PETER BERNSTEIN on APPROACHING the Guitar HORIZONTALLY

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[jzgtr]

I’ve attended Peter Bernstein clinics and have seen him perform 3 or four times. He is so darn good and hard to copy. He definitely moves up and down the neck, way more than playing in a particular position. Was funny to hear him talk about the A7 and A barre chord and the pinky finger. He rarely uses his pinky in his single line solos. What a great player! I’m nearly 70 years old and will probably remain a “position player”, but easy for me to see and hear that his approach is fantastic. He is a very musical cat!

[patrickcollins]

it was a treat once to be in central park on a quiet path and he was practicing I stopped and was stunned to have a casual moment with such a generous genius! Adam thanks for bringing another side of harmony and or symmetry to the table!

[studioheathco]

This is great! This is like Mick Goodrick’s “unitar” in the Advancing Guitarist.

A really fantastic book to check out is one called “Just Play Naturally” by Vivian Mackie. She discusses her time studying cello with Pablo Casals. In it, she mentions a particular lesson where she attempted to play a passage that led all the way up to a high D, and of course she missed. He then asks if she doesn’t know where D is, and her response was to point to the fingerboard and play it, “this is where D is.” His response was to play a high D, then point to the entire length of his left arm and fingers and say “THIS is where D is.” The lesson then being to have a kinetic feel to the notes on the instrument. Similar to Bernstein’s “feeling” of the interval.

[pickinstone]

I love coming up with these realizations myself or discovering them in odd places (Segovia, Johnny Smith, George Van Eps), getting crap for them on the internet, and then hearing Pete B say my approach was right all along. Horizontal playing. Jimmy Raney did it. Wes did it. Heck, Joe Pass played that way--even though he got us all thinking CAGED and position playing was the golden rule. You can really feel what you hear when you start thinking horizontally. Seems to connect clearer to your inner ear when you play in this manner, from what I've experienced. NOT saying to ignore position playing all the time, but don't get boxed in. Thank you for posting Pete's words, Adam.

[tobestonezone]

Great interview. I was listening to Peter Bernstein recently, you can really hear those ideas applied. Fantastic

[erickpontes]

This is amazing!
I'm getting the conclusion that the guitar players I listen to (including Peter) knows how to play melodies and scales not just vertically or using shapes (as we learn in the beginning) but they also have the ability to play horizontally.
It looks simple to understand but no so easy to execute in a fluid way like Peter and many others do.

[MattLeGroulx]

I just discovered your channel Adam and I'm super excited to dig in and check things out!

[MarioPolverigiani]

Que generoso aporte de este grande de la guitarra

[jimkangas]

Love both Peter B. and Gene B. I'm working on the opposite approach with chords. When we first learn inversions (e.g., in drop 2), we always play those up and down the neck. But when the tempo picks up or you want to play a chordal phrase, it's difficult for me to land in the right spot so I have to "look". I'm trying to do those inversions vertically. And combining them seems to be a good exercise as well.

[Haku_records]

For all those interested. I’ve got a a long form interview with peter on my channel!

[JamesSeaberry]

GREAT interview! Great tip....though Peter has alarming taste in

[vecernicek]

Playing horizontally is lazy. You should at least sit down to it. Or buy a strap and play vertically.