ACOUSTIC ISSUE 55 JULY 2011

34PIERRE BENSUSAN

Continuing his proli c career of ever developing musical talents and vocabulary, Pierre Bensusan paints diverse musical masterpieces with his latest o ering Vividly

30 Sarah Jarosz

44 John Renbourn

With his rst solo project in ten years, as well as a new signature guitar John Renbourns creative air is one to be heralded from the ramparts and rooftops. is now his mtier.

Blues slide players in search of inspiration traditionally headed south. Harry Manx went east, and found a whole lot more.

48 Harry Manx

40 William Fitzimmons

With his heartfelt songs tackling emotional subjects, William Fitzsimmons is worth anyones attention, suggests Joel McIver.
06 ACOUSTIC MAGAZINE JULY 2011

28 Ghost Trains

Andy Hughes talks to an acoustic band who are making quite the name for themselves.

Lxxxxxxxxxx

At just 20 years of age Sarah is already a veteran of the Americana scene, and her new album demonstrates a star in the making.

RETUNE YOUR EARS 25 Listen to

something new

Tina Korhonen

Guitar Techniques

NEW

Gear Reviews
Acoustic keeps you up to date with whats hot and whats not in our gear reviews section.
60 Somogyi
Costing a touch over 21 grand (yes you read it right) can this guitar possibly justify its price tag?

CHECK OUT OUR TECHNIQUES SECTION!

Our different level specific techniques have something for everyone. Whether youre 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

Sight Reading

Techniques Level SkillAcoustic Techniques

This is suitable for intermediate

RAymond BuRley Classical Guitarist

Skill Level: Intermediate

two guitars.

Let Ray help you improve your sight reading with some note finding exercises.

Biography
Chris is not only a guitar teacher but also a composer and producer having worked on many orchestrations for television and recordings alike. He has many years of experience in performance and helping others develop their playing potential to their best.

Welcome back to my column. Following on from the previous article, Im continuing with the hugely important topic of sight-reading and how best to improve it.

Note Finding

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, its crucial that fingerboard knowledge is secure and confident. During the process of sightreading 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 doesnt stand still and certainly doesnt go backwards. If you were playing in an orchestra or ensemble it would be unrealistic to expect the

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

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

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 Composer learning a waste of time and effort level: Skill Suitable for all the notes in the higher reaches of the fingerboard at this stage. Judge the required range from the notes One of the main encountered in the more advanced hurdles the guitarist has to jump is evaluating the most pieces in your repertoire. Its essential effective left-hand fingering for a that notes are identified by their letter piece of music. Unlike a pianist, where names rather than just fret positions each key represents a note and is will become the reason for thisimmovable, for the guitarist playing apparent very shortly.above C middle C it can be found in Find the Es; those up to and three different locations: including the 12th fret are shown

CHRIS GIBBONS

Chris helps you find the most efficient way to play any given piece, with fretting hand positions.

Fingerings and Positions

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 lets 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

Techniques Skill Level

Suitable for all players

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 lets 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

fingering and fret numbers; the 1st finger is always at fret 2, 2nd finger always at fret 3 etc. 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 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).

64 Martin John Renbourn Signature

John Renbourn is a giant of the acoustic guitar world. We get an exclusive rst look at this guitar in the hands of the man himself.

below:

1st fret, 2nd string 5th fret, 3rd string 10th fret, 4th string 15th fret, 5th string

Example 1 Example 1: Dont 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 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 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

Logically, the decision of where to play is determined by the range of be F sharp or another note: it couldmelody the the left hand is located perhaps G. Initially, the closer to your where it can reach the bulk of the note required original landmarknotes the better. then and extend into Avoid taking on too many different higher or lower registers via a series space of pitches in a shortof shifts. time as the notes will quickly become confused and little will be achieved. G major scale

68 Breedlove Cascade
114 acoustic magazine march 2011 02/02/2011 11:18 Ray Burley.indd 110
110 acoustic magazine march 2011

Chris Gibbons.indd 104

110 Gordon Giltrap 116 Chris Gibbons

A song to improve your harping technique. Learn some gypsy jazz.

02/02/2011 11:15

Uniquely and unmistakably American designed, Breedloves new Cascade series is hand-built in Korea, but will they live up to the brands reputation? Sam Wise nds out.

118 Ray Burley

72 Farida Sandi Thom

The Farida Sandi Thom Signature model is an all-solid slimline electro-acoustic with plenty of distinctive features. Huw Price tests.

114 Pierre Bensusan

More advice on improving your sight-reading.

Another performance piece from Pierre.

119 Simon Mayor

A Morris dancing melody.

Special Features
18 Michael Sanden Construction Diary
In a series of four articles Michael Sanden shows you how he builds a custom guitar.

76 Tanglewood
A guitar that owes its good looks to a bygone age, but at a price to suit a modern budget. David Mead greets an old friend

80 ESP
Famous for their solid-body guitars, ESP now venture into the acoustic world with their rst ever range of electro-acoustic guitars.

86 Collectors Piece
More rare and vintage collectable guitars from Paul Brett.

88 Lowden Workshop Visit

George Lowden has long held a reputation for making some of the nest guitars in the world. Lars Mullen gets the inside story from the man himself.

84 Shadow SH-145 B The Prestige

Huw Price tests a soundhole pickup that o ers an easy solution for the gigging guitarist.

92 The Workshop
This Month: John Marlow

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JULY 2011 ACOUSTIC MAGAZINE 07