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Funky Fingerstyle Guitar

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You are here: Home / Archives for Guitar / Fingerstyle Guitar

Fingerstyle Guitar

Don’t Wash Your Face Before a Fingerstyle Guitar Gig!

By Adam Rafferty 41 Comments

I have a tip you will thank me for later, and it’s all about right hand fingerstyle guitar technique.

Don’t wash your face before you play a gig.

Huh?

Yes that’s right. Don’t wash your face.

It’s a great tip that my classical teacher showed me when I was 15 years old, and somehow my memory served it up the other night as I was going on stage.

[Read more…] about Don’t Wash Your Face Before a Fingerstyle Guitar Gig!

My Personal Fingerstyle Guitar Setup Measurements

By Adam Rafferty 60 Comments

Last month I was at a guitar festival and a student came in for a lesson.

I tried to play her guitar and find that it was very hard to play. I told her…

“You Need a Guitar Setup!”

Students often think that they need to become “stronger” and push “harder” when in fact – the guitar should become “easier” to play.

[Read more…] about My Personal Fingerstyle Guitar Setup Measurements

Adam Rafferty Rethinks Recording CDs & Distribution

By Adam Rafferty 43 Comments

Note: This article is NOT a gripe & whine session. It’s an inquiry of “what should musicians do now that the game has changed?”

  • Below I will outline 12 points.
  • Items 1 – 6 diagnose “the problem” with doing things the old way in the today’s environment (it’s a mismatch)
  • Items 7 – 11 become solution oriented, so yes there is hope! (we have to think differently)
  • Item 10 is my big AHA moment and I describe what I may do next

[Read more…] about Adam Rafferty Rethinks Recording CDs & Distribution

Practicing Music or Practicing Guitar Technique – What’s Better?

By Adam Rafferty 3 Comments

Adam Rafferty guitar technique
Often when we hear a soulful musical performance we can’t imagine that the “wonderful music” had to be practiced technically.

Even though we are “feeling it” as listeners, much more than “feelings” had to go in to it.

Master musicians look at music from all angles, musical and technical.

Master musicians love it all…music and technique. They go together.

[Read more…] about Practicing Music or Practicing Guitar Technique – What’s Better?

Should You Use Classical or Fingerstyle Guitar Technique?

By Adam Rafferty 46 Comments

Should You Use Classical or Fingerstyle Guitar Technique?

I get a lot of emails asking questions like :

  • “I play classical guitar and I find it hard to play with a thumbpick.”
  • “I studied classical guitar for years and I just can’t get the groove right.”
Fransisco Tarrega
Fransisco Tarrega

A great classical guitar technique is a thing of beauty – and I worked on it for a long time.

However, for “African” based music, you need an entirely different “touch”. The “groove” is built into the “touch”. You can’t separate the two.

[Read more…] about Should You Use Classical or Fingerstyle Guitar Technique?
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