Introduction to Alternate Tunings

Product Description This DVD is for guitarists who want to get familiar with the world of Celtic music on fingerstyle guitar. National Fingerstyle Guitar Champion, Pat Kirtley, presents challenging arrangements in the DADGAD tuning of six traditional tunes from Ireland and Scotland. These arrangements are designed for guitarists who are already at advanced-beginner to intermediate level and want to explore a completely different musical style. The skill level progresses throughout the lesson from the very easy but melodic Skye Boat Song to a challenging dance tune Boys from Blue Hill. Pat also shows you: the structure and form of Celtic tunes; how to understand and play dance rhythms-jigs and reels; how to identify the different types of tune in this genre; How to play Celtic ornaments adapted from fiddle and wind instrument techniques; how to embellish the melody on slow tunes; how DADGAD tuning enhances Celtic arrangements. A detailed tab/music booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD. DVD is region 0, playable worldwide. Review Imagine that you're an acoustic guitarist who has been playing for a few years and you d like to become a proficient fingerpicker. You want to learn some open tunings, you d like to play a few nice Celtic tunes, and most of all you want to get your thumb to play alternating bass notes and do that cool boomchuck thing. If this scenario describes your situation, I highly recommend Pat Kirtley s three new videos from Stefan Grossman s Guitar Workshop. Kirtley is a knowledgeable and accomplished picker who in recent years has won major guitar competitions and put out several fine CDs. He s a good arranger and an even better writer, yet all that might not mean a thing to guitar students if he wasn t also a good teacher. As Kirtley s three video lessons show, lie s personable and articulate, and his method is deliberate and patient. He also teaches some really nice tunes. A good place to start is with Kirtley s Introduction to Thumbstyle Guitar. Being from Kentucky, the birthplace of boom chuck, Kirtley has a particular affinity for thumbstyle, yet he s not a dyed-in-the wool Merle Travis devotee. In fact, Kirtley encourages students throughout each of his lessons to play the way they feel these tunes should be played. If you play what you feel, you ll be playing better music, he says. Still, Kirtley offers plenty of specific i