Charlie Parker lick - help on picking

swing_gitan

Hi all,

During the last year or so I have been practicing bebop tunes and bebop lines using rest-stroke picking. Although I am very satisfied with the phrasing and articulation I get using this technique, I occasionally have problems with picking certain types of passages. Here is one such lick by Charlie Parker (X is an 8th-note rest, the D minor triad is played as a triplet, and the note C in measure 1 is accented) and two possible picking patterns.

--------------------5---8---6---5-------|-------------------------4------------|-----------------
----------------6--------------------8---|---6-------------------------8---6---|---4-------------
---Χ---8---7-----------------------------|-------8---7---5---4----------------|-----------------
------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|-----------------
------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|-----------------
------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|-----------------

1. D U D D U D U D U D U etc.
2. U D D D D U D D U D U etc.

Picking pattern 1 is the one I get by following the standard Gypsy picking rules. Although it can be played quite fast, the articulation doesn't sound right and playing an accented note with an upstroke feels weird to me (my upstroke is quite strong but still...)

Picking pattern 2 makes more sense to me, since the D minor triad is played using a swept downstroke and the accented note now falls on a downstroke. Unfortunately, the lick sounds quite choppy at fast tempos due to the many consecutive downstrokes.

Any help on the "proper" way to pick such licks would be greatly appreciated.

HotTinRoof

IMO - there are plenty of opportunities to play a pull-off or hammer-on in this lick. If you take this into account and step outside of the "pick every note" box, there are quite a few variations one can play this lick.

This falls into the whatever is comfortable corner to me. Being you are ascending up the strings, down toward the high E, I naturally seem to pick that first D# on the down.

neverfail

that's a catchy tune

spatzo

Hi!

I find easier to go up to the following arpeggio position instead of going backward
and the extention of the whole phrase is contained in the same position

-------------------------8---------------|--------------------------------------|-----------------
--------------------10 ----11--10---8--|-------------------------9---8-------|----------------
---Χ---8---7---10-----------------------|--10---8---7-------------------10--|--8-------------
------------------------------------------|----------------10---9--------------|-----------------
------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|-----------------
------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|-----------------

Best