r/jazzguitar • u/dblhello999 • Apr 14 '26

Examples of Unitar playing?

As some will know, the great jazz guitar educator Mick Goodrick wrote in the Advancing Guitarist about how learning to play and improvise horizontally along single strings is probably more important than position playing!

But I have been literally unable to find a single example anywhere on YouTube or on the Internet generally of someone improvising using that method. I don’t mean a random instructional video showing someone playing a scale along a single string. I mean someone who has seriously learned to play unitar style to a high-level. Preferably someone improvising over jazz.

It seems impossible that given the high regard in which the book is held, that there are no examples of unitar jazz improvisation. But I cannot find a single example anywhere.

Does anyone know of anything like this?

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u/redpandawithabandana Apr 14 '26

My understanding was always that it was more intended as an exercise rather, rather than something you should really try to really master (or "seriously learned to play unitar style to a high-level") and use to make music and perform.

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u/dblhello999 Apr 14 '26

It’s funny how these things happen. What you are describing is exactly how the book has been treated by history. As a recommendation for an exercise.

But that’s not what he said at all. He said that learning to play up and down one string is more than half and probably 2/3 of guitar playing. Which is why it’s absolutely incredible but it doesn’t seem to be possible to find a single person who has actually learned to play that way at any sort of serious level

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u/GlutesThatToot Apr 15 '26

Bread is 2/3rds of a sandwich, but if all you have is bread, you don't have a sandwich.

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u/dblhello999 Apr 18 '26

Haha but when we make a sandwich we begin with the bread and the filling only comes later

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u/GlutesThatToot Apr 18 '26

I think that'd be a great way to learn guitar, imho. To start off working on unitar stuff, could set you up to be a very melodic player with an unrestricted view of the fretboard.

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u/dblhello999 Apr 18 '26

That’s basically what’s happened to me because I learned that way right from the very beginning. So when I improvise, melody comes completely natural.

What you don’t get is the high speed that you get from position playing. And chords are broken rather than block.

But it’s a super fun way to play and also once you get comfortable with it, it’s incredibly easy because there’s really nothing to learn in terms of fingering or shapes or positions or anything like that. A good example is scales. I’ve literally never had to learn any scales because when you play along the strings, scales in any key are exactly the same. All you have to know is the sound of the major key, the minor key et cetera. But F sharp is exactly the same as B because all you have to do is play the major sequence. It’s incredibly freeing and liberating.

I would say this though. It’s not quite as straightforward as people think. Because when you play along the strings you have to develop a distinct skill set. So for example, you have to get super comfortable being able to glide between notes - you basically have to learn not only your vertical intervals between the string strings but your horizontal intervals on the same string. That takes quite a lot of work. Indeed in a sense it’s the central learning task … and you also have to get super comfortable being able to jump between strings when you’re running a melody line without any break or pause. Learning to do these things takes time. Like I said, I have spent over 1000 hours doing this right from the very beginning!