Kevin Eubanks is a guitar player who is more famous amongst a jazz audience but his acoustic guitar playing is definitely something which would probably appeal to guitar players of many other genres. In this Youtube Acoustic Guitar Video, Kevin is playing a ballad. Kevin is highly respected amongst guitar players and is well known for his work as the band leader of the Tonight Show
Check out Antoine Dufour
Tony Hogan
Anyone that remembers Woodstock or was in a semi conscious state at the time would probably recall John Sebastian. He did the tune called I had a Dream, So here’s a little bit of history, the song is Younger Generation…. and look out for the fence. And I wonder who that kid was who was born at Woodstock
For more interesting sixties acoustic music check out Scott McKenzie
It’s always great to discover new acoustic fingerstyle guitar players. Recently I came across Vin Downes, and he’s recorded a CD called ”Skies and Openings”
“Skies and Openings” is the first recording by fingerstyle guitarist Vin Downes. It is comprised of eleven original songs with influences of Americana, Blues, Classical, Folk and Jazz. It includes seven solo performances and four pieces with guest musicians Lois Carpenter on bass, Mike Fumento on drums, and Jeffrey Young on violin.
Downes began studying guitar at the age of eleven. His early interests were in electric guitar, but this changed when he heard the music of Michael Hedges and Leo Kottke. He was immediately intrigued with the art of fingerstyle acoustic guitar.
Downes went on to earn a degree in classical guitar performance and music education from William Paterson University. Along the way, he has studied classical composition, Indian tabla, and American roots music, while developing a love for jazz and all improvised music. He has been a public school music teacher for the last 15 years and maintains a private guitar teaching studio.
“Skies and Openings” is the culmination of years spent exploring fingerstyle guitar. It is a mix of styles and moods in a pure acoustic setting.
For more info visit Vin Downes Website
“Skies and Openings” is available at vindownes.com, iTunes, CDBaby, Amazon, Soundclick, and LastFM.
One of my all time electric guitar players (non jazz) is Jan Akkerman from the band Focus. I saw Focus live in the early seventies and Akkerman’s tone and mastery of the guitar was exceptional. I was very happy to locate Jan playing Hocus Pocus without the yodel on an acoustic.
here is another video of Akkerman
Justin King has a contemporary approach to acoustic guitar, he includes tapping, hammer ons, harmonics, percussive techniques… all at the same time 
There’s a lot going on here, and many people who are only used to traditional guitar styles are in for a shock.
For other guitar players that use contemporary techniques in a musical way check out Anton Dufour
Merry Christmas to all.
Peace and Good Wishes
Merry Christmas
From Tony Hogan
In the early seventies Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull was voted in a survey the man that mothers would least like their daughters to hgo out with. Obviously at that time they were not aware of the beautiful antique parlor guitar collection that he would one day have. Although many people know Ian Anderson as a flute player and Martin Barre as the guitarist of Tull, Ian’s acoustic guitar playing has had an impact on a lot of players. Although simple in style it is always very musical. In this youtube video clip Ian does the classic song Wondering Aloud which was originally on the Aqualung album. In this case the line up is a small ensemble. I all those mums saw it today, they’d probably say “How nice!”
Check Out John Martyn Acoustic Guitar Bless the Weather
Recently I’ve posted about a number of British guitar players, todays acoustic guitar video article is about Martin Carthy, a very good open tuning guitarist. The song is called the Siege of Delhi (not a very nice piece of British history), it is a march and is in the tuning of CGCDGA, it’s in 2/4 time and uses a lot of alternating thumb work. Martin plays a lot of traditional music, but his ability to adapt it to open tunings on guitar separates him out from other players, his tunings are highly unusually and are a long way from the standard D, E , G open tunings. The first part of the video he plays the tune, then he dissects it.
for another great player on video check out Don Ross
Anyone who was alive and listening to acoustic music in the 1970’s would be aware of John Martyn, a great acoustic guitarist who played open tunings, a brilliant song writer and beautiful singer. He recorded a series of albums, the most famous being Solid Air. The tune Solid Air as about Nick Drake. The band America recorded his tune Head and Heart and Eric Clapton did May You Never. Sadly John passed on earlier this year, but he left a great legacy, his music will live on.
For more John Martyn check out John Martyn
If you are a guitar player who has lived this long and not heard John Renbourn play acoustic guitar, you have missed one of the great acoustic guitar players of our time. He was a member of the British folk band Pentangle and has inspired thousands of guitar players for the last 30 years or more. In this video recording, he is playing the traditional tunes South Wind and Blarney Pilgrim. Although John’s music often gets categorized as Celtic, he plays music which far surpasses genres.
To hear more John Renbourn with Stefan Grossman, check out Renbourn and Grossman doing a contemporary jazz tune Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
Bert Jansch was part of the folk boom in the late sixties in Britain. He was a member of the band Pentangle, the band that also had the guitar great John Renbourn. His style is a little unique, he plays with a slight ’snap’ to his playing. When you listen closely, you’ll also hear some of the musical elements that Jimmie Page used in his acoustic playing. I got to see both Bert and the great late John Martyn in the 1980’s, absolutely awesome experience. The tune Bert is playing is Black Waterslide.
To check out Jimmy Page on Acoustic guitar, go to Jimmy Page Youtube
Many guitar players like myself are familiar with Dan Crary from when he used to write his column in Guitar Player magazine in the seventies. At that time Guitar Player mag was one of the best educational resources for players, there was not a lot of material easily available like there is these days. Today we have an abundance of info for guitar players ranging from brilliany and inspiring to ‘what the?’
Dan Crary has a flawless flatpicking technique and he has inspired millions of players across the globe. This tune is called Sally Goodin (Gooden, Good’n)
For other brilliant guitar, check out Tony Rice
Over the last few years a number of acoustic guitar players who play open tuned guitar, one of my favourites who are continuing the michael Hedges tradition, is Antoine Dufour. He seems to be one of the most musical players who do this style. He manages to place the sound and music first and does not get lost in guitar acrobatics. The tune is called Mother
For more Antoine go to Antoine Dufour Youtube
Here’s a Youtube of the great Brazilian guitar player called Joao Gilberto, famous from the sixties for his work with Astrid Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim (also named Tom Jobim). This the classic song Girl from Ipanema, a tune that has been ruined by many , but when played well it is a masterpiece. Like any tune, it’s what you do with it that counts. This recording was made 40 years after the original.
For more beautiful guitar, check out Paco De Lucia
Here is a very nice video of Ana Vidovic, the great young classical guitar player. Pierre Bensusan the DADGAD player based in France introduced to her music some months back. I thought it would be nice to post about a video played in a more disciplined style for a change. The tune is Asturias by Albanez. It was performed at the New York guitar festival in 2006.
Here is an Harmonics lesson by the wonderful guitar player Badi Assad
This Acoustic Classical Guitar video caught my eye, it is played on a guitar which was built in Paris in 1930. John Doan is playing a piece by Fernando Sor. It also made me laugh a little watching John play, he starts out on the middle instrument and through out quite casually plays on both the upper and lower instruments. The piece is not overly complex but requires a little bit of a rethink.
For information about this type of Harp guitar go to Harpolyre
To hear a contemporaryHarp Guitar Player check out this Youtube of Don Alder Harp Guitar Video
Many of us have heard two guitar players playing Dueling Banjos; I thought it was quite interesting to see this youtube Acoustic Guitar Video of Edgar Cruz playing a solo version on nylon string guitar. It’s just under two and a half minutes long. I feel that it might inspire some other solo guitar players to work out their own versions of the old classic tune.
You might also like to hear Tommy Emmanuel play Classical Gas
Click the following link to hear Tommy Emmanuel Classical Gas
Antoine Dufour is one of the new breed of Acoustic Guitar players who play percussively by using techniques such as hammer ons, Guitar Harmonics and open tunings to take his music outside the traditional way of playing. The difference between Antoine and many of the other players who are attempting this style is on his recordings he focuses on music and not just flamboyancy. Michael Hedges, the great (late) American guitar player was one of the founding players in this style on his recordings in the 1980’s. And these days there are is also Andy McKee and Don Ross who pla in a similar vain.
This tune is called Spiritual Groove.
To hear another Antoine Dufour song, check out Catching the Light
Acoustic Guitar Players, singers, bands musicians. Read the fine print in your recording contracts. Here’s an example of the guy Damien Leith who won Australian Idol a year or so ago, not realizing what he was getting himself into or basically or getting. Click the link to read the News Article Damien Leith contract It happens time and time again with musicians thinking they are getting somewhere by signing contracts, only to find out out that what is going to happen is not what they dreamed it was.
Damien Leith
Damien is not your standard pop dancing puppet, he has a very nice voice and plays good solid acoustic guitar.
Every now and then I think it’s important to introduce visitors to this site to acoustic guitar players that they are probably not aware of. Recently I got an email from a player by the name of Jimmy Robinson who said to check out what he was doing, so I did, and I loved his playing. His choice of notes and chords on guitar is quite extraordinary, and also what surprised also was the texture of his voice, how nicely it sat against his guitar. In some of his other material I was hearing snippets of Robbie Basho, there’s a little Hedges in there two and mabe some Bruce Cockburn and at the same time a uniqueness. Jimmy is from New Orleans. I’m grateful for the email and more than happy to share his music with you.
Here’s Jimmy’s website, check him out Jimmy Robinson Site
Doc Watson is a player who has inspired many acoustic guitar players, and the tune Deep River Blues is one that is part of many acoustic guitarists repertoire. It’s a great song to build on. Here’s a Youtube of Doc Watson playing and singing his original version, it’s two and a half minutes of classic Doc complete with guitar break. It’s one of those songs that when you can play it, it plays automatically.
Here’s another Doc Watson Youtube Video called Black Mountain Rag
Peter Finger is a magnificent acoustic guitar player who I reckon deserves much broader recognition. There are a stack of guitar players out there who are rated very highly and often they are only half the player of guys like Peter. Peter is a European based Guitar Player and if you haven’t heard him maybe it’s time to check him out. The tune is called Vive La Vie. This tune reminds me a little of one Pierre Bensusan’s tunes.
Here is another video of Peter Finger at the Guitars dot Net site
It was 1971 when I first heard Crosby Stills and Nash sing Helplessly Hoping. This youtube video was recorded in the early 90’s. Crosby Stills and Nash, set the benchmark for all other acoustic guitar bands with vocal harmonies to be measured by.
To hear another Crosby Stills Nash on Youtube, go to Wasted on the Way
Don Ross and Andy McKee on Youtube Video. Both these players play extraordiary guitar, to have them together is a treat. The tune is called Ebon Coast.
For more Andy MCkee, go to Andy McKee
You may be familiar with the great Michael Hedges who recorded on the Windham label in the 1980’s. William Akkerman, co-founder of this label introduced us to some extraordinary musicians apart from Hedges, there was keyboard George Winston, Robbie Basho, Darol Anger and among others, Alex De Grassi. I feel that too many people who weren’t listening properly were in a hurry to throw some of the material into the New Age category, something that to many musicians often means 45 minutes of Cmaj7 to Fmaj7 with a synth in he background. Alex De Grassi’s recordings are now legendary and albums such as Turning: Turning Back and Slow Circle set the benchmark for quality in opened tuned guitar playing.
This recording is of Alex De Grassi recorded i a Hotel Room, just the guitar. Watch how he develops.
To hear more great Acoustic Guitar check this out some of the following Antoine Dufour, Don Ross and Howlin’ Wolf
Here is Part 6 of my Acoustic Fingerstyle Arrangements for Guitar. I’ve probably angered the Classical Guitar Gods here. I have taken De Visee’s Bouree and put it into another key. It was previously in D Minor, the saddest of keys. Being a practician of common sense it seemed logical to throw into in A Minor instead, let’s face it we’ll get some bottom end, and without joining the BoomBox community, that could be a great plus.
Years ago I read an article in Guitar Player Magazine by Larry Corryell and he had rearranged De Visee’s Minuet, and a reader gave him hell. Next month Coryell wrote a whole article about the issue, frankly I think it should never had gone to print. But I was in agreement totally with Coryell.
So here it is and I’ll get ready for the hate mail and the ghost of de Visee to haunt me.
I now tap my baton and say “Allegretto”
Bouree by De Visee
Here is the Midi File to give you an idea of what it sounds like Bouree by De Visee for Fingerstyle Guitar
NOTE: Keep in mind it is computer generated.
And here is the printable PDF Bourree_by De_Visee for Acoustic Fingerstyle Guitar
For Part 1 of the Fingerstyle Arrangements go to Part 1 Fingerstyle Arrangements
Here’s a statement from Dave, the guitar player at the center of the United Breaks Guitars airline baggage issue
Original Post Dave Caroll Youtube
Taylor Guitars Response By Taylor Guitars
Thanks to Steve Gadd for alerting me to this article. A Canadian guitar player had a favorite Acoustic Guitar damaged by an Airline and he has written a song about it. To read the article go to Guitarist’s Anti Airline News
As a guitar player, I sympathise with him. I’ve always had a habit of handing over my guitar and never looking out the window at the terminal. I was talking to a guitarist recently who owned a handmade Kevin Ryan Acoustic Guitar, when he opened the case at Los Angeles Airport it had the neck broken off
Recently I posted a number of simple acoustic guitar arrangements which were reasonably simple to play and great for helping guitar players develop their repertoires and were they also designed to help players move away from playing straight chords. By breaking songs up into simple melodies and oyther basic moving parts, the melody stands out a little more and it becomes much more interesting to the listener (even if the listener has no idea what is going on).
An Australian guitar player by he name of Steve Gadd based in Tasmania has been very kind enough to allow me to post a few of his arrangements for acoustic fingerstyle guitar and make them available to guitar players. (Thanks Steve). Steve and Marjorie have a website, check out what they are up to at Music Tasmania I also heard a whisper that Steve has been in the studio lately, I’ll keep you posted on that as well in the near future.
The tune is called Above the Braeside
For other simple acoustic arrangements Acoustic Guitarist Fingerstyle
I will also be posting other arrangements here in the near future
Here’s another Harp Guitar Youtube, this one features Canadian Andy McKee
To see Don Alder playing Harp Guitar, Click Don Adler Youtube
Here’s another great guitar player Don Alder playing Harp Guitar.
And here is Don’s Site Don Alder, check it out
If you are interested in Harp Guitar, check out builders from the early 1900’s like the Larson Brothers. Click on the link to go to Whaley Guitars, a site that has info on Harp Guitars Whaley Guitars
To Hear Michael Hedges on Harp Guitar Click Michael Hedges Youtube
Here’s the great Michael Hedges on Harp Guitar playing a tune called Because it’s There
For more Michael Click the Link to go to The Guitar Player Blog Micheal Hedges
Here’s Tommy Emmanuel doing an Acoustic Guitar Video on Youtube. This has some great practical ideas on how to practice.
So simple and sensible
And here’s Tommy reinventing Classical Gas Tommy Emmanuel Youtube Classical Gas
Here’s a great Acoustic Guitar Video on Youtube by Antoine Dufour, extremely funky and percussive, It’s called Drac and Friends
And if you liked that, check out this: Antoine Dufour Acoustic Guitar
Tony Hogan
So why would a guitar player write an article about Iranian politics?
When I first saw the stories about Iran filtering out and into the news, it didn’t really catch my eye. Although I have compassion as much as any other person who has contemplated his or her navel, burnt a truckload of incense and bowed to false and real Gods, I generally don’t involve myself in political issues because I don’t trust the media at all and also I have a total distaste for private political agendas of any sort. So, what got me on this one?
Firstly, I’m not prepared to get caught in the trap of throwing insults at any foreign government or political party and start screaming ‘human rights!’, if I was to do that I feel I would be disrespectful to the people of Iran, and by saying this I am not in support of the government there or the opposing powers; I think it is essential to clarify this. I am in support of the Iranian people and the underlying principles which unite humanity. It is important to be unbiased and look at other things here; there are tyrants in every country, both in power and struggling for power and many faces that we don’t see who hide behind various political parties and call the shots. Find me a country that does not have such people. Many supposedly friendly people in politics have been involved in committing the most heinous crimes and gotten off unscathed, even totally unnoticed. It’s very easy to be judgemental when we see news articles about issues in other countries and jump in with an opinion. Yes issues are real, yes we need change and yes we need to help in some way, sometimes the methods of help have more to do with the way WE live than pointing the finger elsewhere.
What has struck me with this issue in Iran is the use of Social Media and what I would call ‘the power of grass roots digital media’. It is important that we in the West and others outside Iran speak, in fact scream loud and clear that we support the Iranian people, not the political opinions but the rights as human beings to be treated with respect, to be heard and that we actually do care for people of other countries in some way.
The most important barriers to break down in the world are the cultural and religious barriers that separate us. Not at the expense of sovereignty but there is a need to remove the walls that divide us; to embrace the unity in diversity and to be tolerant of differences that in the end are not so important at all. So for me, what I need to say to the people of Iran and also all the rest of the world is we need to change our thinking and remove our limited thoughts. Thoughts that arise and make us feel better in some way than someone else from another culture, religious or social standing. Until we can do this we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over, (think Groundhog Day), and the governments and political parties will only reflect what is at our core; this is what I call ’the separation in diversity’. These times that we live in, houses are divided, families are shattered, neighbours hate each other, brothers and sisters can despise each other. We really have a lot of work to do, and while we look at Iran and ask for basic human rights to be respected, we need to look at ourselves as well.
And pray for peace in Iran, other countries and our own hearts.
I just saw the show Rockwiz on television it had Lior and Serena Ryder performing Neil Youngs Heart of Gold. Very nice. Lior also did a very good acoustic tune. Excellent backing band as usual. I love it when music is live and there’s combinations of people peforming who don’t normally work together but manage to create something fresh. Nice harmonica too. I’ll update soon about where Lior is performing, he’s a Sydney based musician and he’s very musical. I’m glad they put this tune on youtube to share with us.
Liors website Lior
Ustad Ali Akbar Khan
It is with great sadnes I received the news that one of thw orlds greatest musicians has died. Ali Akbar Khan the great Indian Sarod player died on the 18th of June. The great violinist Yehudi Menhuin once said “Ali Akbar Khan is the worlds greatest musician” . John McLaughlin studied with him. I studied with a student of Ali’s by the name of Ashok Roy. This line of Indian music runs back to Tansen the great court musician of Akbar the Great.
News article about Ali’s passing.
Ali Akbar Khan College of Music
Quote from Collge website, “Our most beloved Khansahib passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family on Thursday evening. Khansahib had been a dialysis patient since 2004, and had been enduring numerous health issues ever since. The great Maestro had continued his music teachings publically at the Ali Akbar College until just weeks ago, and continued to teach music at home until the day he died.”
Here is Part Five of my Acoustic Fingerstyle Guitar Arrangements in TAB and music Notation.
This one is the old Irish tune, Danny Boy also called the Londonderry Air. This is in the key of C, as usual I have kept it reasonably simple. This is a two page arrangement.
Danny Boy Acoustic Fingerstyle Guitar Tab and Music Notation
Here is the the Printable Version DannyBoy Acoustic Finger Style Guitar TAB and Notation
Here is the computer generatedMidi File Danny Boy Midi File
I just heard the news that the great singer songwriter guitar player Kenny Rankin has passed on.
I am grateful to him for his beautiful music which I have listened to since the early seventies.
Sending well wishes and Bluessing to Kenny Rankin’s family from all those who loved Kenny’s music in Australia, Kenny holds legendary status amongst many people that I know.
Here is Kenny in action
Also, this is so perfect, the song that he wrote Peaceful Kenny Rankin
Here is a news article about Kenny’s passing
Kenny Rankin
Here is Part 4 of my Acoustic Guitar Fingerstyle Arrangements. It’s a traditional song called Down By Sally Gardens. I’ve put this into the key of G so it is easy enough to play. It is a two page chart in TAB and music notation. The first section on page one is a standard bass and melody part, wheras page two has a slight variation around the the theme. There were quite a few variation options but I think what I have written works well, you may like to create your own versions, when you play solo guitar, nothing is set in stone and there’s always room for reinterpreting a piece of music.
Down By Sally Gardens
Here is a link to the computer generated midi file to give you a rough idea of the way the bass and melody parts work together and to help guitar players who concentrate more on TAB than reading dots. Remember, a human would phrase this a bit more musically.
MIDI FILE – Down By Sally Gardens Acoustic Fingerstyle Guitar
To access or download the quality printable adobe pdf version of the song click Down by Sally_Gardens
I really enjoyed arranging this, I hope you get plenty from this tune.
Tony Hogan – Acoustic Guitar Blogger – Guitar Player – SEO
Here is Part 3 of my Acoustic Fingerstyle Guitar Arrangements. This is a tune called Maree’s Wedding (Marie’s Wedding), an old Irish tune with the words “Step we gaily on we go etc “.
I’ve thrown it into the key of E so I’d be able to stay in normal tuning. What I’ve also done is eliminate all the chords and just imply them, it is only a melody line and a very simple bass part. When I studied with a guy called Don Andrews about 35 years ago, he would always create arrangements with one or two small things to push the skll level of the guitarist a little further, I have done the same here. In this tune, I’ve written it in such a way that the player has to move around the fretboard just a little, this sort of adds a little bounce to the tune and forces the player to be foused. if everything was stuck at the same fret, the player is more inclined to go into automatic mode.
To view and or download the printable Acrobat reader version click here Marees_Wedding
EDIT//: Bar 9, 3rd beat move to fret 4
Marees Wedding
I’ve added a midi file, a compuer generated music file to give the listener an idea of the tune. I realize that many players only read TAB, please add expression, personality and your own phrasing Marees Wedding
Click here for Part One of the Acoustic Guitar Arrangements
Here is a very interesting Acoustic Guitar video of a guitar player by the name of Justin King using acoustic guitar tapping techniques. Justin has an album called Bleu. To hear samples of Justins music, go to the website at the following address, Justin King
To hear another brilliant contemporary acoustic guitar players go to Acoustic Guitar Player, go to Antoin Dufour
I have just noticed a major change in the way that Google Search is indexing websites, blogs and social networks. So I thought I’d let new readers of this site know that I also have another very good acoustic guitar blog / website at The Acoustic Guitar Player . There is also a shortcut to this site at The Guitars Net
Here is the great acoustic Guitar Player Don Alder on youtube video.
He’s playing away and then it happens, the guitar explodes.
For more information about Brunner Guitars go to the Brunner Guitar site
Last week I wrote an Acoustic Finger Style GuitarArrangement of an old Irish Tune. This week I’ve done another reasonably simple acoustic guitar arrangement of another old Irish ballad called the Water is Wide.
The arrangement I’ve done of this is very different to the last one I did. The Water is Wide is a beautiful song which I have sung and played for about a dozen years or so now, I had never considered doing it until I heard James Taylor do a great version of it.
ABOUT the ARRANGEMENT: Originally I was going to upload a very different version. When I sing and play the tune I play a solo guitar arrangement in the middle as a guitar break. When I started looking closely at what I was going to upload I realised I didn’t particularly like the movement of the bass part, it seemed to be rather weak, so I spent about three hours modifying it so the bass part was more musical and flowing. So the emphasis, strangely enough on this piece which has a very beautiful melody, is the bass part. If you isolate it, and play it you’ll notice what I mean. I could take it further but I needed a cut off point. There is minimal chord playing in this tune but that’s what I wanted. At some time in the future I will transcribe a version of it whch is closer to what I normally play, more folk blues.
This version is very bare bones, if I were to play it as a tune there’d be a lot more fills and arpeggios etc, but if I were to transcribe that it would look too complex and scare peole off, so I’ll just submit the underlying idea for you to build on and modify accrdingly.
Playing arrangements will strengthen your playing , a lot of good players will recommend learning to play tunes instead of just chords, riffs, blues scales and solos.
Water is Wide Fingerstyle Guitar Arrangement
Here’s the printable version Water_is Wide
To hear the midi file version click the link
Water is Wide – Fingerstyle Guitar Arrangement
( Midi files are not real audio files they are just a computer generated equivalent, this will give you an idea of the sound of the tune if your reading skills are still developing). Please add feeling and personality.
The previous Fingerstyle Arrangement can be found at the following link
Guitar Fingerstyle Arrangement
Acoustic Guitar Fingerstyle Arrangement – Gypsy Rover TAB and Notation
What a lot of beginner guitarists don’t realise is many of the better guitar players have done is work on arrangements of tunes to help develop their playing and ear. It’s not just about learning a few solos, playing a few blues or pentatonic scales or wearing the right outfit. Being able to sit down and play a couple of dozen solo guitar pieces is a great way to practice and get a musical response from your practice. There’s always a lot of room for variation and improvisation once you get the basic idea of a song . And if you’re travelling around the world it’s really nice to sit in a boat in a lake a few hundred miles from Kathmandu, look up at the Himalayas and bliss out playing guitar (something I have done).
I’ve decided to write a half a dozen reasonably simple fingerstyle guitar arrangements, this is the first one. These sort of of arrangements are also very useful for singer / songwriter acoustic guitar players who are wanting to strengthen their playing, they will help create a lot more options to accompany vocal parts and once you can play this sort of guitar it will help you to play a solo gig and play guitar breaks which consist of more that a single note solo.
What I’ve done is taken the old Irish Tune Gypsy Rover and written a basic part and a slight variation. You might find that the melody is a fraction different to the original tune, I’ve called it up from memory and that’s roughly what I’ve heard in my head ( poet license).
Gypsy Rover Acoustic Guitar
Here is the Printable PDF, which no doubt you will need it Gypsy Rover Acoustic Guitar Arrangement
Here is a midi file of the tune to give you an idea how the tune goes Gypsy Rover Midi
NOTE: Midi files are not real audio recordings, they are data files, so it will lack the tone of a guitar and the human element so essential to music. But the file size is tiny.
Take the idea and develop it. I often work on other peoples arrangements, then I close the manuscript once I have an idea where the tune is going and I have an understanding of the underlying chord pattern and melody and other main parts. By playing other people’s arrangements will give you new fingerings and options which you might not ever have come up with.
Next week I will write another Fingerstyle Acoustic Guitar Solo Arrangement
The botom line KEEP IT MUSICAL
Tony Hogan - Acoustic Guitar Blogger
Here’s Part 3 of my series on Acoustic Guitar Players
Loren is an Australian musician who comes from Western Australia and now lives on the beauty NSW North Coast. He plays an acoustic style that falls into the category of Roots these days, to me that means acoustic, not overly commercial with a flavour of folk rock blues reggae and anything else that has an edge to it that has the ooccassioal dreadlock. I first encountered him when he was playing acoustic gigs in the local area and I was immediately struck by his musicality. Later I found out he had recorded a number of albums and had quite a following throughout other parts of Australia.
What struck me about Loren was his ability to keep peoples attention in a live situation. He manages to step in and out of styles and textures like no-one I have ever seen and keep the audience focus. A lot of musicians, regardless how great they are, seem to exhaust themselves musically after a number of tunes if they are doing solo material. I could listen to him play for hours and not be tired of what he does, this in itself is quite a statement because even if a good movie goes for anything over an hour and 12 minutes, I’m out of the room.
Loren tours and performs regularly throughout Australia with a band call The Grow Your Owns and has also done a couple of Tours of New Zealand, quite a number of people have heard of him through listening to the JJJ radio station.
Here’s what John Butler
“Loren sweet, gentle voice accompanied by relaxed melodically plucked guitar written by a man with a heart of gold.
I¹ve watched Loren play a few times and am always inspired by how effortless the music is.”
John
To check out Loren’s site go to Loren and the Grow Your Owns
Here’s Guitar Player Part 2 about Norman Savitt
I’m surprised how many guitar players there are who have never heard of Michael Hedges, the brilliant innovative guitar player / composer who died in 1997. Many of the new players such as Andy McKee and all the other acoustic tappers and open tuners were inspired byMichael Hedges. On this Acoustic Youtube Guitar Video he is playing a harp guitar, as far as I know it is a 1920’s Dyer Harp Guitar, not unlike some of the Larson Brothers instruments.
This tune he is playing a Bach piece called Cello suite in G (Major)
For more Michael Hedges on Harp guitar, check out Because It’s There
Acoustic Guitar Magazine Bling at Ning The Guitars
