Wildwood Flower.

I don't know if I was eleven years old, or twelve years old - there is no possible way that it could matter at all.  I started learning to play the guitar at one of those numerical figures representing age in this particular human being.  I strummed chords along behind my grandfather as best as I could.  I don't know how he could sing, keep time, and stand all of my fumbling around with the fingers on the fretboard, but he did, and that's how I started off on the acoustic guitar.

You always start off with chords - that's just the way that it goes, and that is the way that it should be.  If you can't play rhythm, then you have no business playing with other people.  What happens if you ignore chord changes is that eventually you turn into what I am now...the guy who is a hermit, lives in a travel trailer, and plays melodies for himself by himself on an acoustic guitar.

But of course everyone wants to play leads - the only exception to this is the people who can either sing, or the few people who can play such an exceptional rhythm guitar that they are known for that, and sought after for it - rhythm is an art form every bit the equal to lead playing - it's just not ever as well represented, and it provides you no spot in the spotlight.

Seems everything and everyone is trying to shine not for the collective, but rather, for the ego - the spotlight, and this is what's wrong with this world.

I've digressed - ego struggling against intent.  It never ceases.

The first song that I learned to play lead on - the melody of, and independent of anyone else, vocals, or rhythm, was Wildwood Flower, by The Carter Family.

Now, you might think that you aren't familiar with The Carter Family, but you're wrong about that - you know who they are at least because you know who Johnny Cash was.  Johnny Cash was married to June Carter Cash, and her Mother - Maybell Carter originally sang The Wildwood Flower.

And there you have it, June Carter Cash's mother singing "The Wildwood Flower" - it's only one of the most famous songs in the history of these United States in America.


You can't, and you won't find a more familiar song in the US among the educated, the cultured, at least not among the "white folk."  Nothing against anyone else - this is just our heritage, and it's not a heritage of hate - it's a heritage of love.  This is what we in the South think of when we think of the South, this, and perhaps - chicken fried steak and fried okra - it's things like that, and you Northerners who've not been here are very jaded with your assumptions.  You've not been to places like Atlanta, Georgia, or Winston Salem, North Carolina - and you've damned sure not been to Austin, Texas - where San Francisco is considered a conservative city.

You see, the arts transcend any prejudice that the non initiate may hold - the arts are completely about the non dying human soul, the spirit of love, and of growth that the atheist who embraces that fairly land non word, that enigma they call "reason" with no definition - the arts transcend cold biology, and there is more under Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than is found in yon philosophy!

I've digressed again, please and thank you for the ....need to apologize, or what have you.  Let's hear more.

The video above is obviously not by a fan of the Carter Family from the Southern US - this shows the trans nationalism appeal of such folk music, obviously, this music was brought here from over seas - no not by the Carter Family, and not the specific tune The Wildwood Flower, but rather, the genre.

I very much like the plays on time, and the variations of the melody that this man in the video up above has provided - what he's really provided, however, is that the boundaries of melody that you might have supposed to have existed ....were in your head.  They never existed - everything is interpretation in music.

So go ahead, learn to play The Wildwood Flower, and learn the traditional version first, then expand upon it and make it your own - perhaps your village or your generation will adopt it as their own.

Are you interested in learning a simple version of this old song for guitar?  I've got you covered right here:

http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/c/carter_family/wildwood_flower_tab.htm

The above video screamed to be put here due to the song title/ post title, and due to the blog title, and guitar used.

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Blueridge Acoustic Guitars

Now, I'm going to be totally honest here, and that's the way that I strive to be all the time, and with everything that I've ever published online.  If all you're seeing is this account or these "D 28 Guitar" blogs....you've not seen much of my output.  It's all over, and it grows almost every day.

First statement of fact here is that I've never so far as I recall seen and laid my hands upon a Blueridge guitar.  I'd love to get to fool with one, and I'd love even more to own one.  I own a very nice Fender F 65 dreadnought, it supplements my Santa Cruz Dreadnought very well, and in a lot of situations.  I don't see taking my Santa Cruz around to places with me that I'd more readily take the Fender.

Why?

The Fender was made in Japan, is a Fender and not a Martin or a Santa Cruz, and is more easily replaceable, and done so for loads less money.  No, the Fender ain't for sale, never will be, and is a very well loved instrument.  I own very few things, care for fewer things still, and I inherited it from my grandmother who died.

My grandfather that taught me about guitars and started me to playing them, and learning about the type of music and musical instruments that I discuss on these blogs was a world war II vet from the South Pacific.  He hated the Japanese fiercely for most of his life, and wouldn't even allow his sons to park their Japanese vehicles in his driveway for a very long time.

So things made in Japan - and especially Japanese made guitars were....devalued in his mind, regardless of their quality.  Oh later on he forgave the Japanese and got over all of that kind of stuff, he had to, he was a Christian who knew he'd be dying sooner or later.

But whatever - most people just aren't into appreciating Japanese instruments on the same level of commerce as they are a fine, solid wood American made acoustic instrument.

Then there are Blueridge guitars - and these are not made in the Blue Ridge Mountains - they are made in China.

Recently on Hubpages I produced a Hub/article about the top five Vintage recreations of a pre war Martin D 28...and in that mix was a Brazilian Rosewood model guitar made by Blueridge.  I couldn't figure out how the hell they could sell a guitar that was built to those specs with Brazilian rosewood for the prices that they were selling them.  Now I do know the how and the why though - it's made in China.

You can not tell me that that guitar, a Blueridge BR 180 - isn't smoking hot in the realm of beauty.  It's for sale for just over a grand, and here's your link:

http://elizabethtown-kentucky.olx.com/guitar-for-sale-blueridge-br180-iid-36963629

But how does a Blueridge guitar sound?  Ain't that what matters most?  I think it is - I've just not played one, and so I don't have any sort of personal opinion or recommendation to give you, or anyone else; and I won't until I have had my hands on one.  We can, however, employee youtube here, and that's what I'll do!

I chose the video above for comparative quality of several fine instruments including a Blueridge competitor. My verdict is in, and it's that with this guy playing the upper crust of guitars, and the same tune on each one - that Blueridge guitars are on the up and up, and compete nicely in sound quality - at a superior price.

Now, please do NOT take that to mean that in these trying times I support buying Chinese products over American made products - but at the same time, in the spirit of honesty, if I needed a top notch guitar, and only had so much to spend - to hell with politics, I'm buying a Blueridge because it's affordable.

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Black Mountain Rag.

Black Mountain Rag is one of the most well known flatpicking tunes in the world, and like most all other flatpicking tunes, it was originally a fiddle tune.

I could be made as a statement, and be completely factual that flatpicking the guitar came from transcribing and playing fiddle tunes, or music that had originally been composed and played on a fiddle, or violin, on a steel string acoustic guitar.  Doc Watson was one of the first flatpickers, and one of the first tunes that Doc Watson made famous on a steel string guitar was Black Mountain Rag.

Flatpicking is also, as are the playing of fiddle tunes, something most associated with Bluegrass music, and one of the earliest pioneers of bringing this music to the fore of American consciousness was banjo player Earl Scruggs.

So I'm pleased to present to you here his son Randy, who's not been a teenager for quite some time now, but playing Black Mountain Rag as a teen.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWFb_kggsY0&feature=related


Now, I've no idea why I couldn't put the video here directly in the usual way except that not allowing me to choose a video by URL here in the settings, but having to search instead....is quite a hindrance.

But Doc Watson is directly responsible for bringing the old ragtime fiddle tune in question to the masses, so let's hear Doc Play it!

As for me personally, when I did have my fingers to where I could play this well known old fiddle tune - I played it from learning the tab on a book that I bought from Steve Kaufman.  Yeah, I put cash directly into Steve Kaufman's hands for one of his instructional books - which he handed me from his other hand.  You can do stuff like that at the Walnut Valley Festival.

In any case, should you wish to take part in Bluegrass music jam sessions, then this is a tune that you'd really benefit from either being able to play the leads on....or at least knowing the chords to.

Let me give you a hint here, if you're going to play the lead parts with folks, then you'd damn well better know the chords as well.

Just so that we can equally represent some legends here, let's here Clarence White play the fiddle tune Black Mountain Rag, with The Byrds.

So there's some traditional interpretations to Black Mountain Rag, but believe me, you can jazz it up and make it as interpretive as you like, and with any stringed instrument, you may surely do so!

Now, there are some great learning tools on the web for playing bluegrass music, and with the following link you can download the tab to The Black Mountain Rag. I have NOT downloaded this, so be wary as you normally would be on the web.  Why am I providing a link that I can not vouch for?

Good question!

I've got tab versions and music to this tune already, and I do mean several renditions of it - in magazines.  I only wanted to provide the searcher of the web here with an option.  The site looks reputable, and none of my bells and whistles or internet security stuff has made a peep from me viewing the site.  I'm 99% sure it's all good, and when I find a direct link to tab view able on the page for The Black Mountain Rag, I'll update this.


http://www.guitarprotabs.org/download/Watson,_Doc/Black_Mountain_Rag_20010.php

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Flatpicking Guitar Magazine Online

If you are interested in these subjects of fine acoustic guitars, or flatpicking acoustic guitars, or if you are just a fan of acoustic guitar music - then Flatpicking Guitar Magazine Online is definitely a website that I would recommend to you.

It's a social networking site, where you can interact with persons who are into playing steel string guitars with picks, or plectrums, and who do so playing all kinds of music.  It should be obvious, however, that most flatpicking is going to be centered around the type of music that originated the genre, and that's folk, bluegrass, and old Celtic tunes that crossed the Atlantic Ocean with the American immigrants that settled this place way back when.

Also, I'd be very remiss were I to fail to point out that Flatpicking Guitar Magazine IS a magazine that you can subscribe to, and that it is simply one of the finest resources for instruction material for flatpicking guitar that is available.  The staff is full of people who are well known and well renowned for their skills, and all levels of player will have instruction material in every issue - from beginner level all the way to tab and music of pieces that only the most skilled can play up to tempo.

http://flatpick.ning.com/

The above is the home page to Flatpicking Guitar Magazine online, and it's a fine site, and a fine magazine too.  It was started by a man named Dan Miller, and I've personally had a subscription in the past, and would like to have one again.  I'm just broke, is all.  Yes, I've met Dan Miller, and more than once - same as with Dan Crary, Steve Kaufman, and who knows how many other flatpicking guitarists - all at Winfield, Kansas and during the Walnut Valley Festival.

I also have a profile on Flatpicking Guitar Magazine Online, and here it is:

http://flatpick.ning.com/profile/WesmanToddShaw

Just like any good social networking site - the site has various groups and blogs and forums, and the ability to have "friends," and upload pictures and videos.  It's a fine site.  I go there to watch some videos that someone uploaded of themselves at home - and to ...basically view the world of amateurs to pros who have profiles there, and see what's going on in the world of one of my favorite art forms.

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Dan Crary

I've met Dan Crary, and on more than one occasion too.  No, he in no way in a million years would ever recall the name of Wesman Todd Shaw, and nor should he.

I doubt that I ever gave him my name - I was pleased to be talking to the man in the first place, and more than a bit intimidated.

You see, to me, Dan Crary is a bit of legend.  He's one of the founding fathers of flatpicking the acoustic guitar.  What is flatpicking?  It's simple, it's just playing Celtic oriented tunes that originated on either the mandolin or the fiddle....the violin, but with a pick, and on a steel string acoustic guitar.

Where did I meet Dan Crary?

Well, the best place to meet Dan is to ...be one of his students, he's a professor of communications at UCLA; but that's not where I met Professor and Musician Dan Crary - I met him, multiple times, in different years - at the Walnut Valley Festival, in Winfield, Kansas.

The Walnut Valley Festival is Americas biggest traditional music festival, and it's held the third week of September, and every single year...in Winfield, Kansas.  I've been three times, and I've talked to Dan at two different WVFs.

Let's give Dan a Listen, shall we?  We shall.

Don't know the year of this - but it's definitely a performance at a Bluegrass or Folk, or Traditional music festival - and it's possible that yours truly saw this very performance with his own two eyes, and even got to field some questions afterwards, as Professor Crary, and friends will often take questions after their performances at such ...personal venues and gatherings of like minded, non traditional types as one finds, enjoys, and loves at music festivals not ....the least bit corrupted by the satanic entity of mainstream American mass media.

I know that you can't really tell, but trust me on this - Dan Crary is at least six foot six, and possibly several inches taller than that.  I've no idea how tall he is - it doesn't matter, but if you happen to ever meet the guy, and you happen to be like me, about five foot nine inches - the size of the guy is shocking, as you'd just not expected that he'd be that tall.

If you're an electric guitarist, then you possibly have no idea how difficult it is to play so well on a steel string acoustic guitar.  Typically, the pick hand wrist of an electric guitarist isn't nearly strong enough to provide the volume necessary to ....be the least bit appreciated for someone wishing to hear FLATPICKING.

But I've digressed....

Dan Crary is a natural instructor, and probably is so for everything he knows and is willing to teach.  He's provided column after column of guitar instruction for various and sundry publications and monthly guitar magazines for....my entire life as an amateur guitarist, or acoustic guitar music fan.

At this time I have no Youtube videos of myself to show anyone - I don't have the equipment for such - but I can tell you that without ever having tried to arrive at this....I have the exact same right hand picking technique as does Dan Crary - and it's "the wrong way to do things."

Wrong?

Doesn't that imply that there is a "right way to do things?"

Yeah, me saying that my own technique is wrong implies that there is a right way, and also implies that I'm so daft as to presume that Dan Crary's technique is faulty.

What am I talking about?

He and I anchor our right palm, lightly, on the bridge of the guitar - nobody will ever advise someone learning to play the guitar to do that, and I wouldn't myself ....guess I already included myself with words such as "nobody."  Ironic.

In the above video you can see more legends of flatpicking than are typically seen in one setting.  I've also met Steve Kaufman one more than one compassion, but that's another story altogether.  The video above isn't perfect, the sound is rather flawed - and it's ironic to me that Tony Rice, and Doc Watson both seemed to have been slighted so far as the quality of sound was concerned here.

Dan Crary mostly plays Taylor guitars, and has had Bob Taylor build him a few to his personal specifications....no, I've not met Bob Taylor....but I've sat and listened to him talk while I was in the audience...quite a few times.

Here's a link to Dan Crary's own website, and some about his Taylor guitar:

http://dancrary.com/guitars.html

If you'd like to hear Dan Crary, master of communications talk a bit, then here you go!  The man has a HUGE booming voice...he damn near needs no amplification at all.

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