The hinge bar, played with the base of the finger for the purpose of connecting a first string note to a bar, has been taught on the guitar by Aaron Shearer for at least 40 years. He even has a notation for it. I hardly ever play a piece that doesn't call for at least one hinge bar. Also, I doubt Shearer invented it; I imagine it's been around as long as fretted instruments have been played. I'm kind of surprised that O'Brian could get an article out such a common place techinique, but there may be more to the article than this.
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