Acoustic Guitar 2012-01.pdf

BIG PICTURE THINKING.

608.366.1407 WWW.MCPHERSONGUITARS.COM

Extending your tone life like no other string™ Every time you play your guitar, !my bits of you are left to invade the windings to contaminate your stnngs and kill your tone. Elixir® Strings are the only strings that keep dirt out of the windings by coating the entire string. Our ultra-thin NANOWEB~ [oahng provides a clean, smooth feel and players tell us their tone lasts longer than any other string, uncoated or coated. Hear more from Kak1 King and find out why she loves her Elixir Strings:

www.elixirstrings.cam kaki

GORE, EUXIR, NANOWEB, POLYWEB. GREAT TONE LONG UFE e· 1000 and des1gns are trademarks Of W L Gore & AssOC10tes 02011 W L Gore & Assocoates, Inc.

~

Your music is powerful. Bose• L1 systems make sure your performance is, too. L1 systems can deliver up to 180 degrees of horizontal coverage, so your entire audience can hear you - even people sitting off to the sides. From the reliable design of the loudspeakers to the rugged construction of the components, each system is built to perform on stage and travel easily with you on the road. Wonder if an L1 system is powerful enough for you? Try one for yourself. You may be quite surprised. To learn more about the family of L1 systems: Visit Bose.com/livel orcalll-800-905-0382.

= see video at AcoustlcGultar.com = hear audio at AcoustlcGultar.com

~

111•

departments 16 PRIVATE LESSON Clji Bluegrass Cross-Picking: Multi-instrumentalist Kathy Barwick shows how she uses her bluegrass banjo skills on guitar. With the Lick of the Month. By Scott Nygaard NEW GEAR Clji 22 Batson No. 5: Nashville-based custom maker introduces affordable new model with an innovative design. By Adam Perlmutter 26 Yamaha A3R: AU-solid-wood acoustic-electric cutaway dreadnought with a new electronics system that includes onboard mic modeling. By Mike Levine 30 Boss Micro BR BR-80: Battery-operated multitrack digital recorder offers simple twotrack and full-featured eight-track recording. By Doug Young 32 IN THE STORES

46 Songwriting and the Guitar Twenty-one tips from Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, Joni Mitchell, and m ore on m aking the m ost of your instrument when writing songs.

By Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers Clji

52 Pat Metheny Th e j azz virtuoso talks about baritone guitars, the beauty of pop standards, a nd his all-acoustic a lbum, Whats It All About.

By Mark Small

63 Gig Rig What to put in your gig bag in order to m ak e sure you're covered when Murphy's Law strikes. By

Stevie Coyle

songs to play 12

"Hey, That's No Way to Say Good-Bye" Leonard Cohen

14 "See See Rider" Traditional, arr.

58

34 PLAYER SPOTLIGHT Carolina Chocolate Drops: After losing a founding member, the Grammy-winning North Carolina group rebuilds its lineup and records a new album with guitarist and producer Buddy Miller. By Kenny Berkowitz 38 HERE'S HOW Poeny and Melody: How Sam Phillips creates her evocative and melodic pop songs. By Adam Levy 4 2 THE BASICS Clji String Bending: Learn to bend strings so you can make your solos sing. By Orville Johnson 70 SHOPTALK Clji Effects for Acoustic Guitars: A look at the three most common effects used by acoustic guitarists to enhance their amplified soundreverb, delay, and chorus. By Doug Young 72 PLAYLIST 74 WOODSHED Clji Controlling Note Duration: Learn to control the ringing of strings with your picking-hand fingers. By Alex de Grassi 86 GREAT ACOUSTICS Larry Pogreba Resonator. By Baker Rorick

by Orville Johnson Clji

in every issue

"And I Love Her" The Beatles, arr. by Pat Metheny

78 Minuet In D Minor BWV Anh. 132 Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. by Teja Gerken

80 "Fair and Tender Ladles" Traditional, arr. by Jody Stecher Clji January 2012 ACOUSTIC GUfll\R

8 10 76 82 85

Editor's Note Music Notation Key Essential Gear Marketplace Ad Index AcousticGuitar.com 7

EDITOR'S NOTE

HERE AT ACOUSTIC GUITAR, we are always looking for

better ways to help our readers increase their enjoyment and knowledge of the guitar and the music they play on it. With that in mind we recently launched a new digital-learning service: Acoustic Guitar U, where you'll find audio and video instruction on a variety of styles and topics, at levels from total beginner to advanced. Enrolling at Acoustic Guitar U gets you access to all the material on the site, and we've organized all the lessons into easy-to-follow courses, complete with audio or video instruction and musical notation and tab. So, for example, you can take the 12-lesson Roots and Blues Fingerstyle course from Steve James, the 12-lesson Acoustic Rock Basics course from Andrew DuBreck, or the Legends of Flatpicking series from yours truly. Or you may want to work on adding new songs to your repertoire with Danny Carnahan's Irish Songs for Guitar or David Hamburger's Early Jazz and Swing Songs for Guitar. New lessons and songs will be added weekly; and we're in production on several brand-new courses right now, so you'll be able to get the latest chapter of Alex de Grassi's Fingerstyle Guitar Method or learn the latest song in Traditional Songs with Jody Stecher (the first of which, "Fair and Tender Ladies," can be found in this issue on page 80), as soon as they appear. And because Acoustic Guitar U is optimized for mobile devices, you can access your favorite courses at any time, from your desktop, laptop, or tablet. The best part about enrolling now, of course, is that you get to be "in at the top" of what promises to be a long, evolving, and "unlimited" multimedia guitar-learning experience. We're all excited to see how Acoustic Guitar U grows in the coming months and years, and since it's easy to give immediate feedback on what you do and don't like about Acoustic Guitar U, you can be part of our startup team yourself. Hope to see you there: AcousticGuitarU.com. Enjoy the issue, SCOTT NYGAARD CORRECTIONS In the December 2011 issue's Jerry Garcia lesson, some notes in the fourth measure of Example 4 were wrong. The corrected music can be found online at AcousticGuitar.com/garcia.

In the November 2011 issue's "Classical Quintet" article, we misidentified the nationality of luthier Jim Norris, who is American. GOT A QUESTION or comment for Acoustic Guitar"s editors? Please send an e-mail at [email protected] or snal -mal Acoustic Guitar E(!nor1al, PO Box 767, San Anselmo, CA 94979. We regularly print reader letters In our Mailbag column. TO SUBSCRIBE to Acoustic Guitar magazine, call (800) 827-6837 or vlslt us onl ne at AcoustlcGunar.com. As a subsalber, you enjoy the convenience of home delivery and you never miss an Issue. Sign ~ or renew your own sdlsc:rtpUon now and you can also purchase a gift subsalpUon for a friend A single Issue costs $6.99; an lndlvtwal subscrtpllon Is $39.95 per year; Institutional sOOsc:rtpUons are $39.95 per year. Foreign subscribers must order airmail deliver~ Add $15 per year for canada,/Pan Am, $30 elsewhere, payable In US funds on US bank. ONLINE If youte a subscriber to Acousuccunar.com or a member of the Acoustic Guitar Club, you already have access to our exclusive online content. Don' Know If yOII" subscrlpllon alloWs you access to AcoustlcGultar.com? Get In toudl wnh us at [email protected]. BUY MUSIC Buy songs featured In Acoustic Guitar at AcoustlcGultar.comj MuslclnAG. ACOUsnc GUITAR NOTES All subscribers are eligible to receive our tree dally online newsletter, Acoustic Guitar Notes. TO ADVERTISE In Acoustic Guitar, the only publication of Its Kind read by 150,000 gunar players and maKers every month, call Sarah Hasselberg at (415) 48~946, ext. 643, or e-mail her at [email protected]. AG SUBSCRIBERS TaKe care of al yOII" subsalpUon needs at our oolne Subsalber Servtces page (AcousUcGultar.com): pay your bll~ renew, give a gift, dlange your address, and get answers to any questions you may have about your subscrlpllon.

EDITORIAL Group Publisher and Editorial Director Editor Managing Editor Senior Editor Education Editor Copy Editor Editorial Assistant Contributing Editors

DESIGN/ PRODUCTION Director of Design and Production Senior Designer Production Manager Production Designers Production Assistant

Dan Gabel Scott Nygaard Mark Smith Teja Gerken Dan Apczynskl Jan Perry Sarah Welsh Kenny Berkowitz, Andrew DuBrock, David Hamburger, Steve James, Orville Johnson, Richard Johnston, Sean McGowan, Adam Perlmutter, Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, Rick Tumer, Doug Young

Barbara Summer Timothy lang Hugh O' Connor Andy Djohan, Emily Fisher Sam Lynch

ADMINISTRATION Publisher David A. Lusterman Office and Systems Manager Peter Penhallow ADVERTISING Adverijsing Managers (West) (East) (Central) Advertising Operaijons Manager Ad\lertising Assistant FINANCE Director of Accounting and Operaijons BookKeeper Accounting ClerK Office Assistant MARKETING Audience Development Manager Digital Development Director Digital Publishing Manager Subscripijons Single Copy Sales

Adrlanne Serna Clndl Kazarian Claudia Campazzo Sarah Hasselberg Kimberly Gleaves

Anita Evans Geneva Thompson Susan Gleason Nala Nakai

Mea Chavez Lyzy Lusterman Jason Sheen Jan Edwards.Pullln Tom Ferruggla

CORRESPONDENCE Mail PO Box 767 San Anselmo, CA 94979 Shipping 255 West End Ave. San Rafael, CA 94901 Editorial E-mail [email protected] Subscripijons E-mail [email protected] Customer Service (800) 827-6837 Website AcoustlcGultar.com Telephone (415) 485-6946 Fax (415) 485.0831

AcoustlcGultar.com

RETAILERS To find out how you can cany Acoustic Guitar magazine In yOII" store, contact Alfred Publishing at (BOO) 292-6122. Excepl Where otherwise noted, al contents e 2012 Strlngletter, Davtd A. Lusterman, Publisher.

PR INTED IN USA 8 AcousticGuitar.com

ACOUSTIC GUITAR January 2012

NOTATION

music notation key

Dropped-D Tuning:

gA D G B E

D Guitar tunlngs are given from the lowest (sixth) string to the highest (first) str1ng; standard tunIng Is written as E AD 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. Plckln~hand fingering Is Indicated by I for the Index finger, m the middle, a the r1ng, c the little finger, and p the thumb.

1'\ t.

II

II -

r m

p

A7 1/ 4

3J J

J .l'

r

r

r

~

i p

m

m

p

p

,.,

1/4

z::=::o ')

0

I

I

l

v

,.,

v

,.,

v

,.,

v

1/ 4

3-J-31..__ 0 3

2

0-j-/-/-/-/-1-1-

0

1-\

1/ 4

31

0

2- 2

0

In tablature, the horizontal lines represent the six strings, with the first string on top and the sixth on the bottom. The numbers refer to frets on the giVen string. Slur markings Indicate hammer-ens, pulf..Offs, and slides; Indicates a bend. The number next to the bend symbol shows how much the bend raises the pitch: 1.4 for a slight bend, 11.! for a half step, 1 for a Whole step. Pick and strum direction are shown below the staff (l"'=downstroke, V=upstroke), and slashes In the notation and tablature (..-) Indicate a strum through the previously played chord.

.J

C

X320 10

G

320004

1111

A7

1312 11

Dm7

X1312 1

~~5 fr. ~~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) . Str1ngs are shown as vertical lines. The line on the far left represents the sixth (lowest) string, and the line on the far r1ght represents the first (highest) str1ng. Dots show Where the fingers go, and thick hor1zontar lines Indicate barres. Numbers above the diagram are frettln~hand finger numbers. X Indicates a str1ng that should be muted or not played; 0 Indicates an open string. Vocal tunes are sometimes wr1tten with a fully tabbed-out Introduction and a vocal melody with chord diagrams for the rest of the piece. The tab lntro Is usually your Indication of Which strum or fingerplcklng pattern to use In the rest of the piece. AC

Want to Know More About

•

•• •

To receive a complete guide to Acoustic Guitar music by mall, send a selfaddressed, stamped envelope to Music Editor. Acoustic Guitar. PO Box 767. San Anselmo, CA 94979-0767. The complete guide can also be round online at AcoustlcGultar com; notatrongulde.

10 AcousticGuitar.com


ACOUSTIC CLASSIC

Hey, That's No Way to Say Good-Bye

his thumb as he plays melodic chord embellishments with his fingers. The picking patterns below show what he plays for the A, Flm, D, and E chords as well as the sus chord embellishments he plays throughout. For chords that change quickly, like the final A chord in each verse and the repeating E chord at the beginning of the song, simply play the first measure of each pattern. You may find that the F1m pattern is difficult to play if you fret a complete Flm barre chord. Since you don't need to play the fifth string, you can barre with your index finger, fret the fourth string at the fourth fret with your ring finger, and use your little finger to play the sus4 embellishment on the third string at the beginning of the second F1m measure.

Words and music by Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen was already a respected songwriter before he released his first recording, Songs of Leonard Cohen, in 1968. Judy Collins's 1966 release, In My Life, featured two of Cohen's songs, one of which, "Suzanne," became a hit. Cohen kicked off his debut album with his own version of "Suzanne," but the record was strong from start to finish and included other top-notch tracks such as "Hey, That's No Way to Say Good-Bye," which had also been recorded by Collins (for 1967's Wildflowers). Cohen plays a nylon-string guitar on "Hey, That's No Way to Say Good-Bye," capoing at the first fret and picking out the bass notes with

-ANDREW DuBROCK

Picking Patterns Chords, Capo I

E

1341 11

F~us4F~m

A sus4 A A sus2 A

D

A

II F~m

A

r

r

D XX0132

r-r

r

1111 E A 1.

D sus4

I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm

11

F~m

Your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy, golden storm

t.

D Yes, many loved before us, I know that we are not new

A In city and in forest they smiled like me and you

2.

D D sus2 D

II hiTJ1 n11 r· 3- 20

""'

2-

E

r rr rr

2-

30 0- 2 0

0

1

2-

22

20

E

-

:

--

-

0

E sus4

,...,.__

f

:

--

rr 1_____.:

.:._2- 1 2 .,-----2- 2.:.._2 2-

1-

20

F#m But now it's come to distances and both of us must try

A It's just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea

D Your eyes are soft with sorrow

F#m But let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie

E A E Hey, that's no way to say good-bye

D Your eyes are soft with sorrow

A I'm not looking for another as I wander in my time

2-: 2____.:

E A E Hey, that's no way to say good-bye

F~m

12

Walk me to the comer, our steps will always rhyme

Repeat Vetse 1; substitute following line from Vetse 2

D You know my love goes with you as your love stays with me

F#m But let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie

AcousticGuitar.com


ACOUSTI C CLASSIC

See See Rider Traditional, arranged by Orville Johnson With its endless lyrical and structural variations, and recordings in just about every key imaginable, you can listen to versions of "See See Rider" from now "till fall" and never hear the exact same arrangement twice. Of particular note are the different forms you're likely to encounter: while many versions follow the tried-and-true 12-bar blues format, many more (including the version shown here) feature an interesting 16-bar pattern. In a 12-bar blues, it's typical to hear a line sung twice (once over the I chord and then repeated over theN chord) that sets up the vers-«ten presenting a problem or the beginning of a joke that the listener expects will resolve in the verse's final four bars. The 16-bar form shown here (which appears in Acoustic Guitar contributing editor Orville Johnson's

~ See video at AcousticGuitar.com/ seeseerider

Acoustic Blues Guitar Basics) starts in a similar way; but returns to the N chord (G7) in measure 9, signaling a third time through therepeated line. Measures 13-16 function similarly to measures 9- 12 of a 12-bar blues, with a brief step up to the V chord (A7), followed by a measure of the N and a two-measure tumaround that leads back to the top of the form. Uke everything else about the song, its title has also been subject to varying interpretations, including "See See Rider Blues," "C.C. Rider," and "C.C. Rider Blues." Look for great recordings by the Animals, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Elvis Presley; jazz vocalists Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee; and a host of legendary blues artists including Big Bill Broonzy; Mississippi John Hurt, Leadbelly; and Lightnin' Hopkins. -DAN APCZYNSKI

r 3,

Rhythm Examples Swing IJJ=J ) ) D 'I

G1

•

~

•

•

:;

:;

3- -3- -3- -3- -3- -3- -3- -3 1-\

r-

3 ~T

~

II

2--2--4- -4--2--2--4- -4-- r-o-

o

3-

3-

0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0 rh

Swing

(fJ=J )l)

l'*i i

jl

:;

:;

:;

:;

3-

3-

1-

1

:;

~

0

3-

3-

3-

~

~

see

rid-er __

. - - 3 ---,

see what you _ done done _

D

I! ;lffl~n l !~~ijfijJ J J ~ ~ w J

see what you done done _

See __ see rid-er

G1

G7

ltd·

-J

I "~ ti J

you _

but

3

see _____ what you done ___

D

)

J

J J_jj

now your man D

has come ___

G1

D

I'm goin' away baby, I'm goin' away I won't be back till fall

D

D G7 Goin' away baby, I won't be back till fall

See see rider, see what you done done

D

G7

See see rider, see what you done G7

See see rid-er

G1

-

JJ

You know you made me love D See see rider, see what you done done

~

0- -0--0- -G--0- -0- -0- -0--

3

6

12

~

2 ~ 2--------:;>2--------:;>2

~qg~~~ ~lfJ_J I, J ~J

, J J J IJ

~

p3 ______,.. 3------;:>' 3______,.. 3

3 3-

~

G1

D

A7

0-

~

0

3

Well, see _ _ _ _ _ __

G7

I

D

I'm goin' away baby, I won't be back till fall D G7 D A7

You know you made me love you, but now your man has come

A7

G7

D G7 D A7

If I find myself a new girl, I might not be back at all Repeat first verse



PRIVATE LESSON

expressed by Barwick's consummate crosspicking guitar technique as well as her banjo and dobro playing. Barwick initially picked up guitar and banjo at Girl Scout camp and discovered bluegrass through banjo lessons. After deciding to delve into the guitar's possibilities in bluegrass, Barwick used her banjo skills to develop a cross-picking technique featured on In My Life (notably on Earl Scruggs's "Nashville Blues," Maybelle Carter's "My Native Home," and the trad.itional "Red-Haired Boy''). We talked to Barwick recently about her cross-picking technique, playing up the neck, and the difference between down-down-up cross-picking and alternate picking.

Bluegrass Cross-Picking Multi-Instrumentalist Kathy Barwick shows how she uses her bluegrass banjo skills on guitar.

By Scott Nygaard

Yo u play a lot of instruments on the new record. Which instru ment d id you learn first? I started playing guitar first . I was a folkie and I fingerpicked the guitar, because of Girl Scout camp. And then when I was a camp counselor, another counselor had a banjo, so I thought, "I can fingerpick the guitar, I could fingerpick the banjo." She taught me how to play "Cripple Creek," which was really challenging because my fingerpicking on guitar was square, kind of Travis-style, and fingerpicking on banjo was rolls, which I had never heard. I tried to learn banjo from the [Earl] Scruggs book, but I'd never listened to bluegrass, and I d.iscovered that if you don't know what you' re trying to learn sounds like, it's really hard to learn it. So I started taking banjo lessons.

A LOOK AT THE TITLES on Northern California guitarist Kathy Barwick's debut solo a lbum In My Life may not make it clear what kind of music you' ll find inside. With songs by Lennon and McCartney, Maybelle Carter, and Swedish guitarist Roger Tallroth nestled among trad.itional Irish tunes and Southern fiddle classics, and with instrumental credits for Barwick t hat include guitar, dobro, banjo, mandolin, and bass, as well as vocals, you might mistakenly come to the conclusion that Barwick is a musical d.ilettante. But a listen to the album reveals a deep grounding in American roots music tradit ion, bluegrass in particular, as

..

How did you get into bluegrass? By playing the banjo. I was learning things like "Old Home Place" at my lessons and I would go and look them up and send off to County Sales, and a big, flat, square package [of LPs] would come in the mail every three or four weeks. I got into it that way, and like a lot of people, I got into more modern stuff first, and worked my way back.

-

LICK OF THE MONTH

measure 2. she plays a syncoJlated melodic

by a couJlle of sixth intervals ('"yodel shapes as she calls them} that JlUt the melody on tOJl (the F: and A notes}. and ends on a '"backward roll on a C chord UJl at the eighth fret.

c •

fl

tJ

-

F

• • ~

""""'-J

35

3- -3- 3r-=s- -5-

3 3

3- 3 5

35

3

c

.,.

• •

•

•

-

6 7- -h="t0-

•

•

. 10-

8 10

9

8

9- -1010- - - 1 0

8

- 9 10

-16 AcousticGuitar.com


tune better.

introducing the NS-mini headstock tuner leave one on every guitar I planetwaves.com/minituner

PLaneT waues-

D'Addario and Planet Waves are registered trademarks or trademarks o f D'Addario & Compaf'l'y, Inc . or its affihates in the US and /or other c ountries. C 2011 0 ' Addario & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.

PRI VATE LESSON

When did your banjo technique start getting transferred to guitar? I taught banjo for a living for five years, and I decided I really wanted to help my students learn how to improvise and that I needed to play rhythm behind them, so I started playing rhythm guitar. And, of course, then I wanted to play lead guitar. I took some guitar lessons from Steve Pottier and he taught me how to play "Home Sweet Home" and some other things where you set up a pattern [in your picking hand] and you make some changes for the melody [Example 1]. I realized recently how important learning how to do that was, for accenting an upstroke. Now I don't have to play the whole pattern, I can pick out that upstroke melody note and it pops out. It's similar to banjo playing in that when you play the banjo you set up a pattern in your right hand and your left hand starts searching out the melody notes. When you're working on cross-picking arrangements, do you usually start with the melody? Yes, the simplest, barest melody I can. And then I start hanging ornaments on it as I go along. Do you have favorite keys for cross-picking? I tend to favor C and G. C is where I start because it puts the melody right in the middle of the guitar, most of the time. A lot of times in G you have to go way down [to the bass strings] or up an octave. I've recently been working on playing in D, and I1l often arrange something in a number of keys and positions before I figure out which one is best for me. Some positions will put the melody up the neck, and then you have to figure out a way to do that. Sometimes I'll work on stuff and say, "I'm going to keep practicing until I get it," but then maybe it's just not coming. So I think "Is there another way to do this?" You learn the neck that way. If you have to do your own arranging you learn where things are. You do a lot of cross-picking up the neck as opposed to sticking to first position. How do you think of connecting those positions? Let's see, I'll play "My Old Kentucky Home" [Example 2] on an open C chord; that's where everybody learns how to do that. But I can also play it up here [Example 3]. I'll start with a C shape that I finger with the ring and little fingers on the same [fifth] fret and I barre at the third fret, so I can go from the I to the V [Example 4]. This is actually kind of difficult to do, so I make my students start it early, because it's such a valuable position to play out of. I look for the melody in that position, and then it goes to the IV [F) chord, so I have a bunch of choices. I can go to first position, or I can go here [Example 5]. I can 18 AcousticGuitar.com


-

Ex.1 C

~II

~

t-

'"'

-

... >

~II

... >

0 0 1-1---1-1 0 0 2 2 3

3

~

...

~0-0

0

'"'

3

Ex.2

c

I I

n

-

11

-

r

... >

I I

0 1-1 0

-

Ill

...

-

0 0 1-1---1-1 0 0 2--0-2

I

-

-

I

L l..J

o0 1-1--1-12 2 3 3

~

71 ..

~

>

2

0 1-1 0-0 2

F r""T""1""1 r-r-T""1

L l..J

G

..

~

..,j

I

3 0-0 0

0

0

0-0 0

2

i""'o.

r'"'1""'T"1

.. ..,.,._.., v ,., ,., v ..,., v ,., ,., v ..,.,,., v ,., v ,., v ,.,,., v ,., 1--1 1--1 0--0 0-~ 2-0- ~-2--0- f-----2-0--2- 3 - 3 3

January 2012 ACOUSTIC GUITAR

-

I

3

0 0 0 1-1 1-1 1-1 0--0-2-2- 0-0

..

F

~II

• >

0 0 1-1---1-1 0-0 0 2-0 2

r T ~

-

>

I

1--1 0--0

n

-

-

r""T""1""1 r-r-T""1

t-

I'""'"

0 0 1-1---1-1 0 0 0 2 3 3

>

0 1-1 f-

~II

... >

I 6t-

-

c

_.,...., _.,....,

..._..,

....

3

..

71..

..

G ..

,., v ,., v ,., v ,., ,., v ,., v ,., v ,., ,., v ,., ,., v ,., v ,., 1--1 1 0--0-0 0 0 1--0--0-0 3 - ~--0-2- f-----2--0 3 - r-3--2--3

o-

Acoust icGuitar.com 19

PRIVATE LESSON

cross-pick over that, and the melody is on top ("old") but then "Kentucky" is going to go up higher, so I either have to go here [Example 6] or into this inversion [Example 7].

moving shapes around. My favorite lick right now is [Example 8]. It's not cross-picking, but so what.

Your picking hand wrist seems very loose. Yeah, I've been thinking lately about how important it is to loosen your grip on the pick. With cross-picking, if you're doing the downdown-up pattern, the first "down" is a rest

You're cross-picking but it's not all the same pattern. Yeah, I'm not necessarily going to cross-pick all the way through a tune, especially as I'm

Ex.3 ~

c ...--..

-

~

,., 5

...

...

-v ,., ,., v ,.,

v

,.,

3-

3- -3 :r-s- -5- 3 5

F

...

-

,., v ,., v

,., ,., v

3 :r-s 5- -5

c ...

:-.,.~.,.

...--..

10-10

,.,

v ,.,

8 !f-'1'0-1 0- 8 9

1-\

Ex.4

Ex.5

Ex.G

Ex. 7

Ex.8

C GC G F

... • • •

'l

I

~

I

I"'T"T"'' I"'T"T"''

'l

•

~

•

0-

1-\

5 6 5

3

...--..

-

3

:R--A-

10

5- -5

7?to

c

Ex.9

•

l,..ooo"

3- 3- 3- 3 5- 3- 5- 36 5- 4 -5- 4 - 5 7

1-\

.........

y5-"

ft"

I"'T"T"''

- ...

,.,,., v,.,,., v,.,,., v ,.,,., y,.,• y,., y

5-

... ... ...

•

-

stroke, the second one is not, and then you scoop up underneath the string [on the upstroke], so if you try to hold the pick tight, and you push, it's just going to push back. If you let go of it a bit, then your thumb has control of the pick and your index knuckle is just keeping it from falling down. So it feels like I'm punching down with my thumb [on the first note] and then I glide over the string instead of pushing through it on the second note. You really need to use a heavy flatpick for this kind of cross-picking. You don't want to use a lighter pick because it'll wrap around your thumb and you won't have any control over when it goes through the strings.

You do down-down-up picking as well as alternating picking. Does the one you choose depend on what you're playing? It depends very much on what I'm playing. For a down-down-up to work for me, the first note needs to be a melody note [Example 9] . If you play that melody ["You Are My Sunshine"] in a higher octave, it's just gone. If you want to accent the first [lower] note, the best way to do it is down-down-up, but if you want to accent the middle string or high strings, you need to use alternating [Example 10]. Down-downup's natural characteristic is to make the first note really pop out. It's a really great entry into cross-picking. Once you get the technique right you're really just focusing on the first note of the roll. And I think what people will find is that after a while your ear wants to hear a different note, and your hand will AC follow.

cont simile

1 - - 1 - 1--1 0- -0- -0 1--0- -0- 0 1--0- -0o--o-o- o 2 - - 2 - - 2 -r---2--Q--2-r---2--2- -2 1--2-0- 2 3- -3- -3- r---3

• ACOUSTIC GUITAR: 1994 Martin HD-28 LSH Grand Marquis with Indian rosewood back and sides. 'It was one of Martin's Guitar of

F 'l

I I I I

1-....

c

HD-28 with a big soundhole, Clarence

-

}

the Month series; Barwick says. ' It's not the same as the Marquis they have now. It 's an

,......,

•

[White]-style. I have other guitars, including a 1957 0 -18 and an awesome 1955 D-28, but this is the one I keep going back to. It's

1--6 1--1 5 2 5- 1--0- -0- - -0- r---0- - -0 2--2--0 r- ~3--~-7- 7- -5- - -3-

Ex.10

...

c

G

very resonant; there's a lot of complexity in this guitar. Clarity is not its middle name.

3

But when I made my recent record, I took a bunch of gu itars into the studio, and this is the one my engineer wanted to hear.' • STRINGS: Elixir medium-gauge. ' I do so much sliding, so I like the coating~ • FLATPICKS: Heavy.gauge. • C'APO: Shubb.

,., V ,., V ,.,

v ,., v

cont. simile

• AMPLIFICATION: K&K Pure Western pickup. ' I use it when I need to. It's really hard to mic this gu itar. I get a lot of boom out of it. So I prefer to use a mix of the K&K and a mic.·



NEW GEAR

Batson No.5 Nashville-based custom maker Introduces affordable new model with an Innovative design.

By Adam Perlmutter

WHEN CORY AND GRANT BATSON were teenagers, their father engiAcousticGuitar.comj neered a 3o-foot carport that he built to withstand the fierce winds newgear of central Texas. Years later, this Invention would Inspire the brothers to rethink the structural elements of traditional stee~strlng guitars-particularly the bracing. Like the carport, which flexed In the wind, Batson's trademark lattice bracing moves with a guitar's vibrations to provide excellent resonance and tone. This bracing can be found In all the guitars the Batson brothers make by hand In their Nashville, Tennessee, workshop. Their line of fine Instruments Includes parlor, grand concert, auditorium, and jumbo size guitars, all customlzable with a range of options In tonewoods, appointments, and electronics. We checked out Batson's new No. 5 model, part of a new line that Is considerably more affordable than Batson's other guitars, because It Is made by a team of builders, rather than just the Batson brothers, and features a limited number of options and less premium hardWare. Oi Seethe video review at

Nonstandard Construction The concert-size No. 5 Is available with African mahogany or East Indian rosewood back and sides (the latter commanding a $100 surcharge) and a Sitka spruce or western red cedar top. Our review model's rosewood and spruce body, which Includes an optional Venetian cutaway ($250), Is particularly attractive: the rosewood has handsomely variegated stripes of brown and the spruce a warm, reddish hue with tight, uniform grain. Like all Batson guitars, the No. 5 Includes a number of nonstandard structural features. It eschews a staltdard top soundhole In favor of one on the side of the upper left bout, giVIng the soundboard a greater vibrating area while also directing sound toward the player's ear. And while the guitar's bridge Is glued to the top like a standard flattop bridge, the strings are anchored on a separate tailpiece (which Is affixed through the top to the tall-block by a mortise and tenon) and travel through holes In the bridge prior to passing over the saddle.


Our reVIew No. 5 Is aesthetically pleasing, to say the least. The focus Is clearly on the beauty of the woods and not fancy ornamentation. In fact, the only embellishments on this Spartan guitar Include lvorold body binding and heel cap and a mother-of-pearl Batson logo on the headstock. The sculpturally asymmetric bridge and tailpiece lend a clean, modern

The guitar's C-shaped neck is substantial but not overly full.

sensibility to the design, as does the curved end of the fingerboard, which extends above the top from the 15th to the 21st fret. An ebony headstock overlay and truss-rod cover proVIde an organic touch. Craftsmanship on the No. 5 Is very good. The 21 medium jumbo frets are perfectly polished and seated and the nut and saddle slots appear to have been cut with great care and precision. The binding Is tight and flush and there are no Imperfections In the satin polyester finish. A peek Inside the soundhole betrays a hint

AT A GLANCE THE SPECS: Concert-size body. Solid Sitka spruce top. Solid East Indian rosewood back and sides. Lattice bracing. Mahogany neck. Ebony fingerboard, bridge, and tailpiece. Bone nut and saddle. 25.5-inch scale. 1%-inch nut width. 2'14-inch string spacing at saddle. Polyester satin finish. Chrome Gotoh SG381 tuners. D'Addario EXP medium-gauge strings. Made in USA. THIS IS COOL: Smartly designed modern steelstring at home in a range of settings. WATCH FOR: Strap pin is a $25 option. PRICE: $2,800 base/ $3,150 as reviewed. MAKER: Batson Guitar Co.: (615) 649-0033; batsonguitars.com.


Learn 1cills

Purchase your DVDs or Download them immediately from homespun.com

AT All LEVELS

Build Repertoire

Blues Fingerpicking A Fingerstyle Freedom Christmas Liberate Yourself From the Tyranny of TAB

taught by Toby Walker Download now $24.95 DVD $29.95

GIFTS for musicians

Guitar Arrangements to Seven Beloved Songs and Carols

taught by Happy Traum

The MustKnow Tuning for Fingerpickers and Blues Guitarists

John Sebastian Teaches Eight Lovin' Spoonful Hits

Tom Rush How I Play (Some of) My Favorite Songs

Download now $24.95 DVD $29.95


Taught by Happy Traum


Happy Traum demystifies open D tuning, showing how even novices can get rich, bluesy, resonant sounds with relatively little effort. He helps solidify alternate-bass fingerpicking wh ile teaching licks, chord positions, bass runs and six classic songs: John Henry • Sittin' on Top of the World • Jesus Is On the Main Line • Willie Moore • Deep £/fum Blues • I'll Fly Away. Download now $24.95 DVD $29.95

Chris Smither Teaches Six Outstanding Fingerpicking Arrangements

The 12-String Guitar of Roger McGuinn Download now $24.95 DVD $29.95


Bottleneck Blues and Beyond

The Songs of Gordon Lightfoot

taught by Mike Dowling

Guitar Arrangements For Eight Classics

Download now 24.95 ea. taught by Pete Huttlinger $39.95 set DVD $29.95 ea. Download now $24.95 Two-DVD set • $49.95 DVD $29.95

Hymns, Blues, Celtic and Banjo Styles taught by AI Petteway DADGAD is a magical guitar tuning that engenders clear, ringing sounds and haunti ng voicings. AI Petteway, a master of the form, teaches this tuning for playing Southern Mountain songs and instrumentals: John Henry, Sitting on Top of the World, I Am a Pilgrim, Wondrous Love, Wayfaring Stranger, Shady Grove, Pretty Polly and Craggy Pinnacle, the Celtic-inspired tune he wrote for Ken Burns' forthcoming "Dust Bowl" series. Download now $24.95

w W W. h 0 me S p U 0. C 0 m

DVD $29.95

--------

Box 340AG, Woodstock, NY 12498

Making the Acoustic Guitar Rock! Pushing the Boundaries of Your Rhythm and Lead Playing

taught by James Nash Download now $24.95 DVD $29.95

,.,v eo 1-800-338-2737 • 845-246-2550

NfW GfAR of untidiness- some glue squeeze-out at the heel block and In some areas of the kerflng.

Extremely Pl ayable and Fine-Sounding Removing the No. 5 from Its Included TKL Pro Arch-Top case, I was struck by how comfortable It felt to crad le and how play. able It was . The guitar's C-shaped neck Is substantial but not overly full and Invites barre chords In all registers. The medium· low action makes the neck feel smooth and easy, hospitable to some swift single-note work. I could even pull off some electricstyle string bends; It might be that the extra

string length behind the bridge Imparts a little slinkiness to the feel. Hitting some basic open chords,! was Impressed 1:Yf the guitar's volume, Which Is probably a result of the location of the soundhole and the added real estate of the uninterrupted soundboard. I proceeded to flngerplck some ragtime-style lmprovlsa· tlons as well as standard country.J)Iues fare and found the guitar to be super-responsive and weii.J)alanced, with an articulate, rumbling bass and smooth, singing trebles from open position to the highest frets. It also had uncommonly long sustain and a pronounced natural reverb-attributes perhaps owing to the guitar's fine solid

tonewoods as well as Its bracing and tai lpiece. The overall tone Is somewhat unusual , slightly hollow with "scooped mlds," and because of the guitar's cons· tructlon, It sounds more Immediate to the player than to the listener. With Its 1 %-Inch nut and lack of a pick· guard, the No. 5 Is clearly designed with the flngerplcker In mind. The guitar does excel In this capacity, maintaining a colorful lively voice even When tuned way down to open c. However, I found that the Batson responded just as nicely to brisk strumming In standard and alternate tunlngs like open G and D A D G A D. While the No. 5 doesn't have the power of a dreadnought or jumbo, It does have a substantial presence In this context. And It sounds robust, with a wide dynamic range, when subjected to f lat· picked bluegrass runs and bebop licks as well as modal meanderlngs In slackened tunlngs.

Small-Shop Value Whi le not cheap at $2,800, the Batson No. 5 represents an Incredible value In an all -solld·WOod steel-string that Is handmade In the United States and receives the attention to detail that Is only possible In a small shop. Its f lattop design, with lattice bracing, bass-side soundhole, and bridgeand-tailpiece solution, strikes an excellent

The Batson's lattice bracing is visible through its large soundport.

balance between tradition and Innovation. The guitar Is eminently playable and super· responsive. It shines In contexts ranging from folk and blues to jazz and beyond In nearly any tuning, flngerplcked or strummed, making It an Ideal companion for the well-rounded acoustic guitarist. AC

Contributing editor Adam Perlmutter transcribes, arranges, and engraves music for numerous publications.



PATHMAKER SERIES

p/ek

®

SOLID BODY SERIES

RESONATOR SERIES

SELECT SERIES

Customized Plek Pro Setup for Incredible Feel Each and every Wechter guitar receives a custom Plek Pro setup, the most accurate and precise guitar setup possible. For you, that means lower action, cleaner notes, and sweeter tone - right out of the case.

NASHVILLE-TUNED SERIES

TRAVEL SERIES

Case included with every Wechter guitar.

NEW GEAR

YamahaA3R All-solid-wood acoustic-electric cutaway dreadnought with a new electronics system that Includes onboard mlc modeling.

By Mike Levine

YAMAHA'S ACOUSTIC GUITARS have long been known for their excellent, affordable value. The guitars In the AcousticGuitar.comj company's new A ser1es are designed newgear as working musicians' Instrumentsdurable and versatile enough to proVIde good resu lts In both acoustic and amplified applications. There are two lines within the A ser1es, the less-expensive Al and the tOJX>f ·the-line A3. Each offers acoustlc-electr1c, cutaway Instruments In concert or dreadnought sizes with mahogany or rosewood bodies, but the A3 guitars feature Yamaha's System 63 SRT electronics system. This full-featured electronics package combines an undersaddle pickup with digital signal processing (DSP) that emulates the sound of the guitar when mlked by classic microphones. We took a look at the A3R, the rosewoodbodied dreadnought In the line. CillO See the video review at

Rosewood and Spruce Dreadnought

Onboard Mic Modeling

The A3R's dreadnought body has a Venetian-style (rounded) cutaway and Is constructed with a solid Sitka spruce top and solid rosewood back and sides. The rosette consists of an elegant, lnterweaved rosewood-and-mahogany pattern. The binding Is also mahogany, and three thin black purfllng str1ps surround the guitar's top. The unusuaHooklng plckguard comes to a point In two places, a throwback to a design used on Yamaha's NlOOO guitar, which was first released In 1975.

Yamaha's new SRT (Studio Response Teet}. nology) electronics system Is the A3R's most versatile and Impressive feature. sound Is picked up I:Yf the undersaddle SRT pickup, which Is outfitted with Individual plezo elements for each str1ng. The signal Is then routed through the onboard preamp, which contains the DSP modeling

Action Hero One of the noteworthy aspects of the A3R Is Its playability. Our review guitar arrived strung with light-gauge strings that feel as close to the ebony fingerboard as the str1ngs do on a typical electric guitar. I found the mahogany neck to be very playable In all positions and It was easy to bend strings. The tradeoff for the low action was some occasional fret buzzing, mainly on the third str1ng. But I was pleasantly surprised that the action was not too low for slide play1ng, which 1do a lot of. There was a tad more fret noise with a slide than on my Martin D-28, but not as much as 1 expected, considering the A3R's low action. And the Intonation Is spot on.

Bright, Balanced Acoustic Tones Acoustically, the A3R's tone Is br1ght and not particularly bassy. considering that this guitar Is


prlmar11y designed for acoustlc-electr1c use, Its tonal signature makes sense. There's less bottom end to resonate and potentially cause feedback, and plenty of treble for cutting through a band mix. The acoustic tone Is well balanced, and the bass notes r1ng cleanly and without mudd~ ness. I tried out the A3R In a variety of play1ng styles. For flngerstyle guitar, It was warm and pleasant, and for flatplcked bluegrass It was crisp and concise. In both Instances, the A3R's lack of bottom was the only negative. The guitar's tone was also satisfying for Intense, rock-sty1e acoustic strumming on open and barre chords (In standard and dropped-D tuning).

AT A GLANCE THE SPECS: Cutaway dreadnought body. Solid Sitka spruce top. Solid rosewood back and sides. MahoganY neck. Ebony fingerboard and bridge. Urea nut. X·bracing. 25.61·inch scale (650 mm). 11 'lu•inch nut width. 2'1s-inch string spacing at saddle. Chrome die-cast tuners. Natural gloss finish. Yamaha System 63 SRT electron lcs with mic modeling. Light.gauge Yamaha FS50BT strings. Made in Ch ina.

THIS IS COOL: Electronics include models of three classic mics, feedback e limination, and a chromatic tuner.

WATCH FOR: Acoustic sound lacking in bottom end.

PRICE: $1,350 list/$899.99 street. MAKER: Yamaha: (714) 522·9000; usa.yamaha.com.


Experience Breedlove

NEW GfAR chips and circuitry. The preamp's Blend dial mixes the pickup signal with one of the six modeled mlc alger rlthms, rather than between a plezo and an actual mlc, as some systems do. From a practical standpoint, this presents less potential for feedback, since there Is no open microphone Inside the guitar. To construct the modeling algorithms, Yamaha recorded the guitar acoustically at

The Yamaha SRT preamp includes a builtin tuner and controls for its microphone emulation functions. several commercial studios through three classic microphones- a Neumann U67 large-diaphragm tube condenser, a Neumann KM56 small-diaphragm tut>e condenser, and a Royer R-122 r1t>t>on mlc. The Idea was to emulate how the guitar sounded through

11~ lbmP~~t cd ttl~ o~.j1lim~s .. "'Jiie Net~ J!aJII'fl S(JtJJ.Iis. SignatureJ Mndid Blum;itlg~ ®wltB1

n the mld-1 960s Ralph and Carter Stanley saw something In a boy from Lebanon, Ohio. From those early days with the Stanley Brothers, Larry Sparks has developed his own dynamic style while staying true to the traditions of that good old-time oountry music. Those powerful lead guitar breaks, paired/ with soulful vocals have endeared him to Bluegrass Music Lovers everywhere. The Larry Sparks Signature Model Bluendge Is based on / the uniQue design elements of the guitar that Is so closely ldentlRed with his career. The power and tradition are built in and the guitar, like Larry Sparks himself, Is already being called "The Youngest of the Old-11mersl"

I

Versatile, Full Featured Acoustic-Electric If you're looking for a guitar that wi ll give you excellent playat>lllty, decent acoustic tone, and versatile and fully featured electronics, the A3R Is a good choice, especially If you're planning to use It primarily as an onstage Instrument. AC

BR-3060 Larry Sparks Signature Guitar: • Full -size black pickguard • Vintage 50s style waffle-back tuners • certificate of Authenticity

~SAGA,

'e'the source. 28 AcousticGuitar.com

Saga Musical Instruments

~~;i ~·.~~;.~~~~~;~:"n':cisco, CA 94oao

these mlcs In a good studio and Impart that sonic signature to the sound of the preamp. A selector switch on the control panel lets you choose a mlc type, and a two-position push-button lets you further modify that t>y selecting Focus or Wide mode. Focus gives you a close-mlked version of the selected mlc model (recorded eight to 12 Inches from the guitar) and Wide mode gives you one recorded farther back (four to five feet) . A Resonance knot> adjusts how much body resonance Is In the modeled sound. I got the best tone with the Blend knot> turned mostly toward the modeled mlc side, with a little t>lt of the straight pickup signal thrown ln. I liked the Royer model best, because It was a little rounder and warmer (as Is character1stlc of a rlt>t>on mlc), t>ut all three sounded good. I also preferred the presence of the Focus (close-mlked) mode. This was especially helpful for flngerplcklng and single-note flatplcklng. overall, the A3R's mlc modeling does a good jot> of simulating the sound of a mlked acoustic guitar. For sound reinforcement situations, especially In a band context, It wil l be quite convincing. For recording, unless the guitar Is burled In the mix, It still sounds like a guitar with a pickup. But In recording situations where there's a lot of leakage from other Instruments, going direct through the A3R's electronics would t>e a good solution. In addition to the mlc modeling, you can also shape the pickup's sound with standard bass, middle, and treble preamp controls. Each of these has a center detent to Indicate when It's set flat. That makes It easy to set them t>y feel, which Is good conslder1ng they're tiny knobs with nearly Invisible Indicator lines. A larger volume control knot> controls the overall output. The electronic system Includes an Impressive chromatic tuner, which mutes the guitar's output when activated, and Its AFR feature (Automatic Feedback Reduction) Is an effective one-button feedback detectorj ellmlnator.

BR-3060

Mike Levine (mikelevine.com) is a New York City-area music journalist and the former editor of Electronic Musician.


-

l "'l •

:!:.... ,~

J

0

'

-4

,: j

i o-

0

G

.J

',1-;_J

1

0

34-

0

0

0

-o

- .0

c

8••

7

~-.,

..... -·-::: . ·:--·...

~ ·~-- · :,

·-·

, ..,,

. ::. ._.,,

....

.. 0

5 SONGS TO PI.AY

JAMI!S T.AV't.Oiit -c..-.~n-,Mttt4' MUMI'ORO NI0$015 -n.c-·

c

THREE ways to enjoy Acoustic Guitar. Acoustic Guitar Magazine The original. Get the No.1 magazine for every player in any style delivered right to your door every month. You save time and money at the newsstand.

Acoustic Guitar Digital Read Acoustic Guitar magazine online and experience the guitars, lessons, interviews, and songs like never before in this video-enhanced and interactive digital edition PLUS, enjoy unlimited access to all the great subscriber-only content at AcousticGuitar.com - including the Acoustic Guitar archive with content dating back to 1993

Acoustic Guitar Club • Acoustic Guitar magazine delivered right to your door every month.

• Access to the online video-enhanced, and interactive digital edition. • Unlimited access to AcousticGuitar.com. • Discounts of 5% to 25% at your favorite online music retailers, and surprise coupons for free merchandise from Acoustic Guitar. • Official, personalized Acoustic Guitar Club membership card. • Acoustic Guitar case stickers.

Just choose the package that suits you best!

Visit AcousticGuitar.comjSubscribe or call toll-free (800) 827-6837.

NEW GEAR

Boss Micro BR BR-80 Battery-operated multitrack digital recorder offers simple two-track and full-featured eight-track recording.

By Doug Young

It's now possible to put what once would have been a room full of recording gear In a device so small you can carry It In your pocket. Boss, a division of the Roland corporation AcousticGuitar.com; that focuses on electronic musical devices from stompbox newgear effects to recorders, has an excellent track record of building creative and high-quality deVIces at affordable prices. The new Boss Micro BR BR80 recorder updates an earlier version of the Micro BR, doubling the number of tracks, adding new effects, and more. Boss makes several recorders, Including larger units that support 16 tracks and CD burning, but even In the crowded field of small recorders, the Micro BR BR-80 Is at least a contender for the title of smallest fuHeatured multitrack recorder. ~Seethe

video review at

Three Recording Modes There are enough features In the tiny new Boss to keep you busy exploring the device for a long time, but It Is also easy to get started recording quickly. The recorder has three distinct modes that act almost like three separate recorders: Uve Rec, eBand, and MultiTrack Record (MTR). In Live Rec mode, the unit Is a simple stereo recorder with built-In mlcs. Simply press the record button to arm the device, check levels, and press record again to start recording. Each time you record, the Micro BR BR-80 creates a new file, so you'll never accidently erase previous recordings. The unit Includes a guitar tuner and a looping phrase; trainer, which are available In all modes. A rhythm button activates a metronome In Live Rec and eBand modes and a drum machine In MTR mode. Although the Live Rec mode Is nearly foolproof, the eBand and MTR modes are a bit more complicated, and as you use them you begin to appreciate how much functionality Boss has packed Into this tiny box. The eBand mode Is Intended to let you jam along with prerecorded loops-€lther the supplied backing tracks or your own loops, which can be loaded Into the Micro BR BR-80 via the USB port and softWare provided by Roland. In this mode, you can use the built-In mlcs or plug a pickup-equipped guitar Into the guitar jack and apply a full suite of Roland's well-known COSM effects- reverb, chorus, overdrive, and more-to your sound. You can also vary the speed of the playback or use the looping feature to repeat a short section, turning the Micro BR BR-80 Into a phrase trainer. In MTR mode, the Micro BR BR-80 Is a full-featured eight-track recorder. You can record two tracks at a time, overdub, and punch In to fix mistakes. The built-In drum machine can be used to assemble rhythm tracks from a collection of fixed patterns, which you can extend by loading standard MIDI flies that you create elsewhere, and you can use the COSM effects for amp simulations and effects. Although there


are only eight tracks available at any one time, each track supports up to eight virtual tracks, which allows you, for example, to record multiple takes of a solo, and then choose the best one later. In both eBand and MTR modes, the Boss offers mix-down capabilities that allow you to edit, add effects, and master your tracks to produce a finished tune. Regardless of the recording mode, the Micro BR BR-80 records to standard SD cards, and a 2 GB card Is Included. There are a few limitations, Including a 2 GB limit on the size of a single song, no more than 1,000 songs In Live Rec mode and 100 In MTR mode, but most people are unlikely to run Into these limits.

Easy Two-Track Recording To see how the Micro BR BR-80 performed, I started with Uve Rec mode. It proved

AT A GLANCE THE SPECS: Records CD.quality 16·blt, 44.1 kHz WAV or MP3 (up to 320 Kbps) files. Up to eight tracks (64 virtual tracks), recordable two at a time. Built·in stereo mics, mono %-inch guitar or line-in jack, plus 'AI-inch stereo line in. Headphone output. USB port for transferring files to computer, with included software, or for use as a computer audio interface. Built·i n metronome, tuner, drum machine, backing tracks, COSM amp simul ator, mastering effects. 2 GB SD card included, supports up to 32 GB on an SDHC card. Powered by two AA batteries or power adapter (not included). 5%6 x 3%6 x 'is inches. 5 ounces. Made in Chin a.

THIS IS COOL: Full·featu red multitrack recorder that fits in your pocket.

WATCH FOR: No phantom power for external condenser mics. Multitrack mode records in proprietary format.

PRICE: $400 list/$280 street. MAKER: Roland Corp: (323) 890-3700; bossus.com.


easy to use without referr1ng to the wellwritten manual, and my first pass- sitting on the couch, guitar In hand and recorder In my lap-produced a perfectly respectable home recording, completely adequate for sharing with fr1ends, posting to the web, etc. I also took the recorder to a live show at a local all-acoustic coffeehouse and, placed on a table four or five feet from the musicians, the unit did a fine job of capturing the performances. One small Issue with this Is that the BR80 Is designed to sit on a tabletop. There Is no mount that would allow you, for example, to attach It to a mlc stand for better positioning when recording acoustic guitar. You can plug an externa 1mlc Into the 1/8-lnch mlcj llne jack In eBand or MTR mode, but not In Live Rec mode. There are no mixing options In Live Rec mode, but plugging the unit Into the USB port on my Mac all owed me to drag the WAV flies to my computer, where I was able to edit and add effects easily.

Miniature Multitracker The fun, however, really starts when you put the Micro BR BR-80 In MTR mode. It's easy to select and record a track (via buttons on the front of the unit) and then, using head-

phones for monltor1ng, switch to a new track and overdub. I soon found myself sitting on a bench In the backyard with a pair of ear buds, happily exper1mentlng with Ideas for tunes . MTR mode Is where you'll find most of the recorder's complexity, and It's where I encountered a few Issues. As with all small devices like this, to access features you need to scroll through a lot of menus. The basic recording steps require very little of this, but functions like applying effects and mixing aren't as easy as on a computer-based system or a full-size recorder. I also found that the effects- both those available for mlxdown and the COSM simulator effects that can be applied while recording-are designed more for electr1c guitar and not as pristine as I would like for acoustic guitar. Although the Micro BR BR-80 stores Live Rec mode fl ies as WAVs or MP3s, In MTR mode they are stored In a proprietary format. Boss provides conversion software for PC and Mac that can extract the Individual flies from the unit and convert them to WAV fl ies for use on a computer. Once the flies are converted, they can be loaded Into the audio editor of your choice for editing and mixing, a much easier option

than dealing with the menu Interface on the Micro BR BR-80.

Songwriter's Delight The Micro BR BR-80 has an Impressive mix of portability and features. Although It's sma ll enough to fit In a guitar case or even your pocket, It feels sturdy and pleasantly substantial. The solid-feeling buttons provide direct access to the most-needed functionality, although I found the cursor dial a bit awkward. The limitations of Hl-blt recording, along with the Inability to use high-quality external microphones probably prevent the unit from being used to create serious recordings. But as both a simple, easy-to-operate stereo recorder and complete multitrack recorder, the Boss Is perfect not on ly for captur1ng live events but as an audio sketch pad for songwriters, a practice system for jamming with loops, or an Introduction to multitrack recording. And Its convenient size means It can go with you anyWhere, so you can be ready to record whenever Inspiration strikes. AC Doug Young (dougyoungguitar.com) is a San Francisco Bay Area fingerstyle guitarist and contributing editor to Acoustic Guitar.

1decision

gold


or

silver

AcousticGuitar.com 31

NEW GEAR

D Taylor 414ce

THE STORES

LTD

Fa ll Li mited edition of Taylor's 400-series cutaway grand auditorium. Solid Sitka spruce top. Solid Indian rosewood back and sides. Taylor Expression System electronics. AIso ava ilable in dreadnought, grand concert, and grand symphony sizes. $2,898. taylorguitars.com.

Ukulele pickup system. Includes custom

Coated phosphor-bronze acoustic guitar strings.

Element undersaddle pickup, miniature

Bright colors are visible in daylight and under

end pin preamp, and soundhole-mounded

UV black light. Available in orange, pin k, and

volume control. Powered by three-volt coin-

green, and in .011-.050 and .012-.054 gauges.

cell battery. $149 street. lrbaggs.com.

$12.99 street. drstrings.com.

lSI Fishman Loudbox Artist

11 G7th

Newport Capo

Adjustable clamp design. Made out of die-cast


Ill L.R. Baggs FIVE.O

I]] DR NEON Acoustic Strings

Two-channel acoustic amp. 120 watts. %-inch and XLR inputs. Three-band EQ and notch

zinc alloy with satin chrome plating. Soft rubber

filter. Digital effects. Multiple 01 outputs.

padding. $39.95. g7th.com.

$499 street. fishman.com.


PLAYER SPOTLIGHT

Carolina Chocolate Drops After losing a founding member, the Grammy-wlnnlng North Carolina group rebuilds Its lineup and records a new album with guitarist and producer Buddy Miller.

By Kenny Berkowitz

BY THE TIME THE CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album, the group was coming apart. Justin Robinson, who'd founded the trio five years earlier at the first Black Banjo Gathering, had grown tired of touring and quit the band to attend grad school. That left multi-instrumentalists Dom Flemons and Rhiannon Giddens with a loyal fan base but without a band to back them up. In the months since, they've expanded into a quartet, delved deeper into early-20th-century string band music, and worked hard to rediscover themselves. "The new lineup definitely feels different," says guitarist/banjoist Flemons, unwinding after a rousing, foot-stomping set at the GrassRoots Festival in Trumansburg, New York, this past July. 'When we started, the focus was on Justin and Rhiannon, and I was an auxiliary player. Now, she and I are the main people, which has really changed the sound. Adam Matta's beat-boxing has given us a whole 'nether bass instrument, and with Hubby Jenkins, we have a mandolin player and second guitarist, which has freed me up to do things I couldn't do before. Rhiannon is taking the lead more on fiddle, bringing a lot of Canadian and Scottish tunes, and Adam and Hubby are coming up with new ideas from jazz and hip-hop. There's a natural chemistry between all four of us, and it's like starting with a clean slate. We're still in the early stages of evolving as a group, dipping our toes here and there, and finding out where we're going to go."

Go Back and Fetch It They've already surpassed any goals they might have had at the start, when the original three came together at the home of 86-year-old (now 92) Piedmont fiddler Joe Thompson, who became their mentor. Hoping to bring Thompson's music back to life, they soon found themselves building a repertoire to fit their vision of 21stcentury string band music, which includes originals, country blues, Civil War- era minstrel songs, Gaelic a cappella, and R&B hits like Blu Cantrelrs "Hit 'Em Up Style," 34 AcousticGuitar.com


PLAYER SPOTLIGHT which has become their signature. As a group, they've released five albums, Dona Got a Ramblin' Mind (2006), Coloured Aristocracy (2007), Heritage (2008), Carolina Chocolate Drops and Joe Thompson (2009), and the Grammy-winning Genuine Negro Jig (2010)plus two solo albums by Flemons, Dance Tunes, BaUads, and Blues (2007) and American Songster (2009)-each with a strong, underlying emphasis on African-American rhythms. 'We're trying to make people drop whatever they're doing and dance uncontrollably," Flemons says. «Every facet of this group is based around rhythm, fitting right in the pocket, with a strong pulse in everything we do. We're a dance band, and we're not con-

fined to making this music sound old. So if Rhiannon is playing fiddle and I'm playing bones, we can take the rhythmic ideas we've learned in our own journeys and combine them with what we know from the sheet music to give the material a new shape. It's all about sankofa, which is an Ashanti term for 'go back and fetch it,' taking an idea out of the past and bringing it into the present. It's about reaching into the future and being as inventive as we can." During this rebuilding year, the Drops have recorded material for a new album that's being produced by Buddy Miller and is expected to be released in early 2012. Alongside

a new song by Giddens, there's one from Hazel Dickens, one from the first Sonny Boy Williamson, and a couple of fiddle tunes. They've rearranged their older songs for quartet, with Giddens spending more time on five-string banjo and Flemons creating new parts on slide guitar, harmonica, fife and drum, jug, and panpipes. Last spring, they published The Carolina Chocolate Drops Songbook, released an EP of their 2009 sessions with New York City's Luminescent Orchestrii, and collaborated with ragtime pianist Reginald R. Robinson, tap dancer Reggio «ne Hoofer" McLaughlin, and Po' Girl's Allison Russell on Keep a Song in Your Soul: The Black Roots of Vaudeville, about the 1930s Chitlin' Circuit. 'We've been working on so many things, there hasn't really been time to ask ourselves, What's the next step?"' says Flemons. 'We've already won a Grammy. We've been on Prairie Home Companion and the Grand Ole Opry. We've played the Newport Folk Festival. We've toured Europe several times. We've done the straight traditional for years, which gives us the freedom to keep pulling out more repertoire as we go. And we've just barely scratched the surface of this music." AC Kenny Berkowitz is an Acoustic Guitar contributing editor. He lives in Ithaca, New York.

OOM FLEMONS • ACOUSTIC GUITAR: Fraulini Angelina model by Todd Cambio, based on an early20th-century Oscar Schmidt design and built with a red spruce top, mahogany back and sides, 26.5-inch scale length, 14%~nch upper bout, 10'12-inch lower bout, 12 frets to the body, and ladder bracing. • BANJO: Four-string Deering Sierra Plectrum. • OTHER INSTRUMENTS: Pentatonic panpipes in G and A by Edmond Badoux. Osage orange wood bones {playdembones.com). Cow rib bones by Stephen Gara. Hohner Marine Band harmonica. Hohner kazoo. Thick-bottom, large-mouth ceramic jug by Pete McWhirter. • STRINGS: D'Addario medium.gauge for the Fraulini. D'Addario tenor for the banjo. • THUMBPICK: Dunlop. • SLIDE: Dunlop Brass.

HUBBY JENKINS • ACOUSTIC GUITAR: Fraulini Annunziata model with a red spruce top, birch back and sides, 24.625~nch scale length, 9%-inch upper bout, 13'12-inch lower bout, X-bracing, and 12 frets to the body.



www.fishman.com

LOUDBc<·>)X ARTIST Introducing the box for that gift you were born with.

You've been getting ready for this your whole life. Introducing the new Loudbox Artist. It's the evolution of acoustic amplifiers. Incredibly lightweight and portable, it packs 120 watts of ultra-dean, bi-amped acoustic power. It features two versatile input channels with Fishman's legendary tone and feedback-fighting controls, plus a new dual effects section that makes the new Loudbox Artist the ultimate acoustic instrument amp for Acoustic Amplification any seriously active musician. And best of all, it's under $500.

HERE'S HOW

Guitar-Driven Melodies

Poetry and Melody How Sam Phillips creates her evocative and melodic pop songs.

By Adam Levy

Getting a song started from scratch is something every songwriter seems to do differently. Some writers begin with a wordless melody or guitar riff, while others will write a complete lyric first-away from their instrument- then set the words to music afterward. "Usually I have an undeniable urge to write one," Phillips says of her impulse to begin a new song. Other times, she says, she'll make herself write just to write, with no progress required. PhiUips's process is most often melody driven, with guitar in tow. "I sometimes have ideas for a title or a first line," she says, "but I usually have guitar in hand as I write a melody. Then there are the days, months, and years of figuring out what the music has to say and if it is being said to me, to someone else, and so on."

Tone Is King SO FAR IN THESE SONGWRITING COLUMNS, I've largely written about my own experiences as a writer- sharing lessons that have helped me in my own work and using classic song examples to illustrate key points. For this month's installment, I decided to talk with another songwriter about her songs and writing process. With her well-honed melodic sensibilities and haunting lyrics, Sam Phillips has long been one of my favorite songwriters. Evocative imagery and emotional candor are haUmarks of PhiUips's writing. Some of her murkier tales read like pages torn from a noir-fiction novel, while her love songs can be disarmingly tender. And although she takes the craft of songwriting seriously; she's not afraid to have a little come-as-you-are fun, as reflected in the chorus of "Magic for Everybody'' from her 2009 EP of the same name: "Oh, don't let perfect make you blind I Oh, to this beautiful world I Oh, don't erase your crooked lines I Take your mistakes and come with me." Magic for Everybody was part "It Is much more of a of Phillips's yearlong project, challenge to perform Long Play, a subscription-based, a song than to record It, online-only enterprise that offered five EPs and a full-length because In the studio album-as weD as Phillips's silent you have all kinds of movies, collage art, the "Drum white-out and erasers Fill of the Week," and other unique media. The project was a to make It presentable:· boon for her fans-used to expecting new music from PhiUips only every two or three years-and working at this pace stoked her creativity: Long Play included over 40 new tracks when it was completed. Phillips's latest album, Solid State, is built from 13 of those, remastered for physical release.

Some songwriting guitarists accumulate instruments, on the theory that every guitar has some good songs in it-sounds and stories that can only come from that particular box. Other writers will stay true to just one instrument-like a bottomless well that they can keep dipping into for fresh inspiration. For Phillips, tone is the thing that makes for a good writing instrument. "It is very important to me," she says. "Bad tone is irritating and distracting, so any guitar that has a good ton~ark or bright, big or small-is best."

The Rhythm of Poetry On her website for Long Play, PhiUips enthuses about poets Walt Whitman, Pablo Neruda, and T.S. Eliot, so I asked her about the relationship between poetry and songwriting. "I love melody so much that I am usuaUy trying to interpret what the music is saying," PhiUips says. "There is rhythm in poetry; but no melody to consider. If it's a good song or poem you are listening to, both will slide around the mind to reach a deeper place in you. Melody, for me, is like having a little sugar to make words go down a little easier." 38 AcousticGuitar.com


HERE'S HOW

Plano Inspiration While guitar is Phillips's main writing instrument, she also composes on piano. Different instruments, she says, may inspire different sorts of songs. "I sometimes write on piano," Phillips says, "and it does lead me down different roads. It was the first instrument I learned to play, so maybe that is why." She cites "Flowers Up" from her 2008 Don't Do Anything album as an example of her pianodriven songwriting. The song's chords (Example 1) take some surprising turns beneath the compelling melody; here and there evoking late-period Beatles or Hunky Doryera David Bowie. But it's not just the chord changes that set "Flowers Up" apart from Phillips's guitar-based songs. Writing on piano, she says, affects the feel and rhythm of a song even more. 'When I attempt to play guitar, I am more of a drummer than a guitar player."

Natural Evolution Phillips has been writing and recording for more than 25 years. Though she has grown steadily as a songwriter over the years, her approach to writing has remained more or less the same. "My process has not changed very much," she says, "but my interests have. I'm less interested in creating layers of sound and more interested in becoming a better singer and guitar player." She cites her 2004 album A Boot and a Shoe as a milestone in her development. Phillips recorded most of the album's songs playing live in the studio with Jim Keltner and Carla Azar-two great drummers. "I must have played a little better with those two. If not, it was sure fun trying."

Edit and Polish Even as her focus changes and her guitar skills develop further, some parts of the songwriting process always need tending t~diting, for example. "I try to make my songs user-friendly; but a lot of personal stuff pops up when I am writing. Even though you may be interesting or entertaining, there are going to be some of your thoughts that are not. This sounds like dumb and obvious advice, but a good editor is always an asset. It is always good to consider that someone else is going to be listening to your song." AC Adam Levy lives in New York City, where he plays-and writes-well with others. His latest album is The Heart Collector. 40 AcousticGuitar.com


Ex.1

A

0

134211

&

1'\

II

II

t.

I

Sir.

..

...

. .

~

~

~

")

...

~

•

•

I

E

A

...

...

..

•

~

I

.. -

~

~

~

"11

111

11

111

2- -2--2--2 2- -2--2--2--2- -2--2--2-2- -2--2--2--1- -1--1--1-4--4--4--4--3--3--3--3-4--4--4--4--4--4--4--4-2- -2--2--2

Em

I I

~~ Sir.

II

•

2---2---1---1 3---3---3---3 2---2---2---2 0---0---0---0

134211

I II

. . .

4---4---4---4--5---5---5---5--6---6---6---6--6---6---6---6--4---4---4---4

B

1'\

I ~

5---5---5---5--5---5---5---5--. 6---6---6---6--7---7---7---7--. 7---7---7---7--5---5---5---5

1-\

c~

F~m

Om

D

Om

I I

...

~

: : 5t.

1-\

'ill

'ill

'ill

'ill

'il

'ill

'il

'ill

4--4--4--4--4--4--4--4 4--4--4--4--4--4--4--4 4--4--4--4--4--4--4--4 2--2--2--2--2--2--2--2


: ~

~

~

~

~

! ! ! !

•

2---2---1- 1- 10---0---0---0--- 3---3---3- 3- 31---1---0---0--- 2---2---2- 2- 22---2---22--- 0---0---0- 0- 02---2---22

5---5---5 ---5--5~ ---0---0---0---

5---5---5---5--5 6---6---6---6--6 77---7---7--7 77---7---7--7 5---5---5---5--5

•

132____..: 0------;

o---o---o---o


THE BASICS

Guilar

Gallerg

·~s?l)

String Bending Learn to bend strings so you can make your solos sing In the style of Albert King, Eric Clapton, and Duane Allman.

By Orville Johnson

Oii See video of the music examples at AcousticGuitar.com/ bending

Guitars in th11 Classroom trf"s0nsp!T950lnd'gqellp clif.sroom t11ach9rs to m~kll and l~~ad music that trt nsforms l~~arning into a cr11ativ9, 9ff9Ctiv9, and j ul 9Xp9ri9nc9 for k·12 st d11nts from coast to t and lxlyond.

Ma,r.tin Guitars ani! th11 C. F. Martin Foundation, Oriolo Guitars, th11 Bill Graham Foundation, and D'Addario & Co. for h11lping us launch th11 tat11st round of GITC programs!


WHEN YOU TAKE A GUITAR SOLO in a band you fill the spot usually occupied by the lead singer. You become the focus of attention and the other players support you, creating a solid rhythm that you can play against. Wouldn't you like to be able to get the same kinds of sliding, slurring, sensuous sounds out of your guitar that a vocalist can get from his or her voice? You want your guitar to sing! But singers can get pitches that are in between the notes you're limited to by the guitar's frets. That's where string bending comes in. It's a technique that gives you access to those in-between tones and lets you phrase your melodies more like a vocalist.

Get In Position

On acoustic guitar you'll do most of your bending on the unwound first and second strings. To get ready to bend, use your ring finger to fret the note you want to bend. Place your index and middle fingers on the same string behind your ring finger so you have three fingers touching the string (see photo). This adds a lot of strength and control to your bending technique. Bring your thumb up over the neck so your hand is in a gripping position. When you bend the string your hand should feel like you're squeezing the guitar neck. One key to good-sounding bends is intonation. It's essential to play in tune! Here's a way to work on that: start with a half-step bend at the tenth fret of the second string (Example la). Before you bend the string, play the note you are aiming for (B~, at the 11th fret) by fretting it normally; and get the sound of this target note in your ears. Now bend the A note a half step up. Do the same with a whole step, from A to B. Play the B note at the 12th fret to get it in your ears, and when you bend, try to make it reach that pitch (Example lb). If your strings are light enough, try for a step and a half (Example lc). That won't be easy with typical acoustic string gauges, but it's worth a try. The important thing is to play your target note, get the sound in your ears, and then bend to the note and get it exactly in tune. Try to notice how much strength it takes to go a half step, then a whole step. Have you heard the terms "kinetic memory'' or "muscle memory''? When you repeat a motion enough times, you get a feel for the amount of force you need to exert to make it happen. ACOUSTIC GUITAR January 2012

Drop Bends Muscle memory will be important for the next technique, the drop bend. Here, instead of raising the note, we start with the string already bent, then pick it and lower the note. You still want to play in tune even though we can't hear if the note is pushed up far enough before we pick it. If you practice the targetnot e intonat ion exercise ment ioned in Example 1 and notice how your hand and wrist feel when you do it, the drop bends will come pretty easily. Let's learn a couple of licks that use these techniques. like Example 1, Example 2 starts with your ring finger on the B string at the tenth fret. Make sure you've got your index and middle finger on the string as well and bend this A note up a whole step to B. Keep it bent as you move your index finger over to the eighth fret of the first string. Play that note and then put your little finger on fret ten and pick that note. Then pick the note you're still holding on the second string and dropbend it down to the starting A note. As you do that, move your index back to the eighth fret of the second string and finish the lick there, lifting your ring and middle finger off to uncover the index finger note. The big challenge of this lick will be getting used to holding a bent note while moving your

other fingers to play notes on an adjacent string. The key is to keep your thumb over the neck so you can maintain the squeezing leverage between your thumb and bending finger as your other fingers move. The next lick (Example 3) starts with your

Ex.1b

Ex.1a

Ex.1c

1'\

II

t.

_}

,.. ,L ,..-- ,L

y

Ex.2 1 1/2

1

1/2

_) ,.. ~,L ~ -,L

middle finger on the third string at fret 12. Pick that G note, then play the second string at fret 11 (W) with your index finger. Put your ring finger on the second string at fret 13 and in the same motion bring your middle finger over so you have three fingers on the second

1 1 4

_l

,.. t

3

~ /t

_l

~

3

~ ,L

,..__.,,L t

1

;. · - ·

1r 1f

r

1 o-11-1 o.L.__ 10-12-10.L.__ 1 o-13-1 o.L.__ 1 0

8-10 \ 12·(1.0)· 8 -

-; ~

Ex.3 1'\

II

1

3

• ~~ t 2

3_} ~

4

Ex.4

3

---..

t -~qt: ~ t ~,L ~

31/2 1 4

,..~t ~

~ ,L

til- : - .

t. 1

1/2

f

12

13 \ 11-13- 13L__15·(,.3)·11

12

10

-r 8-1o

~ 11-d t ) ) - 8 -

-;

Details & Registration

available at

~~!II

www.hcamp.org or email questions to

rbm@hcamp_org SPRING CAMP March 30-April 1, 2012 3 Day camp to improve group playing

TO FIND A

GREAT GUITAR

with gu~ar, mandolin, fiddle, voice & banjo. All skill levels are welcome. $280 for all 3 days Mt. Wesley Conference Center. Kerrville Rooms, R\1 space & meals

L

available on campus.

SUMMER CAMP June6-10, 2012 5 Day camp lo improve playing in groups with guililr, mandolin, fiddle, voice & banjo, dUlcimers & bass. All skillleiiE!Is are welcome. $325 for all 5 days Schreiner University, Kerrville Private Rooms & meals

available on campus. A service of Luthiers M ercantile International, Inc. • www.lmil.com



THE BASICS

string to support the upcoming bend. Pick the C note at the 13th fret and bend it up a whole step and hold it there. Fret the first string at fret 13 with your little finger and then dropbend the second string back down to fret 13. To complete the lick, pick the 11th fret of the second string and the 12th fret of the third string with your index and middle fingers, respectively.

Blues Bends

WITH STRINGS ATTACHED The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars From #1 New York Times bestselling author

JONATHAN KELLERMAN ''An essential investment for any serious guitar collector or fan." - Guitar Aficionado

l::;t; BALlANTINE BOOKS

I www.joNATHANKELLERMAN.COM

Ve put the quality and care in custom guitar building.

LET US BUILD ONE FOR YOU. Tel: 480-664-6315 WNW. phoen ixgu ita reo. com

44 AcousticGuitarcom

Let's examine the notes we're using in these two licks and how they affect the sound of the bends. In Example 2, the notes are G, A, B, C, and D, with the bend moving theA note up to B. Speaking in terms of intervals, we're bending the second note of the scale up to the major third. In Example 3, we're playing G, B~, C, D, and F, with the bend pushing the C up to D-the fourth up to the fifth. Play these two licks a few times and notice which sounds more bluesy. The first lick uses the first five notes of a G-major scale and the note we're bending isn't considered a bluesy note. In the second lick, howeve~; we've included the minor third and minor seventh of the scale and the bent note moves the fourth up to the fifth. Much bluesier! If we were to assign genre classifications to these two licks, we might say the first one is kind of country while the second is definitely blues. Could we make the first lick a little bluesier? Of course we could! Instead of bending up a whole step from A to B, just go up a half step to B~ (Example 4). Play everything else in the lick the same as before. Notice that by just changing the major third (B) to the minor third (B~), the lick suddenly becomes more tangy. Generally speaking, the notes in the blues scale that lend themselves to bending are the second (bent up to the minor third), the flat five (bent up to the fifth, and the flatted seventh (bent up to the root). Play around with these sounds, bending up to them or drop-bending down from them and you'll discover a lot of sounds you've heard from the likes of Albert King, Eric Clapton, or Duane Allman. All of the licks here work in the key of G, but since they haven't used any open strings you can move them to any key as long as you remember where the root note is. These licks end on the root of the key; so look for that spot in whatever key you'd like to play them in and let it rip! Example 5 uses these licks and some variations over a 12-bar blues progression. Go for a liquid, sensuous sound and make your guitar sing. AC Learn more about blues techniques in Orville Johnson's Acoustic Blues Guitar Basics series, available at AcousticGuitar.com/bluesbasics. Includes video. ACOUSTIC GUITAR January 2012

Ex. 5

Swing

G 1'\

J. t

.,._--'.(1-

II

c

1

~

1

10

G

1

_}; ~ .fL ;. .fL ~-----.,.. .~,.--.._ ,. .,....~.,_

t

~ .fL ;.

.,...J./.,_

n

1

f 8-10 12-(1'b)-12·(1 \ \ f 8-10 12·(1 \ ..0)---8-1of:s·--1 0 ..0) .J

G7J,I 2

1

8-10

1/2

$ _,..J)..,_ .,.. •. k'".:i. .,_

.,... j .,_

•

n

r r

t

8- 1 O..L.._1 oL1 0-8--11-1"'fl"3 10t't2

1-\

C1

1'\

1

bartnn,.. . . -......

G

1/4

1

5-~

4

1fl"3·1'f1"3·1'f1"3·1 'f1"3·11

1/4

1~ b,.. ~_./ ~ g~ ~ ~ ,..-J • • --.... q~ ~_.l1~ b,..-J ... • ..,b,.. ~ ,..{ ,..

t \ La-s 1

13 B-t-11·13L__15·(13l·11 12

13

t y

13.L.._11

1

.,.J,._~

r

r 8-

11·13·11L__10~

12 12·12

1-\

1

1'\

II~~·

.,.J,._ t

9~

~

C1 t

1

1

1

10-10

i 10J

8-10-rB

G

.,...J,.. .,...J,._ 1'" ...

r

r

1

1

1'-J,._ ...

t

1'"

...

.,.J,._ • 1'" ...

t

~- ~~·

1/2

14_)"

10.L.__10.L_10- 8-1 O.L.._B-1 0-8-1 OL.._B-1 0- 8

1-\

January 2012 ACOUSTIC GUfll\R

AcousticGuitar.com 4S

46

AcousticGuitar.com

i»i See video of the music examples at AcousticGuitar.com/songwriting

ACOUS IIC GUIIAR January 2012

"If I 1oy, 'I om in charge here' or even 'I om going to write the1e kind/ of 1ong1,' it never work.r. I hove to Li1ten." -Greg Brown

ike any mea ningful long-term relationship,

L

the bond between a songwriter and a guitar is deep, intensely personal, and a little

3

TWIDDLE THE TUNERS. Since the 1960s,

so-familiar key of Bl. The change of key and regis-

many songwriters-in particular those fol-

ter may stir some ideas.

lowing the path of Joni Mitchell-have used

Capoing higher up the neck, from the fifth fret

alternate tunings as a way to discover new sounds

up, gives a unique sound quality that may in spire

strument used in the writing process- is an es-

on the guitar. New, unfa miliar tunings provide what

you. Brandi Ca rlile's co-writer Tim Hanseroth took

sential partner for bringing chord progressions and

Mitchell ca lled a "quarky situation with a ra ndom

thi s t o the extreme in th e studi o vers ion of " I

grooves to life, but it so often seems to do much

element, a st ra nge attractor, using contemporary

Will " - capoing a ll the way up at the tenth fret ,

more than simply facilitate the process . More than

physics term s.... The t widdling of the notes is

not onl y beca use of the high pitches avail able

a few songwriters have been convi need that a song

one way to keep the pilgrimage going: Change the

but the dramatica lly different string tension and

idea was somehow embedded in a particular guitar

tuning and then try playing a familiar chord finger-

resonance.

and that they were just lucky enough to find it.

ing- and li sten t o whatever happens . You may

mysterious. The guitar-or any other in-

Since Acoustic Guitar's debut in 1990, I've had the privil ege of t alking with scores of songwrit-

stumble on an unexpected ly cool sound you would

5

never have found intentionally.

ers-luminaries like Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, and Elvis Costello as well as younger-generation talent like Jakob Dylan, Erin McKeown, and Jason Mrazabout the role their guitars play in the writing process . And th ough each arti st's process is as indiv idual and idiosyncratic as their songs, there have been recurring themes in these conversa tions about how to use (and, sometimes, not use)

EHPEAimEnTinG WITH /OUnD

4

fingerings. When I was a beginning guitarist trying

CAPO UP. One simple way t o find fresh sounds on the guitar is to play around with

McCartney was playing in standard tuning down a

a capo . Take a familiar progression of

whole step. In stead of wrestling, as I was, with F and ~ barre chords, he used easy key-of-G shapes

capo at the thi rd fret , and you're playing in the not-

that sounded in the key of F. Since then I've been

Ex.1a

D

.

~

ACCIDEnT/ AnD ln/PIAATIOn

0

r;

-

• ~ 1t •

~

2

0

0

o--o

0

chops, but to write a song we need to stretch be-

Ex.1b

D sus2

A1

-- """' - 71

3 3

2 3 3

cess lies a paradox: as musicians we devote ourse lves to acc umul ating knowledge and

,.

G

_j'

~

partnership of a songwriter and a guitar.

1

t o lea rn "Yest erday; I wish I'd kn own th at Paul

open chords in the key of G, for inst ance; add a

these arti sts over the past t wo decades about the

GET LOST. At the core of the songwriting pro-

a whole step to put the guitar into a less

familiar range while still being able to play normal

the guitar to discover and develop new song ideas. Here are some in sights and ti ps glea ned from

TUNE DOWN. Converse ly, you ca n lower the tuning of all the strings a half step or

r1 r'l

r1

-

~

I

-

~

~

,J, ,L,fM,L,J A 7sus4

G 6add9

yond what we know and ca n do. We have t o play and sing something we do not yet know how t o play and sing. How does that happen? For many songwriters, th e key is to pull the rug

0

out from under their kn owledge somehow- to brea k free of habits so th e guitar becomes less

0

familiar, accidents st art happening, and instinct

2

0

3--3

3 0

takes over. In the words of John Sebastian of the Lovin ' Spoonful, songwriters are "all t rying to do thi s in one way or another: shake yourself loose

Ex. 2a

from th e patterns that your fingers are used t o

Am,....,...,....,

0

0

~

0

3

G

that might have a unique quality. Good things do

~

2

1

THINK LESS. One way t o st eer c lear of standard pattern s is to t ry t o avoid recognizing th e patterns at all. El vis Costello is

an intriguing case-he's sophisticated enough to write chamber music orchest rations yet as a gui-

r;

0

1

2

2

2

0

•

0 0

0

__......,

note on the guitar fretboard and asked me what it ~

-

~

1---1

1

2

3

2

3

1

__......,

~

-

3-

__,...,

~

-

i

2-

2

1

F~s

__......,

~

1

3

Gs

A sus2

"If somebody wa lked up t o me and pointed t o a

-4

0

3

~

:::;

-4

0

...,...,....,

~

:::;

Ex. 2b

tarist maintains a punk rocker's proud ignorance.

was, I wouldn 't have th e first idea;· Costello said.

2

4fJ-';J

0

...,...,....,

~

-

:;··

4

come out of throwing yourself off the cliff."

2

F

,_.,....,

following. That's how you come up with something

,J,

0

3

-

= ...

:::: -4

~

"I've deliberately left certain things vague about the guitar, because I like the primitive aspect of the

0

way I play and think about the guitar. I never think about what key I'm in. I ju st start t o play and hope for the best : 48 AcousticGuitar.com

h

0

2

2

0

2

0

2

2

3

0

0

0

0

3

2

1

2

0---0

0

3

2

3

2

23-

1 ACOUSTIC GUITAR January 2012

repeatedly surprised to learn how many songs were

8

written in lowered tunings, from John Fogerty classics ("Proud Mary; "Bad Moon Rising," " Fortunate

PLAY SINGLE-NOTE LINES. Th e vast maj ority of singer-songwriters use guitars strictly for strumming chords or simple fingerpick-

Son") to more reoent tracks by Keller Williams and

i ng accompaniment, but a II kinds of interesting

Ben Harper.

possibilities arise when you incorporate singlenote lines and melod ies on guitar. Bruce Cockburn

6

TWEAK THE CHORDS. " It's amazing how

onoe described trying to "find things for the guitar

much cooler it gets when you change one

t o do that compl ement what's being sung or that

note in a chord ," Sea n Watkin s once sa id

help support it. Sometimes it's playing th e melody

in a conversation with his th en-ba nd mat es in

along with myself, at other times it's playi ng more

Nickel Creek. His guitar parts often use moda l

of a moving background part."

chords (with no third) and suspensions that add a

As Cockburn 's mu sic demonstrates, you don't

nice openness t o the sound . Check out the differ-

need t o play chords all th e time- you ca n have

enoes between Examples 1a and 1b, and between

interludes with ju st a bass run or a melody lin e

Examples 2a and 2b, t o hear how a one-finger

that give shape and character to your song. Think

change in a chord makes a big impact.

of the signature guitar line in the Grateful Dead's

When you're exploring song ideas on

"Friend of the Devil "-just a descending G-maj or

your guitar, be sure you are ready to

"You are only Of good a fongwriter Of you are a guitar player or inftrumentalift."

preserve whatever intriguing things

strummed G and C chords.

you find, because chanoes are, even a

PLAYinG WITH RHYTHm

idea exactly as it first appeared. Some

short time later, you won't remember an

9

- John mayer

7

scale. The song wouldn't be the same with simple

USE YOUR FOOT. Nothing is more inspiring

musicians who read and write musi-

in songwriting than a great groove, and as

cal notation-Pete Seeger and Richard

severa l groove-meister songwriters have

Thompson, for instanoe-keep a note.

UNCHAIN THE MELODY. An in sight about

t old me, you've got to feel it with your body t o de-

book and pen handy to jot down snippets

chord s and melodies from a young David

li ver it on guitar. "Th e rhythm comes from th e

of music and words that come to mind.

Wil cox-interviewed 20 yea rs ago-still

foot ;• Richie Havens said. "That is my body metro-

Many songwriters, myself included, rely

rings true for me. " I lea rned from li st ening t o

nome, and it is part of the playing to me." Th e

on portable digital recorders (like the Zoom H2n or Edirol R.{)9HR), which allow

James Taylor that you don't want your melody to be

same is true for Chris Smither, whose tapping feet

the root of the chord," Wi lcox said . "You wa nt the

are integral t o his sound.

you to copy amazingly good-sounding

melody to be an interesting note in the chord . And

If you're not accust omed to keeping the beat

if you have a given melody note, there are different

with your feet, put down your guitar at first and just

iTunes for easy access later. An iPhone or

chords that go with it, so pick one where the mel-

sing over foot taps as you're working on a song.

other smartphone with a recording app

ody is a fifth or a seventh or a third or a ninth, but

When you reintroduce the guitar, work on syncing

can perform the same function-a bonus

not the tonic."

the movement of your strumming/picking hand

is that if you want to remember your

with your foot taps . Think of your guitar as support-

hand positions, you can make a quick

To make thi s concrete, take a look at Examples 3a and 3b (play the same accompanim ent-shown

audio files right onto your computer or

ing the beat rather than th e other way around.

video too. Whatever tool you prefer, high-

in Example 3a- for both examples). Notioe that in

or low-tech, make sure it's readily avail-

Example 3a the melody notes are the sa me as the

WRITE FROM THE BASS. The other

melody lifts free of the chords and has much more

10

impact.

Sext on, for in stance, even asks sound engineers

root s of the chords, while in Example 3b the melody is shifted onto other notes. In this version, the

able whenever and wherever inspiration

essential component of good rhythm

strikes, and that it is quick and simple to

is the bass lin e. Some songwriters

use so you can stay in the creative zone

think of the guitar primarily as a bass-Martin

rather than focusing on the technology.

Ex. 3a Melody

G

t-

Em

G

D

o•

t-

'I

D

Am7

Accompaniment I

II

~

n 3

r--..

1-r

.

o· I

•

~

0-0-0- - 1 - 1 0-0-0- - 0 - 0 2--2- 0 0 0

""""' 2-2

•

L...J

~

l,~!r

Am7

s

lr


f

"" •

~

2-2 0-0-0- - 0 - 0 3-3 2 - - 2 -1---2--0- - 0 - 0 - 0 - - 0 - 0 2--2- 0 0 0

3-3

3

0

G

Em

lr

lr

Ex. 3b Melody

G

.

I

1-r

""""' 2-2

3-3

•

L...J 2-2-

3-3-

2 - - 2 -1---2--00

D

F

lfJ j

l AcousticGuitar.com 49

t JOnGWAITinG AnD THE GUITAR to mix hi s guitar as if it were a bass. KT Tunstall

Jakob Dylan talked a bout occasiona lly coming

singer-songwriter," Stephen Fearing sa id, "but I

joked that as a songwriter she'd be totally fine if

across "me lodies that seem like they've been

think that us s inger-songwriter types have ex-

someone stole all the treble strings on her gui-

arou nd forever but you ca n't place them." When

plored a lot of the limitations and have pushed

tar-songs like "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"

this happens, don't second-gu ess yourself and

the bubble out. And I'm interested in being a

and "Hold On" are bu ilt around one-string bass/

feel you need to be more complicated- get out of

songwriter now."

percussion riffs.

the way and let simplicity speak.

For a guitar-playing songwriter steeped in folk

From a songwriting perspective, focusing on the low end of the guitar has many advantages. A strong bass lin e bolsters the groove and leaves a lot of space for exploring melody, and if you start with bass and melody you have many options

and rock, studying these older strains of American

13

USE A TEMPLATE. Many folk songwrit-

pop music ca n broaden your harmonic vocabu lary.

ers, in the Woody Guthrie tradition, have created songs by writing new words to

an old melody. A subtler approach is to use an

when filling in the chords later. Let's say in one

existing song as a template-a melodic, rhythmic,

passage you play a G note in the bass; you cou ld,

or chordal structure--over wh ich you write your

of course, put a G chord over it, but you cou ld

song, ultimately replacing all the identifiable ele-

BEYOnD GUITAR

16

STEER CLEAR OF SONGWRITERS. Some artists find inspiration in music that's completely outside the songwrit-

ing tradition and may not feature guitar at all. "I

also play, for instance, a Cor Em voicing with a G

ments of the old song with your own ideas. Billy

don 't listen to a lot of songwriters, and I don 't lis-

in the bass, as shown be low. These other chords

Bragg wrote his song "The Few" to the tune of Bob

ten to a lot of pop music, which is funny because

may bring a different color or direct ion to your

Dylan 's "Desolation Row•; he later rewrote the

I'm a songwriter and I write pop; Jason Mraz sa id.

progression.

melody but kept the same phrasing. John McCrea

Instead, he gravitates toward other genres, such

of Cake used a Robert Frost poem as a template

as electron ica and skaterj surfer in strumenta ls,

C!G

3X2010

C!G

113040

Em/G 312000

Em/G XX3000

11111111

11

PLAY WITH LOOPS. Growing numbers of songwriters put aside the guitar altogether

for hi s song "Bound Away; eventually replacing

and in songwriting he emu lates these in strumenta I

nearly all of Frost's words with his own.

tones and styles with his voice. Songwriting is, to a s ignificant degree, a pro-

14

ANALYZE FAVORITE SONGS. Getting

cess of remixing and reimagining ideas you've

in side songs you love and studying

heard in other music, so exposing yourself to off-

their structure is a great way to spark

the-beaten-track sounds can help separate your

your own writing--especially if you've got the right

own songs from the pack. Go explore.

theoretical tools. The point of learn ing theory, Pau I

and write from a rhythm, at least in the

Simon said, is to have options. "There may be a

early stages. Erin McKeown, for in stance, often

time when you want to express something that's

kicks off her songwriting with stock beats in Apple's

more complex, and it wou ld be nice to have that

GarageBand (which she describes as being " like

ava ilable to you if that were the case. And there

Pro Tools with mittens"). She sets up a loop-

are times when ju st the s implest of chords is

sometim es stacking two rhythms on top of each

going to be the most satisfying, and you would

other-a nd improvises over it with a bass, key-

wa nt to know that that moment had arrived. I think

board, or just her voice. " I' m looking for unex-

the more technique you have, the more choices

pected ways that things rub aga inst each other that

you have."

might be inspiring," she sa id. "The guitar comes in

For a songwriter, perhaps the most useful theo-

later when I have a clearer idea of what I want to

retica I tool is to think of chord progressions not by

add or say."

their letter names but by their number relation-

With any kind of hand drum, tambourine,

ships in a key; for exam pie, in stead of memorizing

shaker, or noise-making household object, play a

a progression in the key of D as D-Bm-A, think of

"Find thing1 for the guitar to do that complement what/ being 1ung or that help 1upport it." -Bruce Cockburn

17

EMULATE OTHER INSTRUMENTS. Immersing yourself in music that is not centered on guitar ca n also lead you to

new approaches to the guitar. Some of the most

rhythm and improvise melodies and words over it.

it as 1-vi-V (D is the I chord in the key of D, Bm is

original guitarists developed their singular styles

If you find it hard or distracting to play percussion

the vi, and A is the V). Armed with this information,

by stea ling ideas from other in strume nts. Kelly

and sing at the same time, create a rhythm loop

you can figure out how to play the same progres-

Joe Phe Ips tal ked a bout adapting fiddle and five-

with recording software or record three or four min-

sion in a different key: 1-vi- V in the key of G is G-

string ba njo sounds to guitar, with spectacu lar re-

C-Am~;

utes of percussion you can play around with. I've

Em-D; in the key of C it's

etc. For more

sults. Follow your ears and try to play your guitar

writte n many songs starting with percussion

on this subject, see Adam Levy's "Magical Mystery

as if it were a piano, mandolin, or dj embe, and

grooves that I recorded, put on my iPod, and then

Chords" (October 2011).

sang over while walking my dog or driving.

ffilnlnG TRADITIOn

12

LET YOURSELF BE SIMPLE. It's tempting to show off your chops and use the

maybe you'll shake loose some song ideas in the process.

15

DIG INTO THE PAST. It's an odd twist of popular music history that, since the '70s, singer-songwriter has become as

much a genre of music as a job descripti on for

18

PLAY ANOTHER INSTRUMENT. You can a Iso put aside your guitar and actua lly play a piano, mandolin, or djembe.

trickiest moves and voicings you know

someone who sings his or her own songs. Many

When you pick up an instrument you don 't know

on the guitar. But what feeds the guitarist's ego

(or most) s inger-songwriters these days are influ-

how to play and ju st try to make sounds, you're

isn't necessarily what li steners are seeking in a

enced primarily by other singer-songwriters, with

automatically in a discovery zone that's idea l for

song; a simple melody, a good beat, and emotiona l

little knowledge of songwriting traditions from

songwriting. Erin McKeown told me about writing

clarity tend to connect much more directly and

other eras or genres. Several artists have told me

songs on other instruments, including various ac-

powerfully than clever or fancy accompa niment.

of their interest in the Tin Pan Alley era, when

cordions and a banjo mandolin-all purchased

Thi s is what Pete Seeger, citing Woody Guthri e,

songwriters like Irving Berlin a nd Cole Porter

from Lark in the Morning (larkinam.com), which

ca lled "the genius of simplicity; and it's a quality

turned out songs based more around piano than

she recommends as a "great songwriting tool" for

of traditional music that's been passed along for

guitar, and around universal lyrica I themes rather

its selection of affordable, playable instruments

generations.

than ultrapersonal revelations. " I clearly am a

from all over the world.



If you write a song on an unfamiliar instrument, you may well wind up transferring it back t o th e guitar. But that in strument did its job-leading you t o a song you wouldn't have found otherwise. PLAY NO INSTRUMENT. Ri cha rd Th ompson is one of many guitari st/ songwriters who say they do some of their best writing with no in strument, just singing or imagining sounds. Working on songs thi s way, you're not limited by your in strumental skill s-you can dream big and lat er on figure out how to play the sounds in your head. You can also wa lk around, which I find creates a great spaoe for writing-the motion and the changes in scenery keep th e senses engaged, avoiding the self-consciousness and pressure of staring at a blank page while allow. ing the imagination t o roam freely. Repetitive physica l activities like driving, doing ya rd work, and taking a shower can encourage creat ive thought for the same reason.

19

THE BIGGER PICTURE PLAY BETTER TO WRITE BETTER •vou rea lly are onl y as good a songwnter as you are a gu1tar player or instrumentalist ; John Mayer sa id. "Th ere are so many mu sicians that come up, so many girls with great voices and great lyrics, and th ey play the ir own in struments and they haven't lea rned them enough. All they can do is work with four or five chords. That's why I am really lucky and eternally grateful that the order of events happened in the way th ey did: I learned the neck up and down, and th en when it came time to sing over stuff, I had a world of stuff I could throw at my voioe to sing over." So think of your guitar and songwriting agendas as one and the same. Expand your range on guitar t o expand your range as a songwriter.

20

KEEP YOUR EARS OPEN. I've a lways been struck by how many songwriters fee I th at they a re ultimate ly not in charge of the creati ve process-that th e songs have a life of their own, and the job of the writer is t o figure out where a song wa nts to go and help it get there. Greg Brown put it thi s way: • 1f I say, 'I am in charge here; I'm going t o do you this way'or even if I say, 'I am going to write these kinds of songs'-it never works. I have to listen." Th e notion that writing a song is about being a good listener, not about proving your clevern ess or showing off your chops or getting people to like you, is liberating. The same holds true for the guitar--good li stening is essential for good playing. Keep your ears open, and you will hear songs stirring in your guitar. AC

21

Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers ljeffreypepperrodgers.com), a grand prize winner in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, is author of Rock Troubadours and The Complete Singer-Songwriter. January 2012 ACOUSTIC GUITAR

Steve Kaufman's Acoustic Kamps Look at this unbeliet,able 2012 Instructor Line-Up!

Specially Designed for the True Beginner through Professional On The Campus of M ar yville College in Maryville, T N - 17 mi. So. of Knoll:ville, T N. Old Time-Traditional Week -June 10·16: Flatpicking: Rolly Brown, Mark Cosgrove, Chris Newman Dan Crary, Steve Kaufman, Eric Thompson; Fingerpicking: Pat Kirtley, Hatvey Reid, Richard Smith; Old Time Fidclle: Brad Leftwich, Suze Thompson; Mountain Dulcinter: Joe Collins ; Songwriting: Steve Spurgin; Bass: Rusty Holloway; Old Tinte Banjo: Evie Ladin; Celtic Harp: Maire Nl Chathasaigh Bluegrass W eek- June 17-23: Flatpicking: John Carlini, Beppe Gambetta, A dam Granger, Andy Hatfield, Jeff Jenkins, Chris Jones, Wayne Taylor; Mandolin: Bruce Graybill, Don Rigsy, Emory Lester, John Moore, Rol and White, Radim Zenkl; Bluegrass Banjo: Gary Davis, M urphy Henry, Alan Munde, Jeff Scroggins; Dobro 1\\f : Ivan Rosenberg, Mike W i tcher; Bass: Rusty Holloway, Missy Raines; Bluegrass Fiddle: Dennis Caplinger, Bobby Hicks; Singing Class: Sally Jones; NEW~ Kid's Kamp : Marcy Marxer; Instructors Both W eeks - Jamming: Tony A., K eith Yoder; 101 Instructor: Cindy Gray

~~~·s Clfo

Your

~~

• 11

Organized Morning and Afternoon "All Level" J a Highly Focused Afternoon Panel Sessions Ensemble Work and Instrument Intro Classes

11

Voted Bes t Camps Each Y ear Since 2002

Find Out Why!

$800.00 Paid Registration Includes :

All Classes , Housing and Meals plus ~

Admission to All The N ightly C oncerts Open Mic Time and Nightly Jams Airport Shuttle S ervice from Knoxville Airport (T

Plus much} much more. Call for info. Register Today - It Only Takes a Moment!

For more info. Register Online or Call

www .flatpik.com PO Box 1020, Alcoa, TN 37701 [email protected] 865-982-3808 Cl asses For the 100% Totally "New Picker s" to Professional Levels - You' re Read Now! Re 'ste1· Today


THE JAZZ VIRTUOSO TALKS

ABOUT BARITONE GUITARS,

THE BEAUTY OF POP STANDARDS,

AND HIS

ALL-ACOUSTIC

ALBUM. WHAT'S IT

ALLABOU BY MARK

SMALL

.

.

.

.

S

ince he burst on the scene in the mid-1970s, Pat Metheny has been regarded by critics and millions of fans as one of the most distinctive and innovative jazz

guitarists and composers of his time. His discography lists almost three dozen tides divided among the Pat Metheny Group, solo projects, numerous collaborations, and a handful of film scores. His recorded legacy has netted him an astonishing 17 Grammy Awards (in ten different categories) and record sales topping 20 million. Metheny is best known for weaving fleet-fingered electric guitar lines effortlessly over the adventurous chord changes of his compositions. What's It All About, Metheny's latest album, is a departure in that it's a solo acoustic guitar recording that contains none of his original pieces or vinuosic singlestring excursions. It's an introspective look back at some of the popular songs from the 1960s and 70s that deeply affected him in his musically formative years. The selections run the gamut from harmonically sophisticated pop ballads to surf music to boss nova to songs by the Beatles [for a transcription of '1\.nd I Love Her," see page 58], Simon and Garfunkel, Astrud Gilberto, the Association, the Chantays, the Carpenters, the Stylistics, and others. Each tune is given a heartfelt and thoughtful musical treatment that includes plenty of the poignant melodic and harmonic invention that defines Metheny's style.

In our conversation, the Missouri native offered a glimpse at his back pages, including early recollections of learning guitar chords around the campfire and his discovery of the acoustic guitar in the ’70s, and talked about how he approaches playing the baritone guitar that is the main voice on his new album. You play the baritone guitar almost exclusively on your new album. What led you play it so much? METHENY My use of that guitar began with the One Quiet Night record about ten years ago. I’d had the baritone made by [Canadian luthier] Linda Manzer lying around for a few years. I’d pick it up and play a couple of widely voiced chords and think, wow, that’s gorgeous. But then, as soon as I’d play some close voicings, it was so muddy that I’d wonder

checks I’d whip out a version of this or that tune, and people would always say, “You should do a record like that someday.” And so here we are. What’s It All About was done in a very similar way to One Quiet Night—in my apartment. One great thing about the modern world is that it’s pretty easy to do 24-bit, 96 kHz recordings with a couple good mics. The way your baritone is strung, you play the melodies of these songs mostly on the middle strings of the guitar. That must have required making a conceptual switch in your mind. METHENY It’s funny how this [instrument] works. It’s a little bit like a ukulele or a fivestring banjo in that there are high notes near the bottom of the range. And then middlerange stuff is up at the top. I tend to think of the baritone really more like three parts of a

I

really admired PAUL SIMON. When I first started out, I remember reading and studying an analysis of his FINGERPICKING TECHNIQUE. I was ALWAYS a BIG fan—and of course, James Taylor.

what I’d ever use it for. I couldn’t really crack it. Then I remembered this guy, Dr. Ray Harris from my hometown, who was this eccentric but brilliant guy—a chiropractor, inventor, and jazz guitarist. He would make weird guitars for himself in his garage. One of them was a double-neck guitar. The lower of the two necks was partly in a baritone range with the low strings tuned down a fifth and the top two strings tuned up an octave. I remember picking it up and playing it when I was a teenager thinking, wow, that’s great. I flashed on that when I made One Quiet Night. So I took off the middle two strings on the [Manzer] baritone and put high strings on there. Then this whole universe just opened up. I hit “record” and played very freely for about six hours—that’s where the bulk of [One Quiet Night] came from. Later I came back and did a few conventional tunes. Over the past ten years, I’ve played the baritone in virtually every concert I’ve done—close to a thousand gigs. I’ve really figured the instrument out now. What prompted you to make this record of cover songs? METHENY Last year I did about 150 concerts playing the music I wrote for Orchestrion. That was very complex music, and the trio record I made before that, Day Trip, had all kinds of wacky, hard stuff. Before that was The Way Up, an hour-long piece of music. So the past few years were a pretty dense period for me in terms of writing. At various sound 54 AcousticGuitar.com

string quartet. You’ve got the violin on the middle two strings, the viola or the upper part of the cello is on the top two strings, and then you’ve got the cello on the bottom two strings. In my mind, I think of it as playing three parallel, two-stringed instruments. The open strings are really essential for bridging the somewhat awkward leaps that are required to make the music happen. That’s been fun to explore because we all know that on a conventional six-string, the high E and B strings present opportunities in terms of orchestration. If you have the E string open and you move a whole bunch of notes around underneath it, you can get that really cool guitaristic effect that we all love. With the baritone, there are four high notes that can kind of ring over other things. That opens up a whole lot of possibilities. You can get a certain family of voicings that you just could never get on a conventional guitar. You can combine those with a super-juicy low end that gives you a bass function—a weight that does not exist on a conventional guitar except in a small range from the low G down to the low E. The baritone offers an expanded set of possibilities along with huge limitations. It’s a funny mix of things. Thinking back to your version of Ornette Coleman’s “Lonely Woman” on 1983’s Rejoicing, was that the beginning of your playing jazz tunes solo on an acoustic guitar? METHENY Definitely. That was a real breakthrough moment for me. My relationship to

acoustic guitar emerged very late in my musical development. I don’t think I even owned an acoustic until the middle-’70s. Was 1979’s New Chautauqua your first serious foray into acoustic guitar playing? METHENY In high school and even through the Bright Size Life album [1975], I don’t think I ever played acoustic guitar. Linda Manzer showed up around 1982 or ’83 with the guitar I featured on “Lonely Woman.” I didn’t know something with that kind of sound and balance even existed. It opened up a whole world for me. Around that time, I also started playing some nylon-string guitar on the record Travels. After that point, my acoustic life emerged. But the hard reality in jazz is that the true acoustic guitar—without pickups or mics— has a very limited set of applications because of the instrument’s small dynamic range. Issues about dynamics on the guitar are pretty huge, so I kind of went at full bore on the electric side. For this record—as acoustic as it is—I still thought a lot about what mics to use and how to use the DI. All those elements are a big part of what makes acoustic guitar a viable platform for me in my day-to-day life as a musician. I spend a lot of time on mics, pickups, strings, and so forth. Did you start playing with your fingers as well as a pick when you first picked up the guitar? METHENY Yeah. Right at the beginning, I was learning bebop tunes as well as bossa nova tunes. I always loved that style, so I guess that my connection to fingerstyle playing is really coming more from bossa nova than from classical guitar or elsewhere. Were there any folk musicians that influenced you? METHENY I really admired Paul Simon. When I was first starting out, I remember reading and studying an analysis of his fingerpicking technique in guitar magazines. I was always a big fan—and of course James Taylor. What about the rigorous strumming you do? Where did that element of your style come from? METHENY My first connection to the guitar was at Boy Scout camp, sitting around the campfire with somebody showing everybody how to play a G chord and passing a guitar around to play songs like “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore.” Guitars are great for that. It’s a fantastic sort of half-rhythm, half-harmonic instrument. And at the time of New Chautauqua, I was really struck that nobody had utilized strumming that much in jazz. There was a tiny little hint of it in the playing of Gabor Szabo. But nobody really explored strumming in a ACOUSTIC GUITAR January 2012

loose rhythmic kind of way; where you could play with a drummer like Jack DeJohnette. That's what the lead-off track on my 80/81 album is about. Right from the beginning, before I could even play anything, I could strum, and I've always loved doing that. On the new album, that's represented on the track "Pipeline." The first three tunes I ever learned to play were "Pipeline," the Peter Gunn theme, and-even though it may seem a little bit odd- "Girl from Ipanema." So this record has two of the three songs that I began with. And it's probably no coincidence that those two are the furthest away in interpretation from the original versions. In general, the interpretations of the tunes on this record are more poetic than literal. To my ear, the one that is closest to the original is "And I Love Her."

METHENY That's a pretty straight version of the tune played on nylon-string guitar- the only one on the record played on nylon-string. There are a couple tunes on the record that have been done many times in so many different ways. You kind of have to come up with a rationale for wanting to play a tune like that. I've always thought that '1\nd I Love Her" was a really great vehicle for improvising. You can [improvise] on it without ever playing the melody; and people will still know what song it is. That's a great quality in any standard.

METHENY'S FINGERNAILS SOLUTION The baritone guitar's neck has a long-scale length of 28.937 inches; standard long-scale length for a dreadnought is 25.5 inches. That makes spacing between the lower frets on a baritone greater than a standard six-string. demanding long stretches for the left hand. There are challenges for the right hand, too. Metheny found the baritone's heavygauge bass strings to be quite rough on his nails. "fingernails were always a big problem for me," Metheny says. "But about ten years ago I was doing a tour with [bassist[ Charlie Haden, and I was struggling with my fingernails. A guy named Carlos Juan from Stuttgart, Germany, talked to me after one of our concerts. Maybe he noticed that I was having nail issues when he told me that he was making a product for flamenco players called Power Nails (carlosjuan.eu). I started using the Power Nails package that he makes and it changed my life. He's really experimented to get the best-sounding version of an acrylic material that wor1

Probably the most deconstructed tune on this record is "Girl from /panema." What led you to such an unusual first chord and such a stow tempo?

METHENY That tune is very advanced when you think about all the tunes that have been hits in the last SO years. I don't think there's any tune that comes close to it in terms of complexity. I've always thought there was a sort of inherent darkness in that tune that had never really been looked at. That might just be my own eccentric view, but I wanted to go with the undercurrent of the song. Also, if you're going to play "Girl from Ipanema" at this point, you better have some point of view on it. On the other hand, the way I played that tune is something that I've done on a lot of songs lately, where I'm not really playing the form of the song. It's almost like an Ornette Coleman approach where you play the shape and feeling of the song. If I felt I had to leave out a couple bars or go someplace else, I just did it. There's a little bit of that [approach] on a couple other tunes like Carly Simon's "That's t he Way I've Always Heard It Should Be." There's a point in that one where I just started thinking about what the words were and I went off into a whole other thing. One of the beauties of playing solo is that you can do stuff like that. Those liberties are the best part of [solo playing] from an improvising standpoint. If you feel like playing the bridge a half-step lower, you can do it. Throughout the record there's a lot of modulating from key to key at will, going up a half step, down a half step, and taking [the song] to some other place. [The baritone's] four open, high strings can have wildly different meanings in different keys. Sometimes they're the upper extension and sometimes they're the root or the fifth. I really needed those four strings to function in a lot of different ways to keep things interesting. Are the songs on this record really formative tunes for you? Do they reveal a bit of the foundation of your writing and playing?

METHENY They are truly formative pieces for me. If you check out "Betcha by Golly Wow," and then listen to "Omaha Celebration" on Bright Size Life, there's more than a little bit of influence there. I really loved that song at the point when I wrote "Omaha Celebration." But "Omaha" goes quite a bit further with all the

Metheny's Linda Manzer baritone guitar.

moving sus4 chords. Henry Mancini's music in the '60s was also huge for me, and I still can't get enough of Burt Bacharach's songs. Some of the songs on the record have a durability that I've been identifying lately in other people's music and in my own. You can write a really hip tune, go out to play it in 30 concerts and find that it may or may not survive. It may sound great for the first four, and then after that for whatever reason, it just doesn't work night after night. You run out of things to do with it or whatever. [Bacharach's] 'rutie" has got the kind of durability that very few tunes have. You can play it night after night and you're never going to run out of stuff to do with it. In my own world, the tune '!James" is one that I've played a billion times in a billion different ways. It has that same kind of durability. You can just pound on it and it's always got somet hing to spring back at you. Playing Paul Simon's "Sound of Silence" on your 42-string Pikasso guitar must demand an awful lot to keep the melody, the bass notes, and sympathetic strings all going simultaneously.

METHENY That was a hard one. The strings on the Pikasso where I had to play the melody are very close together. It's not easy to get real specific with them. It's much easier to get big washes of color and sound. I wanted to do a Paul Simon song, and that one just fit this instrument. It was also a nice way to expand the record a little bit beyond the sotmd of the baritone guitar. Some of the strings on the Pikasso are so light that when you pluck them, they kind of wobble and then arrive at the pitch. It's very exotic sounding.

METHENY It's kind of like a koto. The note gets sharp and then it comes down to pitch. With his Virtuoso series of solo jazz guitar albums in the '70s, Joe Pass made a statement about the music of his time and his approach to playing. On What's It All About and One Quiet Night, you've brought the sonic palette of the acoustic guitar and more recent repertoire to the table. Do you think of these recordings as an update of solo jazz guitar playing?

METHENY It's hard for me to know anything about that. I'm too involved in the day-to-day of it all. When I think about Joe's records, he was swinging for the fences there. They represented massive leaps and bounds in technical AcousticGuitar.com 55

PAT METHENY advancement for the instrument. In a way, this is almost the opposite of that. There's really very little on here that's hard to play. It's more about what's underneath the music than what's on the top level. There's a certain kind of harmony and touch that I've been interested in for a long time that is crystallizing, to a certain degree, on this record. Like One Quiet Night, What's It All About is a very personal kind of a record. I don't know that I see it as anything other than that. I also don't know that I would have been able to make a record like this at any other time in my life-until right now. AC Mark Small (marksmallguitar.com) lives in Boston, Massachusetts. His eighth album, Scenes, features his original pieces for solo classical guitar.

WHAT HE PLAYS

Designed to be the 41 5-789-0846 56 AcousticGuitar.com

Ultin~ate

Fingerstyle Guitar

Scfioen6er8 §uitars

"It's an entirely Unda Manzer record." Metheny says of What's It All About. "All the instruments were made by Unda. She's amazing, an unbelievably good instrument builder in every way." Carolyn Chrzan, Metheny's longtime guitar tech, says the instrument heard on seven of the album's ten tracks is a baritone guitar made with curly koa back and sides, a European spruce top, mahogany neck, and ebony fingerboard and bridge. It's tuned to the same basic intervals as a standard six-string but a pertect fifth lower. From low to high, the strings are pitched AD G CEA. The sixth and fifth strings are La Bella bronze wound (.065 and .056, respectively). The middle two strings are tuned an octave higher than normal and are D'Addario Bright Wound .022 (fourth string) and D'Addario Plain Steel.o16 (third). The top two are .026 and .017, also 0'Add ario Plain Steel. The custom-made Pikasso guitar, designed collaboratively by Manzer and Metheny and built 1984-tl6, is heard on "Sound of Silence." The Pikasso has 42 strings and includes a standard six-string guitar neck plus three sets of 12-strings that criss-cross the body at three different angles and are designed to function as open, non-fretted strings. (The guitar was featured in Acoustic Guitats second issue in 1990.) The six-string heard on "Pipeline" is set up with D'Addario J16 strings in standard tuning. The back and sides are Indian rosewood, the top is European spruce, the neck is mahogany, and fingerboard and bridge are made from ebony. The nyton-string guitar spotlighted on "And I Love Her· is a standard classical design with Indian rosewood back and sides, a Western cedar top, mahogany neck, and ebony fingerboard and bridge. It's in standard tuning, strung with GHS 2390 La Classique smoothwound classical guitar strings. "Linda puts so much of herself into these instruments," Metheny says_ "They're all really spectacular and such a part of me now."

www.om28.com ACOUSTIC GUITAR January 2012

PAT METHENY plucking out the bass notes beneath with his thumb (shown with downsterns). He also frets all of the notes on the sixth string with his thumb over the neck of the guitar. This frees up more fingers for melody lines and chordal backup, enabling him to let notes ring out more easily than if the notes were all fretted with the fingers. But don't worry if you have trouble thumb fretting; you can still play the piece without it, though you may need to cut a few notes short while getting your hand in position for upcoming notes or chords. If you play the song this way, watch out for measures 30-31 and measure 49, where you'll need to fret across two frets with your index finger. To do this, hold down the sixth fret of the lowest string with your index finger and roll that finger back to simultaneously grab the fifth fret of the first string. - ANDREW DuBROCK

And I LOVE Her Words and music by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, arranged by Pat Metheny

'1\nd I Love Her" closes out Pat Metheny's tribute to his pop-music roots, What's It All About. While all of the artists represented on this record contrib-

uted to Metheny's musical beginnings, none may have been more influential than the Beatles. As Metheny says on his website, "Without them, I don't know if I even would have become a musician or a guitar player." Most of the songs on What's It All About are played on a steel-string baritone guitar, but Metheny plays "And I Love Her'' on a standard-ttmed nylon-string. Along with the natural loping rhythm found in the song, the chord choices, and the chordal stabs, the nylon-string guitar gives the song a touch more bossa nova flavor than the Beatles' original track. Metheny plays the melody and chordal notes with his fingers (shown in upsterns in the transcription),

lntro Gm7

....

t.

J . ---._ .h

....

r

~f

~

I

\

..

..

...

f

r"

simile on repeat

3- 23

""'

:--0

1 3- -33- -30-

3 3 0

330-

3- -3- 3

...,

t\

I

J __, J

~

--

r·

3 3 0

3

Fs

3

r

~r

1 2

0

0-

1--1-1

....

Om7

J

,_.....,

--

3-

Bb

3- 3-

r· D f

3

r

I

Cs

I

--

•

I

~

1'\

I

_.,

F maj13

I

I

r

.... __

r

I

-

rr· r r· ·-~· r r· -

-

3- 2---:

w JiJ

r·

pr

5- -~ 6-.-0- 2- 3- 3- - 2,-5- -5o- -o--o

3 30

3- 3- 3-

3

Om

Gm I

1-

"!

3

1

ur r

3-

3

3 2 0

Om7 l 1

n

I

35- 3 3- 2- -2""'------ 3o- -o- o- -o- 0-

3- 3 3- 3- 0- -2- 30- 0

r

-

Gm

r· Dr· D

f

3

. - -3 ---,

IJ_J

Om r-t-, ,-----11

1 1 5- 3- 1 - -1 3 3- -0- 2--3-- 3- 2 o- -o- 0

0

""'")

Gm

I

r

-

r rr r

5t.

r-3---J. .h I

~,

1

Verse

Gm7

..,

t\

..

-

1 3 2

3- 2- r-o 3

I J,...__.h

....

hI

h_

J

r

f

•~-----1 ----.--------.----o--.o-------.------5 _,,--3--1 §

1 -1lf---tr----3- - -3-3- t 2- o- o- - - - - + - -2- -22-

1 1-- +o-2-- r3- - !2 2- 2 3 +-3o o---o--o= o 1--1-1 - 3 ---------3

:~=t:-~- =.=.-1 -=::=====-1 ===-=--=-~~+--_-_-_-_-_-_3 3-=._o~3-=_o=+=====~~~----_-_-++----_-_o_-_-_--=-3- 3- 2 ~~-------~L---------L1 --1 -1--1 -

Om

Gm

t\ 1~

i111/f511

r rr 3 3-

""' 58

I

p---r·

::: 3 3- 0- 2- 3- 3 0

3- -3- 3

AcousticGuitar.com

Om11

Gm 4 ·4 4

p-r

1\

4

•

r

5--5--5--5 6:S· 3 3--3--3--3- r-32- 2- 2- 2- 2- r-30 0-

1\

• 3 30

ni1

rr

Cs

r:l1 - ~

.-rJ_ JI -

r· p r· D f

1 5 r---3- 1 - - 1 0- 2- 3- 3 00 o - -o- o- -o

3- -3- 3

Bb

r-

f 1 3

1

I

3

3- 21

~ r·r·

r--o 3-

3- 3-

0-

3-

0-


Fs

· · Om7

'I

2~

~

--

..

.

r

-

-

r· rr- r

-hI

r1

I

I

r -

...

JJ

r;

1-1-1-1- 1

_j) J -

ouo

s

0-0 3 - 3-3-3--3 2 - 2-2-2--2 0- 0 0 0

2

..tJ!m7

5 6-6 5-5

5-8

'li

hi

r

r-

t:l:T3-, ~J

Om9 I

j

~ r1

r

~ r

r rr 85-55-55--50--0-0-

0

Gm7

Gm

3~

-· r

Om

-

1~1

i'

-

r

0

0-2-3-3

3

3

=~

r· rr·

. ·-r r· ~-r -

G 1\

·=

~

·=~

1

ml

1\

·=

r r- rr- r

...

Om7

.nJ

'I

0

r-

f

~r·1·

Gm1

1

,........

I h

r· p r·

-

f

-

Df

pr

i.

n Ji- Om7.L: J~.J

Gm I

1\

r· .

3

f

r~r

Bbma7 1

I h]j

• L

pr

i.

5-5-5 0-1-8- -~5 6-6-6- 3 - 3 - - 3 6 5 6 5-5-5- 3-3 5 5--5 0-0-0 0-0 0 .....______.. 0-0

Fs ~

...

~

I

= "/ ==

r

--

5-6-=S 8-6- r-6 6 7

--

1

3--A

2

-

r 1- 3

-

r


r

~

6

)~

576 0-0

1\

n

-

c .."/ ~ ..

........

·~

1

7

~

1 0-2--0-03-33 Gm1

--

p i'

I 0

3

r

1\

0-1-5-6-5-3-8-,-~-5-8-12-'!'3-

r;

1 - - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1-1-1-1

~~

1\

I

Om7

rTJJDJ~

3

c

1 j)

r

Gm7

........._

r u rr rr

3--1

J

6

.J- .J J Tl

12-

3

3--3

5~

~

I

fj_J J .J J HJr~Jr~ h.Jf,.[ J J r-1 r T J -

f

1-1-1--1-'-1--1-1--1- 3

h

m- t\

i' ~ f

I

Cs

0-1-1-1-3-1- -4'7S-4?;-3-4-J::'I 0-'1-o 1 - 1 -f - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 3 3-1- 3 576-576 2 - 2 - 2 -r - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 3 3--3 475-475 n 0 - 0 -r - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 """0~0 0

r;

4~

~ ~h-Ill

r-n1

I

Bb

Guitar Solo

1\ ~

Om

I\

To Coda-$-

Fs 4~

pi'

Gm

Om7

5 1 1 6":5-3--3...-<.--r-3-3 5- - 3 - 3 - - 3 - r - - - 1 - 3 2--:i.L......r-3-3-0-2-3-3- - 2 - 2 - 2 3-2- r---~-0 o--o-o 0-0 0-00 0 3--3-3-33-f-1 1 0 '-3-3

,..r;

~..J;..

I;

s 12--s-5- s

1

5-5-5-5 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - ~---110 5-5-5-5- 0 0 0-0

1

Am7

,_._

~~ I

;

jr~

IJ_ _

I

13-12 811-13-Stt0--80 0

3 AcousticGuitar.com 59

PAT METHENY D m11

G m7

r·

r

5~

0

-

r

f

0

""'

o-

0- 1- 1- -0-

G'5

354-

0

~ r· 0-

2-

0 3 2

20

r· 0-

~

~r

0- 0- 0- 0 3- -3- 3 2- 2- 2- 2 0

20

D m9

r

r·

~

r

Gm 1

r

r 5- -35- -53

5

0

3

")

3

~

~

f

J

3-

0-

.

1

~.

f

3 60 AcousticGuitarcom

3

3

5

5- B-

5

5

6- -6-6 5- -5f-3 000 3- -3- 336

t\

~

r·

)J

I.J

0

0-

B-

6

33

~--2-

0

r

0-

L

r

3

0

1 3 2- 2

-· r 0

1

-r· 3- 2- f-0 1-

3 2

-· r

1

0

1

1 3 2

3

1

1 3 2

0-

-

1\

~

..

3- 3 2- 2 0- 0 1

3

B~

X- 5

6-

0

5-

~I ~

rJ1J

r

f

~

1- 6- 5-

5- 1- 3 3

0

3

1

1

3

-$- Coda F maj13

I

I

--

r r

0

3- -63 3

~~

1

•

rr 1- 1

I

~

r

I I J _ ..r-T-r-,

r

h_

J

r

1

I J.---.. ]I

j ,...._ J

L J'

I

j _..._ J

~

3

r

~

~

-r-5

B

0- 1- 5- 3 3- -3 3

3

I

R

Dm 1

pf

0- -0- 0-

kJ

5- -6- B

rrT1 Ji'T.J_.. ._ .J

1-

n ~ -.~. r f

B

D.S. at Coda r-t

h_

B- 60 0

Gm 1

pr·

Dm 1

Gm9

f5"

5- 5 6- -B 0

r· r-p r

~

B 5 5

f

6

_Fn.,

Fs

F6

0

-;

- 3

0

Jt--..J

3- 3

3

3

5

~r

3-

r . 1.

r 3

-

~ r· 1

A

Csus2

f

1- 1- 1-0 3- 3- 3- 3- 1 3- 3- 3

5

·- r .,.....,- -

-;

r

0

.J

7~

11

-&

rrli J J

r

7- 7- 75- 5- 55- 5- 5-

B bmaj13

1210-13-12-'fO- r -B10- -10 5 10-1010 5 0 0 o- r-o

D m9

""'

1- 3- .GS-r-5 3- 5- 57'"6- r-62- 4- 47'"5- r-50- 0

r

5- 5- 5- 5- 7 6- 6- 6- 6- 5 5- 5- 5- 5- 5 0 0

r T..t -~ ~ ..1

A m7

mn~

7~

r-

r

f

6

1- -1- 1

")

r·

n J-~~-

C1

n

}.._

D m7

r·

-;

J:

3

F maj13

6~

j) ~ Hfl:hl ~

Gl 3

3

B bmaj9

r

f

10..._,.--- 3 3

5- B5

D m7

rm.------)) ~

rT J J _n

".J I I .J _)l _.J.

..., Gm7 J.,...._ j ~

r· 1 ~f

I J.---..j) •

3

1

3

3- 2- 0 3-

0 3- 3

3 3

1

f

~

r.

•

0 3

- ..., ~

D

~

~

3 3

3- 2- 3

3 2 o

3 ACOUSTIC GUITAR January 2012

Book and CD Pack $19.99

Alternate tunings make sounds become available to you that you couldn't play In standard tuning: deep bass notes, evocative jazzy chords, new melodic patterns. Familiar fingerings produce strange and surprising results, sparking new song and arrangement ideas.

- (jL

·r·o-1

..:.:J ~_,

._J

o-rJP,v ~

ALTERNATE TUNINGS

In nine lessons, the book/CO pack Explore Alternate Tunlngs will help you get oriented in an array of alternate tunings used in many styles of contemporary music. Get started by retuning only one string. Proceed with the popular open-G, open-D. and D A D G A D tunings. Dig deeper into D A D G A D as well as tunings used in Hawaiian slack-key guitar, Celtic music, and Nashville studio sessions. Play 12 songs, including the slack-key classic " Hi 'ilawe," the old-time favorite "Old Joe Clark," and a beautiful arrangement of a prelude from Bach's cello suite. $19.99, Book/ CO, 72 pp., HL00696573

• 9 in-depth lessons for players of all levels • Learn chords and songs in 10 popular tunings • Play cool chords with easy fingerings • Try blues, Celtic, and Hawaiian tunings • Discover new sounds

Taught and recorded by the master teachers at Acoustic Guitar magazine and AcousticGuitar.com

INTROTODADGAO

n

..,. u ; •

~·~3£·& M

ORDER ONLINE AT: ~ AcoustlcGultar.comj books

II OR CALL (800) 637-2852 . . For dealer inquiries, please contact

~HAL• LEONARD•

{800) 222-4700 Sweetwater.com

_5wee1watet Music Instruments & Pro Audio

T

here are three main corollaries to Murphy's Law that apply to performing guitarists. There isn't much you can do about one of them from a gear perspective ("The minute you start playing a tender love ballad or instrumental, someone will order a frozen margarita at the bar''), but the contents of your gig bag can certainly affect the other two: 'The importance of the item you've neglected to bring to the gig will increase as your set time approaches," and 'The realization you've forgotten something will occur in inverse proportion to the time available to go get it." Everybody has forgotten something or brought the wrong gear to a gig- newbies, pros, everybody. It's such a bad feeling, and it's always made worse by the realization that it would have been dead easy to bring it, whatever "it" happened to be. In this article, we'll take a look at all the stuff you might want to bring with you when you're performing. Of course, not all suggestions will apply to everybody, or to every kind of gig. But if you've ever been curious about what besides your guitar you might need to gig successfully; read on!

BY STEVI E COYLE January 2012 ACOUSTIC GUITAR


GIG RIG

MAKE A CHECK LIST

.. . ..

..

festival stage at the last moment. A little index card tucked into your g with a Jist of evefY!hing you need can ease your mind tremendously. Just a little Escher-esque nightmare

For starters, here are a few items likely to be near the top of any guitarist's gig rig checklist. This is all guitar-related stuff that you can probably tote right in the case itself. And since most experienced giggers will agree that the fewer gear conveyances you can take with you the better, do consider toting much more than your guitar in your guitar case. ..,_ STRilrGS: Carry not just an extra set or two, but extra singles of whatever gauge you break most often. That way you won't have to bust up set after set for individual strings. Many strings are packed in plastic pouches these days, so feel free to jettison the superfluous cardboard box if space in your case is a consideration. ..,_ STRilrG WilrDER/CUTTER: One of these will not only save your wrists from twist fatigue, it'll speed up those inconvenient-yetinevitable last-minute string changes. ..,_ BRIDGE Pnrs: Anything this small and easy to keep on hand should be kept on hand. It's a lot easier to grab a new one than it is to search for the one that fell on the dark-and probably-not-terribly-sanitary backstage floor. Don't ask me how I know this.

..,_ C.APO : Most steel-string players (and even many nylon-stringers) use one, if they can find it. Having a few on handperhaps even dedicating a capo to each guitar case (within reason) might preclude the embarrassment of having to ask your audience if anyone happens to have one on them. If your pocketbook will allow, consider taking two capos to each gig: one to leave onstage during soundcheck and one to practice with backstage before the show. Remember, kind reader, that we are dealing with Murphy's Law here: '1\nything that can go wrong will go wrong." And it's not a fair fight. Unless you gird your proverbial loins, Murphy will win. This guy is good. How do you think he got a whole law named after him? ..,_ STRAP: There are sitters and there are standers. Standers will need a strap. All but the widest and thickest straps will fit in most cases, either in the pick box, under the headstock, or across the face of the instrument. The cardinal rule here is, "No plastic!" Vinyl straps can ruin the finish of your guitar. No fooling. Metal hardware, too. Ouch.


..,_ WIPilrG CLOTH: Your guitar's finish and your strings will thank you for keeping a soft cloth of some kind on hand. Well-worn T-shirts and clean cloth diapers are the old standbys, of course, but some folks prefer those new-fangled microfiber cloths. A wiping cloth can also serve double duty; between uses it can be used to protect items that need protection from other items in your case's pick box, like glass or metal slides and such. ..,_ CLIP-Olr TUlrER: No, compadre, owning and using an electronic tuner is not cheating. Tuning a guitar is a nontrivial task. And since you are a performer, you really shouldn't gamble your audience's evening on your belief that tonight you won't be prone to ear fatigue, excitement, nerves, or some unforeseen inability to hear onstage (or even backstage, before your set). ..,_ PICKS: Consider double and triple redundancy here. Leave your favorite flavors of picks in your case, your pockets, the glove box of your car, your hat-anywhere and everywhere you can stow a spare. Picks are cheap. Embarrassment is very expensive. ..,_ COOL LITTLE :SOX/:S.AG ( CLB) : Keep picks and capos-the stuff you are actually going to need onstage-in their own little box or bag, rather than loose in your case. It's much easier to get all those goodies to the stage this way. And consider making it part of your routine to always return those items to your CLB when you're finished with them. Routine is your friend! ..,_ SWE.AT:SUSTilrG: For some of us, there's a very fine line between perspiration and precipitat ion. And while, yes, OK, sweat is beautiful and natural and all that, let's face it: sweat rots your strings, it can truly compromise your playing by making your fretting hand stick to the neck, and only your Woodstock-generation fans are likely to prefer a soggy hug to a nice dry one after the show. So if you tend to gush, plan ahead. For hands, talcum powder has always been popular, but perhaps those discreet little permeable cloth bags you can get from the billiard supply outlet are preferable to toting a big square pink-and-white plastic squeeze bottle onstage. Not sexy. And even the finest acoustic music venues are unlikely to provide clean, dry, after-show apparel. That's strictly "BYO."


There was a time when acoustic guitar amplification was either a DeArmond pickup or- much more likely- a Shure SM57 microphone. Nowadays the range of items that can be put in the signal chain between your guitar and the PA is truly boggling. And while the details of which pickup or microphone to choose go beyond the scope of this article, let's examine some useful pieces of gear that will help you sound your best. ..,_ EXTERlrAL PREAIIIPS : Even if your guitar's electronics include an onboard preamp, a dedicated stand-alone unit is the performing guitarist's best friend. Supplying the PA with a stronger signal through an XLR cable will have its own salutary effect on your tone, particularly if you have a heavy strumming hand. Having EQ and notch filters onstage with you will often allow you to sound the way you want to sound. And that, friend, makes you play better. Many of these preamp/ DI boxes offer a phase switch that can be such a swift feedback and! or tone fix that it's often worth the price of admission alone, particularly in open-rnic or festival situations where preshow soundchecks simply don't happen. ..,_ PEDALS/DEVICES: Where does one begin? There's a world of effects out there (see "Sound Effects", page 70). There's one school of thought that holds that great sound lies in the happy middle ground between "some is better than none" and "less is more." But some folks prefer an amplified sound with more effected signal than "dry" signal. Whatever the length and configuration of the signal chain you put between your guitar and the speakers, it's important to do many shakedown cruises at home before you present your sotmds to a live audience. If you plan on using more than one outboard device, consider Velcroing them all to a pedalboard and prewiring them to minimize kerfuffle in getting on and offstage. ..,_ BATTERIES : Nine-volt (and in some cases M or AM) batteries are found in all sorts of

devices useful to the gigging musician, and these are particularly subject to Murphy's Law. Even if you have a spare, it may not work. Having a few spares on hand, howevei; will make you feel very smart, eventually; especially if you are careful to keep spares on hand of any battery types you're not likely to find at the 7-Eleven down the street from the venue. If you want to be the envy of your musician pals, snag some of those black plastic terminal caps from your local Radio Shack to keep the pole pieces of loose batteries from touching metal and discharging vast and dangerous amounts of heat. Another option is to put a bit of tape over the terminals. I knew a guy who knew a guy who learned the hard way not to keep nine-volt batteries in the same front pants pocket as his laundry money.


..,_ FLASHLIGHT: Club stages are often dark. Backstage is always dark. And being able to read the dials, switches, knobs, and sliders on an unfamiliar PA system will at some point be very important. Carry a flashlight. There are some tiny ones that fit on key chains. Others are flat and as small as credit cards. Those coal miner- style headlamps available from camping stores will leave both of your hands free but will instantly identify you as a big ol' gear nerd. The choice is yours. Hippest of all, arguably, is to download a flashlight app for your smartphone. Yes, "there's an app for that." ..,_ THREE-TO-TWO-PROlrG GROUlrDilrG ADAPTER: Occasionally you will play a venue that doesn't have grounded outlets that accept modem three-pronged plugs. For heavens sake, don't find yourself dead in the water because you didn't tuck one of these easily tuckable goodies into your gig rig. ..,_ CABLES AlrD COlUrECTORS: Cables go bad. All by themselves. Count on it. So fight the good fight by keeping spares with you. Those fabric-jacketed cables that look like 1950s appliance cords are hip, but they're heavy. Touring pros often prefer lightweight cables that curl up really small, like George L cables, which also have solderless connectors that can be replaced on the spot. Good gear like this is its own reward and a joy to own. Unfortunately; XLR cables aren't available in truly tiny gauges, but the smart money is still on keeping a spare or two with you. Label each end with an identical number or letter. This will save you the hassle of hand-tracing cords from source to destination and it will make the sound engineer wonder why he hasn't already done this with all of his or her cables. ..,_ CABLE STRETCHER: This is a double-female connector that lets you patch two cables together. It's another little goodie that is so small and easy to carry it'd be a shame not to have one on hand all the time. Pick up %-inch-to-%-inch and %-inch-to-XLR versions and feel very smug. Even if you don't ever need it yourself, some musician or sound tech somewhere will sing your praises forever because you happened to have one on hand. If your rig requires special cables, like TRS, MIDI, or multipin jobbies, don't be pennywise and pound-foolish by not stocking up on spares. ~ BACKUP PICKUP: If you play a steel-string guitar, consider keeping a simple magnetic pickup such as a Dean Markley ProMag or Seymour Dtmcan Woody in your gig rig. They're inexpensive, install in seconds without tools, and are quick to plug in with their attached cables. If your gig rig suffers a catastrophic meltdown, having one of these babies on hand will guarantee that at least you'll be heard. If you play a nylon-string, a simple stick-on pickup such as a Dean Markley Artist or Schertler DYN can be a gigsaver.


GI G RI G

() health+hygiene Making yourself comfortable onstage is arguably as much a necessity as a luxury. Again, consistency and routine will put you at ease about what to bring and how to set it up. This can only make for a better set. Practice this part at home, too. Leave nothing to chance.

ness and its portability. If you are on the road, you'll also have to find space in your luggage or make arrangements in advance to have one provided. I dtmno. You sure it wouldn't just be easier to memorize the stuff and leave the stand behind? .... .ACCESSORY

.... CHAI R OR STOOL : Got a special chair

or stool? One that helps you play better when you're sitting in it? It might be too much to bother with for a couple of tunes at an open mic, but if you are the featured act, and you have space in the car, consider bringing it along. Perching on a barstool when you're accustomed to sitting on a chair can stop your feng from talking to your shui big-time. .... llii C S T .AlTDS : Mic stands are frequently provided at venues, but they often mysteriously go missing, don't adjust to the height you need, or are worn out and won't stay in the posit ion you need. (Besides, you can only use that Viagra joke once per gig). It can't hurt to keep a stand- preferably with a boom-tucked into the trunk of your car. But in a pinch, a mop, bucket, and some duct tape can be pressed in to service.

TABLE OR TR.AY :

Picks, capos, drinks--they all need to go somewhere. Consider bringing your own small table or one of those groovy trays that attach to a mic stand. Touring folks, of course, will either have to forgo such weighty extravagances or find inventive ways to integrate their suitcases and racks into their onstage setups. .... TIMEPIECE : Bring one. The three

main rules of being an opening act are: don't go over your time, don't go over your time, and don't go over your time. Come to think of it, they apply to most of us and in most situations- at open mics, house concerts, radio and 1V appearances, most venues, and all festivals. Do your musical life a big favor and put a highly visible timepiece of some sort somewhere in your onstage sight lines. Heck, even bona fide guitar hero Adrian Legg takes a clock with him onstage every show. Admittedly, no one's quite sure why it's sitting in a Tupperware bowl attached to his pedalboard, but the point, friends, is that he's keeping an eye on the time. What should you bring? I admit to a personal bias against wristwatches. Performing musicians should at least appear to be unbounded by anything as pedestrian as time. I prefer those carabineer-style fob watches that hang from a belt loop. I can discreetly sneak a peek much more easily with one of these than with a wristwatch. Whatever your preference, make sure to have ready reference to time while you're on. And no, a spouse, partner, or friend with a watch and loud voice at the back of the hall doesn't cotmt.

!I""........

.... lliiC CLIP : Mic

clips tend to evaporate, too. And they break. Here's another small, light item that's so easy to tote it'd be a shame not to have a couple on hand. And since you can never be absolutely certain what vocal mics will be on hand- unless you bring your own, of course (nudge-nudge)-consider bringing a couple of the universal springloaded mic clips, rather than the kind that fits only one type of microphone. .... MUS I C ST.AlrDS : While some would

argue that having a music stand onstage looks less than professional, others find having set lists, lyrics, and chord charts at the ready a net gain. Be forewarned, though, that here you are likely to find an inverse proportion between a music stand's sturd.i-


L.AlliP. OK, maybe you don't need one onstage, but some folks do.

..,. L.A V.A

Playing music onstage-even for those who don't suffer from stage fright-can rightly be called a physically stressful situation. Halitosis and profuse perspiration are common responses to such stress . So , how can I put this delicately? Consider the lasting memory you want to leave with f ans at the merch table a fter the show. You may want to bring along some hygiene enhancers such as toothpicks , a toothbrush , toothpaste , breath mints , comb , brush, first aid kit , makeup for gals, spackle for guys . And since we all frequently play through house mics , don't think yourself too Felix Ungar- ish if you bring your own foam windscreen to pop over the mic . It might help your presentation to be reminded ~~th every inhalation that the previous user liked enchiladas or smoked cloves or was an Aqua Velva man, but it might not.

~0~ ~rr;1~0~YLI~~0 OI~LY: l~.niL ~1CH

..,. lT.AIL M.AilrTElT.AlrCE : Here we're

talking about clippers, files, emel)' boards, ultrafine-grit sandpaper, and the like. Somehow, these are particularly important when you don't have any on hand. And it's always hard to explain to the folks coming to see your show why you are out front, grinding your nails on the curb. These items are so inexpensive there's no reason not to keep several around. .... lT.AIL REP .AIR : There are several

distinct kinds of fake nails. Some folks use an acrylic powder/goo concoction. Some use silk wraps or gel. The truly retro use cut-up ping-pong balls and superglue. Whatever your favorite, you know all too well how dependent you are on those doggone nails. Unlikely as it might be that you'd forget to bring "your stuff," it's still a good idea to put this on your checklist. .... SM.ARTPHOlrE .APP TO LOCATE lTE.AR:SY lT.AIL PARLORS : Nuff said.


FROM

THE

PUBLISHERS

ACOUSTIC

OF

GUITAR -

15 WAYS TO SING YOUR KIDS TO SLEEP Why rely on records? It's more fun to_ro_ c_ kab_.e r.o.ur_bab r_b murselt If you love singing your children to sleep, these 15 traditional tunes are bound to be a fun addition to your bedtime tradition. Author Peter Penhallow shows you how to bring these beautiful melodies to life, guiding you through each tune, step by step. This book-and-CO package makes it easy to learn new lullabies. Just listen to the simple instructions on the recordings, then use the transcriptions to practice basic strums, simple chords, and single-note melodies in open position. On the companion CD, accompaniment patterns are played up to tempo, then slowly so you can follow along as you learn to play each tune. Includes complete song lyrics; full guitar parts in standard notation, tablature, and chord diagrams; and detailed notes on song origins and arrangements for b

F: 1!/IILY FAVORITES:

• Happy and You Know It • Brahms' Lullaby • Mockingbird • Golden Slumbers • Shoo Fly • My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean • Make New Friends • The Bear Went Over the Mountain • This Old Man • The More We Get Together • Kookaburra • Down In the Valley • Over In the Meadow • All the Pretty Little Horses • Jenny Jenkins

AT: By Peter Penhallow

AcoustlcGultar.com/ store

Published by String Letter Publishing

. . For dealer Inquiries . please contact

$9.99, Book and CD, 40 pp., HL00696420

~ HAL• LEO NARD"

-

-

'

GIG RIG

@ how much to take to the Artists have always needed to maximize income beyond whatever t hey take in at the door. But it's only relatively recently that the average Joe and Josephine have been able to produce and distribute their own records and apply their logos to a truly startling range of purchase opportunities for their fans. Here's a checklist of items you might want to have on hand to help with moving your merch, apres-gig.

gig

We've listed a lot of gear in this article, and not every musician will need to carry every item mentioned. Here are a f ew guidelines baaed on different playing ai tuationa:

OPElr liU OS • An important part of making a favorable impression at

..,.. SHARPIES : For autographing the stuff you're selling. It may seem far-fetched if you're just starting out, but if you have a CD or aT-shirt or an action figure, the time will come when someone will want you to sign it, so be prepared. Basic black is always tasteful, and silver is a great color for signing over dark backgrounds.

an open mic is how you make your entrance and exit, so swift and clean should be your watchwords. Consider limiting the onstage portion of your gig rig to whatever you can tote on and off in one trip, or bring a deputized and well-briefed roadie. For any preamp or pedals you use, it's best to go with battery power rather than A/C, both in the interest of expediency and to minimize the possibility of pesky ground loops playing a bass note that may not be in the same key as your song. If possible, keep spares of everything as well as cool ancillary gear in a box or bag at your table, just in case .

..,.. :susnrEss CARDS: A hastily scrawled cocktail napkin is the

THE WEEKElrD WARRIOR • This type of performer has the great-

musician's traditional business card, of course, and while that still works, now that a lengthy URL is at least as important as a sevendigit phone number, it might be worth leaving the job to the pros and cough up for some real business cards.

est opportunity to indulge in "wretched excess.• Since you'll be driving your own car and ending up back at your house after the gig, you can take any and all of the items here, limited only by the amount of time you are allotted for load~n and soundcheck. You'll have latitude to consider comfort as well as redundancy in your gear choices.

..,.. CASH BOX: A cigar box still does the trick, but here's a chance for you to show a bit of style and flair. Keep appropriate change on hand for your mercantile items. For some reason, CDs have cost $15 for the last 20 years, so a stock of $5 bills is particularly important.

..... CREDIT CARD TECHlroLOGY: We are moving ever closer to a cash-free economy, so being able to accommodate credit card purchases is more and more important. CDBaby, Square, and PayPal are just a few of the many companies you might consider to handle your credit-card sales at the gig.

.... M.AIL!lrG LIST/CLIP:SOARD/PElr: You're leaving gold on the table every time you neglect to turn an attendee into a contact.

Fancy or plain, an easy-and preferably fun-method of encourag-

THE TOtJR!lrG PRO • As we all know, airlines now charge per bag and by the pound. This has really changed how touring musicians travel. Road folk are now typically more concerned with being able to find what they need quickly than actually having it in their gig rigs. To this end, laptops and smartphones with GPS and "Find Near Me" apps have become near-essentials. And since there is still no clear industry-wide standard on the issue of carrying instruments onboard, an investment in cases that are both very strong and very light has become of paramount importance. Some of the smallest guitar/ vocal amps, like the AER Alpha, are worth investing 15 of one's allotted 50 pounds in, but most touring pros will arrange in advance and gig by gig for amplification. Clothes that wash easily and dry quickly become part of their kit, too, as might a favorite pillow or silk sleep-sack. Road folk need to consider the whole day and the whole night when assembling their gig rigs.

ing mailing-list signups should be a high priority.

..... FLYERS : They're a bit old-school, but if you've got several shows in a given area, you might consider investing in a flyer that your new fans can take with them to tout your next gig for you.

LABEL IT OR LOSE IT buy: me a beer for sometime:

..... CD PLAYER OR !POD AlrD HEADPHOlrES: Heck, it's not like the old days, when you needed to tote a Victrola around with you to let folks preview your album. And your audience is vastly more interested in hearing your music than t hey are in sharing other fans' DNA, so in this scenario, old-school overt he-ear headphones are universally preferred to earbuds .

..,.. LIGHTS: The human eye is drawn to the brightest thing in view. Why not use this to your advantage by highlighting your merch and mailing list with some nice lighting? LED lamps are light, small, powerful, and easily transported. A string of white Christmas lights is always tasteful. Or maybe even just one of those digital picture frames to display a slideshow of your adventures? Be inventive, but be bright.

Check that checklist after the

Stevie Coyle (steviecoyle.com) is a San Francisco Bay Area-based guitarist,

vocalist, and teacher. He tours nationally and internationally. 68 AcousticGuitar.com


When we ask Acoustic Guitar audience members what they want most from our web and tablet applications, the answer comes back loud and clear: songs to play and guitar techniques to study and master. Welcome to Acoustic Guitar U, the brand-new digital-learning service from the publishers of Acoustic Guitar and AcousticGuitar.com, where you'll find best-of-the-web audio and video instruction organized into easy-to-follow courses on a variety of styles and topics, at levels from total beginner to advanced player.

ACTIVATE YOUR FREE TRIAL SUBSCRIPTION TODAY.

ACOUSTIC

GUITAR

u

Visit AcousticGuitarU.com and click the tab that reads "Start Your 1-Month Free Trial." For the next 30 days, you'll have unlimited access to dozens of courses with hundreds of lessons and songs in audio, video, tab, and text.

Be the guitarist you want to be. Start your free tria I subscription at AcousticGuita rU.com today.

SHOPTALK

Sound Effects A look at the three most common effects used by acoustic guitarists to enhance their amplified sound—reverb, delay, and chorus.

GETTING THE BEST AMPLIFIED SOUND from your guitar often involves more than just plugging into an amplifier or a PA. At a minimum, most guitarists find that they need to make some simple tone adjustments to make their guitar sound good onstage. In addition to adjusting your basic tone, you might also choose to alter your sound by adding effects like reverb, delay, and chorus. Used sparingly, and adjusted to the room you’re playing in, an effect like reverb can help your guitar sound closer to the way it sounds unamplified. Let’s have a look at the three effects most commonly used by acoustic guitarists to enhance their onstage sound—reverb, delay, and chorus.

See video at AcousticGuitar.com/ soundeffects

Pedals and Racks

Effects processors are available in three formats (clockwise from top to left): multi-effect pedals such as this Zoom A2, single-effect pedals such as this Fishman AFX Reverb, or rack-mounted multi-effect units such as this TC Electronic G Major-2.


A quick survey of guitar effects reveals a mind-boggling array of devices that alter your plugged-in tone in ways that range from subtle to dramatic. Many of these effects are intended for electric guitarists, but most can be used with acoustic guitar, and some effects are designed specifically for acoustic applications. Effects can range from individual floor pedals to rack-mounted multieffect units. Some effects are built into amplifiers (most commonly reverb), and some are even included in the preamps built into some guitars. Which form you choose will depend on how you plan to use the effects, how much flexibility you want to have when choosing individual controls, how much gear you want to carry, and how much time you want to devote to setting up. The simplest style is the stompbox format most electric guitarists are familiar with. A stompbox is a small device intended to sit on the floor, often powered by batteries, with a footswitch to activate or deactivate the effect. Each box has an input and output, and typically houses a single effect. Effects can be chained together, allowing you to create a custom string of effects.

By Doug Young

The second form is the multi-effect unit, a device that combines more than one effect. Some multi-effect units come in stompbox form, although multi-effect boxes are often larger than individual effect units. Some offer multiple footswitches to control each effect separately. The number of effects in these devices varies greatly. Some may combine a few complementary effects like chorus and delay, while others may combine as many as a dozen effects. Rack-mounted multi-effect units often combine dozens of effects in a single 19-inch rack, which can usually be controlled by a MIDI pedal or other type of footswitch. Rack effects are usually programmable and allow you to configure and save a complete chain of effects, setting all parameters for each effect as a preset that can be selected with a single action.

Reverb Many common effects are based on introducing some sort of delay. Reverb, possibly the most common effect, is created by combining very short echoes that are so close together you don’t hear them as individual echoes. Most reverb units have settings that allow you to simulate the sounds of different size rooms, from closets to large concert halls. Different reverb units offer varying degrees of control. The simplest have a single control that determines how much reverb is heard. More sophisticated reverbs offer a choice of basic reverb types (algorithms), such as spring, plate, room, and hall, as well as other controls that allow you to fine-tune the sound. A spring setting is meant to create the boingy sound of the spring-based reverbs in older electric guitar amplifiers, and a plate setting creates the bright sound of the large plate reverbs used in many recording studios. Room and hall settings are meant to simulate the sound of natural reverb in small to large rooms.


This DigiTech TimeBender is an example of an advanced single-purpose effect pedal.

tune, and then set the actual delay time In terms of quarter notes, eighth notes, 16th notes, etc.

the effect- the time It takes for the effect to die as a looping device, Chorus out. nmes can which allows you Chorus Is another popular type of effect range from a fraction to play an entire based on digital delay technology Chorus of a second to as phrase and then can range from a subtle effect that adds a shimmer to your guitar to a more dramatic much as six seconds, have It played t>ack with longer times tending effect that completely changes your sound. repeatedly as you add to create a more cavernous more parts on top. Chorus effects work 1:Yf creating a very short sound. Short times can be delay that varies with time. Very short The features offered 1:Yf delay used to thicken your sound a effects units vary widely Most have at least delays cause a •comb-filtering• effect that three t>aslc controls: level, delay time, and causes a tonal shift. Varying this shift with t>lt or create a slap effect sometimes reminiscent of country music from feedback or repeat. The delay-time control time creates a subtle • swoosh." the '50s or rockat>ll ly sounds. Choosing the simply determines the length of time Most chorus effects have at least two right setting Is a matter of expenmentatlon controls: one that varies the speed of the between the Input and When the sound Is effect and another that controls the depth. and taste. Long revert> times tend to blur repeated. Relatively short delays can create anything from a slapt>ack effect to a revertr the sound, especially on fast tunes, t>ut Faster speeds combined with greater depths will create a warbling sound, somewhat like might t>e exactly the effect you need to like sound, while longer settings create a distinct echo. The level control determines add drama to a slow, expressive tune. a Leslie speaker on an organ, while slow some reverbs allow you to set a the volume of the delayed sound relative speeds and shallower depths add a subtle to the original. For a revertrllke effect, set sense of motion to your sound. Used In predelay, which Increases the time between the level fairly low, so the delayed sound Is your notes and the Initial revert> sound. moderation, chorus can add a sense of animation to your sound, mimicking some of Longer settings simulate the sound of barely audible. For more dramatic effects, a larger room, where the sound takes try raising the level, even to the point that the natural acoustic properties of the Instruthe echoed notes sound at the same level anywhere from a few milliseconds to ment that tend to get lost In the direct a few seconds to reach the wall of the pickup sound. A stereo chorus can t>e room and bounce back. It helps to even more compelling, although the remember that sound travels about effect requires two amplifiers or a 1,000 feet per second, or one millistereo PA system, which Is rarely pracsecond per foot, so setting a predelay tical and usually doesn't convey the effect to all members of your audiof 25 ms would help simulate the sound of playing In a room with a wall ence. There are some amplifiers that support stereo-for example, several 25 feet away. In general, there Is a tradeoff Roland amps use a pair of speakers between the length of the revert> and a stereo circuit In a single effect and Its level. You can create a cabinet, with stereo chorus t>ullt ln. more spacious sound t>y Increasing the amount of revert>, lengthening the Choose Your Weapon decay time, or Increasing the predelay For many gultar1sts, revert> Is an With longer revert> times, you may find essential tool that makes the guitar It useful to reduce the revert> level. sound richer and fuller, so for your first Unless you are going for an ot>V1ous foray Into effects, a simple revert> effect, you probably want to add just Individual effects and processors can be mounted to a single unit- or an amp with t>ullt In reverbenough revert> to create a full sound, would t>e a good place to start. pedal board A logical next step wou ld be to try t>ut not so much that the revert> Itself a chorus effect, especially If you are looking can be heard. In most venues, there wil l t>e as the original. The feedback or repeat control determines how many delays you for a slightly more ot>V1ously affected sound. some natural revert> In the room, so any artiA delay unit can replace revert> for some ficial revert> you use will be added to the hear. At Its lowest setting each note will t>e room's sound. repeated just once. As you Increase this styles- from a rockat>llly slap to the lush control, you will hear multiple repeats. On sounds of slack key- and can t>e compe~ Delay some delay units, at maximum settings, the ling for adding some space to single note lead lines, or as a dramatic effect with clear Another effect related to revert> Is digital delay repeats almost Infinitely. delay, or echo. Delays can t>e used to add Many delays have a "tap tempo• feature, echoes. And of course, a programmable a subtle sense of space to the sound, multi-effects device can simplify your setup a button or switch you can tap repeatedly to set the delay time. This can be a convenient If you find yourself haV1ng so much fun you much like revert>, t>ut you can also create longer and louder delays that make It sound hands-free method of changing the delay want to use them all! AC like your notes are bouncing off a wall or time, t>ut It can also t>e used to synchronize even like you are playing every note twice. delay times with the tempo of the tune Excerptedfrom the upcoming "Equalization some delay pedals offer extremely long you're play1ng. Most delays with tap tempo and Effects Processing" download available at allow you to enter the t>aslc tempo of a delays, to the point that they can be used AcousticGuitar.com.


AcousticGuitarcom

71

PLAYLIST More reviews available at AcousticGuitar.com/playlist

John Doyle Shadow and Light As a founding member of Solas, John Doyle burst onto the scene with a startling vision of Irish guitar, combining a powerful, driving sense of rhythm and an incomparable harmonic complexity. Since going solo in 2001, his work has grown much quieter, subtler, with an increasing focus on simply accompanying the voice, and on Shadow and Light, he’s taken on a new role, writing or co-writing all but one of these songs. They’re all deeply steeped in Irish and IrishAmerican tradition, whether he’s singing about his daughter (“Little Sparrow”); recounting a dream (“Selkie”); or telling stories about the Civil War (“Clear the Way”), the First World War (“Farewell to All That”), the Alaska Gold Rush (“Wheel of Fortune”), the settling of Australia (“Bound for Botany Bay”), and emigration (“The Arabic” and “Liberty’s Sweet Shore”). As a singer, he’s more comfortable and self-assured, and as an instrumentalist—on sixstring guitar, eight-string guitar/bouzouki, and ten-string guitar/bouzouki, backed by fiddler Stuart Duncan, bassist Todd Phillips, and accordionist John Williams—Doyle remains at the top of his game. His music has never sounded more beautiful, and given the chance to stretch out on the album’s two instrumentals, the lilting “Killoran’s Church/Swedishish” and the elegiac “Tribute to Donal Ward/The Currachman,” the playing is perfection itself. (Compass) —KENNY BERKOWITZ

Mary Flower Misery Loves Company With her warm contralto and dazzling skills as an instrumentalist and arranger, Mary Flower has cemented her status as one of the most dynamic performers on the acoustic blues circuit. Though she often appears solo in her stage act, on her ninth solo release, Misery Loves Company, Flower does the studio equivalent of announcing to the audience: “And now, I’d like to bring up to the stage my good friend . . . ” The 11 duets (and one solo piece) on the album feature artists ranging from blues harpist Curtis Salgado and guitarist Colin Linden to soul singer LaRhonda Steele. Flower sets the groove, fingerpicking a 1934 Gibson L-00 in a fluid, highly personalized version of the ragtimey Piedmont style or playing lap slide on a square-neck 1950s Gibson HG-2. Her accompanists don’t greatly alter the trajectory of these songs, but they do 72 AcousticGuitar.com

help bring out the inherent swing in Flower’s music. Mark Vehrencamp’s tuba adds a bit of whimsy to “Jitters,” an original rag, while Dave Frishberg’s jazz piano provides just the right amount of pathos to Flower’s Tin Pan Alley–inspired minor blues, “I’m Dreaming of Your Demise.” And Flower’s son Jesse Withers’s rock-solid bass lets Flower go to town lapstyle on Tampa Red’s “Boogie Woogie Dance” in open-D tuning. Flower, who started her career as a folkie, is now deep in the pocket of the country blues, and there are few musicians in the genre bringing as much creative spark and low-key mojo to this century-old music. (Yellow Dog) —IAN ZACK

Bonnie “Prince” Billy Wolfroy Goes to Town Known over his long career as Palace, Palace Songs, and Palace Brothers, Will Oldham has mostly used the moniker Bonnie “Prince” Billy for the past decade or so. This is not an artist changing names in order to run from artistic missteps— on the contrary, Oldham has steadily built a huge catalog of lovely work that has unfolded slowly and carefully, much like the arrangements of his characteristically hushed songs. On the opening track, the languid “No Match,” Oldham sings in his unhurried tenor, “I’m no match for those who love the Lord / And they’re no match for me,” lines that are easy to imagine Willie Nelson singing (Oldham’s delicate strummed accompaniment is a dead ringer for the red-headed stranger’s). Wolfroy Goes to Town mines traditional country and western and folk, though the album occasionally tacks directly into an eccentric headwind, as in “Time to Be Clear,” which features a beautiful, eerie vocal solo by Angel Olsen, backed by Oldham’s Spanish-tinged guitar flourishes. This string of wordless vocalizations brings to mind the otherworldly strangeness of Antony and the Johnsons, and given American music’s long and storied history of weirdness, that might be the most traditional move of all. (Drag City) —MARK SMITH

Glenn Jones The Wanting After 20 years playing postrock with the Boston-based Cul de Sac, Glenn Jones went solo in 2004, reinventing himself as a guitarist in the American Primitive mold, with John Fahey and Robbie Basho as his primary inspirations. Four albums later, he’s still getting better, and his technique on five-string, open-back banjo has grown strong enough to stand next to his best work on six- and ten-string guitar. The 11 instrumentals here, all performed in open tunings, range from

wistful (“A Snapshot of Mom, Scotland, 1957”) to pastoral (“The Great Pacific Northwest”) to dissonant (“The Great Swamp Way Rout”), but each is elegantly constructed, melodically rich, and gently played. They can be as languid as the bottleneck “Even to Win Is to Fail,” with its debt to the Takoma school, or as haunting as the solo banjo “Menotomy River Blues,” which gains intensity with each repetition of its theme. On The Wanting’s most ambitious track, an elegiac nod to Fahey called “The Orca Grande Cement Factory at Victorville,” Jones finds the perfect accompanist in drummer Chris Corsano, who adds bells, whistles, banging metal, and the sounds of the ocean, gently falling in and out of rhythm as the piece evolves over the course of 17 minutes. A gem. (Thrill Jockey) —KENNY BERKOWITZ

Kris Delmhorst Cars As a music-hungry 13-year-old in Brooklyn during the summer of 1984, Kris Delmhorst experienced a jolt of lasting resonance from a copy of the Cars’ Heartbeat City that she purchased at Tower Records with a fistful of babysitting money. Nearly 30 years later, the Massachusettsbased Delmhorst, one of the contemporary folk scene’s most abundantly gifted singersongwriters and multi-instrumentalists, relives the revelation with a collection of skillfully rendered Cars covers that redefines labor of love. Ably assisted by a handpicked studio crew of players (including guitarists Mark Erelli and Jefferson Hamer) and vocalists who nailed the 11 tracks mostly live during a whirlwind two-day session, Delmhorst revisits the hits and then some. While her Americana-style arrangements (heavy on the acoustic guitars, fiddles, mandolins, banjos, and such) buff off the metallic, New Wave edge of classics such as “You Might Think,” “Shake It Up,” and “My Best Friend’s Girl,” never does Delmhorst lose the kinetic thrill of the originals. Perhaps the album’s greatest triumph is how the altered sonic context reaffirms the wit, humor, and impeccable pop craftsmanship of Ric Ocasek’s enduring songs, providing a memorable kick not unlike the one savored by a young musician-in-the-making back in the day. (Signature Sounds) —MIKE THOMAS

Kenny Smith Return From his groundbreaking lead guitar work with the bluegrass supergroup Lonesome River Band to his breakout interpretations of classic and original material on his landmark solo album, Studebaker, Kenny Smith has emerged as one ACOUSTIC GUITAR January 2012

of the most exciting and original voices in flatpicking. On Return, Smith soars to even greater heights across a spectrum of tunes ancient and contemporary. A true master of the Three T's- tone, touch, and timingSmith's playing seems to induce, rather than extract, notes from his guitars. Playing three superb vintage instruments, including the very first 1935 Gibson Advanced Jumbo ever made and a slothead sunburst 1933 Martin D-28 used by Norman Blake, Smith brings alive new originals like "Rising Fawn" and his jaunty "Model A" with cliche-exterminating class and style. Backed by acoustic luminaries including Adam Steffey, Barry Bales, Aubrey Haynie, and clawhamrner banjo star Adam Hurt, Smith also returns to his roots here with thoughtful, inventive revisions to classic bluegrass flatpicking tunes like "Black Mountain Rag," "Billy in the Lowground," and "Arkansas Traveler," among others. Buoyed by inventive arrangements and inspired instrumental interplay, Kenny Smith makes the most of this Return. (kenny-amandasmith.com) -DAVID McCARTY

Noam Plkelny Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail What do you do for an encore after you've won the inaugural Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass and appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman with your banjo-playing benefactor to accept the $50,000 award and play an over-the-top version of "Dueling Banjos"? When you' re Punch Brothers banjo genius Noam Pikelny, you hook up with ace acoustic musicians Tim O'Brien, Stuart Duncan, Bryan Sutton, David Grier, Jerry Douglas, Aoife O'Donovan, and several Punch Brothers band mates to release one of the most invigorating and innovative acoustic albums of the year. Ranging from old-time tunes like his delicate recasting of "Cluck Old Hen," played as a duet with Martin, and "Pineywoods," done as a banjo/ fiddle duet with Duncan, to the ethereal original "The Broken Drought," where Pikelny's banjo intertwines perfectly with Chris Eldridge's moody, arpeggiated guitar lines, Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail shows a remarkably broad range of technical ability. There's even a breathy, highly personal vocal from O'Donovan on the Tom Waits tune "Fish and Bird" that Pikelny expertly matches in lyricism and dynamics. As another young banjo star, Chris Pandolfi, noted in his 2011 International Bluegrass Music Association keynote address, bluegrass music is expanding and outgrowing old constraints as new converts flock to its resilient sound. This exceptional recording proves his -DAVID McCARTY point. (Compass) January 2012 ACOUSTIC GUITAR

Share your love of the magazine for every player in any style with your friends and get daily updates in your news feed from Acoustic Guitar.

Just Strings • • • •

Strings for Musical Instruments Guita~ Bass, Orchestral, Folk & Ethnic 11 Rated Best of the Web"'' by Forbes World's Largest Selection

www.juststrings.com

Keep this valuable source of information fresh and available for reference. Library quality. Constmcted with heavy bookbinder's board and covered in a rich maroon leather grained material. A gold label with the Acoustic Guitar logo is included for personalizing. Prefect for your home or office. Great gift idea!

One- $18

Three- $45

Six- $84

Add $3.50 per slipcase for P&H - USA orders only.

Satisfaction Guaranteed Send orders to:

TNC Ente1·prises Dept.AGM P.O-Box 2475, Warminster, PA 18974 Enclose name, address (No P.O. boxes please) and payment with your order. PA residents add 6% sales tax. You can even call 215-674-8476 to order by phone. Credit Card Orders: Visa, MC, AmEx accepted. Send name, number and exp. date.

To Order Online: www_tncenterprises.net/agm AcousticGuitar.com 73

WOODSHED

Controlling Note Duration Learn to control the ringing of strings with your picking-hand fingers.

By Alex de Grassi

~

THERE ARE TWO FUNDAMENTAL WAYS of controlling a note's duration. The first, releasing the note, is used with fretted notes, and the second- stopping the string with the picking hand-can be used with both open strings and fretted notes. In this lesson we will look at controlling note duration using the picking hand.

See video of the

music examples at AcousticGuitar.com/ duration

Experiment with Ringing Strings Rest your picking-hand thumb (p) on the fourth string and your index (i), middle (m), and ring (a) fingers on the third, second, and first strings respectively. Play the open first string using a. Let the note vibrate tiD it can no longer be heard. Pluck the string again, let it ring for a second, and then put a back down on the string so it stops vibrating. Repeat the process with m and i on the open (unfretted) second and third strings. Try to keep the thumb and other fingers resting on their respective strings as you do so. Next, with the thumb and fingers on the same strings, play Example 1 and allow the notes to ring. Play it a second time and stop each string as you pluck the next one in the sequence. The first three strings are stopped by placing the picking-hand finger back on the string, and the fourth string is stopped by releasing the string with the fretting-hand finger. (Alternatively, the fourth string can be stopped by replacing the thumb on the fourth string for the half-note rest.) Play the line several times each way, with the notes ringing and with them stopped, and listen to the difference. The first way has a fuller, more resonant sound, but the second way has more clarity. The choice w ill depend on the musical context. Now try Example 1 again and let the notes continue to sound until you reach the fourth string in measure 4 . As you play the fourth string with the thumb, replace a, m, and i on the strings. Played this way, the phrase sounds very open with aU the notes connected or legato, but by stopping the top three strings as you play the final note, the phrase has a sense of completion because the only note continuing to ring is the last note.

How to find the right

Strings Singles, Sets & Bulk At JustStrings.com, we make it easy for you to find the strings you need: guitar, bass, violin, mandolin, mandola, mandocello, mandobass, viola, cello, banjo, lute, bouzouki, ukulele and more.

World's Largest Selection Thousands of different singles, sets and bulk packaged strings are in stock and ready to ship. You've got a great instrument. Let us help you make it better.

Ex.1 fl

a

800.822.3953 www.juststrings.com

7 4 AcousticGuitar.com

I

t.,

0 r\

m 0

I

a 0

m 0

I

a 0

m

I

i

m

0---0 0

2

p

2


Kaufman University

Picking-hand thumb and fingers stopping all six strings.

To make a complete rest in the last two beats of the final measure, place the side of your thumb across strings four, five, and six so that it stops the lower three strings simultaneously (see photo). With your fingers remaining on the top three strings, the guitar should now be completely silent.

the thumb comes to rest on the adjacent string, it stops any note played on that string from sounding. Play Example 2 using only the thumb to play a series of rest strokes. While the first three notes are stopped by releasing the fretted note E and then refretting theE to stop the D, the D played on the open fourth string on the first beat of measure 3 is stopped by the rest stroke playing the C on the adjacent fifth string. Likewise, the open-string note A later in the measure is stopped by playing a rest stroke on the sixth string. Then, after two beats, place the thumb back down to stop the open sixth string and mute any resonance on strings four and five for the final half-note rest. Play the line again using free strokes Oifting your finger clear of the adjacent string), and try to avoid stopping any vibrating open strings with fretting-hand fingers as shown in Example 3. The open fourth, fifth, and sixth strings continue to ring through the end of the example, creating a chord with the notes E, A, and D in the final measure. Compare that sound with the example using rest strokes. There might be situations where it is desirable to let one or more of those bass notes ring, but generally speaking, allowing too many low notes to ring beyond their written values makes the music sound muddy, especially where there are changes in the chords or the harmony. AC

Muting with Rest Strokes

Learn more in Alex de Grassi's complete "Controlling Note Duration" download available at AcousticGuitar.com/ degrassifingerstyle. Includes video.

Sometimes a musical line falls such that it is convenient to control the note durations just by using rest strokes (see Woodshed, Dec. 2011). This works particularly well for stopping open strings in descending bass lines. As

Coming Near You!

"W'W'W.flatpik.com ttn c~ 0 '>...,... ~

Steve Kaufman The World's Guitar and : fill : Mandolin Teacher ~ ·1'/j, GoLo~.v-· A Decade of Gold "'lfos '1" Awards for tile Best Camps and Conferences Upcoming Workshops and Concerts • Hatteras, NC- Jan. 6-7 Flatpicking Workshop/Concert. guit.arcoucb@eartblink net • Clermont, FL-Jan 13-14:WS/Concert [email protected]

• Tempe, AZ- Jan. 26-28 Mando/Guit.ar WS and Concet·t J [email protected]

• Maryville, TN - Feb. 3-4 All Level Mandolin Wot·ksbop [email protected] 865-982-3808

Register Today. It Only takes a Moment Steve's Complete Tour Schedule, Best Selling DVDs, Books and CDs

www.flatpik.com 865-982-3808

Fine Leather Belt Pouch from Ridge!

Ex. 2 It t)

p

1-\

"'

..

p

p

2---0

0

"'

2

p

2---0

p

~

3... 2-,J

p

p

~

p

~ p

3-2-0 0

Ex.3 1\ t)

1-\

2

u

2---0

~


-

u

2---0

v

0

3r 2r

t--~~

3-2-0 0


~

ID'-"ddarro ~· 1

~ ')r,,,...d ;i:.J,J 16 23

Pt A\ l ONGEF

33,

QU 0:.0

Phosphor Bronze

I)HQSPHOP 8ROn~e OCOUSfiC STIH"'\GS

lf"2

EJ24

.~ OAOt"O

~~~

.,.

..

53

SOUND "!ETTER

Humidification

Thinnest Coating in the Industry

True Medium. True Tone.

Protect w l uable instruments from high and low humidity damage. The Habitat Monitor systems provide precision humidification and de-humidification In any size space, from small cabinets to large rooms. Temperature control systems as well. Call or Visit our website todayl CMT,Inc. (978) 768-2555 www.habltatmonltor.com

If you hate the slippery feel and dull sound you get from coated strings, check out Cleartone Treated Strings. With the thinnest coating in the industry (less than 1 micron), Cleartones feel and sound like traditional strings but with the added benefit of long string life. Plus a ll six strings are treated so you don't have to change plain strings as often. $12.99-$16.99 Cleartone Strings www.cleartonestrlngs.com

D'Addario True Mediurn guitar sets feature a smaller diameter 3rd, 4th, and 5th string than D'Add a rio's traditional EJ17 Medium set. These strings are optimized forD AD GAD tuning and deliver a more balanced tone and tension for both strumming and fingerstyle playing. D'Addarlo (800) OAOARIO www.daddarlo.com

Fishman SA220 Portable, powerful performance in a lightweight, easy-to-use system I 220W line array system equipped with two mic/ instrument channels, each with 3-band EQ, phantom power, reverb, and feedback-fighting notch filter and phase controls. List Price: $1,539.95 Street Price: $999.95 Fishman Acoustic Amplification (978) 988-9199 www.flshman.com

The Guitar Rack Vintage Series The Guitar Rack Vintage Sertes: Vintage Old World, Vintage Crackle, and Vintage Raw Distressed. These three new additions to the very popular line of guitar racks from Guitar Armoire are handmade in the USA from 100% hardwoods and are available in the G-5, G-7, and Gospel configurations. Also available in its original standard red oak and exotic woods Including walnut, mahogany, and cherry. Hart Productions (631) 385-1805 www.gultararmolre.com


Become a Guitar Apprentice!

Gr8 Cases

Guitar Apprentice Is a new and easy way to learn hit songs on guitarl 15 levels of play in this rhYthrn game format allow you to learn songs gradually. You 'll supply a chord or two at first then advance through the levels until you're playing the entire song. Grab a real guitar, pop in the DVD, and you're ready to rock---even if it's your first time playlngl Available online and in retail stores. www.gultarapprentlce.com

GWW Group has been bringing quality carrying cases to the rnuslc Industry since 1957. We pride ourselves in creating a specific solution to your carrying case needs. One case or thousands, we will serve you and meet your needs. Check out our website www.gwwcases.com or our custom design center www.arnerltage.com to build your drearn case today. GWW Group Inc. (866) 669-8932, nancyw®gwwcases.com www.gwwcases.com

PITCH BLACK+ Dual Input Pedal Tuner

Alex de Grassi Fingerstyle Method: Picking-Hand Technique

For musicians who play rnore than one instrument on stage, Pitchblack +is the answer. Switch between two instruments---each with its own tuning. The extremely bright display offers four meter modes and two focus modes; accuracy is ±0.1 cent. Great for DADGAD and open or custorn tunings. Korg USA Inc. www.korg.com/pltchblack+

Learn to position the picking hand properly for efficient and comfortable flngerstyle playing. Find out how to grow and shape your fingernails. Know where to place your picking hand for the best tone. Get detailed instruction on playing rest and free strokes with the thumb and the fingers. www.AcoustlcGultar.com/degrasslflngerstyle

Special Advertising Secijon-Visit AcousijcGuitar.com;EssentiaiGearOnline


PITCHCLIP Reversible Display Clip-On Tuner

How to Set Up Your Guitar: Action Adjustment

Offering a unique, low-profile design, the Korg Pitchcllp clip-on tuner Is discreet, accurate, and easy to read. Unlike rna~ LCD clip-on tuners, Korg's Pitchclip tuner offers a bright, tilting LED display that Is also reversible, alloWing the Pitchcllp to be mounted behind the headstock and away from audience eyes. Korg USA Inc. www.korg.com/pltchcllp

Learn how to properly adjust your guitar's action at the nut and saddle with this downloadable 13-m inute video and written guide from the Acoustic Guitar Care & Maintenance series. Get step-by-step instructions for evaluating the proper height of the nut and saddle and learn how to use nut files, shims, and other tools. www.AcoustlcGultarcom/guldes

Concert Quality Handmade Guitars Schoenberg Guitars

Here is the perfect gift for you or your favorite guitar player.

(415) 789-0846 erlc®om28.com www.om28.com

A soft fleece cover that keeps the dust away from your guitar when it 's on a stand or hung on the wall. Just hang the hood of the cover over the head of your guitar and fasten the magnetic closure on the back. The Hoodle is fast and easy. TRY IT ON I $19.95 each plus shipping-Burgundy, Black, Blue. Order by e-mail or by phone. Ten 4 Products (84 7) 971-5380 www.ten4products.com

Lock and Rock! The Planet Waves Elliptical End Pins are no ordinary end pins. They quickly and easily retrofit onto your instrument and Improve the security of any strap without the need for complicated locking mechanisms. Their traditional look and design makes them an aesthetically pleasing and functional upgrade to a~ guitar. MSRP: $9.99 Planet Waves (800) OAOARIO www.planetwaves.com

Acoustic Rock Basics Play In the styles of acoustic rock Icons like the Beatles, Paul Simon, and James Taylor. Thl s twelve-lesson series of video and tab downloads Is perfect for those just starting out or anyone who needs a refresher on fundamentals. www.AcoustlcGultar.com;guldes

Washburn®Rosewood Series WD20SCE

For Every Player on Your List Acoustic Guitar Owner's Manual Give the definitive guide on owning a guitar. This book teaches every guitarist how their instrument works, how to maintain its value, and how to keep it sounding great. $17.95 Book (paperbound) AcoustlcGultar.com/books


Voyage-Air Guitars Voyage-Air Guitar, the Worlds' first Full-Size folding guitar! Winner of Acoustic Guitar Magazine 's "Player's Choice Award; a Voyage-Air guitar is the perfect Gift for a~one this Holiday Season! From the classroom to the ski slopes. Voyage-Air delivers tone and playability you can't find in little travel guitars. Try one today! www.voyagealrgultar.com

Competitive pricing, pro-level electronics featuring the Fishman" !sys+ and rosewood back/ sides are just a cou pie of the highlights that make this an unbeatable instrument The solid spruce top provides the ultimate sound board for projection, clarity, and resonancelending itself to all styles of music and playing types. Street $299. Washburn Guitars (800) 877-6863 www.washburngultars.com

Special Advertising Sectior>-Yisit AcousijcGuitar.comjEssenijaiGearOnline

AcousticGuitar.com 7 7

SONGBOOK

the 2011 Healdsburg Guitar Festival. I discovered that while DAD G A D didn't really free up any more useful open strings (as alternate tunings often do), the tuning did allow for more economy of motion, leading to a more fluid sound that works well with the added sustain of a steel-string guitar. If you're used to more pattern-based fingerstyle techniques, this will be a good introduction to developing greater finger freedom. This arrangement leans heavily on the contrasting melody and bass lines, with just enough harmony thrown in (as in measures 3, 5, and 11) to give a sense of Bach's magic. It isn't meant to be the ultimate in accurate readings of the piece, but it is a fun introduction to Bach's works that's playable without much classical training- and enjoyable to listen to! - lEJA GERKEN

Minuet in D Minor BWV Anh.132 Music by Johann Sebastian Bach, arranged by Teja Gerken video of Bach's Minuet in D Minor at AcousticGuitar.com/ dadgadbach ~See

Tuning:

Every guitarist should learn to play a little Bach. Considered one of the greatest composers of all time, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685--1750) defines the Baroque style, and his contrapuntal and motivic writing was revolutionary at the time. Bach wrote the Minuet in D minor as part of a collection of compositions known as Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach. Originally written for harpsichord, the piece has frequently been t ranscribed for guitar, and I first came across it arranged in dropped-D tuning. I began experimenting with this D A D G A D arrangement for a workshop titled "Classical Guitar for Steel-String Players" that I taught at

g A D G ~ !?

r

r

r

-t.=: ; : o~--==--==--=!=~=~=-_8__-=_-~_- =7=. ~=~=-:=~-=-=~=-6-= = =-+: 1=-:=~- = = - = = --o=-==--====--====--~= =- = ~=- =~ =;:~ -~- ~- ~-7~- ~-=5-=- =-~-=8-- =-~-:~~-5-]-t-:----_-_--~-----==-:-J---1

tf-

,........, 5._

r\

~

•

r

r\

n.n

r\

I

}

r

r

}

u u

-

r

~

r

-

j_ n

J]

3

i

r

3

3

-

~

rl

v L_J r r r u ~~u u 7 7 10- 8 3 3- 2- 0 4 0- 2 0 8-10 9 8 10 10 10- 7 0 3 1 Q---2- 30 --2 4 8--8 10

I

I

~

_...., 1~

r

r

r

-

r--"1

1- 0-0-3 3- 2- 0 3 3 0--3 3 3 3 3--2- 3--3- 2- 0 4 2 0 0--3 3 50- 3- -1 .l

1~

rl

J

r-i

1.

I

"!

n

r-i

r

!lj

II -

i

n n !lj

~

J 1 l

i

I -

r

0 4 4 0- 2- 3- 5 7 6 8- 7- 5- 3-2- 0- 2 7 5 0 2 4 0 4 5


I

-

i

4 0

~·

~· rr·

00 2 000

:II ACOUSTIC GUITAR January 2012

ACOUSTIC

GUITAR

GUIDES ACOUS"ICGUIT~R

COm

Download Acoustic Guitar Songbooks Expand and enliven your repertoire with detailed written and audio or video Instruction for songs arranged for acoustic guitar.

Roots and Blues Flngerstyle Guitar

Fiddle Tunes and Folk Songs

(video and tab) $3.99 each, $29.95 for 12 songs • Milwaukee Blues • Railroad Bill • Things About Comin' My Way • Way Out on the Desert • And 8 morel

(video and tab) $3.99 each, $29.95 for 10 songs • Down in the Valley to Pray • Eighth of January • Man of Constant Sorrow • OVer the Waterfall • And 6 morel

Traditional Songs for Beginning Guitar

Flngerstyle Blues Songbook

(audio and tab) $1.99 each, $9.99 for 15 songs • Michael Row Your Boat Ashore • Home on the Range • Kumbaya • This Little Light of Mine • And 11 morel

(audio and tab) $1.99 each, $9.99 for 15 songs • Betty and Dupree • Bye Bye Baby Blues • Lonesome Weary Blues • Make Me a Pallet on Your Roor • And 11 morel

Irish Songs for Guitar

Early Jazz and Swing Songs for Guitar

(audio and tab) $1.99 each, $9.99 for 15 songs • A Kiss in the Morning Early • Heather on the Moor • Rosemary Fair • Star of the County Down • And 11 morel

(audio and tab) $1.99 each, $9.99 for 15 songs • Avalon • Limehouse Blues • St. James Infirmary • St. Louis Blues • And 11 morel

SONGBOOK

Fair and Tender Ladies Traditional, arranged by J ody Stecher

Cecil Sharp was an Englishman who came to Appalachia in the early 20th century looking for English songs in the southern Appalachians. He fotmd 18 versions of the song "Fair and Tender Ladies." I got the idea for my version from hearing a recording of a banjo-picking member of the Kentucky legislature named Banjo Bill Cornett. He was a fabulous songste.; the way that he combined banjo and voice. I've taken his basic banj o idea, which was to echo the vocal, and I put it on the guitar in D G D G A D tuning. I pick the melody on the high strings with one of my fingers and on the middle strings with my thumb. My thumb also plays the bass strings.

"00 See video at AcousticGuitar.com/ tender

I play a basic oom-pah rhythm with thumb for "oom" and "pah" with my second finger. I also do a lot of pull-offs with the little finger of my left hand to give it a banj o echo. The pull-offs come between "oom" and "pah." Sometimes I'll get a rolling rhythm of fours by picking down on a bass string with my thumb on the downbeat, following it with a pull-off on the highest string. The third stroke is a downward motion of the middle finger across several of the higher strings together. The fourth stroke is an upstroke by the index. "Fair and Tender Ladies" is set in a pentatonic mode. It's got only five notes, ascending and descending; it's got no third and no seventh: D EGA B D. It gets its beauty from that. - JODY STECHER

a

Tuning: g g D G g Accompaniment Patterns

Ds

g

020300

I

1'1

,

~

~

I

..

I•

~

~

u

0 0 2 0

K

I

..

~

0

0

I•

u

0 0 2 0

0

0

,

0

0

~

~

I I

~

I

i

f~ --0

I

i

==--o=t~---

-..,.

0

~ I

i

o-

t 0----

==--o=t~==

2 0

0

0

j = downward strum with back of middle finger. G

Ds

g

•

020300

Verse

000030

I'¢ J 11J

f

1. Come

you

all

~e -

.....--......

1["

fair

f IF and

r

j._ Jj f IJ

ten

der

-r

f

Ia

dies

Ds

g

020300

1,-

l

J IJ

7

Be

care

f IF

f ful

how _________

you

court_

1 ..

young men

G

• 000030

l

J 14

I¢ r=:ao B IJ__ l

14

They're like _ _ _ a 80 AcousticGuitarcom

star _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

on a gloom

y

mom- ing


IJ J

21

First

they'll appear _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Ds 1.

then they're

gone _ _ _ __

Ds

G

Come all you fair and tender ladies

3.

a - gain

G

Had I'd have known before I courted

Ds

Ds

Be careful how you court young men

Love had been such a killin' crime

Ds

G

G

They're like a star on a gloomy morning

Ds

G

4. Young men, don't place your eyes on beauty

Ds

Ds

Make you believe their love is true

For beauty's a thing that'll soon decay

Ds

Then away they go and court some other G

Ds

G

And tied it down with a silver line

Ds

G

2. They'll tell to you some loving story

G

Ds

I'd a locked my heart with a key of golden

Ds

G

Rrst they'll appear, then they're gone again

=II

Ds

That is the love that they have for you

Ds

G

It's like a fair flower that blooms in the garden G

Ds

Doomed to wither and fade away

Volunteer your talent to bring joy to disadvantaged audiences in a non-commercial setting. BREAD & ROSES, in its third decade of bringing live entertainment to institutionalized audiences is seeking performers in or on tour in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our audiences include those Jiving with AIDS, psychiatric patients, people in hospitals and detention facilities.

For information call Bread & Roses

(415) 945-7120 January 2012 ACOUSTIC GUITAR


MARKETPLACE More brightness to your guitar I - -Replacement t1.ner ki']Obs~ ~

307 5
w••1u1., Mou, HI 9679J 808-9.44.0 4 86 ~;@
OR BUILD

ACustom Guitar To Meet Your EXACT Requirements

WE ARE YOUR SOURCE! www.BulldYourDreamGuttar.com PHONE

954-484-7444

Micheldti

¥ ~uitar4

.rom

Introducing Rigid Rim Technology p-.,Potlditog

Hear me cJifrerence Feel the difference

ou N

co uia n a s e H u

Frxusea Energy Tom/Inspiration

ONS sa d pi v li

ot

c s d a ixr t i sa H t r ton I e tw t

a

I g d

c de cnt r , pic

u Jc

ust

a s. e c

Now awilable from amazan.conr -

~

iTunes

WWW.BLUENIGHTRECORDS.COJI



MARKETPLACE

Master Iuthier -

Norman Haight

Consultation on Building & Repair

HaightG uitars. com 480-609-6650 January 2012 ACOUSTIC GUfll\R


A K T c

ie

u

cG

a co

FlrW VQUR STRINGS AT THE NEW GHS SITE G0•40W ..

- . --

-

· - ••• 0

A GOustic.vibesmusic.GOm

• Santa Cruz • Cullingf>· • Guudall • Lowden •Bourgeois • H uss & Dalton • Weber • Petros • National• Mcilroy • R Taylor• Osthoff • Beard

...

--.

>"-

__.....

-----

...... .....,_, =.--.........

-~~ --,... =-..:..~I'M ...,...,'-Y Ml!!! ........

LUTHERIE INSTRUCTION

MUSIC INSTRUCTION

r

c rt i t .

o

Sl Ul

of

Ul

i S I

14

3 3 6 76

j

lS

I

SHOPS

rod g o Guitar Picks by Pro Pik" o

e a e i

re o n

n

h m

ig t

g

~i~~~ :_::..

ails

sf m

g

r~~~..q;;,;·:

ic

N ails to f s Fin e i u h ga iz Larg d ed

o ~

AVAILABLE AT YOUR FAVORITE , MUSIC STORE OR CONTACT:

L 4)

w

USI 6tim

cc

o d ents k !s 0 onpa ts 0

s

e s

~t=.it.ifi!.U.£!;

BUI 01 NO E Comprehensive courses in acoustic, electric bsu st c i pi , g and guitar electronics. o o c io a ra g 1 4 cr t d m T Financial aid available lor those who qualify. n r a ou p e bui a c and otllw Wllrksheps. a cn

1 . Gt h i 85 www.roberto-venn.com 002.243.1179 E : i fo@ e - n om

SUPPLIES CA A A SOURC -- MAHOGANY -PEAR ABA AM the one W s n b est r ss www t me ess nst uments.c m

·888 88 • 75

FOLLOW ACOUSTIC GUITAR ON:

Totnes Sc hoo l of Guita r m a k i n g

Facebook.com/ AcousticGuitarMagazine Twitter. com/ AcousticGuitar_ You Tube.com/ AcousticGuitarMag

p

hlnbl ished 1985. 12 ·Wt.•4•k. romprt·lwn siv~· • uurc,t'"·

to wrukinst proi!'!loilc,MI. Collins Ro.ld. 1c~..~ I~ TQ'J Sl•l (ngl.lRd 13l.'AitlJ\N

~

IHIIOIU dGS.!SS

www.loln~~fhoolofguitarmaking+co. ul

P uRE. NATURAL

SouNd.

Top q·uality pickups, micr-ophones,

and preamps slnee 198,,

~l(&l( SouNd www.kksound.com 11·800-867-8863

cous

uit rc m

C

S CG

A

a 2 2

The Original Guitar Chair the d etails make

proudly made In the U.S.A.

1-877-398-4813 www.originalguitarchair.com

Ikllll PODIUM

Preurimn Guitars ancl Sheet 1>1usic AERAmps Bart Reiter Beard Brentrup Bourgeois Centaur Amps Collings Cordoba Eastman Genz Benz Amps Godin Goodall Guild Henriksen Amps Hoffman Huss & Dalton

Kakos Kennedy Kenny Hill Kopp Martin McPherson National Olson Phil Jones Amps RainSong Ramirez Santa Cruz Seagull Taylor Vintage Sound Amps Walker

Since 1959 425 14th Avenue SE, M;uueapolia, MN 55414 (612) 331- 8893 ""'"''.thepodium.com

IIITIR IITEIIIWI Aa.OU(t'l'la. SLU£(. C!.OM'I'E~POU~'i Aa.OU(t'l'la. SO(.(.~. ~OLVPOP. ~0~£... Guitar - Mandolin - Uke- Slide

Mike Dowling, Martin Grosswenclt Ernie Hawkins, John Miller, Del Rey Shawn Persinger, and more TBA! A LL LEVELS- HOLIDAY DISCOUNT! Significant Others Welcome!

steps from Acadia National Park

www.GUilarllleiiSiVeS.com [email protected] 888.435.4003

ADVERTISER INDEX AoousUc Guitar Baby Songs lullabies, AcousticGuitar.comjbooks ...........67

G7th ltd., g7th.com ..............................45

Original Guitar Chair, originalguitarchair.com .............85

Godin Guitars, seagullguitars.com ....................32

Paul Reed Smith Guitars, prsguitars.com ...............33

AoousUc Guitar Facebook, Facebook.com;AcousijcGuitarMagazine ...... 73

Guitar Galler(, guitargal.com ........................42

Petros G ~tars, petrosguitars.com ....................40

AoousUc Guitar SUbsc~ptlon, AcousijcGuitar.com ..........29

Guitars In the ClassRoom, guitarsintheclassroom.org.......42

Phoenix Guitar Company, phoenixguitarco.com ...........44

AoousUc Guitar U, AcousijcGuitar.com..................69

Guitar Intensives, guitarintensives.com .................85

Planet Waves, planetwaves.com ..................... 17

AoousUc Remedy cases, acousijcremedycases.com ....... 18

Guitar Salon klternatlonal, guitarsalon.com ............... 5

The Podium, thepodium.com ........................85

Am, aer-amps.com ..............................19

Hill CountJy Acoustic Music Camp. hcamp.org ............43

RalnSong Graphite Guitars, rainsong.com ...............24

Carrying Cases, ameritage.com ..............31

Hill Guitar Companx hillguitar.com .................... 56

Random House, randomhouse.com ...................44

LR. Baggs, lrbaggs.com ...........................41

Hoffman Guitars, hoffmanguitars.com .................44

Saga Musical Instruments, sagamusic.com ..............28

Bef1deemuslc.com, berkleemusic.com .................35

Homespun Tapes, homespuntapes.com ................23

Santa Cruz Guitar Company, santacruzguitar.com..........21

Am~tage

Bose CorporaUon, bose.com/live1 .....................4 Botl'geols Guitars, pantheonguitars.com................ 18 Bread & Roses, breadandroses.org ...................81 Breedlove Guitar Co., breedlovemusic.com ..............27 Breezy Ridge Instruments, ltd., jpstrings.com ............ 75 Collklgs Guitars, collingsguitars.com .................. 15 O'Adda~o

& Co., Inc., daddariostrings.com .............. 57

Huss & Dalton Guitar Company, hussanddalton.com .......40 Juststrlng,s.com, juststrings.com .................. 73, 74 Steven Kaufman Enterprises, Inc., flatpik.com ......... 51, 75 luthlers Mercantile, lmii.com ........................43 luthler Music Corp., luthiermusic.com .................40 Mandolkl Bros., ltd., mandaHeb.com .................. 74 C.F. Martkl & Co., Inc., martinguitar.com ................88

Eric Schoenberg Guitars, om28.com ................... 56 Seymour Duncan Acoustic, seymourduncan.com ........... 9 Sheppard Guitars, sheppardguitars.com ................ 56 Shubb capos, shubb.com .......................... 10 Soloette, soloette.com ............................ 51 Sweetwater Sound, sweetwater.com ...................62 Sylvan Music, sylvanmusic.com ...................... 56

McPherson Guitars, mcphersonguitars.com ..............2 Donnell Enterprises, miniflexmic.com ..................45

Walden Guitars, waldenguitars.com .................... 6 Music Empof1um, themusicemporium.com ..............81

OR Music, drstrings.com ........................... 13

Washburn Guitar, washburn.com .....................39 Olympus Am~ca. getolympus.comjaudio .............. 11

Elixir Strings, elixirstrings.com ........................ 3 Fishman Acoustic Amplification, fishman.com ............37


Wechter Guitars, wechterguitars.com ..................25 Omnl Foundation for the Performing Arts, omniconcerts.com ..............34

Yamalha Corporation of America, yamaha.com ............87

AcousticGuitar.com SS

Larry Pogreba

Resonator By Baker Rorick

IN HIS SHOP NEAR Bozeman, Montana, Larry Pogreba makes rough-hewn tools for musical expression with a mix of intuition, technology, salvaged materials, and funky folk-art flavor. Pogreba built his first guitar in 1976 and the first of his scrap-metal resonators around 1992. The guitar pictured, which is owned by collector Jeff Doctorow, has a 15112-inch-wide body fashioned of rec~led aircraft aluminum. The instrument's arched back was cold hammered-with the hammer marks left visible-and its top and back were heliarc-welded to the sides, with seams and edges left raw. The dirty orange color is anodized (dipped, not sprayed) and left unpolished. The 101h -inch Quarterman spunaluminum resonator cone is covered with a 1954 Packard Clipper hubcap, cut in a butterfly shape. The guitar's DeArmond pickup, taken from an old Harmony or Kay electric, was rewound by Jason Lollar for more character and acoustic-like tone. The Instrument's neck Is made from Honduras mahogany, with a rosewood fingerboard and rosewood burl headstock veneer and heelcap. Most of the woods Pogreba uses are salvaged from old-growth stumps In previously logged forests, Which he finds on fly-fishing trips to the saltwater flats of coastal Belize. The neckblock, visible through the stylized "LP" soundholes, Is a three-piece stack of spruce scraps. Rather crudely handchiseled and epoxied Into place, the neck pocket was routed out like the neck pocket on a Fender solid-body. Pogreba says that While aluminum Is soft enough to work with wood tools, the rosewood burl required diamond-tipped steel-cutting blades. According to Pogreba, Who has built about 150 aluminumbodied resonators, this Is "an early one." He's not currently building any Instruments In this style, concentrating on wood-bodied Konastyle lap steels, baritones, and acoustic flattops Instead. Remarkably lightweight, this guitar has a huge neck, 1% Inches wide at the nut, and a rackety, gutbucket sound when picked or strummed. With high action and str1ng tension, It's set up for slide, and played bottleneck style It just sounds so lonely.

I;;

g z

Q 0

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

January 2012

LOOK._---------

FEEL.

http:/I 4wrd.it/aseriesagll O YAiiiAHA

Scan this QR code

02012Yamaha Corporation of America. All rights rese,.ed.

Bla.cf.6:rd s:n:in:J :n the dead o.f' ntjht ta_Ke these sunfen eyes and learn to See a.ll your 1:-f'e, you tA...Jere only tA...Ja.:t;n:J -!'or th:s MOMent to be .f'ree

&arlin&~. t;Y· ~ST. 1833 l? AMERICA'S GUITAR•

Music history. Martin history."'

00001;)0 '

~

B LA CKBIRD Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney 101968, ® 1996 So ny/ATV Tunes LLC. 102011 C.F. Martin & Co. martlngultar.c om

Acoustic Guitar 2012-01.pdf

Recommend Documents