Any guitar players out there explain how and/or why Keith strums pretty high on the guitar neck it appears. . .is he only the riff player and rythym player now - and Ronnie does all the lead stuff or do they mix it up? Some guy at work was saying Keith can't really play it like that ('he must be faking it?!?) - It does appear an unusual style?? Strumming it high like that? - is that for a certain sound, raw or something or just where he prefers it and it's more comfortable? Who knows?

Guitarists out there - what's Keith's deal and what's unique about his style? Grit & Grime? All about the RIFF or RYTHYM (spelling??)?


Ain't I rough enuf, rich enuf, in love enuf? Come on baby. . .

Millions of guitar players tried and try to copy - forget it, he's unique, you'lln ever find out. The one and only Keith, the greatest rhythm guitarist and song writer ever!

no guitar teacher, no guitar book.....there's nothing that can teach you that "feel"..........Keef was born with it.........that's why we're all here talking about him all of the time..........the man has a gift

It is not terribly hard to play that way, however, to be good at it, it takes time, certainly Keith has had time to perfect the pattern.

If you know it, when Keith is really in the groove that's when he really starts playing high on the neck.

When the band I was in was playing "Brown Sugar" I used to do that when the crowd really got into it, of course, all in homage to the riff myster...Mr. Richards.

"When I was a junkie I learned to ski, and I recorded Exile on Mainstreet" Keith Richards

He gets a different sound strumming on the neck and it's comfortable, yes.
Keith is dynamic remember, its one inch over the stage and then its high & dry.

> Some guy at work was saying Keith can't really play it like that ('he must be faking it?!?)

huh, infamy
you know what you can tell this guy, don't ya?


by KevinMazur



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-02-08 02:25 by open-g.

Someone asked me this yesterday.I haven't really noticed to say the truth that you can't play that high.So I tried it yesterday and I could play as high as I wanted.Not that I am a good guitar player,but when I play I play like Keith you know in moves,and that helps me play his songs with more feeling than my friends

You get used to to it when your on a tiny stage in a small bar

Or in a tiny apartment practising

Someone emailed Keith the same question on his site. He answered it. He suggested that it may have been influenced by Johnny Cash, who played in the same way, but he didn't know for sure. It is actually far more comfortable then playing by the bridge like some twangers do, depending on what guitar you have and how it fits you. I play Gibsons and find my hand is almost always playing over the neck pickup, except when I try for a more brittle sound. The area of the strings where the neck ends is where they vibrate the most and deepest, hense the fatter sound of the neck pickup vs the bridge. If you get a chance, check out Tim Armstrong from Rancid, when he plays live it's very similar and you swear that he can't even be playing when you watch him. Very cool.

www.keithrichards.com, go to ask Keith, question 146.

it is something that i have picked up from him when i am playing his songs or other material i cant play by strumming at the bridge but i seem to be only able to do it up by the 20 fret go figure
it seems that the only only way to play start me up or brown sugar or hand of fate is to have 5 strings and strum up on the neck...gives you that feel

Most good guitarists play chords in different positions and voicings up and down the fretboard. That's the hallmark of a good guitarist versus a beginner or mediocre guitarist. Keith's stuff is like "power chords," in that he often plays high on the fretboard but leave the bass strings open and uses them for rhythmic effect. The intro to "Brown Sugar" is a prime example of that. There's plenty of Keith tabs and archived articles about his playing style around the Internet. Check them out if you want to see how he does/did it.

People have tried to explain how to play like Richards. They can try all they want. You can get CLOSE to sounding like Richards by practicing a lot.

There are too many variables in his playing. His sense of timing, puncuation. When NOT to play, how he uses the guitar. He has been so unconventional and unique nobody else can play like him.

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, what is it called when so many people try to imitate but cannot?

KR is a true original

Milo, NYC
It was a filthy block of flats

Interesting - it's just a feel thing, I get it. . . I'm a pianist and run into that 'feel' thing all the time too. Many great improv keyboardists - yes, when I was younger and studying classical I listened to Horowitz recordings, same reaction - no one could really explain how he could make that sound out of the same damn instrument the rest of us were playing - that feel, very unconventional - unorthidox style or whatever. . .totally against teaching styles and the like. . .that's why some of us have a 'day job' and music is our hobby for now. . . . .

Got to walk before they make me run. . . . .go Keith!!

open-g

You must be a player - tell us more - Keef's idiosyncrosies on guitar, I bet Honky Tonk Woman is classic 'open-G' kick-it-blues/tonky guitar for ya'll. He wrote the book no doubt with that groove/riff, right? - I'm copying my guitarist on this stuff so he can read the Keef 'expose' on down & dirty rock guitar sh*t -

She blew my nose and then she blew my mind . . . . . .!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

theboys

Keith strumming high on the neck is a result of him not having big hands to play certain bar chords. Most of his boogie woogie Chuck Berry rhythms use the pinky finger. This is difficult to do if you have smaller hands and play the guitar lower on the body with the neck tilted downward.

Keith is a blues style guitarist with an innate knack to create brilliant opening riffs and unique ryhthms. Keith also took open G tuning to a new level(i.e. HTW,Happy,Brown Sugar,Start Me Up).

I have been playing his songs for 34 years. He is the man!

I've actually got it right sometimes when I play Crackin up or some other really rytmic number. TYhje trick is to isolate yourself and really just focus on the guitar as part of your body. It translates the feel and you talk thru the guitar. But it doesnt work nine out of ten times.

very interesting reading, thanks people!
i hope you don't mind a slight change of subject: Keith on slide. he's always discounted his own abilities as a slide player,
and at the same time his slide playing seems real distinctive, in ways that i would love to understand better if anyone feels like talking about it a bit.

a related question came up in another thread recently, but the climate/context wasn't really right to pursue it.
someone said Keith started playing slide during the Beggars sessions - by which he understood that Keith had literally never played slide before then;
i on the other hand understand it as meaning that's when his slide playing started to appear on released tracks.
i mean: i know he wasn't as fluent on slide as Brian, but wouldn't he have been working on it/honing his skills right from the very early days??
share your thoughts. and have some popcorn. :E


"What do you want - what?!"
- Keith

Well, my school is Midnight Rambler the studioversion. Keith plays slide on it and its very good and something I miss on the liveversions. Its all there, the chops, the moaning notes, the rythm and feel. And with his riffing. God its good.

Oh yeah, its easier to play like Keith if you play softly and really touch every note gently. Make it your own notes. The hard riffing is difficult because its rythmic riffing were leaving out the right chops is the trick and not about touching the notes in certain ways.

I like to play with were i strum; sometimes i strum really high on the neck (10th fret) and it creates an interesting sound.

Josh

5 Strings TWO FINGERS and an @#$%& - Quote By keith

what do you guys mean "high " on the neck??

High frets, sounds special listen to Midnight rambler

I play like that too many times. It's mostly when I'm sitting down with my guitar. It's easier in a way, and it gives a more jazzy feel.

JumpingKentFlash

LA FORUM Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> High frets, sounds special listen to Midnight
> rambler
>
> You're all forgiven! And now...


whats so unique about that????? as a player (quitar) that is basic stuff...i think the real answer is the open tunings ..for years i tried to play JJF , brown suger or Happy and it never sounded right...once i learned the open tunings ...WOW ...that was very cool....it sounds very similer , crank up the tele....have some fun.....my only problem is playing some of the minors....Em Fm are difficult ....