PRIMITIVE GUITAR
THE ROOTS OF AMERICAN PRIMITIVE GUITAR
INSTRUCTOR: JOSHUA MARTIN
Recommended for intermediate guitar players.
American Primitive is a style of guitar playing pioneered by John Fahey in the 1960’s and 70’s. This style of guitar is characterized by intricate fingerpicking techniques, unusual harmonic textures, and alternate tunings. It draws on our American cultural heritage, namely delta and country blues as well as Appalachian folk and gospel music. Some players even draw from more diverse styles like Hawaiian slide, Spanish, classical, Celtic, and Indian raga. What binds them all together is their desire to push the guitar to new horizons of expression using extended playing techniques.
American Primitive is more than just a genre of guitar playing however, it's a more adventurous approach to music that focuses on creativity over imitation. The goal of this course is to help you unshackle your playing from familiar styles and help you express yourself in new ways musically. By the end of this course you will have a solid foundation in the common techniques found in American Primitive music as well as a finished original guitar composition.
MATERIALS
Students should bring a guitar and ideally a thumb pick.
New date coming soon!
MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Hi I'm Josh. I'm a guitarist, nature lover, and dad based here in Colorado Springs. I love creating new music using a combination of improvisation and spontaneous composition. I also like to use acoustic and synthetic instruments to find new musical textures. Over the past few years I've become deeply immersed in American roots music, specifically folk and american primitive guitar. I love how these styles feel both rooted in the past while also allowing for modern innovation and self expression. In addition to creating music I am passionate about helping musicians of all levels continue to develop the skills needed to create music that fulfills them. I like to promote creativity over imitation because ultimately music is supposed to be fun.