Fingerpicking
Garrin Benfield – Unbound
I’ve known San Francisco based singer-songwriter Garrin Benfield for some time. In the mid ‘oughties’ (this century has turned out sucky for decade names so far,) we were booked on the same bill at a local SF acoustic music showcase night. At the end of the evening, Garrin and I jumped onstage for an impromptu [...]
Shaun Cromwell-The Rise and the Fall of It All
One of the guitarists I was lucky enough to meet at the Folk Alliance Region West (FAR-West) conference is Shaun Cromwell. I’ve posted the clip of Shaun playing his very cool song “The Rise and the Fall of It All” to my YouTube page.
Shaun was a featured performer at the FAR-West conference, and his show proved to be one of the most enjoyable for someone like me, who loves good songwriting combined with great fingerpicking.
Fingerstyle at FARwest 2009–Six Approaches
I took video of several Fingerstyle Guitarists while in Irvine last November for the annual Folk Alliance Region West (FAR-West). I am presenting them together in a half-hour video “Fingerstyle at FARwest 2009“.
Here’s the link to the High Resolution Video:
(large file, needs fast connection, stream or download)
Here’s the link to the Low Resolution version:
(not as [...]
Duck Baker–Thumbs of Fury
Since I often talk about right hand technique on this Blog, you might think ‘Thumbs of Fury’ refers to the right hand thumb.* Yes, the fingerpicker’s Jedi force surely resides in the right hand thumb, but in the case of long-time fingerstyle master Duck Baker, there’s a lot going on with the left hand thumb. [...]
The Intonation of the Gods–The “Schoenberg Set-up” Part Two
In the last post I talked about on problem with getting good intonation for fingerstyle on acoustic guitar. Lacking this, a fingerstyle player will never be able to get the full enjoyment and personal expression that comes from playing.
Enter the Schoenberg set-up. Eric Schoenberg began playing ragtime fingerpicking guitar in the late 1950s. [...]





