There quite a few tricky elements here.
Well done!
Click HERE for the video
Silk as a fabric has the property of helping keep a consistent temperature and humidity for wooden instruments. An even environment helps prevent the wood from cracking.
I found an online vendor from Spain for silk violin bags: Carmen Bruna. Find her shop on the artisan website, Etsy. Here's the link: Carmen Bruna Designs . She also appeared to make bigger bags for cellos. So I ordered one. As we exchanged messages, I explained that it was actually for a classical guitar, so if she could cut smaller pieces and save cloth, that would work great.
She wrote back very enthused to try it. I sent the measurements she requested. It arrived in about 3-4 weeks. International shipping was minimal for the small light parcel. The packaging with elegant. The bag fit perfectly. It was so nicely made. I couldn't have done as nice a job even if I could have found the matching piece of silk.
I have a silk violin bag. It cost about $40 from Remenyi in Toronto. It's lovely and lined, but not colourful. I use a binder clip to keep it closed over its humidifier. That's not so elegant.
The guitar bag has a drawstring closure at the base to keep the dry air out. It also has a lace tie around the neck. It fits my guitar like a glove.
I had looked for a Canadian maker first, then North American. But this international experience was wonderful, and personal, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.
Does it work - oh yes. In the time frame of about a week in our late spring, I had topped up all my guitar humidifiers. When I took the silk off, the humidifier was still damp. Whereas the ones for the uncovered guitars had dried out.
I just finished Canadian writer Lyndsie Bourgon’s 2021 book, “Tree Thieves.”
I had heard an interview with the writer and CBC’s Duncan McCue on radio, and was startled to learn the music industry was so integrated in this.
As a mom, I’ve purchased and received gifts of wooden instruments for my kids, and more the fool me, never gave a thought to the idea of where the wood came from.
In our case, it was violins, and we landed on 2 that belonged to a friend’s grandfather and great grandfather, that she has said the girls could use in perpetuity, but she wouldn’t sell them. I had one of their teachers ask to buy the older violin, and the above is what my friend said. Tutor said she wouldn’t be able to buy a violin for a reasonable price with the tone that age brings to these wooden instruments. When I sent them to a luthier to get them back into full playing condition, he said over the phone they were good German violins. If he knew what type of wood, it didn't come up, and is sort of irrelevant since that wood was harvested long ago. Both are now over 100 years old. There’s nothing you can do about vintage instruments, except continue to love and play them.
But I have been in the market for a new guitar for myself. I’ve had a Denver (house brand to Long & McQuade here in Canada, made in China) classical for about 20 years. And you know, it has been a serviceable gateway instrument. For $100, the same tutor picked it up for me and I never thought about the wood’s origin then either.
I have a Washburn acoustic-electric that was a 40th bday present. (The one in my banner image.) It has a cutaway shape for reaching higher notes, as well as on-board electronics. The scale of the guitar is perfect for my smaller female frame, but the electronics make it heavy, too heavy for me now that I'm older. So now I knew after years of reflection that I wanted a light (so, non-electric) classical with a cutaway. Well, not many manufacturers make that shape without electronics. Except good old Denver. I would have paid more for one than the Denver, even gone to another company, but this is what I knew I would use. Again, no thought to the wood’s origin.
The Denver site doesn’t say anything about it being a sustainable wood product. It says solid spruce top (if solid, it would be a bigger piece vs slat pieces with greater chance of being something like an old growth Sitka spruce). I would have preferred cedar, oh well. Mahogany back and sides (endangered, dang it). Black walnut fingerboard - ok. Nato neck (googles nato wood - “Mora wood species are not listed in the citeS Appendices[2] or on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - Wikipedia).
[* It looks like 'solid top' could mean simply non-laminate.*]
No FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) logo anywhere near it on the site. The L & M listing is the same. Note to self - I’ve just sent email to LM websales to ask if it’s FSC certified.
I’m obviously late to this party, but those are the steps I would take in future or recommend a parent or student to take when sourcing a new instrument.
In short strokes, the usual woods that go into elite guitars are for the most part endangered. The Bourgon book notes that figured maple for beautiful guitar soundboards is likely poached. Rosewood - poached. Mahogany, endangered. Ebony, red flag. This is true for other wooden prestige instruments. Key red-flag woods/descriptors from US and Canada: Douglas fir, western red cedar, Sitka spruce, figured maple, flame maple, big leaf maple (the ‘pretty’ maple grain cuts are worth the most money.)
Please note - some guitars are made with ethically harvested old growth woods (ie by commitment smaller scale clearcutting, among other practices) by indigenous forest stewards in Canada, and will bear the FSC logo. In other words, look for the logo, not just the wood name.
However, even if there is an FSC stamp associated with the guitar you’re thinking of, the paperwork coming from source can be faked (sigh). But maybe customer demand can cause the logo to become a feature on even the lowest end guitars.
Bourgon describes a timber DNA database in the US which continues to collect samples. Perhaps it will be possible to tell in future if guitar wood is poached by running it thru this database and allow guitar shops to halt commitment to that supply.
To be fair, guitar makers are not the worst offenders in buying poached wood. I think they’ve been singled out in this because they do have stakes in keeping viable the supply of old growth woods that they use in premier instruments.
(However much more old growth wood is made into items like furniture by the likes of IKEA. We as average consumers need to train ourselves to watch for the logo, or ask if we don’t see it.)
There’s a documentary from 2013, directed by Mary Trump of the UK, called “Musicwood” (I rented it on YouTube for like $5). It closes with an in-house luthier at Taylor (?) guitars saying something like, the 1 or 2 piece guitar top will become impossible to make. Guitars will have to be made differently in future.
The record wildfire situation in Canada this summer (2023) should cause us all to wonder about how many years are left until old growth wood is gone.
The old classic instruments with go-to woods that signified industry best, like my daughters’ violins on loan to them in perpetuity, will only increase steadily in the type of value that’s impossible to put a price on over time.
Endnote - I will try to update this post when significant updates become available.
This just in - I've received a reply from a web sales rep at L & M. Full marks for prompt reply. I'll attach screen cap below. To judge from his answer, FSC certified seems to apply to elite, more 'expensive' guitars. Ok, that mindset has got to change. Why should a student feel like they're maybe contributing to clearcutting because they just need an entry level guitar. Let's make sure we ask about FSC certification about every newly made guitar we buy.
After getting this email, I typed the FSC into the search bar on the L & M site. Only 7 items came up. 2 were Taylor ukuleles, both over $600. 3 were Martin guitars - over $1000 (one a left handed Shawn Mendes) and just under $3000. These reference FSC a few times. The fourth was a used Fender Strat, with no actual mention of FSC in details, but it does have a Certificate of Authenticity, sale price $4999. The 7th item is an FSC foot switch lol.
Am making the Lightfoot guitar lesson available without a Patreon subscription.
Find it on my Buy me a Coffee page under Extras.
This is a Pdf format document. It's exactly the same as the Patreon post, has clickable links to technique videos and chord sheets.
It's a bit more than the Patreon monthly subscription rate, otherwise you all would never consider the Patreon sub.
Here's the link:
This Patreon post has embedded links to technique reels and videos, along with chord sheets.
Have a great summer.
Enjoy!
Post features audio jam tracks & video for play-along.
Also a new feature from an app called Strum Machine, that gives a chord chart for the tune and an in-rhythm audio of the chord progressions.
Below is the link to the video on my YouTube. It's just 1 rep. But you can loop the video keep repeating thru the mini-player function:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP5cl8uOnHs&list=PLgbH3RzNEUKWw98-1CL33hE83nPe178k9
Here's the link to the full Patreon post:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/wildwood-flower-82077045
This unit used the arrangements in Steve Kaufman's 'Bluegrass Instrumentals' Band in a Book series. Highly recommend for fairly easy to work up ensembles. Also great for family practicing.
The sacred lyrics are old enough. There are also original folk lyrics.
Regardless of how you know this tune, it's a great one to add to your repertoire.
I used an arrangement in drop D tuning for this study unit.
Patreon post features links and attachments for: audio jam tracks for playing along. short technique videos. video fingerstyle solo, tips on chording along with it. Link below:
Be thou my vision lesson on Patreon
Kesh Jig, to give you a tune for St. Patrick's (month).
This is from a series of books by Hal Leonard that has parts for 3 guitars. (There are more books in the series - Beatles, Bach, more.)
The post has the main tune you can strum along with, also tips on chording. It's in F major which has Bflat as the 4th, so you can't really avoid it.
There are some technique videos. Also chord maps, including for uke (which handles F major easier than guitar tbh).
Here's the link to the Patreon:
As discussed in MY PATREON POST on this, the Harfoot Song is a working song.
That means it comes from the fine tradition of music that helps people to accomplish a tedious or physical task. Think sea shanties that help sailors haul ropes. Or I'm picturing a film doc I saw once of women felting cloth singing together in Gaelic.
In 'Rings of Power,' Harfoot Nori sings this while she pulls the family's belongings in a hand cart on their migration.
She's going thru a lot of exertion to pull it, so her breathing is irregular - physical labour is baked into the song.
So try not to rush it - it should go slow.
Also it's a cappella. One small voice travelling into the unknown.
Applied to an instrument, it makes sense for it to be a small portable one. Think of the violins settlers brought to the New World a la movie 'Red Violin.' Or mandolin. Small guitar could work. Ukulele works for size. It looks like uses were based on a small Portuguese proto-guitar. Small folk instruments could also work, like wooden flute or recorder.
(*This tune adapts well to uke for strumming, in the sense that it doesn't need fully barred chords.)
The song is long, the way a lot of shanties are with multiple verses. But it can get tedious to play on its own. So I made the 3 verses a little different for a guitar solo. V1 is straight up, V2 is in lower register, V3 has trills, lightening the tune as the day's labours reach an end.
This piece ends up being more of a solo version.
Why Cathedral effect? The lyrics that first stuck with me were: 'My legs are so short and the way is so long.' Cathedral, which is an effect found in iMovie, gave the small voice in big universe I wanted.
The visual filter also comes from iMovie - 'Dreamy.' The video shot in my home studio in 2023 just didn't work. I felt the Dreamy filter gave the idea of how the impulse to migrate comes from deep cultural memory.
The tune is in Bb major. So you have to practice your chording in these barred chords to strum along.
Recorded on a Denver 3/4 classical guitar.
If you want to dig deeper into this tune, I tons more support files in the Patreon above - slower audio jam tracks without the effects, short how- to videos, sheet music marked up for guitar, more.
I've been trying to post a freebie element from each Patreon strudy. This is it!
Here's the link to it on YouTube: Harfoot Song on YouTube, LTG
Finally got around to developing a lesson on Nori's song, 'This Wandering Day,' from the Rings of Power series on Amazon, prequel to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Song composed by Bear McCreary.
There's sheet music available out there for piano with guitar chords and piano melody. But not specifically for guitar. Or that break down strum, fingerings etc. for guitar.
My Patreon study has links to sheet music marked up for guitar, audio strum & melody jam tracks, short demo videos for guitar and soprano uke.
Also the usual performance notes, tips and list of gear, apps.
One thing I discovered while working this up is that the chord fingerings in this Bb major key signature is probably easier on uke than on guitar.
The background on this song is that it's a working song to provide motivation for these tiny denizens of 2nd age Middle Earth, progenitors of the Hobbits, for loading up their belongings & migrating by push or pull cart. So a small portable instrument like a uke works well. Even tho the song is an a cappella solo, for some reason I'm hearing a small ukulele orchestra in my head. Maybe a few around a Harfoot campfire at end of a travel day. Or perhaps a tribute in later generations to the endurance of their ancestors.
Here's the link to the Patreon post:
Harfoot Song lesson, LTG Patreon
I've put a stylized variation up on YouTube as a playalong:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGOxPUnl7W0&t=3s
So, yep, attach the Command knob to the bottom of your guitar & voila, strap button, no drilling or trip to luthier. $8 amzn.
You don't have to do a lot of gigging on stage to get value from a strap. A strap will perform the function of holding or stabilizing the guitar so that your left hand only has one job left, which is moving around the neck, either up and down frets or across strings.
Remember with Command hooks, you get more sticking power if you let them sit for a while before putting weight or stress on them. I left mine over night.
The knob was big for the slot on my strap, so I had to cut the slot deeper.
Also the leather (or faux leather, not sure) isn't soft. So I crushed and bent it quite a bit to make it more flexible.
I put a lot of pressure on the knob to get it thru the slot, so it did initially come off. Also there was a lot of packing tape glue on my guitar from attaching my classical guitar pickup.
Should have done it right the first time anyway. I really went after the glue with some Goo-Gone to give a cleaner surface to adhere to.
I did place the knob in a way that leaves room to re-attached the pickup when needed.
I also discovered thru this that it's maybe best to get the knob thru the slot first, and then adhere the knob base with strap already on it to the guitar as a second step.
My poor old reliable Denver classic 4/4 ends up being a guinea pig for a lot of my kooky adaptive ideas. But I think this is a good workaround to suggest to a student with a not super expensive guitar. No harm, lots of advantage.
Here's a little ALBUM OF PICS. Also shows is the quick release strap mechanism I added. (It's pretty cheap too- about $15 amzn.)
So I've revisited, added some new fingering charts & a slowmo demo video. JPGs sheet music plus link to video found here
Personally I prefer locking on to one string vs introducing string crossings. But maybe there's an advantage for new learners in prioritizing close finger placements.
The original tabs i found showed the frets 18>10 sequence (Bar 44) on string 1. So that's high Bb note to D note (2 ledger lines above staff). My previous instruction was to anchor the sequence on the D note on String 2, Fret 15. He felt Frets 18: 15 was too hard to get fingers around.
The second way is to use String 1 as anchor, slide it up from 17>18, and place index on Fret 19 of String 3 to play the D. That only gives a 2 fret spread, and a minimal difference in string spacing between String 2 vs 3.
Ok, so 3 & 6 are a G note and Bb note (1 ledger line above staff). 10 is D note, 2 ledger lines. We know that G note is Fr 12, Str 3, and Bb is Fr 11, Str 2. That let's make a sort of squeezed C chord formation over the 3 high strings.
After playing the Bb, flatten the middle finger to catch Fr 11 on Str 1 for the D# note, which is the Tab 11.
Then you might as well play the final descending line as written in the Tabs. You need to move to a C# for Tab 9, which is a simple slide down of 1 fret. Then just keep going down to the Bb & G notes on Str 1. The 3-3 formation comes pretty easily as a 1st position fingering, so just keep as is.
It all depends on the effect you want or need. In 4SW, there are a lot of sustained notes. Guitar doesn't handle sustain well, nylon strings hand sustain worse than steel strings. (Maybe a chorus effect on an amp or some kind of pedal. But not everyone has that setup. And I don't know anything about electric guitars.)
Violin as a stringed instrument can kind of faux infinite sustain by drawing the bow in long strokes back and forth over the string. Mandolin can faux long sustain a long time too with tremolo. There's of course tremolo on guitar, but it's not top of the new learner's tool kit.
A simple technique we unplugged guitarists can use is vibrato. (Other string instruments, including ukulele, can use vibrato also.) This is that slight tremble where the note goes up and down in pitch by a micro tone. Singers do it by controlling air flow thru the diaphragm. String players do it by rotating a sort of flattened fingertip a very short distance back and forth over the note within the fret box.
There are variables that contribute to nicer vibrato. I recently replaced my string set, and vibrato came a lot easier on certain strings.
Some times you'll see players almost wiggle the whole instrument in the neck area against the fretted string, like they are trying to wring the last millisecond out of the note. And maybe they are!
There are a couple of spots in 4SW where you land on an open D and/or open G for a held note. (Verse at 'We've been thru that a hundred times or more,' and Chorus, "I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way.')
You could also opt to play these D and G notes by fretting them. An open string note can't be fretted, therefore vibrato'd. But a fretted string can.
Two other merits of a fretted vibrato note are: 1. it slows you down and reins you back from rushing. And 2. something is happening visually, creating the useful supporting 'illusion' that the song is still in motion, that a tone is being carefully considered and played, even if it doesn't ring a ton longer than the open string.
Open string notes are of course wonderful, they ring beautifully. But this may not be the best solution every time.
I've posted a few short video clips on YouTube to show the same phrase with open strings, then with vibrato on fretted strings. Start with Clip 1, 4SW phrase in Verse ending on Open String video, and the remaining 3 clips should autoplay:
To Fret or Not to Fret Clips, YouTube
Fretted strings can also *sometimes* have the advantage of not requiring a string crossing, thereby helping you to minimize chance of a mistake. But in this case, going from 4th string E to fretted D on the 5th string, you do have to cross strings. With a bit of practice, you will develop the muscle memory to start the reach for the 5th string D, also glancing at the neck, to ensure you hit the right string.
There's nothing wrong with playing the open D almost as a pull-off from the 2nd fret E note. But you are making a choice to just let the open D ring and die off when it wants to, rather than having more control over it. Ultimately the choice is yours.
Good talk!
Perhaps the most identifiable song he wrote & performed was Four Strong Winds.
That song vaulted into the stratosphere by Neil Young & Nicolette Larson's cover on his 'Comes a Time' album. Or as other half says, allowed Ian to retire comfortably to his ranch lol
If you want to have one classic Canadian campfire song in your pocket, this is it!
I've worked up the elements to a tutorial/playalong in a Patreon post.
It has jam tracks for with simple fingerpicked melody on guitar, guitar strum and the tracks together so you can hear how they sound together.
Also lyric sheet with chord charts. as well as hand notated sheet music for the melody, to avoid any potential claims of copyright violation. I won't do the melody notation for every song but I wanted to offer it in this case. In further posts, I will tell you the source of the sheet music, maybe include a partial image like this so that you can get an idea of how complex.
There are also tips on playing certain sections, instrumentation, and more.
Here's the link to the Patreon post: FOUR STRONG WINDS.
Cheers.
Guys, here's a visual on how an oversize cardboard piece supports longer pieces of music on your stand. You're welcome!
This sheet also has uke chord fingerings marked on.
First verse shows where chord changes occur over lyrics. Apply pattern to the number of verses you choose to use.
