Category Archives: Acoustic

LIVE 193 • Hummingbird Melody

Acoustic, Fingerstyle, Live50th Anniversary 812ce, acoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, Firefly Melody, guitar instrumental, Hummingbird Melody, hummingbird mint, Hummingbird Prelude, hummingbirds, lightning bugs, Neumann TLM 102, nick borho, open tunings, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, Serene Summer Suite, Sinker Redwood tone, Taylor 812ce LTD

Hummingbird Melody is the third song in the Serene Summer Suite, a musical offshoot of the songs and improvisations found in the Dragonfly Songs. While the Dragonfly Songs often explored multiple registers within the same song, the songs of the Serene Summer suite explore separate, but overlapping parts of the fretboard. Firefly Melody focused mostly on the lower and low-middle ranges of the guitar, creating a sonorous but mellow landscape.

With Hummingbird melody, I wanted to focus on the middle and upper ranges of the fretboard, also using the pad of a rich bass note at times to underscore the full range of the instrument. As a result, the song has a sunnier, crisper feel. Hope you enjoy.

LIVE 188 • Iris (Original Fingerstyle, K22ce)

Acoustic, Fingerstyle, Liveacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, guitar instrumental, Hawaiian koa, koa taylor, nick borho, open tunings, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, taylor grand concert, Taylor k22ce

Here’s a take of my song Iris recorded on the K22ce. Iris has a lot of harmonics, which creates a light, chimey atmosphere. This guitar provides a different overall effect than the rosewood & spruce guitars I’ve also recorded this song on. The koa has a crisp feel – bright harmonics but with an overall bloom that’s a bit more controlled. The bass is present, but understated, resulting in a melody forward sound that complements the song. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor K22ce (solid koa grand concert with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD Light gauge set) and an Ear Trumpet Labs “Edwina” microphone. Music by Nick Borho, all rights reserved. Note: this is my original fingerstyle song titled Iris; no relation to the Goo Goo Dolls song by the same name though that is cool too. 🙂

LIVE 166 • Morning in Paia (Instrumental, K22ce)

Acoustic, Fingerstyle, Liveacoustic guitar, Anthony’s Coffee, Baldwin Avenue, blue sky guitar, Café des Amis, fingerstyle guitar, Flatbread Company, Hana Highway, Hawaii, hawaiian guitar, Hawaiian koa, Island Fresh Café, koa taylor, Mana Foods, Maui Yoga Shale, nick borho, North Shore Maui, open tunings, original fingerstyle, paia, Paia Bay, Paia Bay Coffee, Paia Maui, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, taylor grand concert, Taylor k22ce, Telefunken M60

Here’s another take of my guitar instrumental, “Morning in Paia.” Alternately titled “Paia Morning” or “Paia Kakahiaka,” the song began life as the harmonic laden intro/outro figure and grew into the mellow yet energetic song here. Paia Morning captures some of the mellow yet entrancing vibes of a morning in Paia, Maui: from a cool morning stroll to Paia Bay Coffee or Anthony’s, to hanging out at Mana Foods, then perhaps a visit to Paia Bay before wrapping up with lunch at Flatbread Company or Café des Amis. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor K22ce (solid koa grand concert with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD Light gauge set) and a Telefunken M60 small diaphragm condenser microphone. Music by Nick Borho, all rights reserved.

LIVE 185 • Firefly Melody

Acoustic, Fingerstyle, Live50th Anniversary 812ce, acoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, Firefly Melody, guitar instrumental, lightning bugs, Neumann TLM 102, nick borho, open tunings, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, Serene Summer Suite, Sinker Redwood tone, Taylor 812ce LTD

Firefly Melody was born following a recent group of improvisations around ideas from my song Welsh Dragonfly, which were collectively dubbed the Dragonfly songs. While the Dragonfly songs were influenced by the bucolic acoustic music of Led Zeppelin, Firefly Melody sought to continue from that same area but expand in a slightly different direction. In this case, I sought to maintain the mellow mood and reimagine the music with some inspiration from the guitar parts of Nick Drake. Following that path, Firefly Melody emerged. From there, Hummingbird Prelude and Hummingbird Melody came next, completing what I’ve dubbed the Serene Summer Suite. Hope you enjoy.

LIVE 132 • Fair Wind (912ce)

Acoustic, Fingerstyle, Live, Open Tuningsacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, fair wind cruise, fingerstyle guitar, Kealakekua Bay, Keauhou Bay, Line Audio CM4, nick borho, Open D, open tunings, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, Taylor 912ce, taylor grand concert

Here is a more recent version of my song “Fair Wind.” The song is named for a boat of the same name that ran snorkel / dive cruises to Kealakekua Bay out of Keauhou Bay – still does – and my parents took me and my friends for a cruise on it for a number of my birthdays.

Recorded with a 912ce (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD Light strings) and a Line Audio CM4 microphone.

LIVE 140 • Bron Yr Aur (K22ce)

Acoustic, Classic Rock, Fingerstyle, Liveacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, Hawaiian koa, Jimmy Page, koa taylor, Led Zeppelin, nick borho, open C6, open tunings, peaceful guitar, Physical Graffiti, relaxing guitar, taylor grand concert, Taylor k22ce, Telefunken M60, Welsh Countryside

Bron-Yr-Aur is probably my favorite Led Zeppelin acoustic song. Written by Jimmy Page about a tranquil cottage in the Welsh countryside, the song is meditative and bucolic; it always puts me in a different place whenever I hear it or play it. This version was recorded on my Taylor K22ce.

Recorded with a Taylor K22ce (solid koa grand concert with Elixir Nanoweb 80/20 Bronze HD gauge set) and a Telefunken M60 microphone.

LIVE 111 • Harvest Moon (alternate take)

Acoustic, Classic Rock, Fingerstyleacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, Drop D, fingerstyle guitar, Harvest Moon, Hawaii, honolulu, Neil Young, Neumann TLM 102, nick borho, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, st louis heights, Taylor 412ce-R, taylor grand concert

Here is an alternate take of my fingerstyle arrangement of Harvest Moon, the titular song from the great early 90’s Neil Young album. In era when some of his peers were merely coasting along, Neil was doing some of his best work. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 412ce LTD (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone in Honolulu, Hawai’i 9/7/15.

LIVE 103 • Bron-Yr-Aur (912ce)

Acoustic, Classic Rock, Fingerstyle, Liveacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, Jimmy Page, Neumann TLM 102, nick borho, open C6, peaceful guitar, Physical Graffiti, relaxing guitar, Taylor 912ce, taylor grand concert, Welsh Countryside

Bron-Yr-Aur is probably my favorite Led Zeppelin acoustic song. Written about a tranquil cottage in the Welsh countryside, the song is meditative and bucolic; it always puts me in a different place whenever I hear it or play it. This version was recorded on my Taylor 912ce.

Recorded with a Taylor 912ce (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD Light strings) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone.

OPEN 105 • How to Tune Your Guitar to Drop D Tuning

Acoustic, Fingerstyle, Open Tuningsacoustic guitar, alternate tunings, blue sky guitar, Drop D, Drop D lesson, fingerstyle guitar, nick borho, Taylor 412ce-R, taylor grand concert

This lesson shows you how to tune your guitar to Drop D tuning, which from low to high (in pitch) is D-A-D-G-B-E. Drop D is the most common alternate tuning – any tuning other than Standard tuning – and differs from standard only on the sixth string, which is tuned down (or dropped) to D. Open D is great for playing songs in the keys of D, A, and G. The tuning has been used by all types of players in all genres for all types of songs, but folkies and hard rock/metal people probably use it the most. You also see Drop D used in a decent number of guitar arrangements in classical music.

GEAR 516 • Koa as a Tonewood

Acousticacoustic guitar, big island, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, Hawaii, hawaiian forest, Hawaiian koa, Ki Ho'alu, koa taylor, mauna loa tuning, Neumann TLM 102, nick borho, open tunings, Slack Key, taylor grand concert, Taylor k22ce

Today we explore the use of Hawaiian koa as a tonewood, also discussing the wood’s origins in mauka forests in Hawai’i, its historical uses in native Hawaiian culture to modern day usage, and forestry stewardship. Koa is a bright, relatively dry tonewood with punchy low-mids; clear, sparkly highs; and sweet chiming overtones. Not only is koa a good sounding wood with a strong heritage, but it is also a beautiful wood that can exhibit stunning figuring. Koa guitars are excellent for jazz, folk and rootsy fingerstyle, and slack key among other applications.

https://youtu.be/MJUlYsBF-m8

Recorded with a Taylor K22ce (solid koa grand concert with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone.

BlueSkyGuitar.com

Slack Key and Fingerstyle Guitar