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Post by aspguitars on Feb 27, 2014 11:19:19 GMT
Hi! all. I've been playing the guitar on and off now for over 50yrs. Although I used to play in an old Rock band doing AC/DC and Thin Lizzy covers, I would never consider myself to be a brilliant guitarist. I've had loads of comments and praise over the years, but then I put on some Tommy Emmanuel and I quickly come down to earth. I've just bought a nice new acoustic, and I'm now looking for some sort of inspiration to get me playing again. I've got the Eltjo Hasselhoff DVD which is hard, but good. I was hoping that someone could point me in the direction of some new guitarists to emulate. I've been looking at the free James Taylor videos, and he's really good with a lovely sound, but I just need something new. I'm open to suggestions everybody. Ade
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Post by clydeslide on Feb 27, 2014 12:02:00 GMT
I have a few suggestions, I'd say listen to them and see if any take your fancy.
Fingerstyle blues. This covers a vast array of styles from Peidmont to Delta, Country Blues etc. It will open you up to lots of different musicians that you may or may not have heard of. I can recommend Toby Walkers lesson packs, I'm curently working through the E-Pack. It isn't terribly difficult, but it aims to teach you to improvise around songs for yourself which is great if you want to get into arranging your own stuff.
Martin Simpson. He's a fantastic guitarist and a favourite at any forum you're likely to visit. He'll also open you up to a variety of open tunings and slide work. He sells tabs on his website which are good, but let me know if you are looking at buying any and I'll give you a bit of guidance.
Slide guitar. Something I've dabbled in for a long time and finally spending serious time on. There are a large number of resources on the interweb, as a first song I always think Dark Was The Night (Cold Was The Ground) by Blind Willie Johnson is a good starting point along with basic techniques.
For a guy who writes great songs and plays great covers look up Warren Haynes. It's not really fingerstyle but it's great fun.
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Feb 27, 2014 12:17:57 GMT
This may come as something of a sideways thought, and discard it by all means, but for me the approach of "I want to play guitar, what shall I play?" is less helpful than "I love XXXX kind of music and especially xxxx and xxxx songs/tunes - how can I translate those to guitar?"
Difficult to recommend without knowing more about the kinds of music you like, and your current abilities, but why not try arranging some simple popular tunes to play as solo guitar pieces, probably fingerstyle?
That way, you get to chose whatever tunes you like and to play them at whatever level of ability you have now, and the possibility of developing them as skills are acquired.
Certainly do listen to loads of other guitar players in different styles, but I find it most helpful not to get hung up on any player in particular, nor to attempt to copy their pieces too closely, but do listen as widely as possible and try to see how different players use different approaches - and then nick the best bits from all of them!
Any clues as to what direction you might wish to take?
Keith
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windminstrel
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Post by windminstrel on Feb 27, 2014 14:23:51 GMT
I agree with ocorolan, what I did find after reading a lot of stuff about fingerstyle acoustic blues and researching the players and the history of this particular genre of music, was then looking for a personal identity within the rich tapestry of English folk music. I have no desire to emulate any one person, but to develop my own style. This has taken many avenues and various types of open tuning to try. I found a good website that has a plethora of songs on it and find it is good to try out some of these tunes: linkThere is traditional music in various forms, all tuning is written for standard if you have no desire to use an alternate tuning. This may not be your chosen style of music, but is worth a look anyway as there are some blues stuff in there as well.
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Post by aspguitars on Mar 1, 2014 22:34:43 GMT
Thanks all,and sorry for being so vague. However it seems to have worked. I looked at Martin Simpson and really liked his style. I also found Tony McManus purely by accident and really liked him to. I'll now go and do some more research. Thanks again Ade
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Post by melodeous on Mar 3, 2014 2:08:37 GMT
I let it work its way out to my hands. That's a weird way to say it, I guess, but that's me. Oh, that's when I'm writing. When I'm covering I just give the selected song/piece a listen and cover it my way with an ear turned to ensuring it's a somewhat faithful rendering. I think I have much more fun listening to people render their own versions than I do people who insist on replication down to the mustache, hat and posture, so to speak. Owning a bar, I bring in many talented people and some have me inspired, with their artistic takes of covers, to similarly exploit and musically test my own versions.
I guess that doesn't really answer the OP. What I mean to say is I listen. Self-taught, I came up by ear and developed it in coincidence with the mechanics of play. My ear got all learned up way in advance of my mechanical skills. Now I can hear something and it sticks, like a fly to fly paper, and I use that to help me find the easiest method of playing it on guitar. That's the basic melody development phase. Then, I embellish it later to taste and serve it up when ready.
The various fingerpicking styles/patterns, when mixed appropriately, can really give an interesting dynamic to even a lyric-heavy piece without conflicting. But, they have to be learned. My advice is to find a simple Travis Style (alternating) instructional and develop it until it's natural. When that occurs your picking hand will probably already be anxious to move on and receptive to learning other patterns.
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Post by vikingblues on Mar 3, 2014 7:34:28 GMT
to the forum Ade. As a very recent convert to acoustic guitar after several years of electric I can understand your initial problem of knowing where to start. The choice is enormous and there's so many styles and avenues to explore. Had someone told me in November last year what I'd be playing now I'd have flat out disbelieved them. You've found Martin Simpson and Tony McManus, and I remember that as being quite an amazing find. A real change to guitar playing aspirations and horizons. If you get into the Martin Simpson open and altered tunings there is a tuition book/DVD of his that I am currently working though and finding very rewarding so far. It gives guidance for ideas as to what to use rather than telling the pupil note for note what to play - but I've always preferred that approach. I had intended to concentrate on fingerstyle blues on acoustic but I've been swept totally off course. The wonderful sounds of open tuning resonances has me in its spell. Good luck with your journey!
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windminstrel
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Post by windminstrel on Mar 3, 2014 17:32:51 GMT
I had intended to concentrate on fingerstyle blues on acoustic but I've been swept totally off course. The wonderful sounds of open tuning resonances has me in its spell. (in addition to above post) .....same here, until I heard Nic Jones, Pierre Bensusan, Steve Baughman and so on. I enjoyed the likes of Lightnin' Hopkins and Robert Johnson, but found the music of the various British folk ....folk to be better in many ways personally. Apart from the fact I live in the good old wet and windswept U of K as opposed to sunny southern states of the US of A. I would prefer to attempt writing songs about the familiar rather than try and emulate the unfamiliar. .... and I like reading about old British folk songs now, something I wouldn't have contemplated in the past. I did find changing from one style to another beneficial, but now find all the different styles and multitude of tuning options (in folk music specifically) to be more advantageous.
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