Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Discuss the Guitar lesson: Pro Picker Case Study: Guitar with Tony Wray

#1

https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/pro-picker-case-study-guitar-with-tony-wray-guitar-advanced

Pro Picker Case Studies let us take a tour through the musical minds of some of my pickin’ heroes! I want to know what makes them tick, what makes them choose that note, and the theory behind the tasty things they create. Tony Wray is a picker’s picker–he’s played with all the big stars and is now creative director for Pinecastle Records. To me, it doesn’t get any better than Tony. Don’t forget to download the tab to a song he wrote exclusively for my site titled “Ben’s Jig”, and check out the banjo portion of the case study as well!

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#2

I saw Tony perform with the Dan Tyminski band at the Joe Val Festival in 2020. He really is phenomenal. Dan was supposed to do a Mandolin workshop the morning of the performance. I don’t remember the reason given, but Dan did not end up doing the workshop. Tony showed up at the workshop, and along with Justin Moses, took over. I remember leaving that workshop thinking how lucky we were that Dan wasn’t able to make it. That’s how awesome he is!

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#3

What a treasure trove of information to explore! This is a keeper to go back to again.

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#4

Question. When Tony is using the chord shape approach to playing lead is he chasing the chord changes or just simply playing notes around the D chord for all chords in the song? For example, in Whiskey Before Breakfast, is he playing through the G chord shapes when the song changes to the G Chord?

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#5

Tony’s answer:

Yes, when the song changes chords I follow the melody line to the next chord shape and continue with the melody, unless the melody line requires staying in a certain position to execute it correctly.

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#6

Thanks Ben. Im going to start putting this to practice.

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#7

Good stuff Ben. More of this.

I’ve been working on playing lead around chord shapes vs scale shape over the past year or so and this helped solidify my approach.

So many good things in this lesson to ponder over.

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#8

@BanjoBen I enjoyed this lesson and really learned a lot. I really like that idea of the guitar rhythm being the conductor of the band. Lots of helpful stuff in here- thanks!

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#9

Great Case Study Tony and Ben!! I too have been using chord shapes to find melodies all over the fret board. Its truly amazing how even if you use just 4 notes, the 1,3,5 and 7 you can find tons of melodies. Ben, any chance Tony may visit Cabin Camp in April? Thank you!

#10

Really great stuff here. I appreciate hearing from folks who are a cut above us amateur pickers - somebody who’s made a living at it! It’s funny how a lot of what’s important to the weekend warrior is not where the pros go!

Stephen

#11

Great contributions from both men. I like these pro picker “case studies” where the philosophies and approach of each musician are explored. Very good contrast in addition to the lessons that focus more on the licks.

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#12

I think it’s true, I tend to follow the guitar player when I’m playing in a jam session.

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#13

Great stuff! My wife watched this first and told me I needed to watch it. That’s pretty awesome. Lots of great info and I really like Ben’s Jig (that could have its own lessons).

I struggle with timing “conducting.” I played alot of rock bass in my early years, and I learned to lock into the drums… where they went, I went. As a result, now when timing gets pushed or dragged, my instinct sometimes is to hop on the train because I don’t want to fight the whole song. I’ll try the chop on four reset for a few measures next time it happens and see how it goes.

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