Jim Ponder Upper Extension Sweeps in "One Mint Julep"
One of the vinyl LPs hanging framed on my wall is called "Soul Survivors" by Hank Crawford and Jimmy McGriff. I've recently been on a guitar/hammond organ kick, and this is one of my favorite examples. Though the album features George Benson on guitar, this particular track is played by Jim Ponder. One of the devices Ponder uses several times in his solo is a guitaristic feature called "sweeping," done by dragging or 'sweeping' the pick across several strings in one fluid hand movement. This creates a cool type of phrasing which highlights the note at the top of the sweep with a flurry of notes leading into it. Over this blues form, sweeps are played over upper extensions of the dominant chord, starting from the 5th scale degree. For example, over F7, a Cm7 or Cm9 arpeggio is played. Given the mechanics of the guitar, sweeps are more easily played in some positions than others. Ponder uses two different positions in this solo.