April 2012 Blog Posts (29)

I thought members might like to check out the following YouTube Channels for some guitar playing and tunes:



Mike C. Martin: http://www.youtube.com/user/kiltrakid/videos?gl=US



Steve J McWilliam: http://www.youtube.com/user/SteveMcBill?feature=watch



Kieran Fish:…

Music is a journey...

rests and stops along the way

between passages of some beauty

or through some discordant dissarray.

Diminished, simply a way to get from A to B.

Minor obstacles for major gain,

Natural E.

- Phil Manuel, April 2012

     For those of us who live in the United States, this is a question of nearly-endless debate.  There are those who believe American-made guitars are always better; and, conversely, that guitars made in China are invariably inferior.  Others believe one should choose a guitar based on sound and price alone, ignoring where it's made.  Some folks are virtually married to a particular manufacturer and wouldn't consider buying anything else.  To still others it's an ideological thing; they…

     I hear guys who play guitar complain about their wives' lack of understanding of their gear acquisition syndrome (GAS) all the time. Seriously, how many times have you heard a guy say, "I'd love to have that guitar, if only I can get it past the wife"? I've even said it myself a time or two in the past. If your wife doesn't play, she may not understand why you need (or want) more than one guitar, because they all seem the same to her. Add to that the cost (the guitars I like to buy…

Walking around Loose Park, with my Seagull Grand Artist.  Found a nice shade tree just above the little duck pond.  Started playing on the parlor guitar.  After a bit, I tuned it to Open G, and an old friend of mine, Olestale Sox appeared taking the guitar from my hands.  I had my Tascam DP-008 ready as he began to play his version of "Spike Driver Blues".  I couldn't record all of it, as my batteries went south on me.  At any rate got a fair portion of the song recorded.

You just…

Would you like to improve your ability to recognize intervals and be able to learn songs by ear? Read my post to learn about some tools you can use that will help:

http://www.acousticfingerstylemusic.com/ear-training/

Looking for ways to improve your ability to memorize music? Preparing for a show and want to make sure you have your songs down? If you haven't tried visualization or practicing mentally, give it a try. Read how here:

http://www.acousticfingerstylemusic.com/visualization-to-improve-music-memorization/

Clip of me playing with singer Olivia Ennemoser, supporting British Jazz Singer Tina May at the Errigal Arts Festival, Letterkenny, Co Donegal

http://www.fingerpickingguitar.org/love-for-sale/

Another test of the Tascam DP-008, MXL v67g, and MXL v67n microphones I'm using. Playing my Martin HD-28 on this track, which I recorded in 'performance mode' - meaning I recorded both vocal and guitar at the same time, so what is being recorded is my 'coffeehouse performance'.  I think recording in this way helps me to clean up my performance and prepare for that first coffeehouse open mic

Still a lot to learn, but I'm having fun.  It just taking me too long to get a track recorded,…

First, I'm no expert, but in the short time I've had my portable multi-track recorder, I've picked up some advice, and learned some lessons along the way.  I'm still trying to tie all of it together, but my memory being what it is, and life being what it is, I decided to put a 1-page summary of things to keep in mind while I travel down this home recording path.

One thing I'll say, it's a lot of work to record right, and I really respect those musicians and engineers that produce such…

You know, it's hard enough to justify buying a guitar over 1k, let alone come up with the cash to do it.  If you have a wife, and children, there are just so many other ways to spend your money, like school, paying bills, fixing the house, and on and on...  So, I feel pretty blessed when it comes to having a wife who is an artist.  She understands the 'needs' of artists well.  So, when it came to taking some savings to buy my Martin guitar, she just smiled and said, "Well, you've been…

In March 2012 I attended a very useful and interesting guitar workshop taught by fingerstyle jazz guitarist, teacher and composer Eric Skye. The focus of the workshop was on how to arrange songs for fingerstyle guitar.

But what caugth my eye (and ears) was a walking bass comping version of Autumn Leaves with interesting chord progression of minor 9th in the middle. Eric allowed me to record that fragment on video and publish it on YouTube.…

Recorded a demo made with my Tascam DP-008.  It's my version of "Casey's Blues" aka "Casey Jones".  It's just me and the Seagull Grand Artist parlor. The recording, in keeping with true 'field recordings' includes our cat Tiger singing along.

After a 45 year long-distance love affair with Martin guitars, I've finally become a Martin owner. The guitar of one of my dreams, the HD-28 is now mine.  I played it at Mass Street Music in Lawrence last Saturday and knew it was one of the best guitars I had ever played.  Almost, bought one from Guitar Center, but…

Well, almost became an HD-28 owner, actually had it on layaway.  Looking at it again made me think - why am I buying this one new when it looks so used?  Yes, it sounded great, but there were a lot, I mean, a lot of scratches on the sides and back from folks 'testing' it out.  The more I thought about it, coupled with an unexpected new electrical problem at home, made me decide to cancel it, get a refund - which was good, and re-think it all.  I can't fault Guitar Center, as the folks were…