No, not those heroes, THESE heroes:
Wendelin Tieffenbrucker
David Tecchler
Matteo Sellas
Giacomo (Jacob) Ertel
Antonio Stradivari
Gennaro Fabricatore
Nicòla Turturro
Mario Maccaferri
John D’Angelico
James D’Aquisto
…and others. These are some of the guitar makers featured in Guitar Heroes: Legendary Craftsmen from Italy to New York, on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art website, www.metmuseum.org.
This is cool. Bill Harris composed and performed this accompaniment to the Danza from Orbon’s great Preludio y Danza for classical guitar, as performed (brilliantly) by classical guitarist Manuel Barrueco on his recording Brouwer, Villa-Lobos & Orbon.
Flamenco guitarist Vicente Amigo.
Tom Poore, a 54-year-old classical guitar teacher (and editor of Aaron Shearer’s best-selling guitar method Learning the Classic Guitar, which I recommend to all), has an interesting project going on. He wants to improve his right-hand technique. He has a plan for doing it systematically and he’s inviting everyone to observe his progress and to make comments. He posts an update every week on his new blog, Building A Better Right Hand.
There’s a great guitar lesson here for any guitar player. In this beautiful example of “less is more,” Seasick Steve delivers the Hank Williams classic I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.
“Hobos are people who move around looking for work, tramps are people who move around but don’t look for work, and bums are people who don’t move and don’t work. I’ve been all three.”
Hear that lonesome whippoorwill
He sounds too blue to fly
The midnight train is whining low
I’m so lonesome I could cry
I’ve never seen a night so long
When time goes crawling by
The moon just went behind the clouds
To hide its face and cry
Did you ever see a robin weep
When leaves began to die?
That means he’s lost the will to live
I’m so lonesome I could cry
The silence of a falling star
Lights up a purple sky
And as I wonder where you are
I’m so lonesome I could cry
These are pictures of a new guitar made by luthier Jeffrey Elliott for Portland guitarist David Bertman, who says they worked together on the design over a long period of time.
Materials:
Top: European Spruce
Back and sides: European Maple
Rosette and headstock veneer: Amboyna Burl
Bindings: Bloodwood
I got to play this guitar a few days ago and I loved it — the way it sounds, the way it feels, and the way it looks. Jeff has kindly allowed me to post a few pictures here to remember it by.
Three pictures of the interior taken through the guitar’s soundport.
Light shines through the beautifully translucent back of the guitar, seen through the sound hole.
The soundport, shown with and without its amboyna burl cover.
The classic Narváez arrangement for solo vihuela of Josquin’s Mille Regretz (A Thousand Regrets).
Luis de Narváez (fl.1530-1550)
La Canción del Emperador
from ‘Los seys libros del delphin (Valladolid, 1538)
Performed by Hideki Yamaya, vihuela
www.hyamaya.com
A thousand regrets at deserting you
and leaving behind your loving face,
I feel so much sadness and such painful distress,
that it seems to me my days will soon dwindle away.
James Taylor has some guitar lessons up on his website at jamestaylor.com. Looks good, sounds just like him. I like that sound.
Something a little different.
A cool combination. This is from Chuck Cleckler.
