There are guitar players, and then there are “legends”. We’re all familiar with the big names – Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eddie Van Halen and the likes – but one of the more influential, yet less iconic names on the “legends” list is Jeff Beck.
The late Jeff Beck was a “guitar players guitar player”. He was the guy whose name came up quite often when other guitarists discuss “legends”, but his is not necessarily a household name to the extent of some of the other great guitar players in modern history.
Yet in terms of style, technique and approach to the guitar, Jeff Beck’s was one of the most unique, almost to the exclusion of all the other greats that make the list.
What is it that made his style so unique and different?
There are several techniques that Jeff Beck employed that set him apart from many others.
1. Finger Picking
Most of us that play electric guitar use a pick. Finger style playing is often reserved for classical and some acoustic styles of music. Even at that, there are players that use finger picking for electric soloing, but Jeff Beck took finger style playing to a new level.
2. Volume Swells
This is the technique that involves rolling the volume control of the guitar (often with the pinky finger) while simultaneously playing a note on a string. In this technique the guitarist will often start with the volume in the “off” position, then pick a note, then gradually “roll” up the volume level creating a “violin” effect. It’s often used by county guitar players to make the guitar sound like a pedal steel guitar.
3. Tremolo Bar
We’re all familiar with the tremolo or “whammy” bar on an electric guitar. When using this bar we can lower, and/or raise the pitch of the strings and notes. Typically guitarists use the tremolo bar to create a “dive bomb” effect.
But Jeff Beck incorporated the tremolo bar as a method to perform string bends, quite often bends that begin on a lower note and resolve up to the fretted note, as well as notes that begin on the fretted note and bend to a higher tone. But the difference is that he used the whammy bar in the course of his natural playing approach, as opposed to only using it occasionally for special effect.
These three techniques – finger picking, volume swells, and tremolo bar – taken individually are fairly commonly used by many guitarists.
But what set Jeff Beck’s style apart from the rest is that he used these three techniques simultaneously in “combination” with each other.
Each of these three techniques can take years to master, and most of us have used one or more of them in our own playing.
However, the trick is to use all of these techniques at the same time, in conjunction with each other. Try it sometime and you will quickly see what an amazing feat it was every time Jeff Beck picked up the guitar – and what truly makes this legend a standout among legends!
So how can you play like Jeff Beck? You can’t – none of us can or ever will. But there is a lot to be learned from emulating his style and employing some of his techniqes in our own playing.
