ACOUSTIC ISSUE 54 JUNE 2011

32ANDY
MCKEE McKee’s playing certainly
delivers the wow factor.
But as he explains to Noel
Harvey, what really counts
is the feeling.

© Tina Korhonen
40 Tony RETUNE
YOUR EARS
White
Alligators, Elvis Presley and 23 Listen to
the joys of home recording something new
– the man they call the
‘Louisiana Swamp Fox’ tells
© Leann White

it like it is to Julian Piper.

38 Gerry Cott
Gerry Cott was guitarist of the
Boomtown Rats. Now he’s back,
and lyrical solo acoustic guitar
is now his métier.

30 Dar
Williams
Dar Williams has built a
career the hard way:
out on the road playing for
audiences the world over. 28 Malcolm 43 Ruarri
She talks to Acoustic.
Holcombe Joseph
A man who believes that life This young player is making
on the edge is the only way. some serious waves.

UK LUTHIER CORNER
86 The Workshop
Russell Welton talks with Ivor Pickard

06 ACOUSTIC MAGAZINE JUNE 2011

Contents 54_BC.indd 6 04/05/2011 15:57

 Guitar Techniques
CHECK OUT OUR
TECHNIQUES SECTION!
Our different level specific techniques have
something for everyone. Whether you’re a
beginner or advanced, we can help.
Acoustic Techniques
Biography
Raymond Burley is an
accomplished classical
guitarist, composer and
arranger. One of his most
recent projects was the album
Double Vision - a collection
of Giltrap pieces arranged for
two guitars.
RAymond
BuRley
Classical Guitarist
Skill Level: Intermediate
Welcome back to my column.
Following on from the previous
article, I’m continuing with the hugely
important topic of sight-reading –
and how best to improve it.
Note Finding
A guitar teacher will often stress that,
when sight-reading, maintaining the
rhythm of a piece of music is much
more important than playing all the
correct notes – this is sound advice.
However, if the rhythms are the most
important aspect of sight-reading,
why do I suggest beginning the
article with note finding? The answer
is simple: the rhythm provides a
Example 1
Example 1: Don’t move on until you
are able to locate these notes quickly
and accurately.
Set a metronome to crotchet
(quarter note) = 60, ie one beat per
second. Repeat the open 1st string E
exactly in time with the metronome,
and while you are doing this think
where another E is found. Without
interrupting the rhythm, switch to the
new note. The metronome provides
114 acoustic magazine march 2011
Ray Burley.indd 110
110 Duck Baker
This song will help you get
familiar with the circle of 5ths
112 David Mead
David continues to unlock the
mysteries of DADGAD.
114 Ray Gamble
Touch Me Lightly by Tobias
Hume.
Special Features
44 First Songs
We all started somewhere. Brooks Williams asks numerous
guitarists about which songs they learned first.
48 Historical British Ballads
Paul Brett reveals some of the songs that our ancestors sang.
91 Guitar In East Africa
Brooks Williams reports in from his time teaching in Africa.
92 12-string Corner
Kicking off a new regular feature Paul Brett takes you inside the
world of the 12-string.
98 Arranging For Guitarists Part 2
Chris Gibbons continues to help you develop your arranging skills.
Contents 54_BC.indd 7
Sight
Reading
Let Ray help you improve your
sight reading with some note
finding exercises.
deadline to arrive at the next note or
chord, but when sight-reading you
may encounter a note or chord that
you are unable to find in time and the
rhythm will be interrupted while you
search for it. As a starting point, it’s
crucial that fingerboard knowledge is
secure and confident.
During the process of sight-
reading it can be very tempting to
go back and correct an error that has
occurred, but by doing this the error
is compounded and the pulse is lost;
time doesn’t stand still and certainly
doesn’t go backwards. If you were
playing in an orchestra or ensemble
it would be unrealistic to expect the
the deadline for arrival at the next
note. Think now where a further E
is located, and so on. If at any time
you have trouble finding a new E, go
back to a note played earlier. Try to
avoid playing the notes in the same
sequence each time.
When the process is secure and
accurate, continue the exercise by
repeating each E just four times before
moving, thus giving yourself less
other musicians to stop and wait for
you to catch up.
Unlike the piano keyboard, where
there is a clearly recognisable pattern
of white and black notes, the frets on
the guitar fingerboard all look very
similar, therefore we need to start
by establishing some fingerboard
landmarks. Many guitars have
position dots on the upper edge of
the fingerboard; if your guitar does
not have these you may find it helpful
to add a tiny dot of correction fluid or
sticky paper at the 5th or 7th fret as
an aid to left-hand accuracy.
Begin by choosing a landmark
note pitch – I suggest E as a number
thinking time. Continue by playing
each note twice and then just once.
You can, of course, stretch yourself
further by setting a quicker tempo.
Once Es are completely secure,
repeat the procedure using the note
F. If you know where each E is found,
F will be one fret (or one semitone)
higher. As there are no open Fs,
left-hand position shifting will be a
little trickier. Continue by choosing
Techniques
Skill Level
This is suitable
for intermediate
of them can be found in the lower
positions of the fingerboard.
Obviously, if you are a player of less
than intermediate standard it will be
a waste of time and effort learning
the notes in the higher reaches of
the fingerboard at this stage. Judge
the required range from the notes
encountered in the more advanced
pieces in your repertoire. It’s essential
that notes are identified by their letter
names rather than just fret positions
– the reason for this will become
Acoustic Techniques
apparent very shortly.
Find the Es; those up to and
including the 12th fret are shown
below:
another note: it could be F sharp or
perhaps G. Initially, the closer to your
original landmark note the better.
Avoid taking on too many different
CHRIS
pitches in a short space of time as the
GIBBONS
notes will quickly become confused
and little will be achieved.
Composer
Skill level: Suitable for all
One of the main hurdles the guitarist
has to jump is evaluating the most
effective left-hand fingering for a
piece of music. Unlike a pianist, where
each key represents a note and is
immovable, for the guitarist playing
C above middle C it can be found in
three different locations:
1st fret, 2nd string
5th fret, 3rd string
10th fret, 4th string
15th fret, 5th string
Logically, the decision of where to
play is determined by the range of
the melody – the left hand is located
where it can reach the bulk of the
notes required and then extend into
higher or lower registers via a series
of shifts.
02/02/2011 11:18
G major scale
110 acoustic magazine march
2011
Chris Gibbons.indd 104
116 David Price
Improve your fingerstyle playing.
This month: block chords.
118 Lin Flanagan
Should you go classical? Lin offers
some advice.
Fingerings
Biography
Chris is not only a
and Positions
guitar teacher but also a
composer and producer
having worked on
many orchestrations for
television and recordings
alike. He has many years of Chris helps you find the most efficient
experience in performance
and helping others way to play any given piece, with fretting
develop their playing
potential to
hand positions.
their best.
There are no hard-and-fast rules
for this because each guitarist
has a style which favours certain
finger combinations, but there are
certain precepts which provide an
ergonomic basis for any performance.
This first article in a series of six will
look at the issues of when to play ‘in
position’ and when to deviate.
So let’s look at first principles …
‘Playing in position’ refers to placing
the left hand so that the 1st finger
is located at a particular fret; thus, in
the 2nd position the 1st finger covers
all the notes at the 2nd fret, the 2nd
finger covers the 3rd fret, 3rd finger
the 4th, and so on. Because no open
strings are involved, the fingering
pattern is movable, so shift up one
NEW
fret so the 1st finger is at the 3rd fret
and you have a scale of Ab major in
the 3rd position, one fret or semitone
higher than G
The open position uses open strings
and thus cannot be shifted in this
manner, and a new fingering must
then be learnt for Ab major in the
open position.
So let’s look at some options for the
scale of G major in Ex 1.
The first fingering option is using
open strings; here the left-hand
finger is the same as the fret on the
tab: 3rd fret = 3rd finger etc.
The second option is utilising the
2nd position. Look at the left-hand
Gear Reviews
Acoustic keeps you up
to date with whats hot
and whats not in our
gear reviews section.
54 Taylor GS Mini
A miniature Taylor with a (relatively) miniature price
tag, but does it live up to the stature of the name?
Sam Wise finds out.
58 RainSong H-WS 1000 N2
The Hybrid Series of new carbon-fibre and glass-fibre
construction elements makes for a fascinating look.
Will you find the tone equally as intriguing?
Techniques
Skill Level
Suitable for all
players
62 Ibanez JSA10-BK
Long-standing artist Joe Satriani has been with Ibanez
fingering and fret numbers; the 1st
finger is always at fret 2, 2nd finger
always at fret 3 etc.
for more than two decades. Will this signature guitar
The third option is a special case.
Here we are using extended fingering
where the left hand is spanning up to
five frets as opposed to four, as in the
‘one finger per fret’ rule. This is ideal
if, for example, you wish to play the
help you make your own Strange Beautiful Music?
notes very rapidly in groups of three
using hammer-ons on the way up or
pull-offs on the way down, with an
extra stretch between the 3rd and
4th fingers on the 6th and 5th strings
(see Ex 2).
66 Vintage V400MH
With more than just a few awards under their belt, the
Vintage range seems to be going from strength to
strength. Does the V400MH flex extra musical muscle?
70 Adam Black 0-5CE 12-String
Will this OM-sized 12-string with an entry level price
tag charm the socks off our intrepid reviewer? David
02/02/2011 11:15
Mead checks into Hotel California …
74 Gear4Music MDA 4012 N
and AA 4006
If you have been feeling the pinch economically lately,
or if you are on a real budget, perhaps these guitars
may provide you with a solution.
80 Fishman Loudbox Mini
In a crowded marketplace, is the little Fishman
Loudbox Mini the bonniest baby? Sam Wise finds out.
84 Fishman Rare Earth
We test three Rare Earth pickups from Fishman
Subscription Offer
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
AND RECEIVE
A FREE PACK OF
ROTOSOUND STRINGS!*
ORDER
TODAY
ED
LIMIT !
STOCK
Rotosound Tru Bronze
An alternative acoustic guitar string to the 92/8 series. Comprising brass
wire covers, these strings offer the resonant advantages of such coupled with
considerable clarity and tone. www.rotosound.com
SAVE UP TO 45% JUNE 2011 ACOUSTIC MAGAZINE 07
WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE WITH
3 issues for just £3.00*
Order online at www.acousticmagazine.com or call our subscription
team on 01884 266100
04/05/2011 15:58
*New UK Subscribers only. While stocks last
RENEW BY POST: Oyster House Media Ltd, Oyster House, Hunters Lodge, Kentisbeare, Devon, EX15 2DY, UK