Being a guitar player means thinking and performing in unique ways to differentiate ourselves. I want to talk about three famous guitar players who developed their unique techniques based on one of the most unfortunate events a musician can face, accidents. These famous guitar players are Django Reinhardt, Jerry Garcia, and Tony Iommi. Here are their stories, and how they developed their techniques:
1) Django Reinhardt
When he was young, Django burnt the fourth and fifth fingers of his left hand. When he went to the hospital, doctors told him that he would never be able to play guitar again. But Django persisted. He relearned how to play the guitar using only his index and middle fingers. As a result, he developed a technique so impeccable that it ended up creating his legendary gypsy jazz sound, which put him on the spotlight as one of the best guitar players of all time.
2) Jerry Garcia
When he was four years old, Jerry Garcia, was vacationing on the Santa Cruz Mountains with his family. In a camping accident, he lost two thirds of his right middle finger. As he was right handed, the challenge for Jerry Garcia was to change the way he held his pick.
Here’s how he explains it:
“Generally I use a Fender extra-heavy flat pick, which I sometimes palm when using my fingers. The way I hold the pick is a bit strange, I guess. I don’t hold it in the standard way, but more like you hold a pencil. I think Howard Roberts describes it as the scalpel technique. The motion is basically generated from the thumb and first finger rather than, say, the wrist or elbow.”
Normally we hold a pick with the thumb, index, and ring finger. Jerry held it with his thumb and index, while he anchored his ring and pinky finger. This resulted in a very unique guitar sound in many Grateful Dead songs, which has been difficult to replicate.
3) Tony Iommi
When he was 17 years old, Tony Iommi, The founder of Black Sabbath, lost the tips of the middle and ring fingers of his right hand on his last day of work in a sheet metal factory. Just like Django, the doctors told him that he would never be able to play guitar again.
A friend of Tony Iommi introduced him to the music of Django Reinhardt, which really encouraged Iommi to continue playing guitar and keep making music. As Iommi later wrote:
My friend said, “Listen to this guy play”, and I went, “No way! Listening to someone play the guitar is the very last thing I want to do right now!” But he kept insisting and he ended up playing the record for me. I told him I thought it was really good and then he said, “You know, the guy’s only playing with two fingers on his fretboard hand because of an injury he sustained in a terrible fire.” I was totally knocked back by this revelation and was so impressed by what I had just heard that I suddenly became inspired to start trying to play again.”
Iommi started modifying his guitar to adapt to his new condition. First, in order to bend the strings more easily, he put very light gauge guitar strings on his guitar. Then, in order to make it even easier to bend, he tuned the strings in lower pitches. In order to play big chords with two fingers, he focused on the root and fifth note of a chord, creating the ‘power chords’. Combined with the lower pitch strings and distortion, he created the signature heavy metal guitar sound of Black Sabbath.
Playing an Instrument is a Journey
Playing an instrument is a journey. You are responsible for developing your technique, improving your musicianship, and getting better over time. However, sometimes unexpected things happen and it changes the course of life. In these cases, these three famous guitar players were dedicated enough not only to work through the challenge of playing with injuries, but they each went so far as to create their own techniques. Talk about a blessing and a curse! Musical expression is based on original thinking, and you should find a way to express your art despite all setbacks!
Alper Tuzcu