Vol_3_No_5

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V

olume

3,

Number

5

5 July/August

July/August

1999

Magazine

Jeff

White

$4.00

Cody Kilby

Doug Rorrer

John Doyle

Arnold Guitars

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1

Flatpicking Guitar Magazine

Flatpicking Guitar Magazine July/August July/August 19991999

FEATURES

Jeff White

4

4 Flatpick

Flatpick

Prole:

Cody

Kilby

17

17 John

John

Arnold

Guitars

31

31 Jam

Jam

Tunes:

“Fisher’s

Hornpipe”

36

36 Masters

Masters

of

Rhythm

Guitar:

John

Doyle

42

42 By

By

Request:

Wyatt

Rice’s

“Wheel

Hoss”

51

51 Tricks

Tricks

of

Transcription

70

70 Guitar

Guitar

Highlight:

The

Dudenbostal

12

12 Fret

Fret

D

74

74 COLUMNS

COLUMNS

Greenelds

of

America

9

9 Craig

Craig

Vance

Beginner’s Page: Harm

ony Singing Part II

I

11

11 Dan Huckabee

Dan Huckabee

Flatpicking Rhythm: C

rosspicking Rhythm

13

13 Joe

Joe

Carr

Guitar Maintenance & Repair

21

21 Frank

Frank

Ford

Kaufman’s Cor

ner: “Banks of the Ohio

”

25

25 Steve

Steve

Kaufman

Flatpicking & Folk/Aco

ustic Rock

28

28 John

John

Tindel

Nashville Flat Top: Improvisation

33

33 Brad

Brad

Davis

The O-Zone: “Nashville Blues”

40

40 Orrin

Orrin

Star

Way Down Town

44

44 Dix

Dix

Bruce

Music Theory: Mas

tering the Fingerboar

d

48

48 Mike

Mike

Maddux

Flatpicking Fiddle Tu

nes: Spiffy Tunes

54

54 Adam

Adam

Granger

Exploring Bluegrass

Guitar: Starting Up Th

e Neck

56

56 Steve

Steve

Pottier

Eclectic Acoustic: Bear Isla

nd Reel

59

59 John

John

McGann

DEPARTMENTS

On The Web

30

30 New

New

Release

Highlight:

Doug

and

Taylor

Rorrer

61

61 Reviews

Reviews

65

65 Flatpicking

Flatpicking

Guitar

Magazine

Volume 3, Number 5 Volume 3, Number 5 July/August 1999 July/August 1999

Published bi-monthly by:

High View Publications

P.O. Box 2160 P.O. Box 2160 Pulaski, VA 24301 Pulaski, VA 24301 Phone: Phone: (540) (540) 980-0338980-0338 Fax: Fax: (540) (540) 980-0557980-0557 Orders: Orders: (800) (800) 413-8296413-8296 E-mail: highview@atpick.com E-mail: highview@atpick.com

Web Site: http://www.atpick.com

ISSN: 1089-9855

Dan Miller

Dan Miller - Publisher - Publisher and Editorand Editor

Mariann Miller - Sales

Mariann Miller - Sales and Advertisingand Advertising

Connie Miller - A

Connie Miller - Administrationdministration

Contributing Editors: Contributing Editors: Dave McCarty Dave McCarty Bryan Kimsey Bryan Kimsey

Cover Scan - Jason Hungate

Subscription Rate ($US):

US $22.00 US $22.00 Canada/Mexico $27.00 Canada/Mexico $27.00 Other Foreign $32.00 Other Foreign $32.00

High View Publications unless

otherwise indicated

Reproduction of material appearing in

the

theFlatpicking Guitar MagazineFlatpicking Guitar Magazine is for- is

for-bidden without written permission

bidden without written permission

Printed in the USA

Cover Photo by Jim McGuire

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Merlefest Winner

W

We e would liwould like ke to to congratulate congratulate Cody KilbyCody Kilby, winner , winner of of the the MerlefestMerlefest

atpicking gui

atpicking guitar contesttar contest. . Cody also won tCody also won the National Chahe National Championshipmpionship

last year at Wine

last year at Wineld. ld. WWe have featured Cody in our “Flatpicking Prole”e have featured Cody in our “Flatpicking Prole”

column in

column in this issue. this issue. See page 17.See page 17.

New “Old” Pick Guard Material

John

John Arnold Arnold is is featured featured in in this this issue’issue’s s “Guitar “Guitar Builder” Builder” column. column. DuringDuring

the interview we conducted with John, he told us about a new pick guard

material that is being produced by Henry Stocek at Deep River Vintage

Instrument Supply in Deep River

Instrument Supply in Deep River, CT.. , CT.. This new material is actually “old”This new material is actually “old”

because Henry is having it produced from the same material and via the

same manufacturi

same manufacturing process as the prng process as the pre-war Martin pickgue-war Martin pickguards. ards. Henry’sHenry’s

three year research and development process grew out of his frustration in

trying to nd pickguard material to exactly match the old pickguard on a

D-28 he was restoring.

D-28 he was restoring. Henry has sent us samples of the new maHenry has sent us samples of the new material andterial and

we will provide a review of this material in an upcoming issue.

Brad Davis’ New 30 Minute Lessons on CD

Brad

Brad Davis Davis fans fans will will be be happy happy to to know know that that he he has has just just completedcompleted

work on three new 30 minute ins

work on three new 30 minute instructional courses. tructional courses. He has one on rightHe has one on right

hand technique, one on his double-down-up picking method and one on

improvisation (see his col

improvisation (see his column in this issue). umn in this issue). Each course is approximatelyEach course is approximately

thirty minutes in length and comes in a

thirty minutes in length and comes in a CD with instruction booklet format.CD with instruction booklet format.

The best news is that e

The best news is that each course is only $12.95, incach course is only $12.95, including postage. luding postage. SeeSee

Brad’s column for ordering

Brad’s column for ordering information.information.

Dan Miller

Editor

Editor and and PublisherPublisher

EDITOR'S

PAGE

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3 Flatpicking Guitar Magazine July/August 1999

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Jeff

White

Jeff White’s world of bluegrass is a

place where wayfaring strangers come face to face with death and destiny in a little cabin among the trees and cold-hearted girlfriends jilt you without a second thought and then skip town with your car. Despite the often-tragic outcomes of the songs he writes and sings, Jeff bounds on-stage to perform with all the open-faced eagerness to please of a golden retriever pup. From his perfectly phrased atpicking guitar intros and solos to his clear, soaring tenor voice, it’s clear that here’s a guy who wouldn’t trade what he’s doing for anything.

It’s not just that boyish enthusiasm that sets Jeff White apart; he possesses the especially rare gift of being a brilliant songwriter and singer in addition to being one of today’s great atpickers. His career already includes such credits as playing and recording with Alison Krauss and Union Station, touring Japan with Texas mandolin great Dave Peters, recording with former Hot Rize banjo player Pete Wernick, and performing with Tim O’Brien both as a member of the O’Boys and with the newly formed Flatheads. When he’s not playing bluegrass, Jeff holds one of the most prestigious touring gigs in all of country music as rhythm guitarist and backup singer to superstar Vince Gill, himself an excellent bluegrass player who selects only the very best players to perform and record with him.

More recently, Jeff exploded to even greater recognition with the release of his first solo CD, The White Album, on Rounder Records. That album, lled with outstanding original tunes, superb musicianship and emotionally charged vocals, sat atop the bluegrass charts for several weeks, spawning several strong singles, and wound up on many lists as one of the top bluegrass albums of 1998.

As a followup, Jeff released his second solo CD, The Broken Road on Rounder

earlier this year. Backed by Vince Gill on mandolin, Jerry Douglas on Dobro, Alison Krauss on vocals, Pete Wernick on banjo, and many other top players, Jeff’s new CD features even more of his unique, powerhouse atpicking guitar style.

Born in Syracuse, NY on August 2, 1957, Jeff started playing music as a drummer in 4th grade, then switched to saxophone. “I played in my middle school jazz ensemble. We actually made some TV appearances,” Jeff recalled. Just as he entered high school and began to get interested in playing guitar, the White family (no relation to Clarence and Roland) moved from New York to Indiana. Jeff met a couple of girls at his new church who showed him a few guitar chords and,

as he puts it today, “That’s where it all started.”

Through high school, he pretty much stuck to strumming chords and playing popular music. But when he started college in 1975, Jeff discovered a student living in his dorm who was really into bluegrass. “He loaned meThe Essential Doc Watson

and hearing Doc play ‘Black Mountain Rag’ blew me away,” Jeff said. Shortly after that, he heard Tony Rice’s rst album, and from there started learning about players like Norman Blake and Dan Crary. “That got me involved in learning to atpick,” he explained, and he also started playing with other bluegrass musicians.

Upon graduating college with a degree in sociology, Jeff headed to Bloomington, by David McCarty

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Indiana to begin graduate school. Long-known as a hotbed of musical activity, Bloomington’s thriving acoustic music scene and its world-renowned School of Music already had attracted such future stars as Edgar Meyer, guitarist and vocalist Cathy Chiavola, and ddler Lisa Germano, who went on to play and record with Indiana native John Mellencamp. Jeff quickly made a name for himself as a great atpicker and singer and began hanging out with members of Pink and the Naturals and other local bands playing bluegrass and David Grisman’s “Dawg” music.

After a year and a half of graduate school, Jeff dropped out to become a musi-cian fulltime. “My professor and I made a mutual decision that I’d pursue music,” he said. The fact that his academic advisor had avidly played jazz bass, but then literally smashed his bass as a symbolic break from music when he earned his Ph.D. undoubt-edly inuenced Jeff’s decision to leave the academic world behind for music.

Even before leaving school, Jeff had been performing on weekends at gigs around Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. One early connection had been with Alison Krauss, whom he met and jammed with at Indiana’s legendary bluegrass festival at Bean Blossom when the budding bluegrass diva was just 13 years old. “She did ‘I Know What It Means To Be Lonesome’ and she really belted it out even back then,” Jeff recalled.

Once Jeff was playing fulltime, he received a call asking if he’d audition for the guitar chair with Union Station. Impressed with his brilliant guitar work and soulful lead and harmony vocals, he got the job. “I was with her from about 1987 until about 1990; about two, two and a half years,” he explained. “We did

I’ve Got That Old Feeling and the Two Highways albums.”

Following his tenure with AKUS, Jeff hooked up with mandolinist Butch Baldassari and bassist Mike Bub to replace Chris Jones in Weary Hearts. “We played some festivals and I made some connections with the guys from Hot Rize. That’s when I started talking with Tim (O’Brien) about playing music with him at some point,” Jeff noted. About that same time, Jeff met Dave Peters, the only person to win the prestigious mandolin championships at Wineld three times. Peters was putting together a band with ddle virtuoso Randy Howard and national banjo champion James

McKinney to tour Japan for six months. “I was a little hesitant, but Dave said we’d make great money,” Jeff said. “I thought if I go there and make a chunk of money, I could move to Nashville and be close to what’s going on down there.”

Returning from Japan in 1991, Jeff and his wife moved to Nashville as planned and began playing some gigs with Tim O’Brien. About that same time, though, he got a call from Vince Gill inviting him to join his touring band. “It was a really difcult decision for me to make because I like them both so much,” he said. Jeff ended up deciding to go with Vince Gill and joined the group in 1992. “It’s coming up on seven years now,” Jeff recalled. “It’s been really one of the best possible types of gigs.”

“Vince has been a sideman and backup singer on hundreds of records, and he really values the musician part of it more than the showbiz part of it. He’s always been very supportive of the people who are with him making their own records with other people and doing their own things. He’s never put a damper on that.”

Recognising Jeff’s growing reputation as both one of the hottest atpickers around and one of bluegrass music’s most intel-ligent, thoughtful songwriters, Flatpicking Guitar Magazine sat down to talk with Jeff White about his music.

How didThe White Album come about? I’d been talking to Ken Irwin at Rounder for awhile, and Pete Wernick was very supportive of me. I said I wanted to make a record with these people, are you interested? I think they realized with all the people I have on the record, Alison Krauss, Vince Gill, Pete Wernick, Jerry Douglas, Mike Bub and Jeff Gurnsey, it wasn’t such a bad gamble.

How did the album go over?

It did really well. It cracked the top ten on Americana Radio and did really well on bluegrass radio. “I Never Knew” was maybe the most popular song off that CD.

What impact did the release of a solo CD have on your career?

Getting gigs as Jeff White had been difficult being in Vince’s group, so the CD helped me go out and do the the kind of gigs I wanted to. I did Merlefest and the Ryman bluegrass series; those kind of higher prole gigs.

Bluegrassers tend to be parochial. Has your association with Vince Gill been a handicap in any way?

I don’t know whether people see me as a part time bluegrasser. I just gure that people realize that if I wanted to make

coun-Jeff White with Pete Wernick, Vince Gill, and Andrea Zonn at the Ryman Bluegrass series in 1996

P h o t o : M i k e K e l l y

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try records, I’d have gone off and done that. Bluegrass is my home turf, but I also play country and feel blessed I can sing and play with the best country players in the business. It’s taught me a lot about songwriting and singing and playing. Also, I greatly appre-ciate what Vince has done on my records. I don’t think there’s another country artist capable of jumping into a bluegrass band and singing great tenor and playing great mandolin. He brings excellent musicianship to my records.

Do you see a change in your musicianship as a bluegrass guitarist now?

I guess I tend to look at it more song-oriented than instrumentally song-oriented. I’ve had some criticism from friends about not putting any instrumentals on my CDs. I understand that some people get miffed listening to me sing 14 songs; that would get on anyone’s nerves! (laughs) I wanted to do a guitar instrumental on The Broken Road , but I ran out of room.

How about your growth as a atpicker? When I was playing bluegrass fulltime, I probably technically could play faster and had more licks, and that side has diminished a little bit. Now I guess I look at (my play-ing) in terms of how it adds to the song. I’m trying to do something that complements the song.

What do you think makes your playing so unique compared to other contemporary atpickers?

I know I am not Bryan Sutton, although Bryan says what he likes about my playing is that I play loud and hard. What those guys do is totally unique to them. David Grier does what he does, and I don’t want to make instrumental records like he does. So I’d say that where maybe I have diminished slightly in me pickingwise, I’ve improved in my lead and harmony singing. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. (laughs)

Do you still have that sort of gunslinger mentality at all as a atpicker?

All I really want to do is make that rst tier of guitar players. I’m the rst to admit that I don’t have any delusions that I’m the next Tony Rice or Clarence White. But I think when it comes to atpicking and the picking side of bluegrass, people are imme-diately enthralled by how fast someone can play and all the jaw-dropping licks they can play. I enjoy that as much as any guy, but I don’t want to do that all night long. So I don’t have that contest mentality. There’s room for all kinds of guitar players in blue-grass music.

How would you evaluate your evolution as a atpicking guitar player?

When we played at the Ryman, Sam Bush was playing mandolin and he gave me the nicest compliment. He said when I go to take a break, it’s not like everyone else has to back off for me to be heard. I like to play hard and barrel on through. I guess when I was younger and playing in contests, the most prized thing was playing fast and clean and having an interesting arrangement. At Wineld, the guys I was most impressed with all had interesting arrangements. Then when I started to play in bands that were less instrumentally oriented like Alison Krauss, you still had material that allowed you to play fast, but you had to do something other than regurgitate licks. I think that’s what mainly has helped me become stronger melodically. I’d rather hear something pretty melodic than hear mind-boggling licks.

Flatpickers seem to fall into one of two camps these days about instruments: either they ddle constantly with dif-ferent makes and models of guitar like Norman Blake does or they find one instrument that expresses their sound and stick with, like Tony Rice does. You’ve certainly been in that later group. What is it about the Mossman you like so well?

I bought it new at a music store in Wabash, Indiana where I was teaching in 1977. It’s a Great Plains model. I heard Crary’s Mossman on his Lad y’s Fan cy

album and heard how clear it sounded, so I got one. I’ve always sought out guitars that had a lot of volume. I think the reason I like it so much is that I played in a band with a loud banjo player and I needed to cut through to be heard. I had been playing a D-18, but I just never got the volume I needed, especially when I was jamming. The Mossman seemed to cut through better. Also, you can hear each individual note. Each note rings distinctly, so there’s not a low rumble on the bass strings. It’s very effective over a mic. I don’t have that low-end problem some other guitars have when miked. I just got another Mossman Great Plains from the same year, and on that one I had the saddle compensated on the E and B strings; otherwise it’s pretty much standard.

You do always manage to punch out your solos. How does your guitar setup contribute to that?

I use D’Addario medium gauge phosphor bronze strings, and I have my guitars setup Jeff White singing with Del McCoury in Nashville, 1998

P h o t o : A l i s o n M c C o u r y

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with pretty high action, mainly because I play pretty hard and in order to not get too much buzzing, I need to set it up fairly high. For picks, I like a good, heavy pick, like a tortoiseshell or the purple Tortex picks. I have a Baggs pickup under the saddle.

How do you like to record your guitar? I pretty much leave the recording mics up to the engineers. They usually use two mics and position one below the soundhole and one either pointing at the ngerboard where it meets the soundboard or they’ll put it at the lower bout where your arm comes over. The best engineers will take their time and even stick their head in front of the guitar and move it around to try to hear you and nd the spot where the guitar sounds the best.

So what’s next for Jeff White? Do you see yourself continuing to split your time between bluegrass and country?

I’d like to be able to do as much of both as I can. I’m playing with the Flatheads in the Ryman bluegrass series, but that’s just an occasional gig. I’m playing some with the McCoury’s when Ronnie does his solo

gigs. I had a huge thrill recently when the Del McCoury Band was supposed to do the Josh Graves benet, but Del was sick, so I subbed for him. I was Del McCoury for the night! (laughs) I’m going to continue to write songs. And to be able to play with the guys in Vince’s band and sing with Vince and Patty Loveless, and then be able to sit in and play with bluegrass guys like David Grier and Bryan Sutton and Chris Thiele, that’s the best of two kinds of music. Selected Discography:

Solo Recordings: The Broken Road , Rounder Records CD 11661-0455-2 The

White Album, Rounder Records CD 0385 With Alison Krauss: Two Highways, Rounder Records CD 0265 I’ve Got That Old Feeling, Rounder Records CD 0275 With Peter Wernick: On A Roll, Sugar Hill SH-CD-3815

With Butch Baldassari: A Day In The Coun-try,Pinecastle Records PRC 1028.

Windy City Rag

As played by Jeff White on Alison Krauss and Union Station’sTwo Highways CD (Rounder CD 0265)

& # C œ œ œ

0 2 4

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

G 5 4 3 4 4 0 0 0

œ œœœœœœ

5 3 4 4 3 0 0

œ œ œ œ œ

œ

œ œ

D 9 7 7 7 7 0 0 0

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

9 7 7 7 7 0 0

& #

6

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

G 5 4 3 4 4 0 0 0

œ œ œ œ œ œ œn

5 0 1 3 4 0

œ[ œ œ œb œ œ œ# œ

D 2 0 3 2 1 4 0 3

œ œ œ œ

G 0 0 2 4

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

G 5 4 3 4 4 0 0 0 S H

Arranged by Jeff White Transcribed by Matt Flinner

“ _{play, it is certainly}Listening to him

evident that arrangement is something Dan does very well. His arrangements are interesting, exciting, tasteful and well per-formed.

”

—Dan Miller, Editor

Flatpicking Guitar Magazine

Liner Notes—

“A Few Favorites” by Dan DeLancey

“From the rst note of “The Girl I left Behind Me” to the last lick in “Clarinet Polka” you can tell that Dan DeLancey is a powerhouse guitar player. His playing is up-lifting and soulful. The song selection is splendid! Dan is backed by a group of super musicians who know how to make a recording work. A nicely thought out project that will remain a favorite of mine as I know it will be of yours. The only down side— and it was hard to nd one—is that the record-ing is over too soon for me. It only means that I’ll have to hit re-play all day!! Enjoy

“A Few Favorites” _{as I have.}

D A N D E L A N C E Y • 7 9 1 1 H U N T E R R A Y T O W N , M O . 6 4 1 3 8 • 8 1 6 - 3 5 6 - 1 8 7 9

D

AN

D

E

L

ANCEY

A F

EW

F

AVORITES F L A T P I C K G U I T A R N E W C D R E L E A S E

To order your CD, please send $15 to:

Titles include: The Girl I Left Behind Me, Redwing, Memories Waltz, Uncle Herman’s Hornpipe, The Shelter Of Your Eyes, Golden Eagle Hornpipe, Pass

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Greenelds of America

by Craig Vance

New Release!

Rebel - 1749

Chris Jones

FOLLOW YOUR

HEART

Guests include:

Harley Allen Ron Block Paul Brewster Mike Compton Wayne Benson Stuart Duncan Aubrey Haynie Rob Ickes Sally Jones Ron Stuart Rebel Records P.O. Box 3057 Roanoke, VA 24015 www.rebelrecords.com

Also Available

By Chris Jones

Rebel 1739

For Bookings:

Contact Chris Jones P.O. Box 984

Franklin, TN 37065

e-mail:[email protected]

Having just completed a journey to Ireland with my band, and not having heard anything new in the short amount of free time I had during the trip, I thought that the tune “The Greenelds of America” would be appropriate for the rst column after my return.

Although we did sit in on some traditional music sessions, most of what we were exposed to in Ireland was country and folk music. The local musicians that we ran into during our trip preferred to play the music that we were more accustomed to in our country. It was either that or they were just being polite! Nevertheless, we enjoyed our visit and the musicians that we did get to play with were quite knowledgeable of their instruments.

“Greenelds of America” can be found on many recordings across the acoustic fence. It is still played by square dance bands, bluegrass bands, and celtic bands alike. The rst recorded version I heard was by Fennig’s All-Star Band. The

arrange-ment presented here is pretty straight forward and in the key of G. Unlike many of the other ddle tunes for guitar, this one does not have to be completely melodic. Accents and triplets can easily be added as embellishments. I think you’ll find that this tune would also work well in a medley of one or two other tunes of this length. I remember that Norman Blake would occasionally play this tune in a medley with two or three others during his live performances. Have fun with this and try to experiment with some additional lls.

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Gcdgcdgcdgcd

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Beginner’s Page

by Dan Huckabee

In the last issue we gured out our rst harmony part from scratch! I hope it was fun and easy for you. It was the “tenor” part to the song “Woah Mule, Woah.” If you’ll remember, the tenor part is the chord tone above the melody, and it’s also the logical place to start when examining harmony parts to songs.

Your assignment for this issue was to figure out the “baritone” part all by yourself. Don’t worry if you couldn’t get it, but if you tried, then you gained some valuable experience. If you didn’t quite get it all, or weren’t sure if you got it right, we’re going to do go through it now.

Baritone is considered to be the “last puzzle part.” Well, that’s partly true. We learned in the rst part of this series that there are 3 possible notes in a triad chord. If the melody sings “G,” and the tenor sings “B,” then there is only one note left in the “G-chord,” which would be “D.” (a G chord consists of the notes G, B, and D ).

Therefore, by process of elimination, the “baritone” singer will start off singing a “D.” But where are we going to put that “D”? Answer: anywhere you want it, because this is art and you have a choice. The most common place to put it would be “under” the melody. This would be a “low-D.” As was mentioned in Part I, you could put it above the tenor if you so desired. So how do we decide where to put it? We decide by the comfort range of the person who is going to have to sing it. In other words, a woman might put it above the tenor, and a man might put it below the melody. (Please refer to Part I of this series for more details.)

For the purpose of our exercise in this issue, we are going to put the baritone part below the melody, but it can be sung an octave higher if you choose.

OK, let us get right into our exercise for this issue and start to nd the baritone part (for your reference, the standard notation

and guitar tab for all three parts is shown on the next page): “Woah mule woah, woah mule I say…” From our examination in the last issue we know that in the melody the rst note of the song is a G note in the G chord. We gured out that the tenor note was the next note in the G chord above the G, which was the B note. Therefore, by process of elimination, we know that the baritone part is going to start on the D note. From the last issue we also know that the D note is held until the word “say.” In fact, if you’ll remember, the chord to the song changes from G-chord to D-chord on that word as well. The melody goes to an F#. The notes of the D chord are D, F#, and A. The tenor guy is going to sing that A note, therefore the baritone will change to a “D.” SAY WHAT? The baritone guy is already singing the “D”! That’s right! The melody changed to the F# of the D-chord, and the baritone will be D, but D of the D chord, rather than D of the G chord. Confusing, but the “note” D is common to both G-chord and D-chord. Remember G-chord is spelled: G,B,D and D-chord is spelled: D, F#, A.

The baritone guy is going to stay on the same D note for the rst eleven notes of the tune all the way through “Ain’t got time to kiss you now…” (Pretty easy to sing). That one long string of singing one “monotone D-note.” Let’s review: “Woah mule woah, woah, mule I say. Ain’t got time to. . .” (Can you believe it? All that stayed on one note!)

The next phrase in the song is, “kiss you now.” What are we going to do here? Look back at part II. On “kiss you now,” the chord changes to C. The melody was on E (of the C-chord). The next lower note of the C-chord is C. It’s the 3rd fret of the 5th string.

Next we have, “mule’s run a way.” OK, we gotta see where the melody is here because our goal is to conform to the

melody. The chord is D, the melody is on the 4th string open D, so the baritone will now sing the 5th string open A.

Next the melody and the tenor ran up the G-scale as the mule (ran a way). So for the baritone, we’ll do the same thing. A, A, B, C# D. We’ve basically walked up the D-scale from A to D. That’s it, we’re done. “Mule’s run a way.” A, A, B, C#, D. So the puzzle parts are nished. Melody, tenor, and baritone walked up the scale and ended on a perfect G-chord. They ended on your 4th, 3rd, and 2nd strings open. Man, that was easy! Perfect three-part harmony! Stack it any way that suites you. It’s tight, it’s precise, and if you can sing it relatively in tune, it’s “plum purdy!”

Folks, we have now completed a process, a simple “formula.” You can follow this formula for other songs. Keep in mind that it’s normal to forget your part when you hear the other guy sing his part. There’s no real trick to that. You gotta work on it, and you gotta jump in there and try. You can develop your own little survival tactics like plucking that string that has your note on it. You gotta concentrate. Don’t give up—everyone gets thrown off at rst. That’s why here at Workshop Records we have pre-recorded cassettes to help you get past that little problem. You can practice with the cassettes while you are “all alone.” Its nice if that “guy” you are trying your part with isn’t a real person. This way you can’t get embarrassed, and embarrassment won’t cause you to lose your train of thought. No pressure, no red face, no stress. If you’d like any of these tapes give us a call, toll free, at: 800-543-6125.

In the next issue we are going to construct a bass part for “Woah Mule”! The “formula” for the bass part is completely different than what we have been learning, but it is easy and fun. See ya then.

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Woah Mule, Woah (tenor)

Woah Mule, Woah (baritone)

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(16)

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Flatpick Rhythm Guitar

by Joe Carr

Some of you readers have been asking for the hard stuff, so here it is. Today we are talking about crosspicked rhythm styles and Wyatt Rice—a recognized master of this challenging technique.

In music circles, private tapes of famous musicians are often passed from player to player. We all have listened to concert or workshop tapes made by a friend. Often these tapes capture a special moment and so we don’t mind the poor quality. Last year, one of my guitar students brought to me a tape of a private guitar lesson with Wyatt Rice. Some generous guitar player paid to have a lesson with Wyatt. (Wyatt gets paid once, but hundreds share the information.) This guitarist must have taped the lesson and made a copy for a friend. So now I have a copy of a copy of a copy. This is exactly what public health ofcials have warned us about for years!

Of all the interesting concepts and licks Wyatt teaches durning the lesson, the section on crosspicked rhythm really caught my attention. Wyatt demonstrates the technique with a rhythm pattern in D

Wyatt Rice and

Crosspicking Rhythm

(see Exercise 1). Pay close attention to pick direction. This style can be played with alternating pickstrokes, but use down-down-up if you want the “real deal.” Wyatt plays “Billy in the Lowground” to demonstrate this rhythm style. I have taken several of the most useful (and cool) licks out of this arrangement to make exercises. Practice these phrases at a moderate tempo until they are comfortable.

Exercise 2: On the rst beat, hold a six string C chord and strum it aggressively. Notice that the strum is aimed to include the 6th through 3rd strings. Its OK if you strum more of the strings, but Wyatt seems to concentrate on the lower strings of the guitar. Finish the measure with the down-down-up picking pattern.

Exercise 3: This lick, which covers a G to C situation, can be picked at least two ways. For most of us alternating picking will feel the best right away, but spend some time with the down-down-down-up pattern.

The following rhythm transcription is an approximation of what I hear on the tape. (How’s that for a disclaimer?) It is the underlying concept that is important here, so don’t get too hung up on playing this arrangement exactly as written.

This technique gives a big full sound to guitar accompaniment. Study the examples carefully and try to work these ideas into your rhythm playing. Just a few minutes playing through this music will give you a new found respect for Wyatt Rice’s incred-ible right hand technique. As a bonus, I have transcribed Wyatt’s solo on this jam session favorite. The delicious lick in the last four measures can be played in several positions on the neck. The one shown seems to suit my hands the best. Have fun!

If you get something out of this article, please send $20 to Wyatt. (Editor’s note: He is not kidding folks! Let’s support guitar teachers! If you like this article and want to make a contribution, send a check to the magazine and we will get it to Wyatt.)

Wyatt Rice is currently teaching lessons at his home in Damascus, Virginia. You can contact him through the magazine. Also look for Wyatt on the new CD from the Yates family: John Yates and the Yates Brothers with speci al guest Wyatt Rice.

Wyatt recorded “Billy in the Lowground” on this new project and said his backup playing on the record is similar to what is presented here.

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(20)

Flatpick Prole

Cody Kilby

by Allen Shadd Last year a friend of mine and I made the trip to Merlefest to compete in the mandolin and guitar contests, respectively. When we arrived sign-up had already begun for the mandolin contest, so I stood in line to purchase our tickets while Steve went up the hill to sign in. Twenty minutes later he returned with a very stressful look on his face. As he approached me he remarked, “There’s some young kind up there warm-ing up for the contest. He is just wearwarm-ing it out! I don’t feel so good about this.” Since the sight of “some young kid”—the same young kid—“wearing it out” had become common over the contest circuit in recent years, I just looked at Steve and knowingly replied, “Cody Kilby.” Cody went on to win the mandolin contest that day and placed second in both the guitar and banjo contests that weekend. He returned to Merlefest this year (1999) with a vengeance and won both the guitar and banjo contests.

(Editor’s note: With the win at Merlefest, Cody Kilby is now the atpicking guitar contest “triple crown” winner. He won both the Steve Kaufman Guitar Camp contest and the National Flatpicking Champion-ships in Wineld, Kansas, in 1998. The win at Merlefest this year gives him the “triple crown”—an honor previously held by Allen Shadd, the author of this article.)

During the past year I have had the pleasure of accompanying Cody (as his rhythm player) in his conquests. Addition-ally, Cody and I have been performing in trio with fellow Wineld Champion Mark Cosgrove. During that time I have come to know Cody pretty well and we have become good friends. At the request of

Flatpicking Guitar Magazine editor Dan Miller, I conducted an interview with Cody for the magazine. But before you read the interview, let me introduce you to Cody.

If you have been attending many con-tests, concerts and/or festivals lately, you have probably noticed that some of today’s best talents are very young—Nickel Creek is a good example. So it shouldn’t surprise you to learn that Cody Kilby is only eighteen years old this year. He won the National Flatpicking Championship at the age of seventeen. He won the National Mandolin Championship at the age of fteen.

Addi-tionally, he has placed as high as second in the National Banjo Championship. He could liter-ally open a music store with all of the instruments he has won in competition. Just for fun, we tallied up his win-nings and discovered that he had won two mandolins, ve banjos and nine guitars at the time of this writing.

Hearing other contestants talk about Cody, you almost imagine some larger than life monster. When I was compet-ing against him, I talked about this guy with icewater in his veins who would chop your head off if given the chance. When my girlfriend and her

mother nally had the opportunity to met Cody, they see this clean cut, very man-nerly, young man who shyly asked (in a “very cute” southern drawl, as they later pointed out), “You know what you’re gonna play?” I was immediately labeled the bad guy because of the image I painted of him in their minds.

Cody was raised in Cowan, Tennessee, and still lives there today. His father, Ronnie, was in the grocery business and was given a banjo by the Martha White Company for setting up a number of dis-plays. Ronnie started taking banjo lessons and after a month began to show his eight year old son what he had learned. Cody picked it up immediately. Ronnie saw that his son had potential and two weeks after Cody rst put his hands on a banjo, he began taking lessons from Benny Williams.

After two years on the banjo, Cody decided to take up the guitar as well. He was a natural talent on that instrument and his parents began taking him to local contests where crowds would gather to watch the young picker. The notoriety he received at contests landed him a spot on TNN’sCrook and Chase Show and he was even featured in the National Enquireras the “Half-Pint Picker.” He was also booked to play Branson, Missouri, at the Country Tonight Theatre.

In 1995, at the age of fourteen, Cody competed at Winfield for the first time. He placed second that year in the guitar competition (behind Mark Cosgrove) and second in the banjo contest. Over the next three years he would return to win the man-dolin contest (1996), place third in banjo, and make the top three in guitar every year—third in 1996, second in 1997, and rst in 1998. After Cody was announced as the winner at this year’s Merlefest atpick-ing guitar contest, one contestant jokatpick-ingly remarked, “Next year let’s have the contest at night, past curfew, so us old guys stand a chance!”

As I have become more familiar with Cody over the last year, one thing I have discovered is that there is much more to his abilities than playing four hot songs in a contest. On a recent tour with the trio (Cosgrove-Shadd-Kilby), we played a show in Florida on Friday night and a show in Georgia on Saturday. In the middle of our show on Saturday Cody played a really cool riff in one of the tunes which was exactly the way Mark had played it the night before. I looked over and saw a bug-eyed Mark looking at Cody in disbelief. I had to laugh because Cody had done the same thing to me. I had once shown him a little “triplet lick” that is a bear to get through. I saw him play it in a contest three weeks later cleaner

P h o t o : D a v i d D u g a s

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and faster than I had ever played it. After that contest, Steve Kaufman remarked that you had to really listen to realize that Cody was playing as fast as he was because it was so clean it felt slower.

Even though he is just eighteen, Cody has already recorded several CDs. His latest is a Rebel release titled Just Me where Cody plays every instrument on the recording, including dobro and bass. His next solo project is nearly complete and in June our trio releases a CD which features the con-test tunes each of us used when we won the National Championships at Wineld. These cuts will be the actually contest performances which were recorded live at Wineld and the CD will be appropriately titled Live from Wineld .

I recently talked with Cody for Flatpick-ing Guitar so that readers would know more about him.

What make was your rst guitar?

My Daddy brought home two guitars about the same time; a Martin D-35 and a Gibson J-45, I think. I always played the D-35. I eventually got a 1941 Martin D-18 which is what I played until I started winning guitars in contests. I still have the D-18 though. What is your main “axe” these days?

I mostly play a Collings D2H. I’ve been using my (Gallagher) Doc Watson model at lessons.

So you teach?

Yeah. A couple of nights a week at a music store in Tullahoma; Horns, Strings & Things. I also teach at the Opera House Music in South Pittsburgh (Tennessee).

Do you sing?

No. I took voice lessons from Kathy Chiavola when I was nine. I like to sing, it’s fun, you know? I just don’t like anybody to hear me.

Who was your rst inuence in music? Earl Scruggs on banjo and then later, when I started playing guitar, Tony Rice.

Do you still listen to a lot of Tony?

No, not really. Well, yes, if I’m listening to bluegrass.

Who do you listen to these days?

I like Albert Lee. He’s the man! I listen to Brent Mason a lot. I also listen to Django and Steve Morse. You got me listening to him.

Probably Eric Johnson more than anybody right now.

When you are preparing for a contest is there anybody you listen to or avoid?

Not really. When I rst started the contests I listened to Steve Kaufman and Dan Crary. But I was told that you wouldn’t do very well if you played their arrange-ments. Rob Pearcy got me started listening to them.

Did you ever have Rob as a teacher? No, I just met him on the contest circuit.

You play several different instruments. Does one help the other?

I always said I was going to learn some banjo licks on guitar, but I never have. I do some mandolin licks on guitar. I mean, I use some of the same ideas. You know what I mean?

Yeah. Okay, drop some names for me. Who all have you played with?

I dunno (laughing embarrassed). Sam Bush, he’s funny. Carl Jackson, Roy Husky, Jr., Bill Monroe, and Mike Snyder. Mike is really a nice guy. Everyone thinks he is just funny, but he is a great player. Bobby Clark is real good (mandolin player with Mike Snyder). I’ve got an old album of his when he had long hair. He played some crazy stuff.

Of all the people you’ve played with, who did you enjoy the most and who had the most inuence?

Randy Howard. Randy showed me more than anybody. Especially on the mandolin, and that is the truth. He’s helped me more than anybody.

Yeah. Randy has had the biggest effect on me too. In your opinion what set you apart form other players in contests?

I dunno. I never really thought much about that.

Let me answer that one for you then. Two things I see are that you play cleaner than most, and quicker, such as triplets. Not too many players are doing those. Is there a trick top getting those so clean, or is it just plain hard work?

You play them! (laughing) What do you think? I don’t know, that’s just hard to explain. I just play them. Do you know what I mean?

Yeah, but you are not helping me here (both of us are laughing now). Did you get the idea from the mandolin, because I hear a lot of mandolin players play them?

No. Probably from listening to Brent (Mason). He plays a lot of them.

You are talking about double stops now, not triplets. Are double stops something you’ve adapted from your electric play-ing?

Yeah, and Randy Howard showed me some.

Tell me about your CD Just Me. You played all the instruments. How did you record it?

I recorded it at Brent Truitt’s studio. We recorded a click track rst and then whichever instrument kicked it off. Then we recorded a rhythm track and dropped the rest of the lead tracks. I know that’s kind of a weird way to record, but I guess it worked. What about your current project; is it going to be like your last one?

It’s going to be a little different. All of the songs are original on the new one. I recorded it at home in my studio.

By the time this interview is printed, you will have graduated from high school. Any college plans?

Maybe. I’ve been up to Berklee in Boston and Belmont in Nashville. I’m not sure about any of it yet. I just know I want to make a living in music. I may have to do more than just pick to do that.

Cody Kilby already has a resume that would t someone about forty years old. I have a feeling that it’s just going to continue to grow. In the last few years I have watched this young man mature as a musician and a person. His parents generally accompany him to the contests and will gloat in a heart-beat, as proud parents do, but Cody seems to keep things in check pretty well. Look for Cody at the contests, although there aren’t many left that he can compete in because of the “winners barred” rules. Or you can catch up with Cody at some of the Collings Gui-tars sponsored workshops that he performs regularly. If you sit down with him for just a few minutes, you will be like the rest of us—proud of him and proud to know him, and, if you are a contest participant, darn thankful that he can’t compete anymore!

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Cotton Patch Rag (con’t)

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We Have Wineld Winners On CD!

All CDs $13.00

Mark O’Connor 1975 & 1977 Orrin Star 1976 Steve Kaufman 1978, 1984, & 1986 Roy Curry 1980 & 1991 Robin Kessinger 1985 Gary Cook 1989 & 1996 Mike Whitehead 1994 Mark Cosgrove 1995 Allen Shadd 1997 Cody Kilby 1998 Peter McLaughlin 1988

Call 800-413-8296 to Order

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Guitar Maintenance

and Repair

by Frank Ford

One More Time

Looking at Nuts

Last time I described my general technique for making a new nut. Now I’d like to nish up the discussion of nut design and give you a few tips about working with nuts.

Here’s a picture of an ideal guitar nut:

The strings lie in their slots and protrude about 1/3 above the surface of the nut. The strings bear on a broad enough area to allow good support across about 2/3 of the width of the nut.

Looking from the ngerboard you can see that each slot is neatly cut just a hair wider than the string itself.

That way the string will draw cleanly across the nut without pinching or bind-ing.

Now, this nut looks good, too, don’t you think?

But it has a problem. If you look really closely at the “leading” edge of the slots you’ll notice that the nut material itself has actually been drawn forward by the downward pressure of the strings. This is a perfect example of the problem with some synthetic nut material. While it may be hard and strong, it can “ow” almost as if it had been heated and melted. This nut, by the way, is on a guitar less than a year old. It sounds just ne, but it is wearing out prematurely.

So what material is best? Certainly it’s a matter of opinion, and if you’d like an opinion of what material sounds best, then you probably don’t want to talk to me. Of course, radically soft material really deadens the brilliance of steel strings, and is to be avoided at all times. You wouldn’t want to make a guitar nut of pine, which, in addition to sounding dull, would almost be cut by the downward pressure of the strings as they are tuned.

I prefer bone nuts. Bone and ivory are traditional and expected on ne guitars, although ivory has its difculties. Apart from being politically incorrect these days, ivory is a bit softer than most bone, and on slotted headstock guitars ivory may cause the strings to bind a bit as they’re tuned. Good hard bone that hasn’t been subjected to the softening action of too much bleach makes a nut that looks good, wears well, and sounds just fine. So-called “fossil”

ivory (just ancient, not really a fossil because it’s not mineralized) varies from rather soft to extremely hard, and can be a terric nut material.

Mother-of-pearl is harder than any of the bones or ivories, and makes a nut that virtually never wears out. It’s expensive and difcult to work, and has traditionally been used on only the most deluxe instruments.

In the 1970s we saw a widespread use of brass nuts. Brass works ne as a nut, and its extra mass and hardness may increase sustain. It looks terribly untraditional, and I wonder why anyone would want to increase sustain at the nut because the open string already sustains more than any fretted note.

Take a look at this guitar nut:

The slots are cut very deeply and the string sits quite low in the nut. No problem here because the string is properly supported at the correct height, and the notches fit well. It just looks a bit less delicately crafted.

Another unsightly nut that’s doing just ne:

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These nut slots are way wider than they need to be. The string spacing could use some improvement, but I don’t notice that when I play the guitar. Each string sits in its notch, is supported well at the bottom of the notch, and draws nicely when tuned. This nut is kind of skinny:

Not a big issue, but it will wear out faster than the nut at the top of this article. Although it was neatly crafted, there’s simply less material supporting the string.

A nut with a pointy top like this one may look “precise” to some, but it looks weak to me:

There’s so little material supporting the wound string that it just “saws” its way deeper as the string is tuned. Not surpris-ingly, the sixth string of this six month old guitar was already too low and buzzing like crazy!

A thick shim like this one may look unsightly from the edge, but it doesn’t necessarily detract from the nut’s perfor-mance:

If the nut is properly glued in place, even a soft or resilient shim won’t affect the tone because the nut is rigidly held by glue at the end of the ngerboard. (A loose tting, unglued, shimmed nut can cause deadening of tone.)

How about a quick review of nut slots?

The strings in “A” and “B” are held properly in place, with nice bearing surfaces below. Most of us don’t like the general look of “B” but it works well nonetheless. Sometimes a at bottom slot (“C”) may allow the string to rattle a bit, but usually, the string simply “leans” to one side, and avoids causing any problems.

The only nut slot conguration that’s guaranteed not to work is “D.” The V-shaped notch holds the string tightly and keeps it from rattling. Unfortunately, the string is so tightly pinched that it will “ping” or even break as it’s tuned up. The tiny bearing surfaces at the edges of the V-shaped notch wear very quickly, causing the string to sit lower in the nut.

Last time I described how I le the nut slots to their correct depth. This time, I’ll deal with a nut that’s too low. I don’t always want to replace a low nut, sometimes because of cost, and sometimes because of wanting to preserve originality.

Raising a guitar nut is not a difcult procedure, and I think I have enough space to go through a bit of that process.

Guitar nuts are virtually always glued in place before the instrument is nished. That means you’ll have to score the nish around the nut to avoid chipping. In addition, it pays to cut through the peghead veneer just behind the nut to avoid damaging it.

I use the thinnest “X-acto” hobby saw, which takes only 0.010" kerf. I hold the blade tightly against the back edge as I make a tiny cut just to the depth of the veneer:

(26)

raise the nut a lot, I’ll use a bit of wood veneer, or, better yet, make a new nut.

The little paper label is hardly noticeable from the edge, and makes a ne shim. I’ll replace the nut and glue it to the end of the ngerboard. No glue is needed under a nut in any case.

If only one string is too low, I can make an emergency repair with medium viscosity cyanoacrylate (super glue) by placing a drop of it right in the string slot:

The cyanoacrylate hardens very quickly, and I can le the notch to set the string action after only a few minutes. I have found that it’s important to allow the ll to harden at least 24 hours before full use. That means I’ll ll, le, and detune immediately, taking the string out of the slot so the ll can cure properly. With that bit of precau-tion, the lled slot will perform solidly for a long time.

Once I have assurance I won’t damage the finish, I can simply tap the nut out using a block of hardwood and a light hammer:

It doesn’t matter what kind of glue was used. A sharp blow from my little hammer will break the nut out cleanly because no glue holds well to the end grain of a ngerboard.

Here’s what happens if you don’t cut through the veneer behind the nut:

You either chip the veneer or crack the back corner off the nut.

With the nut out, I can make a quick shim by simply placing the nut on the sticky side of a computer mailing label:

I cut around the nut with my sharpest knife, and I have a simple thin shim nicely adhered to the bottom of the nut. Placing the nut back in position, I can tune the guitar up and check the action. If one label isn’t enough, I can repeat the process. I don’t want to add too many labels, so if

Frank Ford has been a full time professional luthier ever since he and his partner, Rich-ard Johnston, founded Gryphon Stringed Instruments in 1969. Frank has written repair articles for a number of guitar and luthier publications, and currently serves on the board of directors of the Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans. He is a regular guest instructor at the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in Phoenix, and at the American School of Lutherie in Healdsburg, California. Frank created and maintains FRETS.COM (www.frets.com), the largest acoustic instrument maintenance and repair reference site on the Internet.

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Flatpicking ‘97

Flatpicking Guitar Magazine presents

• Peter McLaughlin • Chris Jones • Dix Bruce and Jim Nunally • • Brad Davis • Scott Nygaard • David Grier • • Jack Lawrence • Steve Palazzo • Beppe Gambetta • • Mark Cosgrove • Dale Adkins • Norman Blake • Allen Shadd • • Joe Carr • Steve Kaufman • Steve Pottier and Sandy Rothman • • John McGann • George Shufer • Mike Whitehead • Gary Cook •

Featuring 23 of today’s best bluegrass guitarists:

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Now You Can Hear

What You’ve Been

Reading

(28)

Kaufman’s Corner

by

Steve Kaufman

The Bluegrass Guitar Style of

Charles Sawtelle

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In addition to the tablature and standard notation of 27 Sawtelle solos, this book also includes:

Detailed Sawtelle biography, An in-depth interview with Charles, Section on Charles’ rhythm style, Charles Sawtelle Discography, The rst ever Slade biography, Notes on each solo transcription, Dozens of photographs

Welcome back to my corner of he world. By the time you read this article the 4th Annual Flatpicking Camp will be over and plans for the Millennium Camp will be well under way. This is looking like a fun year for Flatpicking for me and I hope it will be for you too. To continue with our established theme of articles—tips for the solo atpicker—we have a great tune that will help demonstrate back up runs and lls.

The rst 17 measures is the bare melody of the song, just as it could be sung. Be sure to memorize this part as well as the back-up chords above these measures with just a bass/strum pattern.

Let’s look at the vocal back-up section that follows. This is arranged in a way that I might play it while singing the lead or backing someone else up. Practice the measures with the runs in them over and over. In fact, try putting them into a loop. Play measure 18 over and over without stopping. Same with measure 20, 29, 32, 36, and 40. These are all one measure runs. Measures 24-25, 34-35, 42-43 and 44-45 are all two measure runs. Be sure to watch out for the down-ups. All quarter notes are down swings. All eighth notes are down-up-down-up. The 1st eighth is the down

the last eighth is the up. If you have any notes tied for a hammer or pull off look at the last sentence to gure out the right hand pick direction. Measure 18 is the rst example. Pick Direction: Down, Down, Down-up (hammer) up would be correct. Have fun with this one and next time we’ll work on a lead. If you want to get a head start look at page 7 in my Championship Flatpicking Book for a version. We will do something different—of course. Never play the same way twice if you can help it I always say. Even if you just change one little note. See you down the road somewhere and until next time—Best always, Steve Kaufman

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(29)

Banks Of The Ohio

Arranged by Steve Kaufman

& # 44

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