Sugar Pie Honey Bunch Fingering

[ccyork]

Hi All,

I'm working on The Four Tops' "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch". I'm having some difficulty getting this line to be super smooth and the problem area for me is the jump from the root to the fifth below the root at the start of each measure.

I am fingering this with my index finger and moving my finger from the root to the fifth below. It doesn't seem to work well to bar the two strings.

How do y'all play this? Thanks!

[sleepytime]

I'm barring the two strings.

[JimmyM]

i bar too. things you can't do so well are the things you should work on.

[Smurf-o-Deth]

I just want to say: great thread title. Very eye-catching.

[ccyork]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

i bar too. things you can't do so well are the things you should work on.

i can bar strings, that's not a problem. actually i bar with my pinky at the beginning of the turnaround to G. however the bass line just doesn't seem to have the right phrasing when i play the whole song that way. but if that's the most appropriate technique, i'll practice it that way. i just want to use the right technique so i'm not working against myself

thanks

[JimmyM]

well you can use whatever technique makes it work as long as it sounds good. but i tend to focus in on things i can't do until i do them just to improve by that little bit.

[lowendfriend]

I don't exactly bar the strings....I use the back part of the first joint pressing on the C, (my finger is like __/ on the C)then rock over to the fingertip on the G, playing the G while muting the C with that first joint, then playing the A with the ring finger or little finger if you've smaller hands.

It's real easy to get it smooth and in a groove like you wanna with that song.

You do the same thing in each of the four positions. Quick, easy, smooth.

Another tip for Motown or any Jameson like run, play it only using one finger on the right hand til you get it right, then you can go back to two fingers on the right. That's the way Jameson played and when I get screwed up, going to one finger on the right seems to show me the way.

[sleepytime]

Originally Posted by lowendfriend

I don't exactly bar the strings....I use the back part of the first joint pressing on the C, (my finger is like __/ on the C)then rock over to the fingertip on the G, playing the G while muting the C with that first joint, then playing the A with the ring finger or little finger if you've smaller hands.

It's real easy to get it smooth and in a groove like you wanna with that song.

You do the same thing in each of the four positions. Quick, easy, smooth.

Another tip for Motown or any Jameson like run, play it only using one finger on the right hand til you get it right, then you can go back to two fingers on the right. That's the way Jameson played and when I get screwed up, going to one finger on the right seems to show me the way.

Yeah, rock from one string to the other. You don't want them both ringing.

OP, you will want to work something out for that, whether barring or two fingers or whatever. It's a fundamental technique.

[Jerose]

This is also a great song to practice playing open string grooves and muting with the left hand. Might make life a little easier because it eliminates the need for barring with your pinky. Using open strings you really only need the pointer and perhaps the middle fingers to play the whole line.