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Lesson 15 of 45Hammond OrganIntermediate

Billy Preston's vocal 'punctuation'

Joe Glossop

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Joe Glossop
1:51

Joe Glossop shows how Billy Preston uses tonal 'punctuation' to complement a singer, pointing to Aretha Franklin's 'Live at the Fillmore West' as the album to study.

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45 lessons (3h 0m) · 1 free

    • 01. Distinctive hammond techniques

      Free lesson

      5:46

    • 02. Slides

      4:31

    • 03. Jimmy Smith's percussion

      2:32

    • 04. Billy Preston's vocal 'punctuation'

      You are here

      1:51

    • 05. Ken Lupper 'walks'

      1:46

Lesson transcript

Exploring the Influence of Billy Preston

I'm a big, big fan of Billy Preston, for instance, and he comes from a very gospel school. There's a lot of manipulation of tones, used to punctuate what you're doing.

Key Insights

  • If you've ever listened to Aretha: Live at the Fillmore West, he's all over that.
  • That album is an absolute must if you want to get into playing organ and complementing a band and a singer.
  • The way he moves between phrases in all those tunes is amazing; the way he uses the tones is truly remarkable.

Notable Performance: "Bridge Over Troubled Water"

Their version of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" always stands out to me.

  • The stuff he does in the intro may seem difficult out of context, but if you listen to it closely, it will make sense.
  • A lot of simple elements happen in between the vocal lines, and then suddenly, he'll use a different tone and walk down something like "wa."

Billy Preston's work is a brilliant example of how nuanced tonal control can elevate a performance.

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Joe Glossop

Joe Glossop

Joe Glossop is a keyboard player from Sheffield who has made his name on the Hammond organ. He currently holds the organ chair in Tom Jones's touring band, and has played with Van Morrison and James Hunter, as well as on piano and Rhodes. His courses get the real Hammond sound out of any keyboard - drawbar registration, the Leslie, the walking-bass left hand, and the comping and soloing vocabulary of the soul-jazz, blues and rock organ traditions, from Jimmy Smith to Booker T.

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