@@faultyclone0013 Not enough, just about an hour or two in the evening. But you can strum all day and learn nothing, it's more about intent and intensity imo. I remember at that time skin peeling off... Also it's a reference to Beatles's song Helter Skelter where at the end of it Paul yells that line... :)
@@Fyloeu In fact Ringo says this line at the end of the song ! Cause it was one of the most intense harsh sessions where he played the drums like a Hardcore (for the era) Hardrock drummer !
One thing that really hits me , is how feather-light his touch is. I observed the same when I saw him with Mayer, he is so controlled and precise. Personally, I really struggle with hitting the strings too hard and not having enough dynamic and lift when I need it because of this. Some great tips in here, but what I mainly take away is the incredible touch and feel. Amazing player. Thanks Isaiah.
You need to market this man as much as other companies market guthrie govan! Isaiah is everything! EDIT: 2-21-2021 Wow! First time hitting about 250 likes! Keep it coming guys and as always show all artists love by supporting their music! Stay safe out there!
He don't appear to have the chops going. I've heard him sing also and nothing spectacular about it either. For all the haters, this is just my opinion enuff said✌🏻😎✌🏻
I've been trying to mix flat and Benson picking in a fluid way lately. It's really fun. I spent too many years trying to wedge my pick one way between my fingers (never was truly comfortable with a flatpick, I'm more of a fingerpicking player), but as Isaiah demonstrates here, flexibility = wider range of expression.
Been practicing this grip for several months now, and these are the real keys to the Lamborghini, or at least the kind of really fast, great handling car I want to drive. Once you get the hang of this you can't miss, it really helped my tone too. Great lesson that helped me a lot.
The best teaching example of the Benson technique I could find! I feel the Benson technique is relatively easy to execute but seems like it gets over complicated when being taught or explained. Yeah there can be depth to it but if you just trying to start out picking it up this was perfect, thank you! BTW Jimi got me interested in the Benson technique as Jimi holds his pick very much the same way. I always wondered if it was purposely or if that's just how he settled on holding his pick.
Check out Troy Grady's analysis of different players using "Pick Slanting" a common approach to picking fast and accurately. Majority of players prefer forward pick slanting, where your bend your thumb down somewhat and get approximately a 45 degree angle to the strings. Some players use a reverse slanting technique where the thumb looks somewhat "hitchhiker" and slant the pick the opposite direction. Both ways do the same thing, which is to glide through the strings easier. But like everything, its open to interpretation and you should never be scared to experiment with all possibilities.
Phil Monger stfu it’s not like he’s saying “i personally curate and choose the wood for sharkey’s necks” he’s just sayin he illustrated and made picks for him it’s not that outlandish of a claim
I call this "trailing edge" slant picking. Benson does do it that way) Some people do "leading edge" slant picking; the pick is slanted. That's how I do it. Trailing edge is unnatural and difficult for me. I tried it for awhile.
@ Isaiah S. - Thanks for the videos you do.You are a very good teacher and a gifted player. George Benson isn't exactly easy, but you break his stuff down very well! Speaking of which, let me add something: Benson is famous for holding the pick almost perpendicular to the strings in such a way as to bring the side of the tip of the pick to bear on the string. It's harder to describe than to do, but what it does is allow much faster and smoother-sounding string-crossing when picking rapid tempo passages. It isn't easy on guitar to keep up with the trumpeters and saxophonists playing solos over changes which can move by at 200 bpm or more, and Benson - like other guitarists - was forced to deal with the drawbacks of the instrument and find solutions to them in a way that made sense for him. By angling the pick as he does, Benson not only made his single-line playing more rapid and fluent, he also cut down on pick noise, and made his attack warmer and more horn-like, like Wes Montgomery, his mentor. Later, Benson threw away his pick and learned thumb-only playing, but early on, Benson concentrated on developing his picking hand into one of the best around. That way, when someone hits the accelerator, he's good to go.
Oh, and one more thing: George Benson's good friend, and also a world-class player himself, Henry Johnson, mentioned to me once that Benson likes very heavy picks. The same kind that he - Johnson - uses. They give a great tone with heavy flat-wound strings on a jazz box.
Zeek, from one of your Near North alums and old "FUGITIVES" friend, I love how you're so unselfish to share your knowledge of this game to with us..may God continue to bless you..
GREAT lesson thank You lessons like this are great for intermediate players like myself (Drummer turned Guitarist) I can use tips like this. I use a Stubby pick and going from Al McKay to Benson without changing picks is great again thanks Bro👍🏾🎸
I always occasionally have tilted the pick like he says here but I always was worried it was maybe bad technique. Looks like I was wrong! Thanks Isaiah
Very nice man, thank you. That guitar is beautiful too...the pick guard is cool as it gets. George Benson is the man ...I seen him at Tabu Only in Dallas Texas in 78...great times!
Phenomenal technique Isaiah and a great tutorial. At the end of the day, it's all in the wrist action and many people just don't have the articulation in the wrist that fast guitar playing demands (despite years of trying !) and so tend to anchor the wrist at the bridge which is very limiting and not fluid. I envy guys who play like this, its a natural thing to them...some people can roll their tongues, other can't...same thing right.?
It's true that some people certainly find playing faster naturally easier than others, but also a lot of people might not realise just how fast they can learn to play themselves! Sometimes, it's just finding the right exercises and making small but effective changes
So "flat picking" means that the pick is parallel to the strings, and he uses that for rhythm playing, but for fast runs, he angles the pick up about 40 degrees or so. Why is that faster? I think it must be because the pick tends not to get struck on the strings -- it bounces off the strings more quickly. Is that it? Maybe Troy Grady can hook Isaiah Sharkey up with his high-speed pick filming device!
I wish you would've put a close up on what you got from George Benson on how to hold your pick for speed. I kinda sorta saw how you held it, but to be quite honest I'm guessing because you didn't really give a close up. However, Brotha I have to say that you are one of my favorite Guitar Players, and I really appreciate you sharing the gift that GOD has blessed you with. I wanna be just as good as you are when I grow up, LOL. I'm 54yrs young and have been playing for a little over 5yrs now. I'm already a part time professional musician (vocalist) that decided to expand my value by playing Guitar. And fell in love with the instrument. I'll seek out more of your videos to try and pick up some more pointers about your picking style. Peace and enjoy your Blessings my brotha.
The important point here is: don't hold the pick with a lot of pressure. The pressure I put is just enough to keep the pick in place, so it will flex (also called pick slant) in between your fingertips ans you strum or hit a note. The second thing is: angle the pick. See that Isaiah's pick is at an angle of about 45 degrees, it's not parallel to the strings. This provides a much better "slip" from the string. And the third thing, in my opinion, don't use more than the very point of your pick when hitting the strings, especially when playing fast. You want to just gently brush the strings. Takes a while to get it right.
@ Red Brown: Isaiah Sharkey is a heck of a player, right? I wish I knew more about him and could listen to more of his music. He's really got it going on. Regarding his picking hand, far as we can see, it looks like he holds the pick flat-pick style (like a bluegrass player would, for example) for strumming chords, but reverts to his index finger-thumb grip for fancy single-note work. George Benson was/is famous for this method, very much like he (Sharkey) demonstrates here. Some people find it uncomfortable to curl their hands into such a posture, so they go the other way and angle the pick in the opposite direction to get the same effect, just 180 degrees opposite in orientation, if that makes sense. It's really quite simple. When George Benson was playing jazz back in the early 1960s, and wanted to add speed and fluency to his playing, yet reduce pick noise and have good tone, he decided that one way to do it was to angle the pick (plectrum) so that it was perpendicular or mostly-perpendicular to the strings. The angle between the string and the plectrum is less there, so it takes less work to pick, and it sounds nicer, too, since lower pick noise. If you play single note lines using your pick at various angles to the string, you can experiment around with this effect yourself. Another guy who did this technique really well early in his career was Mark Whitfield, the brilliant jazz guitarist and one-time Benson protege in the 1990s. Whitfield's first couple of albums were almost a clone of Benson's approach to the instrument, and Whitfield had G.B.'s style down cold.
I've never been all that comfortable with a pick, but feel most comfortable with th4e backwards slant. The only problem is that I cannot strum that way. I guess I should slow it right down and then build up from nothing and maybe I'll work it out.
Funny thing, i tend to use the Benson technique for the rhythmic parts (powerchors eth) however when i play the lower strings i use the right picking....
I've been trying these approaches, but it's hard for me. I like alternating and legato mixing, so this technique might work better in alternating picking, but for more fluid and less staccato stuff I think I need to change the angle.
I’ve used that side flat pick approach my whole life but I can’t play anywhere near as fast! And the other thing is that using the side pick wears the picks down and so I’m constantly buying new picks; I wonder if Isaiah has that same problem.
The attack of the pick is much less jarring also. The lighter the touch, the less impactful the contact, the smoother the move the better it sounds. Trust me I’m a metal head and I did it the first attempt and I00% Had a uh huh moment. Now Im playing a Major 7th chord.... Hey! What just happened!???
for anyone interested in benson picking, check out Peter Farrell. everyone seems to get obsesses with the pick angle, which is the least notable thing about benson's approach; it's all about what he's doing with his LEFT hand.
The biggest difference in sound wasn't which side of the pick he used but the aggressiveness of how he hit the string .. while trying to show the difference he exaggerated the demonstration
All of a sudden I get recommended amazing guitar teachers. Really accelerates the learning process. And I've got blisters on me fingers.
How many hours a day were you playing at the time of writing?
@@faultyclone0013 Not enough, just about an hour or two in the evening. But you can strum all day and learn nothing, it's more about intent and intensity imo. I remember at that time skin peeling off... Also it's a reference to Beatles's song Helter Skelter where at the end of it Paul yells that line... :)
@@Fyloeu In fact Ringo says this line at the end of the song ! Cause it was one of the most intense harsh sessions where he played the drums like a Hardcore (for the era) Hardrock drummer !
@@RaphyMelody Ha, my bad, it was Ringo then! Thanks for the correction.
Maaaan who you telling🤦🏾♂️
My tutor: no! Hold it this way!
Isaiah: you do you man
One thing that really hits me , is how feather-light his touch is. I observed the same when I saw him with Mayer, he is so controlled and precise. Personally, I really struggle with hitting the strings too hard and not having enough dynamic and lift when I need it because of this. Some great tips in here, but what I mainly take away is the incredible touch and feel.
Amazing player. Thanks Isaiah.
One of the greatest guitarists of our time.
You need to market this man as much as other companies market guthrie govan! Isaiah is everything!
EDIT: 2-21-2021 Wow! First time hitting about 250 likes! Keep it coming guys and as always show all artists love by supporting their music! Stay safe out there!
Yep, he's number 1, any more Isaiah would be appreciated. Forget $6 a month, I'll pay $20 a course for this guy.
He don't appear to have the chops going. I've heard him sing also and nothing spectacular about it either. For all the haters, this is just my opinion enuff said✌🏻😎✌🏻
@@danaeverhart6487 He doesn't have chops?
@@danaeverhart6487 are you serious?
Andrew Apte keep your opinions your opinions, I wasn't talking to you or anybody else! Damn!
I've been trying to mix flat and Benson picking in a fluid way lately. It's really fun.
I spent too many years trying to wedge my pick one way between my fingers (never was truly comfortable with a flatpick, I'm more of a fingerpicking player), but as Isaiah demonstrates here, flexibility = wider range of expression.
This guy is Bob Ross of guitar lessons!
Been practicing this grip for several months now, and these are the real keys to the Lamborghini, or at least the kind of really fast, great handling car I want to drive. Once you get the hang of this you can't miss, it really helped my tone too. Great lesson that helped me a lot.
I think the most real, clean and honest way to run fast on the guitar is the way Pascuale Grasso does it, for example in just one of those things.
The best teaching example of the Benson technique I could find! I feel the Benson technique is relatively easy to execute but seems like it gets over complicated when being taught or explained. Yeah there can be depth to it but if you just trying to start out picking it up this was perfect, thank you!
BTW Jimi got me interested in the Benson technique as Jimi holds his pick very much the same way. I always wondered if it was purposely or if that's just how he settled on holding his pick.
Thanks for the high praise! Benson was a master. Well worth the study of this technique.
Oh man, how easy he makes it look. Inspiration!
I swear 😂🙏🏽
Check out Troy Grady's analysis of different players using "Pick Slanting" a common approach to picking fast and accurately. Majority of players prefer forward pick slanting, where your bend your thumb down somewhat and get approximately a 45 degree angle to the strings. Some players use a reverse slanting technique where the thumb looks somewhat "hitchhiker" and slant the pick the opposite direction. Both ways do the same thing, which is to glide through the strings easier.
But like everything, its open to interpretation and you should never be scared to experiment with all possibilities.
Good recommendation, thanks for sharing!
Hahaha!!! About that guitar pick? ...I illustrated that guitar pick for his John Mayer tour!
I'd like to know the brand and size
Do you know it?
Aum Mu Ra tackle and grapple!
Lies you did nothing
Phil Monger stfu it’s not like he’s saying “i personally curate and choose the wood for sharkey’s necks” he’s just sayin he illustrated and made picks for him it’s not that outlandish of a claim
It’s a standard tortex and looks to be the .88mm in custom white .
I call this "trailing edge" slant picking. Benson does do it that way) Some people do "leading edge" slant picking; the pick is slanted. That's how I do it. Trailing edge is unnatural and difficult for me. I tried it for awhile.
@ Isaiah S. - Thanks for the videos you do.You are a very good teacher and a gifted player. George Benson isn't exactly easy, but you break his stuff down very well! Speaking of which, let me add something: Benson is famous for holding the pick almost perpendicular to the strings in such a way as to bring the side of the tip of the pick to bear on the string. It's harder to describe than to do, but what it does is allow much faster and smoother-sounding string-crossing when picking rapid tempo passages. It isn't easy on guitar to keep up with the trumpeters and saxophonists playing solos over changes which can move by at 200 bpm or more, and Benson - like other guitarists - was forced to deal with the drawbacks of the instrument and find solutions to them in a way that made sense for him. By angling the pick as he does, Benson not only made his single-line playing more rapid and fluent, he also cut down on pick noise, and made his attack warmer and more horn-like, like Wes Montgomery, his mentor. Later, Benson threw away his pick and learned thumb-only playing, but early on, Benson concentrated on developing his picking hand into one of the best around. That way, when someone hits the accelerator, he's good to go.
Oh, and one more thing: George Benson's good friend, and also a world-class player himself, Henry Johnson, mentioned to me once that Benson likes very heavy picks. The same kind that he - Johnson - uses. They give a great tone with heavy flat-wound strings on a jazz box.
Great lesson! Sharkey is so dope! Love playing with the back side of the pick.
I love Sharkey. This gave me a lot of insight into his picking technique… Thank you!
Zeek, from one of your Near North alums and old "FUGITIVES" friend, I love how you're so unselfish to share your knowledge of this game to with us..may God continue to bless you..
GREAT lesson thank You lessons like this are great for intermediate players like myself (Drummer turned Guitarist) I can use tips like this. I use a Stubby pick and going from Al McKay to Benson without changing picks is great again thanks Bro👍🏾🎸
Paul Gilbert used to reverse angle like that when he first hit the scene. He claimed he could pick more difficult things faster and easier
he said he liked it cause it made his guitar sound like a cello
I always occasionally have tilted the pick like he says here but I always was worried it was maybe bad technique. Looks like I was wrong! Thanks Isaiah
2:54 - what did i just witness
Magic
Just a standard gospel praise break bro
you know? you do a little...
Hand just glided across the fretboard
Alternate picking 101.
you deserve a sub brother, awesome tips
I use the Dunlop Jazz III and tilt it the opposite way, but it's waaaay faster than picking at a flat angle with a bigger picker
Very nice man, thank you. That guitar is beautiful too...the pick guard is cool as it gets. George Benson is the man ...I seen him at Tabu Only in Dallas Texas in 78...great times!
Sharkey got the skills that pay the bills. I like his acoustic guitar work as well.
Sounds great Isaiah!
Wow! This lesson just blows my mind!
Thank you for this lesson.... some teachers are rigid on hand position and pick direction - this helps a lot. 🙏🏻🎸
I’ve always picked that way too. Imagine my surprise and joy when I found out GB (my all-time fav) is a reverse picker too!
I believe that Pat Metheny also uses this method
Pat uses the round edge of very thin picks
@@pauldouglas4158 Jim Hall was too
Phenomenal technique Isaiah and a great tutorial. At the end of the day, it's all in the wrist action and many people just don't have the articulation in the wrist that fast guitar playing demands (despite years of trying !) and so tend to anchor the wrist at the bridge which is very limiting and not fluid. I envy guys who play like this, its a natural thing to them...some people can roll their tongues, other can't...same thing right.?
It's true that some people certainly find playing faster naturally easier than others, but also a lot of people might not realise just how fast they can learn to play themselves! Sometimes, it's just finding the right exercises and making small but effective changes
Nice! “So This is Love,” style. Thank you for this video!
This is cool man, I never thought you could use a pick this way. 👍👍
Alternate picking mixed with hammer ons and pulloffs is a favorite of mine.
Glad to finally find atleast one pro guitar player who plays with a pick angled upwards w.r.t the strings like me.
Cool explanation and demonstration of GB picking concepts and the different flat picking. Thanks
You and Chris and Robert should form a jazz trio and play fusion. Lots of solos and stuff.
So "flat picking" means that the pick is parallel to the strings, and he uses that for rhythm playing, but for fast runs, he angles the pick up about 40 degrees or so. Why is that faster? I think it must be because the pick tends not to get struck on the strings -- it bounces off the strings more quickly. Is that it? Maybe Troy Grady can hook Isaiah Sharkey up with his high-speed pick filming device!
Talented man
Great! Isaiah, nice!
Good lesson Isaiah. I hold mine the same way.
Thanks.The only disadvantage on this type of picking is that you can't do pinch harmonics .However I use it all the time.
Very cool. That's the first time I've seen that demonstrated properly.
Nice one.
L
That guitar is a beauty
🤩🎸
I love this
And that's another new Sub hats off to you man glad I found this video 👍
I wish you would've put a close up on what you got from George Benson on how to hold your pick for speed. I kinda sorta saw how you held it, but to be quite honest I'm guessing because you didn't really give a close up.
However,
Brotha I have to say that you are one of my favorite Guitar Players, and I really appreciate you sharing the gift that GOD has blessed you with.
I wanna be just as good as you are when I grow up, LOL.
I'm 54yrs young and have been playing for a little over 5yrs now.
I'm already a part time professional musician (vocalist) that decided to expand my value by playing Guitar. And fell in love with the instrument. I'll seek out more of your videos to try and pick up some more pointers about your picking style.
Peace and enjoy your Blessings my brotha.
The important point here is: don't hold the pick with a lot of pressure. The pressure I put is just enough to keep the pick in place, so it will flex (also called pick slant) in between your fingertips ans you strum or hit a note. The second thing is: angle the pick. See that Isaiah's pick is at an angle of about 45 degrees, it's not parallel to the strings. This provides a much better "slip" from the string. And the third thing, in my opinion, don't use more than the very point of your pick when hitting the strings, especially when playing fast. You want to just gently brush the strings. Takes a while to get it right.
@ Red Brown: Isaiah Sharkey is a heck of a player, right? I wish I knew more about him and could listen to more of his music. He's really got it going on. Regarding his picking hand, far as we can see, it looks like he holds the pick flat-pick style (like a bluegrass player would, for example) for strumming chords, but reverts to his index finger-thumb grip for fancy single-note work. George Benson was/is famous for this method, very much like he (Sharkey) demonstrates here. Some people find it uncomfortable to curl their hands into such a posture, so they go the other way and angle the pick in the opposite direction to get the same effect, just 180 degrees opposite in orientation, if that makes sense.
It's really quite simple. When George Benson was playing jazz back in the early 1960s, and wanted to add speed and fluency to his playing, yet reduce pick noise and have good tone, he decided that one way to do it was to angle the pick (plectrum) so that it was perpendicular or mostly-perpendicular to the strings. The angle between the string and the plectrum is less there, so it takes less work to pick, and it sounds nicer, too, since lower pick noise. If you play single note lines using your pick at various angles to the string, you can experiment around with this effect yourself.
Another guy who did this technique really well early in his career was Mark Whitfield, the brilliant jazz guitarist and one-time Benson protege in the 1990s. Whitfield's first couple of albums were almost a clone of Benson's approach to the instrument, and Whitfield had G.B.'s style down cold.
@@GeorgiaBoy1961 Thanks for that explanation bro, I'll try out what you suggested. Peace2U
@@redbrown7355 - Happy to help. Benson's style isn't easy to master. If it was, everyone would do it. I know I'm not there yet. Keep on trucking....
@@iagobroxado GREAT TIPS
Thank you very much, it's very helpful🎸
Thanks can you make a lesson playing rythm and solo at the same time
Very cool man, Thanks!
Thank you. I'll give it a go
Thanks for the tip Bro...
what a fking cool guy
Cool one Sharkey. I'll try that out
I've never been all that comfortable with a pick, but feel most comfortable with th4e backwards slant. The only problem is that I cannot strum that way. I guess I should slow it right down and then build up from nothing and maybe I'll work it out.
My problems just got solved! Very helpful.
Great explanation bro!
I could listen to this dude for hours. Calming af.
Awesome insight and your skills are fabulous... Your guitar though, great sounding.
Funny thing, i tend to use the Benson technique for the rhythmic parts (powerchors eth) however when i play the lower strings i use the right picking....
Masterful.
Damn the part of him playing Alan McKay-ish is so funky
Isiah Sharkey got the chops.
good job friend
I've playing that way my whole life... and had no idea. Damn.
I've been trying these approaches, but it's hard for me. I like alternating and legato mixing, so this technique might work better in alternating picking, but for more fluid and less staccato stuff I think I need to change the angle.
Very good information
What weight of pick do you use, light, medium, heavy, extra heavy?
Yes
Hey what is the background music u got playing I like it. Want to know who the artist is????? Please
It's 'Time', by Isaiah Sharkey
What a boss :) fast as hell
cool, awesome!
I’ve used that side flat pick approach my whole life but I can’t play anywhere near as fast! And the other thing is that using the side pick wears the picks down and so I’m constantly buying new picks; I wonder if Isaiah has that same problem.
does somebody know what guitar he is playing? its beautiful
It’s a Paoletti, an Italian handmade guitar
@@francescotostiguerra7352 thanks :D
lol that almost silent snicker in the background at 0:17
Looks kwl, I will give it a try!
You good
How can you make your finger faster..like what exercises do you use?
The attack of the pick is much less jarring also. The lighter the touch, the less impactful the contact, the smoother the move the better it sounds. Trust me I’m a metal head and I did it the first attempt and I00% Had a uh huh moment. Now Im playing a Major 7th chord.... Hey! What just happened!???
I must admit it’s a trick. I know I can aliterate and economy pick faster with my Normal pick positions but, this was a good point out.
for anyone interested in benson picking, check out Peter Farrell. everyone seems to get obsesses with the pick angle, which is the least notable thing about benson's approach; it's all about what he's doing with his LEFT hand.
3:02
“See??…”
-yeh, sure… I got it…
Looks like before the shoot of this vidoe you were doing some boxing 🥊 practice
The side of the pick kinda makes the tone whistle
He is using 2-3 mm picks
Are George Benson's fast runs 16th notes, 32nd notes, 8th note triplets? 32nd notes, right?
Playing and tone = gargantuan
How about explaining the George Benson lick on Old Devil Moon - th-cam.com/video/tdHQABIy96k/w-d-xo.html
Crazy that I went to that song and time just to see what u were talking about....that shit was fast...how the hell lol
Sharkey what happened to your hand?
🔥🔥🔥
Anybody know what kind of guitar that is?
What is the brand of his strap?
@1:44 The lack of close-up here is giving me anxiety.
THANK YOU!!!
I want his guitar tone
What kind of guitar is this?
Have talent and work hard.
What's the size/brandof the pick?
Google is useless
Someone said 1.5 mm
But what brand? Clayton?
Sharkey is amazig
what amp was he using?
The biggest difference in sound wasn't which side of the pick he used but the aggressiveness of how he hit the string .. while trying to show the difference he exaggerated the demonstration
i thought this was ''like george benson OR isiah..'' click and hes actually teaching.