I' m absolutely new to the list. Great place!!
I m a guitar and bouzouki player and most of the times i play as a backer strumming, fingerpicking,crosspicking and so on.
Anyway i must admit to be a little bit envious of people playing tunes....
I have started to learn some tunes on guitar playing fingerpicking (i mean fast tunes) and have seen that some tunes sound pretty good with some exercise if you get the right tuning for the guitar.
Most of the times i use DADGAD but sometimes i switch to DADFsAD or EADEAD.
Has anybody some suggestion about choice of the tunes and guitar tuning ?
Thank you very much Marco
If you haven't already, you may want to listen to the CD by Tony McManus called Ceol More. It has some great tunes, and a lot of absolutely amazing guitar playing; chords as well as melody. (I have no financial interests in making this recommendation).
The best tuning is the one that suits you best, you have to just find one for yourself. After trying several tunings I decided on DADGAD. It has several advantages: firstly, when you play in key D-anything, everything is practically under your fingers, not much effort required; secondly, you can play drones without engaging your left hand (or right hand, if you play on left-hand guitar). There are some other features, but I forgot them at the moment ;)
These qualities disappear, however, when you move to some less standard keys. If you want to play a drone in, say E-minor tune, you have to have a spare finger, which is usually not the case. And it doesn't sound that good anymore. Provided they are not spider-handed, some players use capos, or, if they perform solo, either pick all tunes in D keys, or play all tunes in D, spoilsports (just kidding).
Unfortunately, guitar is not The Ultimate Irish Trad Instrument and not all tunes sound equally nice when performed on it. From my experience, the best ones for a guitar are three-tempo tunes, i.e. jigs of all sorts. You can get quite dynamic (NOT fast, dynamic) in playing them, add some variations in picking and style. Reels, on the other hand, are much more difficult to perform satisfactorily. Right now I am working on my first polka, so if You want to know my weighty opinion on this topic, you have to wait until I conclude the research (but by that time, I suppose, you will have plenty of advice from other players).
Nice to meet you too, Marco.
i lived in Torino for a long time and the music was great. Whereabouts in Italy are you? Do you know Picca? Who do you play with?
I don't play guitar, but at Riley, we have John Sherman as instructor, and he uses DADGAD... don't know if that's much help at all, lol... I just play mandolin as far as strings go... and we have GDAE tuning...
Hi Pizouki.I fingerpick in DADGAD,but more often in DBDGBD,DADDAD or DADDAE.Some of the slower Irish tunes sound good in open G minor,DBDGBbD.As a change from DADGAD,try G modal,DBDGCD.Open C is a nice tuning,CGCGCE.The last tuning you mentioned,EAEDAD,is almost one of Martin Carthy's old tunings,EAEDAE.A good variation is DAEDAD.Keep picking.David Meredith
for joe
I live in Milan and play with a group called Ar-nAnam and sometimes in session
I hope to come to Ireland in the next months.
See you soon
Marco
Hi Marco-Tony McManus actually has two videos available through his website specifically for fingerstyle Celtic guitar,the best thing being that there are accompanying tab books-definitely worth getting hold of.
Cheers
Gerry
fingerpicking tunes on guitar
fingerpicking tunes on guitar
I' m absolutely new to the list. Great place!!
I m a guitar and bouzouki player and most of the times i play as a backer strumming, fingerpicking,crosspicking and so on.
Anyway i must admit to be a little bit envious of people playing tunes....
I have started to learn some tunes on guitar playing fingerpicking (i mean fast tunes) and have seen that some tunes sound pretty good with some exercise if you get the right tuning for the guitar.
Most of the times i use DADGAD but sometimes i switch to DADFsAD or EADEAD.
Has anybody some suggestion about choice of the tunes and guitar tuning ?
Thank you very much Marco
# Posted on November 5th 2003 by pizouki
Re: fingerpicking tunes on guitar
Welcome to the list, Marco! But I'm a fiddler myself, and hopefully one of our guitarists will give you a hand soon...
Zina
# Posted on November 5th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: fingerpicking tunes on guitar
Marco,
Sei tu? Micca Marco Picca?
Joe
# Posted on November 5th 2003 by Joe Quinn
Re: fingerpicking tunes on guitar
If you haven't already, you may want to listen to the CD by Tony McManus called Ceol More. It has some great tunes, and a lot of absolutely amazing guitar playing; chords as well as melody. (I have no financial interests in making this recommendation).
# Posted on November 5th 2003 by dfost
Re: fingerpicking tunes on guitar
for joe
sono un'altro Marco
I m another Marco
Nice to meet you anyway
# Posted on November 5th 2003 by pizouki
Re: fingerpicking tunes on guitar
Welcome, Marco!
The best tuning is the one that suits you best, you have to just find one for yourself. After trying several tunings I decided on DADGAD. It has several advantages: firstly, when you play in key D-anything, everything is practically under your fingers, not much effort required; secondly, you can play drones without engaging your left hand (or right hand, if you play on left-hand guitar). There are some other features, but I forgot them at the moment ;)
These qualities disappear, however, when you move to some less standard keys. If you want to play a drone in, say E-minor tune, you have to have a spare finger, which is usually not the case. And it doesn't sound that good anymore. Provided they are not spider-handed, some players use capos, or, if they perform solo, either pick all tunes in D keys, or play all tunes in D, spoilsports (just kidding).
Unfortunately, guitar is not The Ultimate Irish Trad Instrument and not all tunes sound equally nice when performed on it. From my experience, the best ones for a guitar are three-tempo tunes, i.e. jigs of all sorts. You can get quite dynamic (NOT fast, dynamic) in playing them, add some variations in picking and style. Reels, on the other hand, are much more difficult to perform satisfactorily. Right now I am working on my first polka, so if You want to know my weighty opinion on this topic, you have to wait until I conclude the research (but by that time, I suppose, you will have plenty of advice from other players).
Have fun surfing the Session
# Posted on November 5th 2003 by Janek
Re: fingerpicking tunes on guitar
Nice to meet you too, Marco.
i lived in Torino for a long time and the music was great. Whereabouts in Italy are you? Do you know Picca? Who do you play with?
# Posted on November 6th 2003 by Joe Quinn
Re: fingerpicking tunes on guitar
I don't play guitar, but at Riley, we have John Sherman as instructor, and he uses DADGAD... don't know if that's much help at all, lol... I just play mandolin as far as strings go... and we have GDAE tuning...
# Posted on November 6th 2003 by Oranaiche
Re: fingerpicking tunes on guitar
Hi Pizouki.I fingerpick in DADGAD,but more often in DBDGBD,DADDAD or DADDAE.Some of the slower Irish tunes sound good in open G minor,DBDGBbD.As a change from DADGAD,try G modal,DBDGCD.Open C is a nice tuning,CGCGCE.The last tuning you mentioned,EAEDAD,is almost one of Martin Carthy's old tunings,EAEDAE.A good variation is DAEDAD.Keep picking.David Meredith
# Posted on March 1st 2003 by dafydd
Re: fingerpicking tunes on guitar
for joe
I live in Milan and play with a group called Ar-nAnam and sometimes in session
I hope to come to Ireland in the next months.
See you soon
Marco
# Posted on November 7th 2003 by pizouki
Re: fingerpicking tunes on guitar
Hope to meet you then, Marco.
Have you made any recordings with Ar nAnam?
I used to play with Eire Nua among others hence the marco Picca connection.
# Posted on November 9th 2003 by Joe Quinn
Re: fingerpicking tunes on guitar
Hi Marco-Tony McManus actually has two videos available through his website specifically for fingerstyle Celtic guitar,the best thing being that there are accompanying tab books-definitely worth getting hold of.
Cheers
Gerry
# Posted on November 11th 2003 by horaldo