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Frequent visitors to the Dream Guitars website will be familiar with the excellent playing on the classical guitar demos of David Stevenson. In addition to being a skilled guitarist, David is also a superb classical guitar instructor, and an adjunct faculty member of the University of North Carolina at Asheville since 1987 and at Clemson University since 1994.

Just in time for the holidays, David has graciously provided this lovely arrangement of traditional music for the enjoyment of us all.

David explains:

Renaissance Christmas Medley

This lighthearted Christmas medley was inspired by the well known Tanz (dance) by Georg Fuhrmann.  I first encountered the piece in the 1970′s from the series of period books by Frederick Noad, this one from the Renaissance collection. The melody is also now part of the Suzuki Guitar repertoire.

Tune the 6th string to “D” and for the majority of the piece you simply play the open 6,5 and 4th strings as the bass.  In “I Saw 3 Ships,” an “A” chord appears at the end of the 3rd and 4th lines and I accomplish this with a partial bar on  the 2nd, 3rd and 4th strings.  You have to be careful to leave the 1st string open here.

On the final line of the piece this repeated bass pattern is replaced by dotted 1/2 notes.  Beat 2 on the final line has the stem pointed downwards, but the note is played with the “i” finger. You may want to repeat the final line.

Enjoy! and Merry Christmas!

David Stevenson

Click here for audio.

Click here for the transcription and tablature.

 

 

Frequent visitors to the Dream Guitars website have no doubt noticed our recent fine classical guitar demos, all compliments of one extremely talented guitarist, David Stevenson. David is both a skilled performer and an immensely gifted composer. On May, Arise Stevenson and percussionist River Guerguerian collaborate on a engaging set of music that showcases  instrumental mastery, as well as great emotional depth.

The songs have a transcendent uplifting quality that sound contemporary and immediate, while simultaneously conjuring images or the ancient and arcane; no mean feat indeed! Guerguerian’s skillful performance, featuring a wealth of global percussion, supports and enhances the material wonderfully.

For guitarists, David Stevenson’s playing is an inspiration. Technically brilliant, the sound of his custom Abe Wechter guitar propels May, Arise with skillful execution from the very first track to the CD’s extremely satisfying conclusion. We highly recommend this very fine CD! For more information about David, and to purchase May, Arise please click here.

Check out the following clips:

1) Eastern Anthem

2) 11/8

3) Bulldozing for Zen

4) Resolution

Dream Guitars is extremely pleased to have a player of David’s high caliber to demonstrate our nylon string instruments. Look for more information about David, including video lessons and performance video in weeks to come!

Everyone knows that Al Petteway is an extremely fine guitarist, but what you may not know is that he is also an excellent guitar teacher. In this video Al instructs how to play  his  original tune “Tennessee Mountain Rag”. If you live in the greater Asheville area or just visiting, Al is available for one-on-one lessons that are sure to inspire. Give us a call anytime — we’ll be happy to schedule a lesson or two for you!

Steve James is a well known name among devotees of contemporary acoustic folk and blues; this notoriety based on numerous critically acclaimed recordings, a tireless international tour schedule and a sheaf of published work including articles, instruction books and videos. His instrumental versatility (on guitar, slide guitar, mandolin, guitar-banjo) also makes him a favorite at music camps and workshop programs.

Recently Steve stopped by Dream Guitars and played some of our great vintage and custom-made guitars.

The talented Mary Flower stopped by Dream Guitars recently and spent the afternoon playing some of the fine guitars we have in stock. Mary plays a great combination of roots music, including ragtime, acoustic blues and folk. If you like these videos, be sure to check out Mary’s website for upcoming gigs, and information on her albums and instructional DVDs.

Canadian luthier Jordan McConnell dropped by Dream Guitars last week and sat down for an interview with our own Paul Heumiller. For those who don’t yet know, Jordan is building outstanding, versatile instruments that are in high demand. As a touring professional guitarist with his band the Duhks, Jordan understands the needs of the guitarist, and his instruments deliver on all fronts.

All of us at Dream Guitars are huge fans of the Paul Reed Smith line of Private Stock acoustic guitars — and we’re not alone. These are great sounding instruments with exceptional playability. And now, we’re thrilled to bring you the newest addition to the line, two exceptional new signature models for guitar legends Tony McManus and Martin Simpson.

“It’s an ironic thing to say about such a beautiful instrument but it becomes invisible- leaving the player to concentrate solely on the music- which is what it should be all about. The Tony McManus signature model is based on the Angelus model but with the PRS wide fingerboard. The bridge and fingerboard are in ebony, and the Private Stock wood choices are pretty spectacular. The guitar is capable of going anywhere I’m capable of going musically. It works beautifully as a solo fingerstyle guitar but if I need to flatpick, it’ll go there too. It’ll accompany songs, tunes…whatever I need…tuned high and tuned low, gently caressed or driven hard,” said Tony McManus.

Tony McManus Private Stock Acoustic Specs

Shape 15 1/2″ Cutaway
Bracing PRS X-brace/classical hybrid
Back and Side Woods Cocobolo
Top Wood European Spruce
Neck
Neck Wood Mahogany
Fretboard and Bridge Wood Ebony
Strength Rod High-Modulus Carbon Fiber
Inlays Mammoth Ivory J Birds
Hardware
Nut Bone
Nut Width 1 3/4″
Saddle Bone
Tuners Proprietary Robson Hand-Machined Tuners
Tuner Buttons Ebony
Electronics
Electronics PRS Pickup system

“The new Martin Simpson signature model guitar is simply the result of the PRS team being truly attentive to the feedback of a player. I have felt privileged to be able to tell them what I think will make a better guitar for great acoustic playing, and they have listened to my input from materials to neck width and string spacing, pick up sound and inlays….and when the last model arrived, I was blown away by the results. The new signature model is entirely the best materials, and the specs which I asked for, presented in a deluxe version. It is a great instrument made by people who care and strive always for the highest standards in tone, playability, workmanship and aesthetics.” – Martin Simpson.

Martin Simpson Private Stock Acoustic Specs

Shape 15 1/2″ Cutaway
Bracing PRS X-brace/classical hybrid
Back and Side Woods Cocobolo
Top Wood Adirondack Spruce
Neck
Neck Wood Mahogany
Fretboard and Bridge Wood Ebony
Strength Rod High-Modulus Carbon Fiber
Inlays Green Abalone J Birds
Hardware
Nut Bone
Nut Width 1.81″
Saddle Bone
Tuners Proprietary Robson Hand-Machined Tuners
Tuner Buttons Ebony
Electronics
Electronics PRS Pickup system

Click here to hear examples of Tony’s amazing playing on the Maker’s Mark CD!

Since 1991, Warren Wilson College has hosted The Swannanoa Gathering. For those who haven’t heard of it before, The Swannanoa Gathering is a series of week-long workshops , where attendees can learn about  and participate in a multitude of different folk arts.

Of course our favorite part of the Gathering is Guitar Week — which this year runs from July 25 through the 31st. Boasting an incredible staff of world class musicians and teachers, Guitar Week has something for every eager acoustic guitarist.

Our very own Al Petteway, who is the coordinator of Guitar Week, is doing an exciting series of classes called “Standard Tuning As An Open Tuning”. His classes are always very fun and extremely informative. Al Petteway also selects the rest of Swannanoa’s  instructors to ensure that the quality of instruction is at the highest possible level.

Other notable luminaries lending there talents include the incredible Tony McManus, Vicki Genfan, Adam Rafferty, and Robin Bullock. They offer everything from courses on Celtic Flatpicking, to Acoustic Guitar: Percussive & Rhythmic Techniques. Truly something for everyone.

Dream Guitars will be there in full force too — showing off, what else, the best guitars in the world! We welcome everyone to come and visit us, and play the amazing creations we showing off.

We love to get out of the shop and rub elbows with our fellow musicians — to be part of the community, and to help foster guitar awareness whenever we can.  I hope to see you there.  It’s going to be a great time!

Hello,
Well after a nice stint out on the west coast where I got to spend a few weeks in the Somogyi shop I finally had to bite the bullet and head home. It’s undeniably winter here in Winnipeg and I have my shop all bundled up with the heaters cranked and the humidifiers going full blast. When it’s -50 c there isn’t a lot to do outside so I’ve been surfing the internet and found a cool video of Seth Avett (of The Avett Brothers) playing a guitar I built for him on the Craig Ferguson show.

The guitar is one of two I built for him last year. Both Koa back and sides with spruce tops and ebony appointments. It turned out to be a really fun project as he wanted some very interesting inlays…

The skull is made from spalted maple with koa rings in the background and gold mother of pearl music notes for teeth. The moth is mostly brazilian and madagascar rosewood, with some spalted maple and ebony in the wings. The eyes on the wing are mother of pearl and abalone. The maple leaf is spalted maple with a cocobolo stem.

Cheers,
Jordan

duhks.com
mcconnellguitars.com
McConnell Guitars
Winnipeg, Canada
(204)334.4528

Invocacion y Danza by Joaquin Rodrigo, played by Chaconne Klaverenga at the Frankfort Concert Library Series Solo Concert on January 15, 2010.
Guitar by Thomas Humphrey