Eddie Van Halen himself: “Eruption wasn’t really planned to be on the record … I was warming up, you know, practicing my solo and Ted [Templeman, the album’s producer] walks in. He goes, ‘Hey, what’s that?’ I go, ‘That’s a little solo thing I do live.’ He goes, ‘Hey, it’s great. Put it on the record.’”³⁷ Elected Best New Talent by the readership of Guitar Player in a 1978 poll, Van Halen (who won Best Rock Guitarist for five straight years between 1979 to 1983) had an enormous impact on rock guitar playing.³⁸ He further developed the two-handed tapping technique, a technique he did not create but brought to an unprecedented level of sophistication.

If lutherie is paramount in this evolution, let us not forget about electronics, especially in the crafting of pickups. Guitar journalist Matt Blackett underlines once more: “Ask yourself this: What if Eddie Van Halen hadn’t been around to put a PAF in the bridge position of his Strat?”³⁹ Blackett refers to the pickup type called “humbucker,” placed by Gibson on their guitars in the late 1950s, and whose acronym is PAF (Patent Applied For), as the label under these pickups stated. The PAF model has since become a myth relying on those first models, pending industrial certification. In number 66 of Guitare et Claviers, Eddie Van Halen explains how he loved the sound of a Gibson Les Paul but that its shape did not fit his body and style of playing. This is why he mounted a PAF pickup on a 1961 Stratocaster, in order to obtain “a sound that has nothing to do with a Fender.”⁴⁰ Van Halen then used a Stratocaster replication by Charvel on which he mounted “an old Gibson PAF that was recoiled [his] own way and placed very, very close to the bridge to get a high-pitched sound.”⁴¹ He had also changed the frets to have large Gibson ones.

Regarding guitar manufacturing, one of the main differences between electric and acoustic guitar is the integration of a whammy bar (vibrato) on certain electric guitar models. The first tremolo bars date back to the 1930s. Their use became a crucial element in some guitarists’ playing: Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour—what would a David Gilmour solo be without double bends and the use of vibrato?—and Eddie Van Halen. There are several models of whammy bars: the Bigsby or the one found on the Stratocaster (the renowned “synchronized tremolo”) or Jazzmaster (the “floating tremolo”). As a reminder, here is a short definition of a tremolo: a “tremolo system” refers to all components of the tremolo unit, which can include the tailpiece, the bridge, the nut, and the tremolo bar. And it helps to know that the terms “tremolo bar,” “vibrato bar,” and “whammy bar” are all used interchangeably, as are the terms “bar” and “arm.”⁴²

Eddie Van Halen was one of the first guitarists to try out a model of a tremolo system which was destined to have great success with guitar players, especially in heavy metal: the Floyd Rose model. Invented by Floyd Rose in 1977 from Fender’s “synchronized tremolo,” the Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo, simply known nowadays as the Floyd Rose, is another type of “synchronized unit.”

Van Halen recalls: “[Floyd Rose] would arrange to come meet and show [me] a thing that seemed as secret as a new atomic weapon … He told me it was a vibrato locking system.”⁴³ The problem with this new system was that the guitar would go out of tune too often. Eddie Van Halen recommended to Rose that he adapt his invention to a system already existing on violins (which Van Halen played as a child), an instrument that could be tuned “with a finger while still playing [thanks to fine tuners placed behind the bridge, see Figure 8.5] … Once he understood what I needed, he patented it and I never saw him again.”⁴⁴

Figure 8.5 Fine-tuning system on the tailpiece of a violin.

Photo ©Philippe Gonin

Moreover, and here’s an important point: Van Halen not only advanced virtuoso techniques but also innovated sonically by integrating effects, especially at the beginning of his career with MXR pedals, experimenting particularly with phaser and flanger effects:

Van Halen goes on about the end of “Eruption”: “All that noise? That’s a Univox echo box, which I put in the bomb. Did you see that thing?”⁴⁶

Guitar manufacturing, electronics, and effects all have a considerable impact on the way guitar players “create” their own sounds and their own gestures. These gestures and this new virtuosity then (sometimes) become models for others to follow. Van Halen’s influence, through his gesture and his sound, on guitarists such as Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, or Nuno Bettencourt and, more widely, on the whole generation of “shredders” who appeared in the 1990s, is indisputable.⁴⁷

Contemporary Music and the Electric Guitar: A Shift Toward Hybridization?

The use of the electric guitar in contemporary (art) music has been common for some time. Pierre-Albert Castanet⁴⁸ notices it in works as diverse as Francis Miroglio’s Tremplins (1968), Hugues Dufourt’s Saturne (1968–1969), and Philippe Manoury’s opera 60ème Parallèle (1997). “These composers let Jimi Hendrix’s instrument ring and resonate with the most striking effects,”⁴⁹ overusing feedback (Ledoux, Murail, for example) as a gesture that is now an integral part of the instrument’s technical vocabulary. We can add to this list La Cité des Saules, pour guitare électrique et transformation du son by Hugues Dufourt (1997), or, of course, Vampyr! by Tristan Murail (1984).

This last piece could undoubtedly be considered one of the founders of a hybridization between contemporary writing and instrumental “gestures” originating from rock music, particularly metal. We are, in fact, witnessing a sort of pendular swinging that, from metal guitarists’ classical inspiration—but not necessarily guitaristic—shifts back into the world of art music by integrating new stylistic elements crafted into a rock-writing searching for new tones, gestures, and textures.

In this way, the interpretation by Flavio Virzi of Murail’s Vampyr! is visually unsettling. Albeit equipped with a pedal board (BOSS GT-10) and an electric guitar with a vibrato (in this case, an Ibanez, a brand often played by “shredders”) playing a constantly distorted sound with a pick, Virzi chooses a body position that is usually seen with classical guitarists (the guitar is resting on the left leg, same neck inclination, etc.).⁵⁰

Another example is Claude Ledoux’s 2008 Zap’s Init. One can clearly see in the YouTube video⁵¹ of the interpretation of the piece by Hughes Kolp (to whom it is dedicated) that the musician’s gesture is directly inspired by rock music and very far removed from the “classical” archetypes—most notably the position of the thumb but also the right hand. From a technical point of view, the website of the publishers of the score clearly specifies which types of instruments and effects are necessary to interpret this piece of work, as stated below:

If Zap’s Init can still be considered a guitar piece in the pure sense of the word, such is not the case with La Cité des Saules by Hugues Dufourt (1997). In order to interpret this piece,⁵³ Yaron Deutsch uses a Roland FC 300 MIDI controller plugged into an ADA MIDI Tube Guitar pre-amplifier, a TC Electronic multi-effects device, and two Marshall amplifiers (stereo output). The words “Dufourt la cité des saules” can be seen on the TC Electronic multieffects unit, confirming that the guitarist preprogrammed effects loops before recording the interpretation. Ultimately, the guitar is just an excuse, a sonic source meant to be transformed to the point that the instrument itself is barely noticeable. These two brief examples show two types of virtuosity: one (Dufourt) is essentially connected to the sound (let us remember that Hugues Dufourt belongs to the spectral movement), and the other (Ledoux) is linked more to the “virtuoso” gesture in a common sense of the word: speed of execution, complex technical gesture, but also sound transformation.

My own musical composition, A Floyd Chamber Concerto,⁵⁴ commissioned by the Orchestre Régional de Normandie (France) and written in 2014, is a typical case of hybridization. The goal of this piece was to attempt to explain some of the big themes of the second half of the twentieth century, which are addressed in Pink Floyd’s songs. The work is thus presented as a succession of four movements referencing Pink Floyd’s music but played by a relatively reduced classical ensemble: one flute, one oboe, one clarinet, one bassoon, one French horn, three violins I, three violins II, two violas, two cellos, one double bass, and an electric guitar. The idea was to make this ensemble “sound” like a rock band and to rediscover, through the musical gesture, the energy of rock music: in other words, “soil” the sound, as I asked the string section to do for the beginning of the fourth movement. As the whole creative process was analyzed and presented at the IRCAM conference in January 2019,⁵⁵ I will not go any further here. But let us take a moment to look at the guitar writing, which aims to “rediscover” certain characteristic features of the Gilmourian gesture, all the while keeping (at least, I hope) its own identity. The writing evokes Gilmour through the use of bends, paying more attention to sound rather than pure virtuosity, and a moderate use of distortion in a number of sequences. Even if the third movement owes more to Rick Wright (Sysyphus, 1969) than to Gilmour, the Floyd Chamber Concerto presents itself as an “intertextual” piece of work whose influences go beyond Floyd’s music alone: there are also traces of Maurice Ravel (beginning of the first movement), Philip Glass (at the end of the fourth movement), Stravinsky (at the beginning of the fourth and also in the second movement), etc. This intertextuality is, however, more linked to the sound (to the sonic texture, to the tone) than to the actual instrumental “technique.”

Conclusion

I am aware that this overview, focusing only on a few examples, deserves to be developed further. I have, for example, chosen to put aside the question of the legacy of the flamenco guitar in pop music, an aesthetic that dominates such obvious tracks as “Spanish Caravan” (The Doors, 1968), “A Spanish Piece” (Pink Floyd, 1969), “Spanish Fly” (Van Halen, 1979), and “Innuendo” (Queen, 1991), the “classical” and flamenco gestures sometimes intertwining.⁵⁶ I have also left out the question of virtuosity with its classical links to jazz. My contribution shows that the twentieth century, while giving rise to the newly manufactured electric guitar and new popular genres of rock and its sub-categories (psychedelic, prog, metal, etc.), witnessed the integration of new sounds—the use of effects aiming to transform the tone of the instrument—to create a specific language and an instrumental gesture that freed itself from classical constraints, all the while paying homage to its musical ancestors. Conversely, the world of the “classical” guitar, despite some old school musicians’ hesitation (led by Segovia and Bobri), managed to integrate the technical progress born in the rock world and maybe even renew its own language and writing gestures through the use of its own equipment—the electric guitar.

If I cannot deny that a correct gesture is a prerequisite to any virtuosity (whatever its complexity), this contribution suggests that Segovia and Bobri are on the wrong track. By remaining stuck on techniques that concern only one type of repertoire, rejecting with force any progress linked to technology, they ignore a whole repertoire, including that intended for the “classical” guitar.

I have shown that the “classical” gesture is not the only way to achieve virtuosity. Rock musicians demonstrated that new gestures could be created and developed, helped by the possibilities offered by the guitar’s electrification, and that a new “technical” gesture can renew well-trodden forms of virtuosity.

Introduction

All modern bass guitars (also known as electric basses) can be traced back to the Fender Precision Bass.¹ Released in 1951, the Precision Bass was intended to replace the acoustic upright basses that were then common in popular music. The instrument had been adapted from the design of the company’s Broadcaster electric guitar (soon to be renamed the Telecaster) and featured a large solid body, a long, fretted neck, and four thick strings. Most importantly, it utilized a pickup, which allowed the instrument to be electrically amplified. At the time of its release, this bass guitar hybrid was considered so strange and unconventional that, according to one salesman, retailers “who were not sure if Leo [Fender] was crazy when he brought out the solid-body guitar were darn sure he was crazy now … They were convinced that a person would have to be out of their mind to play that thing.”² In the end, the Precision Bass overcame its reputation as a novelty instrument thanks to its many practical advantages: it was easier to transport, easier to play, and, through its amplification, it was far easier to hear in an ensemble context than a traditional upright. The bass guitar’s popularity subsequently spread across popular music as more and more musicians discovered these advantages. So great was its impact that, by the mid 1960s, not only did every major guitar manufacturer have their own version of a bass guitar but the instrument had also become a standard component of nearly every genre of Western popular music. In the decades since, the bass guitar has endured as popular music’s favorite low-end instrument.

The bass guitar’s history is inseparable from the history of the solid-body electric guitar. Both were often designed and built by the same instrument makers, produced at the same manufacturing facilities, and based around similar technological innovations, most notably amplification. For the electric guitar and bass guitar, the significant increase in volume that amplification provided made it possible for both to replace their acoustic predecessors. Despite their connections, however, each instrument ultimately came to serve distinct musical functions, with lead electric guitarists becoming featured soloists and bass guitarists relegated to background accompaniment.³ Most writers have not equally valued these two functions. The abiding trope of the “guitar god,” along with the overemphasis on rock styles in most early critical and scholarly analyses of popular music, has led to a robust literature on the electric guitar (to which this present volume also contributes). By contrast, the repetitive nature of most bass lines, their relative simplicity, and, most importantly, their supportive function in the music have all led critics, journalists, and academics to see the bass as less worthy of serious inquiry. Bassists’ musical contributions, therefore, have been regularly overlooked and underestimated, which, in turn, has meant that the bass’s role is far less commonly understood by average listeners.

This chapter and its accompanying playlist provide an overview of the ways that the bass guitar is most often used in popular music.⁴ Rather than discuss the instrument in terms of genre, I focus instead on its wider musical functions. As I argue, bass lines can largely be categorized by five common performative strategies: basic accompaniments, rhythmic- and groove-oriented approaches, melodic-oriented approaches, slap and pop styles, and the use of alternative instruments and techniques. While these strategies frequently overlap, this simplified taxonomy is intended to help listeners better appreciate how the bass shapes the overall sound and feel of a recording. By using a diverse cross-section of examples drawn from classic rock, metal, pop, R&B, soul, funk, reggae, disco, jazz, hip hop, and more, this chapter also highlights bass guitarists’ profound, wide-ranging impact on music history.

Bass-ic Accompaniments

The bass guitar is best thought of as a supporting instrument. Traditionally, bassists operate as part of the rhythm section, working in conjunction with drummers to construct the music’s rhythmic feel. Contrary to a drum kit, however, the bass guitar is also a pitched instrument. Tuned a full octave lower than a standard electric guitar, the bass occupies the “low end” of the frequency spectrum, and bassists therefore supply foundational low notes that establish or reinforce a song’s harmony, most often by playing the root notes of each chord.⁵ Furthermore, when an amplified bass guitar is played loudly in a live setting or reproduced via a decent speaker setup, the sound that it produces is felt within the body as much as it is heard by the ear. This is why the bass is usually a central component of dance musics: studies show that the tactile sensations produced by bass frequencies actively stimulate bodily movement.⁶ Taken together, these functions have made the bass indispensable for most popular styles. To better understand the bass’s importance, this section details some of the basic yet meaningful ways that the bass guitar is often used in popular music.

One approach that electric bassists frequently take is simply to “double” what the other musicians are playing, especially the electric guitarist. Most commonly, this takes the form of a “unison riff,” in which the bassist and guitarist play the same short, repeating musical phrase (although typically in different registers). For example, the intros to Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” (1970) and Living Colour’s “Cult of Personality” (1988) each begin with the guitarist introducing a short, distorted riff, followed by the bassist joining in and duplicating the riff an octave lower. When the bass enters, those riffs are transformed into something dramatic and powerful, as when combined, the two instruments now more fully occupy the recording’s sonic space. This situation plays out in reverse in The Allman Brothers Band’s “Whipping Post” (1969), with the bass establishing the main riff first, followed by the guitarist joining in. In practice, unison riffs usually convey a sense of power, with the bass’s prominent low end adding to the “heaviness” that is valued in hard rock, punk, and metal.⁷

Because the bass plays a significant role in determining a song’s underlying rhythmic and harmonic structure, bass lines provide a supportive framework through which the other musical elements are understood. Take, for instance, Van Halen’s cover of The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” (1978). The song is largely centered on an embellished unison riff played by bassist Michael Anthony and guitarist Eddie Van Halen. After the second chorus, Van Halen breaks away to play a highly technical solo that features rapid-fire passages, extended bends, “offbeat” phrasing, and his signature tapping, all while Anthony continues to play the riff underneath. Anthony’s role here is essential, as his steady rhythm and implied harmonic progression act as the foundation on top of which Van Halen builds his solo. In turn, the bass also becomes the lens through which we as listeners comprehend the solo’s expressivity, as Van Halen’s complex phrasing and note choices only make sense when heard against the stability of Anthony’s repeating bass line. In more extreme examples, the bass guitar is the only element that prevents a song from devolving into complete incoherence. Such is the case on Radiohead’s “The National Anthem” (2000), which is structured around a two-bar bass line, played by Thom Yorke, that continuously repeats while the rest of the music alternates between harsh dissonance and moments of relative calm. Beginning at approximately 2.50 minutes into the recording, the dissonance builds to a fever pitch with an extended free-jazz-inspired brass band section, which recedes temporarily before returning to ratchet up the tension yet again. Without the musical frame provided by Yorke’s bass line, the song would sound far more jumbled and chaotic.

None of the examples described thus far are particularly challenging to play. This demonstrates an important axiom about bass playing, which is that bass lines do not need to be complicated to be effective. Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” (2010) is a case in point. The bass guitar enters at the pre-chorus, with producer Paul Epworth playing eighth notes on the roots of each chord. This is a simple, straightforward bass line, but one that simultaneously performs four key functions: it fills out the low end, it reinforces the harmonic progression, it emphasizes the insistent rhythmic feel, and most importantly, it contributes to the song’s building intensity. When the chorus finally hits, the bass complements Adele’s vocals as she soars into her higher register and then descends. In both sections, the bass adds energy to the song, which dissipates as soon as the bass drops out at the beginning of the subsequent verses. Simple bass lines can also serve as an anchor that unites a song’s otherwise disparate musical elements.⁸ For example, on the Pixies’ “Where is My Mind?” (1988), Kim Deal plays a basic, four-bar root-note bass line; slow, steady, and consistent, her bass provides a valuable sense of stability across the song’s exaggerated shifts in dynamics. As she explained to Bass Player magazine in 2004, “The bass in the Pixies is just glue; that’s all it is. It’s not supposed to be something else.”⁹

Bassists’ contributions may often be subtle, but they are nonetheless consequential. From filling out a recording’s sonic space to creating a framework for the musicians and listeners, or simply by anchoring the rest of the band, even the humblest bass lines can have a significant effect on how we hear and make sense of the music. As I detail in the rest of this chapter, these effects are further magnified when bassists go beyond the basics.

Rhythmic- and Groove-Oriented Approaches

One way that bass guitarists can take on a more prominent position in the music is by leaning into specific aspects of the bass’s established functions. By far the most common strategy is to expand the bass’s rhythmic role. Although the implementation of this strategy can vary widely depending on style and genre, its function is to take a more active part in shaping the overall feel of the music. In hard rock, metal, and punk, for instance, the bass is regularly used to provide a sense of forward motion. On Suzi Quatro’s “Can the Can” (1973), Quatro’s galloping bass line gives the song a rhythmic punch that pushes the song forward. As she explained to an interviewer in 2019, “The bass and drums are the engine that drives the song; nothing is more important.”¹⁰ Doubling down on this approach, Lemmy Kilmister adds a similar drive to Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades” (1980), conveying a sense of power and momentum through his incredibly fast rhythmic playing and his distorted bass timbre.¹¹

While some bass guitarists use their instruments to rhythmically propel the music, others choose instead to emphasize cyclic grooves. These sorts of groove-oriented bass lines are especially common in dance musics, which often derive pleasure from the layering of repetitive, interlocking rhythms. Take Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” (1982), which begins with a drum pattern that establishes the song’s steady pulse, followed by bassist Louis Johnson adding the song’s repetitive, hypnotic bass line. Together, these two elements create a fluid, rhythmic feel, with Johnson’s cyclic bass line weaving around the drum’s kick-snare pattern. At various points in the recording, synths, Jackson’s vocals, and electric guitars are all layered into the mix, but the overall arrangement is sparse, and the bass is the only element that consistently supplies the groove.

Many groove-oriented bass lines are thus constructed around riffs, with the bassist playing a short musical phrase that they repeat (or loosely vary) throughout a song. Unlike the unison riffs described in the previous section, groove-oriented bass guitar riffs are usually played solely by the bassist and tend to operate in the background of the music. Their purpose is to accentuate the rhythm by working with and against the other musical elements. This approach was first popularized by bass guitarists operating in 1960s African American styles, such as R&B and soul. A classic example is Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour” (1965), featuring Donald “Duck” Dunn on bass guitar. For most of the song, Dunn plays an ascending bass riff that he repeats over and over again, creating a distinctive push-and-pull groove by locking in with the drummer’s snare hits on the second and fourth beats of each bar. As in the Michael Jackson example, the bass riff works both as a standalone layer in the music and as part of an interlocking rhythm section.

Likewise, although the feel of the music is quite different, reggae musicians often employ a similar formula, combining a bass riff with a simple drumbeat (collectively known, following Jamaican Patois, as the “riddim”) to create a foundation for the rest of the music. This structure can be heard on Sound Dimension’s “Full Up” (1968), which features a classic riddim bass line played by bass guitarist Leroy Sibbles. Although Sibbles’ bass is a bit buried in the overall mix, it still contributes to the song’s laid-back feel. However, since riddim lines are regularly repurposed and reused, Sibbles’ original bass line has lived on in later adaptations, including Musical Youth’s “Pass the Dutchie” (1982).

Some bass guitar riffs, in fact, are so memorable that they become the defining feature of a song. Among the many examples that fall within this category are Roger Waters’ bass line to Pink Floyd’s “Money” (1973), Tina Weymouth’s bass line to Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” (1977), Rick James’ bass line to “Super Freak” (1981), John Deacon’s bass line to Queen and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure” (1981), Kathy Valentine’s bass line to The Go-Go’s’ “We Got the Beat” (1982), Mike Dirnt’s bass line to Green Day’s “Longview” (1994), and Chris Wolstenholme’s bass line to Muse’s “Hysteria” (2003).

In addition to using repetitive riffs, bass guitarists also often use syncopation to emphasize their rhythmic role. Rather than only stressing the music’s regular, strong beats, syncopated bass lines accent weak beats (or offbeats). In so doing, they create small-scale rhythmic tensions that can add a distinctive feel to the music. Perhaps the clearest illustration of this technique comes from the verses of King Floyd’s “Groove Me” (1970), on which bassist Vernie Robbins plays a slow, repeating two-bar riff. From a pitch perspective, this bass line is fairly uninteresting, as Robbins simply performs an ascending major pentatonic scale. What makes it stand out, however, is its syncopation: after emphasizing the first strong beat (the “downbeat”) of the phrase, every one of his subsequent accents falls on offbeats. When heard against the backdrop of the steady, regularly accented drum pattern, Robbins’ alternation between rhythmic stability and instability creates the song’s titular groove. This approach is characteristic of funk music, especially as developed by James Brown in the mid 1960s and early 1970s. On Brown’s “Super Bad” (1970), for example, bassist Bootsy Collins follows that same formula—shaping the groove by playing two-bar, push-and-pull bass lines that emphasize the downbeat of the first bar followed by offbeat accents that add rhythmic tension. Drawing inspiration from early funk, disco bassists extended this approach, which was further accentuated by their increased prominence in the overall mix. This style is best represented by Bernard Edwards’ catchy riff on Chic’s “Good Times” (1979), which uses a syncopated, push-and-pull effect to give the song its signature danceability.

More recently, neo-soul bassists such as Meshell Ndegeocello have developed more restrained groove-oriented styles based around meticulous conceptions of space and syncopation. As she explained to musicologist Tammy L. Kernodle:

One of the best examples of Ndegeocello’s bass style is her “Make Me Wanna Holler” (1996), which features a slow, hypnotic groove, precise timing, a clear emphasis on empty space, and intermittent improvised fills.

Some bass guitarists use their speed, technical facility, and internalized sense of rhythm to construct even more complex grooves. One example is session musician Chuck Rainey, who was known for his sophisticated approach to rhythm. When given complete freedom to improvise on a session, Rainey would often craft intricately subdivided bass lines. On Aretha Franklin’s “Every Natural Thing” (1974), for instance, he begins with a propulsive, syncopated bass riff that he varies constantly; at the chorus, he explodes, building the song’s rhythmic energy through a blistering flurry of syncopated sixteenth notes. By contrast, on Steely Dan’s “Kid Charlemagne” (1976), Rainey plays an intricate bass line that is also constructed around syncopated sixteenth notes; here, however, his approach differs as his free-flowing playing anchors the song and gives it a consistent sense of groove despite its challenging arrangement. Succinctly summarizing his style, Rainey explained to me that: “A lot of people think that I play a lot of notes, but I don’t. I play a lot of rhythm on the few notes I do play.”¹³ For styles of rock that value complexity and virtuosity—most notably progressive rock and some forms of metal—bass guitarists frequently use complex grooves to demonstrate their technical mastery. Geddy Lee’s bass playing on Rush’s “YYZ” (1981), for example, alternates between intricate unison riffs and elaborate solo passages, showcasing both his and the entire band’s virtuosity. Modern jazz musicians have similarly been drawn to complex grooves, both for their added challenge and for the creative possibilities they offer. For example, on bassist Esperanza Spalding’s “I Know You Know” (2008), she spends the first minute and a half deliberately not accenting the downbeat, crafting a complex, stop-start syncopated bass groove that complements her vocals; for the bridge and solo sections, she introduces accented downbeats that radically change the feel of the groove, before ultimately returning to her original approach. Taken as a whole, Spalding’s bass playing demonstrates her immense skill and serves as a vehicle for her personal expression.

Melodic-Oriented Approaches

Another way that bassists have expanded their role is to play melodically. In this style, which emphasizes the bass’s function as a pitched instrument, bassists draw on a wider palette of potential note choices to deliberately craft extended, connected musical phrases. By transforming the bass into a featured melodic layer in the music, this approach breaks with traditional conceptions of the bass as merely a background or supportive instrument. It is therefore far less common than rhythmic- or groove-oriented approaches (which remain the norm) but is understandably prized by bassists that wish to take on a more prominent musical role.

While there are multiple styles of melodic bass playing, key characteristics unite the approach. For instance, bassists who adopt a melodic approach often eschew the bass’s usual timekeeping function (i.e. reinforcing the pulse of the music) and hence are free to leave more space in their playing and/or vary their rhythmic activity to serve their musical phrase. Similarly, melodic players often emphasize the bass’s middle and higher registers, an approach that is facilitated by the instrument’s frets, which allow the musician to find notes quickly and accurately at any position on the neck. They also commonly employ various types of articulations—slides, hammer-ons and pull-offs, leaps, etc.—that mimic the inflections of the human voice.¹⁴ Most melodic bass lines thus have a distinctive, singable quality that draws the listener’s attention. Session bassist Carol Kaye’s performance on Barbra Streisand’s 1973 ballad “The Way We Were” serves as a good example. Kaye builds her melodic bass line slowly over the course of the song, complementing Streisand’s dramatic vocal performance. Moving up and down the neck, Kaye constructs a free-flowing line that incorporates slides, rhythmic variation, leaps, and more—all of which serve to heighten the song’s sense of wistful melancholy.

Melodic bass lines are most often introduced at the beginning of a song, acting as an opening hook that stands apart from the rhythm section. The bassist then usually maintains a foregrounded role throughout the rest of the song. For example, Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On” (1969) starts softly with muted drumming and a strummed chordal lick on acoustic guitar; but ten seconds in, bassist John Paul Jones enters with a four-bar melodic bass line that is prominently situated in the mix. Operating in the bass’s higher register, Jones uses leaps, slides, and smooth phrasing as he weaves around the drums and guitar. As Jones repeats his melody, the vocals enter, but the bass does not recede into the background. Instead, it maintains its featured position, even as Jones switches to a more insistent, rhythmic style in the choruses.¹⁵ An even more conspicuous melodic approach can be heard in Prince’s “Diamonds and Pearls” (1991), which opens with Sonny T. playing a four-bar melodic bass line that moves sinuously between the bass’s higher, middle, and lower registers. As is ultimately revealed, this bass melody is also the main vocal melody of the verse, which Prince sings in a higher octave. This bass-voice relationship continues into the choruses, with Sonny T. and Prince doubling the chorus melody as well.

Another common approach is to use the bass to supply a countermelody that is meant to be understood through its interaction with a song’s other melodic elements. On the Beatles’ “Something” (1969), for instance, Paul McCartney plays in the bass’s middle and higher register, incorporating slides, leaps, hammer-ons, contrasting fast and slow passages, grace notes, and more. His melodic bass playing functions as a counterpoint to George Harrison’s voice, working in a style of call-and-response that fills out the space of the otherwise slow, understated recording. One of the clearest examples of this countermelodic approach comes from the opening of Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine” (1987), in which bassist Duff McKagan adds a distinctive, singable bass line underneath Slash’s famous, string-skipping opening electric guitar riff. Notably, both McKagan and Slash are placed at a relatively equal volume in the mix, and the listener is invited to concentrate on either part individually, or to experience them as an intertwined whole.

As is probably clear from the descriptions thus far, melodic-oriented and rhythmic-oriented approaches are not mutually exclusive. Many melodic bassists will switch to a more rhythmic-oriented approach at key moments in a song (such as the chorus) to add a sense of energy or stability. Furthermore, bass riffs are, in some ways, inherently melodic, even if their predominant function is to emphasize the rhythm or groove. Other bassists straddle the line between the two by adding some melodic flourishes to cyclic bass lines, creating what I call “melodic bass grooves.” As with much groove playing, in popular music, melodic bass grooves are primarily associated with African American dance music traditions. Perhaps the most famous melodic bass groove comes from The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” (1969), featuring bassist Wilton Felder. In the intro and verses, Felder plays a bass hook that fluidly navigates the chord progression; in the choruses, he plays a contrasting bass line, adding in more rhythmic variety and embellishments. Both are foregrounded in the mix, acting as melodic layers in the music while also contributing to its overall groove.¹⁶ Jimmie Williams’ bass line to McFadden and Whitehead’s “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” (1979) has a comparable function. Starting at approximately 17 seconds into the recording, Williams introduces the distinctive two-bar bass riff that he will play throughout nearly the entire song. Yet, in contrast to some of the riffs discussed previously, Williams incorporates melodic phrasing—leaps, ghost notes, and slides—that give the line a singable quality; at the same time, its steady pulse, syncopated rhythms, and constant repetition emphasize the song’s disco groove.

Some bassists have cultivated even more complex melodic styles by adopting a more soloistic approach. This approach was first popularized by session bassist James Jamerson, who played on hundreds of Motown hits in the 1960s and early 1970s, including music by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Supremes, The Four Tops, Martha and the Vandellas, and many more. Drawing on his background as a jazz musician, Jamerson developed an adventurous, highly influential style of pop bass playing. Here is how he described a typical session:

Jamerson’s style is on full display on Stevie Wonder’s “For Once in My Life” (1968) and Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” (1971), as he improvises nuanced, constantly varying melodic bass lines that intricately weave around each singer’s voice. A more recent version of this approach can be heard on TLC’s “Waterfalls” (1995), which features a similarly intricate melodic bass line improvised by LaMarquis “ReMarqable” Jefferson. In rock contexts, bassists that adopt elaborate melodic approaches often simply take over the role conventionally reserved for the electric guitar. On The Who’s “The Real Me” (1973), for example, bassist John Entwistle plays an extended, improvised solo throughout the entire song. Likewise, through her work with Jeff Beck and others, bassist Tal Wilkenfeld has become known for her nuanced, melodic soloing.

Slap and Pop Styles

Thus far, I have described broad conceptual categories centered on the bass’s musical function. However, it is also worth briefly discussing the ways that bassists physically play their instruments, as that too has a significant impact on their sound.¹⁸ Broadly speaking, bass guitarists either play with their index and middle fingers, with their thumbs, or with a pick.¹⁹ Many will even switch between these techniques, selecting the one most appropriate for a given song. But, of all the different ways of playing the bass, one is so distinctive and identifiable that it warrants a special explanation: slap and pop. The style is named for the way that bassists strike the strings, usually by hitting the lower strings with the side of their thumb (“slapping”) and then using their other fingers to pluck the higher strings away from the instrument (“popping”). This technique gives the bass a percussive thump that makes it stand out in the music, and though there are different approaches to slap bass, they all center around this basic effect. For example, on Ida Nielsen’s “Throwback” (2016), Nielsen plays in a typical slap and pop bass style, using her thumb to play the funky, sliding bass riff and her other fingers to provide additional accents. As with most slap bass lines, Nielsen’s functions as a melodic bass groove, strongly emphasizing the rhythm while also serving as a standalone melodic layer in the music.

For bass guitarists, the slap and pop style was first popularized in the late 1960s by Larry Graham of Sly and the Family Stone, who employed it, most famously, on their 1969 hit “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).” Expanding on Graham’s model, funk bassists made slap bass a regular feature of later African American musical styles, as exemplified by the bass lines to Cheryl Lynn’s “Got to Be Real” (1978) and Patrice Rushen’s “Forget Me Nots” (1982). By the 1980s, the style had also been adopted by rock bassists operating in both new wave and funk metal styles, such as Mark King from Level 42 and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In the 1990s and 2000s, slap and pop bass lines were also incorporated into some styles of hip hop, either through sampling—such as the Notorious B.I.G.’s “Hypnotize” (1997), which samples Abe Laboriel’s slap playing on Herb Alpert’s “Rise” (1979)—or through newly recorded performances—such as Aaron Mills’ slap line on Outkast’s “Ms. Jackson” (2000).

Notably, jazz fusion bassists continue to adopt and expand the slap bass style. One of the first was bassist Stanley Clarke, who used it, for example, on the intro to “Lopsy Lu” (1974). Marcus Miller subsequently built on this approach, drawing on slap and pop techniques to construct complex bass lines that combine melodic grooves, fast rhythmic passages, singable melodies, and extended soloing (all of which can be heard on the track “Power” from his 2001 album M2). Furthermore, bassists such as Victor Wooten have used slap techniques to develop intricate “one-man band” performance styles, playing multiple interlocking parts on a single bass guitar (see “U Can’t Hold No Groove” from his 1996 album A Show of Hands).

Alternative Instruments and Techniques

As we have seen, many bass guitarists have sought to expand their instrument’s basic role in popular music. In addition to the bassists previously discussed in this chapter, a select few have moved beyond the bass’s traditional confines by embracing new technologies and performance practices. In so doing, these musicians have developed notable, albeit atypical, approaches to bass playing.

One significant innovation was the development of the fretless bass guitar. Like their upright bass counterparts, fretless basses enable smooth slide playing, which musicians often use to give their bass lines an added expressivity. The first notable fretless bass player was Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones, who played the instrument on many of the band’s hits up through 1975. In the mid 1970s, the fretless became associated with jazz fusion bassist Jaco Pastorius. Thanks to his recorded and live performances with Weather Report, his first solo album, and his collaborations with Joni Mitchell, Pastorius continues to be regarded as one of the best bass guitarists of all time—a designation that stems both from his astounding technical abilities and the unique timbre he elicited from his fretless bass (both of which can be heard on his 1976 rendition of “Donna Lee”). Beginning in the early 1980s, session bassist Pino Palladino further introduced mainstream pop audiences to the sound of the fretless bass through recordings such as Paul Young’s version of “Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home)” (1983). Other notable fretless bassists include Japan’s Mick Karn, Bakithi Kumalo, who played on Paul Simon’s Graceland (1986), and Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament, who played a fretless on most tracks from his band’s debut album, Ten (1991).

Other alternative bass techniques evolved directly out of prior innovations in electric guitar performance. The most famous of these is the use of two-handed tapping. Rather than following the traditional method of using one hand to fret a note and the other to strike the string, in two-handed tapping, the musician utilizes both hands on the fretboard, using hammer-ons and pull-offs to play rapid, expansive passages. Popularized by Van Halen in the late 1970s, this technique eventually became widespread among heavy metal guitarists, after which it was also adopted by some bassists. One of the first bass guitarists to explore the expressive possibilities of two-handed tapping was Stuart Hamm. Through his work with guitarists Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, as well as his solo material, Hamm developed a complex style that employed tapping as a compositional device, using it to craft intricate, interlocking musical phrases (see, for example, his entirely tapped bass line on “Terminal Beach,” from his 1989 album Kings of Sleep). Other bassists that regularly incorporate two-handed bass tapping include Billy Sheehan of Talas and Mr. Big, and Les Claypool of Primus.

Several musicians have also adopted instruments that extend beyond the traditional bass guitar’s limited range. Five-string basses, which add an additional lower string to the instrument, are the most commonly used extended-range bass guitars today. By most accounts, the first bass to feature a lower-fifth-string design was an Alembic custom built for jazz bassist Jimmy Johnson in the mid 1970s. This design became more widely available in 1984 with the commercial release of the Yamaha BB5000. Session bassist Nathan East was an early adopter of the BB5000 and used it to great effect while working with Al Jarreau and Philip Bailey, among many others. Five-string basses are especially prevalent in contemporary styles of heavy metal, which (in conjunction with electric guitarists’ own use of detuned or extended-range instruments) tend to emphasize the lower frequency spectrum. A handful of bassists have also come to specialize in playing six-string basses, which have both an additional lower and higher string.²⁰ Pioneered in the 1980s by R&B/jazz session bassist Anthony Jackson, the six-string style allows the musician to explore a much wider selection of note choices, playing registers, and phrasing options (Jackson’s virtuosic six-string style is best captured on his multiple recorded collaborations with pianist Michel Camilo, such as 1994’s “Not Yet”). Although the six-string bass remains a niche instrument, it continues to be used by bassists across musical genres, including John Myung of the progressive metal band Dream Theater, ambient/improvisational bassist Steve Lawson, and funk/fusion/contemporary R&B/hip hop bassist Thundercat.²¹

Conclusion: The Bass Guitar Today

The bass guitar is still commonly used within many types of modern popular music, especially those descended from twentieth-century styles—such as rock, punk, metal, funk, R&B, and jazz fusion. In addition to those already mentioned, other notable contemporary bass guitarists include Este Haim of Haim, Justin Chancellor of Tool, MonoNeon, Joe Dart of Vulfpeck, Jamareo Artis of Bruno Mars’ Hooligans, Michael League of Snarky Puppy, Derrick Hodge, and Mohini Dey. However, like the electric guitar, the bass guitar’s overall popularity has waned somewhat over the last twenty years. Thanks to the widespread availability of computer-based music recording software and the influence of electronic dance music production practices, many pop bass lines are now created digitally instead of using a musician-bass guitar-amplifier setup. For many contemporary artists, songwriters, and producers, this process is simply easier and more cost-efficient. This technology is also so advanced that it can convincingly reproduce the sound of a bass guitar. For example, although Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” (2020) distinctly references 1970s disco, its bass line was programmed digitally. Yet rather than demonstrating the bass guitar’s obsolescence or irrelevance, in many ways, these efforts actually reveal how ingrained the instrument’s associated sounds and functions are within popular music: they remain indispensable, even when the instrument itself is no longer present.²²

Bass guitarists, using the various performative strategies described in this chapter, have profoundly shaped popular music for more than sixty years, and it is important that we take their contributions seriously. Such recognition simply requires that scholars, critics, and fans more equitably value popular music’s supportive and soloistic elements—a reappraisal that seems long overdue.

Introduction

The virtuosic electric guitar movement is a topic most associated with prominent players of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, such as Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Tony MacAlpine.¹ Throughout their careers, these players pushed the technical and creative boundaries of the instrument, placing them at the center of the guitar studies literature that highlights their originality and influential legacy in electric guitar technique, equipment, and culture.² In comparison, the contemporary movement—defined in this chapter as a network of artists conversing primarily online on Instagram and YouTube—has received far less scholarly attention despite continuing to push boundaries and explore new approaches to the instrument, its sound, and how and where guitar culture takes place. Guitarists such as Tosin Abasi of progressive metal band Animals as Leaders, Tim Henson of Polyphia, and Yvette Young of Covet are pioneers in the contemporary guitar movement with innovative techniques and approaches to the instrument. Just like their influential virtuosic predecessors, these newer-generation guitarists primarily make instrumental music, using their technical abilities equally harmonically, rhythmically, and melodically for the benefit of musical composition and displaying their virtuosity.

The main space where contemporary electric guitarists “meet” is Instagram and, by extension, YouTube (see also Daniel Lee’s Chapter 15 on online guitar communities). On these platforms, guitarists post videos of themselves playing short snippets of work-in-progress material to receive feedback, update their followers, or merely create content. Popular videos showcase juxtaposed techniques such as tapping, thumping, and natural harmonics in close succession and with challenging combinations, as seen in videos by Ichika Nito,³ one of the guitarists with the largest following on Instagram (750,000 followers) and YouTube (2.2 million followers)—considerably outnumbering established virtuosos such as Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, or John Petrucci. Short educational videos on technique and music theory are also popular. Instagram is a place where guitarists also network and initiate collaborations such as joint albums, tours, or cover versions.

The clips receiving the most attention have high-quality video and audio recordings, usually edited, mixed, and mastered by the performer. Next to the high-quality videos, the playing must, in most cases, display a certain degree of virtuosity to attract attention. Importantly, though, the fans consider artists popular in the scene to be not only virtuosic but also accomplished composers and producers.⁴ This more balanced relationship between technical and musical skills makes perhaps the difference to some earlier virtuosic movements in electric guitar history. Arguably, the Shrapnel “shred guitar” era in the 1980s (e.g. Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, Vinnie Moore, Tony MacAlpine, Jason Becker, Greg Howe, Richie Kotzen) focused more on the display of technical prowess than on the quality of musical compositions—in contrast to the first generation of rock guitar virtuosos in the 1960s and 1970s (including Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Ritchie Blackmore, Uli Jon Roth, Randy Rhoads, Eddie Van Halen, Frank Zappa), who were valued as much for their songwriting as for their technical capabilities. We argue that while contemporary players certainly flaunt their virtuoso skills, just as previous generations of virtuosos did, their technique tends to be employed to benefit the quality of the songs (some of which do not contain traditional solos), whereas the songs of the earlier “shred” era were sometimes mere placeholders for technically demanding solos in which there was a stark contrast between highly advanced soloing and comparatively simple rhythm playing.⁵

Lively exchange on social media afforded by the internet has generally become a trend in popular music.⁶ Instagram provides contemporary guitarists with an essential marketing tool, which most of them use to personalize their social platform for their fans by posting pictures of their partners and holidays. The platform creates seemingly personal relationships, as followers can ask questions about Instagram stories. By engaging with their fans, leading to imaginative bonding facilitated by social media, these musicians are breaking away from the aloof rock guitar hero of the past.⁷ Most followers are musicians themselves, in particular, guitarists. They fulfill a crucial role in the economic viability and success of artists they respect, who earn most of their professional income from streaming royalties and the sale of educational products or online lessons rather than traditional revenue streams such as concerts, merchandise, and record sales.⁸ Many of the figurehead guitarists on Instagram, such as Jack Gardiner and Matteo Mancuso, post videos of themselves playing their own music and improvisations to promote their educational products, such as downloadable video lessons and masterclasses, on services like Jam Track Central.

This chapter outlines advances in guitar playing techniques commonly practiced in the contemporary scene defined above. Some of the techniques presented have been developed specifically for the guitar or were adopted from other instruments such as the violin, piano, bass, and drums to facilitate compositional ideas. Less attention is given in this chapter to the gear used by contemporary players and how their choice of equipment helps them achieve novelty in electric guitar-centered music. By discussing several playing techniques, this chapter provides an overview of techniques rather than an in-depth analysis of a specific technique.

There are numerous artists worthy of discussion, but this chapter concentrates primarily on guitarists in the progressive rock and metal genres, as these are the dominant styles in the contemporary guitar scenes analyzed,⁹ and they are also genres in which virtuosic technique has historically been foregrounded. A peculiarity to be mentioned is that many guitarists and their work explored have prominent influences and compositional styles beyond rock music. The blending of genres is commonplace and may itself be understood as a mark of virtuosity that is perhaps less technical in nature but reflects the musicians’ intention to explore expressively and artistically in the spirit of progressive (rock) music. Some influential musicians such as Tosin Abasi refer to themselves only as “progressive,” arguing that the terms prog rock and metal fail to capture the genre-bending nature of the current scene, the inclusion of electronic sounds, and the aesthetics of computer-produced music.¹⁰ For Abasi, progressive is a “fundamental approach” that does not have to adhere to the conventions of established genres with specific traditions like prog rock. Other examples of progressive artists include Polyphia, one of the main artists discussed below, who use structural and production influences from Kanye West to Taylor Swift throughout their album New Levels New Devils (2018), evident in tracks such as “O.D.” (2018). Manuel Gardner-Fernandes of Unprocessed creates pop-oriented music with skillful guitar playing and vocals with catchy hooks, as heard in their track “Deadrose” (2020). Intervals draw particular stylistic inspiration from pop-punk influences that run throughout their discography from the album The Shape of Colour (2015) onward.

Sweep Picking

Sweep picking (also known as “sweeping”) is a technique that has been used throughout the history of the electric guitar, particularly since the 1970s. As a technique of performing notes on successive strings with a single downward or upward motion, sweeping has undergone various changes regarding mechanical approaches and compositional purposes. Notable guitarists such as Jason Becker, Tony MacAlpine, and Rusty Cooley have employed sweep picking extensively throughout their careers, mainly as a display of virtuosity.¹¹ Nowadays, sweep picking has lost much of its impressive impact, as it has become a standard technique learned by most ambitious rock and metal electric guitarists within their first few years as players.

Sweep picking is mainly used to perform arpeggios at high speeds or to play a series of notes in a melody in quick succession. In order to understand nuanced approaches to contemporary sweep picking, one must be familiar with two fundamental mechanics. With Downward Pick Slanting (DWPS), the plectrum is slanted away from the performer; with Upward Pick Slanting (UWPS), the pick is tilted toward the player. Lead-edge picking involves angling the plectrum toward the lower horn of the guitar. These mechanics remove as much friction as possible and ensure the plectrum glides across the string without becoming stuck when sweep picking.

Jason Becker is known to be one of the most prolific guitarists playing sweep picking. Becker incorporated challenging sweeping passages throughout most of his music, such as in “Altitudes” (1988). Becker mainly utilized DWPS and UWPS, depending on the sweeping direction (ascending or descending), as seen in clips of him performing “Serrana” (1995).¹² Becker also anchored his wrist on the topside of the bridge and turned it, muting the lower strings when not in use. Becker’s fretting hand outlined the arpeggio shapes, rolling over strings with the same finger if adjacent notes were on the same fret. Many guitarists, including Yngwie Malmsteen, prefer this approach, as heard in the intro to “Eclipse” (1990), and others from the Shrapnel era. John Petrucci of Dream Theater is another, more recent guitarist taking a similar approach, of which “Gemini” (2020) is an example. Instead of turning his wrist while sweeping, Petrucci’s hand moves slightly up and down to have greater control when muting the strings, which puts less strain on his wrist.¹³ Although these guitarists span different eras, their approach to sweep picking remains relatively similar, apart from details of wrist mechanics.

Jason Richardson is within the current group of guitarists pushing the technical limits of sweep picking. Richardson continues to use DWPS and UWPS with his picking hand, but instead of moving his wrist, Richardson moves his entire arm down while creating a fist with his picking hand to mute all the strings when sweeping. Using palm, wrist, and sometimes forearm when playing extended-range guitars, Richardson mutes the strings as he sweeps. The main difference to the fretting-hand approach is that the fingers reach adjacent notes without needing to roll over frets. Richardson prefers stacking his fingers to play the notes because, for him, this approach does not run the risk of notes ringing out over each other, turning an arpeggio into an interval or chord, and creating a sloppy impression.¹⁴

Nowadays, exclusively employing fast-paced sweep picking within an entire track section is no longer common. In the current scene, Tim Henson of Polyphia is a popular guitarist who, despite mastering sweep picking, uses the technique sparingly in his compositions. An example is the main riff/melody in “G.O.A.T.” (2018), with the riff using natural harmonics, hybrid picking, and sweep picking to enable him to play the technically demanding melody/riff (Figure 10.1). The sweep section of the guitar part is ascending only, and the technique is also used to connect two notes more than two octaves apart swiftly; in other words, sweeping facilitates a smooth transition between melodic ideas. Even contemporary shred guitarists no longer use sweeping exclusively to demonstrate virtuosity but to create emphasis or aid the transition between sections.

Figure 10.1 Main riff of Polyphia’s “G.O.A.T.” (2018)

Manuel Gardner-Fernandes is another contemporary guitarist who uses sweep picking similarly favored by Henson. In “Right Hand King” (2021),¹⁵ Gardner-Fernandes performs sweep picking when no other instruments are playing to emphasize an arpeggio. In his collaborative cover with Tim Henson of Wiz Khalifa’s “In the Cut” (Henson, 2021),¹⁶ Gardner-Fernandes plays sweep picking to create a focal point toward the end of a section with little to no accompanying instruments, again to create emphasis but also to display his virtuosity (Figure 10.2). It should be noted with Gardner-Fernandes that the tone used for the above tracks is clean, whereas most guitarists sweep at high speeds with a compressed high-gain sound that connects all notes smoothly.¹⁷

Figure 10.2 Solo line including sweep picking by Manuel Gardner-Fernandes in “In the Cut” (2021)

Fast arpeggios can be performed in many ways without sweep picking, such as tapping the notes of the arpeggio on one string, as in Guthrie Govan’s “Wonderful Slippery Thing” (2006). There is also the approach of skipping strings and hammer-on arpeggio notes, popularized by Paul Gilbert.¹⁸ Overall, compositional approaches to arpeggios have changed considerably over the years. Today, sweeping is generally used for better realization of melodic ideas and less for the sake of sweeping itself and a display of technical skill, as was common in the 1980s and 1990s with artists such as Jason Becker and Yngwie Malmsteen. The mechanical approach to sweep picking has evolved, too, although not as much as with the other main electric guitar techniques discussed in the following sections. Among the principal developments are arguably the more musical application of techniques and the faster and cleaner execution, as seen, for example, in performances of Jason Richardson. In “Hos Down” (2016), he demonstrates hyper-clean and fast sweep picking and regular alternate-picking lines in continuation of the Shrapnel shred style (Figure 10.3). Other artists even sweep with a clean guitar tone to demonstrate their ability to articulate the technique flawlessly, as is the case with Polyphia’s “40oz” (2017).

Figure 10.3 Combination of alternate and sweep picking in Jason Richardson’s “Hos Down” (2016) at 120 bpm

Tapping

Tapping is another technique used by most contemporary virtuosic electric guitarists. It involves fretting notes on the fretboard with both hands, combining standard legato techniques (hammer-on, pull-off, slide) from the fretting hand with “hammer-ons from nowhere” from the picking hand to excite the string and perform a note at the same time. Eddie Van Halen is one of the most prominent guitarists associated with tapping, having popularized it during his career in Van Halen, although he did not invent the technique. Van Halen’s approach to tapping can be heard in tracks such as “Eruption” (1978) and “Hot for Teacher” (1984), performed with what might be described as “shred tapping,” utilizing the ergonomic mechanics of the technique to play legato faster than is possible with the fretting hand only. Since Van Halen’s influential releases, tapping has evolved into various forms. The general approaches are shred tapping, linear tapping, linear multi-finger tapping, pianistic tapping, and multi-role tapping.¹⁹ This section concentrates on the recent extension and refinement of the tapping technique.

Guthrie Govan is one of the recognized virtuosos in the tradition of Eddie Van Halen. Govan plays arpeggios by hammering on all notes with the fretting hand and one finger from the picking hand to extend the pitch range on one string. This technique lends itself to the definition of linear tapping, where the fretting hand taps on the fretboard in a nonrepetitive manner to achieve what the guitarist is aiming for—often, but not necessarily, speed. Yet some approaches such as linear tapping are also used as valuable tools for shaping articulation and tone, not just employing the picking hand to play the notes that the fretting hand cannot reach. Although Govan is capable of sweep picking as a solution to perform arpeggios, he nonetheless opts for the hammer-on tapping technique because it creates a fluid and bubbly quality that avoids the percussive sound of the pick attack, as Govan explains in a tutorial on his song “Wonderful Slippery Thing” (2006) (Figure 10.4).²⁰

Figure 10.4 Linear tapping on multiple strings in Guthrie Govan’s “Wonderful Slippery Thing” (2006)

Bassists playing the Chapman stick usually dedicate one hand to performing the melodies and the other to the underlying harmonies. Although not so widely used, this approach to tapping, which could be described as pianistic tapping, was a milestone in the progression of tapping on the electric guitar. A notable performer of this technique, and a historically important artist for contemporary progressive rock and metal guitarists exploring tapping techniques, is jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan. As seen in his performance of “Treasures” (1987) on the Wall Street Journal live show,²¹ both hands are independent of each other, with each having an individual role (Figure 10.5). The melody and upper harmonies are the picking hand’s responsibility, while the fretting hand controls the lower harmonies and bass lines. Parachordal and orthrochordal are the two main hand positions of the picking hand: in the parachordal position, the picking-hand fingers are parallel to the strings; in the orthochordal position, they are perpendicular to the strings.²² Jordan uses the second, orthrochordal finger placement, allowing all fingers easier access to more frets.²³

Figure 10.5 Pianistic tapping in Stanley Jordan’s “Treasures” (1987)

A technique similar to pianistic tapping is multi-role tapping. It is mainly performed by percussive acoustic guitar musicians such as Andy McKee in “Drifting” (2006), Jon Gomm in “Passionflower” (2020), and in Justin King’s “Knock on Wood” (2001). Multi-role tapping entails using both hands to perform all musical roles: the melody, inner harmonic voice, and bass movements. Another major difference to pianistic tapping is using “parachordal” finger placement, in which the picking-hand fingers are parallel to the strings, while the thumb is placed above the fretboard on the neck. One of the forerunners of multi-role tapping is Yvette Young of the band Covet. Young was a pianist and violinist before becoming a guitarist. Like Stanley Jordan, she approaches the guitar like a piano, using both hands on the fretboard. Young also fingerpicks while tapping, making it possible to add accents and utilize louder-sounding pull-offs to open strings. For multi-role tapping, open tunings are usually preferred. Open tuning is when the open strings of the guitar outline a chord; one of the most commonly used open tunings being DADGAD, which outlines a suspended Dsus4 chord. Open tunings produce a floating, almost atmospheric sound when using pull-offs and strumming with open strings, as Young does.

An example of multi-role tapping is the main riff of Covet’s “Ares” (2020), where both hands share the inner voices (Figure 10.6). Although the roles are shared, the bass notes are the fretting hand’s priority, and the melody is performed by the picking hand due to the ranges of the instrument to which the hands have easy access.

Figure 10.6 Multi-role tapping in Covet’s “Ares” (2020) in the second half of bars 1, 2, 5, and 6

Another guitarist using multi-role tapping is Marcos Mena of the band Standards, as demonstrated in Standards’ “Pineapple” (2019), which also incorporates “glitch tapping,” a technique discussed below (Figure 10.7).

Figure 10.7 Multi-role and glitch tapping in Standards’ “Pineapple” (2019)

Like sweep picking, multi-role tapping might be used almost exclusively throughout an entire song, as in Covet’s “Nautilus” (2015), but it is usually mixed with fingerpicking and other tapping techniques such as cross-over tapping—with the picking hand tapping on lower frets than the fretting hand, that is, the “crossing” of the arms—as heard in Standards’ “Special Berry” (2020).²⁴ Regarding shred tapping and linear tapping, it is important to note that most guitarists prefer a saturated and compressed tone to gain the fluidity and compression that facilitates seamlessly connected notes,²⁵ aiding the actual playing of the tune in turn. In contrast, guitarists exploring advanced tapping techniques such as multi-role tapping tend to opt for a clean (albeit compressed) sound, which benefits the performance in terms of the notes’ attack and sustain. It is common to use relatively clean, Telecaster-inspired tones, even when adding saturation, to ensure the clarity of sound needed for the open, fingerpicked notes or strummed notes.

The last approach to tapping covered in this chapter is percussive tapping, which includes a range of techniques. In percussive tapping, the guitarist creates rhythmic patterns or accentuation while displaying harmonic information. Josh Martin of Little Tybee, a rhythmic/percussive tapping pioneer, is one of the guitarists associated with this technique. In frequently uploaded reels and videos to Instagram and YouTube, he practices polyrhythmic exercises and encourages his followers to copy them or experiment with similar ideas. Among Martin’s preferred experimental techniques is butterfly tapping, with the guitarist tapping several frets with each hand simultaneously in different patterns (inspired by drum techniques like paradiddles) in a quick staccato fashion. Butterfly tapping can be heard throughout Little Tybee’s discography but stands out most in “Left Right” (2013) (Figure 10.8).

Figure 10.8 Butterfly tapping in Little Tybee’s “Left Right” (2013)

There are various educational videos by Josh Martin on YouTube²⁶ and more behind the paywall on his Patreon—a website creators use for financial support by offering extra content to those who pay. Martin is also a pioneer in glitch tapping, tapping the same note on the same fret in quick succession with two to four different fingers of the picking hand in a staccato manner, creating a “glitch” effect.²⁷ The technique is named after the glitchy sound that occurs when a television set lags and produces a short sound that repeats rapidly for half a second, or when a CD becomes stuck and creates a short segment that repeats until it continues. Glitch tapping produces a similar quality due to the lack of sustain. It can be heard in Standards’ “Pineapple” (2019) (Figure 10.7) and throughout Little Tybee’s discography. Few guitarists in the scene have embraced glitch tapping; to date, mainly followers of Josh Martin, like Standards’ Marcos Mena, post their approaches to exercises and riffs incorporating glitch tapping.

Butterfly tapping is commonly used in isolation, unlike glitch tapping, which is typically mixed with other techniques such as thumping,²⁸ or other percussive techniques such as muted hammer-ons from nowhere.²⁹ As noted throughout this section, various techniques may be employed for different effects and ease of playing. Shred and linear tapping generally aim for higher speed, accompanied and facilitated by an overdriven sound. These two types of tapping may be utilized alongside other techniques in a melodic line or as the only technique in a passage. Multi-role tapping is mixed with other techniques, especially picking-hand fingering, to avoid using a plectrum. What all guitarists discussed above have in common is that they were not taught tapping but acquired this technique by experimenting. Stanley Jordan and Yvette Young were originally pianists who wished to transfer a similar approach to the guitar, so they developed different styles and techniques through experimentation. The same applies for Eddie Van Halen’s approach to tapping, Guthrie Govan’s tapped arpeggios, and Josh Martin’s butterfly tapping technique.

Thumping

Thumping is a technique that is relatively new to the electric guitar, despite building on percussive techniques, such as Van Halen’s slap-tapping in “Spanish Fly” (1979), Buckethead’s slap-bass approach in “Robot Transmission” (1996), and amateur footage discoverable on YouTube. Popularized by and commonly associated with Tosin Abasi of Animals as Leaders, thumping has been explored in seemingly disparate musical styles throughout the contemporary electric guitar community. Inspired by the thumping technique of bassist Evan Brewer (who was taught by Regi Wooten) of his previous band Reflux, Abasi decided to apply this technique to the electric guitar.³⁰ This decision set the mark for the entire Animals as Leaders discography, with standout tracks showcasing Abasi’s thumping technique, such as “The Woven Web” (2014) and “Backpfeifengesicht” (2018). Thumping has since been used in pop and EDM-influenced guitar-centered music by players like Kevin Blake Goodwin.³¹

The general mechanic of thumping is similar to how bassists slap/double thump and pop. The picking-hand thumb holds a thumb-up position when pushing through the string. That allows the string to be thumped by either turning the wrist or pushing through while moving the entire hand down. Once the first stroke is complete, the thumb is brought back up through the string to create a double thump, done again with either the wrist or arm. Since the second stroke of the thumping movement is generally weaker than the first, the thumbnail is used to achieve greater definition and clarity. After the double thump is complete, the fingers of the picking hand continue the overall rhythmic grouping the guitarist is performing, which can be achieved by keeping the fingers mostly stiff in a slightly opened claw shape. After the double thump is performed, the wrist turns, and the string is “fingerpicked” with the picking-hand fingers. The fingers create a short staccato effect by muting the string quickly after striking. Using just the index finger allows for a grouping of three; adding more fingers enables larger groupings. The double thump and the action of the fingers create what is now known as thumping.³²

Abasi has musical influences that are rhythmically complex because he is heavily inspired by (proto-)djent bands such as Meshuggah. Djent is a progressive metal subgenre that utilizes odd meters and rhythmic groupings, as well as muted open strings, to create intricate rhythmic riffs. “The Woven Web” (2014) builds on this inspiration by using different thumped groupings to create a dry syncopated riff with accents in odd places (Figure 10.9). Open notes emphasize the accents further. On Animals as Leaders’ album Parrhesia (2022), thumping is employed in conjunction with drums in a different pattern for polyrhythms that create challenging segments of music. Following such patterns may be difficult for some listeners, yet they enrich the material through detail and complexity in a way typical of progressive rock. These polyrhythms can be heard in the tracks “Red Miso” and “Monomyth.”

Figure 10.9 Thumping outlining different groupings in Animals as Leaders’ “The Woven Web” (2014)

Whereas Animals as Leaders base their riffs and sections of their music on thumping, other guitarists employ it as an ornamentation technique. Tim Henson has taken thumping in his own direction to create a personal style and explore new compositional approaches. In Henson’s “God Hand” (2020), for example, he solely performs the rhythmic sections with thumping (Figure 10.10).³³

Figure 10.10 Thumping in Tim Henson’s “God Hand” (2020)

“Real” (2020) by Unprocessed is another example of this approach that features Tim Henson. As heard in these tracks, thumping is used not just rhythmically for syncopation and accented offbeats but also to outline chords and the overall harmonic movement. In the collaborative track “Sunset” (2022) by Henson, Plini, and Cory Wong,³⁴ Tim Henson performs a solo in which he combines thumping with fingerpicking and slapping. This solo builds rhythmic interest and accentuation through sparingly used thumping. Compared to Abasi, Henson’s tone, although equally defined and precise, is completely clean, which is more in keeping with Henson’s (progressive) pop-oriented sound.

Thumping is predominantly performed on extended-range guitars with additional, usually lower strings that extend the instrument’s pitch range.³⁵ Lower pitches and the required thicker strings lend themselves to an ideal thumping sound, as in the previously mentioned tracks. Marcos Mena and Tim Henson mainly thump on a six-string guitar with a clean compressed tone. In contrast, metal-oriented musicians such as Tosin Abasi tend to use a compressed, tight, overdriven tone on an extended-range guitar. Abasi and others have also experimented with tones that facilitate thumping. For example, blending the unique characteristics of two different amplifiers can create the ideal tone, that is, an aggressive, overdriven tone mixed with a clean low-end.³⁶ Thumping has advanced to a technique used in various musical styles within contemporary guitar culture and continues to be explored. Percussive techniques are popular among more pop-oriented guitarists, such as Gardner-Fernandes’ quick-hand technique, Henson’s harmonic approach to thumping, or Martin’s glitch tapping. These artists have built on Tom Morello’s influential playing on Rage Against the Machine releases that opened up an alternative form of virtuosity focused as much on rhythmic effects as on more conventional elements of harmony and melody,³⁷ for example, DJ-like turntable scratches and toggle switch effects on “Bulls on Parade” (1996).

Miscellaneous Techniques

The techniques to be discussed next have a relatively short history and are not yet widely used. They are included here to show ongoing creative explorations of physical approaches to the electric guitar. Such techniques, just like glitch tapping, could be considered niche or limited in their application, but they are explored throughout the contemporary electric guitar community, along with technological experimentation and innovation that supports playing and creativity.³⁸

A recent movement in the exploration of electric guitar techniques is an approach called selective picking, practiced by Tosin Abasi, which combines the sound of picked notes with palm-muted hammer-ons from nowhere.³⁹ Even though Abasi has used selective picking throughout the Animals as Leaders discography, he raised awareness when posting (now-removed) videos on YouTube, most notably during the Covid-19 pandemic, explaining and demonstrating the technique. He describes selective picking as “producing notes on the guitar, where I divide my left and right hand up … So if I wanna do a group of three [notes], I would actually hammer-on from nowhere the first note, and then two and three would be completed by my right hand.”⁴⁰ Further to this definition, Abasi elucidates that the guitar must have low action to perform this technique, especially when muting the strings while hammering on from nowhere. Muting the notes when selective picking produces a percussive sound with a sharp attack. As with most techniques that utilize hammer-on from nowhere, the tone is usually compressed so that all notes have equal volume and attack.

Abasi’s selective picking can be heard in Animals as Leaders’ “Kascade” (2014). After the solo intro on the strummed electric guitar, the main riff starts. This riff outlines different chords where all the notes except the root are hammered on from nowhere while the root note is alternate-picked (Figure 10.11). The first bar of the riff, in 15/8 time, has chords outlined in groupings of five, and the second bar, in 17/8 time, has various groupings. The root notes of the outlined arpeggio are also palm-muted for greater definition, with hammered notes not being muted.

Figure 10.11 Selective picking in Animals as Leaders’ “Kascade” (2014)

Another track from Animals as Leaders where Abasi uses selective picking is “Monomyth” (2022). The selective picking passage is in the second section of the track; Abasi treats the B string as a “drone” by picking it with his middle finger throughout the ostinato while hammering on the other notes (Figure 10.12).

Figure 10.12 Droning notes created through thumping in Animals as Leaders’ “Monomyth” (2022)

Concerning the use of thumbs, neither the left- nor right-hand thumb has much responsibility when it comes to general action on the fretboard. The picking-hand thumb may be used for thumping, strumming, holding the plectrum, and fingerpicking. The fretting-hand thumb’s main responsibility is to reach over the neck to play lower notes for particular chord voicings in the continued tradition of Jimi Hendrix. There are other uses for both thumbs that, although unconventional and not commonplace, allow for different sounds and chords voicings with unorthodox stretches.

A rather unusual use of the fretting-hand thumb is to treat it like a cellist when playing in the higher register of their instrument. As seen in live video footage of “Washington Is Next” (2008),⁴¹ Dave Mustaine uses the thumb to fret the 12th fret of the guitar while pulling off with his other fingers in order to stretch from the 12th to the 24th fret. Although this approach may seem somewhat gimmicky, as the 24th fret could just be tapped with the picking hand, Mustaine maintains alternate picking, which keeps the attack of the notes consistent. A more modern but niche approach utilizes the fretting-hand thumb to outline larger chord voicings, especially on extended-range guitars. Josh Martin demonstrates this in his piece “Thumbelina Etude” (2020),⁴² where he arpeggiates chords and frets using all fingers and the thumb on his fretting hand. In the same video, Martin gives credit to lesser-known guitarist Billy Jones for introducing thumb chords to him. Billy Jones is an avid user of thumb chords, as seen in videos on his YouTube channel.⁴³

The picking-hand thumb is used for the previously mentioned techniques, but other techniques such as understrumming utilize it as well. Josh Martin developed this unconventional technique, which can be heard in Little Tybee’s “Tuck my Tail” (2016). Understrumming means holding a chord position with the fretting hand while adding extended voicings by fretting with the picking hand. When in this position, the thumb is brought under the picking-hand fretting fingers to strum the strings in a downward and upward motion.⁴⁴

As evident in some of the previous examples, natural harmonics are used extensively in contemporary compositions. Natural harmonics can be found throughout Polyphia’s discography in tracks such as “Playing God” (2022), “G.O.A.T.” (2018), and “Goose” (2017). As with the tracks mentioned earlier, the contemporary approach to natural harmonics is to intertwine them within a riff or passage. The natural harmonics add coloration and draw attention to these riffs by creating different timbral moments. A track that uses natural harmonics in a riff is Chon’s “Bubble Dream” (2013). Here, guitarists Mario Camarena and Erick Hansel perform a melody with natural harmonics while playing the chords between the “melody” notes. Tapped natural harmonics are also used differently from playing the octave of a held note with high distortion. Tapped harmonics, such as practiced by Manuel Gardner-Fernandes,⁴⁵ are used to outline chords but allow for a percussive attack from the tap while maintaining the floating character of the harmonics. Another track that utilizes this technique is Alex Vallejo’s “Otra Vez” (2022), where the arpeggios after the introduction are tapped for the compositional reason stated above.

Throughout the electric guitar’s history, special effects techniques have provided interesting or attention-grabbing sounds. Those techniques were not widely adopted, although some did gain popularity, including dive bombs, performed by Dave Mustaine, Dimebag Darrel, Steve Vai, and Joe Satriani. Herman Lee of Dragonforce employs various techniques, such as the “Pacman,” in which he repeatedly swipes the strings of the electric guitar on the pickups with a metal object, usually the whammy bar.⁴⁶ Another classic effect is the race car emulation, as performed by Mick Mars of Mötley Crüe in “Kickstart My Heart” (1989).

Contemporary guitar-centered music widely ignores effects techniques, but the whammy bar remains popular for more nuanced and ornamental techniques. In “Every Piece Matters” (2016), Plini repeats the note by pushing down on the bar and immediately releasing it. Plini explains the advantages of the whammy bar in an interview with Guitar World, explicitly highlighting how it creates shape and adds motion to a melody when applied modestly; notes can be bent in and out that otherwise would prove difficult or unnatural to perform.⁴⁷ Jeff Beck uses a similar technique extensively, as seen in the live performances of “Where Were You,” where he employs the whammy bar to reach different notes as soon as one is played, creating a legato sound reminiscent of a monophonic synthesizer. Delicate approaches to whammy bars are commonplace, as are more extravagant applications such as flutters. With flutters, the whammy bar points away from the guitar’s body and is struck to create strong, quick vibrations producing a flutter effect. Artists who use this frequently are Tim Henson and Scott LePage of Polyphia in tracks such as “LIT” (2017).

Conclusion

Listeners of mainstream popular and rock music and readers of scholarly guitar literature may not be aware of recent developments in the progressive contemporary guitar movement. Away from the mainstream spotlight, the scene experiments with playing techniques for compositional purposes and ergonomic reasons. Yet, anyone interested who has access to the internet can learn about these developments in social networks, that is, Instagram and YouTube, as well as other (subscription-based) platforms such as Patreon, Twitch, and Jam Track Central. The contemporary electric guitar space on social media is thriving, experimenting, and innovating. Guitarists’ posts span exercises, short explanations of their techniques, solo competitions, promotional material for their music, and clips about companies that sponsor them. Their experimental spirit contributes to the development and modification of guitar techniques, which expand the instrument’s expressive toolkit and enable compositions in which the guitar as the lead instrument can function rhythmically, harmonically, and melodically beyond the possibilities of established playing techniques. As the guitar scene flourishes, more techniques, new equipment, compositional methods, and unconventional uses of instruments come into being. Many of the guitarists discussed have signature instruments, amplifiers, and effects, or even their own equipment companies, such as Tosin Abasi with Abasi Concepts, offering equipment tailored to contemporary playing techniques.

To conclude this chapter, some reflections on virtuosity are in order to compare current trends with the history of rock guitar and to discuss the nature of contemporary rock guitar virtuosity. From a historical perspective, contemporary virtuosity appears to be both a recurrence and a further progression of earlier developments. As explored in more detail elsewhere,⁴⁸ early rock guitar heroes in the 1960s and 1970s explored the potential of distortion and its expressive possibilities outside the idioms of the blues—importantly, not only for melodic playing but also for rhythm and songwriting. The 1980s saw explorations of technical prowess in the explicit pursuit of speed and progress in playing technique, turning songs into mere placeholders for solos and technically challenging lead ideas; a development that continued into the 1990s, albeit much less in the mainstream spotlight. As Steve Waksman notes, the dichotomy between technique versus emotion appeared to harden in the 1990s, leading to a “resurgence of punk values that occurred under the rubric of ‘grunge.’”⁴⁹ According to Waksman, virtuosity was not completely replaced but rather transitioned into a new form that focused not on speed, physical dexterity, and spectacular melody lines but on “virtuosity of sound,” characterized by “ear-bending uses of noise … and atonal squalls of distortion that fell between the cracks of a song’s melody.”⁵⁰

Contemporary rock guitar virtuosity seems to continue the legacy of all earlier forms of virtuosity. It harkens back to the 1960s and 1970s by focusing equally on solo and rhythm playing, and exploring the expressive potential of advances in instrumental technology (extended-range guitars, digital amplification, music production, and effects). Contemporary playing evidently takes up the “shred” tradition of the 1980s, striving for ever higher degrees of speed and more difficult ideas to perform. And it also draws inspiration from alternative forms of virtuosity in the 1990s and later, exploring playing techniques and means of expression that produce sounds not traditionally associated with the (electric) guitar, adopting ideas from other instruments and finding ergonomic ways to implement them on the guitar. Often these approaches highlight harmonic and rhythmic elements equally with the melodic chops traditionally pursued in virtuosic rock guitar playing. In the contemporary guitar scenes studied in this chapter, virtuoso players place a heightened emphasis on songwriting creativity and the ability to record, mix, master, and produce music as a more holistic approach to music-making, and as a way to cross genre boundaries in the spirit of progressiveness. Opponents of virtuosity criticize the one-sided focus on technique as an end in itself with little musical value.⁵¹ Proponents claim that technical skill and expressiveness are mutually dependent because technique is necessary to realize artistic feelings and visions, which is essential to exploring and shifting musical boundaries.⁵² Consequently, virtuosic pursuits may be authentically motivated by a “musical urge,”⁵³ which may well be the case in the current guitar scenes.

A key feature of virtuosity is its inherent fascination throughout (rock) music history, from Jimi Hendrix to Ritchie Blackmore and Eddie Van Halen to Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai and many others. According to Antoine Hennion, this fascination takes two forms.⁵⁴ First, it is the transgression of what one thought possible, similar to the fascination of a magician, which allows for new experiences of sensation (and possibly, but not necessarily, musically ‘valuable’ novelty). Second, it is the spectacle of humans becoming automatons, making music with machine-like perfection. Both forms of fascination are evident in the contemporary rock guitar scenes observed. Perfection is expected, which has led to a culture of distrust and the need for artists to demonstrate the authenticity of their playing by being free of technological trickery afforded by digital audio and video production, especially given that the scene exists predominantly online, removing the traditional way of “authenticating” playing skills in a live context.⁵⁵ There will certainly be no shortage of opinions about the musical value of the current explorations in playing technique. Some may dismiss them as technical exercises, providing contemporary artists with an opportunity to earn a living through social media and associated revenue in an era of dwindling sources of income for musicians. However, artistic curiosity and exploration of extended techniques are likely to expand the electric guitar’s expressive potential in the future and contribute to the further advancement of the instrument and the musical genres associated with it.

Introduction

In a 1939 article published in DownBeat magazine pioneering jazz guitarist Charlie Christian offered what has been considered a manifesto for electric guitar playing. Although the acoustic guitar had become an integral part of jazz ensembles during the 1930s, it functioned almost exclusively as part of the rhythm section. With limited ability to project or sustain sound, particularly in comparison to the favored solo jazz instruments of the swing era, the trumpet, saxophone, and clarinet, the acoustic guitar had been relegated to a background role, playing steady rhythmic patterns of strummed chords to accompany solo instruments while they played virtuosic melodic lead lines. According to Christian, this left guitarists akin to merely “a robot plunking on a gadget to keep the rhythm going.”¹ Throughout the article, Christian implores fellow players to adopt the electric guitar, asserting that amplification would give them a “new lease on life.”² As Christian had done on his Gibson ES-150, the electric instrument allowed players to develop single-string melodic soloing techniques that could be heard over other instruments, therefore elevating their role to a featured part of the ensemble. While Christian’s primary argument can be read simply as one of economics (electric guitar = musical versatility = increased paid playing opportunities), the subtext implies that assuming the role of the featured soloist conferred an agency, both musical and personal, upon the guitarist unattainable when functioning as a member of the rhythm section alone. Although a division of rhythm and lead guitar labor can be heard on recordings throughout early twentieth-century popular music, with the development of the electric instrument in the 1930s, the role of the lead guitarist begins to eclipse that of the rhythm guitarist.

As players in jazz, blues, and country all turned toward the incorporation of the electric guitar, the instrument became an increasingly featured part of the mainstream musical soundscape during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Players began to develop extended techniques and incorporate sonic effects available through the use of amplifiers while, at the same time, developing spectacular performance styles that incorporated the instrument as a fundamental part of their stage persona. By the late 1950s and early 1960s, within certain genres, lead guitarists began to “rival the band’s singer for the spotlight,”³ conferring upon them a privilege largely withheld from rhythm guitarists, who were merely assimilated as part of the band. As a natural by-product of this musical and cultural agency, within popular media and academic studies, attention has been given mainly to those who have been considered innovative and influential lead guitar players, with little study of the fundamentally important role and contributions of the rhythm guitarists in popular music. Therefore, the main aim of this chapter will be to shift this focus and examine the approaches to rhythm guitar playing taken by several key players on recordings from the 1940s to 1970s, across multiple subgenres of popular music. The outcome of these short case studies, and the widely varied approaches found within them, will support an argument that the rhythm guitar’s role in popular music is more than merely the binary opposite of its privileged counterpart, the lead guitar. Rather than simply functioning as an accompaniment or background instrument, rhythm guitar works on a spectrum that encompasses multiple layers of the soundscape, and as such serves an integral yet often overlooked role.

Over the past twenty years, much of the academic work in the developing field of popular guitar research has focused on understanding the musical and cultural agency of the instrument and its players.⁴ While these texts examine the approaches to playing taken by some influential practitioners, the analysis of playing approach within them is largely deployed as a means to gaining insight into the cultural meaning and impact of the instrument itself. While a small yet growing body of work focuses primarily on the analysis of idiolect—or individual playing style—of musicians acknowledged for their innovation and influence,⁵ only one of these studies, An Analysis of Freddie Green’s Style and His Importance in the History of Jazz Guitar, focuses exclusively on the practice of a rhythm guitar player.⁶ In this study, Lewis Dickert Jr. identifies from the outset that Freddie Green, the guitarist for the Count Basie Orchestra, “focused solely on rhythm guitar playing”⁷ and argues for his inclusion in the canon due to his influence on subsequent generations of rhythm guitarists in jazz. Ulrich Adelt’s recent work⁸ acknowledges the focus in current scholarship on the lead guitar, yet argues that the study of the rhythm guitar “allows for a more fluid understanding of sound and genre.”⁹ His articles focus primarily on identity formation surrounding the rhythm guitar, which Adelt describes as an instrument that inhabits a more ambiguous terrain than its lead counterpart. While work has been undertaken for decades in tutorial books and magazines such as Guitar Player and Guitar World, and in the last decade on social media channels, within this extensive knowledge base, the close analysis of playing style is often secondary to skill development.

While none of the above sources offer an explicit definition of rhythm guitar playing, all assert in various ways that the rhythm guitar’s role in popular music is primarily one of accompaniment (accompanying the voice or other lead instrument), establishing and/or reinforcing both the harmonic progression and the basic metric profile of a song. Allan F. Moore’s model of functional textural layers in popular music (Figure 11.1), comprising of a melodic, harmonic filler, bass, and explicit beat layer, is beneficial to contextualize the way in which the conception of the traditional division of labor is split between lead and rhythm guitars.¹⁰

Figure 11.1 The guitar’s function within Moore’s model of textural layers in popular music

Upon initial assessment, while the lead guitar is easy to locate within Moore’s model, primarily heard front and center within the melodic layer during instrumental breaks or solos, the rhythm guitar can be best conceived as working across a functional spectrum that encompasses the harmonic and beat layers, in addition to the bass and secondary melodic layer. As noted by Moore,¹¹ while instruments can and will often switch functions within the texture of popular songs, the ensuing brief case studies in this chapter demonstrate that rhythm guitarists often move fluidly between, or function simultaneously within, multiple textural layers over the course of a song, thus best considered as working on a rhythm guitar spectrum.¹²

Jazz and Charlie Christian

Returning to Charlie Christian, while an acknowledged pioneering lead guitarist in jazz, he can also be heard playing rhythm on many recordings across his catalog. After developing his approach as a young musician in Oklahoma City during the early 1930s, Christian was hired by Benny Goodman in 1939, spending the next two years touring and recording with The Benny Goodman Orchestra and Sextet. In February 1940, Christian attended a Columbia Records session with the Goodman Sextet, recording two takes of the tune “Gone With ‘What’ Wind” (1940). Based on a 12-bar blues form in the key of C, Christian can be heard taking an accompanist’s role during multiple choruses, affording insight into his approach as a rhythm guitarist.¹³ On this recording, Christian takes what can be considered an archetypal approach, down-strumming chords on the beat in a strict quarter-note rhythm and reinforcing the 4/4 meter. He likely uses traditional I–IV–V closed chord voicings (chords that do not incorporate any open strings) in the fretting hand to reinforce the harmonic progression, playing staccato by fretting the chord and then immediately releasing after strumming to give the simple quarter-note rhythm a nuanced articulation (a relatively common idiomatic device used by rhythm players). When listening more closely, Christian can be heard activating his rhythm guitar part by incorporating moving lines within chord voicings rather than simply holding a static shape for multiple bars. For example, when accompanying the piano solo for two choruses (track time 0:27–0:51) prior to playing his own solo, Christian alternates between the third and second degree of the I chord during the first phrase of the section, and at the start of phrase two, articulates the fifth of the IV chord in the top voice, drawing attention to a simple yet noticeable counterline of E–D–C played on a high string throughout the first two phrases of the chorus. Similarly, Christian (Figure 11.2) adds an E♭ passing tone on a high string when moving from the I to the V7 chord in the third phrase.

Figure 11.2 Charlie Christian’s rhythm guitar part, with a counter-melodic line in the top voice, on “Gone With ‘What’ Wind” (1940). Track time 0:27–0:41

While within the bounds of functioning as a rhythm player, reinforcing the harmonic progression and basic meter of the tune, Christian’s rhythmic articulations and countermelodies push into a secondary melodic layer that adds interest and allows him to be identifiable within the soundscape while pushing the boundaries of what is traditionally considered a background, accompanying role.

Electric Blues and T-Bone Walker

As a counterpart to Charlie Christian, T-Bone Walker is recognized as another key figure who helped establish the electric guitar in popular music during the 1940s. Considered a pioneer due to his development of the electric lead guitar style in blues, Walker can also be heard playing rhythm on multiple recordings. A brief assessment of his blues classic “Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)” (1947) demonstrates a very different approach to playing rhythm to that taken by Charlie Christian on “Gone With ‘What’ Wind” (1940). Recorded in 1947, “Stormy Monday” features Walker singing and playing guitar, accompanied by a rhythm section of bass, drums, and piano, in addition to a trumpet and saxophone. Rather than taking the archetypal approach to playing rhythm by simply strumming chords in line with the pulse of the song, Walker is much more nuanced, interjecting partial chords and single-note riffs in less predictable patterns in response to his sung vocal lines. During the first chorus (0:07–0:50), a 12-bar blues form in G, we hear Walker playing a single-note riff during the first phrase, in a typical blues call-and-response style, interjecting secondary melodic lines on the guitar, along with the saxophone, in response to his sung vocal line. Walker’s voice undoubtedly carries the main melodic material here, but the single-note profile of the guitar at this point calls into question the layer in which it is functioning. While it could be considered a quasi-lead role here, pushing into a secondary melodic layer, Walker’s choice of notes used for the riff (D and G) also reinforces the underlying tonic chord harmony at this point in the phrase, thus functioning implicitly within the harmonic filler layer. When we hear Walker finally playing his first explicit chord at the start of phrase two, rather than playing the IV chord in a steady beat pattern to reinforce the harmony and meter, he strums the chord in response to, rather than in support of, his sung vocal line, again blurring boundaries between functional layers. During the second chorus (0:50–1:32), Walker takes a somewhat more traditional approach to playing rhythm, mainly playing chords while the muted trumpet plays single-line responses to the vocals, but again, rather than simply establishing or reinforcing the meter, he interjects chords during breaks in the sung vocal line. Throughout the entire song, Walker takes a liberal, chromatic approach to establishing harmonic areas, sliding into and out of partial voicings of extended I, IV, and V chords by a half-step. Rather than establishing or reinforcing the harmony, he creates a sense of harmonic ambiguity, in line with his whole approach to playing rhythm guitar on this track.

When comparing these brief case studies, we see two contrasting yet equally effective approaches to rhythm guitar playing, taken by two pioneering players within relatively similar musical parameters. While Christian demonstrates an archetypal approach, in line with his anticipated role of reinforcing the pulse in the rhythm section of a dance band, Walker eschews the archetype, a prerogative afforded as the featured performer on the track, taking a more fluid approach that works along the rhythm guitar spectrum.

Jump Blues/Early Rock and Roll and Willie Kizart

Due to the innovations and incorporation of the instrument by players such as Christian and Walker, by the early 1950s, the amplified guitar was an increasingly common featured part of the popular music soundscape. One of the key recordings to feature the instrument during this period, as the musical streams of blues, gospel, and country began to coalesce into what would become rock and roll by mid-decade, is the song “Rocket 88” (1951), recorded by Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats in 1951. While informed by the jump blues,¹⁴ this record is often held as the first to represent the developing rock and roll sound and ethos, and additionally, one of the first to feature a distorted electric guitar sound.¹⁵ In a frequently cited anecdote, guitarist for the group, Willie Kizart, dropped his amplifier on the way to the recording session, requiring him to perform with a damaged speaker cone. Contrasting with the dynamically assertive yet clean tones utilized by players such as Christian and Walker on tracks recorded in the 1940s, the electric guitar on “Rocket 88” is fuzzy and distorted due to the damaged speaker cone, a new sound for popular recordings of the time and one that would go on to represent the transgressive nature of rock and roll.

“Rocket 88,” based on a 12-bar blues in E♭, features a vocalist, tenor, and baritone sax, pianist, and drummer, in addition to Kizart, who can be heard functioning as the rhythm guitarist on all but the final shout chorus, where he joins the group playing the lead line. On initial listening, Kizart’s guitar part could be considered relatively simplistic. Until the final chorus, he plays a repetitive single-line “walking” or “boogie” bass riff rather than full chords, identified by Moore as a common technique used by rhythm guitar players to “sketch out a harmony.”¹⁶ Although the line is rhythmically active (Figure 11.3), it repetitively outlines the I, IV, and V chords of the relevant bars, using a swung eighth-note pattern of blues pentatonic and major diatonic scale material.

Figure 11.3 Willie Kizart’s rhythm guitar part on “Rocket 88” (1951)

While Kizart is implying the harmony, working in the harmonic filler layer, he also supports the swung eighth-note groove and drive of the song, locking in with the drummer, who, due to the fidelity of the recording, resides in the background of the mix. Maintaining the eighth-note pulse, the guitar can also be heard functioning as an integral part of the beat layer. Further, in the absence of a bassist on the recording, the guitar is also establishing the bass layer of the song. While a piano appears on this track, on which the left hand may reinforce the bass layer, the presence of the lower register of this instrument is again negligible due to the fidelity of the track, leaving the guitar to assume the role. Conceived in this way, the guitar on this song can be heard as functioning within multiple textural layers of the soundscape, thus working on a rhythm guitar spectrum.

Rock and Roll and Chuck Berry

Following the musical, technical, and technological innovations of the 1940s and early 1950s (including developments around solid-bodied instrument construction by Gibson and Fender), with the arrival of rock and roll to the mainstream by the mid 1950s, the electric guitar became firmly supplanted as the lead instrument in popular music due to both its musical and cultural agency. As a player considered by many the “definitive guitarist of the early rock and roll era,”¹⁷ Chuck Berry undoubtedly helped embed the electric guitar into the mainstream musical and cultural consciousness during the 1950s. While again much attention has focused on Berry’s work as a lead guitarist, he can be heard functioning in both a rhythm and lead capacity on many of his records.

Berry achieved his first mainstream hit in 1955 with “Maybellene” (1955), a 12-bar blues-based song in B♭, featuring Berry on guitar and vocals, accompanied by piano, bass, drums, and maracas. The song begins with Berry playing a short riff, ends with a lead guitar solo, and features a 24-bar solo mid-song. In these sections, the guitar is definitively heard as functioning in the melodic layer both by virtue of no other lead instruments or vocals on the track at those points and due to being pushed to the front of the recording mix. During the sung verses and choruses, Berry assumes the role of rhythm guitar, buried deeper in the mix and using a characteristic bass-strum accompaniment style commonly heard on early country and blues guitar recordings. In these sections, Berry plays the root note alternating with the fifth of the chord on the bass strings on beats one and three, and strikes the rest of the chord on beats two and four, using staccato strums to reinforce a strong backbeat feel. Again, here we can identify a rhythm guitarist functioning in multiple textural layers of the soundscape, reinforcing the backbeat feel in the beat layer while at the same time working to reinforce both the harmonic and bass layers.

Berry’s hit “Johnny B. Goode” (1958), perhaps the quintessential guitar song of the rock and roll era, again features Berry singing and playing guitar, with an approach to playing rhythm quite different from that taken on “Maybellene.” Based on a 12-bar blues form in B♭, Berry’s rhythm guitar functions in the harmonic filler layer throughout the song, somewhat buried within the context of the accompanying piano, bass, and drums yet reinforcing the harmony of each bar using a characteristic blues shuffle technique, oscillating the 5-6 chord tones above a static root note. Here, the rhythm guitar functions within the harmonic filler layer and the beat layer to establish a consistent eighth-note driving pulse throughout the song in a way that can be described as a “rhythmically active [harmonic] filler.”¹⁸ During the solo sections of the song, Berry’s lead guitar is overdubbed on top of his rhythm guitar part, with the lead guitar pushed to the front of the mix, affording a moment in the context of this study to observe the traditional rhythm and lead guitar division of labor. Within these two short examinations of the songs “Maybellene” and “Johnny B. Goode,” we see two different approaches to playing taken by the same player. While best known for establishing the guitar as a lead instrument within his songs, here Chuck Berry expertly navigates the rhythm guitar spectrum.

Rock and Roll and Bo Diddley

The examination of another key figure in the establishment of the electric guitar in mainstream popular music during the 1950s, Bo Diddley, demonstrates a very different approach to playing rhythm guitar to that of his rock and roll counterpart, Chuck Berry. While many of his contemporaries in the 1950s were pushing the guitar further into the musically and culturally privileged territory of a lead instrument, Diddley became perhaps best known for his use of a characteristic rhythm, the “Diddley Beat.”¹⁹ The eponymous song “Bo Diddley,” recorded in 1955, features Diddley on vocals and guitar accompanied by a tom-tom drum and maracas. While the guitar is primarily showcased as a rhythmically active harmonic instrument, the entire song is built around the “Diddley Beat” and the interaction between guitar and percussion.

At 2:29 minutes long, the song eschews any real sense of harmonic progression, remaining on a static tonic chord in the key of G through much of the song. While felt in 4/4, the drummer plays a clave rhythm on the tom throughout, and Diddley’s primary rhythm pattern (Figure 11.4) is first heard as an eighth-note subdivision of the pulse, with accents located around the first and fourth beat of the bar.

Figure 11.4 Guitar and drum pattern of “Bo Diddley” (1955)

While this primary rhythm pattern is foregrounded through accenting beats in the strumming hand, the gaps in the pattern are filled to varying degrees in each bar by both somatic (physical approach) and sonic means through the use of a tremolo effect. Known as a “tinkerer” due to his experiments with unusual guitar shapes (such as a square-bodied guitar and one shaped like the fin of a Cadillac car), Diddley harnessed technological developments in order to sonically enhance his somatic approach. In his biography, Diddley describes how he spent several years working with amplifiers in order to develop a louder, cleaner sound via increased wattage. After experimenting with drive and volume, he turned to the idea of “breakin’ up”²⁰ his sound by developing a tremolo system from the spring of an old clock. This effect allowed the instrument to sound as if it was “disappearin’ an’ coming back,”²¹ resulting in a highly textured yet persistent presence of the guitar in the harmonic filler layer of the song “Bo Diddley,” which also integrally relates to and reinforces the beat layer.

There are several places on the recording where the guitarist assumes what could be considered a traditional lead guitar role, spotlighted as the “main voice” on the track when the vocals drop out. However, during these sections, Diddley forgoes the tradition of playing a melodic lead line, using chordal material instead. Acknowledging the primacy of rhythm within his own idiolect, Diddley describes his approach as “all rhythm.”²² On the song “Bo Diddley,” instead of offering a traditional melodic lead during the guitar break, Diddley plays upper-position chords on the top strings, sliding in and out of them to craft a solo that blurs the boundaries between melody and harmony, and in turn lead and rhythm guitar. Diddley himself acknowledges challenging the traditional binary division of rhythm and lead guitar labor, stating, “if you listen to the stuff I’m playing, you won’t find any gaps in there: I play first and second guitar at the same time.”²³ In this way, the approach taken on Diddley’s eponymous song is a prime example of a practitioner working along what could be considered a rhythm-lead continuum rather than bound by the traditional binary division of rhythm-lead labor.

While approaching the labor of rhythm playing in very different ways, players such as Diddley and Berry undeniably “solidified the electric guitar’s place at the center of the music”²⁴ in rock and roll by the late 1950s. By the middle of the following decade, the instrument had moved to “a position of relative supremacy within the world of rock.”²⁵ Key players who had become lauded as heroes and gods in part due to their ability to “stress the value of individual notes”²⁶ demonstrated virtuosity in the lead guitarist role that only further eclipsed labor in the rhythm guitar arena. With what could be considered an increasing pressure to play more intricate lead lines within genres such as rock, hard rock, and heavy metal, an examination of approaches by players involved in genres rooted in valuing the collective, rather than the virtuosity of an individual, during the 1960s and 1970s is beneficial within the context of this study.

Soul and Curtis Mayfield

As a genre located within the lineage of African American musical styles that migrated into the commercial mainstream in the 1960s, soul is considered by many scholars to be both a collection of stylistic musical elements and a cultural signifier, developing during the midst of the Civil Rights movement in the United States. One of the most pivotal records to encompass both the musical and cultural elements of soul is the 1965 hit “People Get Ready” by The Impressions. On this record, we hear Curtis Mayfield functioning in the role of rhythm and lead guitarist as an integral and integrated part of a collective. In his role as rhythm player on this track, Mayfield’s approach is one of simplicity, yet in some ways offers a masterclass in working within the rhythm guitar spectrum. The track features Mayfield on lead vocals and guitar, working within an ensemble consisting of backing vocals, strings, French horn, xylophone, bass, and a small drum kit. During the introduction and the verses of the song, Mayfield, who had developed his playing style using a nonstandard open tuning,²⁷ can be heard functioning in the harmonic filler layer, playing upper-position three-string chord voicings of the song’s simple looped diatonic progression. However, his chosen rhythmic profile centers the guitar as a fundamental element of the beat layer (Figure 11.5), playing a syncopated pattern around the 4/4 pulse within each bar, offering a groove that enhances and harmonizes the brushed kit and bass guitar within the rhythm section.

Figure 11.5 Rhythm section groove of “People Get Ready” (1965)

As part of the harmonic filler layer, Mayfield’s upper-position chords are played with a staccato attack (likely using an up-strum in the right hand, a common approach for rhythm players wanting an enhanced percussive effect), and the tone of his instrument pushed into the treble range, via his pickup settings and/or EQ. While his work in the harmonic filler layer anchors the track, he is also functioning as a time-keeping device in the beat layer, perhaps more so than the kit in this case, which uses no kick drum. Further, the guitar is foregrounded as a central part of the soundscape within the context of the varied tonal spectrum brought by the unusual instrumentation of the song. When assessed holistically in this way, we can easily conceptualize Mayfield as working across a rhythm guitar spectrum.

During short breaks between the sung verses, the guitar is featured in a lead capacity, where all but the guitar and xylophone drop out (at this point, the xylophone assumes a quasi-bass function, taking up the rhythmic pattern utilized by the bass during the verses). Like the approach taken by Bo Diddley, Mayfield’s solo on this song is rooted in harmony and played around chord structures in the left hand that support an ornamented quotation of the song’s main melodic hook. Here, Mayfield is heard as filling the role of rhythm and lead guitarist simultaneously, again challenging the boundaries of the traditional binary concept of rhythm and lead guitar labor. Perhaps most importantly, the guitar playing on this track demonstrates an exquisite sense of musicianship, serving and enhancing the song throughout. While Mayfield’s approach could be pocketed into the binary roles of rhythm and lead, it can more profitably be conceived as fluidly navigating a rhythm-lead guitar continuum.

Soul/Funk and Jimmy Nolen

Another key recording from the mid 1960s that features the guitar as part of a collective is James Brown’s 1965 hit “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” a song that calls into question the stylistic boundaries between rhythm and blues, soul, and the emergent genre of funk. The recording features guitarist Jimmy Nolen, who has been described as the “founder of funk guitar,”²⁸ a style that embeds the instrument within the rhythm section and includes the characteristic use of extended chords, strumming-hand percussive devices, and the wah-wah pedal.

Based on a 12-bar blues form in E, “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” features Brown on vocals with an ensemble of bass, drums, guitar, and horn section. While the horns mainly work in call and response with the vocal line, the guitar sits within the rhythm section during the main part of the sung verses, functioning within the harmonic filler layer and playing simple four-note chord voicings on the guitar’s top strings on beats two and four of each bar. Although the progression is based on a simple blues form, Nolen extends his diatonic chords, using I9, IV7, and V7 chord voicings. In line with the stylistic approach of many soul and funk rhythm guitar players, who often work within highly conventional progressions but use chord voicings and substitutions drawn from jazz and blues, Nolen creates more harmonic complexity in his part than the simple progression as such would indicate. Additionally, he plays staccato chords in a highly percussive way, in what is sometimes referred to as a “choked” style. Here, in addition to releasing the chords in the fretting hand immediately after down-strumming them with a heavy attack, the strumming hand intensifies the staccato nature of the articulation by muting the strings directly after being played. While Nolen’s is a relatively simple guitar part, particularly in contrast to the melodicism of the bass and horn riffs, his pivotal reinforcement of the backbeat, combined with the prominence of the treble tonal quality of the guitar within the mix, creates a sense that all other instrumental parts seem to hang on Nolen’s.

During the turnaround sections of each verse (bars 10–12 in Figure 11.6), Nolen breaks his established backbeat pattern, playing a staccato IV7 on the downbeat of bar 10 in unison with the other instruments, then dropping out to allow space for Brown to make an a capella statement of the song’s vocal hook through the remainder of bar 10 and into the downbeat of bar 11:

Figure 11.6 Turnaround, bars 10–12, “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” (1965)

Immediately following Brown’s vocal proclamation, Nolen reenters on beat 1+ of bar 11, playing a legato sixteenth-note strum pattern of the I9 chord through bar 11 and into the downbeat of bar 12, where he strikes a final staccato I9 chord, followed by a unison assertion of the V7 chord on beat two of the final bar by the rest of the band. While this bar 11 moment can be simply read as an extension of Nolen’s rhythm guitar duties within the harmonic filler and beat layer, due to the absence of any other solo instrumental breaks during the song and the a capella nature of the guitar statement, Nolen is heard here as the lead guitarist. However, his use of a simple chordal device while taking the musical spotlight again blurs the boundaries between rhythm and lead guitar roles, invoking the possibility of a rhythm-lead guitar continuum.

As discussed throughout this chapter, from the 1940s onward, guitar virtuosity within the mainstream became increasingly synonymous with lead guitar practices. By the 1970s, the mainstream was dominated by rock and hard rock genres, in which the “relative value of guitar-based virtuosity would continue to be one of the defining issues.”²⁹ However, as genres that challenged the excesses of rock and the heroization of individual players in favor of the work of the collective began to join the mainstream (such as funk and disco), practitioners with idiolects that challenged established notions of guitar virtuosity, particularly lead guitar virtuosity, began to emerge within them.

Disco and Nile Rodgers

A brief examination of Nile Rodger’s playing on “Good Times,” the 1979 disco hit by Chic, exemplifies this challenge to the hegemony of lead guitar virtuosity by demonstrating a musicianship and technical ability that is of the highest levels while functioning, at least on first assessment, primarily within the rhythm guitar spectrum: accompanying the lead vocals, establishing the harmonic progression of the song, and reinforcing the meter. The song features a simple chord progression based on a loop of the I and IV chords in the key of E minor, with liberal chord extensions indebted to the harmonic language of jazz and funk (Em7–Em7sus4–Em11–A13). With the use of such extensions, in conjunction with Rodger’s approach of moving chord tones, countermelodies abound within the simple progression, creating a secondary melodic layer within his harmonies, such as a G-A-G-F♯ line constantly articulated on the second string. Rodgers also employs liberal use of left- and right-hand percussive and muting devices, in addition to purposeful stratification of chords, separating out bass notes played on the downbeat of the bar, followed by targeting chord tones played on inside strings in the strumming hand. These secondary melodic, bass, and harmonic filler functions are all driven by a perpetual strumming-hand sixteenth-note pattern that reinforces the groove of the song in the beat layer. Here, Rodgers is undoubtedly functioning across all textural layers of the song, thus across the rhythm guitar spectrum, in addition to blurring the boundaries between rhythm and lead guitar functions, while demonstrating high levels of technical skill.

Conclusion

The case studies contained within this chapter have shown several approaches to the integral yet often undervalued role of rhythm guitar playing in popular music. While the players on each of the recordings fulfill their primary role, accompanying a melodic line while establishing and/or reinforcing the harmonic progression and basic metric profile of a song, the ways in which they approach the role are highly varied. Using an analytical framework informed by Moore’s model of functional textural layers allows for a close assessment of the way in which each guitarist functions within the “musical fabric”³⁰ of a song. The outcome of these short studies demonstrates that rather than working within textural layers to simply establish or reinforce rhythm and harmony, rhythm players often work across a spectrum that encompasses the harmonic, beat, bass, and secondary melodic layers.

From the initial identification of an archetypal rhythm guitar approach taken by Charlie Christian on “Gone With ‘What’ Wind,” simply strumming chords on the main beats of each bar to support a melodic line, closer analysis reveals harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic nuances that exemplify an approach to playing across a rhythm guitar spectrum. Even when simply strumming chords, many players take a stylized approach, integrating syncopated rhythmic patterns that establish, reinforce, or harmonize the beat layer. Players often incorporate various idiomatic devices such as upper-register chords, upper-string, or partial chord voicings, which have frequently combined with percussive devices driven by the left and right hand, such as playing staccato or muting chords for added rhythmic nuance. Alternating bass, walking bass, or boogie bass patterns have allowed players to function explicitly or implicitly within the harmonic layer but also to establish or reinforce the bass layer. Tonal effects made possible by the use of the electric guitar enhance the above approaches, allowing players to inhabit and navigate the rhythm guitar spectrum more vividly and idiomatically.

The use of call-and-response riffs, moving chord tones, and extended chord voice-leading often creates countermelodies that push the function of the rhythm guitar into the secondary melodic layer. The frequent incorporation of melodicism, traditionally associated with the role of lead guitarist, but utilized when functioning primarily as rhythm guitarist, blurs the boundaries between the traditional divisions of rhythm and lead guitar labor, bringing into consideration a rhythm-lead guitar continuum. Further, when assuming the traditional lead guitar role of the featured instrument on a track, several players studied in this chapter utilize chordal materials in their solos, further blurring these functional lines and reinforcing the concept of a continuum of rhythm-lead guitar labor.

In the hands of the players discussed in this chapter, particularly those functioning within genres that prioritize the collective rather than the individual, the approach to playing rhythm guitar has been technically skillful and always musically insightful, challenging the notion of virtuosity within popular guitar playing as intrinsically linked to lead guitar practices.

In closing, the findings within this chapter demonstrate the role of the rhythm guitarist to be integral within the soundscape of popular music, perhaps even more so in certain contexts than that of the lead guitar, despite often being seen as culturally and musically less significant. Continued close analysis of players working on the rhythm guitar spectrum will both add to the developing field of popular guitar research and aid in redressing the balance of a perceived lead guitar privilege, allowing us to understand more holistically the role and function of this ubiquitous and ever-evolving instrument.