Michael angelo batio - over under

[cris the man]

ive recently seen a clip of the great guitarist michael angelo batio

he has a technique called over under , you play one note normal and the other , you wrap your hand round the other side of the fretboard and play the note from above

really clever , but a bit posey no?

im beginning to learn this technique , has anyone already mastered it?

[SJA]

guess what- Billy Sheehan does that a lot

he says it has an advantage for getting certain harmonics because your fingers flatten out more, but it seems more like a visual prop.

once I saw a bassist do this at a gig, but he was just playing root notes on the E-string

[cris the man]

[quote name='SJA' post='105855' date='Dec 18 2007, 12:00 PM']guess what- Billy Sheehan does that a lot

he says it has an advantage for getting certain harmonics because your fingers flatten out more, but it seems more like a visual prop.

once I saw a bassist do this at a gig, but he was just playing root notes on the E-string [/quote]

billy sheenan , wow
tbh i doubt it does help with harmonics , otherwise jaco pastorious would of figured it out much much quicker

lol root notes , even i can do that

[bassbloke]

You'd better be really, really, really, really good before you even contemplate a technique like that live. I've also seen bass players using that techniquelive and the topic of conversation amongst the audience quickly changed from comments about the band to a discussion of whether said bass player was born out of wedlock.

[cris the man]

[quote name='bassbloke' post='106331' date='Dec 19 2007, 08:18 AM']You'd better be really, really, really, really good before you even contemplate a technique like that live. I've also seen bass players using that techniquelive and the topic of conversation amongst the audience quickly changed from comments about the band to a discussion of whether said bass player was born out of wedlock.[/quote]

yeah , from what i can see it must take at least a year to be "good" at it
to master , a lifetime maybe

[bassbloke]

I would also add that before you do anything in homage to Michael Angelo, you listen to at least one Nitro track before deciding on whether it's a good idea.

[Alun]

It's usually used for visual purposes ( I used to do it quite a bit in a function band, playing the D9 arpeggio bits in I Feel Good with me and the guitarist playing over the top of the neck, and playing Peter Gunn by alternating above and below) but it does have some technical advantages.

As SJA says, it can make harmonics a little easier in some cases as your fingers are straighter and flatter.
It's also used quite a bit by acoustic guitarists like Michael Hedges, Jon Gomm, etc where they have the upper strings ringing out while playing something on the lower strings - it prevents the underside of your fingers dampening the strings in these situations.


Ultimately though, it shouldn't, in my opinion, be too high up a player's list of priorities when learning technique.
Cheers,
Alun