oscar aleman picking style

michaelhjerth

I've been listening to a lot of swing lately and have studied some django-style picking from djangobooks.com This style is using a lot of downwards rest-strokes with a free floating hand which make very rapid and loud picking possible. This is an old picking style, similar, I think, to what Bob B calls the compression stroke. Players like Eddie Lang and Lonnie Johnson used it. I'm trying to adapt this technique to fingerstyle with picks. I've wondered how Aleman, using a thumbpick, is almost as fast as a gypsy guitarist. Does anyone know anything about his picking technique. I he using the thumb alone or is he combining with fingers like Jazz bass player Dominique dePiazza who uses thumb-pick and one finger?

Michael

MichaelHorowitz

Hi Michael,

Oscar Aleman used a thumb pick in conjunction with his index and middle fingers. It allowed him to do certain types of arpeggiations which a plectrum player can't do. However, it was a little clumsier for single note work. He also used a lot more hammer-ons and pull-offs then a Gypsy player woud.

Django was definitely faster and cleaner when playing purely linear single note runs. But Oscar was very melodic and had a great sense of swing, so whatever technique he used he's was bound to sound good.

You can see videos of him playing here:

http://www.djangobooks.com/archives/200 ... tml#000850

http://www.djangobooks.com/archives/200 ... tml#000554

http://www.djangobooks.com/archives/200 ... tml#000559

michaelhjerth

Thanks, Michael, for your answer.

Those video-clips were really helpful. It is indead more clumsy, and lack the projection. But it seems he is not using rest strokes and has a more classical guitar technique. I used to be a semi-professional classical player. And there are virtually now classical guitarist who can play single lines a clear as flamenco players who use rest-strokes. This really inspires me to see what can be done with fingerpick and thumb rest-strokes. I see no reason why this can be almost as clean as a using a pick. Tommy Emannuel uses a thumb-pick to play quite clean fast lines, I think he uses regular alternating picking using the thumb-pick as it was a thumbpick. I see in my head a picking style which is a hybrid of Wes, Tommy, Bob Brozman, and Stochelo. I wish I was kid again, time on my hands, and not a 46 year old with three kids, a busy day job, trying to find time to write a book.