Category Archives: Live

LIVE 024 • Study in Em – Francisco Tárrega

Acoustic, Fingerstyle, Live, , , , , , , , , ,

Study in Em – Francisco Tárrega – Nylon String

Here is my take on a Study in Em by Francisco Tárrega. This is a song I have taught in the past to students interested in learning a little fingerstyle or classical. To make the arrangement a little more fun for some students, I took some liberties and added a few flourishes here and there. This version of the study has also found its way onto some of my setlists over the years. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 414ce-NR (Rosewood/Spruce nylon string) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone.

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Lágrima by Francisco Tárrega

Tranquility – fingerstyle on nylon string guitar

LIVE 023 • Horn – Nick Drake Cover on Nylon String Guitar

Classic Rock, Fingerstyle, Live, Open Tunings, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Appearing as a sort of interlude on the Pink Moon album, Horn is a fascinating little study of a song in its own right. I love the simple melody and the atmosphere created by the space between the notes. I also really like the way this song works on nylon string guitar. (Apologies for the intonation in places – still getting a feel for this guitar and nylon again.) Of course, Drake apparently used really old, beat up steel strings, so his guitar work translates well to nylon. I don’t know what it is about the deceptively simple genius of his guitar parts, but they get me every time. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 414ce-NR (Rosewood/Spruce nylon string) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone.

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Tranquility – fingerstyle on nylon string guitar

Pua Lililehua – Slack Key Guitar

LIVE 022 • Tranquility – original fingerstyle on nylon string guitar

Fingerstyle, Live, Open Tunings, , , , , ,

Up until now, you’ve mostly heard me play steel string acoustic guitar. “Tranquility” is a song I recorded a years back on nylon string guitar. It’s a mellow, contemplative, and relaxing song. My friend Chris in Kona (no slouch on guitar himself) says it’s his favorite thing he’s heard me do. With that vote, I thought I would dig this out from the vaults for you.
Anyway, I haven’t had a nylon string guitar for going on 10 years… up until recently that is. I’ve made several recordings with it so far, and I hope to have them edited and posted before long. Meanwhile, please enjoy this song.

All rights reserved to this song, however students may perform it in public.

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Sarah – Solo Acoustic Guitar

Pua Lililehua – Slack Key Guitar

Magic Sands – slack key guitar

LIVE 021 • Sarah – Solo Acoustic Guitar

Live, ,

Here is a song from the vaults called “Sarah”. I wrote and recorded this song quite a few years ago and recently listened to it for the first time in years when I dug out an old CD. I forgot how much I was into tapping on the guitar, including trying to harmonize myself – something I hardly ever do anymore… must have been listening to a lot of Victor Wooten that year. (Show of Hands anyone?) Anyway, it’s kind of an interesting song, though I don’t plan to revive it for my setlist anytime soon. 🙂 Hope you enjoy.

All rights reserved to this song, however students may perform it in public.

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Blue Bells

Make

LIVE 020 • Make (Demo)

Blue Sky Guitar, Live, , , , , ,

Here is a strum intensive song from the vaults called “Make”. The louder strumming in this song was meant to provide a counterpoint to some of the mellower fingerstyle and slack key songs I was playing at the time. I recorded this while living in an ohana unit with a large, tiled room that I kept mostly empty because I enjoyed the acoustics. (Plus, I didn’t own a lot of furniture.) Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 310ce (Elixir Polyweb 80/20 Bronze) and a matched stereo pair of Shure KSM 141 microphones in Holualoa, Hawai’i, 3/19/08.

All rights reserved to this song, however students may perform it in public.

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Pua Lililehua – Slack Key Guitar

Magic Sands

LIVE 019 • Blue Bells (Demo, Open Tuned Electric Guitar)

Fingerstyle, Live, Open Tunings, , , , , , ,

From the vaults, here is a demo of a tune I wrote some years back called Blue Bells. I think this might be the only recording I have of this song, and although it’s not fully finished there’s something I love about this take that made me want to stop working on it for a while. Sometimes you capture a feeling – for yourself alone even – well enough to leave a song be – to come back to it later, or not at all.

Recorded with a late 90’s Olympic White Jimmie Vaughan Stratocaster and a ’68 Fender Vibro Champ with some sort of Boss delay pedal in Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i, 6/18/06.

All rights reserved to this song, however students may perform the song in public.

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Pua Lililehua – Slack Key Guitar

Magic Sands – Slack Key Guitar

Here Comes the Sun – fingerstyle guitar arrangement

LIVE 018 • Something – Ukulele Cover – Beatles / George Harrison

Classic Rock, Live, , , , , , ,

From the vaults, here is a cover of George Harrison’s wonderful song Something that I performed on ukulele. What can I say, Pattie Boyd Boyd must have been quite the muse. Something is arguably George’s greatest song with the Beatles or even his entire career, which is saying something. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Koaloha concert ukulele and a matched stereo pair of Shure KSM 141 microphones in Holualoa, Hawai’i, 3/5/08.

All rights reserved to this arrangement.

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Magic Sands

Here Comes the Sun fingerstyle guitar arrangement

LIVE 016 • Iris

Fingerstyle, Live, Open Tunings, , , , ,

Iris has a lot of harmonics, which creates a light, chimey atmosphere. A thunderstorm rolled in while I was recording and gave some interesting punctuation to the take. I’ll probably try to record another version of this song, but thought the lightness of the song coupled with the thunderstorm left an interesting contrast. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 412ce LTD (Rosewood/Spruce, Gotoh 510 tuners, strings are Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone.

All rights reserved to this song, however students may perform the song in public.

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Bron Yr Aur – Jimmy Page Led Zeppelin

Here Comes the Sun fingerstyle guitar arrangement

LIVE 015 • Morning and Night

Fingerstyle, Live, , , ,

Morning and Night started out as a fingerpicking study I wrote for one of my students way back when. I added a little to the study to perform it as a slow, relaxing solo piece and it has stayed in my repertoire ever since.
A few years back I decided to write a harmony part for the song, which I almost forgot about until I found a demo take while combing through some old files. I think it’s interesting to hear the song both with and without the harmony. Hope you enjoy both versions.

All rights reserved to this song, however students may perform the song in public.

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Bron Yr Aur – Jimmy Page Led Zeppelin – Fingerstyle Guitar

Magic Sands