John Paul Jones's style

[Hamlet7768]

Not sure if the title is right, but here I go...
I've never heard JPJ cited as an example of a good "pick" player like, say, Chris Squire, Jason Newsted, and Dave Ellefson have, but every picture I find of him on Wikipedia appears to show him with a pick.

Did he use a pick or is he just shaping his fingers like that for pseudo-picking?

[Aussie Player]

He played both pick and fingers.

[Hamlet7768]

That was my tentative guess. Thanks!

[winterburn69]

He did both pick and fingers. Mostly fingers. In pictures I've seen it seems to depend on what bass he was playing. Fingers for the Jazz, 4 string Alembic and Mansons. Pick for the '51 Precision, the 8 string Alembic and 8, 10 and 12 string Mansons.

[Hamlet7768]

Makes sense to use a pick for a double-strung guitar.

[Kink Rimson]

I think the essence of JPJ is more what he plays than how he plays it.

[Hamlet7768]

Originally Posted by Kink Rimson

I think the essence of JPJ is more what he plays than how he plays it.

True. I'm rapidly gaining mad respect for him for his arrangement skillls.

[sethlow3]

Originally Posted by Kink Rimson

I think the essence of JPJ is more what he plays than how he plays it.

Bingo! If you really want to nail his style buy Led Zeppelin 1234 books at bassbooks.com even though parts of the books are wrong, they are pretty well on for the most part. There is a JPJ interview on YouTube for example in which he shows the common misconception about how "A Whole Lotta Love" is played which does differ from the book IME.

After studying him for a year, I can tell you he uses a lot of tied and dotted notes, as well as pushes and root, 5th, octave lines that are really cool and useful in any genre. There is a lot of R&B type of playing in him. He will hold notes in odd places and then before you know it, he is right back on the one grooving. I use a lot of his style and Jamerson's when I play country, rock, heck just about anything. JPJ cites Jamerson as an influence.

His picking style is pretty meat and potatoes and one can usually tell pretty quickly whether or not he is using one. He is usually much more audible in recordings when using a pick.

[rdwil191]

This was the most informative interview, for me, anyways....I learned ALOT about his playing/style. I'm a more "visual" type of learner, though, as I can pick up things from watching videos, rather than using music or tabs (which he says are mostly transcribed wrong, anyway, lol!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMYkl6sE6qU

[Marial]

The man could rock a cravat.