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Despite there being gobs of really hip instumentals to play on the instrument of the gods, this picker also spends a large percentage of time doing the "singing" part of songs as allowing the guitar to do the voice part. It's fun and fulfilling to do when all alone, because it's sort of singing in the shower except out of the shower and with an instrrument and amp.

The Ventures taught us how to do so many of them, so therefore, a curiosity query, do many/most of the "Mosriters On the Forum" use this approach on a (relatively) large percentage of your picking time? How much?

And since we're Venture-ing, whose approach do you favour, Bob's, Nokie's or Jerry's?

If you listen to my playing you will see I am not a flashy player. I stay close to the melody of almost every song I play. I love listening to all the hot licks, I just don't do many. LOL

Nokie's all the way. There is however nothing wrong with the other 2.

I have to confess and hope I'm not banned from the realm, but I really don't know a thing about the Ventures other than a couple of their famous songs. Surf music sounds nice an all, but I'm really a Rockabilly and Country fan with a smattering of Classic Rock thrown in for good measure.

So, to answer your question, nearly 100% of the songs I do have lyrics and I sing them. The exception would be SRV. My playing style is influenced by SRV, Scotty Moore, Tony Joe White, Mike Campbell, Jimmy Page, to name a few. The Mosrite Celebrity models are actually what drew me to the Mosrite Forum and learning all that I can one of my most beloved guitars.

In my attempt to emulate the pop music that has attracted me during the late fifties to the (electric) guitar; yeah, Scotty Moore, James Burton, Joe Maphis (Elvis & Ricky Nelson) The Shadows & Cliff, The Ventures and a host of others, I often find myself wandering away from the main melody line but just not far enough to start composing my own stuff -insufficient talent I guess. However, that is not an issue for me and I derive sufficient enjoyment out of what I do and it is practically always the song part (lead guitar) that has attracted me. I find that I use backing tracks quite often to help me stick to the 'right tracks', LOL.

Gotta love Nokie's unique hybrid-style of playing and Gerry McGee's finger picking too, which is second to none and Bob Bogle's full chord style of lead playing is pure joy; just listen to how he manages "Blue Moon", for instance .
All three lads have contributed to the rich and varied sounds of the Ventures which I have come to love so much, each in his own unique way.
I have always come back to the two most important bands to me (The Shadows and The Ventures -my 'roots'!) after so many musical wanderings over time

I play the vocal line almost exclusively, doing my best to "color" it up with chords and triads where appropriate. Many melodies lend themselves well to this style, as Nokie has proven time and time again. Another advantage of learning a song this way is that I can jump in with a verse or chorus solo when I am working with a singer...only problem is I need a chord sheet with a singer because I never seem to manage to learn all the chords...

olrocknroller wrote:I playI need a chord sheet with a singer because I never seem to manage to learn all the chords...

You're not alone friend, when I play rhythm parts, I need a chord sheet for about 80% of the time...and that's even without a singer

Haole Jim wrote:do many/most of the "Mosriters On the Forum" use this approach on a (relatively) large percentage of your picking time? How much?

Oh yeah. One of the two band I'm currently in, is purely instrumental. We play about 50/50 lead and rhythm. Out of my practising time, I spend most of playing lead melodies.

I find that approach not only fun and interesting, but really necessary for a guitarist who plays any melodic parts. To my ear, the big majority of classic rock guitar solo parts are extremely boring - that is mainly because there is nothing interesting in the melody or rhythm of the solo. A flashy gimmick playing style saves nothing.

Haole Jim wrote:And since we're Venture-ing, whose approach do you favour, Bob's, Nokie's or Jerry's?

My own playing style probably is closest to Bobs. I love Nokie's playing too. Jerry is a quite distant third in that bunch.

When talking about great guitar players of lead/vocal melodies: Hank B. Marvin is just fantastic too. His approach to the song is really musical; his vibrato suits the longer notes perfectly each time.

It seems to be a good idea for instro bands to flavor their sets with this idea. We've been doing Roxanne, California Man and a few others at our shows. Folks that might not know a lot of the surf stuff we do seem to enjoy them...here's one

Thank you for your thoughts.

'Just listened to one of the most wildly insane melody line and far, far beyond bridges in this opinon, crazy-amazing.

Gerry McGee doing "Quiet Village" from The Ventures' "Wild Again" album.

As a lounge music afficianado, that song is a fave, but his rendition is SO good, one's jaw will hang open for a while after a careful listen.