Adam Rafferty’s Blog – Guitar and Spirit

How To Build Your Own Fingerstyle Guitar Arrangements – Part 1

Hey Gang!

I get asked quite often about how I approach fingerstyle guitar arranging, and suddenly – this simple idea came to mind.

I hope this gives you a little “AHA!” moment – to brighten your day.

Disclaimer – there is always “more than one way to do it”. Here’s one approach that I use, 90% of the time.

The Dark Ages Way of Guitar Arranging

Most guitarists come out of a “chord” approach, which leads to picking patterns on the chord, and ultimately “jimmying” little melodies on top.

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The Day I Got My Butt Kicked in Harlem

By Adam Rafferty 6 Comments

He showed up for his first music lesson with the master, with his saxophone case in hand.

As they chatted for the first time, he told the teacher “I think I am one of the best sax players in town.”

The teacher answered “It would be nice if someone else thought that as well.”

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That’s a true story that one of my teachers, Mike Longo told me. It just goes to show, that when we are in our own little world, we think we’re pretty good.

The Pitfalls of Learning Guitar from Youtube

By Adam Rafferty 13 Comments

Hey gang, greets from a jet lagged fingerpicker. I just got back from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur – what a delightful tour it was!

I had the pleasure to meet some excellent young guitar players – and the bizarro moment happened. Kids who were inspired by Sungha Jung playing my arrangements are playing their little butts off! Wow…

I was really surprised to see some super talents who’ve been playing only 3 or 4 years. I met about 3 or 4 young guitar pickers like this and I am sure Asia has a few more than that 🙂

What You Can Learn About Practicing Guitar from a Classical Pianist

By Adam Rafferty 3 Comments

Greetings from Amtrak. Current location – Syracuse NY, in the dining car!

Recently I re-read a short book I bought in my college years called “Basic Principles in Piano Playing” by Josef Levine. Levine was one of the great pianists and conductors of the 20th century.

Whenever I feel that it’s time to focus on playing and improve, I play Bach – sometimes on guitar, sometimes on piano.

Bach is pretty unforgiving…he wrote what he wrote, and the player has to find a solution. It’s not based on “comfy” positions on an instrument. It presents lots of technical challenges.