On becoming a composer

Posted by on Jun 18, 2018 in Blog, composition, music, video | No Comments

 Customer Inquiry A customer of Gyre Music recently ordered several of my more serious works for solo guitar. And so, being pleased I might have a new and serious fan, I wrote directly to him to thank

Creativity – Rest Deeper

Posted by on Jun 11, 2018 in #techandtone, Blog, composition | No Comments
Creativity – Rest Deeper

Creativity as rest What I failed to note in a recent blog post, The Daily Rebound, is the need for creativity. Creativity is easily the deepest and most profound type of renewal. It is in a simple

Single String Etude #3 – vibration in the top

Posted by on Jun 4, 2018 in #techandtone, Blog, music | No Comments
Single String Etude #3 – vibration in the top

Vibration is all Why do we play guitar – or music in fact? To feel vibration. That’s all it is. No vibration equals no sound, no feel, no emotion, no joy or sorrow. Nothing. So what matters

The Daily Rebound

Posted by on May 31, 2018 in #techandtone | No Comments
The Daily Rebound

You missed the rebound! OK, you’re a guitarist, not a basketball player, yo-yo master or poker player. But you missed it, what now? Take a break and rest? Or play more hard defense, more scrambling for the

Shifting melodically on the guitar | Single String Etude #2

Posted by on May 21, 2018 in #techandtone | No Comments
Shifting melodically on the guitar | Single String Etude #2

Shifting to Learn Shifting is a technique that I believe should be taught very early in a guitarist’s studies. Fear of upper positions is created when we get stuck playing chords and arpeggios in first and second

Elegant 1927 Simplicio guitar

Posted by on May 17, 2018 in music, video | No Comments
Elegant 1927 Simplicio guitar

Watch this elegant 1927 Simplicio guitar in action by clicking on this YouTube link. To read the lovely comments on Aaron Green’s Facebook post, click on the logo in the upper right corner. Aaron comments on the

Original Composition on Video

Posted by on May 16, 2018 in Blog, composition, music, recording, video | No Comments

Recording Original Composition As I mentioned in a recent blog, I am setting out to record all of my compositions. Many of my solo works are on Gyre CDs, but much work is left to be done.

Lessons from Sketches I – Single String Etude #1

Posted by on May 15, 2018 in #techandtone | No Comments
Lessons from Sketches I – Single String Etude #1

Hi – I present here a series of videos to talk about my compositions and my approach to the guitar – mini lessons, if you will. They will be short, and to the point. If you want

Recording Vintage Classical Guitars

Posted by on May 13, 2018 in Blog, composition, video | No Comments
Recording Vintage Classical Guitars

Recording Guitar Videos My ongoing recording project with Vintage Classical Guitars, owned by Aaron Green, keeps getting more satisfying. The video below features one of the many great guitars I have played there, a 1970 Daniel Friederich.

Derelict Hands plays Duo Sonata #1 by Frank Wallace

Posted by on Jul 10, 2017 in Blog, CD, Reviews | No Comments
Derelict Hands plays Duo Sonata #1 by Frank Wallace

Russ Callison and Calum Borthwick form Derelict Hands. I had the pleasure of meeting them last summer in Glasgow Scotland to coach their performance and recording of my Duo Sonata #1. It is the first recording and  forms