MustKnowTechniquesforHammondOrgan

1. Squabbling
Ex. 1 demonstrates the classic organ technique known as squabbling. Sometimes
its referred to as the Erroll Garner style, named for the famed jazz pianist who
popularized its sound. Pull your bottom and your top four drawbars out for the
historically authentic sound. The idea is that the thumb and pinky of your right hand
play octaves while your other fingers smush notes in the middle. Some people do
this by curling their middle three fingers and playing with their knuckles. I simply use
a flat palm to play sloppily. Hear this technique in action on Jimmy Smiths solo on
Satin Doll from his Organ Grinder Swing album.

2. Jimmy and Jack

Ex. 2 rolls a few of the most popular jazz and blues licks into one neat package, and
salutes Jimmy Smith and Jack McDuff . Bars 1 and 2 show one of the most popular
organ phrases of all time. Practice it by changing the direction and shape of the line.
Bars 3 and 4 include some common and pentatonic ideas, while bars 5 and 6 utilize
the shake technique, which comes from blues piano but is extremely effective on
organ.

3. Chester-field
Holding a note while playing other notes simultaneously is a very common and
compelling device on organ. Ex. 3 is reminiscent of Chester Thompson, the original
keyboardist in Tower of Power. Heres how I play it: Th e pinky of my right hand
holds the high D. The second finger of my left hand plays the low D. The first and
second fingers of my right hand play the notes in the middle. Also, try holding the
lowest note down instead.

4. Larry Lines
Ex. 4 is a group of jazz licks inspired by organist Larry Young, whose sound was very
different from, say, Jimmy Smith. By arpeggiating two triads over a chord, we
can achieve great sounding melodic lines. In the first bar, I use Eb and F triads over
an F7 chord. In the next bar, I use F minor and Eb triads over Fmin7. In the third bar,
I mix an F triad with an Ab minor pentatonic scale to get interesting altered lines. The
last bar of this example mixes triads in minor thirds from the root (F, Ab, Cb [B], and
D). This gives us a quick vehicle for creating interesting diminished sounds while also
adding intriguing interval combinations.

5. Modal Magic
Ex. 5 illustrates using unusual intervals to create modern-sounding modal lines. Be
aware of the shape of the mode youre playing in. Here, were using G Mixolydian.
Play random notes using unusual intervals and rhythms. The idea is to think of
shapes, not scales.