NHØP technique thread

[nicechuck]

I agree that what usually limits speed is the left hand. Niels was So fluid moving up and down the fingerboard, it's breathtaking. I think just watching him play Samba Petite without even hearing it would be amazing. I also agree that having your own sound and techiques is very important, which is perfect for me coz I couldn't play like Niels in 100 years lol

[rprowse]

Originally Posted by looseleftie

Just wondering how low his strings were, to play that fast, anyone have any ideas?

I was fortunate enough to actually touch his strings when he played in Auckland (NZ) not that many years before he died. They were at what I'd call a sensible height. I've tried really low strings and don't believe that they are the answer to playing fast. I practised the three finger technique years before I knew that NHOP used it and it feels great to me, though maybe I can play as fast with two fingers - hey, I'm just a mere mortal. NHOP remains my favourite jazz bassist of all time.

[flowinowen]

Originally Posted by rprowse

I was fortunate enough to actually touch his strings when he played in Auckland (NZ) not that many years before he died. They were at what I'd call a sensible height. I've tried really low strings and don't believe that they are the answer to playing fast. I practised the three finger technique years before I knew that NHOP used it and it feels great to me, though maybe I can play as fast with two fingers - hey, I'm just a mere mortal. NHOP remains my favourite jazz bassist of all time.

did you get a chance to find out who he studied with? I read it once but can't remember where. I've gotten the right hand technique down pretty well, but no one has focused on his left hand. He uses the ring finger on his left all over the board.

Same here on the favorite bass player. Dig that sound

[rprowse]

Originally Posted by flowinowen

did you get a chance to find out who he studied with? I read it once but can't remember where. I've gotten the right hand technique down pretty well, but no one has focused on his left hand. He uses the ring finger on his left all over the board.

Same here on the favorite bass player. Dig that sound

Hi Flowinowen,
No, I only got to shake his hand and talk to his roadie. Yes, you're right about the left hand technique. I've workied on that a bit but generally only use it in the middle of the bass.

Funnily enough NHOP was born on the island of Zealand in Denmark - I live in New Zealand, on the other side of the planet. I was a real privilege to get to shake his hand - a moment I'll never forget.

[CButterfield]

Really interesting discussion on NHOP's technique here. I actually wrote my doctoral dissertation on NHOP when I was finishing up at the University of North Texas. I focused more on his vocabulary than his technique, but included a bit about how he places the burden on the left and right hand alternately in order to keep steady triplet or eighth note lines flowing. I transcribed 13 solos of his from various records and across a couple of decades and analyzed similarities in his lines. The assumption being of course that vocabulary that he repeats again and again are things he works out and practices. I just looked online and unfortunately my dissertation is $50 to buy so I'm definitely not trying to sell it to anyone out there. I'm in the process of rebuilding my website and once I have it up I'll definitely post a few of my NHOP transcriptions, and perhaps an excerpt or two of analyses from my dissertation. I wish Proquest would sell these dissertations for a reasonable price, but I guess they have to make their money. I imagine though that if you are affiliated with a university library they could order it for free for you if you are interested!

[rprowse]

Originally Posted by CButterfield

I focused more on his vocabulary than his technique, but included a bit about how he places the burden on the left and right hand alternately in order to keep steady triplet or eighth note lines flowing.

A very interesting post Doc Butterfield, especially the bit I have quoted above. Could you elaborate about how you discovered this left and right hand burden thing and how it works?

[CButterfield]

Originally Posted by rprowse

A very interesting post Doc Butterfield, especially the bit I have quoted above. Could you elaborate about how you discovered this left and right hand burden thing and how it works?

Sure. A lot of people have commented on NHOP's "stream of eighth notes" style. He definitely does tend to play a ton of notes. After transcribing a lot of his solos I realized he used a few devices to help him get all these notes out with the ease and finesse he's known for. First of all he used a lot of hammer-ons and pull-offs (to steal electric bass terminology) in his bop lines. For example, he may pizz each beat - essentially quarter notes - but he fingers an additional upper or lower neighbor tone with his left hand. Frequently he'll actually finger triplets in his left hand. For example, D-Eb-D, C-D-C, Bb-C-Bb, A-Bb-A down the G string in a descending line. While this is a ton of notes especially at a fast tempo, his right hand is only articulating quarter notes, or the first of every third triplet. This places the burden of activity on the left hand while the right hand is essentially getting a break.

The corollary of this is the "motor" right hand approach that he uses. NHOP frequently played solid eighth notes in the right hand while only fingering quarter notes in the left. Two common ways he would do this would be to simply double up on the pitches - in other words two articulations per pitch. Sometimes the second eighth note would be "ghosted" or not fully pressed with the left hand, resulting in more of a percussive sound than a solid pitch. An example of this might be this line down the G string, with the ghosted notes indicated in parentheses - Eb (Eb) D (D) C (C) Bb (Bb) A (A)
In the above example, he's fingering eighth notes in the right hand (mostly utilizing his three fingered technique) while his left hand is only moving at the quarter note level. Again, this places the burden on the right hand while giving the left hand a bit of a breather.
Another common example of the "motor" right hand is similar to the above except that he would alternate a stopped pitch with a "ghosted" adjacent open string. The open string would be articulated in such a way with the right hand that it produced more of a percussive thump than an actual pitch. An example of this technique would be eighth notes fingered down the G string alternating with ghosted notes on the open D string as follows - Eb (D) D (D) C (D) Bb (D) A (D). Both of these techniques gives the feel and sound of eighth notes lines while only requiring quarter note motion in the left hand.

Hope this helps - it's hard to explain these thoroughly without being able to show my transcriptions to back them up, but I'm sure if you keep these devices in mind when you listen to his improvisations you'll hear them.

[rprowse]

Thanks Doc, very interesting. I appreciate you taking the time to share.
I'll do some careful listening to our man.

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by CButterfield

Hope this helps - it's hard to explain these thoroughly without being able to show my transcriptions to back them up, but I'm sure if you keep these devices in mind when you listen to his improvisations you'll hear them.

You can attach pdf files directly to your posts if you wish. I'm sure lots of people would love for you to share some of the things that you discovered.

[MrSidecar]

Originally Posted by timobee4

As I said I love what NHOP does but his sound I do not care for.

Hey timobee,

I was like that as well. And I still think the same about many of his recordings. BUT: There are, I'll say this again and again, examples of great sound from NHØP on record (check out Warne Marsh-The Unissued Copenhagen Studio Recordings, especially the one where you see the whole band on the cover, or Chet Baker's Steeplechase recordings with NHØP - Spotify does wonders), particularly when all they did was put a microphone in front of him. And as one of the fortunate ones that had the pleasure to meet the man for lessons in his living-room, I have to say that acoustically, his sound was nothing short of fantastic.

All this not to be overly smart-ass, but for me, that was a revelation once I discovered it. And if you're like me, you kind of appreciate the notes he plays even more when the sound is great.

Best
Sidecar

[Violen]

Wow. Cool thread.

I started on BG, and about.......*thinks*.........*thinks longer*........Thirteen years ago i went from a two finger technique on BG to a four finger techniqe.

I dont remember where i found the article it was probably on harmony central. I just felt that if i could use all four fingers on my right hand i could play incredibly fast and clean. I was right. When good and practiced i could crack out extremly fast lines and runs on my BG. It took me about a week to make the initial transition.

I think most of the ideas have been hit on how to do this but i saw a few holes so here are my suggestions.

1. Isolation. work some scales slowly with RH Fingers 1 + 2, then 1 + 3, then even some with 2+3. Dont hurt yourself and dont go for speed, this is a mental click thing. I found it was more about mental than physical, beyond the callous building.

2. I actually play I R M, but if i wanted to i could reverse it out. Part of the article that helped me said that it was easier to learn M R I but harder to break out of it/adapt. It had something to do with the way the brain processes data but this was a while ago so i dont remember the specifics.

3. One of the big things that the article talked about, and it was for people learning not only four but people stopping at three fingers was to keep the two farthest fingers apart (in this example I and M) paralell to the string, and letting the middle curve more. This really pulled things into line.

4. If you are interested in this technique beyond a gimmick, you really need to just use it whenever you can. In fact over use it untill you can do it effortlessly all day, every day.

5. When i walk i still dig in with two fingers in the traditional "Claw". I use this technique more in the upper range to crack out faster lines.

If anyone has any questions or concerns please continue the discussion!

[Violen]

Great video, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen & Christian McBride - Bye-bye Blackbird. Composed by Ray Henderson. - YouTube

NHOP's solo starts at 3:45 i think.

Great stuff!

[Kevin Hailey]

Originally Posted by Niels Brown

As far as the tone thing is concerned, a big part of it was his pickup system, which is acutally four individual magnetic pickups for each string, which can be turned to adjust the volume of each string. I believe the fact that it was a magnetic p'up system played a large factor into his sound. I'm not sure about what kind of amplification he was using. And of course, there's his bass and his hands, the most important parts...

The Wilson pickup the NHØP used in the latter part of his career is piezo not magnetic. Also having seen him play acoustically and played his bass myself that is what it sounded like.