How To Play Guitar Like Chris Smither

William Christopher Smither (born November 11, 1944) is an American folk/blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. His music draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, as well as modern poets and philosophers.

Chris Smither’s Guitars:

Collings custom 12 fret cutaway

Collings’ Description:

With softer contours and a longer body dimension than our 0 14-Fret model, the 0 12-Fret has a balanced and full tone with slightly more bass and overall volume. First introduced in 1854, the articulate tone and convenient size of the “0” 12-Fret body dimensions have remained popular to this day. Featuring a comfortable short 24 7/8″ scale and a wide 2 5/16″ string spacing at the bridge, this model is well suited to both finger style and strumming techniques and excels as a recording instrument. Convenient as a travel guitar but with the authoritative tone of a performance instrument, this model is versatile choice for any guitarist.

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Blue Taylor 612-CE

Taylor’s Description:

Offering the perfect balance of classic tone and modern performance, the Taylor 612e 12-Fret offers discriminating fingerstyle players a highly refined instrument that performs equally well in the studio and on stage.

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Chris Smither’s Gear:

BOSS TU12H

The TU-12H is a classic (maybe the classic) guitar tuner, with a wide tuning range. Perfect for tuning a variety of instruments including guitar, bass, woodwind, brass and ethnic instruments.

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Elixir Strings

Elixir (Original coating, light gauge, (12 thru 53) with the exception, Chris substitutes a 13 for the high “E” string.

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Shubb Capo

For more than forty years the name of Shubb has been the ‘go to’ for high quality acoustic guitar capos. With more than five million capos sold, the Shubb Capo is the frontrunner in guitar capo brands.

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Mooradian Gig Bags

Custom fit gig bags. The Mooradian offers the lightest weight while still providing great protection from taxis and public transportation. Well designed straps and handles make it easy to maneuver in any situation.

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Shure SM58 Vocal Microphone

Tuned to accentuate the warmth and clarity of lead and back-up vocals, the SM58 is a legendary live vocal microphone, used by almost every industry professional, and known for its rugged reliability on tour.

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Chris Smither’s Guitar Lessons:

The Guitar of Chris Smither

Chris Smither has made a terrific lesson for everyone interested in taking traditional blues guitar style and incorporating it into a contemporary setting. He has perfected the art of combining the fingerpicking he first learned from the music of Lightnin’ Hopkins, Skip James, Brownie McGhee and other country blues masters with groove-driven original songs that are as current as today’s news.

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Six Outstanding Fingerpicking Arrangements

Chris Smither’s foot-tapping, high-groove guitar style and blues-inflected songs have kept him in the top ranks of singer/songwriters for four decades. On this DVD lesson he shows you how he uses his alternating thumb and syncopated two-finger picking, along with a variety of left hand techniques, to create the rhythmic drive and distinctive harmonies that distinguish his unique arrangements.

Preview Album

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Chris Smither’s Discography :

• I’m a Stranger Too! (1970)
• Don’t It Drag On (1971)
• It Ain’t Easy (1984)
• Another Way to Find You (1991)
• Happier Blue (1993)
• Up on the Lowdown (1995)
• Small Revelations (1997)
• Drive You Home Again (1999)
• Live as I’ll Ever Be (2000)
• Train Home (2003)
• Honeysuckle Dog (2005)
• Leave the Light On (2006)
• Time Stands Still (2009)
• Hundred Dollar Valentine (2012)
• Still on the Levee (2014)
• Call Me Lucky (2018)