Acoustic Guitar Magazine, october 2012

4 SONGS TO PLAY

FLEETWOOD MAC “Landslide” RICHARD THOMPSON “Dimming of the Day” RODNEY CROWELL “Hungry for Home”

TRADITIONAL “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child” OCTOBER 2012

F O R E V E R Y P L AY E R I N A N Y S T Y L E

PAUL REED SMITH Acoustic Adventures A SONGWRITER’S GUIDE TO

CHORD

PROGRESSIONS

ANAÏS MITCHELL LESSONS Fingerstyle Accompaniment Blues Harmony Artificial Harmonics Weekly Workout

ACOUSTICGUITAR.COM

Rodney Crowell

On Collaborating with Author MARY KARR Win a RainSong Guitar page 37

GEAR REVIEWS COMPOSITE ACOUSTICS OX Raw DIMARZIO Angel Pickup

Practice until your fingers bleed. Go where you’ve never been before. Write it down before you forget. Then take a moment to reflect on it all. JonathanSchneck Guitarist, relient K

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departments 16 PRIVATE LESSON Fingerstyle Accompaniment: Rick Ruskin on creating pop grooves for backing up singers and instrumental soloists. By Scott Nygaard

OCTOBER 2012 VOL. 23, NO. 4, ISSUE 238

NEW GEAR 22 Composite Acoustics OX Raw: A thin-body acoustic-electric made with carbon-fiber materials. By Adam Perlmutter 24 DiMarzio Angel System: Dual-source system combines DiMarzio magnetic and Shadow undersaddle pickups for a flexible sound. By Teja Gerken

26 IN THE STORES 28 PLAYER SPOTLIGHT Anaïs Mitchell: How a vintage Gibson Kalamazoo changed the way the singersongwriter plays and composes. By Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers

44 34 Ring Some Changes

THE BASICS 30 Blues Harmony and Chord Substitutions: Learn to use dominant-seventh, ninth, and diminished chords in your blues progressions. By Orville Johnson

SHOPTALK 61 Laurent Brondel Guitars: New England–based

A songwriter’s guide to chord progressions.

luthier fuses original designs with vintage American tone. By Teja Gerken

By Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers

44 The Craftsman Rodney Crowell on his rhythm-heavy guitar style and

64 PLAYLIST WEEKLY WORKOUT 66 Harmonized Major Scale: These exercises will get your fretting-hand fingers moving in new ways and help you learn the fingerboard. By Scott Nygaard

continuing evolution as a songwriter. By Derk Richardson

54 Paul Reed Smith How one of America’s most successful electric guitar companies became a top maker of high-end acoustics. By Teja Gerken

WOODSHED

70 Artificial Harmonics: How to play any melody or chord with harmonics to add flair to your guitar arrangements. By Sean McGowan

82 GREAT ACOUSTICS

songs to play 12 “Landslide” Fleetwood Mac 14 “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child” Traditional, arr. by Peter Penhallow

50 “Hungry for Home” Rodney Crowell and Mary Karr 74 “Dimming of the Day” Richard Thompson ON THE COVER: PRS Martin Simpson. Photo by Barbara Summer. ABOVE: Rodney Crowell at the Bijou Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee, in June 2012. Photo by Larry Crowell. October 2012 ACOUSTIC GUITAR

1930 Martin 000-45. By Steven Dembroski

RainSong Giveaway

page 37

in every issue 8 10 73 78

Editor’s Note Music Notation Key Essential Gear Marketplace = video at AcousticGuitar.com AcousticGuitar.com 7

EDITOR’S NOTE

THIS MONTH WE ARE EXCITED TO DEBUT digital editions of both Acoustic Guitar and a new Acoustic Guitar supplement, called, with appropriate simplicity: Ukulele. Both can be read for free at AcousticGuitar.com. (Subsequent month’s digital editions of Acoustic Guitar will be available free online for digital subscribers and Club members only.) Of course, we’ve been providing much of our content to online readers for years, along with additional audio and video for lessons and gear reviews. The digital replica of the October issue includes all the embedded video clips you’ve been used to seeing online. Our new publication, Ukulele, acknowledges the growing popularity of the charming little four-string instrument. We’ve got a “Uke for Guitarists” lesson from Marcy Marxer, a profile of ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro, a guide to shopping for a uke, a vintage uke gallery, and much more. This is the first edition of Ukulele, but if the response from the members of the ukulele community to the news that we were putting out a magazine devoted to their favorite instrument is any indication, it won’t be our last. We’d like to hear from you, too, about how we did with the debut and how interested you are in seeing more issues of Ukulele. So go to AcousticGuitar.com/UkeMagazine and weigh in with our quick survey. Meanwhile, in the issue you have in your hands, check out our look at Paul Reed Smith’s acoustic guitar adventure (page 54), an interview with Rodney Crowell about his new recording with author Mary Karr (page 44), a guide to chord progressions for songwriters (page 34), a lesson with fingerstyle guitarist Rick Ruskin on coming up with cool accompaniment parts for backing up singers (page 16), a new department (Weekly Workout, page 66) for those of you looking for some regular exercises to help you learn the fingerboard, and a quartet of great songs to play, including the classic Fleetwood Mac heartbreaker “Landslide” (page 12) and Richard Thompson’s stunner “Dimming of the Day” (page 74). Enjoy (all) the new issues, SCOTT NYGAARD

GOT A QUESTION or comment for Acoustic Guitar’s editors? Please send an e-mail at [email protected] or snail-mail Acoustic Guitar Editorial, PO Box 767, San Anselmo, CA 94979. TO SUBSCRIBE to Acoustic Guitar magazine, call (800) 827-6837 or visit us online at AcousticGuitar.com. As a subscriber, you enjoy the convenience of home delivery and you never miss an issue. Sign up or renew your own subscription now and you can also purchase a gift subscription for a friend. A single issue costs $6.99; an individual subscription is $39.95 per year; institutional subscriptions are $39.95 per year. Foreign subscribers must order airmail delivery. Add $15 per year for Canada/Pan Am, $30 elsewhere, payable in US funds on US bank. ONLINE If you’re a subscriber to AcousticGuitar.com or a member of the Acoustic Guitar Club, you already have access to our exclusive online content. Don’t know if your subscription allows you access to AcousticGuitar.com? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. ACOUSTIC GUITAR U Enjoy all the benefits of an Acoustic Guitar magazine subscription plus unlimited access to streaming video and audio instruction that is not currently included with Acoustic Guitar Club, magazine, or website subscriptions when you subscribe to Acoustic Guitar U—the new standard in online guitar learning. Upgrade your current Acoustic Guitar magazine subscription or start a new subscription to Acoustic Guitar U at AcousticGuitarU.com. SHOP Visit store.AcousticGuitar.com to purchase Acoustic Guitar books, sheet music, instructional audio and video guides, and back issues of the magazine. Check back often for new products and special offers.

EDITORIAL Group Publisher and Editorial Director Dan Gabel Editor Scott Nygaard Managing Editor Mark Smith Senior Editor Teja Gerken Digital Content Developer Dan Apczynski Copy Editor Jan Perry Editorial Assistant Amber von Nagel Contributing Editors Kenny Berkowitz, Andrew DuBrock, David Hamburger, Steve James, Orville Johnson, Richard Johnston, Sean McGowan, Adam Perlmutter, Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, Rick Turner, Doug Young DESIGN/PRODUCTION Director of Design and Production Barbara Summer Senior Designer Timothy Jang Production Manager Hugh O’Connor Production Designers Sam Lynch, Emily Fisher ADMINISTRATION Publisher David A. Lusterman Office and Systems Manager Peter Penhallow MARKETING SERVICES Marketing Services Managers (East) Cindi Kazarian (Central) Claudia Campazzo Marketing Services Operations Manager Sarah Hasselberg FINANCE Director of Accounting and Operations Anita Evans Fulfillment and Customer Service Manager Paul Morris Bookkeeper Geneva Thompson Accounting Clerk Susan Gleason INTERACTIVE SERVICES Digital Development Director Lyzy Lusterman Digital Publishing Manager Jason Sheen Marketing Designer Joey Lusterman Editorial Assistant Maura McElhone Subscriptions Jan Edwards-Pullin Single Copy Sales Tom Ferruggia CORRESPONDENCE Mail PO Box 767 San Anselmo, CA 94979 Shipping 255 West End Ave. San Rafael, CA 94901 Editorial E-mail [email protected] Subscriptions E-mail [email protected] Customer Service (800) 827-6837 Website AcousticGuitar.com Telephone (415) 485-6946 Fax (415) 485-0831

ACOUSTIC GUITAR NOTES All subscribers are eligible to receive our free daily online newsletter, Acoustic Guitar Notes. TO ADVERTISE in Acoustic Guitar, the only publication of its kind read by 150,000 guitar players and makers every month, call Sarah Hasselberg at (415) 485-6946, ext. 643, or e-mail her at [email protected].

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NOTATION

music notation key Guitar tunings are given from the lowest (sixth) string to the highest (first) string; standard tuning is written as E A D G B E. Arrows underneath tuning notes indicate strings that are altered from standard tuning and whether they are tuned up or down. In standard notation, small symbols next to notes refer to fretting-hand fingers: 1 for the index finger, 2 the middle, 3 the ring, 4 the little finger, and T the thumb. Picking-hand fingering is indicated by i for the index finger, m the middle, a the ring, c the little finger, and p the thumb.

Dropped-D Tuning: D A D G B E

ˇ

D

# # 4 œ œ œ3 & 4 œ œ 2

m p

i p

A7

œ

1/4

m p

B

0

3 0

1/4

m p

D

≤

≥

ˇ

≥

A7

≤

≥

≤

≥

≤

# # 4 œ œ œ3 3œ œ œœ Û Û Û 3 & 3 4 0 œ œ 2 À œÀ Àœ À À À œœ À 0 2 œ 20 0 1/4

2

œ œ

œœ Û Û Û Û Û Û Û œœ œDropped-D Tuning: œ DADGBE

3

1/4

2

1/4

1/4

≤

0

C x 32 0 1 0

G 3 20004

B

m i m m p p p horizontal p In tablature, the lines≥ represent ≥ 1/4string on top and the six strings, with1/4 the first on the bottom. The 2 the sixth 0 3 3 numbers 0 refer to 3 given string. Slur markings 2 indicate frets on the 1/2 0 0 pull-offs, and 2slides; 2indicates a hammer-ons, 0 0 0 bend. The number next to the bend symbol A7 D m7 how much the bend raises the pitch: 1⁄4 shows x1 3 1 2 1 1 3 1 2 11 5 fr. for a slight 5 fr. bend, 1⁄2 for a half step, 1 for a whole step. Pick and strum direction are shown below the staff ( ≥ =downstroke, =upstroke), and slashes in the notation and tablature (!) indicate a strum through the previously played chord.

À À À

≤

C

x 32 0 1 0

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G

3 20004

A7

1 3 1 2 11

D m7

5 fr.

x1 3 1 2 1

5 fr.

Chord diagrams show where the fingers go on the fretboard. Frets are shown horizontally. The top horizontal line represents the nut, unless a numeral to the right of the diagram marks a higher position (“5 fr.” means fifth fret). Strings are shown as vertical lines. The line on the far left represents the sixth (lowest) string, and the line on the far right represents the first (highest) string. Dots show where the fingers go, and thick horizontal lines indicate barres. Num bers above the diagram are fretting-hand finger numbers. X indicates a string that should be muted or not played; 0 indicates an open string. Vocal tunes are sometimes written with a fully tabbed-out introduction and a vocal melody with chord diagrams for the rest of the piece. The tab intro is usually your indication of which strum or fingerpicking pattern to use in the rest of the piece. ag

Want to Know More About Acoustic Guitar Notation? To receive a complete guide to Acoustic Guitar music by mail, send a selfaddressed, stamped envelope to Music Editor, Acoustic Guitar, PO Box 767, San Anselmo, CA 94979-0767. The complete guide can also be found online at AcousticGuitar.com/notationguide.


≤

ACOUSTIC GUITAR October 2012

cordobaguitars.com

ACOUSTIC CLASSIC

ing play this general picking pattern throughout the song, occasionally hammering onto an extra note to briefly change a chord’s color and sometimes diverging to highlight different chordal notes. On the verses, Buckingham alternates his thumb between the fifth and fourth strings, as shown, but when he reaches the chorus, he shifts his thumb down to alternate between the sixth and fourth strings for the G, Em, and D chord variations. Midway through the first and third lines of the chorus, Buckingham quickly moves from D/F # through D7/F # on his way down to Em, creating a brief melody on the second string, as shown below, right.

Landslide Words and music by Stevie Nicks

The members of Fleetwood Mac famously lived out the ups and downs of their tumultuous internal relationships through their songs, and “Landslide” was one of the first to appear on record. Written by Stevie Nicks about Lindsey Buckingham, “Landslide” appeared on the duo’s first record with Fleetwood Mac, 1975’s self-titled release. Buckingham plays “Landslide” with a capo on the third fret, picking out the repeating C–G/B–Am–G/B chord progression with the pattern shown below, left. Two guitars panned hard left and right on the record-

Em

0 23 000

0

B C

G/B

Am7

C

1.

G/B

G/B

C

3

G/B

Am7

Am7

1 2

0 3

2

0 2

3 0

0 2

0

0 0

Am7

G/B

Am7

G/B

G/B C

G/B

G/B

G/B

G/B

Am7

G/B

G/B

Am7

Mm

G/B Am7

G/B

C

Am7 G/B Am7 G/B

C

G/B

Am7

G/B

Ah, take my love, take it down G/B

Am7

G/B

Ah, climb a mountain and turn around C G/B

Can I handle the seasons of my life? C

2

G/B Am7 G/B

C

3.

Can I sail through the changing ocean tides? C

2

2 2 0

D/F# D7/F# Em

C

Can the child within my heart rise above? C

0

1

Oh I’m getting older too

Am7 G/B

2

2 2 0

Repeat Chorus

Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love? C

0

3

Guitar solo over Verse progression

Am7

G/B

2

0

And I’m getting older too

Till the landslide brought me down

2.

2

C

G/B

And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills C

0

3

But time makes you bolder, even children get older

I climbed a mountain and I turned around C

2

0

G

G/B

G/B

0

G/B

I took my love, took it down C

1

Am7

G/B

G/B

Am7

G/B

And if you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills C

G/B

Am7

G/B

Well the landslide will bring it down

D7/F#

C

G/B

Am7

G/B

And if you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills C

Chorus

D/F# D7/F# Em

G

C

Well, I’ve been afraid of changing C

G/B

Am7

Cause I’ve built my life around you 12 AcousticGuitar.com

G/B

Am7 G/B

Well the landslide will bring it down, oh D7/F#

G/B

Am7

The landslide will bring it down


© 1975 WELSH WITCH MUSIC. COPYRIGHT RENEWED. ALL RIGHTS ADMINISTERED BY SONY/ATV MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, 8 MUSIC SQUARE WEST, NASHVILLE, TN 37203. INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT SECURED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION OF HAL LEONARD CORP.

D /F #

2 x0 34 x

D/F # Move D /F # D 7/F #

C j jj j j j G /B j j A m7 j j G /B j j #4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œœ & 4 ‰ œœ œœ. ‰ œœ œœ. ‰ œœ œœ. ‰ œœ œœ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

C G /B A m7 D 7/F # x 32 0 1 x x 2 00 4 x x0 2 0 1 x 2 x0 31 x

G

—ANDREW DUBROCK

Picking Pattern

Chords, Capo III

3 2 0004

ACOUSTIC CLASSIC

Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child Traditional, arranged by Peter Penhallow

This traditional spiritual comes from a time before the Civil War, when slave children were often separated from their parents. The lyrics can be interpreted literally or metaphorically, with “home” seen in the gospel sense as “heaven” or, as implied in the second and fourth verses, as “freedom” in any sense of the word. Sometimes referred to simply as “Motherless Child,” this great tune has a feel and mood similar to

Strum Pattern

Am

x0 231 0

Dm

xx0231

Am

œœœ & 44 œ œ œ

E7

0 2 0 1 00

*Strum:

B

≥

0

≥

≥

0 1 2 2

* ≥ = down; ≤ = up

Am

1.

Dm

0

œœœ œ ≥

0 1 2 2

œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ

Dm ≥

0

≥

1 3 2

≥ ≤ ≥

0

2

Dm

Am

Am Am

Dm E7 Am

Am

Am

Dm

5.

Am E7

Dm

Dm

Am

Sometimes I feel like it’s close at hand Dm

Am

Am

Sometimes I feel like it’s close at hand Dm

Am

Am

Sometimes I feel like it’s close at hand

Wish I could fly like a bird in the sky

E7

E7

Am

E7

But we’re so far from home

Little closer to home Am

2

But we’re so far away


3.

Dm

0

0 1 2

Sometimes I feel like freedom is near

E7

Dm

Am

0

0 1 2 2


Am


E7

0

Dm

Just a long way from home Am

0 1 2 2

œœœ œœœ œ œ œ œ


Sometimes I feel like a motherless child

2.

0 1 2 2

1 3

Am

E7

œœœ œ

Am

4.

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child Dm

œœœ œ œ œ

0

Am

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child

Am

Dm

Am

Motherless children have a real hard time Dm

Am

Motherless children have a real hard time Dm

Am

Motherless children have a real hard time E7

Am

So long, so long, so long 14 AcousticGuitar.com

E7

Peter Penhallow’s Traditional Songs for Beginning Guitar guide is available at store.AcousticGuitar.com ACOUSTIC GUITAR October 2012

© 2006 PETER PENHALLOW. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USED BY PERMISSION.

Chords

George Gershwin’s “Summertime”—both are covered as a medley in a very soulful version by Mahalia Jackson (Bless This House). Other recorded versions include those by Pete Seeger (on American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 3), Van Morrison (on Poetic Champions Compose), Odetta (Odetta at Carnegie Hall), and Louis Armstrong (Louis and the Good Book). “Motherless Child” is often referred to as a minor blues, in this case a 16-bar blues, with the first line sung three times instead of twice, as in a standard 12-bar blues. Take it slowly and play the chords simply with the strum pattern indicated (or whatever variations you choose). —SCOTT NYGAARD

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PRIVATE LESSON

Fingerstyle Accompaniment Rick Ruskin on creating pop grooves for backing up singers and instrumental soloists. By Scott Nygaard

WITH HIS THREE MID-1970S Takoma Records albums (Richard Ruskin, Microphone Fever, and Six-String Conspiracy) Rick Ruskin seemed poised to join Leo Kottke and John Fahey in the first generation of fingerpicking stars. But his melodic, groove-based playing found admirers primarily among fellow guitarists and the singers he found himself working with in LA studios, and since moving to the Pacific Northwest in the 1980s, Ruskin has been content to live the quiet life of a studio musician/producer, while recording and performing original pieces and grooving solo arrangements of pop classics like “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” “Love Potion No. 9,” “Georgia on My Mind,” and “Here Comes the Sun.” Ruskin, who grew up in Detroit, Michigan, started his guitar education learning standard fingerpicking styles and taking lessons from Reverend Gary Davis while a teenager, but he went on to develop a style that emulates a pop or rock ensemble, combining grooving bass lines with complex chords, a natural backbeat, and a lyrical melodic sense. See video of the music examples at AcousticGuitar.com

In this four-bar phrase, Ruskin uses country electric guitar–inspired licks to create an accompaniment phrase that moves from A to Am/D7 to G.

lick of ofthe the month [Lick Month]

## Œ œ œ & # 44 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ 3

0

0

6 4 2 4 2

B

0


0

You’re known for your fingerstyle arrangements of songs that combine a lot of different parts, bass lines, melodies, riffs, etc. When you’re accompanying someone, do you think of creating a backup part in the same way? Essentially. The idea is to leave room for whoever the soloist might be, whether it’s a singer or another instrument. With a solo piece, especially a cover tune, the idea is to capture the essence of what the original track was like, including the melody and whatever harmonies might have been there. With an accompaniment situation, it’s considerably easier because I don’t have to worry about being the soloist, I can just be the band. It depends on the basic feel of the piece, but, for example, on one of my pieces [“Walkin’ Down the Tracks” from Turn the Page] where I knew I was going to overdub an electric guitar, the basic track went like [Example 1]. In my head, these upper chords were emulating a horn section. And my thumb, which was holding the lower end, would be like the bass guitar. That was enough to create the basic atmosphere I needed. Then, when it went to the B section and the IV chord, the motif changed [Example 2]. The register went all the way down to the bass and worked its way back up to the treble. When it resolved it came right back to the A section. It’s what I call the “rock ’n’ roll inevitable” [laughs]. That has a really solid 4/4 feel with a backbeat, so even without drums you get a percussive feel, and it’s not so busy that if a bass player and drummer were part of the ensemble, I wouldn’t have to change anything because I wouldn’t be getting in the way. It’s very much a “less is more” approach to things.

j œ

œ œœ œœ œ œ œœ œ ˙ . œ. J j œ

0

4

2

j ‰ n n œœœ œœœ

j œ

0

4 6 4 6 6 4

0

0

2

4 2 0

0

3 5 5

3 5 5

j j œœœ œœœ œ œ n œ œœ œ œ Œ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ ‰ œJ ‰ œ œ J J 2 5 5

0

0

2 5 5

0

0 0

1 3 1 2 4 2

2 0

0

n œœœ nœ

Ó.

Ó.

0 0 0 3


PETER TEVIS

At times he sounds like a one-man Motown or LA studio band. Although he’s an adept arranger of solo instrumentals, Ruskin spoke to us about how he creates accompaniment parts, whether for his own voice, another singer, or an instrumental soloist.

“SOMETHING SPECIAL”

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PRIVATE LESSON

See video of the music examples at AcousticGuitar.com

j j j j j j . . . œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ . . œ ˙ œ ˙ 4 b œœ .. œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ .. ˙˙ b œœ .. œœ œœ œœ œœ œœœ ... ˙˙˙ & 4 b œœœ .. œ œœ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœ ..œ ˙˙œ œœœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœœœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœœœ 3

Ex. 1

Swing ( q q = q e )

B

3

1 1 3 3

1 1 3 3

0 1 2

3

3

3

j j . œ œ œ œ œ œ & œ. b œ œ œ œœ œœ œ œœJ œ B

3

3 5

3 1

3 1

3 5 1 3

0

1

0

1

1 1 3

3 0

1 1 3

3

3 3

1 1 3

3

3

0 1 2

3

3

0 1 2 3

1 1 3

3 0

1 1 3

3

3 3

1 1 3

3

3

3

.. . .

T

3 1

0

3 1

0

1 1

3

1

1 1

3

0 1 0 1

B

T

3 1

3 1

1

1

3

1 1

3

0

1

˙˙ .. ˙˙ ..

# 12 & # 8 j œ

2 3 2 0

B

0

3 3

0 0

3 3

1

B m7

B

2


0

0

2 3

2 3

0 2

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

G

2

3 2

4

2

3 4 5

6

3 2 4

0 2

2 3 2

D

2 3

0 2

˙˙˙ ... ˙

# # œœ .. œœ ‰ œ . œ ‰ œœ .. œ & œ. ˙ œœ ˙ œœ 2 3 2

0

0 0

˙˙ ˙. ˙.

˙˙ . . ˙.

3 2 0

3 1

0 0

0

4

5

G

œœ ... ‰ j ‰ œ ¿ œ œ. J ‰ œ J

3 4 5 5

x

A

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0

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3

A /C #

0 2

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Dropped-D Tuning: D A D G B E (Ex. 3–5) Ex. 3 D A /C # B m7 D /A

ˇ

3 0

.. œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœj œœ .. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Ó

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1 1

3

bœ œ ˙ œœ œœ œ œœ œ b b œœ œœ œ œ œ œœ œ œœ œœ œœ œœ b œœ œœ œœ œ œœ œ Œ Œ Œ T

& œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œœœ œœœ œœœ b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ œ T 0

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Swing ( q q = q e )

1.

0

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Ex. 2

w w w

7

3

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œœ .. ‰ ‰ ˙˙ Œ œœ .. ‰ ‰ œ . œ ‰ œ . ¿ œj œ œ . ¿ œj œ . œ œ. J œ œ œœ J œ. ‰ J œ . ‰ œJ Œ Jœ x

0

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Ex. 4a

44

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x

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Ex. 4b

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B m7

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4

2

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˙˙ ˙

0

ww w w

0

2

0

0 4

0

Ex. 4c

D /A

ww w w

3 2 4 0


“WALKIN’ DOWN THE TRACKS” © 1988 RICK RUSKIN/LION DOG MUSIC (ASCAP). “SATCHEL” © 1997 RICK RUSKIN/LION DOG MUSIC (ASCAP). ALL OTHER EXAMPLES © 2012 RICK RUSKIN/LION DOG MUSIC (ASCAP). ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USED BY PERMISSION.

1 1 3

This is not

”

an electric guitar maker’s acoustic;

this is one of the best acoustic guitars ever.

”

- Martin Simpson

more from martin...

Visit a PRS Acoustic Dealer to experience the Martin Simpson Private Stock Model.

“ I just played 60 gigs with my PRS acoustic guitar - from solo shows to loud 5-piece band concerts. It’s a beautiful sounding versatile tool made with absolute attention to detail.”

PRIVATE LESSON How would you approach a song with a more basic I–IV–V chord progression? To follow the “less is more” philosophy, if you want something somewhat gospel-y you could start with less even than what I just played, which is more effective than filling everything up [Example 3]. You choose the voicing you want and give it lots of room to breathe, like a Hammond B-3 might do, where it just holds the chords and sustains. Often there’s a common tone [plays A note] that’s held as the voices around it change. So you could do [Example 4a] and there it is again, right in the middle [Example 4b], and again [Example 4c], and there it’s also doubled in the octave. Then you just put in little kicker notes [Example 5] that don’t disturb what you’ve already got going. The minute you lift off of this [first position chord] to play something fancy up the neck, the bottom drops out. The idea is to hold things together for the soloist. What is hard for a lot of fingerpickers to learn is if you are backing somebody up, you are not the star. You’ve got to make whoever is stage front look really good. And if you make that person look good, you look that much better. If you have notes flying all over the place and you’re stepping on the soloist, you will not get asked back to that gig again.

A /C #

D

Ex. 5

# # 12 œœ .. ‰ j ‰ œ . ‰ & 8 œ . ¿ œ œœ . ¿ œ J ‰ œ . Œ œ œ. J J 2 3 2

B

0

x

0

0

x

2 0 4

0

Do you ever think about the voicing of the chords you’re playing in terms of the register of the singer’s voice you’re accompanying? Well, the guitar is one of those instruments where the sound of what you do is very key dependent. Unless you’re using all closed positions. And I’m not that kind of a player. I’m always looking for a combination of open and closed notes. So for me, it’s not so much that the voicings would change, it’s more what I can do around them. For example if this is the key starting point [Example 6], I would do something different than if the key starting point was [Example 7]. Because [Example 6] is as low as I can go, so everything else I’m going to do would have to be up from that. With [Example 7] I can do stuff up and down if I have to fill up space.

B m7

B &

3

B

0

##

2 0

4

2

4

2 0

x x 4 5


2 3

2 0

4 5 2 3

4

2 0

0 1 2

2

0

0

¿ ¿ ¿ œ j ¿ œ œ ¿¿ ¿¿ ¿¿ ¿¿ ¿¿ œ œ œ œ œœ Œ ¿ œ œ Œ œœ Œ . œ œ Œ. JJ JJ J J 4

2

3 1 0 2

5 3 4

3 4

Ex. 8

####

5 6 0

3

œ œœ œœ œœœ œœ œ œ œ 1 2

4 2

0

4

Ex. 10

5 2

x x x x x x x x x

# # # n n œœ œœ œœ # œœ n œœ œ nœ œ

2 2 2 0

0 2 4

## . ‰ ¿¿ ¿¿ ¿¿ . j ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ œ œ œ œ œ .. œ ¿ ¿ œ œœ Œ ¿ œ œ Œ œœ Œ . œ œ œ J J J J J x x x x x x . . x x x x x x x x 0 0 . .2 x 4 5 2 4 5 5

‰

x x x x

0

3 0 0 5 2

˙˙ ˙

2

Ex. 7

#### 4 n œ œ 4 n n œœ œœ œœ # œœœ œ œ œ

2

j ### 4 j n œ # œ œ. & 4 œ œ œ œ œ œ 5

Ex. 6

˙˙ .. ˙. ˙.

Ex. 9

2

So clearly you’re thinking about voice leading within the chords. But your bass lines also move much differently than the chords you’re playing. When I was younger and I would put together certain ragtime arrangements, I began to realize that the bass notes don’t always have to be part of the chord; they can move around, as long as they make sense with what’s happening on top. I would do a lot of stuff like [Example 9]. I didn’t know that was called

The voicings you choose have a very distinct sound. You’re not playing more than three or four notes but it sounds like you really think about how the voices are moving within the progressions. I am not a master theoretician, but when I was younger and I would try to find a chord in an arrangement that eluded me, I would often get to the point where I was thinking, “It sounds like this, but when I play that chord it’s

2 3 2 0

not right.” So I would stop looking at what the theory says it should be, and I would try to pick out any note from that cluster that I knew was right, and then I would go looking for the next note, and the next note. And when I finally had the right combination of notes, I would then figure out the most convenient way to finger it, given the context I was going to use it in. And the last thing I would figure out was, “What the hell is this anyway?” Certain things would elude me. I would hear things like this [Example 8] and I would think, “That’s four different chords” when actually it’s only two, but each is done two different ways. It took me a long time to get to the point where I could see that all they did was rearrange how the notes were stacked.

3

4

j œ

play three times

2

3

0

2

3

3

j ‰ œ ‰ ¿ j ¿ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ¿¿ œ œj œ œ œj j ¿ œ œ ¿¿ ¿¿ œ Œ Jœ œ Œ œ Œ œJ œJ ‰ J œœ Œ ¿ Jœ œJ Œ œœ J J J J

3 5

0

x x

4 2

4 5 2 3

0

2 0

0 x

x 4 5 2 3

2

5

2

2 0

x x x x x x 4 5 2 2 3

0


Classical Guitar Studies at Juilliard

voice leading. But eventually, thanks to Ted Greene’s Chord Chemistry, I did understand that what I had been doing is voicing these chords differently, and I had been learning how to voice lead without realizing that I had been learning how to voice lead. That gave me a much better look at what I was actually doing. So then I’d put together pieces like “Satchel” [from Words Fail Me], where I had two voices [Example 10]. And then I’d put in the percussive aspects of it, because I always liked that kind of stuff that you hear on pop records, and stuff that I was hearing from other fingerstyle players just lacked that. There was a lot of technique, there were a lot of notes, but it didn’t have that Motown “pop,” the things that really made you pay attention. There are a lot of little things in Motown stuff and pop stuff from the ’50s and ’60s that I didn’t notice at the time. But there are a lot of little subtleties that actually drive those tunes along.

Sharon Isbin Department Chair

“Be the band” seems to be your motto. Well, if you’re a one-man band you really don’t have to worry about the rest of the players showing up to the gig on time [laughs]. And if a rehearsal is blown, you know who to yell at. ag

WHAT HE PLAYS ACOUSTIC GUITAR: McAlister Lucas-13 (13-frets to the body) with Honduras mahogany back, sides, and neck; a German spruce top; ebony fingerboard, and rosewood bridge. “It’s built extremely lightly, specifically for me, because I play with very light strings,” Ruskin says. “The body is deeper than Roy’s usual L body, but he built it deeper for me because I had a 13-fret Santa Cruz H and I told him that I wanted to be able to pick them up and have them feel the same. The 13-fret configuration is the most comfortable for me.” Prototype of McAlister Rick Ruskin model. Larson Bros. Stahl Style 6.

• Private Lessons and Master Classes • Chamber Music Performance • Guitar History and Literature

AMPLIFICATION: House mic and PA. “I generally

• Fretboard Harmony

trust the house because they know their system better than I do,” Ruskin says. “If they tell me that they would like me to bring a microphone, for road use I would bring an Electro-Voice CS-15E, which is no longer made, but it’s a very good microphone. They made them up until the mid- to late-’80s, and I like them so much that I keep four of them in my studio.”

Scholarship and cost-of-living assistance available Juilliard.edu/guitar Apply by December 1

Juilliard.edu/apply

.010, .014, .022, .030, .036, .048. NAILS: Natural nails. “I use Super Glue when I break them, but I have very strong nails. I’m lucky that way. I rarely break them playing guitar.”

October 2012 ACOUSTIC GUITAR

Photo: J Henry Fair

STRINGS: 80/20 bronze in custom gauges:

Joseph W. Polisi, President

AcousticGuitar.com 21

NEW GEAR

Composite Acoustics OX Raw

See video review at AcousticGuitar.com

A thin-body acoustic-electric made with carbon-fiber materials.

By Adam Perlmutter

AS PRIZED TONEWOODS BECOME SCARCER, some guitar makers have been looking for alternative construction materials, either nontraditional timbers or man-made composites. Composite Acoustics takes the latter approach, using carbon fiber to build guitars that are as musical as their wooden counterparts but require a great deal less maintenance. The company was started in the late 1990s by a former Lockheed Martin engineer. Though Composite Acoustics acquired more than a few devotees, the company struggled financially, shut down its operations in 2010, and was purchased and revived by audio innovator Peavey Electronics that same year. After moving the Composite Acoustic operations from its previous factory in Louisiana to Peavey’s headquarters in Meridian, Mississippi, the company resumed production with the same line of models it was building before it was acquired by Peavey. We auditioned the most affordable full-size option, the OX Raw (The “Raw” refers to the model’s satin finish option), an orchestra-size cutaway with L.R. at a glance Baggs electronics.

traditional wood guitar to expand and contract and therefore require neck adjustments; the body is also less likely to distort and require a neck reset. Further, carbon fiber’s stability means that the guitar won’t require a humidifier in dry conditions and will not be subject to the

There is not a trace of wood to be found on the Composite Acoustics OX.

cracking that can afflict a wood instrument. And it’s much less likely to get damaged by extreme temperatures like those inside a car trunk on a blazing summer day. With its smoothly sloped cutaway and heelSPECS: Orchestra body. Carbon-fiber top, back, An Absence of Wood less neck joint, the sides, and neck. Proprietary reinforced-polymer There is not a trace of wood to be OX is elegantly fingerboard. Carbon-fiber bridge and saddle. found on the Composite Acoussculptural. Our Carbon-fiber X-bracing. 25.5-inch scale. tics OX. Instead, the guitar is review model has a 13⁄4-inch nut width. 2 1⁄4-inch string spacing at made mostly from raw carbon-fiber saddle. Satin raw carbon finish (high-gloss carbon fiber, a finish with a woven optional). Black 18:1 tuners. Elixir Nanoweb composite material dark gray-and-charstrings (.012–.053). L.R. Baggs Stage Pro woven from carbon coal pattern on the Element electronics (optional). Made in USA. thread, layered with soundboard and proprietary matePRICE: $1,949 list/$1,499 street as headstock and a reviewed ($1,799 list/$1,399 street without rials, and fused with uniform charcoal electronics). epoxies in a vacuum, surface elsewhere. then oven-cured. (The guitar is also MAKER: Composite Acoustics: While the neck, available in high(877) 860-5903; caguitars.com. back, and sides gloss solid red, are all one blue, white, or charrigid piece, the reinforced-polymer coal.) The rosette mimics brushed stainfingerboard and carbon-fiber top less steel and is subtly echoed in microdot are attached to the body and neck position markers on the top and bass side in the traditional manner. The of the fingerboard. Completing the clean top’s thin X-bracing isn’t a means modern appearance is a set of hardware— of support but is used to control bridge, tuners, nut, and saddle—that is the guitar’s timbre. entirely solid black. Unlike most modern guitars, the While it isn’t possible to assess the OX does not have a truss rod. That’s craftsmanship of a carbon-fiber guitar in because the carbon-fiber construction the same way as a wood instrument, the makes the OX impervious to the changes OX appears to be very well built. The body in climate that cause the components of a has been formed to geometric perfection



and the 20 frets of stainless steel (another material chosen for durability) are smoothly polished and comfortable at the ends. The grooves in the nut and saddle have been addressed with similar meticulousness and the guitar has a low action unencumbered by buzzes.

Modern Feel With its low mass and gently rounded back, the OX is extremely comfortable to cradle. The raw, or textured, finish on the neck and body, though, is a bit rough and initially distracting. It feels effortless to zip around the slim C-shape neck, which measures .81 of an inch at the first fret and .86 at the 12th fret, and the heelless design makes it possible to fully access fingerboard regions that would be less available even on a standard cutaway guitar. But a strap button, which can, of course, be easily removed, does dig into the fretting hand when reaching for the highest frets. Although initially skeptical of a nonwood guitar, I was immediately drawn to the OX’s sound when etching out a chordal figure up and down the neck. The guitar has a warmth that caught me by surprise and the chords sound dense and articulate—it is easy to hear each individual member of the most closely voiced harmonies. Natural harmonics are sparkling and vibrant throughout. The guitar’s 13⁄4-inch nut width offers ample room for fingerpicking, so I tried some Travis picking, banjo-style rolls, and even bossa nova. The guitar responded dynamically to each setting, with a sweet overall voice and a notable amount of sustain and natural reverb. Thanks to the 18:1 tuners, I was able to quickly get into a series of nonstandard tunings—open G, D A D G A D, and C G D G C D—and it was pleasurable to wander through all, given the guitar’s consistently rich resonances. When I grabbed a plectrum and improvised some jazzy lines on the OX, I was pleased by the clarity of attack and the thickness of the sound—the notes emerged full and round, even in the highest quarters of the guitar, where dead spots might be expected. Brisk strumming also felt and sounded great, with powerful fundamentals and shimmering overtones. When really driven the guitar did sound just a bit boxy, but overall it had a winning voice with all approaches in all styles—a very good thing considering that, unlike the sound of its wood counterpart, a carbon-fiber guitar will not blossom with age.

Onboard Baggs Electronics The OX came complete with an L.R. Baggs Stage Pro Element system that includes an undersaddle pickup and a bass-sidemounted preamp/EQ. The preamp is powered by a nine-volt battery and includes volume, treble, midrange, and bass controls, as well as a notch filter, phase-inversion controls, and a chromatic tuner. Plugged into a Fender Acoustasonic series amplifier, the electronics sounded warm and lifelike when set flat, and the equalizer offers soundshaping possibilities to suit a range of ensemble and live applications.

Carefree Performer There are many guitarists who shun onboard electronics and who will never play anything but wooden instruments. But in the Composite Acoustics OX, those willing to take the leap to carbon fiber will find a guitar with excellent sound and playability that is virtually maintenance-free, allowing its owner to focus on what’s most important: making music. ag Contributing editor ADAM PERLMUTTER transcribes, engraves, and arranges music for numerous publications.

editors ’ impressions TEJA GERKEN: The Composite Acoustics OX Raw is a unique guitar. I was surprised by the amount of volume it was able to achieve with its thin body—definitely more than most wooden guitars with similar body styles I’ve experienced. I also found the guitar very even in its response, with notes having the same quality all the way from the open sixth string to the first string played at the 20th fret. I also really like how the design takes advantage of the fact that carbon fiber can be shaped in ways that would be very difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish with wood, such as the cutaway/neck joint area of the instrument. SCOTT NYGAARD: I found the Composite Acoustics OX Raw particularly fun to play. The finish on the slim neck makes it easy to get around the fingerboard quickly and the heelless back and cutaway make it easy to reach all of the double-digit frets, more so than on any acoustic I can remember playing. With the guitar’s tonal consistency from bottom to top and access to the highest treble notes, it’s like having a mandolin attached to your guitar.




NEW GEAR


DiMarzio Angel System Dual-source system combines DiMarzio magnetic and Shadow undersaddle pickups for a flexible sound.

By Teja Gerken

WHEN LARRY DIMARZIO FOUNDED DIMARZIO PICKUPS in 1975, it was the first company dedicated entirely to making aftermarket guitar pickups, creating drop-in alternatives to the stock pickups used in Fender- and Gibson-style guitars. Other companies, such as Seymour Duncan and EMG, followed, and today, not only has the replacement pickup market grown exponentially, many established guitar manufacturers choose pickups made by specialists for their instruments, rather than making their own. Pickups such as DiMarzio’s Super Distortion humbucker and FS-1 single-coil are legendary rock ’n’ roll tools, but even though the company has long offered acoustic pickups, it has never had the impact on acoustic players it’s had on solid-body slingers. However, with magnetic pickups for acoustics increasing in popularity in recent years, DiMarzio has developed a new model, the Angel, which is available in three different configurations: Angel (passive pickup only), Angel Active (with an endpin-mounted preamp) and Angel System (with a preamp and additional undersaddle pickup). We checked out the full system, which DiMarzio supplied installed in a Martin D-16T dreadnought.

Tortoiseshell Cover While the Angel is similar in shape and size to some other magnetic soundhole pickups, its top cover is made of a distinctive tortoiseshellcolored plastic—the same as many pickguards and flatpicks. The pickup is about at a glance 1 inch wide and 1¼ inches deep and fits soundholes with a diameter of at least 3 ½ SPECS: Dual pickup system. Soundholeinches. Like most other magnetic pickups, mounted magnetic DiMarzio Angel humbucking the Angel is held in place by a clamping pickup with adjustable pole pieces. Shadow mechanism tightened with a Phillips-head Nanoflex undersaddle piezo pickup. Endpinscrew on each end. mounted preamp with mono output. Volume Inside its plastic enclosure, the Angel’s controls for each pickup. Nine-volt battery. passive humbucking pickup has a somewhat Made in USA (Angel pickup) and China unusual design: rather than pairing two coils in (Nanoflex pickup and preamp). an upright position or stacking them on top of PRICE: $379 list/$250 street (the Angel each other, DiMarzio lays the coils on their pickup only is available for $199 list/$160 sides and places a row of adjustable pole street). pieces in between (Gibson used a similar design in some of its 1960s bass pickups). MAKER: DiMarzio: (800) 221-6468; The pickup’s signal departs via a mono minidimarzio.com. jack on the treble side and connects to an


endpin jack with the basic passive Angel package or an endpin-mounted preamp with the Angel Active and Angel System.

Shadow Sidekick Rather than coming up with its own undersaddle pickup, DiMarzio chose Shadow’s Nanoflex pickup to pair with the Angel in this multisource system. An ultrathin and highly flexible pickup, the Nanoflex is sensitive along its entire length, and because it has a miniature circuit built into one end of the pickup itself, its signal is buffered without any signal loss. The Angel System’s endpin-mounted preamp has mini-jack inputs for each pickup and two small pots for adjusting the output signal of each source (these

aren’t accessible once the preamp is in place, so it must be done during installation). But the System has two small volume control dials (one for each pickup) that mount in the soundhole (DiMarzio suggests mounting one on the bass side and the other on the treble side, though other configurations are possible). A ninevolt battery mounted inside the guitars supplies power. Our review system arrived already installed in a guitar, but installation of the Shadow requires standard procedures for an undersaddle pickup (a small hole drilled through the saddle slot and lowering of the saddle) and an endpin jack (enlarging the endpin hole). Installation of the Angel pickup itself requires no modifications to the instrument.

Flexible Tones I checked the Angel System out by plugging it into a Fishman Loudbox Artist amp. I began by listening to the Angel magnetic


pickup only and was greeted with a warm sound with strong bass response and smooth attack that is typical of a magnetic pickup. By itself, the Angel doesn’t sound particularly complex, though with a little reverb added at the amp it has a pleasingly round tone that would work well for players who find that some pickup systems accentuate their attack more than they like.

I began by listening to the Angel magnetic pickup only and was greeted with a warm sound with strong bass response and smooth attack that is typical of a magnetic pickup. Adding the Nanoflex to the overall blend yields a considerable widening of the sonic spectrum. The sound’s high frequencies become more natural and musical, and there is an overall increase in clarity and sonic complexity. Because the Nanoflex is a relatively top-sensitive pickup, adding its signal to the Angel’s results in greater dimension in terms of amplifying percussive slaps, etc. More care could have been used in the installation of our review system; the internal wires weren’t secured very well, leading to some occasional noise when the sensitive Nanoflex pickup’s cable moved inside the guitar. Besides trying the Angel System, I also tried the Angel by itself, passively, running a cable directly from its mini-jack output to the Fishman amp. While considerably lower in output, the pickup delivers plenty of gain to drive the amp without an external preamp. The tone places a bit more emphasis on the midrange and is less complex than when used with the endpin preamp, but players who are looking for an easy-to-install magnetic pickup will want to consider the passive Angel.

artistry

Magnetic/Undersaddle Solution No matter which of the three available Angel packages you’re interested in, you can expect solid performance. Combining magnetic and undersaddle pickups is a popular configuration for many custom setups, but few manufacturers offer readymade solutions for this combination, making the Angel System an attractive option for players who want flexible tonality without having to cobble their own rig together. ag


1.800.788.5828 www.rainsong.com

Escape the expected. Experience graphite. AcousticGuitar.com 25

NEW GEAR IN THE STORES

1

2

Tommy Emmanuel

3 4 1 Huss

ODAIR ASSAD

Fri. Oct. 5, 2012, SF Conservatory of Music*

RAFAEL AGUIRRE

Sat. Oct. 27, 2012, Green Room

BRASIL GUITAR DUO

Sat. Nov. 17, 2012 , Green Room

SHIN-ICHI FUKUDA

Sat. Dec. 8, 2012, Herbst Theatre*

INTERNATIONAL GUITAR NIGHT Sat. Jan. 26, 2013, Brava Theater

TOmmy EmmANUEL CGP

Frank Vignola with Vinnie Raniolo Fri. & Sat. Feb. 8 & 9, 2013 Palace of Fine Arts Theater

DAVID RUSSELL

Sat. March 2, 2013 Herbst Theatre*

DuroPro

Guitar stand. Folds compactly to fit in many guitar cases. Made of industrial-grade ABS composite. Fits acoustic and electric guitars, ukuleles, mandolins, banjos, and other instruments. Available in a variety of colors. Padding safe for use with nitrocellulose finishes. $34.95. cooperstand.com.

Leathers CCG Gig Bags

Available in acoustic and electric sizes. Durable polyester material. One-inch multilayered tripledensity foam padding. Nylon lining. Leather handles. Two-inch cotton webbing backpack straps. Zippered accessory pouch. Starting at $243.92. levysleathers.com.

Sat. March 16, 2013 Green Room

BEIJING GUITAR DUO

Sun. March 31, 2013 SF Conservatory of Music*

VLADImIR GORBACH Sat. April 13, 2013 Green Room

4 Martin

D-18E Retro

Dreadnought body. Solid Sitka spruce top. Solid mahogany back and sides. Scalloped, forward-shifted X-bracing. Ebony fingerboard and bridge. 1¾-inch nut width. Fishman F1 Aura electronics with sound images derived from recordings of vintage D-18s using vintage microphones. $3,399. martinguitar.com.

Olympus LS-100

PEPE ROmERO

Sun. April 28, 2013 Herbst Theatre*


2 Cooperstand

3 Levy’s

mARCIN DyLLA

* Presented in association with San Francisco Performances.

and Dalton Crossroads

Solid Sitka spruce top. Solid mahogany back and sides. Red spruce top bracing. 24.75-inch scale. Vintage taper neck with 1¾-inch nut width. Sunburst finish. $3,400. hussandalton.com.

Pepe Romero

$399.99. getolympus.com. The LS-100 is the latest handheld digital recorder from Olympus. With EW VI features that include just about everything that could fit in a recorder E R of this size (the LS-100 measures about 6¼ x 2¾ x 1¼ inches), it will be of interest to those looking for something with capabilities beyond basic stereo recording. Here are some highlights: The LS-100 includes a pair of condenser microphones, as well as combined ¼-inch/XLR stereo inputs with phantom power. It includes 4 GB of built-in memory (plus it accepts standard SD memory cards for additional storage) and has a removable built-in rechargeable battery. Besides standard stereo recording, the LS-100 can record up to eight tracks, which can be mixed internally or exported to a DAW via a USB port. In using the LS-100, I appreciated details like real record-level dials (rather than a menu-based approach), dedicated peak LEDs, a built-in speaker, and an easy-to use interface. Recordings made with the unit using its built-in mics sounded great, and with proper placement in a good-sounding environment, I could see using the LS100 to record album-worthy tracks. —TEJA GERKEN


PLAYER SPOTLIGHT

“Anyone using a lesser tuner is making their life more difficult.”

Anaïs Mitchell How a vintage Gibson Kalamazoo changed the way the singer-songwriter plays and composes.

– Jorma Kaukonen


tuning machines

Bear Creek Beard Borges Bourgeois Buscarino Collings Froggy Bottom Galloup Gibson Goodall Huss & Dalton

Kallenbach Knaggs Ko’olau Larrivée Lewis Lucas Maingard Martin Merrill National Paul Reed Smith

Proulx Rockbridge RoZaWood Sams Santa Cruz Schaefer Schoenberg Sexauer Steinegger Tippin Webber ™

stewmac.com/waverly


THE FACE ON THE COVER of Anaïs Mitchell’s latest album, Young Man in America, is not her own; it belongs to her father, author Don Mitchell, photographed around age 30. Throughout the songs, delivered in her childlike, crystalline voice, Anaïs weaves stories of driven young men—a shepherd, a sailor, a farmer—in vivid language that draws from centuries-old ballads and the Bible. “I come out like a cannonball / Come of age of alcohol,” she sings in the title track, “Raven in a field of rye / With a black and roving eye.” Clearly Mitchell’s latest songs are not the typical confessions of a singer-songwriter, but that doesn’t mean they are not personal. “All the songs started from a very personal place and feelings that I wake up with,” says Mitchell, 31, in a conversation while on tour in the Midwest. “It was almost like dressing them up in other people’s clothes. I felt clear to troll the depths without feeling like I “Oftentimes it’s the tiniest things, like was spilling my guts. There was a freedom in these other voices, and maybe I one chord change or one chord, that felt more able to be honest. I might have will be like the grain of sand that gets been shy had I been the narrator.” under your skin. You can’t stop playing Thinking outside of the singer-songit, and you build this thing around it.” writer box is not new for Mitchell, a native of Vermont. Her previous album, Hadestown, is a folk opera retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, featuring such notable guest singers as Greg Brown, Ani DiFranco, and Justin Vernon (Bon Iver). While Hadestown took inspiration from the Depression era and Young Man in America at times suggests a 19th-century setting, Mitchell says these albums are “meant to exist in a space that isn’t historically accurate. It’s a dreamscape kind of place. I love when a story that might be contemporary or might be true for me can be told in such a way that it feels like it might have come from another era.” Musically, Young Man in America shows a distinct evolution from the sparse voiceand-guitar sound of Mitchell’s early records Hymns for the Exiled and The Brightness. ACOUSTIC GUITAR October 2012

ADAM JASON

Chosen by renowned guitarmakers for their nest instruments.

The Hadestown project, arranged and orchestrated by Michael Chorney with a broad palate of instruments, “kind of blew out of the water my conception of what could happen with my songs,” she says. On Young Man in America, arranger/ p r o d u c e r To d d Sickafoose, longtime bassist for Ani DiFranco and also producer of Hadestown, built a beautifully atmospheric sound around Mitchell’s guitar with prominent drums, lush ensemble vocals, chimey electric guitar (Adam Levy and others), mandolin (Chris Thile), piano, and touches of strings and horns. The result is reminiscent of artists like Sufjan Stevens and Bon Iver—the latter recently covered Mitchell’s song “Coming Down,” an emotionally powerful track on Young Man in America.

Guitar Oddity One behind-the-scenes influence on these songs is Mitchell’s discovery of a Kalamazoo acoustic guitar, from Gibson’s short-lived budget line from the Depression era, among the oddities and rarities at Subway Guitars in


Berkeley, California. A no-frills flattop guitar without a truss rod, the Kalamazoo has “an idiosyncratic little voice,” she says, “kind of loud and high—kind of like my own voice.” For years she fingerpicked an Alvarez-Yairi, and with the Kalamazoo she found herself strumming for the first time (still with her fingers), often capoed high up the neck, and creating a different type of rhythmic bed beneath her songs. “I love the voice of the Kalamazoo and the songs that it brought with it,” she says, “which were quite different than what might have come out of the Alvarez.” In all of Mitchell’s songwriting, the guitar plays a central role. “Oftentimes it’s the tiniest thing, like one chord change or one chord, that will be like the grain of sand that gets under your skin,” she says. “You can’t stop playing it, and you build this thing around it.” With the release of the new album, Mitchell is touring the United States and Europe with the Young Man Band, which includes fellow songwriter Rachel Ries—with whom Mitchell released the seven-inch vinyl Country E.P. in 2008. Mitchell also does a steady stream of solo gigs as well as occasional Hadestown shows, where she gathers a large cast of singers and musicians to play the characters of her folk opera. Meanwhile, another project is percolating in the background: inspired in recent

years by artists such as Paul Brady, Martin Carthy, and Dick Gaughan, Mitchell has been arranging and recording a set of traditional Child ballads with multi-instrumentalist Jefferson Hamer, and a new album should be out next year. That’s an exceptionally wide range of interests and projects—all feeding off of each other, and all animated by Mitchell’s deep love of language. “I came to music by way of words,” she says, “by way of what could be done with storytelling or poetry or stringing words together to deliver the listener to some other place.” ag JEFFREY PEPPER RODGERS (jeffreypepperrodgers.com), a grand prize winner in the John Lennon Songwriting contest, is the founding editor of Acoustic Guitar.

WHAT SHE PLAYS ACOUSTIC GUITAR: Late ’30s Gibson Kalamazoo KG-11 with a sunburst finish. AMPLIFICATION: K&K Pure Mini pickups. Fishman Aura pedal. STRINGS: Ernie Ball. CAPOS: G7th or Paige.


THE BASICS

G is B. That’s the seventh note of the C scale so the name of this new chord is C major seven (Cmaj7). Most of you probably know that one of the intervals in the major scale we change to give it a bluesier sound is the seventh. Let’s do that with this B note and lower it a half step to Bb. This makes our chord a C dominant seven, or just C7. The I, IV, and V chords in the key of C are C, F, and G. Let’s play a short progression with these chords (Example 3a). Listen to the sound. Now make all three of these chords dominant-seventh chords: C7, F7, and G7 (Example 3b). Play the pattern again and listen. Much higher blues quotient, right? Notice that in a C7 chord the third, E, is a major third while the seventh (Bb) is a minor seventh. Try using these dominant-seventh chords to play 12-bar blues progressions in different keys. The major/minor sounds bumping against each other in the chord make it sound like blues even before you lay any lead lines on top. These three chords have powered a million blues tunes.

Blues Harmony and Chord Substitutions Learn to use dominant-seventh, ninth, and diminished chords in your blues progressions. By Orville Johnson

LOOKING BACK IN HISTORY to the time and place where the blues began takes us to the Southeast United States just after the Civil War. The slaves had gained their freedom but still put in a lot of time working the fields, building levees, handling mules and horses. Music helped them endure. The songs they sang as they worked were called “field hollers” and these songs, along with religious spirituals, make up a lot of the melodic and rhythmic motifs that eventually morphed into the blues. The music was most often unaccompanied singing. Sometimes a song would be used to maintain a work rhythm, sung in time with a swinging ax or scythe blade. Chords and harmony didn’t enter the musical picture until a little later. See video of the The Piedmont or East Coast style of blues was influenced by the ragmusic examples at AcousticGuitar.com time piano harmony that emerged around the turn of the 20th century, while the Delta blues remained pretty primitive in comparison. On early recordings we hear a lot of Delta blues songs that have only one chord. Check out Charley Patton’s “Mississippi Bo Weevil Blues” or Son House’s “Preachin’ the Blues” to hear how a strummed rhythm and melodic slide lick make up the entire accompaniment (Example 1). Here’s a bass line riff that propels Tommy Johnson’s “Big Road Blues” and turns up in several other Delta tunes (Example 2). As blues harmony began to emerge, the I–IV–V chord changes we’re used to hearing today became common. In this lesson we’ll examine blues harmony and touch on the idea of chord substitutions.

Ninth Chords Musicians are a curious and creative bunch and as soon as they’d established this foundational harmony for the blues, some folks naturally wanted to change or add to it. One of the first steps they took was to further extend the chord. Add a note a third above the seventh and you have a ninth interval. In C this would be a D note, making it a C ninth chord (C9). This chord is spelled C, E, G, Bb, D. Example 4 shows a couple of ways to finger a ninth chord. What do you think about the sound of this chord? How does it compare to the C major triad and C7? It’s still bluesy but adding the ninth gives it a color we might call jazzy. Try sliding the ninth chord up a step and back down on a slow blues (Example 5) and you’re in T-Bone Walker territory.

Chord Substitutions

Basic Chord Theory

Early-20th-century jazz was rooted in the blues. But jazz musicians began to feel hemmed in by the standard blues harmony and started the search to expand the sound, even to the point of adding different chords entirely. This is where the idea of chord substitution comes in.

One great thing about the blues is that you don’t need a degree in music to be able to play and communicate effectively. But it can help to know how chords are built. Let’s start by looking at a major chord. Chords are built in thirds. We’ll start with a C note, add an E (a third above C), and then a G (a third above E). This gives us a C-major triad. If we want to extend the chord we keep adding thirds. The note a third above

Tuning: D G D G B D (Ex. 1–2) Ex. 1

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Ex. 2

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8 8 8

8

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Ex. 6b

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back to the C (Example 6b). Spell out these two chords and we get D, F, A (Dm) and G, B, D, F (G7). We can also play a Dm7 (D, F, A, C) instead of the Dm. Notice that the Dm and Dm7 chords share D and F notes with the G7. This is enough similarity for these chords to fulfill the same function, and enough difference to alter the sound and give a soloist a more interesting harmonic backdrop to play against. You have probably noticed how the sound of the V7 seems to demand a resolution to the I chord. This pattern is evident in every style of Western music from folk to blues to classical. When we add the Dm7 to a measure of G7, what we’re hearing is a harmonic motif known as a ii–V–I progression. In the key of C this is Dm7–G7–C. It definitely works as a chord substitution at the end of the 12-bar blues but do you think we could use it anywhere else in the progression? Try this—in measure 4 of the 12-bar blues, which would normally be four beats of C7, change to two beats of Gm7 and two beats of C7, leading to four beats of F7 in the next measure (Example 7). We’re pretending for a moment that the F isn’t the IV chord of C but a I chord, and then we place a ii7–V7 in front of it borrowed from the key of F. What we end up with is a jazzy sounding way of moving from the C to the F. You

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of C and a full bar of G7 (Example 6a).

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most common chord substitutions with this in

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10 10 THE BASICS

Ex. 6a

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3

can experiment with putting this change in front of other chords; just think of the chord you want to resolve to as the I chord and then calculate the right intervals to use for your ii7 and V7 chords’ roots.

Diminished Chords/Passing Chords Let’s check out one more chord concept. A chord progression is, by definition, a journey through a particular set of chords. The main chords are the big signposts of your trip, but there are also chords you don’t linger on that get you from one place to another. These are often referred to as “passing chords.” A chord type that often gets this tag is the diminished chord. Example 8 shows a couple of voicings for diminished chords. We can put these chords in two places in the 12-bar blues. In measure 6, swap out two beats of the F7 for an F#dim (Example 9). Notice how this makes the bass line move from F to F# to G, giving us a smooth path from the root of the F chord to the root of the F#dim to G, which is the fifth of the C chord. If you spell out F7 and F#dim, you’ll notice that F7 (F, A, C, Eb) and F#dim (F# A, C, and Eb) share three notes: A, C, and Eb. Let’s use a different diminished chord in measure 8 of the blues. Instead of a full measure of C7, we’ll play two beats of C7 and two beats of C#dim and make measure 9 a Dm7 (Example 10). Once again, like the F7 and F#dim, the C7 and C#dim share three notes, allowing us to substitute the C#dim for the C7. Notice that the Dm7 chord is the ii in a ii7– V7–I progression that leads us back to C in measure 10 of the blues. These passing chords help form a well-connected bass line, giving a nice flow to our trip through this progression and creating a more interesting background for a soloist. Let’s put all these ideas together in a full blues progression in C (Example 11). ag Contributing editor ORVILLE JOHNSON is a Seattlebased singer, guitarist, arranger, teacher, writer, and author of the Acoustic Guitar Guide: Acoustic Blues Basics. He has recorded several albums and instructional DVDs (orvillejohnson.com). 32 AcousticGuitar.com

( q q =q e )

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FREE

UKULELE MAGAZINE

Thank you for reading Acoustic Guitar! This month, you’ll also find a bonus magazine on our website! Visit AcousticGuitar.com/UkeMagazine to access the digital version of Ukulele— the 44-page digital magazine that explores the little instrument with a big following. In the first issue of Ukulele, you’ll:

• Discover how to find a great uke at any price. • Enjoy a lesson from uke expert Marcy Marxer. • Read Jake Shimabukuro’s thoughts on

tone tweaking, chord voicings, and his diverse musical influences.

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RING SOME CHANGES A SONGWRITER’S GUIDE TO CHORD PROGRESSIONS.

C

hord progressions are the engine of songwriting. The melodic or lyrical hook may be what lodges in people’s heads, and an insistent beat may dominate the mix, but the chord progression is what makes everything move. By itself, a chord is just

progression creates a little harmonic journey. There’s a kind of magic in a great chord progression, a mix of soothing familiarity and thrilling surprise that has emotional power even without the melody and lyrics. So every songwriter needs to be fluent with chord progressions, but the process of figuring out which chords to use and how to sequence them can be mystifying. You can See video of the musical examples at AcousticGuitar.com

create progressions by randomly trying chords, but with a basic theoretical understanding of chords and keys, you can zero in much more quickly on good options to try in a progression—and become a more productive and versatile songwriter overall.




© 2012 JEFFREY PEPPER RODGERS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USED BY PERMISSION.

a static thing—a few notes stacked together—but a group of chords arranged artfully in a

In this lesson, we’ll take a look under the hood of some popular songs and explore how chord progressions work. We’ll build a vocabulary of chord moves in major and minor keys that provide a great starting point for songwriting. Along the way, we’ll check out common progressions used in many classic blues, rock, folk, and country songs . . . and maybe your next song, too.

SONGWRITING BY NUMBER The secret to understanding chord progressions is identifying chords in a progression by number—not by the letter names of the chords. This is the idea at work at a jam session when someone kicking off a song says, “It’s I–IV–V in G,” rather than, “The chords are G, C, and D.” What these numbers do is describe the function of the chords no matter what key you’re in—a I–IV–V in D works the same as a I–IV–V in G. When you’re thinking of chords by number, you can quickly change a song’s key, pinpoint what’s happening in a cool chord sequence, or make connections between songs. You understand the musical logic, which in turn allows you to put that logic to work in your own songwriting. This numbering system is based on the seven notes in the major scale, which are also called scale degrees and numbered one through seven. We can build a chord off each scale degree by stacking two other notes in the scale on top: moving up the scale, we skip a note and use the next one, and then do the same again. To build a C-major chord from a C-major scale (C D E F G A B), we start with C, skip a scale degree to add E, then skip another scale degree to add G. To build a chord rooted on D, we start with the second scale degree and repeat the process, giving us a D-minor chord: D–F–A. The same stacking pattern holds for all the scale degrees and for any major scale. What we get by doing this are the diatonic chords—a family of chords that occur naturally in any major key. Even if you’re not familiar with any of this theory, your ears recognize how diatonic chords fit together, because you’ve heard them at work in songs your whole life. Take a look at the table “Diatonic Chords in Major Keys” below. For the sake of simplicity, I’ve listed just the five friendliest keys on guitar. The Roman numerals indicate the scale degree the chord is built on, as well as the type of chord: major chords are uppercase, and minor and diminished chords are lowercase (diminished chords are indicated with ° or dim). The I is the tonic or root chord and also the name of the key. No matter what key we’re in, the I, IV, and V chords are major; the ii, iii, and vi are minor; and the vii° is diminished. October 2012 ACOUSTIC GUITAR

DIATONIC CHORDS IN MAJOR KEYS I

ii

ii IV V

vi viidim

C

Dm

Em

F

G

Am

Bdim

D

Em

G

A

Bm

G#m

A

B

C#m

C#dim

E

F#m

F#m

G

Am

Bm

C

D

Em

A

Bm

C#m

D

E

F#m

D#dim F#dim

G#dim

In practice, what this table means is that a straightforward song in the key of G, for instance, often uses only the chords in the G row: G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em, and (much less commonly) F #dim. In fact, many popular songs include only three or four of these diatonic chords. Out of the universe of chords, songwriters are often working with just a handful of options. Let’s use these numbers to run through a few diatonic chord progressions in major keys, starting with the most basic.

JUST THE I Some songs don’t change chords at all—they simply hang out on the I (often, a bluesy I7 chord) and rely on the melody and groove to maintain musical interest. One-chord songs like John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom” and Muddy Waters’s “Mannish Boy” are a primal form of blues. Other one-chord gems include Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Run Through the Jungle,” “Chain of Fools” (written by Don Covay and immortalized by Aretha Franklin), Steely Dan’s “Show Biz Kids,” and Beck’s “Loser.” Even though these songs don’t change chords, the accompaniment still moves—often with a bass line or riff. Example 1 shows one idea in an R&B vein. Hold a D7 in third position, and keep your fingers in place on the fourth and third strings as you play the bass line in measures 1–3.

is established and a song goes to the V, our ears want it to resolve to the I. Rocking between I and V is more than enough tension and release on which to build a song, as proven by classic examples such as Hank Williams’s “Jambalaya,” the Dixie Cups’ “Iko Iko,” and Chuck Berry’s “Memphis, Tennessee.” Example 2 lays down a I–V progression in C, with a rock feel. On the C, mute the fourth string by leaning your ring finger against it, and mute the fifth string in the same way for the G chord.

I, IV, V Add the IV chord to the I and V, and you’ve got the chord trinity behind countless songs. When people say all you need are three chords and the truth, these are the chords they mean. The I, IV, and V can appear in any order. For instance, Ritchie Valens’s “La Bamba” uses a I–IV–V progression, Neil Young’s “Helpless” is I–V–IV, and Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” goes IV–I–V–I. Example 3 is another variation, I–IV–I–V, in waltz time. Take it slowly, and let the bass notes ring.

THE NASHVILLE NUMBER SYSTEM Roman numerals are traditionally used to represent chords by their function in a key, but many session players and others prefer regular old Arabic numerals, using what’s called the Nashville number system. Written this way, a I–IV–V progression is 1–4–5. Add an m for a minor, dim (or °) for diminished, and a small 7 for a seventh chord. For chords with a note other than the root in the bass, use a slash with a number indicating the bass note: 1/3 is a 1 chord with the third of the chord in the bass (for instance, a G/B).

I AND V If a song adds just one more chord to the I, chances are it’s the V. The move from V to I is fundamental—once the home-base I chord I7 D7 x 3241 x

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A SONGWRITER’S GUIDE TO CHORD PROGRESSIONS

TAKE vi

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and the Police’s “Every Breath You Take” (in which the chords are dressed up with ninths Venturing outside the I, IV , and V , the next diaI7 I77 likely to encounter is the vi. for a jazzier sound). Reorder these four chords tonic chord you’re D 3241 D 7x between the I and vi—a and you get the progressions for tons of other Many songs xmove x 3241 x Ex. 1change songs—such as John Denver’s “Country Roads” smooth because the chords have two (where the verse is I–vi–V–IV and the chorus is ofEx. their1 three notes in common. The Isley I–V–vi–IV, I–V–IV–I). Play Example 4 and Brothers’ “Shout” is entirely I–vi except for the you’ll hear echoes of another Beatles tune, “Let slowed-down “I want you to know . . . ” part, It Be.” which toggles between I and IV. By shuffling the I, IV, V, and vi around, One of the templates of early rock ’n’ roll is changing how long you hold each chord, I–vi–IV–V, used most famously in “Stand By 3 3 3 3 and trying Me” (by Ben E. King 53 with Jerry Lieber 5 5 different rhythmic 3 and 3 35 feels, you can 5 5 in 5 4 4 3 0 0 cover a tremendous amount54of songwriting Mike Stoller). The 4same sequence is heard 5 4 0 0 3 5 5 4 0 0 3 5 5 4 0 0 3 5 5 4 3 0 30 the verses of the “Octopus’s 5 Beatles’ 0 0 3 5 5Garden” 0 0 3territory. 5 5 0 0 3 5 5 3

By adding the ii and iii chords to your songwriting palette, you can create seemingly infinite progressions. The Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil” is one of many songs that use the ii in conjunction with I, IV, and V. Bob Dylan’s “You Ain’t Going Nowhere,” in keeping with its

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If you’re not accustomed to thinking of chord progressions by number, one of the best ways to learn is to say the numbers aloud while you’re playing a song. Start with something simple—a three-chorder with a traditional sound— and each time you change chords, call out I, IV, V, or whatever the chords may be. Easy? Try a song with more chords or quicker changes. The more you practice this, the better you’ll be at recognizing by ear the relationships between chords in a progression. Eventually, you’ll reach a point where you can identify chords by number while listening to a recording, without referring to a guitar. Developing that ability is a real boon for a songwriter, because when you hear a song idea in your head, you’ll be able to capture the progression whether or not there’s a guitar within reach.

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A SONGWRITER’S GUIDE TO CHORD PROGRESSIONS title, uses an unchanging I–ii–IV progression. Elsewhere in the Dylan songbook, “I Shall Be Released” ascends the diatonic chords like a ladder: I–ii–iii to a quick IV–V. “Like a Rolling Stone” uses a similar pattern: the verses start with I–ii–iii–IV–V, hang for a couple lines on IV–V, and then go right back down, IV–iii–ii–I. Example 5, a fingerpicking pattern in C, shows two common functions of the ii and iii: in measures 1–4 the ii leads to the V, and in measures 5–6 the iii leads to the IV. This eightbar progression uses all the diatonic chords we’ve discussed—the I, ii, iii, IV, V, and vi. We haven’t covered the less common vii° chord (songwriters are much more likely to use the nondiatonic bVII chord instead). But with a good handle on the I, ii, iii, IV, V, and vi, you are ready to roll for writing in major keys— and you’re also primed for our next topic, chord progressions in minor keys.

MINOR-KEY PROGRESSIONS Minor keys are often said to be brooding and sad, but not all minor-key songs are as bleak as, say, “Death Don’t Have No Mercy.” They can also be soothing (George Gershwin’s “Summertime”), funky (the Commodores’ “Brick House”), or upbeat and rocking (Dire


So let’s look at the diatonic chords you’ll find in minor keys and at a few common minor-key progressions and classic songs using those chords.

Straits’ “Sultans of Swing”). Chord progressions in minor keys provide a rich set of musical possibilities and should be part of every songwriter’s palette. I

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BUILDING CHORDS

DIATONIC CHORDS IN MINOR KEYS

As with major keys, we find the diatonic chords in minor keys by using a scale—in this case, the main building block is the natural minor scale. The natural minor scale is the same as the major scale starting on the sixth note, or scale degree. If we take the C major scale (C D E F G A B) and start on the sixth (A), we get the A natural minor scale: A B C D E F G. We build a chord on each scale degree by stacking notes just as we did with the major scale, skipping a note and using the next one, and then doing the same again. So to build a chord off the first degree of the A-minor scale, we start with A, skip a scale degree to add C, then skip another scale degree to add E—those three notes form an Am chord. To build a chord rooted on B, we start with the second scale degree and repeat the process, giving us a Bdim chord: B–D–F. The same stacking pattern holds for all the scale degrees and for any minor scale. When we follow this pattern for all seven scale degrees, we wind up with the chords shown in “Diatonic Chords in Minor Keys.” This chart lists the four most common minor keys for guitarists, but the same pattern of diatonic chords can be found in any minor key. When we build chords with the natural minor scale, the i, iv, and v are minor; the ii°


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is diminished; and the bIII, bVI, and bVII are major. But as you see, the chart shows that the ii can also be minor, and the IV and V can be major. These alternatives occur because we can build chords with other minor scales, namely the harmonic and melodic minor, which have slightly different notes and create slightly different chords. The bottom line is you can pick which scales and chords to use, and the three alternatives shown are common choices for songwriting. So let’s see how these diatonic chords work in minor-key progressions.

MINOR BLUES The major I, IV, and V are the kingpins in major keys, and their minor equivalents also

figure prominently in minor keys. There are minor blues using i, iv, and v, such as “Black Magic Woman,” the Santana hit written by Fleetwood Mac’s Peter Green. Also from the Santana songbook, “Evil Ways” (by Sonny Henry) uses the major IV and V with the minor i. B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone” (Roy Hawkins and Rick Darnell) and Ray Charles’s “Unchain My Heart” (Bobby Sharp) are minor blues that use b VI–V instead of just V (more on the b VI chord below). Example 6 shows an eight-bar minor blues pattern in the key of A minor. Measures 1, 3, 5, and 7 repeat a little melodic motif with B and C notes on the second string—you can pick both notes or try a hammer-on.


A SONGWRITER’S GUIDE TO CHORD PROGRESSIONS

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THE FLAT VII AND III

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common, so songs often move between them. In many songs the bIII leads to the bVII. Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” for instance, goes i–bIII–bVII–i and then bVII–i. In Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall,” the chorus is bIII–bVII–i, while the verses are simply i–V. Example 7 kicks off with i–bVII–i in D minor, then moves to the bIII (a change accentuated by the ascending bass line in measure 4) and the bVII. Play the V in the last two measures to steer the progression back toward the i.

In minor-key songs, the bVII (with a root two frets below the i) and the bIII (three frets up from the i) often play a central role. Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War” uses nothing more than the i and the bVII (and a tiny hint of the IV) to take on the military-industrial complex. John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero” has the same chord combo. In a minor key, the bIII is known as the relative major of i; these chords have two notes in

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A SONGWRITER’S GUIDE TO CHORD PROGRESSIONS same sequence that ends the verse (bVI–bIII– iv–V). The only diatonic chord not used is the ii. Example 10 also runs through the six diatonic chords covered above. In measures 1, 3, 5, and 7, change chords on the last offbeat (four-and) of the measure—this anticipation propels the rhythm forward. The example shows two common ways to resolve to the i: bVI–V–i (measures 3–4) and bVI–bVII–i (measures 7–8).

Instead, brighter major-key music might be worth trying for those same heavy lyrics— think of John Prine’s “Sam Stone,” with its tragic story of a drug-addicted veteran set over folky major-key fingerpicking. Conversely, setting lighter lyrics to darker music might give a song a more complex quality. Songs, like life experiences, are often filled with conflicting emotions.

MAKE YOUR OWN These are just a few examples of what you can do with diatonic chords in major and minor keys. Chord substitutions are a topic for another lesson, as are nondiatonic chords—the chords from outside the key that can add harmonic surprise to a song. There’s much more to explore, and really no limit to the variations you can create. In any case, with an understanding of diatonic chords, you’ve got the basic vocabulary for a lifetime’s worth of songs in your hands. Write on. ag

WRITING IN MINOR KEYS As the songs and progressions above suggest, you can use minor keys for a wide range of moods and effects in your songwriting. They do have an edge that may be just right for an emotionally dark song, but don’t stereotype keys as “major = happy” and “minor = sad.” If you marry heavy lyrics with heavy-sounding music, the result can be, well, heavy handed—the song bludgeons listeners rather than connecting with them.

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N A M S T F A R C RODNEY CROWELL

on his rhythmheavy guitar style and continuing evolution as a songwriter.


IN 2011 , Texas-bred singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell published Chinaberry Sidewalks, a memoir about growing up as the only child in a volatile, dirt-poor family in a scrappy East Houston suburb. Over the preceding decade, Crowell had released a remarkable series of albums, including the autobiographical triad of The Houston Kid, Fate’s Right Hand, and The Outsider. It was a stunningly soul-baring turn for the musician who made his mark as a member of Emmylou Harris’s Hot Band in the 1970s and then established himself as a consistent spinner of Nashville gold (and platinum) in the 1980s and ’90s. Crowell issued his first LP in 1978, and by 1988 he was regularly hitting the top of the country charts (“It’s Such a Small World,” “I Couldn’t Leave You if I Tried,” and “She’s Crazy for Leaving,” all from the album Diamonds and Dirt). In addition, country artists of every stripe (Harris, the Oak Ridge Boys, Johnny Cash, Jerry Reed, Crystal Gayle, and Crowell’s wife of 13 years, Rosanne Cash) were recording such Crowell compositions as “Till I Gain Control Again,” “Shame on the Moon,” and “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight.” BY DERK RICHARDSON AcousticGuitar.com 45

RODNEY CROWELL


How did you make the initial contact? CROWELL My record Fate’s Right Hand had been out for a year or so, and she’s in one of the lines in a song called “Earthbound,” where I cite her and Tom Waits and Aretha Franklin and [Irish poet and playwright] Seamus Heaney and Charlie Brown as reasons to go on living. So I decided to send her note, saying, “Hey, I’m singing your name out there in the world.” She had heard the song and sent me a note back saying, “Hey, yeah, you’ve helped my street credibility.” A conversation ensued and led to songs.

Karr and Rodney Crowell.

like for a veteran tunesmith to partner with a novice songwriter, albeit one who is a “language scholar.” The conversation rambled back to his teenage conversion from drummer to guitarist; the influence of Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, and Mickey Newbury during his early years in Nashville; and the perils of political songwriting. Still enjoying the roll he’s been on for the past dozen years, Crowell planned to follow up Kin by putting the finishing touches on a new solo album as well as a duet album with Emmylou Harris. “I do have a few pieces of writing that I think are pretty swinging,” he said of his yet-to-be-released songs, “but Kin seems to rank among my favorites of the records I’ve made.” What impelled you to seek out Mary Karr as a collaborator? CROWELL A book she wrote called The Liars’ Club, which resonated deeply with me. It was given to me at a time when I was scratching my head about the book I wanted to write about my childhood. I was like, OK, this is the way out. Because Mary grew up on the same east side of the swamp where I grew up—the metaphorical and quite literal swamp—I just knew instinctively that she and I would be friends and that we would collaborate on a couple of songs. I didn’t know it would become an album, but once we started, it just took over. In a very short time we had 15 songs.

What was the first song that came of the collaboration? CROWELL “If the Law Don’t Want You, Neither Do I.” We were talking on the phone, and she was talking about her experience with “bad” boys/men in her youth, and she said, “My theory was always, if the law don’t want you, neither do I.” I said, “That’s a song.” And she said, “Well, write it.” And I said, “No, let’s write it together.” She said, “I don’t write songs.” I said, “Yeah, you do. Watch.” So I got a little melody and verse going, and I MP3’ed a scratch vocal of the first verse to her, and back comes the second verse, and I thought, “OK, the badminton game is on.” Because of that, I said, “Hang on, I’m coming to New York, and we’ll sit down and do this.” It was a really easy process, because she’s so gifted and so nimble with language—she’s a language scholar, for god’s sake, a poet and a language scholar—but she’s very musical, too. She was a quick study. She was on it instantly. Did you write most of the songs together face-to-face, or did you do a lot of that Nashville-to-New York MP3 exchange? CROWELL We wrote maybe half of them staring at each other, and another half we finished long distance, sending pieces back and forth. She’d just send me down a lyric in Nashville, and I’d concoct a chorus for it. Every way that a song can be written, we pretty much came up with it. How did this compare to your co-writing experiences in the past? CROWELL It’s there with my favorite kind of co-writing—the experience I have writing with Guy Clark or Will Jennings—in that these are extremely gifted artists who have a ACOUSTIC GUITAR October 2012

DEBORAH FEINGOLD

But hit making seems the farthest thing from Crowell’s mind in the 21st century. At 62, he is more focused on excavating deep and sometimes comic truths about life and crafting them into honest, plainspoken songs. That makes him kin to such contemporaries as John Prine and Steve Earle, as well as to one of his seminal influences, Bob Dylan, despite the disclaimer offered in the opening line of “Beautiful Despair,” a brilliant song on The Outsider: “Beautiful despair is hearing Dylan when you’re drunk at 3 am / Knowing that the chances are / No matter what, you’ll never write like him.” On his new album, Kin: Songs by Mary Karr and Rodney Crowell (Vanguard), the composer of “Ashes by Now” and “Stars on the Water” explores the notion of family ties, both literal and figurative, in a novel way. He co-wrote all ten songs with poet, memoirist, and Syracuse University professor of literature Mary Karr. A few years Mary Crowell’s junior, Karr, author of the best-sellers The Liar’s Club and Lit: A Memoir, grew up about 100 miles from Crowell’s childhood stomping grounds, in what she calls “the same swampy, godforsaken stretch of East Texas Ringworm Belt.” As they got to know each other, the two writers discovered deep affinities. Some—like having ridden their bikes behind mosquitoabatement trucks, breathing in the DDT fog— were steeped in the physical environment of their “sub-sea-level backwater” neighborhoods. Others arose from the ecology of their families, especially from parents who drank too much, suffered from various levels of what Karr characterizes as “nervous,” and were disappointed artists. The fruits of the Karr-Crowell collaboration include songs with such titles as “Anything but Tame,” “I’m a Mess,” “Momma’s on a Roll,” “Sister Oh Sister,” “My Father’s Advice,” and “Hungry for Home.” (For a transcription of “Hungry for Home,” see page 50.) And they were made flesh through the efforts of more “kin.” Joe Henry produced the record, and singers Norah Jones, Vince Gill, Lucinda Williams, Lee Ann Womack, Rosanne Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Emmylou Harris joined Crowell in giving voice to the characters that materialized from the mists of their creators’ imaginations—and memories. A month or so before the June release of Kin, Crowell (whose work was singled out in Daniel Levitin’s study of the brain and music, The World in Six Songs) discussed what it was

Had you written Chinaberry Sidewalks before you started working with Mary? CROWELL No, I met her about halfway through that process, and she became very supportive. It gave me an ongoing conversation with someone who had done it. It was truly a gift at just the right time. How much did the fact that you came from the same part of Texas affect the way you did the archeological dig for your own memoir? CROWELL That became our personal glue. We communicated sort of primordially, in colloquial tonalities. She’s perfectly at home with vile swamp language. Most of that is the humor of that region that we came from, what she calls “the ringworm belt.” I know what the ringworm belt is. Yeah. We felt very comfortable together. In fact, it felt like family. From the perspective of a reader/listener, it seems as if Chinaberry Sidewalks is part of the whole string of albums that started with The Houston Kid. CROWELL I started writing The Houston Kid and Chinaberry Sidewalks at just about the same time. All of that was kind of nudging itself into my awareness. I realized that the songs were memory, and I started tinkering with the notion that I could write memoir. Of course, I had the skill to make a record, in due time, but it took me ages and ages and ages to figure out how to write prose. It took years, and years and years and years. Mary has told me that one of the reasons she was willing to give it a go writing songs was because she saw how much fun I was having trying to figure out how to paint on another canvas. Is there a song that you see as the thematic cornerstone or centerpiece for the album? CROWELL I think there are several. “Anything but Tame” is our implied imaginary relationship from childhood. Kids grow up together, become emotionally bonded in adolescence, and then that evolves into a romantic thing that in the end doesn’t work. Yet, over time, these two people still love each other. It’s not mine and Mary’s story, but it is a story produced by my interpretation of our sensibilities. I’m really proud of “Sister Oh Sister,” because I just don’t know that there’s ever been a love song from a sister to a sister, and I was really pleased to midwife that with Mary, to coax that out of her. And the writOctober 2012 ACOUSTIC GUITAR

ing of “I’m a Mess” was really fun. Mary was promoting her paperback of Lit around Houston for a few days, so I said I’m gonna come down there and follow you around, and we’re gonna work on this song in your spare time. What played into the decision to have other people sing some of the songs? CROWELL Well, Mary’s not a singer, in the sense that we understand singers. To me, she’s a great singer, but good luck getting her to do it in public. [Crowell has since coaxed Karr into singing a few harmonies with him in concert, as well as the lead on “If the Law Don’t Want You.”] At least half of the songs were female narrative, so we needed some female voices. I just adored what Norah Jones had done with my song “Bull Rider,” and I started a kind of timid communication with her about how much I admired her performance. “By the way,” I said, “I’m working on something. Would you be willing to give it a go and sing one of the songs?” She chose “If the Law Don’t Want You,” and I was like,“Yeah! I’m glad you chose that one.” She chose the one I’d hoped she would. And from there it grew—wow, let’s try Emmylou and Rosanne and Lucinda and Lee Ann. The next thing you know we’ve got these great performances by all these female artists, and I’m the only one carrying the male narrative. I said, “Hang on, this is imbalanced. We need some more males in the family.” So I lassoed Vince and reached out to Kris. My gender was a little thinly represented before I got those two. What is your strategy for keeping your music fresh and not repeating yourself? CROWELL Thank god for Joe Henry! I’d had a pretty good run with The Houston Kid and Fate’s Right Hand and The Outsider, but I went

GETTING AWAY FROM IT ALL When Rodney Crowell started writing his memoir, Chinaberry Sidewalks, he found a change of scenery did wonders for his inspiration. “That works well for me,” Crowell says. “That book, Chinaberry Sidewalks, I wrote in Florida and Montana and Ireland and Los Angeles and briefly in Hawaii and Tennessee, just anywhere I could get where I could tune out the world. Even New York. There’s something about going somewhere else, where I imagine myself to be a composer or writer, and then I live that fantasy, and generally produce something.”

one step too far, and I made a fourth record. I could hear how the trickery and the process had become ingrained. I said, “I’m repeating myself here, at least sonically and rhythmically and arrangement-wise.” I was financing my own records then, so I bit the bullet and put it on the shelf. I called Joe and said, “Man, can you help me?” I went out and made a record [Sex and Gasoline] with Joe at his place, and lo and behold, there was a different sonic landscape, and I was very happy with it. It was the first time in my whole life that I had just gone and played and sang and had a good time and then hugged everybody good-bye and said, “Hey, send me the mixes.” I got ’em in the mail and loved ’em. Didn’t change a thing. That was so great. So, naturally, when we started concocting Kin, I wanted Joe helping. We did quite a bit of it in Nashville, and of course all the lads around Nashville wanted to impress Joe, so it was good. I think one way to keep myself fresh from now on is by not producing myself. Not for a while. There’s an objectivity that the producer must have, but the performing side of record making is subjective, and I can’t be both subjective and objective at the same time. I’m much better when I’m subjective. You started on drums behind your dad when you were 12, thrown into the juke joint performances of J.W. Crowell and the Rhythmaires. When did you realize that the guitar was really your instrument? CROWELL Puberty. Girls. I noticed that those guys coming over from England would stand out at the front of the stage and sing, and there were girls screaming. Most of us performing musicians freely admit that we got into it for girls. Good god, what else? That’s the way the species has perpetuated itself forever.

————

real strong sense of language and narrative. They just have that sixth sense for what’s true, and by true I mean what resonates in song or on the page.


RODNEY CROWELL How would you characterize yourself as a guitarist? CROWELL I’m a strummer. I’m a drummer! I remember reading an interview with John Lennon, and he said, “I’m a rhythm guitar player and I can make a band move.” Well, I can say the same thing. When I’m playing with my band, my right hand is a big part of it. I wish my left hand would contribute more. Especially with my band, I start to rely heavily on my right hand. I feel like part of the percussion section when I’m with my band. In the studio, I can take the time to compose parts I can play—something that I compose through the course of writing a song, a little piece or pattern to go with what we’re recording. That’s why I’ve always had really great guitar players in my band. Know your limitations!

Rodney Crowell performing at San Francisco‘s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in 2005. I’ve talked to a lot of songwriters—including Kris Kristofferson and Rosanne Cash— who go on at length about Newbury’s genius and influence. Finally, after all these years, his earliest albums have been issued on CD. CROWELL Newbury was a great influence on Guy and me, and probably Townes, although I see it less in Townes’s work. I hear [Clark’s] “Desperadoes Waiting for a Train” and I know [Newbury’s] “Heaven Help the Child” and “Cortelia Clark” were inspirations. With [my song] “Till I Gain Control Again,” that dropped-D tuning and that melody are so reminiscent of Mickey Newbury. In the early ’70s, he hit me profoundly. He had a houseboat out on the lake where Guy and [his wife] Susanna were living for a little while, and just to catch a glimpse of him once in a while was pretty magical. I still dream of Newbury. How has your approach to the craft changed over the years, from the time you were a

THE PERILS OF PROTEST MUSIC Rodney Crowell wrote his most explicitly political album, 2005’s The Outsider, in defense of “really healthy dissent.” In 2010, he went on a road trip with Time columnist and Woody Guthrie biographer Joe Klein, taking the pulse of America in the run-up to the midterm election. And he’s played benefits with his daughter, recording artist Chelsea Crowell, to promote the abolition of the death penalty. Still, he cautions, “Politics is a slippery slope for an artist.” “Joe Klein sought me out,” Crowell says, “and he told me, ‘You write good political songs, and that’s very hard to do.’ And it is very hard to do. The Woody Guthries of the world are few. ‘This Land Is Your Land’ is a protest song, it’s a political statement, and yet it’s timeless.”


young man writing that remarkable string of hits in the late 1980s to now? CROWELL I have learned to do consciously what was just pouring out of me. Inspiration would hit me, and these songs would pop out: “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight” and “Till I Gain Control Again.” Mainly, it was survival back then. I was in a rarefied artistic community, where I was kind of like Guy’s little buddy that followed him around, and I was sharing rooms with Jerry Jeff Walker and Townes. I guess it was competitive: I had to come up with something so I could hang, you know? I remember the first time Guy actually nodded—I played him “Bluebird Wine” and he said, “OK, alright, OK, you’re gettin’ somewhere.” Then I came up with “Till I Gain Control Again.” I was young and I guess I was a naturalborn songwriter, I think it’s safe now for me to say that. In the early stages, inspiration just came through and got formed, but later on, the conscious work ethic that’s involved in sustaining a career came into play. As an artist, you have to develop a work ethic, and you have to develop a sense of craft, and you have to keep that all working and sharp, because inspiration will go looking for somebody else if you don’t maintain the sensibility. So I developed a work ethic, and it’s gotten stronger over the years. There’s no doubt it was an attention-getting device in the beginning, but now I’m whole-heartedly devoted to my job as an artist. ag DERK RICHARDSON is former managing editor of Acoustic Guitar and currently is senior editor at Afar magazine (afar.com). ACOUSTIC GUITAR October 2012

JAY BLAKESBERG

—————

As that kid growing up in East Houston, when did you realize you wanted to write your own songs? CROWELL Graduation day. When I was graduating from high school, I heard we’d have a class song. I wrote some really sophomoric, silly, fluffy, Beatlesque song for our graduating class. It was an absolute piece of shit and it got voted the class song. Now, I wasn’t dedicated to any craftsmanship at all, I just wanted the attention. It was an attention-getting device, and maybe it still is, if I’m bone-honest about it. But when I arrived in Nashville in the early ’70s, I ran into Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt—and Mickey Newbury, who was kind of one cut up from even those two guys—and a few other songwriters who were around. That was when it hit me like a garden hoe between the eyes that, wait a minute, this is serious business. There is craft and thought and work behind this. If I want to do this just for the attention, I’m gonna be singing some pretty fluffy, shitty songs, and I ain’t gonna last long. God bless Guy Clark for being willing to let me hang around and puppy dog along behind him.

WHAT HE PLAYS ACOUSTIC GUITARS: 1932 Gibson L-00 with a black finish and white pickguard. “I call it ‘Little Black Betty,’ and that’s become my No. 1 guitar,” Crowell says. “I used it quite a bit on Sex and Gasoline and also Kin. I like L-00s, because the L stands for ‘learner,’ and I feel like when I’m playing a learner guitar that I’ve got a leg up. It asks me to play it softly, and I feel like a real guitar player when I play it. It seems to coax more out of my left hand, which is the reason for my devotion to that guitar right now. It’s like I can feel the vibration going from the soundhole up the neck and into my left hand, and it gives my left hand a little more confidence.” Collings C10. Gibson 1939 J-35 with a natural finish and a V-shaped neck. Early ’70s Martin D-35. 14-fret sunburst Gibson L-00 (a gift from Vince Gill). Early ’60s red sunburst Gibson J-45. Early ’60s Martin New Yorker.

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AMPLIFICATION: “At best, I like playing into a microphone,” Crowell says. “But I use AER acoustic amps with my L.R. Baggs bridge pickups with a preamp on the floor.”

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STRINGS: Ernie Ball medium-light, .012–.054. GHS Silk and Steel .046 on the Martin New Yorker. On the Collings, Crowell uses a .056 for the low string. PICKS: Dunlop .73 mm. “There was a time when I used metal fingerpicks and a thumbpick, but I got away from that because it was hard to pick up a pen and write down words with those things on your fingers. So I started playing with just my nails, and it’s the only way I can do it now.”

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CAPO: No particular brand. “I just got a new capo, but I don’t know who makes it. I have a couple of those big ol’ spiderlooking clamp-on jobs, those clothespin jobs, and I feel like a bumpkin just come to town. Recently I found a capo that I can slide up and down the neck, and it’s a cooler experience. I have this aversion to clamping a capo on a guitar’s headstock. It’s a particular peeve of mine, which kind of leads me to think, how can I say that when I use one of those things on the neck myself? Capos are a sensitive area for me. I’m trying to join the big boys and play with a hipper capo.”



RODNEY CROWELL

Words and music by Rodney Crowell and Mary Karr

Rodney Crowell and Mary Karr’s “Hungry for Home” is a virtual grocery list of all the food a Southern musician misses while on the road. Along with the layers of food, the song layers thick vocal harmonies during the chorus but leaves the accompaniment to just two acoustic guitars. For this song Crowell clamps a capo on the sixth fret and plays in G position. The two guitars play similar patterns, occasionally deviating for slightly different chord embellishments and fills. The following transcription arranges the two parts into one easily playable version with a picking pattern in the first six measures you can use throughout the song. The pattern highlights the sixth, fourth, third, and second strings and, although full chord shapes are shown in the diagrams above the staff, Crowell usually plays just those four strings of each chord.

Capo VI Intro

D /F #

G6 two guitars arranged for one guitar

G5

# 4 œj ˙ œj œ j ˙ œj œ j ˙ œj œ j ˙ œj œ j ˙ œj œ j j œ j œ . j œ œ & 4 œ ˙ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œœ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ continue simile

3 0

B

3 0 3

0 3

0

0 3

2

2

Ó

13

2

j œ œ œ œ.

love fat - back on mus - tard greens 2–3. See additional lyrics.

3

3 0

2

G

&

19

#

C

x 32 0 1 0

G

32 0 0 0 4

3 0

3


0 3

0

3 0

2

3

C

x 32 0 1 0

j j j œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ

Gob - ble up an on - ion like a peach I’ve

∑

œ

seen

A

D /F #

G

T x0 13 2

32 0 0 0 4

Œ Ó

3

0

3

œ œ œ œ œ œ

j œ œ œ.

John cakes big - ger than a catch - er’s mitt

D /F #

T x0 13 2

G

32 0 0 0 4

j j œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ ˙ œ

But - ter on a bis - cuit and a plate of hot grits

0

G

pot of hot col - lards make a mon - key out of full - grown men

32 0 0 0 4

3

32 0 0 0 4

T x0 13 2

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

0

0

2

D /F #

G

œ œ œ œ œ

2

0

2

T x0 13 2

32 0 0 0 4

#

3 0

Œ ‰ j .. jœ j œ œ œœ œœ 1. I

&

3

D /F #

G

32 0 0 0 4

∑

7

3

3

D /F #

#

3

Verse

T x0 13 2

&

0

Soak ’em in mo - las - ses let it run on down your chin

Ó

Œ

œ œ œ œ

I’m hun - gry for ACOUSTIC GUITAR October 2012

© 2012 BMG GOLD SONGS (ASCAP), RC ONE MUSIC (ASCAP), AND THE PUBLISHING DESIGNEE OF MARY KARR (ASCAP). WORLDWIDE RIGHTS FOR BMG GOLD SONGS, RC ONE MUSIC, AND THE PUBLISHING DESIGNEE OF MARY KARR ADMINISTERED BY BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT (US), LLC. INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT SECURED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION OF HAL LEONARD CORP.

Throughout the tune, each guitar adds a few embellishments. Crowell occasionally plays the G5 chord shape shown in the first system (especially on the first verse) or adds the open first string to this shape for a G6. He also embellishes the standard G shape by moving his middle finger from the fifth string to the third string to create a Gadd9. For the D/F# shape, he occasionally lifts his middle finger from the first string (playing the open string) for a Dadd9. The C chord rocks between the C bass note on the fifth string and the low G on the sixth (move your ring finger between the two notes). Measure 49 highlights the Gadd9 embellishment favored by the guitar in the left channel, while measure 53 shows an embellishment favored by the guitar in the right. —ANDREW DuBROCK

Hungry for Home

Chorus

D /F #

&

#

‰ j œ œ œ œœ ˙

home

Œ

Ó

I been gone too long

Em

32 0 0 0 4

Œ

Ó œ œ œ œ œj œ .

Been beat up and bit

Œ

33

#

ev - ery - where I roam

1–2.

G

Try to make my

D /F #

T x0 13 2

32 0 0 0 4

# Ó ‰j Ó & œj œ j Œ Œ œ œ œj œ . œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ ˙ mark

œ œ œ œ

G

T x0 132

32 0 0 0 4

Œ

Ó œ œ œ œ œ œj œ .

feel -ing pret - ty much spent

D /F #

G

0 23 000

G

T x0 132

32 0 0 0 4

Ó

˙

25

D /F #

G

T x0 132

But I’m los-ing my spark

D /F #

Ó

œ œ œ œ ˙

∑

∑

I’m hun - gry for home

3.

Œ ‰ j .. Œ œ œ œ œ œ 2. A I’m hun - gry for j . j j œ œ j j j # œ œ œ j . . j j j j j œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ . œ . œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ . œ œ œœ & œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 2 2 3 1 0 0 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 0 3 3 . 2 0 0 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 . B 2 0 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 &

∑

42

# & ..

G

&

53

1.

0 3

0

3

3

G

0

0

2

3

0

D/F#

2

0

2

2

2

2 3

0 3

0 2

2

I love fatback on mustard greens G

C

œ œ œ

Ó

0

2

3

2

. .

0

2

0 2

0 3

j ˙ œ œ. œ œ œ œ

˙˙ ˙˙ œ Œ œ œ

0

1 2

G

0

0 0

3

0 3

3

0

G

D/F #

G

C

0 3

D /F #

3 4

0

0

0

ww w ww w

2 3 2 0 0 2

Butter on a biscuit and a plate of hot grits D/F #

A pot of hot collards make a monkey out of full-grown men October 2012 ACOUSTIC GUITAR

œ œ œ

G

..

John cakes bigger than a catcher’s mitt

Gobble up an onion like a peach, I’ve seen G

œ.

2

2

œœ œœ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ

0

play three times

2

0

2

3 3

Ó

‰

3

2 0

0

˙˙ .. œ ˙. œ œ œ œ

2 3 2

∑

3

3

D /F #

# ˙ ˙ œ ˙˙ œ œ œ 3 4

0

2

0

3

1 2

B

0

∑

I’m hun - gry for home j . œ œ œ j j j œ œ œ œ . Œ ‰ j j œ. œ. œ œ œœ œ œ . œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ

j j j œ œ œ œ œ œ .œ œ œ

home

.0 .

D /F #

∑

j # & .. ˙ œ œ œ .œ œ œ B

∑

Ó

˙

48

∑

G

D/F #

G

Soak ’em in molasses, let it run on down your chin AcousticGuitar.com 51

RODNEY CROWELL Chorus

D/F #

G

3.

I’m hungry for home, I been gone too long D/F#

C

Next best thing to a catfish stew D/F #

G

G

Catch ’em in the river and you cook ’em in the frying pan

Try to make my mark everywhere I roam D/F#

Popcorn shrimp, yeah, that oughtta do

G

G

Been beat up and bit, feeling pretty much spent Em

D/F #

G

D/F #

G

G

Lemon meringue on a windowsill

But I’m losing my spark, I’m hungry for home

G

2.

G

C

Sweet iced tea for to drink your fill

D/F #

D/F #

Frito pie and a Nehi grape

G

G

Papa come and get it, better live it up while we can

C

G

Sure enough will leave you in tip-top shape D/F #

G

Repeat Chorus

Ain’t nothing like sittin’ down eatin’, keep your hopes up high D/F#

G

G

D/F #

G

D/F #

G

D/F #

G

I’m hungry for home

Pinto beans and the black-eyed pea

G

D/F #

I’m hungry for home

C

Boiled red cabbage and believe you me D/F#

G

G

A deviled egg and a chicken leg says you’re never gonna ever say die

I’m hungry for home I’m hungry for home D/F #

Repeat Chorus

Designed for You.

G

D/F #

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PRS

1975

G U I TA R S HOW ONE OF AMERICA’S MOST SUCCESSFUL ELECTRIC GUITAR COMPANIES BECAME A TOP MAKER OF HIGH-END ACOUSTICS. BY TEJA GERKEN

AFTER A COUPLE OF DECADES of running one of the world’s most successful and respected electric guitar companies, Paul Reed Smith had an experience that would have a profound impact on his perception of stringed instruments. Sitting in Larry Thomas’s living room (at the time, Thomas was CEO of Guitar Center, he’s now CEO of Fender Musical Instruments), Smith was playing guitars from Thomas’s prized collection when he stumbled upon a 19th-century Antonio de Torres classical guitar. Although Smith had encountered countless 54 AcousticGuitar.com


For video of a factory tour with Paul Reed Smith and a demonstration of a Martin Simpson signature model, see AcousticGuitar.com

A PRS Private Stock Martin Simpson signature model built with an Adirondack spruce top and Honduras rosewood back and sides. October 2012 ACOUSTIC GUITAR


PRS GUITARS acoustics in his early years as a guitar repairman, and he was familiar with the sound of classic American steel-strings, he wasn’t prepared for the power, projection, volume, and tonal purity offered by the Torres, whose maker is regarded as the father of the modern classical guitar. “We were playing all these guitars, and he pulls out this little tiny Torres guitar, and he played just two notes, and I couldn’t breathe,” Smith says. “This little tiny maple guitar was the most nonlinear, counterintuitive thing!” That experience led Smith on a path to develop an acoustic guitar design, meeting players and learning about musical styles he’d known little about, and ultimately, producing a range of new guitars in his state-of-the-art factory.

Smith’s early guitars had a distinct Gibson vibe—typically using twin humbucking pickups, a stop tailpiece, and solid mahogany bodies—but it didn’t take him long to arrive at the original design that can still be seen in most PRS electric guitars today. While early PRS bodies looked like a modified Gibson Les Paul Junior, Smith altered the shape to be more asymmetrical, and combined with a 25-inch scale length (which splits the difference between typical Fender and Gibson scales), the guitars became a successful hybrid of the two dominant electric guitar designs—the Fender Stratocaster and Gibson Les Paul. By 1985, Smith had become successful enough to move his company from the tiny Annapolis shop (where he lived in an upstairs room) to a factory environment, also in Annapolis. He had already assembled a small team of builders, and after raising some initial capital, Paul Reed Smith Guitars was officially founded. In the next ten years, PRS grew into one of the major players in the electric guitar market, single-handedly creating a market for high-end instruments at a time when the two classic American brands hadn’t come up with a significant new design in years. Growing from a company that earned $500,000 in its first year to one that surpassed $10 million in gross earnings a little over a decade later necessitated another move in 1995, this time to PRS’s current Stevensville, Maryland, facility, which employs about 250 people.

PRS UNPLUGS

Paul Reed Smith tunes up a Collection Series Tonare Grand in the factory's setup area.

ROCK ’N’ ROLL BEGINNINGS Let’s back up a bit and take a brief look at the beginnings of PRS Guitars (for an in-depth view of PRS history, check out The PRS Guitar Book [Backbeat]). The PRS journey starts with a guitar-obsessed teenager in the mid-1970s. Taking the neck off a Japanese Hofner Beatle bass copy and transplanting it onto a solid body he made himself was Paul Reed Smith’s first step, followed by a stint repairing guitars at Washington, DC’s Washington Music Center and building a few Gibson Les Paul Junior– inspired guitars. Smith was still playing guitar, however, with dreams of becoming a rock star, performing on the DC club circuit at night while building guitars by day. Perhaps due to his credibility as a musician, Smith had an uncanny ability to get his guitars into the hands of established players. He would scope out who was coming to town, show up at the venue hours before the show, befriend the roadies, and find a way to get backstage. This resulted in commissions from Ted Nugent, Peter Frampton, Al Di Meola, Neal Schon, and PRS’s most loyal player, Carlos Santana.

Paul Reed Smith’s first attempt at launching a line of acoustics took place in the early ’90s, when Smith hired luthier Dana Bourgeois to design a line of guitars for the company. Eleven prototypes were built (one pictured in The PRS Guitar Book looks a lot like a Bourgeois Soloist cutaway, with flamed maple back and sides and PRS bird inlays), but ultimately, the project was shelved, although Smith says that the prototypes sounded great and that some of them were sold. It wasn’t until Smith found himself marveling at Larry Thomas’s Torres classical that he considered building acoustics guitars again. As someone whose career was founded on rethinking the electric guitar, it made sense that he would look past the common steel-string flattop paradigm when venturing into the acoustic world. For Smith, this meant looking a few decades farther back and to Spain, rather than North America. Fascinated by the Torres, Smith decided to study the instrument and even X-rayed it with a mammogram machine to understand how it worked. “The question was not so much ‘How did he brace it?’ but ‘What was he thinking?’” Smith says. “In my mind, you can’t have something that remarkable and have it not be intentional.”

STEVE FISCHER ARRIVES The next development in the creation of the PRS acoustic guitar was the arrival of luthier Steve Fischer, who was working for McPherson Guitars at the time and had recently graduated from the Galloup School of Guitar Building and Repair (galloupguitars.com). Fischer introduced himself to Smith at a PRS clinic in Michigan in 2005, showing him a guitar he’d designed

PRS ELECTRONICS Not surprisingly for a company that has long made its own electric guitar pickups, PRS has also developed its own acoustic electronics. Available as an option on all Maryland-built models (and standard equipment in the three signature models), the PRS system uses a McIntyre Feather pickup (a soundboard transducer that mounts to the guitar’s bridge plate) and a custom-made, proprietary preamp that runs on 18 volts, using two nine-volt batteries. The preamp and batteries mount to the guitar’s neckblock, and there are no onboard controls. 56 AcousticGuitar.com

By the time of the 2007 Summer NAMM show in Austin, Texas, rumors of a PRS acoustic had begun circulating. Smith had brought a couple of guitars to Austin, and while he wasn’t ready to take orders and didn’t display the guitars at the PRS booth, he invited various artists and the press—including Acoustic Guitar—to check out the guitars in his hotel room. Even at this early stage, it was apparent that the guitars were incredibly well made and that they had a sound that offered plenty of volume, a wide dynamic range, deep bass, and searing highs. Not wanting to rush the development to market, Smith waited another two years before introducing his acoustic line to dealers in 2009.

ROOTS MUSIC VIRTUOSOS

The top bracing used on all PRS acoustics combines standard steel-string X-bracing with a Torres-inspired fan pattern in the lower bout.

and built. “Steve sort of tackled me after the clinic and said, ‘I want you to take a look at my guitar. I have ideas about bracing,’” Smith says. “I’m a guitar maker, so why wouldn’t I look?” Fischer and Smith shared the opinion that combining Torres-style fan bracing with the X-bracing found on most steelstrings could yield a new flattop voice. “He was impressed enough with [my guitar] that he called me the next morning and asked me to build a guitar for him,” says Fischer, who worked on Smith’s guitar during nights and weekends while still working for McPherson. The results were so promising that Smith hired Fischer, who moved back to his home state of Utah to build more prototypes in his own shop before relocating to Maryland to join the PRS staff.

A Tonare Grand being sanded between coats of finish. October 2012 ACOUSTIC GUITAR

Even when he’s talking about acoustic guitars, it’s clear that Smith is a dyed-in-the-wool electric guitar guy, saying, for example, “That’s like the difference between a 50-watt Marshall and a 100-watt Marshall,” when describing the increase in volume he has experienced with his acoustics. And yet, in developing his acoustics, he has distanced himself from the rock ’n’ roll crowd and the high-profile endorsers who play his electrics. “One of the things I admire about Paul is that he could have gone to some much more high-profile people,” says English folk virtuoso Martin Simpson. “But he didn’t do that; he talked to people who are really seriously into the business of acoustic guitars.” The first person Smith asked for feedback on his new guitars was bluegrass and country multi-instrumentalist Ricky Skaggs—a virtuoso player and connoisseur of fine instruments. Impressed with the prototypes Smith showed him, Skaggs connected him with the guitarist in his band, bluegrass prodigy and National Flatpicking Guitar Champion Cody Kilby, as well as Celtic fingerstylist extraordinaire Tony McManus. “I was in Nashville, and I got an invite from Ricky,” McManus says. “He asked me to come to his studio, where he had a couple of early prototypes. He didn’t tell me what they were, he just said ‘Play them!,’ and I did. They were phenomenal; loud like cannons!” Impressed, McManus told Smith that he should contact Simpson, whose involvement with various luthiers and guitar companies goes back to the 1970s. The first lesson Smith learned by working with this team of heavy hitters was that acoustic players don’t necessarily like electric guitar–style neck shapes. “The first guitars had skinny necks,” says McManus, who, for his signature model, got Smith to widen the neck and string spacing to dimensions that were more like those of the guitars he was used to playing. Simpson had a similar experience: “My first response was that it was a fantastic-sounding guitar, but that it felt very much like an electric guitarist’s acoustic.” However, after working with Smith on two prototypes of what would become a signature model, Simpson ended up with a guitar that

Abalone top purfling being inlaid on an Angelus body. AcousticGuitar.com 57

PRS GUITARS signature guitar in January 2011, and that one has been all over the United States, all over Canada, it’s been to Australia, and to Japan twice,” McManus says, highlighting the rigors of the road (he checks his guitar as luggage when traveling by air), different time zones, and varieties of performance situations. “It just comes out of the case and plays.” Simpson agrees: “Some guitars are like hot rods, they need massive amounts of maintenance, and then there are guitars like these that are just really efficient; they do everything you want them to do, including staying still.”

SMALL SHOP INSIDE A FACTORY Occupying a large portion of an industrial park, Paul Reed Smith’s massive 105,000-square-foot building doesn’t provide a clue that it is home to a company producing meticulously crafted musical instruments. But the corporate aura fades as soon as you enter the lobby. Signed gold records, poster-size prints of famous guitarists playing PRS guitars, and a couple of Smith’s early guitars indicate that the building’s offices and manufacturing floors constitute a dream factory. At the time of my visit in April 2012, the acoustic division of the factory was a fraction of the size of the electric guitar shop, both in physical space and staffing. While the electric production buzzes with the activity of up to 1,000 guitars being built each month, the acoustic area is located in a relatively small upstairs area (with room to grow), employing less than a dozen dedicated craftspeople, now led by senior luthier Mike Byle and engineering manager Rob Carhart (Fischer left PRS in 2011 to pursue his own line of guitars), and building 25 to 30 guitars per month. The result is a small custom-shop environment where individual attention can be given to each instrument. The fact that this boutique-style lutherie happens within one of the largest guitar factories in the United States could be considered an unfair advantage: the PRS acoustic crew (all of whom were hired from within the company’s existing workforce) has access to far more resources, technology (including CNC machines and advanced finishing procedures), and wood supplies than smaller builders who make the same number of acoustic instruments that PRS does.

PRS uses a dovetail neck joint, which is visible on this Angelus body and neck prior to being glued together.

worked for him both tonally and in terms of feel. “The phone rang shortly after the [final] guitar arrived, and it was Paul,” Simpson says. “He just said, ‘You are happy.’ It wasn’t a question, it was an assertion.”

EFFICIENT TONE PRODUCTION, STABLE BODIES

PRS acoustics come in two body shapes, several models, and numerous custom variations, but they all share a fundamental approach to efficient tone production. They are fashioned in a similar way that modern classical guitars are, with ultrastiff back and sides and a highly responsive top (such as Greg Smallman’s), which explains why Smith says he thinks of PRS acoustics as “single-diaphragm” instruments. “With most acoustic guitars, the back vibrates and the top vibrates, and if the back is going one way and the top is going the other, then they’re out of phase with each other,” he says. “But even if they’re in phase going the same direction, you get some boomy notes, and you get some nonexistent notes.” While some makers use heavy, arched backs or extralarge kerfing to stiffen the guitar, PRS uses somewhat large mahogany braces on the guitar’s backs, which Smith says “locks up the back” without making the guitar excessively heavy. The tops on PRS acoustics are built with a combination of X-bracing and Torres-style fan bracing. There are four fan braces that INTO THE FUTURE radiate from the bridge plate into the lower bout area in a PRS acoustics have come a long way since Smith and symmetrical pattern, whereas most X-braced guitars have Fischer started working on their first prototypes. But a pair of tone bars. Smith feels that this approach to while the resulting guitars have been extraordinary, Smith bracing allows for more control over the tone and says, acknowledges that entering the market at the very high “The top is the speaker, and the back is part of the end with an electric rock ’n’ roller’s reputation hasn’t cabinet.” been easy—even for a maker whose top-end electrics are Not surprisingly for a maker who began his career among the priciest production guitars around. “I’m building set-neck electrics, PRS acoustics have a dovetail hoping for more acceptance,” he says. “Violins have that neck joint, which Smith believes is the ideal way to cachet. Guitars are really the violins of our time, but transfer energy to the body. But while PRS electrics have they’re not considered that way. And the fact that our always had metal truss rods, Smith and his team origi[acoustics] are made within an electric guitar factory— nally reinforced the acoustic necks with a non-adjustable that’s incongruent with how the market thinks.” carbon-graphite rod. “We load up our necks with the However, Smith and his team of acoustic builders are PRS’s senior luthier, Mike Byle, and highest modulus graphite we can get, so it doesn’t continuing to grow their operation, hoping to fill some of engineering manager, Rob Carhart. bend,” he says. But because many players find that they the gaps in the line’s pricing structure and expand the like being able to adjust the neck’s relief, PRS now uses a standard adjustvariety of models offered. Smith might worry where it’s all going at times, able truss rod in the Core and SE acoustics, leaving the graphite reinforcebut when asked about the most fun aspect of making acoustics, he’s quick ment to Private Stock and Collection models. to reply, “When you build a rocket! When you hand Martin Simpson, or Ricky The rigid construction results in an instrument that—besides having a Skaggs, or Tony McManus a guitar, and they say ‘Oh my god, there’s someloud, clear, and balanced voice—is extremely stable and reliable. “I got my thing going on here!’ That’s the fun part.” ag 58 AcousticGuitar.com


PRS ACOUSTIC MODELS

P

RS currently offers four pricing levels and two body styles for its acoustic guitars. The two styles, Angelus and Tonare Grand, are both about grand-auditorium size, and the Angelus includes a cutaway, while the Tonare Grand doesn’t. Voiced for fingerstyle and a relatively soft attack, the Angelus has a width of 15½ inches at the lower bout, while the 16-inch wide Tonare Grand is intended for heavier strumming or flatpicking. PRS Acoustic guitars start with the SE Angelus (see a review in the August 2012 issue), which is available in Standard (mahogany back and sides and rosewood fingerboard and bridge) and Custom (Indian rosewood back and sides and ebony fingerboard and bridge) versions, both of which have solid Sitka spruce tops and cutaways. Prices start around $699 (street), and the models are available with an optional pickup system. SE-series guitars are built in South Korea. The Core line consists of the Maryland-built Tonare Grand (see a review in the June 2009

The entry-level SE Angelus model.


A Collection Series Tonare Grand.

issue) and Angelus models, the first PRS acoustic models, which start at around $4,795 (street). These models are also available in Standard and Custom variations. Standard comes with figured mahogany back and sides, a European spruce top, and cocobolo fingerboard and bridge, while the Custom has cocobolo back and sides, an Adirondack spruce top, and cocobolo fingerboard and bridge (with ebony being an option). Players who want to customize a Marylandbuilt model can do so with the PRS Private Stock program. Private Stock instruments are built with the highest-quality materials (the program is so-named because it once used woods from Smith’s personal stash) and can be designed with a wide range of choices for woods and appointments. Prices for these instruments start at around $7,500. Signature models for Cody Kilby, Tony McManus (see a review in the July 2011 issue),

A Tony McManus signature model Angelus.

and Martin Simpson are built under the Private Stock program. Kilby’s model is based on a Tonare Grand Custom, with a slightly shallower body and more traditional appointments and inlays than PRS’s typical “birds in flight” pattern. McManus’s guitar is based on an Angelus Custom, but it has a European spruce top and slightly wider neck. Simpson’s guitar is also based on the Angelus, with a significantly wider neck (1.81 inches at the nut) with a fuller profile and wider string spacing at the saddle (25⁄16 inches). Offered in very limited editions, the Collection Series (starting at about $13,000) comprises short runs of guitars made exclusively for PRS Collection Series dealers, using exotic woods and appointments and built under the direct supervision of Paul Reed Smith. Recent Collection Series acoustics include Tonare Grand models with quilted or flamed maple back and sides and an Angelus that combines specs from McManus and Simpson’s signature models.

A Core series Angelus with a sunburst finish.


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SHOPTALK

Laurent Brondel Guitars New England–based luthier fuses original designs with vintage American tone.

By Teja Gerken

Is there any particular instrument (vintage or contemporary) you’ve modeled your sound on? It is hard to escape the prewar Martin paradigm when building steel-strings; the best examples are a form of ideal for me. I particularly favor the smaller, lightly built guitars of the late 1920s, like 0’s and 00’s. But the OM is probably the most versatile. For modern builders I’ve always admired the originality of Stefan Sobell’s overall style and tone and Rick Turner’s ideas. But structurally, I build at the complete opposite spectrum: thin and light! I benefited immensely from my short stint with Dana Bourgeois, both in terms of understanding how guitars work and craftsmanship.

Luthier Laurent Brondel plays a model B-3 guitar built with a red spruce top and cocobolo back and sides in his rural Maine shop.

LAURENT BRONDEL—VIRGINIA VALDES

See video at AcousticGuitar.com

A Brondel A-2 built with a Carpathian spruce top and cocobolo back and sides. The A-2 starts at $6,100.

LUTHIER LAURENT BRONDEL builds beautiful steel-string guitars in his rural Maine shop, but his journey to this station of his life has been a circuitous one. Born and raised in Paris, France, Brondel began playing guitar as a child, and by the time he was in his teens, he was playing in bands, before going on to make a living as a teacher, session player, and music producer. By the early ’90s, his musical focus had shifted to electronic music, and he recorded several albums for labels in Europe and the USA; he was still working in this medium when he moved to New York City in 1999. But moving to Maine a few years later had him longing for acoustic sounds, and before long, he was in search of the perfect tone, buying and selling and studying scores of vintage guitars. Ultimately, the selftaught Brondel started building his own guitars, becoming so skilled that Dana Bourgeois hired him to work in his shop. In late 2007, Brondel decided it was time to go out on his own, and since then, he’s developed a highly original approach to the classical American flattop design. Can you describe the sound you’re aiming for in your instruments? In order of importance: perfect balance in all registers, wide dynamic range, quickness of sound, clarity, sustain, projection, and power. They’re all interrelated. In terms of tonal signature, I aim for the right mix of fundamentals and overtones for the best possible note separation, while keeping a certain richness, especially in the low registers.


How much does your tonal goal change according to what your customer is looking for? Not very much. I have an ideal, and no matter what small changes I make, they all seem to converge toward the same ideals. I think every builder tries to squeeze as much potential as possible out of every build. Choosing a guitar size and platform are probably the most important steps in fine-tuning the tonal signature, followed by tonewood choices. What part of your design contributes most to your tonal ideal? Probably the way I tune the top and the back and how they interact, meaning the thickness of the wood and how bracing contributes to what I want to hear when I strike the free plates. I use a lateral arch on the top and back, rather than the modern domed plates, and besides greater structural strength, I believe it allows my guitars to be more responsive in the mids and fatter in the high registers. But in reality with a stringed instrument,


SHOPTALK

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especially a guitar, it would be impossible to isolate one or a few components and think they have a finite influence on tone and structure. It is a whole and it is more the interaction of components—how they are assembled, influence each other, and form the overall style of building—that defines a builder’s tonal signature. Do you think your instruments are best suited for a particular kind of player or style? I do not think so. Since I aim for balance and an ultraresponsive but solid instrument, the tone changes according to the player’s technique more than anything else. They’re versatile, but unmistakably flattops (although nothing is flat on them!) with a bit of an archtop tonal edge and fatness. They’re suited for polyphonic and/or contrapuntal music, but also for single-note playing and even strumming. Is there a particular instrument style you consider to be your specialty? My OM-influenced A-2 is the one I built the most. However, I build ten different models, 12 and 14 frets to the body, and even a Size 3 parlor guitar. I also started building solidbodies in the early Fender paradigm, because I just love it. For me personally, as

a player, the ideal size is probably a concert, preferably a 14-fret 00, but I could live happily with an 0 or an OM. What do you like most about that kind of instrument? The size seems ideal in terms of physical comfort for me, the tonal balance and power works well with my low voice, and it is very portable. What’s your favorite combination of tonewoods? Probably some kind of spruce, European or red, with one of the ebony or rosewood species. But I think the tonal differences between tonewoods are highly overrated. Are there any unique design or structural elements you’ve developed? I don’t think so. I view my work in the continuity of what has come before, so perhaps it is more a question of refining certain features and what my ears want to hear. Lutherie is an ancient and mature art, and the highest potential only comes with a delicate balancing act on the part of the builder. Some of my building choices can appear unorthodox, but I did not invent anything. Aesthetically I tend to be influenced by Renaissance and Baroque instruments. Details of the Brondel A-2 (clockwise from left): The guitar’s interwoven rosette; the back of the headstock, featuring Schertler tuning machines; and the slight arch Brondel gives his guitars’ tops and backs.

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Brondel’s D-3 model uses a small dreadnought-shape body and is available in 12- or 14-fret configurations.

Describe the guitar you provided for our video and pictured here. It is an A-2 with a 25.6-inch scale. The top is Carpathian spruce and the back and sides are cocobolo. The neck is Honduras mahogany; the fretboard, bridge, and bindings are African ebony. It has my arrow motif on the rosette and top purflings, accented with amboyna burl on the rosette, end wedge, and heel cap. It has a 1 25⁄32-inch nut width, 2 3⁄8-inch bridge string spacing, and a slender neck. Like all my instruments it is constructed with mostly hot hide glue and the thin finish is oil varnish. ag

laurent brondel 8 Andrews Brook Road West Paris, ME 04289 (207) 674-2660 laurentbrondel.com



PLAYLIST

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Betty and Dupree Shortnin’ Bread “A” Blues for Ya Raggin’ the Blues Walkin’ the Basses Slow as Lightnin’ Poor Boy Delta Thing Dusted Lonesome Weary Blues Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor Oh, Mary Don’t You Weep Skin Game Blues Drop D Blues Bye Bye Baby Blues

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FINGERSTYLE BLUES SONGBOOK Learn to play 15 blues fingerstyle guitar arrang ements, with tab, standard notation, and chord diagrams.

Includes audio for accompa niment and melody, played

slowly and up-to-speed.

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Download now at store.AcousticGuitar.com Choose individual songs for $1.99 each, or buy the complete edition set of 15 for only $9.99 ($19 savings!)


Though her breakthrough hits back in the ’90s were upbeat songs like “Down at the Twist and Shout” and “Passionate Kisses,” Mary Chapin Carpenter has always excelled at hushed ballads backed by crystalline fingerstyle guitar. On Ashes and Roses, her 12th studio album, she digs deeply into this quiet, acoustic side on a set of songs that contemplate an exceptionally tough period in her life—in which she faced a life-threatening illness (a pulmonary embolism), divorce, and the loss of her father. The resulting songs, delivered in her rich alto, are suffused with sadness but aim for positive lessons; in “What to Keep and What to Throw Away,” for instance, she offers a series of instructions for emotional recovery after the end of a marriage. The album’s reflective mood strongly recalls James Taylor’s latter-day writing, and as if to confirm the connection, JT himself joins in on the soft-pop duet “Soul Companion.” On a few tracks Carpenter and coproducer Matt Rollings bring in a touch of country-rock electric guitar, but the songs never speed up past midtempo, and no other instruments drown out Carpenter’s acoustic picking. What Ashes and Roses lacks in variety of moods it makes up for in emotional depth—these are songs that find poetry and beauty in hardship. (Zoë/Rounder) —JEFFREY PEPPER RODGERS

There’s no one who plays banjo—or composes for it— like Bill Evans. Partly that’s because of his decades in academia, studying minstrelsy and African-American banjo alongside music from Japan and North India. Partly, it’s the uniqueness of his path through bluegrass, starting in the progressive Cloud Valley, then changing direction with the deeply traditional Dry Branch Fire Squad before setting off on his own. At this point, Evans can play anything on banjo, and for In Good Company, he’s gathered together friends like fiddler Darol Anger, guitarist David Grier, mandolinist Mike Marshall, and bassist Todd Phillips to explore just how far he can go. “The Distance Between Two Points” finds Evans taking equal inspiration from Japanese koto and Scruggs picking; with the slowly meditative “They Say You’re Never ACOUSTIC GUITAR October 2012

Lonely in Louisville,” he’s at the edge of string band minimalism; and on the Beatles medley that serves as the album’s centerpiece, he sweetly straddles pop and chamber folk. He’s joined by Joy Kills Sorrow on one cut, the Infamous Stringdusters on another, and Tim O’Brien on a third, taking each session as an opportunity to stretch out in a new direction, and emerging with an album that’s smart, melodic, and immensely engaging throughout. (Native and Fine) —KENNY BERKOWITZ

Adam Miller Delayed Melding funk, blues, and jazz into solo fingerstyle acoustic guitar is an improbable feat, but Australian Adam Miller makes it seem not only easy but inevitable. What holds this varied collection of original compositions together is a relentless propulsive groove that is downright danceable. Miller amply displays the qualities that earned him an Australian fingerstyle championship and that are making him an international upand-comer: pristine clarity of tone, a virtuoso technique that tosses up absurdly fast legato runs and rapid-fire pull-offs, as well as an ability to play a complex bass line and melody simultaneously (which he attributes to guitarist Charlie Hunter). “Straight Forward” is anything but—it lays out a bluesy melody and then veers off into exuberant improvisational tangents—while the mesmerizing title track lays a simple melody over a repeated motif, giving it an ethereal, otherworldly vibe. Yet Miller’s music is as refined as it is unbridled. On slower pieces such as “Wedding Speech” (replete with fun chimes and intricate taps) and “Last Kiss,” his emphasis on melody and a sumptuous range of textures and colors is most apparent. There’s nothing held back or last-minute about Delayed, except perhaps the wider recognition Miller deserves. But with such a masterful accomplishment, that won’t be long in coming. (adammiller.com.au) —CÉLINE KEATING

editors’ picks DAN GABEL, editorial director: I Draw Slow, Redhills MARK SMITH, managing editor: Old Crow Medicine Show, Carry Me Back DAN APCZYNSKI, digital content developer: Rodriguez, Searching for Sugar Man


Mindy Smith Mindy Smith Re c o r d e d i n N a s h v i l l e , Tennessee, Mindy Smith’s fifth studio album picks up where Stupid Love (2009) left off, navigating a troubled path between dream and disappointment, God and the devil, and Long Island country and Nashville pop. These 11 new songs, all written or co-written by Smith, range from uplifting gospel (“Closer”) to wailing blues (“Don’t Mind Me”) to gentle swing (“Cure for Love”) to folk-rock (“Pretending the Stars”) to deep country (“When You’re Walking on My Grave”) to singer-songwriter confessional (“If I”), each

astonishing in its honesty. The melodies are smartly, sharply etched and the singing passionate, with Smith’s fearless, keening soprano sounding stronger and bluer than ever before and performances by Dan Dugmore on pedal steel, Joe Pisapia on electric guitar, and Bryan Sutton on acoustic guitar that closely match her mood from one heartbreak to the next. The surfaces on Mindy Smith shimmer in the best pop tradition: steel strings ring gloriously, rhythms snap, and guitar solos soar. But there’s no avoiding the pain underneath, the tensile strength that holds these songs together, and the intelligence that makes the album so rewarding. (Giant Leap) —KENNY BERKOWITZ

Digging up the ground he broke on “Roll Away The Stone,” Kelly Joe Phelps returns, slide guitar once again in hand, to his blues/gospel journey toward mercy, peace and salvation.

Released worldwide on August 21 “I’m talking about a feeling, a smoky, lonesome, painful - yet somehow comforting groove that lets you know that you are not alone even when you’re blue. Play on brother.” — Steve Earle

For info on this and other zesty Black Hen recordings, visit

www.blackhenmusic.com


WEEKLY WORKOUT

Harmonized Major-Scale Pentatonic Licks These exercises will get your fretting-hand fingers moving in new ways and help you learn the fingerboard. By Scott Nygaard

FOR MANY GUITARISTS, learning the fingerboard is a lifelong endeavor, one that is best done through regular practice. But if you’ve ever attempted to diligently practice scales, arpeggios, and chords in numerous positions up and down the fingerboard, at some point you have probably tired of running the same patterns over and over, wondering how such practice relates to actual music and possibly even what all that work is accomplishing. In “Weekly Workout,” we’ll try to remedy that with a variety of exercises that we hope will challenge you and keep you interested in learning more about the guitar. These monthly exercises will provide you with two things: technical “workouts” that will get your fingers (mostly on the fretting hand, but sometimes on the picking hand) working in different ways and musical “studies” that will help you visualize and explore the fingerboard. You’ll get a different exercise to work on each week of the month, as well as a few extra variations and extended practice ideas for overachievers or more advanced students. Some of these workouts may seem daunting to beginners, but there is no time limit or tempo indications on any of these exercises. Take them as slowly as you want and concentrate on playing cleanly and smoothly with good time, whatever tempo you’re playing at (as always, a metronome will help immensely with this). Although we’re presenting these as weekly exercises, there are numerous ways you can approach them. You can simply spend five minutes or so every day playing that week’s workout, moving on to the next workout at the beginning of the next week. Or you could change up the workouts daily, playing one on Monday, the next on Tuesday, and so on. If you’re really ambitious, in subsequent weeks, you could try playing the workouts in different keys, the second week moving them up the fingerboard a second, the third week up a third, the fourth week, up a fourth, or in any way you choose.

Week One This month’s workout starts with a one-bar phrase that moves up through the harmonized major scale. Measure 1 is a familiar-sounding major-pentatonic phrase in G major. Each subsequent measure takes this phrase and moves it up a step in the G major scale from the previous measure. So measure two starts on an A, measure three on a B, etc. You may notice that these phrases outline the chords in the key of G: G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em, F#dim, and G, again (measure 8). While this workout is natural for flatpickers, it’s primarily concerned with learning the fingerboard, so fingerstyle players shouldn’t shy away from it. I’ve included some slur possibilities here, but you might want to start For video of the by picking all the notes first and then adding some of the slurs as you like. music examples, go to You could also try playing some of the open-string B notes at the fourth AcousticGuitar.com fret (measures 3, 5, 6, and 8). In measure 8, you could even try sliding 66 AcousticGuitar.com


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WEEKLY WORKOUT

from the A note on the and of the first beat into a B note that follows it at the fourth fret and moving the whole phrase up into a partial F shape, with the D and G notes played at the third fret with the index finger. Once you’ve played through each phrase in these workouts, try to make them as guitarfriendly as possible—adding slurs, adjusting the fingering to make it easier to play, etc. Some of these phrases may not be that interesting and will serve just as technical exercises, but you’ll probably want to memorize some of them for use in your own playing.

Week Two This workout moves week one’s workout up the neck into a position without open strings,

spanning frets two through five. If you’re not familiar with this position, it will give your fretting-hand fingers more of a workout, because they have to fret every note. There are a few awkward fingerings where notes on adjacent strings have to be played with the same finger (the D and G notes at the fifth fret in measure 1 and the E and A notes in measure 2, for example). Measure 7 is particularly gnarly. Don’t worry if it takes a while until you can play these cleanly. These are called “workouts,” after all, and the nature of these systematic exercises means that there are some phrases that will never be that comfortable on the guitar. But just getting your fingers to attempt them is great exercise. You’ll notice there are fewer slur indications

here. Concentrate on fretting each note cleanly and accurately and add slurs that seem workable to you.

Week Three This workout moves back to open position, varying week one’s workout by starting up on the high E string and moving downward. You’ll notice that the phrase has been inverted—sort of. I’ve simply taken the second half of the phrase (beats three and four) and played it first, then followed it with the first half of the original phrase. If you’re confused, compare measure 1 of week three with measure 8 of week one. Notice that the first two beats of week three’s first measure are the same as the second two beats of week one’s eighth measure. Make sense? Or just play the exercise as written, and don’t worry too much about how the two exercises relate. You’ll notice, however, that even though the phrase is similar to the initial one, it feels like a new phrase to your hand. Once again, pick all the notes first and then try some slurs and alternate fingerings.

Week Four This week’s workout moves week three’s workout up into the same position as week two. Despite its similarity to the phrase in week two, this one has fewer awkward fingerings. With exercises like this, you never know which ones will bear guitaristic fruit, you just have to try them to find out. The slurs indicated here are the ones that work for me. Everyone’s hands are different and some slurs and fingerings will work better for some than others.

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For the overachievers in the bunch—you know who you are— I’ve provided some extra credit, although, as the term implies, you will have to work a little harder. Example 1 moves the initial workout up into a fingerboard position that spans frets three through seven. I’ve just given you the first four measures here. See if you can work the rest of it out on your own, and then try the descending version in weeks three and four in this position. Example 2 moves the initial phrase up an octave and into a position at the seventh through tenth frets. You can really only play one more measure of the pattern at this position, so try Example 3, which is the same thing at the ninth through 12th frets. And finally, for those with cutaways, Example 4 resides in the nosebleed section at the 12th through 15th frets. Well, how’d it go? Did you “feel the burn”? Have your fingers played some new things? I hope so. If not, I’ll see you next month for another workout. ag ACOUSTIC GUITAR October 2012

See video of the music examples at AcousticGuitar.com

Week 4

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Kaufman University

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Artificial Harmonics How to play any melody or chord with harmonics to add flair to your guitar arrangements.

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ONCE YOU HAVE A GOOD HANDLE ON the elements intrinsic to fingerstyle guitar—melody, bass line, and a variety of chord voicings—you’ll be well on your way toward creating killer arrangements that are as fun to listen to as they are to play. Sometimes the thing that sets a great performance apart is an extra dash of flair in the form of little melodic and rhythmic flourishes. In this lesson, we’ll take a look at artificial harmonics, one particular technique that can really help put your arrangements over the top.

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Artificial Harmonics

ERNIE HAWKINS

Most guitarists are aware of natural harmonics—the chimey, bell-like tones that occur when an open string is touched lightly with the fretting hand at one of a few specific places on the guitar neck (most notably directly above the 12th, seventh, or fifth frets). Example 1 illustrates this technique along the 12th fret, sounding the harmonics from low to high, one octave above the open strings. While this technique certainly sounds great, the selection of available pitches can prove somewhat

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limiting. By using a lesser-known technique called artificial harmonics, players can achieve that same ringing sound with any note or chord. The most common type of artificial harmonic is played one octave above a fretted note (although other intervals are possible in various locations). To try this technique, fret an F note on the guitar’s fourth string at the third fret with your fretting hand and position the index finger of your picking hand 12 frets higher up the neck on the same string. Point your index finger directly above the 15th fret (again, over the actual fret), making absolutely sure not to press down—you want to have contact with the string, but not the fingerboard. Finally, use the thumb of your plucking hand to pluck the string behind your index finger (Example 2). Your index finger will look like it’s pointing while the thumb plucks. Note that the tab number corresponds to the fret your picking-hand finger is pointed at, not the note you’re fretting. Simply subtract 12 to find the note you should be fretting with your other hand. Example 3 illustrates this technique with groups of notes voiced in familiar chord shapes. With your fretting hand forming barre shapes rooted on the third and Ex. chord 6 fifth frets, use your index finger to “outline” Ex. 6 the same shapes, 12 frets higher, picking each string with your thumb as you go.

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of this technique. As before, use your index finger to “fret” the harmonics and your thumb to pluck the string, and then pluck each “normal” note with either your ring or fourth finger. Try both and decide which is more comfortable! This technique can also be applied to chords and works best when there are no repeated notes in a voicing—making it a great fit for complex chords like the ones shown in Example 5.

Add Embellishments Example 6 takes things a step farther by adding hammer-ons and pull-offs to several of the non-harmonic notes. Be sure to let each note ring for as long as possible to achieve that great harp-like harmonic sound. Example 7 shows the same technique applied to a descending C Mixolydian scale pattern, and Example 8 takes it through a ii–V–i in Bb minor. To play the double-stop arpeggios in measures 2 and 3 of Example 8, continue to pluck the harmonic notes with your pickinghand thumb while simultaneously plucking the non-harmonic note with your ring or little finger.

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You can also use this technique to play chord voicings not possible with the fretting hand alone. Example 9a shows four-way close voicings that are obviously difficult—if not impossible—to play smoothly. By reorganizing the fretting-hand voicing into accessible drop-two shapes and adding an artificial harmonic on the D string, the chords in Example 9b sound just like those in Example 9a would sound if they were playable. Fingerstyle guitarist Tuck Andress occasionally uses this technique to enhance introductions and solo sections, as in the opening measures of “Winter Wonderland” on his album Hymns, Carols, and Songs About Snow. ag Learn more techniques like artificial harmonics in SEAN McGOWAN’s complete Extended Techniques download available at store.AcousticGuitar.com. Includes additional examples and video.



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SONGBOOK

of beat 4 with the index finger; and several sparse measures (measures 25–26) can be played exclusively with the thumb or the thumb and just one or two finger plucks. Thompson often plays the song with pick and fingers. If you play it this way, you may find it easier to use your pick on more than just the downstemmed notes. Any single-note passage, as well as places where two or more strings are played simultaneously, can be played with the pick (like the second half of measure 7, measure 16, or measures 29–34). Of course, when you have to play two or more non-consecutive strings, you’ll need to use your middle or ring finger to get those notes. Thompson rarely plays things exactly the same, and on this performance, he uses different embellishments and picks different notes of each chord every time through. Because of this, the chord names above the staff show just the basic chord he’s working from, omitting brief embellishments—like the quick moves to Asus4 and Asus2 in measures 11–12.

Dimming of the Day Words and music by Richard Thompson

“Dimming of the Day” first appeared on Richard and Linda Thompson’s third album, Pour Down Like Silver, as a medley with “Dargai,” a solo guitar instrumental. The duo performed and recorded the song together at live performances, and Richard continued singing the song long after the duo split. The song gained even more exposure over the years with several high-profile covers, most notably Bonnie Raitt’s 1994 version and Alison Krauss and Union Station’s take in 2011 (on Paper Airplane). The following transcription is from Richard and Linda Thompson’s live performance of “Dimming of the Day” on RT: The Life and Music of Richard Thompson. Richard plays the song in dropped-D tuning with a capo on the third fret, and the notation shows split stems that generally follow the bass line on the bottom with the melody and embellishments on top. If you play the song with your fingers, play the downstemmed notes with your thumb and the upstemmed notes with your fingers, although you’ll need to adapt your picking in a few places. At the end of measure 23, it’s easier to play the downstemmed A note on the and

—ANDREW DuBROCK

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© 1975 (RENEWED 2003) BEESWING MUSIC (BMI)/ADMINISTERED BY BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT (US), LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USED BY PERMISSION. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION OF HAL LEONARD CORP.

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A broken promise and my broken heart 76 AcousticGuitar.com

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ACOUSTIC GUITAR Octo ber 2012

VIDEO RELEASE!

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ADVERTISER INDEX Acoustic Guitar Books, store.AcousticGuitar.com. . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Acoustic Guitar Guides, store.AcousticGuitar.com. . . . . . 41, 64, 73

DR Music, drstrings.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 G7th, Ltd., g7th.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 GHS Strings, ghsstrings.com. . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Acoustic Guitar & RainSong Giveaway, AcousticGuitar.com/RainSong. . . . . . . . 37

Grimes Guitars, grimesguitars.com. . . . . . . 28

Acoustic Guitar Subscribe, AcousticGuitar.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Hill Guitar Company, hillguitar.com. . . . . . . 25

Acoustic Guitar U, AcousticGuitarU.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Alfred Publishing, alfredpublishing.com. . . . . . . . . . . . 43, 53 Alvarez, alvarezguitars.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 L.R. Baggs, lrbaggs.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Black Hen Music, blackhenmusic.com . . . . 65 Bourgeois Guitars, pantheonguitars.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Bowerman guitars, bowermanguitars.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Ernie Hawkins, erniehawkins.com. . . . . . . . 70

Homespun, homespun.com. . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Original Guitar Chair, originalguitarchair.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Paul Reed Smith Guitars, prsguitars.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Peterson Electro-Musical Products, petersontuners.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Phoenix Guitar Company, phoenixguitarco.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 The Podium, thepodium.com. . . . . . . . . . . 62

Huss & Dalton Guitar Company, hussanddalton.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Radial Engineering, radialeng.com. . . . . . . . 5

Juilliard School of Music, juilliard.edu . . . . . 21

RainSong Graphite Guitars, rainsong.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Juststrings.com, juststrings.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62, 49

RS Muth Guitars, rsmuthguitars.com . . . . . 40

Steven Kaufman Enterprises, Inc, flatpik.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

SKB Cases, skbcases.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

George Lowden Guitars, georgelowden.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Shubb Capos, shubb.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Stewart-MacDonald’s Guitar Supply, stewmac.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Luthier Music Corp., luthiermusic.com . . . . 49

Sweetwater Sound, sweetwater.com. . . . . . . 9

Bread & Roses, breadandroses.org . . . . . . 39

Luthiers Mercantile, lmii.com. . . . . . . . . . . 63

Sylvan Music, sylvanmusic.com. . . . . . . . . 64

Breezy Ridge Instruments, Ltd., jpstrings.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Mandolin Bros., Ltd., mandoweb.com . . . . . 42

Tanglewood Guitar Co., musiquip.com. . . . . 10

C.F. Martin & Co., Inc., martinguitar.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Ukulele, AcousticGuitar.com/UkeMagazine . . . . . 33

Collings Guitars, collingsguitars.com. . . . . . . 3

Music Emporium, themusicemporium.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Wechter Guitars, wechterguitars.com. . . . . 15

Córdoba Guitars, cordobamusicgroup.com. . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts, omniconcerts.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Yamaha Corporation of America, yamaha.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Carnegie Hall Royal Conservatory, theachievementprogram.org. . . . . . . . . 52


Walden Guitars, waldenguitars.com . . . . . . . 2


GREAT ACOUSTICS

1930 Martin 000-45 By Steven Dembroski

TO VINTAGE MARTIN enthusiasts, few guitars are as desirable as a prewar 000-45, which yields all of the qualities collectors and players value so highly: masterful construction, easy playability, remarkable tone, and rarity. Built in the period when Martin was still transitioning away from gutstring guitars, the 000-45 was one of the fanciest models offered. And until the dreadnought size was introduced on Martin-brand guitars in 1931, the 000s also had the distinction of being the

STEVEN DEMBROSKI. GUITAR COURTESY OF DREAM GUITARS (DREAMGUITARS.COM).

largest guitars the company offered. As befits an instrument at the top of Martin’s line, the guitar pictured here sports incredibly high-quality Brazilian rosewood back and sides that display tight, straight grain and rich color. And as with most Martins of that era the top is red (Adirondack) spruce. A look inside the 000-45 reveals standard late-’20s scalloped X-bracing. At a quarter of an inch wide, under half an inch tall, and made of red spruce, the braces contribute to this guitar’s fast attack and even response across the sound spectrum. Strummed, this classic Martin’s excellent dynamic range is immediately apparent. There is a clarity and snap to the low end that sustains wonderfully, and the guitar has a great openness and organic resonance. Digging in with a pick never produces harsh sounds or any other indicator that the top is being overdriven—just a steady increase of volume. Playing the 000-45 softly with fingers showcases the sublime balance of overtones that arise with the note’s strong fundamental. Those fortunate enough to experience a prewar Martin 000-45 firsthand will likely never forget the experience. For players, the guitar is the embodiment of what so many of us seek—an instrument with unsurpassed tone and gorgeous appointments that is sure to inspire a wealth of satisfying musical ideas. ag STEVEN DEMBROSKI is a guitarist, songwriter, and photographer based in North Carolina.

Acoustic Guitar (ISSN 1049-9261) is published monthly by Stringletter, Inc., 255 West End Ave., San Rafael, CA 94901. Periodical postage paid at San Rafael, CA 94901 and additional mailing offices. Printed in USA. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. Canada Returns to be sent to Pitney Bowes International Mail Services, P.O. Box 32229, Hartford, CT 06150-2229. Postmaster: Please make changes online at AcousticGuitar.com or send to Acoustic Guitar, PO Box 469120, Escondido, CA 92046-9020.


ACOUSTIC GUITAR

October 2012

http://4wrd.it/aseriesag15

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Martin SP Lifespan™ strings treated with Cleartone™ protective technology repel dirt, oil and sweat for long life. No flaking, no peeling. Just the rich, natural tone you expect from Martin Guitar.

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Acoustic Guitar Magazine, october 2012

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