Ben Woolman: Fingerstyle Guitarist

What is technique? I like this Merriam-Webster definition the best:

A method of accomplishing a desired aim.

Developing and refining one's guitar technique is a lifelong evolution and absolutely essential to becoming a proficient player. Every day I am reminded of this while working with students or working through my own practice routine. There is always something to be changed, added, deleted, fingerings to manipulate, postures to adjust, flexibility and fluidity to be maximized, motion to be minimized, and…

Practitioners of American finger-style guitar very often use alternate tunings, that is, tune the guitar strings to pitches other than what is known as standard tuning (EADGBE). Alternate tunings can be realized by changing one string or all six. In fact, in current times, alternate tunings could arguably be considered the standard for contemporary finger-style guitarists, but that is a much larger topic for a much larger discussion.

I have been reading up on Vahdah Olcott - Bickford, The Grand Lady of the…

The rules of the road for writing and music composition

1. Get to the point.
2. Speak the truth.
3. Real emotion will carry the work.
4. Focus.
5. You can never be too specific.
6. Read out loud.
7. Listen.
8. Think rhythmic flow and variation.
9. Ask questions.
10. Reduce the clutter.
11. Rewrite and revise again.
12. Every word (note) must have a purpose.
13. Make sense.
14. For now, no one else exists. 

It was the great Benjamin Verdery who said (paraphrasing), "Never ever be afraid to go back to the basics of playing the guitar." I have been ruminating over this comment ever since I heard it during a master class at St. Thomas University. Recently, it has been sounding a particularly resonant chord within. Of course, at the time, Ben was referring to technical aspects of playing the guitar, i.e. slurs, scales, arpeggios exercises, you know, guitar heads, the basic technical work that we all go through to…

For the concert guitarist, a background gig is a grind. They are a work of necessity, well paid functional playing, essentially, music as a service. Period. Whether it be a restaurant, wine bar, cocktail party, etc. it is no place to concertize, to express your art, or to push your product. You play among endless chatter, feeling ignored, playing but not being heard, filling the cracks between conversation or becoming a conversation piece for the awkward couple. In fact the only attention you usually get…

Remember what it was like when you first started playing the guitar and experienced those first doses of success? Everything was so exciting and new, and you just wanted to play, constantly! You didn’t need to be taught how to practice. You already knew. You played simply because you loved the instrument and the sounds it made. However, at some point - and I know every player will corroborate - the relationship takes an unexpected turn. The once blossoming, idyllic, love affair begins to fade. A…