Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Brushy's || What's Life Like in a One-String World?

I think that one of the biggest attractions to me was the deeper sound of the baritone ukulele. I had been regularly playing my GCEA tuned concert ukulele with a low G for a couple of years so I have had been thinking about how I can get more of that bass sound out of my bari. These videos about Brushy and his music are inspirational.

Brushy has his guitar set-up with only one string and has a really exceptional sound. Truly musical people can make any instrument sound great. I wonder how this type of sound could be incorporated into a bari player's repertoire. I don't know how a bass player thinks, I mean what is the musical theory behind bass playing, but this seems like something that would be interesting to try out.

My multi-instrumentalist buddy Rhan Wilson also plays bass, perhaps I can get some insights from him. I have been fiddlin' about with making some Diddley Bo's and they are one-string instruments. I have a few pictures of a two-string Diddley Bo that I made for my son here.







Here's his story about how he got started. You'll have to listen carefully...

2 comments:

  1. Jeff,
    First of all - thank you for asking me to comment. I appreciate that.

    Second or all - I LOVE this guy!

    Thirdly - what he is basically doing is playing the bass and singing. Not especially unique in that regard - a lot of people sing and play with just a bass and no other instruments.

    But what is interesting about this, is that he has taken his guitar and made it about as simple as can be - one string. He plays it with such rhythm and style - that's all he needs.

    He also demonstrates how much more important it is to have that rhythm and style than it is to be busy and "fancy" and to show off. Sometimes a song calls for simplicity.

    I find it interesting to think of how, when we first learn to play an instrument, we want to play it more and more. Now, as I get better, I want to see how little I can play it and still get the same results. Sort of like how some people need to talk forever to say something, and someone else can say the same thing in a few words.

    So with that - I say thank you and goodbye music lovers.

    Rhan Wilson

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  2. Thank you Rhan for always being a true and supportive friend. I thought that you would enjoy Brushy's style. Now, I have to figure out how one plays bass. I wonder if Mr.Googly Woogly or Mr. Iki Wiki knows?

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