Bonamassa Says He Has No Legato

[markr31]

I can’t do hammer-ons and pull-offs worth a damn. I’ve given up on them. Now, in my case, it’s just one of dozens of things I can’t do on guitar, but it’s interesting to hear someone as good as Bonamassa say he can’t do it either.

Joe Bonamassa on His One Guitar-Playing Weakness: 'I Can't Pull It Off'

[RobDickinson]

I suspect Joe’s weak spot is somewhere beyond my strong game

[sclay]

Well, that is a most surprising revelation. I assumed any guitarist, intermediate onwards, had legato skills of some reasonable sort.
And particularly with Joe’s blues/ rock playing.
I couldnt imagine continuing to develop without this skill.
Obviously I was wrong.
Now, I’m off to watch every Bonamassa clip online to check this out .

Cheers, Shane

[Richard_N]

He has a bajillion classic guitars and amps, he doesn’t need legato.

[Matt125]

Some guitarists have such incredible fast picking technique that they don’t need or prefer not to use legato. Guitarists that come to mind are Michael Angelo Batio, John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola. Frank Gambale also looks like a guitarist who picks every note.

[Helen0609]

I’m pretty surprised to read that and I simply can’t believe, he has “zero” ability to play legato. I guess his legato might be a weak spot on HIS level, in HIS eyes, maybe also compared to others in his league. A player of his calibre? Maybe he’s only avoiding it, because he feels that it’s his weakest point and obviously he is able to compensate this by using a optimized picking style?

[metramaks]

If only we all were as bad at guitar as Joe…

[brianlarsen]

He has no leg(a)to stand on!
Time for me to hammer on and pull off. Sigh…

[theoldman66]

@metramaks

If only we all were as bad at guitar as Joe…

[roger_holland]

Legato Pentatonics

Legato means smoothly, and in practice, it means you'll use hammer-ons and flick-offs instead of picking every note. Learn it here! View the full lesson at Legato Pentatonics | JustinGuitar

Hi Joe B ,
I know you’re reading along. Have fun
Greetings

[AndyTake2]

Joe does have some legato, but as pointed out, he probably assumes that his ‘bad’ legato is something we would all dream of.

Check out the live version of ‘Mind’s Eye’

Joe Bonamassa - "Mind's Eye" (Live) - Tales of Time

The intro is largely composed of hammer-ons.
3rd string 10th fret hammer 12th, 2nd string 10th fret hammer 12th slide 10th etc etc.

It’s actually a nice little lick to learn - it’s some relatively simple hammers around the 12th fret, then slides up to the 3rd fret for some more hammers and down to the 7th fret.
As it repeats 4 times (6 with a couple of more trickys bits in the live version) it isa nice one to get a hold of.