Dust In The Wind/Letter to Alfred Fingerpicking Medley

[John H]

Here’s a medley arrangement of two tunes: one is pretty familiar to Boomers (Dust in the Wind) and the other (Letter From Alfred) I just learned from David Hamburger. Both emphasize coordinating syncopation, melody and alternating bass notes. Hope you like.

[JoeD1]

That was some mighty fine fingerpickin’ my friend.

Joe

The sight of a touch, or the scent of a sound,
Or the strength of an Oak with roots deep in the ground.
--Graeme Edge

[John H]

Thank you Joe! Hope you are well.

John

[JoLa]

Love your playing, John! Nice percussive accents and a smooth transition to the next song! I am not familiar with the “Letter from Alfred” but very familiar with “Dust In The Wind” even though I am not a boomer 😉 The latter is also on my occasional practice list, a great fingerstyle exercise.

🎸JoLa

[John H]

JoLa
Letter from Alfred is new to me as well. It is a short study piece written by the blues guitarist David Hamburger. Thanks for the positive vibes. Home you are warm and well in Las Vegas.

John

[Clarke]

John,

Nicely played, great technique with the alternating bass lines. A how to demo in finger pick’n.

Clarke

[John H]

Thank you Clarke. Great to hear from you!

John

[Michael Krailo]

That must have take some work to get that one down. Sounds good John. You have a little bass player in that thumb of yours.

Go slow and practice correct technique, and your abilities will dramatically improve.

[David L]

A finger-picking master class. Excellent technique and tone, amigo. I was not familiar with Letter From Alfred, but I enjoyed both renditions immensely. Well-played, as always, John.

[Liam Innes]

Such an impressive submission.

I’ve tried many times over the years to conquer dust in the wind but to no avail.

You’ve got a version of it down that I would be more than happy with.

I don’t know the hamburger one but that looked even more difficult and sounded like you nailed it.

Seriously well done John.

Liam.

“We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams. “

[Garry]

Definitely love this style John. It’s not easy to move that bass line, and keep the melody flowing and the harmonies in check. Great to hear the percussive taps as well. Thanks for sharing this acoustic gem. All the best! 😎🎸😎

[Richard G]

It’s a great feeling playing guitar when the thumb and fingers are in sync with each other and you made a cracking job of those two melodies. Very enjoyable John.

Richard

[Denise]

John, I like how you played these wonderful tunes! Very fluent travis finger picking….bravo!
Your beautiful Martin guitar sounds so good.
Hope you are doing fine.
Denise

More Blues!

[Geoff]

Hi John, I particularly enjoyed your rendition of “Dust in the wind”. One thing I have never been able to do well is finger pick without nails but you do it in such a way that the sound comes through very clearly with is great 👍

Good work. You never disappoint 😎

PS: Back in the early 19th century there was a big debate between Fernando Sor and Aguodo about the use of nails for finger picking. Fernando Sor hated nails because he felt they imposed too harsh a tone in the strings- in the end, though, nails won’ out for classical guitar technique. I do find keeping my nails shorter gives a warmer tone but I lose out on volume. Always trying to find a happy medium. Anyway, some trivia for you 😄

[Dieter]

Excellent groovy picking.

Dieter

[AndréM]

Amazing finger picking bro.
David Hamburger is not a small task to play and you did it very well.

AndréM

AndréM

[charjo]

Is there anything this guy can’t do? Really well played, John, and great to see you expanding your technique.
John

[Martin W]

Impressive finger style playing on both arrangements John , the syncopation between melody and bass line works perfectly , I’ve always admired this style when you can make one guitar sound like two
Love the percussive aspect keeping things in check .

Martin

[sunjamr]

Nice one, John. As of about 4 months ago, I can no longer play fingerstyle, due to De Quervain’s syndrome, where the tendon on top of the thumb gets messed up due to excessive fingerstyle playing. I’m trying to rebuild it all, but progress is slow. Meanwhile, it’s a good time to work on crosspicking. I’m just starting to learn “Randall Collins” as played by Norman Blake. I’m inspired by the guy who plays “toe-style”: He was born with no arms, and plays the guitar with his toes. And maybe Jimi Hendrix who could play the guitar with his teeth. Tooth-style, I guess….

Sunjamr Steve

[John H]

Thanks Steve,
Sorry to hear about your inability to play finger-style. I hope you heal and can get back to it. Yeah, its a journey for me. I enjoy it because there is always a song, with a beginning, middle (bridge) and ending. Been thinking about getting a used classical guitar (Yamaha or Cordoba). They typically are easier to fingerpick. And, the tone-to die for. Be well.

John

[Helen Lazaridou]

Now that I have started experimenting with fingerstyle picking I can really appreciate what you have achieved John with your alternate bass notes while playing the melody!!!I wish I had more time to practice!!!Thanks for sharing both pieces!!!🤩🤩🤩

[Author]

Posts