Date: Fri, 09 Mar 2001 11:11:17 -0600 From: John Thaden Subject: 5 guitars
Thanks to fellow Arkansan Harp-L'er Dean Williams, I hooked up Wednesday night with a string circle that meets every week -- there were five guitars, a mandolin, a hand drum, and five of them sang -- to play finger-picked originals and singer-songwriter standards. The volume was blessedly low, so I often played with a tight cup to get that mellower-than-mellow sound, opening up for dynamics and accents. Next week, I'll use a coffee mug for a tune or two. Solo choruses were rarely included, so much of my playing was behind-vocal accompaniment, which is fine with me. Most songs fell nicely in 1st-3rd positions on diatonic, but I also had opportunities for 5th, 12th, and 4th, plus my whole-tone chromatic. One fellow in particular favored odd modulations, which were a fun overblow challenge on diatonic and just plain fun on the chrom. Song selection went around the circle, so for my turn, I borrowed a guit and used a neckstrap for Midnight Special, Easy Rider done with Leadbelly's changes, and After Midnight done my way. Next week, I'll do my arrangement of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross's 'Feed Me'. Thanks again, Dean.
John Thaden Little Rock, Arkansas, USA http://www.flash.net/~jjthaden
