It Is All In The Fingers

As musicians we chase tone. We argue tone. We revere tone.
And we miss the point.

It is, without a doubt, the right hand - the picking...the inherent rhythm we carry.
The left hand can learn the notes, but it is rare that we chase down the same rhythm or even try to emulate the picking technique involved.

Hendrix, Santana, Beck, McLaughlin - it is all the picking!
In the cases of Beck and Santana it is painfully and visually obvious - Carlos uses a huge pick and up picks most of the time. Beck...no pick at all. But have you ever seen a guitarist drop his pick when launching into a Beck tune?

Al DiMeola started as a drummer. His main emphasis with me in the beginning was rhythm. One of the two must have books was Melodic Rhythms For Guitar.
It is a subject glossed over. Given much lip service.
But it is absolutely essential to the mastery of tone. Mute picking, finger picking sweep picking...tools.
But the ultimate goal is playing those same four or five notes one hundred different ways. Being able to change gears - change rhythms is the only way. There are only eight notes. All the possible combinations of order or sequence have been done.
Rhythms are infinite.

I was listening to McLaughlins 4th Dimension project and I noticed his tone was similar to Inner Mounting Flame - a record released thirty years ago? But the rhythms in his picking had subtly changed - it sounded different.
That is when it hit me. Tone - what we perceive to be changes in tone are merely rhythmic changes.

B.B. Kings tone is very similar to Albert Collins in harmonic content...a clean non overdriven ringing sound, even though plays a Fender and the other a Gibson - completely different in rhythm.
And as easy to distinguish as day from night.

I need to take drum lessons.