David Hodge

It’s very cool when the music you listen to at home and /or in the car comes from people that you know. This winter I’ve bought or received some CDs created by members of the Guitar Noise community as well as from people who have contacted me through Guitar Noise. And I’d like to share my thoughts about some of them with you.

First up is Fingerstyle Collections, a disc of 13 single-guitar instrumental arrangements performed on either the classical or acoustic guitar. Joe Hempel has crafted together this wonderful disc of ten songs, arranged for the solo fingerstyle guitar (he plays both classical and acoustic). His arrangements are spare and elegant, allowing the songs to captivate the listener with their melodies and harmonies.

The song selection itself is both eclectic and interesting. There are songs dating back to the Renaissance (before the guitar as we know it today came about) as well as music composed for movies (the Jurassic Park Theme) and video games (Breezy and Kids Run Through City Corner, both from the Final Fantasy series). Joe has done quite a few of these arrangements himself, not to mention composing Magic Castle (one of the CD’s best tracks), and he has a great instinct when it comes to letting the songs speak for themselves. Fingerstyle Collections is quiet, thoughtful and contemplative and the CD’s strength and beauty is in its slow, peaceful mood.

Joe’s CD, available at CD Baby, is an excellent disc for those looking for beautiful, understated solo guitar music to help them put aside the cares of any day. It’s not only getting regular rotation at my home, I’m also eagerly awaiting his next venture.

Joe is also going to be gigging in support of his CD. It’s the first gig he’s ever done, so I figure that if you’re in the Cincinnati region, you might want to drop by and give a fellow Guitar Noise community member your support. Joe will be at the Borders Book Store at 5873 Deerfield Boulevard in Mason Ohio (phone – (513) 770-0440) on Saturday March 27th at 8 PM. If you can, stop by and say hello from me!

Hi David,

I really enjoy your Guitar Noise website and thank you for taking the time to create it and maintain it.

I just have a question about flatpicking. I’m going through the lesson for the song Behind Blue Eyes. When I pluck individual notes using a pick I do not rest any part of my hand on the guitar. Now some people I see online, they kind of let their pinky or ring finger or both sort of glide near the pick guard, probably for stability or something. Is there a correct way? If I want to get faster should I let my pinky or ring finger hang out a little? Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Hi and thank you for writing.
And thank you as well for your kind words concerning Guitar Noise. I’d love to take all the credit for it, but it’s Paul Hackett who created the website in 1995 and who still owns and maintains it today. I’m simply one of many volunteers who help out when spare time allows.

There are many arguments, both pro and con, when it comes to using the pinky and / or ring finger as an “anchor” when strumming. In fact, if you type the word “anchor” into the search engine on the Beginners’ Q & A page of the Guitar Noise forum, you can read up on quite a few of those arguments. People who use an anchor usually do so for positioning purposes. It helps to keep the strumming hand in a certain area and also keep it from slipping while strumming. But one can easily do that without an anchor as well. It pretty much depends on what one is used to.

Speaking only for myself, I sometimes use an anchor and sometimes don’t and I don’t consciously know when I do or don’t. But I have to admit that it’s something I don’t pay much attention to and don’t even watch for when looking at others play (unless it’s a student of mine and I am trying to track down potential snags in his or her strumming / picking).

There are no definitive proofs that it helps one’s playing and, likewise, none that it hurts someone’s playing. And there are no deinitive proofs that anchors help improve speed. But, again, it does help some people. Or I should say that some people claim it helps them. Sometimes we believe that doing things in a certain way makes our playing possible and perhaps the belief itself is what makes it work.

The bottom line is that there is no single “correct” way. How comfortable you feel when playing, or how awkward a position makes you feel when playing should be the determining factor.

I hope this helps. Thank you once more for your email and I look forward to chatting with you again.

Peace

More email!

Dear Guitar Noise,

Hi. 

 I am a freshman in college. I was lollygagging online searching for guitar lessons and I came across your website. I’m primarily self taught where most of my knowledge comes from guitar tabs of songs I like to learn and play, and occasionally from my other friend who is a really good acoustic player (his rendition of Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead is my favorite, he includes a harmonica and everything).

But that’s not really the point. On your website, your Pink Floyd page caught my eye and I delved into your Wish You Were Here interpretation, a song which I’ve already learned and consider myself “mastered”, by that I primarily mean I can play through the entire song without any harsh mistakes.

After finishing your solo page, I noticed that you do not have the second solo as a lesson, and this bugs me not because of you particularly, but mostly because I cannot find it TABed or written out anywhere. I cannot figure out the whole thing just by ear, so I was hoping if you could help me out. 

Thank you for your time and keep doing what you do!

Hi!

Thanks for writing. We actually do have an arrangement of the second solo of Wish You Were Here at Guitar Noise, but it’s part of the “Guitar Columns” section and not a song lesson, per se. This is because the object was to find a way to be able to play both the first and second solos with one guitar, no mean feat when you consider the first solo is in regular tuning and the second one is done on a Dobro in open G tuning.

Be that as it may, you’ll find that lesson, called Applied Science, here.

As far you not being able to find the second solo anywhere, and heaven help me I know I’m going to sound like a dinosaur for writing this, but it is actually written out in numerous books that contain Pink Floyd music. In fact, they are one band that have a huge amount of their catalogue available in guitar tablature.

Being in college, there’s a good chance that your school’s library may actually have copies of them that you can use at your leisure.

I hope that this helps you out. 

Peace