Music
New Recording - Uplifting Guitar Hymns
I will be releasing a CD album titled, "Uplifting Guitar Hymns" in early 2022. There will be a CD Release Concert and Fundraiser for Grace Church on January 30, 2022. The concert will benefit the Mission and Service programs at Grace Church, via a Free Will Offering and sharing of proceeds from CD sales after the concert.
My Music - Fingerstyle Guitar
I enjoy listening to and playing a variety of musical styles. My favorite music genres are fingerstyle guitar (instrumentals / classical guitar) and Blues music (guitar, harmonica and bass). I also enjoy jazz, traditional country, hymns and spirituals, rock n' roll and classic rock (from the 1950s - 1970s). I also enjoy listening to Italian music and other ethnic music (even though I don't understand the lyrics) to hear different musical scales and harmonies.
If I had to classify my guitar playing, I would say I play mostly fingerstyle guitar on acoustic guitars (steel and nylon string), in a variety of music genres. I was first attracted to fingerstyle guitar by listening to classical guitarist Andre Segovia and also watching Chet Atkins on television. What I love most about fingerstyle guitar is that fact that you can play multiple parts at the same time or in the same song, which somewhat approximates what a piano player does (bass lines, chords, harmonies, melodies and riffs). By picking the strings with your thumb and fingers, it allows you to "pick and choose" the notes you want to play (and avoid or mute the notes/strings you don't want to play).
While I very much enjoy listening to electric guitarists like Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Clapton and Dave Edmunds (to name just a few), I prefer to play acoustic guitar. Since I work in the computer / information technology field, I guess my attraction to the acoustic guitar is because it doesn't require electricity and you can take it almost anywhere. Likewise, I am a big blues music fan, but I don't consider myself a blues musician, per se. I enjoy both acoustic and electric blues. However, I do appreciate acoustic fingerstyle blues for the fact that it involves bass lines, chords, riffs and melodies; all played with the thumb and fingers.
Musical Styles
Here are the musical styles that I play. The genres marked with (FS) indicate that I play these styles using fingerstyle technique. Many of the fingerstyle and chord/melody pieces I play are my own guitar arrangements. To view a sample song list for a given genre, click the links below, which will direct you to that genre on the Song Lists page.
- Classical Guitar / Baroque (FS)
- Hymns and Spirituals (FS)
- Jazz Standards (FS)
- Popular Music (FS)
- Movie Themes (FS)
- Original Instrumentals (FS)
- Instrumentals based on Rock tunes (FS)
- Classic Rock tunes (unplugged)
- Blues
- Folk Rock Songs
Song Lists
To see a list of some of the music I play, by genre, see the Song Lists page. If you would like a more comprehensive list, you can email me for more information.