Hear It Here

ALBERT LEE Hiding

Albert’s first solo album from 1979 opens with the nowlegendary Country Boy. Admittedly, we’re jumping in the deep end here, but there’s no harm in that, as long as we take the ‘long-term osmosis’ approach rather than attempting to duplicate it immediately. Another – more melodic – side of Albert’s playing is showcased on Now

And Then It’s Gonna Rain, which also employs a device called a B-Bender, helping him to emulate a pedal steel guitar.

DEEP PURPLE MacHine Head

We’re going for contrast here. Ritchie Blackmore’s playing often has a surprisingly light touch. The riff that got dozens thrown out of guitar shops – Smoke On The Water – is not attacked with a heavy pick and metal distortion at all, but played using fingers, light overdrive and a possibly a Leslie speaker cab. However, this may be the result of his guitar blending with Jon Lord’s Hammond organ… Check out his phrasing on Lazy, too, which works beautifully using hybrid picking.

TOMMY EMMANUEL endless Road

It’s fairly safe to say that any guitarist giving this a listen will definitely pick up a trick or two. Tommy is from the thumbpick school of thought, so is included here to illustrate the points made about this earlier (as well as inspiring us all to practise more). His versions of Somewhere Over

The Rainbow and Chet’s Ramble give an overview of what can be accomplished, though many of these ideas are transferable to hybrid picking, too.