What Rick Beato Missed about George Benson's Playing on The Ghetto

[@ChaseMaddox]

What did you think of this video? Would love to hear your thoughts below 👇

[@JunIbasco]

Totally agree with teaching scales. I remember when I worked for Jimmy Bruno editing his videos. He hated the over analysis of his solos. He doesn’t like it when people analyzes his lines and say he used the melodic minor scale. He was playing language, not scales. He would go, “how the f**k would you know what I’m thinking about?!” That was quite a lesson for me.

[@ChaseMaddox]

Thanks for sharing that example 🙏 I think there can be value in analyzing the details of what notes/scales make up the vocab a guitarist uses, but we can’t lose the fact that those are descriptions of the vocab, not the language itself.

[@JunIbasco]

@@ChaseMaddox When it comes to tune analysis, though, my main guy is Barry Greene! Totally opened my understanding of the melodic minor and the diminished scales. Love your channel! More power!

[@lewistaylor1701]

I couldn't get pass that you "worked for Jimmy Bruno"! Nice! I was a member in his online teaching and love his current videos.

[@RickMcCargar]

Great explanation. When I learned solos from Dickie Betts and Duane Allman, I don't analyze them in terms of scales/modes etc., I "hear" their references to other musicians I know they admired, along with their own takes on those licks/riffs/bits

[@ChaseMaddox]

That’s a great way to think about it! 👍

[@Turybegood]

All I can Say Is WWOOOOOWWW!!!! You Nailed it

[@ChaseMaddox]

Thanks for watching and commenting! 🤘

[@groovebasss]

Great video Chase ! Totally agree with your analysis. Rick is a great guy, but makes a mistake a lot of people with music theory knowledge do : using theory as a recipe to improvisation. Theory is a very valuable tool, but using it like this to create music is a very dangerous path (Bach might be the only successful one), that leads to nonsense such as bebop scales. Barry Harris demonstrated how bebop musicians were doing their thing, using chromatisms with rhythm, arpeggios and scale fragments, and there is no bebop scale in this, it is way richer than just a series of notes you're supposed to use to sound bop. People tend to forget that rhythm is the key when playing melodies, written or improvised.

[@ChaseMaddox]

I totally agree. I’ve seen many students who have bought into this approach waste years trying to make it work and eventually get frustrated and quit. When I heard a few of my CGA students mentioning this video I knew I had to present my take so they didn’t get caught in this same trap.

[@SzabacsiNandor]

Totally agree with you, Chase! There was no incorrect or arguable idea from you! 💪

[@ChaseMaddox]

Thanks for watching!

[@kevinmaddox]

Great video bruv! 👏👏👏

[@ChaseMaddox]

Great editing! 👌

[@kevinmaddox]

@@ChaseMaddoxmore like fast editing 😅

[@MusicMotivator]

Monster! Great stuff Chase!

[@ChaseMaddox]

Thanks for watching! 👍

[@ReinholdBinder-d9n]

I totally agree. Scales are a good foundation; but also a pain in the arse in the long run. It is difficult to get them out of your system and finger memory in order to develop your own phrasing. Playing linear running scales over chord changes says nothing Its just like the letters of the alphabet in a certain language. Phrasing means building words and sentences. Listen to the first 7 notes of Joe Pass Solo in Cavalerie. That was an eyeopener for me. Very simple. Very effective.

[@ChaseMaddox]

Well said! Thanks for your comment 🙏

[@arielgioino]

Great video, I think the hardest thing is how we learn the jazz vocabulary! Thinking about that so many scales is overwhelming to me....I really like learning phrases or licks, as a vocabulary. I like also a concept that a teacher told me before, relating arpeggios (3-4 notes), with the pentatonic with the full scale (7 notes). Always thinking chords and adding some notes plus chromaticisms now and there

[@ChaseMaddox]

Yeah, the amount of info to process is crazy! You need to find a path that allows you to learn without getting overwhelmed 👍

[@b-perfection9305]

amazing video, thanks

[@ChaseMaddox]

I appreciate your comment 🙏

[@siriusra2692]

,.......I totally agree........all the greats.......Benson......Metheny......Becker.......Davis......Coltrane.......Coleman.......etc,etc.......seem to all be phrase focused 90% of the time they solo.,...took me a while to see that.......

[@ChaseMaddox]

🤘🤘

[@luranzaechols8303]

Excellent 🎉

[@ChaseMaddox]

Cheers! 🤘

[@womplestilskin]

I think all guitar "education" used to mainly talk about licks, which is exactly you are talking about when youre talking about vocabulary.

[@ChaseMaddox]

Yes and no. I think people tend to view “licks” as isolated ideas whereas “vocab” connects with other vocab, just like in speaking a language. Talking about licks without also talking about how they relate and connect other ideas has its own issues as just talking about scales.

[@gianni.chiarello]

Beato is a Berklee graduate and uses the Berklee system to explain this stuff...which is just one of the ways to communicate amongst musicians...how Benson thinks about it? We'd have to ask him.

[@ChaseMaddox]

Sure, but for all the reasons I present in the video, Beato’s not even accurately describing what Benson is doing. I’m not talking about getting in Benson’s head.

[@PeteCalandra]

FYI Beato went to Ithaca for undergrad (great music program) and New England Conservatory for grad work. He has talked about this in past videos.

[@ChaseMaddox]

That’s great, but I judge people’s teaching based on their teaching, not based on where they went to school.

[@gianni.chiarello]

@@PeteCalandra thank you for the clarification. NEC has often shared tutors with Berklee (at least when I was there!) that's why his way of analysing and communicating things always feels familiar to me

[@jtbrown1]

Probably nothing wrong with teaching scales, that's equivalent to teaching the letters of the alphabet. But knowing letters is a long way from knowing words, which is why teaching phrases (I noticed you didn't use the word "licks") is just as important. And we need to normalize that it's ok to have an arsenal of phrases that we reuse, and it's still improvisation.

[@ChaseMaddox]

For improvisation, scales are important to know why certain notes are generally played together over certain harmony. Trying to create a good solo using scales reminds me of that story asking how many monkeys it would take typing randomly to generate the next Shakespeare. All the best players have tons of phrases they reuse. And even some they plan out for the “improvised” solo, but we’re not ready for that conversation 😅

[@thirdcoastswing5334]

I wonder if he was using that bebop language to kind of have a teaching moment and then explain Db bebop scale . Does Rick do that often ?

[@ChaseMaddox]

Not sure I would consider any of that teaching to be honest. It’s like opening a fire hydrant of information on someone’s head and expecting them to not feel thirsty afterwards.

[@thirdcoastswing5334]

Great video . I know your going for the click bait title and its a good 1 ! Also i think your actually disagreeing with Rick . I think Rick prob uses scales and theory to explain his ideas and other guitarists . I also agree w you that its better to listen and learn language more than using scales / modes etc . To improv and to talk about improv. Thats just it though. Its prob great to have both under the belt. Everyone that has a youtube video teaching guitar probably knows how to do both. Everyone thats good i mean lol. Like you ! Keep up the great work man ! Your videos are great ! Would love to contribute something to you. Do you prefer patreon ?

[@ChaseMaddox]

Haha I had even more clickbait titles, but I thought this one was accurate without being inflammatory. I’m definitely disagreeing with Rick. The problem is not using music theory to understand the details of what’s being played. The problem is suggesting that it’s the scales themselves that allow you to play the music. Most people miss that critical distinction. I don’t have Patreon, but if you want to support the best ways are to check out what I offer in Chase’s Guitar Academy or become a KZbin member. Cheers 🤘

[@pascaljeanne8002]

oh man great ! lol !

[@ChaseMaddox]

Thanks for checking it out

[@LIKEFUNK]

I watched the interview and appreciated the mention from Benson that he played by ear from the start, I think if anyone scales or pigeon-hole 'restricts' or even imply's such in any structure they are guilty of improvisation itself, if a piece can't be whistled or be sung in the shower it's not memorable nor going to be a hit! -enough of the artzy-fartzy passive aggressive hair splitting stuff thanks...basic is always the road ahead because it leaves room for surprise

[@ChaseMaddox]

Thanks for your thoughts! 👍

[@LIKEFUNK]

@@ChaseMaddox Your welcome, I hope it helps anyone reading it likewise.

[@travislyon6029]

Great video, but you and Rick are both wrong. The secret to playing like George Benson is being George Benson. All you need to do is be George Benson. It's that easy. Also a Fm7b5 and a Db7 or Db9 are the same thing and T-Bone Walker has known that before all of us and Benson. Fight me.* *Not really, this was a great video and I get a lot from both your and Rick's explanations!

[@ChaseMaddox]

lol thanks for this comment! F-7b5 and Db7 are not actually the same thing though. One has a Db and the other doesn’t. You can use them as substitutes for each other in many cases, but not all. What I described in this video is the process of how George Benson became a master improviser, which agrees with the point you’re trying to make?

[@travislyon6029]

@@ChaseMaddox I'm just being needlessly difficult of course because this is the internet! As I said, enjoyed the video (and your others) and explanations. And also of course, the transcriptions. I know those take a lot of time and work so thanks for making them available to all of us in these videos!

[@ChaseMaddox]

Haha all good! I think this is an important area to be super clear about because it really does confuse many well-intentioned people who want to learn to play guitar but get overwhelmed by the chaos of seemingly conflicting information and advice. I appreciate your comments 🤘

[@cyrusjerome]

The only thing i hate about Beato is his chronic haterism. You people that think modern pop music and rap or whatever genre is “lesser” than the genres you listen to make me sick. You’re not an artist and if you are i hope you give up one day.

[@ChaseMaddox]

I understand you might feel that way, but I would like to keep the conversation relevant to the points I bring up about his teaching method, and not personal attacks on Beato 🙏