I like how this platform let you set up products both free and for purchase in the shop. I will likely post more printable etc to this platform.
Currently, a shorter version of the Lightfoot lesson is posted there for purchase and download, as well as a free tab of the River John Waltz.
Here's the link to my page:
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| Quilt block, Witness Blanket, Can Museum of Human Rights Pic, S. Sutter |
We all became friends thru helping trips we made with teens in 2010 and '12. They tend to the spiritual needs of the inner city indigenous community.
Another thing we wanted to do on this non-working trip was to visit the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
The exhibit that I keep thinking most about is something called the Witness Blanket on the 4th floor of the museum. It's a series of panels in wood that sort of mimics the quilt blocks idea. But the content preserves detail about the residential school system, so that it never happens again.
In the middle of the panels is a doorway as if to a chapel. But it looks like something out of a horror movie.
There are artifacts the artist has collected or had donated to him, like alphabet blocks and hockey skates, embedded in the quilt blocks.
One feature that caught my eye was a paltry few piano keys. This, in context with the horror movie chapel entrance, knocked the wind out of me.
I've been chatting with a grade school friend of mine over the last few years about the therapeutic benefits of playing music on memory retention and recovery. (We were in the high school band together, she played percussion and I played flute. But her non-concert band instrument is piano.)
Here was a situation in which the western church music tradition is associated with real life horrors.
This doesn't mean music in the European tradition can't be therapeutic. But there are situations where it can be distinctly not.
The piano or organ keys were the only music representations on the blanket. If there were other ones, I didn't notice them on this visit.
Of course, that doesn't mean our indigenous friends aren't musical people. Just that this generational experience was particularly devoid of joy.
The next day, we met with another friend for a picnic in St. Vital park, a beautiful well-utilized public green space on the Red River. When we picked her up, she caught us up on how she had been playing something like an honour song or strong woman song on her iPod and dancing like no one was watching. Another part of the conversation was about drumming.
Driving and picnicking with my friend gave time to listen. And this put a real live human form to the terrible legacy of residential schools.
This visit with people I love and are patient with me showed me I need to be prepared always to have my most knee-jerk assumptions challenged. Reconciliation is a lifelong journey.
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| Pic, S. Sutter |
I've heard people say it's harder than it looks, which it may be. But I think it can be a gateway to getting comfortable with fingerstyle playing.
This piece in G major travels all over the fret board. It leans on a mid-range drone technique. It relies on simple hand shapes that you'll know inside and out and be able to apply without thinking to other tunes in G major going forward.
We'll be concentrating more on notes than tabs because I think the ascending and descending runs that you can see better in standard music notation make more sense and lead to more effortless internalization of the piece than you can get with tabs.
I'll be working from the arrangement for it in the Fingerstyle Beatles book from Hal Leonard. So bookmark and consider ordering that book that if you want to follow along.
Each week, I'll try to isolate one section or technique. So that gives us quite a few weeks to concentrate on the piece.
The 'anchor' video that' I've posted first is at about 48 bpms. It's strictly the distinctive guitar part without the sung part. You can certainly have a friend sing or play along to supply the song.
I'll put the series of videos in a Playlist on my YouTube channel. All free to access.
The above being said, next week we'll focus on the G major scale. I think this is important for folks who want to go beyond tabs. So I won't make assumptions about basic theory knowledge. We're all in the same boat, looking at the basics that the song is built on.
Scales might sound like a boring place to start. But scales are just the stepping stones of notes that sound right together. You can call it tonal family or root family if that helps lower your guard about this formal sounding aspect of music. I won't dwell on it, but it does help with any piece to hear the related notes in your ear. And to remind your finger muscles where they will be commonly playing.
Maybe I'll post 2 videos to start, just so that the scales one doesn't make people feel we aren't getting started. Second vid will look at an element in the intro.
Here's the link to the anchor video on my YouTube:
Blackbird unit study, anchor video
That's it. Come along. You'll be amazed at your progress!
Since our grandson came along this fall, the narrative behind this tune has gone in a new direction for me.
Christmas hits differently when there's a baby in the family. Our little guy at the moment is on the other side of the world. So the story this tune tells right now lies more in its highs and lows. Ideas like far and near, the journey from heaven to earth and back again, the euphoria and exhaustion of new motherhood.
I'm extremely proud of my daughter-in-law and how she is with her baby. I wouldn't have maybe heard as much motherhood in the tune with my own children, but I feel much more at liberty to do this for her.
For Y, T and N.
Link to the tune on my Youtube:
Lyrics in Gaelic and English are below:
Rug Muire Mac do Dhia,
Íosa Críost, Triath na Reann,
Maireann dá éis ina hóigh,
An bhean is dóigh do gach dall.
Buime is Máthair Mhic Dé Bhí,
Bean mar í ní fhaca súil,
Bean ler oscladh flaitheas Dé,
Do mholfas mé os gach dúil.
Ní cosúil í le mnáibh,
Muire Mhór an bláth nach críon,
Ní cosúil balsam le moirt,
Le lionn goirt ní cosúil fíon.
Mary bore a son to God,
Jesus Christ, Prince of the Stars,
She remains a virgin afterwards,
The woman who is hope for every blind man.
The Nurse and the Mother of the Son of the Living God,
A woman like her no eye has ever seen,
The woman by whom God’s heavens were opened,
Whom I will praise over every creature.
She is not like other women,
Great Mary, the flower that never withers,
Balsam is not like heavy clay,
Unlike bitter ale is wine.
It seems like a good way to use scrap paper, and not use up printer cartridge ink.
Easy way to create a large print, horizontal printable.
I'm not intuitively a TAB user. But I did find that jotting down the tabs to an AABB fiddle tune type of piece was a lot easier than music notation.
Hand generated bc I just don't have the time to learn a new program. But I think it's readable, looks actually ok in pdf viewer.
The pdf indicates 3 pages. But you just need to print the first 2 pages. 3rd is because I couldn't figure out how to clean it up. But I know what to do for next time.
This is kind of a prototype. Free offering in my Google docs. Constructive comments welcome.
Here's the link to it:
When looking for pieces to play together, I stumbled on one of the kids' RCM books. It's Vocals Level 5, and had the tune which could be picked out on guitar, and a separate accompaniment part for piano. Perfect for our rehab goals.
When it came to adding another guitar player into these jams, we needed chords. But there aren't any shown in the RCM arrangement.
So I worked some up for the other player.
There are a few other songs in other RCM levels that will be good for our ongoing rehab project, which is mainly now just for fun.
But it occurs to me it might be helpful if RCM printed chord names into songs in their repertoire books. That way, if a student has a parent who plays guitar but not piano, it gives more opportunity to practice with accompanist. Calling RCM!
I've posted the video on YouTube. Here's an attempt to share the chord progression without infringing on copyright:
Old Irish Blessing, chord progression
I'll post this to my IG account as part of Fingerstyle Friday. Even tho it's not really fingerstyle (altho I do pick out the tune). And it's not Friday.
It's a pretty tune. Someone around here is starting university in a few days. It seems like a nice send off for him. And for us entering the new normal. And for all of us who bid a wistful farewell to summer and look toward the fresh starts of fall.
The key is to get a patch or adapter that goes into the power or charging port of your devise.
These bits and bobs of tech are pretty cheap on evil Amz. Like under $15 Cdn.
Find them on my YouTube:
Arrangement by Michael Wood. It's in at least a couple of his books of tunes.
Meant to showcase fingerstyle guitar in some pretty little tunes.
Find it on my YouTube: LT Guitar, Parting Glass
Or IG account
Cheers!
As much as I want to avoid Meta products, it's a useful tool for connecting folks between this website/blog and my YouTube channel.
I'll keep it a business account so the algorithms don't tunnel too far into my brain lol.
See you there.
Cheers!
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.)
