SOUND ADVICE
Grateful Dead by Paul Natkin and I pluck with the front . About 70 % of the time , I ’ m playing each note individually , either arpeggiating or plucking a chord all at once . Once you work up a touch for plucking a chord all at once , you have the ability to bring out a certain note within that chord . I use as many as four notes in a chord and I ’ ll still be plucking it . I can bring out a certain note and create an ascending or descending line through a series of chords . I ’ m just playing the chords , but there ’ s that one note which sticks out . Besides a line , you can build the motion of the song just around that one idea . Again , if you listen to a tape of your band playing , you can find out if there ’ s anyone else playing any of the notes in your inversion . If I ’ m playing an A chord and somebody else is playing my root , perhaps I ’ ll base my inversion on the third or fifth of the chord . I might just leave out the note A , which is the simplest thing to do . And often times the simplest thing is the best . ■
“ Sugar Magnolia ” by Grateful Dead
OCT / NOV DIGITAL EDITION GUITAR TRICKS INSIDER 33