New York jazz guitarist Sheryl Bailey is a bit of a strange guitarist. According to conventional guitar wisdom, Bailey does everything "wrong." She holds her pick sideways, uses a solid-state amp, and strings her electric guitar with bronze acoustic strings. But it turns out that every quirk in her unconventional approach is rooted in logic and practicality. And, despite Bailey's unorthodoxy -- or perhaps because of it -- she has one of the warmest and most compelling tones of her generation. Oddly enough, the commitment to tone is a fairly recent step in Bailey's development. It wasn't until a few years ago, when she took some lessons from New York master teacher and player Rodney Jones that she began to take her sound seriously. "They teach you about tone when you study saxophone or trumpet, but it's totally overlooked for guitarists," she remarks. "Rodney was the first teacher who ever put into words how to physically get the best sound out of the instrument. I had already been playing for 18 years when I met him. I had studied with several teachers. I had gone to Berklee. No one had ever talked about tone!" Bailey's big tone breakthrough was to rotate her pick 90 degrees counterclockwise. In other words, rather than holding the pick flat as most players do, Bailey grips hers vertically --- the pick virtually slices through the strings. "When you hear most jazz guitarist, they always have that 'ping' in their sound when the pick strikes the string." she explains. "When you pick sideways, there's no way you can make that pinging sound, so your tone is automatically much more full and round." If you want to try Bailey's method, hold your pick between your thumb and index finger (so that if the pick weren't there, your thumbnail would press into the pad of your finger). Your wrist should tilt upward slightly and the picking motion can come either from your wrist or elbow. This looks and feels awkward at first, but the tonal difference can be dramatic. Bailey uses Dunlop .600mm Tortex picks and says that picks with a little "give" are best for this type of picking. If the pick is the first link in the tone chain, strings are the second, and here again, Bailey strays from the jazz-guitar norm. She eschews jazz-approved flatwounds and instead strings her Ibanez GB10 George Benson model with bronze acoustic guitar strings. "The Benson has a small body, and it can sound a little too bright," she says. "The bronze strings warm it up and give it a more acoustic sound. On tape, it sounds like a big L-5." To give her sound a little more muscle, Bailey substitutes a .015 for the high E and an .018 for the B. Bailey's practical bent carries over to her choice in amps, as well. Though she owns several amplifiers, she most often uses a Tech 21 Trademark 60."Sure, I'd love to use a vintage Deluxe Reverb," says Bailey. "but in Manhattan, where you're often riding to gigs on the subway, a tube amp is a bad idea. Your amp gets knocked around, and the tubes get rattled. By the time you get to the gig, your amp's dead. The Trademark 60 sounds fine for jazz and it's small, light, and durable. It's an ideal New York gig amp. Here, you've got to be stealthy." Stealthy, indeed: One guitar, one cable, and one amp comprise Bailey's entire rig. "It's that 'lean and mean' New York thing," she says. "It makes you focus on just getting the sound out of your instrument." Being so committed to the subtle details of tone and dynamics means paying serious dues in the practice room. But Bailey is quick to point out that while there's no substitute for woodshedding, playing with other musicians is the key to growth. "Find a group of people you can groove with, and get together every week and play," she advises. "Back in the day, jazz bands used to be able to book tours where they'd have a week in one club, then a week in another club, and so on. That's how they'd get tight. There's not a club scene to support that anymore, so now you have to be motivated enough to put together your own jam sessions and rehearsals, and create your own scene."
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