Category: Guitar technique

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Some Thumb Fun

This is a little thumb-tapping riff I’ve been working into a fuller composition for some time.

Often, I use this as an introduction to a medley I do with pieces by three of my favorite guitarists: Jimi Hendrix (Little Wing), Carlos Santana (Europa) and Stevie Ray Vaughn (Riviera Paradise).

As you’ll see, this is still a work in progress. It begins with the thumb-tapping exercise (hence the title of this blog and the piece itself). I then use a bit of fret tapping with the index finger.

I’m not quite sure about the middle section yet. I’ve been fooling around with this little progression using harmonics, in this case going from a Gm6 to an Am. I’m accomplishing these chords by barring on the third and fifth frets but leaving the high E string open. Then, 12 frets above each of these bar chords, I’m tapping on the frets to achieve the harmonics. Notice, I’m alternating between the bar chord harmonics and hitting the open high E string to achieve that Gm6 chord, which I think has a nice ring to it.

Once I get this finalized, I’ll post an update.

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The age-old jazz debate

I was on a social forum the other day, where the perpetual discussion about my favorite music genre was raging.

A member of that forum noted that he had been criticized for describing Bossa Nova as jazz, and wondered whether he was in the wrong or right.

I agreed with the vast majority of the responses: Bossa Nova fits very neatly into the jazz genre. You don’t have to get far in the Real Book to find the very first evidence of that in “Blue Bossa” in Book 1.

Of course, there are purists who will argue that the Real Book does not define jazz. And they are right, but for the wrong reasons. Anything is jazz if it is treated as such. In fact, if you scroll through any manuscripts from the 20th Century, what you will find is a treasure of songs, many of which are now considered “jazz standards.”

Is “Over the Rainbow,” for instance, a jazz song? No, it was written, along with many other tunes in that era, as a popular song. That’s right, it was the equivalent of a Taylor Swift single today. (And if you’re following the news, you might have noted there is a new debate on the origins of that song.)

All this debating about what is jazz got me to think about an original Bossa Nova tune I wrote, titled “O Amor é um Milagre” (Love is a Miracle).

Here’s a recent recording:

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Adios 2020

NO SONG HAS A STRONGER association with the end of the year than Old Lang Syne. And no year can compare with 2020 for a collective eagerness worldwide to move on. So, I thought it was only appropriate I should attempt a rendering of this classic and use the guitar I have owned for over four decades.

I dusted off the old (1976) Guild D-35NT (NT= natural finish). I’ve strapped on a set of heavy guitar strings and lowered the tuning to nearly a baritone. The bottom string is set at C.

I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for listening.

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New take on an old Christmas classic

I AM BACK WITH ANOTHER variation of a traditional holiday song: “Joy to the World.” This time, I am using the conventional “Drop D” tuning: i.e., lowering the sixth string one full step from E to D. The key for the song is also in D.

As you’ll note, I’m using a type of jazz-chord voicing technique as opposed to picking out the individual notes for the melody. In this way, I’m harmonizing to the melody as I play it.

This is a relatively short piece on its own, so I have improvised a bit of an intro, including some fret tapping and a little descending major-seventh motif, which I used between the verses as well.

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“Open” tunings using a capo

As I’ve noted before, one of my favorite techniques (short-cuts?) is to use a capo across the top 5 strings. On the second fret, this will give you a type of “drop-E” tuning. The benefit of this approach is that you can continue to use all your bar chords without learning new fingerings.

Today, I’m applying this to a “drop-F” by using two capos: one across the first fret (all six strings) and the second capo at the third fret, across the top 5 strings.

Here’s an example of this technique with the Christmas classic, “Deck the Halls.”

As always, if you like what you hear, please follow this blog.

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A different holiday song

This weekend was Thanksgiving in the United States. This is a song I wrote and recorded a few years back commemorating this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere, where temperatures drop, the days are shorter, and the deciduous trees shed their leaves.

It’s a bit of a reflective piece, maybe an homage to Will Ackerman, the guitarist who more or less created New Age music with his playing and then by founding Windham Hill Records.

(I interviewed Will for a radio show, but I’ll save that story for another time.)

Anyway, this piece is short, but includes lots of key modulations and chord voicings to underscore the melody. If you are interested in the charts, let me know.

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A little Christmas medley

It is that time of year: the time to practice all your holiday songs. Here is my first offering: acoustic guitar version of “Away in a Manger” mashed up with “Silent Night.”

Once again, I’m employing my “Drop E” tuning, where I use a capo across just the top five strings. This allows a sort of open E tuning and yet all your bar chords will remain the same; no need to learning different chords.

Hope you enjoy it. If you would like a transcript of the chords, sign up for my mailing list!