Buddy Tips His Hat to Jimmy on Ballads

[Shaun Marshall]

Is it just me or does Buddy Tip his Hat Jimmy every time he plays a ballad

[Franklin]

Some truth...But Jimmy was also inspired by Buddy..They were two peas in a pod, best friends....In those early days both of their ballad styles were the same, and they almost had the same tone......The differences in their tone shifted when Buddy evolved his blocking technique away from the strict palm blocking...Buddy's tone changed away from those earliest Bigsby and Sho-Bud days......Once his technique evolved into a 3 element method we could here a big tonal difference between Jimmy and Buddy...Buddy's tone change from those earliest pedal days was significant and had more to do with his right hand change then the guitar which was also a contributing factor..Jimmy's tone stayed very similar to his earliest days throughout his career....I believe Jimmy remained a strict palm blocker most of his playing years. Buddy did not due to his desire for playing fast single notes and pursuing his love of Jazz..

Paul

[john buffington]

Paul, wonderful insight - would love to see more information like this, thanks for sharing.

[Sonny Jenkins]

Very interesting! I've always been impressed,,or amazed at how Buddy's index knuckle was up, making the back of his hand almost right angle to the strings (much as Jeff advocated),,,always wondered how in the world could he reach that far down and dance those picks on the strings that way,,,yet I've heard that that hand position is not conducive to pick blocking (???). Of course, we all know that Buddy was a master of "whatever it takes",,,he would have become proficient at blocking with his ear if "that's what it took" to accomplish his end result. So much difference in the roads they took,,,as far as I know Jimmy always only had one KL on C6,,,and never lowered 4th string E on E9 with lever (2nd string D#), and kept a G on top of C6,,and maybe a couple more significant differences.

I know Buddy was a master at palm blocking,,,and obviously ANY other kind of blocking,,,and obviously anything else to do with steel guitar.

[Mitch Ellis]

Once his technique evolved into a 3 element method we could here a big tonal difference between Jimmy and Buddy...

Paul

Paul,
What were the 3 elements?

Mitch

[Shaun Marshall]

Thank you for that historical insight. Made me stare at my right hand for about an hour tonight. I had listened to two vinyl albums one by Jimmy and one by Buddy for about three hours back to back. Buddy had so much technique and such feeling in his playing but Jimmy sounded like he was actually living every melody note from the deepest part of his heart.

Many thanks!

[Franklin]

Mitch, the palm, ring fingertip, and the picks blocked the strings when the right hand has no need to change positions searching for ascending and descending strings.....I use the backside of my thumb area, my pinky and ring fingertips, and the picks for the same reason as Buddy, and Tommy White uses the pinky, palm, and picks.....

[manny escobar]

I consider myself a little clumsy on steel.I am mesmerized by the way celebrities like Paul are blessed with the gift of touch and tone.

[Roger Rettig]

Manny: I, too, feel clumsy at times. I venture to suggest, though, that what you see and hear is the result of literally countless hours of application and practice rather than any 'blessings'.

My flaw is that, at my age, I sometimes tire of endless repetition even when I know that it will eventually yield results. I don't know, obviously, but I imagine that Paul kept at it.

[Donny Hinson]

Is it just me or does Buddy Tip his Hat Jimmy every time he plays a ballad

I dunno. Knowing the special attraction most steelers have to ballads, I always thought he was tipping it to those of us in his audience?

[Mitch Ellis]

Thank you Paul for answering my question. I'm going to try that. And thank you also for your musical gift to all of us.

Mitch

[Bobby Nelson]

Paul Franklin wrote:

Buddy did not due to his desire for playing fast single notes and pursuing his love of Jazz..

Paul, in this very early recording of Buddy Emmons, he seems to have already discovered speed, and plays a few jazz licks that, to me, seemed to have come from the big band era maybe. Do you think he was strictly palm blocking on this?

https://youtu.be/6gobmstotTA

[Franklin]

Hi Bobby,

I think his technique started evolving shortly after that period...He does not sound as clean as the Black album due to not having his technique refined as he accomplished a few years later....

On your example his fast playing sounds more like all of the western swing guys back in the day and less like the Black album Buddy Emmons which was technical perfection...The "3 Element Blocking" is how Buddy gets his tone....Although it is amazing playing and showcases the start of an amazing player, I would guess Buddy was a teenager here because he sounds stylistically like his hero, Jaquin Murphy with some Noel Boggs thrown in...All doable as a palm blocker....

Some of the swing legends did strict palm blocking, others like Jaquin, I believe had to also do some pick blocking when they hit the same strings for more than one note. They all had to use the pick to block the same re-striking of strings, because it makes no sense to use the palm in those instances...Think about it, It would be nearly impossible to pick string 4 and then to pick it fastly a couple times in succession and to have to bring the palm up between each note for the block.....I have never seen anyone play that way successfully at this tempo.....Mostly they crossed picked finger to thumb to accomplish that block, which enables a pick block, or else they would rest the back of the hand on the strings ...This gives a muted and unclear chicken pickin' tone and that's not heard in this clip.
.....I would guess they all used mostly the palm and a little bit of the picks to play those types of licks with that tone......

I say that because in the years prior to this recording, Jimmy Day, Buddy, and the generation prior to them (from the swing era) played most of the fast runs using strings close to each other..Cross picking would automatically block the note with the pick in those instances and for the rest of what they played, the palm would cover.

By the time Buddy pursued playing wider interval jumps as is required in the Bebob world his technique had to evolve into a more advanced means enabling him to skip over strings in a five, six or whatever amount of strings lick...He pursued a blocking technique to grab the notes he desired and the dividend of that was also a tonal change....Remember Jimmy Day always said he had no desire to play real fast and Buddy did...So Buddy kept on practicing in that direction until he evolved into someone who could play really, really, fast and always as clean as a whistle......

Buddy was the first, really clean, fast single note player..But like every student he had to practice, deliberately focused on specific issues to get there.....Talking to him he said he never assumed anything was completely learned. We had that in common....That's why I tell players to do as Buddy, Tommy, and I, plus all of the other great technicians have done.....Practice slowly towards perfection and then speed it up....The mind memorizes everything as is....Play it fast and sloppy before you have something memorized into a perfected block, the mind will then memorize all of what you play (As Is), exactly as sloppy as how you are playing it, the mind is so complex it memorizes flaws and all.......Speed comes faster, than clean. Clean takes a little more time and focus....Be patient, and clean will be the end result of the slow meticulous journey using a metronome into fast musicianship.

If anybody is interested in a complete dissection of the PSG's generational techniques and want to know exactly how to correctly incorporate the 3 elements into your playing, join us in the new Tommy White/PF evolutions lesson....
Tommy and I completely demystify all of the technique issues. We dissect footage of Buddy's right hand where you can clearly see him using the 3 elements..We go through the historical evolution of our heroes and friends, the legends, and the tonal changes psg has taken throughout all periods of the steels glory days, all the way into modern times...You can see why and hear how technique changes your tone for the better...We want players to be able to make a truly informed decision as to what is used by the greatest players so new and more experienced players can choose what they like from any period of the steels history and rest assured the answer is there for the taking....I advise players to invest in the right hand before spending a lot of money changing gear searching for a better tone....I advise every beginner or advanced player who has struggled with technique to get the right and left hands correct from the beginning of the journey.....Anyway, for most students, no matter how long anyone has played, it only takes a few months of dedicated practice, focused on gaining good clean blocking using this 3 element technique.

Sorry for the long winded response but somebody needs to clarify that Buddy's technique evolved (by him) to accommodate his journey into musicianship...That's a little known fact....We had many good conversations towards the end. We talked about his earlier period as I told him my struggles with blocking and how I wished I had fully analyzed my technique before Hal's term for my technique "Pick Blocking" became what was known....I am no more a "pick blocker" than Buddy was a "palm blocker."....Buddy found the 3 elements on his journey into speed and it was not until I found my version of the 3 element technique that my technical journey was complete. Neither one of us shared how we blocked until the last few years of his life.

Paul

[Larry Dering]

Thank you Paul for your comments and honesty in discussing this technique and it's evolution. It's a definite eye opener.

[Bobby Nelson]

Thanks for the reply Paul. You keep bringing me back to the one thing I'm finding it easy to forget: Keep is slow, and build.

I have found that once having been very very proficient (and fast) on the 6-string for decades, and already having had tons of stage experience with that and singing, that a lot of what I would need to know and learn about music was already learned, making the journey much easier for me. However, the instinct to believe that I am more proficient than I am has been a little bit of a bump in the road, and this slow to fast advice is very well taken and understood.

I have had a little bit of a set-back in the last month or so, and haven't even touched my guitar during that time, until yesterday. I found that I'd not lost anything I'd learned so far, and feel that the break may have even done a little good, but my technique (especially my right hand, which is a little bit of a challenge for me anyway) is about halfway back to jump street.

Thanks for you always sage advice Mr Franklin.

[John Spaulding]

Paul's related blog posts on Speed, Muscle Memory and Practice:

Speed Trap

Speed Up - Slow Down

Practice!

[Herb Steiner]

Just as a sidebar reminiscence, I was over at Jimmy's house in Buda one day in December, I forget what year, probably early 90's. Jimmy smiled a big one and said "hey, look what I got here," and handed me an envelope.

I opened the envelope and there was a Christmas card from Buddy in it, and the inscription inside was simply "to my teacher, from Buddy"

I don't think I ever saw Jimmy that happy, with that big a smile, in all the years I knew him. He was almost bouncing in his seat like a little kid. It was a really sweet moment, I was happy for my friend.

[Dave Magram]

Here's how Buddy himself answered three questions about his blocking technique on the Ask Buddy blog in 2002:

Right hand
From: Buddy
Date: 27 Feb 2002
I do nearly all blocking with a combination of third finger, palm, and bar hand. On rare occasions, like a reverse roll, I'll block the top note with my third finger, middle with my first pick, and bottom note with my thumb, but that has always been more of a natural action than a conscious effort. In other words, I looked down one day and it was there.

Re: Ring Finger Blocking
From: Buddy
Date: 30 Mar 2002
I use the tip of the ring finger to block notes played with the second finger.

Re: Blocking
From: Buddy
Date: 10 May 2002
The full benefits of conventional blocking require an open hand so all areas of the hand are close to the strings. Curling the pinkie and third finger under lifts the palm slightly higher, reduces the blocking area of the palm, and prohibits the use of the third finger for blocking.
I use the palm for thumb notes and keep the third finger close to the second to block second finger notes with it. The addition of the first finger for notes requires a slightly different technique, but still requires an open hand.

http://www.buddyemmons.com/board_toc.htm
http://www.buddyemmons.com/ABArchive1.htm

- Dave

[Franklin]

Dave,

Talking to Buddy about the differences in our right hands...We discussed single note technique, Buddy said he always played descending lines starting with the 2nd finger and 99% of the time so do I.

He used his ring fingertip and I use my ring finger and the pinky as a backup blocker. Sometimes I start a descending line with the index finger, in those situations the pinky helps.

Buddy blocked all of his descending lines with the ring fingertip. Buddy also used the picks to block strings that were being picked again... and finally he used the palm to block his ascending single note lines......That is the 3 element technique we should credit Buddy with pioneering because before Buddy a steelers strings sounded more muted. Largely due to resting their palm at the bridge as palm blockers do when they play fast, whereas Buddy's notes were not muted like theirs were and we all heard a big difference between Buddy and those that played fast before him....Buddy showed us what a steel could sound like with a Jazz players hands.

Also Buddy played just as clean without a bar as he could with one......When Buddy mentioned using the bar to block I believe he was being completely thorough. His answer came off as an "overall viewpoint" of what he may do in "every" situation, I do not believe he was speaking to the specifics of "how does he block so fast and clean?'..I do know he used the bar blocking
for dampening sympathetic vibrations caused by friction of the bar on ballads in the studio. Lloyd talks about the same issue in his interview....The studio forces us to deal with issues you all may never have to deal with.

I believe Buddy would have elaborated more as he did in our conversations, if he was addressing "how he actually blocks his fast single note improvisations"
I treasure those last few years we talked

[Dave Magram]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your reply.

First, I want to say that I’ve always admired your musical abilities and been impressed with how thoroughly you have studied steel guitar techniques and the playing styles of other masters of the instrument.
So I hope that you didn’t think I was debating with you regarding Buddy Emmons’ blocking technique, because that was never my intention.
I merely wanted to share with other SGF folks how Buddy himself described his blocking technique—which seems entirely in agreement with your description.

I really appreciate your description of how Buddy evolved his technique over the years, and how his interest in bebop accelerated that evolution.

I’m a huge Buddy Emmons fan--thanks for sharing some of what you and Buddy talked about.

- Dave

[Jay Jessup]

Paul,
In listening to Joaquin I wonder if you think he could be blocking on his speedy single note stuff mostly by tipping his bar up and using only the pointed end, especially on his older stuff. I say this because I've heard descriptions of his playing back then refer to his technique as if he was just pointing at the strings and I've also heard he used a bar for a period of time that was thinner at the finger tip end than the palm end. One would have to have a pretty highly developed left hand to play consistently in tune, as he did, using this method but with the heavier strings of the non pedal days and his skill it might have been possible?

[Franklin]

Dave,
I never took it that way. I believe if Buddy were still with us, I believe he would have at least allowed me to document him as I did with Lloyd and Tommy.
Paul

[Ernie Renn]

I think Buddy used that blocking technique from very early on. Early Troubadour clips show him using the ring finger to block some notes. He did get way better at it.

Paul, I do think you're absolutely right. He would've (eventually) got together with you the way you have with Lloyd and Tommy. BTW: They are excellent! Please do some more! Sonny Garrish, Doug Jernigan, Mike Smith, Russ Hicks. The list is endless...

[Marty Broussard]

So many years wherein some of us didn’t have a clue. One topic with a wealth of history and information......