What's New for May, 2012?
The weather is warming up and that means it's time to change your strings, tune up your instruments and take the family to a bluegrass festival! Hearing live, acoustic music, especially bluegrass is motivating.
This month's "Song of the Month" is, "Down the Road", a classic Flatt and Scruggs tune that is excellent for beginners and experienced musicians. Most attending a bluegrass festival will know this song. It's melody line is simple, uses mainly one chord, G and is played at a fairly moderate walking tempo; great for the beginning bluegrass picker!
Enjoy!
Concert and Tour Schedule
June 5-6 - "The Strum Shop" - Roseville, CA (Sacramento area)
"The Strum Shop" is a new all-acoustic music supply and instructional store. Stu Herried (owner) is now stocking my harp guitars there. This is a wonderful opportunity to stop by and play a harp guitar. I will be in the area on the above dates and will have some harp guitars with me to demo and give you a chance to play one.
"The Strum Shop" 408 Roseville Square Roseville, CA, 95678 (916) 257-2800
June 9 - "Groovacious" - Cedar City, UT 8 pm
I will be picking mandolin and fiddle with the Marty Warburton Band. If you're in the area be sure to stop by and listen to some fine bluegrass music. I'll also play some harp guitar and you'll have a chance to play one.
173 North 100 West Cedar City, UT 84720 (435) 867-9800
June 14-16 - The Huck Finn Jubilee - Victorville, CA
This is one of my favorite bluegrass festivals. I'll be attending all three days. You'll find me jamming in the campgrounds and at the Tricopolis booth with my harp guitars or near Marty Warburton (MC). Be sure to stop by and say "Hi"!
18000 Yates Rd. Victorville, CA 92392 (951) 780-8810
May, 2012 - Lviv and Kyiv, Ukraine
I'm very pleased to announce that Harp Guitarist, Professor John Doan will be visiting Ukraine to meet me and my "Harp Guitar Team" in May. John will be touring Europe and Russia performing and teaching the harp guitar.
Click here for the details of his visit and John's schedule.
John and I will be performing and conducting several master guitar classes and concerts at various locations in Lviv and Kyiv, Ukraine. John's visit will be historic moment for Ukraine and the advancement of the of the Harp Guitar taking this fascinating instrument to a new level. Here is the schedule for the week of his visit:
May
5 - Concert in the main City Square of Lviv (1:30 pm)
May 6 - Guitar Master Class at the Music School of Lviv followed by a formal concert at the Chamber Music Hall, Lviv. (10 am) - photo left.
May 7 - Concert 7 pm. National Museum of Medicine, Kyiv
May 8 - Guitar Master Class - Kyiv Conservatory (11 am)
May 9 - Harp Guitar and bluegrass jam BBQ and potluck in Gnyden village (11 km east of Kyiv)! A new first for the locals, harp guitars, banjos, fiddles and a Vegas style BBQ! (1 pm)
All events and concerts are free and open to the public.
My harp guitar project in Ukraine is getting international attention with my instruments now in the USA, Canada, UK, France and Italy. My "team" is growing as well as the product line. Many more exciting instruments are coming, all at a very low and reasonable price so the general public can finally enjoy playing a harp guitar.
My instruments are "Made in Ukraine - Because we're not afraid of strings" :) Ukraine is home of the Bandura and Tsymbaly (Hammered Dulcimer) and Torban (photo)
My move to Ukraine has been very productive with many new discoveries in the local music and culture. I had no idea that so much music that is enjoyed in the West, in particular bluegrass and old time, originated from eastern Europe.
Harp Guitars for sale
"The Strum Shop" is now a dealer for my harp guitars. If you're in the Sacramento, CA area, be sure to stop by to see Stu Herried and try out one of the latest harp guitars that he has. Buying a harp guitar on the internet is a leap of faith. It's always nice to play an instrument first before purchase. You can contact Stu at .... and see what he has in stock.
I will be at the store June 5-6, 2012 with some harp guitars to demo and answer questions about this most amazing instrument.
"The Strum Shop"
408 Roseville Square
Roseville, CA, 95678
(916) 257-2800
Harp Guitar - Song of the Month: "The Water is Wide"
This month's Harp Guitar song is based on the concluding song at the Harp Guitar Gathering. It's one of the first songs that I learned on the harp guitar and I decided to re-arrange it and include vocals and the other bluegrass instruments, Banjo, Fiddle, Dobro, Mandolin, Bass and (ahem...) regular six string Guitar. :)
The performance notes are included with the transcriptions. I've included arrangements in standard classical guitar notation and the new, harp guitar tablature.
Please remember, these arrangements are free for download ONLY during the current month. They will be removed and not be reposted. So be sure to book mark this page to get the latest free harp guitar sheet music and tablature!
Play along mp3:
song_of_the_month/The Water is Wide - Harp Guitar.mp3
Sheet music and harp guitar tablature:
song_of_the_month/the_water_is_wide_harp_guitar.pdf
May 2012 Song of the Month:
"Down the Road"
This is a great bluegrass festival campground jamming tune. The performance notes and details are included with the tablature and sheet music. I created 115 play along audio files for all of the instruments; more than will fit on this page.
Enjoy!
Play along MP3s:
Down the Road 200 - Banjo 1, Mandolin 2, Fiddle 1, Banjo 2, Dobro.mp3
Down the Road 200 - Banjo 1, Mandolin 2, Fiddle 1, Banjo 2, Guitar.mp3
Matching sheet music and tablatures:
down_the_road_fiddle_tablature.pdf
...about the streaming audio MP3 player...
The MP3 player has moved to the bottom of the video postcard above. These songs are streaming audio of my arrangements, past and present. The title and location are on the player. If it says, "Volume 7", then you will find that song in the Bluegrass Volume 7 series.
If you stop the MP3 player, it will remember your settings and not play the next time you load the page. You will need to click "play" again to hear the new music.
All of my music will eventually be on the "Individual Song Download" pages. Each instrument has it's own listing. Currently, the Banjo and Mandolin pages are complete. The next up will be Fiddle. More details are on those pages.
