American Primitive Guitar general - "this has never been done" edition
Maybe there are some of you here that would like to talk and discuss the music, people, and techniques of American Primitivism AKA American Primitive Guitar, the style of (mostly) solo acoustic steel string guitar playing founded and popularized by John Fahey. We could use these threads:
Discuss old and new AmPriv musicians
Post our own compositions, and have them critiqued by other AmPriv enthusiasts
Discuss techniques, guitar gear, and theory related to AmPriv
I'm going to try to create an essential list of AmPriv musicians and albums (unless someone else wants to)
Well, happy picking, bluesing, raga-ing, whatever you prefer in your AmPriv!
Is it bad I refuse to categorize all of my American Primitive Guitar music to that from American Primitivism. Old habits die hard I guess.
Chase Johnson
I think it's as simple as just spending an hour or two every day just playing around. Find sounds you like, combine those with similar sounds
I use the terms interchangeably. I know a good deal of people dislike the term "American Primitivism" as it's sort of an extension of another art movement
Christian Torres
what's a really wintery sounding amprim bros i need it, asking for a friend
Josiah Cook
Six Organs Of Admittance - Dark Noontide
Spooky dark droney modern amprim
Jackson Wood
you literally tune the guitar to C and start whacking random notes while carrying a rhythm with your fingers (thumb bass/fingers more for melody)
you can sound surprisingly like john fahey by just fucking around for a couple weeks in open C
Jack Rose was probably the most technically proficient dude, this song is really simple for him. He died when he was like 34 or someshit. Pretty sad. He had a good drone band too.
This guy Glenn Jones is interesting. He idolized John Fahey and went and pestered him and found out John Fahey was homeless at the time and let him stay in his own shitty unheated apartment and became his only student.
Justin Powell
Glenn Jones was also part of Cul De Sac
Charles Cox
The end of Fahey's life is depressing :(
Nathan Bell
I don't if this should be called American Primitivism, but it is lengthy acoustic guitar improvisation with some musique concretey stuff:
This will forever be my favorite Basho composition, it reminds me of the time I read The Dharma Bums. I listened to a lot of Basho and Fahey while reading it
Nicholas Diaz
This is great!
Austin Harris
Any ideas of how I can introduce good fingerpicking patterns though?
Nicholas Collins
I just got my guitar today and have been whacking away. is an hour a day really that great? I have been practicing finger placement and muscle memory for strumming and plucking but the guitar is out of tune and I want to get a proper tuner + straps tomorrow so I'm waiting to actually start
Ian Howard
Ya man, Green River Suite is dope. A lot of his singing has these amazing timbres that bring me great joy, like the Native language stuff he sings in Wounded Knee Soliloquy, for example.
Joshua Rogers
Glad someone else likes it! Shame that his stuff is basically nowhere and really hard to find any of his albums.
Isaac Young
One cool thing to do is just mess around for hundreds of hours with different tunings, including defined tunings and tunings that have no names that you find yourself. The different tunings can bring out unique ideas for picking patterns. I also recommend listening to Robbie Basho and Indian/Persian classical music.
Anthony Hernandez
Nick Drake is also a rather interesting fingerpicker, so check out his stuff too if you haven't.
Grayson White
honestly, just download a tuner app on a phone for now, it should be accurate enough. When I started playing, I just picked picked the guitar up whenever I had the urge to learn (I do think a more regimented schedule is better, but don't force yourself). Out of curiosity, what kind of model guitar did you pick up?
To me, he's only second to Fahey. Basho died too soon
I'm highly enjoying this, thank you
Chase Baker
I think almost all of his life was depressing. He was super weird/awkward, never really fit in socially, most friends were older mentor types. He was a full blown alcoholic by the time he was 30 and he got really erratic in personality. Died at 61, I think he was only cleaned up for a couple years before he died. He looks and talks exactly like this weird uncle I had that died at 51 from cancer because he just wanted to die and didn't undergo any treatment.
Elijah White
I agree. He also married 3 times, which he was divorced all 3 times due to alcoholism. I think he really was a kind human being at the end of it all, even if he was a bit strange.
Evan Ross
I would but my phone broke yesterday and google is being very lethargic in helping me get it fixed, probably going for repairs. Yeah, I've found myself strumming things without thinking today. I just got a cheap one since I'm just practicing while at college, I'm probably going to invest in an electric guitar in the $500 range and a nice amp when I'm back in America but things are too expensive in Canada. I got the Epiphone DR100 and it seems fine for now
James Smith
For a first guitar, it's perfectly fine. Keep working on those finger exercises, scales and chords. For a beginner, I would on chords, it will get you playing songs quickly. Also learn how to Travis Pick if you want to get into contemporary folk or amprim playing
Juan Walker
>bill orcutt = buffoonery kinda agree i think, sometimes it all seems to start making sense though. got to be in the right headspace. sometimes his stuff makes me feel like cypher in the matrix when he makes out blondes and the like in that code gibberish, know what i mean
Lincoln Davis
Check out Poor Boy Long Ways From Home and Vastapol, they're both very similar but can be improvised on a ton and are in a very easy blues format (alongside the fact that there's like 20 different versions of Vastapol). I'm new to all this, but I tuned my guitar to open D a few weeks ago and haven't looked back.
Theres kind of two types for this style, using a thumb pick with both is helpful.
First thing is to just sit and bounce the thumb back and forth on the three bass strings. Do that for hours and hours mindlessly until it starts getting a mind of its own. Just permutate how you can hit the bass notes with the thumb watching TV or something.
after that theres kind of two styles, that thats thumb and index finger, and one thats thumb, index finger and middle finger.
Thumb and index finger is good for that really fast bluegrassy type runs and the one that incorporates three fingers is kind of more centered around a roll and the permutations of patterns you can come up with the three fingers.
Check out Merle Travis for stuff on thumb index.
It also helps tremendously to grow those disgusting fingernails you see guys in guitar shops with. Shit always creeps me out but I have three of my fingers with disgusting long fingernails right now because I find it impossible to play this kind of music without long nails. Some people can do it with finger picks, I think the metal kind work for somepeople. I need to get some of those to try so I don't have these shitty nails. Its impossible to do work with them.
Grayson Adams
he's fucking tanked here
Jeremiah Flores
still got skills tho
Jose Morris
Pic of nails
Easton Green
they're actually too short here I cut them a couple days ago trying to get away with having shorter ones, they don't feel very good this short
Asher Morgan
I've been trying to play with nails recently, but I'm thinking of getting fingerpicks due to the tone they produce
