For those of y’all who don’t know the title, I’m referring to Deliverance, released in 1972. It was a story about some city kids who ran into some hillbillys out in the hoots & hollers. (It is a great film by the by.) You should definitely watch it. Here are some facts. Arthur Guitar Boogie Smith composed the song â€Dueling Banjos†from the movie in 2005. The song received its first national exposure in 1963 when Andy Griffith played it on his show. The Darlings played the song. Eric Weissberg’s and Steve Mandell’s rendition of the song in Deliverance was a smash hit. It was a big hit, but couldn’t topple Roberta Flacks ‘Killing Me Softly.’ Unbelievably the song’s songwriter never gave them permission to use it in the movie. He was successful in his lawsuit. Even though the song is called “Dueling Banjos”, in the movie a guitar is paired with a Banjo for sale. (Hmm. Are you beginning to think that the camera lens pointing towards the inbred mountain people was pointing in a wrong direction?
It’s time to watch (this show). I don’t want to believe the urban legend about hillbillys becoming medieval (mixing movie metaphors here, thanks Pulp Fiction) when they meet strangers. In the movie Ronnie Cox played the guitar, while some hillbilly kids happily plucked away on their banjo. They shared a moment of musical harmony. The city kids met with the hill folk. It was like a melting pot. It was a blending. It was a blending. I want this idea to be expanded. I will show you how to enrich your own musical life by exploring a wide range of music.
America has long been known as a melting pot. America has experienced a large influx of immigrants for generations. It’s also not insignificant that America was the birthplace to many original music forms. I can list half a dozen right off the bat; jazz, Blues, Rock & Roll, Country, Bluegrass, and Rap. People brought their musical instrument and musical heritage when they came over to America. They also began mixing together with others who shared the same background. There was a great intermixing. This was a great inter-mixing. I said that the original musical forms were being used, but often it was old forms transformed, rearranged, or mixed with new forms.
In terms of this intermixing or blending, there is a large playing field. In fact, this field is virtually infinite. Imagine a scale of A to Z. The Z at one end of the scale is a complete immersion in a particular style. Consider the album Graceland, by Paul Simon. Paul Simon was exploring African music influences. I would say that this example leans more towards the R in this scale. What about U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What’m Looking for”? It was an old-fashioned spiritual song. They brought in the gospel choir as backing vocals. It had the U2 feel. Would this be an A or a F on the scale of grading? I know it’s subjective. The point I want to make is that this isn’t an all or none proposition.
Let’s take a look at some playing techniques. I have heard of crossover between shredders (classical guitar players) and shredders (shredders). Van Halen studied classical guitar. Brad Davis used a flatpick to mimic Van Halen’s tapping technique. At the time he didn’t realize what he was doing. He was just experimenting and playing along. Al Dimeola also experienced the same situation. He started playing the same thing that one guy played with multiple fingered with just one pick. Blues guitarists began playing slide-guitar to mimic human voices.
Blues players are also very good at bending notes, phrasing and rhythm. Guitarists have copied riffs for years from saxophone (harmonica), and blues-harp (saxophone) players. What about bluegrass? Have you ever heard bluegrass music? The joke says that there are just two types of bluegrass; fast and slower. Those players can certainly pick. How about the country pickers. They are note benders who excel in right hand technique. The country scale (major 6th pentatonic with flatted third) is a useful tool that you should know and use. Again, I would like reiterate my comment on the analogy of the A-Z Scale. If you’re a metalhead, you don’t have to start wearing cowboy boots or a hat. Country guitar players can teach you some useful techniques.