Tommy Emmanuel inspired me in 2014. I wasn’t too familiar with his acoustic guitar playing before that. Well, actually I had learned his version of “And So It Goes” a few years ago. But that was about it. I didn’t know a lot of his other work, and I hadn’t yet dug into his technique. I hadn’t yet been struck by how completely he owns the acoustic guitar. But I was struck last year.
So as we’re easing into the new year, I wanted to share with you 2o Tommy Emmanuel resources that inspired me last year.
Maybe these will be old news to you. Or maybe 2015 will be the year Tommy blows your mind on acoustic guitar.
20 Tommy Emmanuel Inspirations for 2015
1.
https://twitter.com/guitarjournl/status/465584626333806592
2. Performance of “Fly Me to the Moon”, with Emile Ernebro.
3. Jim Deeming of JamPlay.com interviews With Tommy Emmanuel. Among other thing, Tommy talks about:
- How he started
- How he developed his style, and
- The writing process
4. Performance of “Lewis and Clark” from his album “The Mystery”.
5. This site has tons of tabs of Tommy’s songs. My own use of these tabs has been super helpful. The rest of the comments indicate that others are similarly happy.
tommyemmanuel.wordpress.com >>
6. “My Life As A One-Man Band”, Tommy talks at TEDx Melbourne.
7. The Tommy Emmanuel YouTube channel. Tommy is pretty active here, so there’s lots to check out:
www.youtube.com/user/TommyEmmanuelTV
8. “And So It Goes”, Tommy’s arrangement of this Billy Joel tune is amazing. Regarding the song itself, Billy Joel says it’s his best work that is least appreciated.
Tommy has done several Guitar Workshops in San Francisco. YouTube user “Nick Copping” was kind enough to post a series of 12 videos from the 2-hour workshop.
9. Tommy performing Lewis & Clark just a few feet from the camera.
10. Another performance, this time of ‘Lenny Bro’.
11. A lesson on right hand technique, which is a major distinctive of Tommy’s style.
12. The importance of ‘groove’.
13. Using your thumb, and stretching exercises for left hand.
14. A lesson on harmonics, another distinctive of Tommy’s style.
15. Tommy talks about the value of playing slooooowww.
16. A lesson on improvising, using the solo to frame the chords changes.
17. Another lesson on sound.
18. A duet performance with Peppino D’Agostino.
19. And one last duet performance with Peppino D’Agostino.
20. Tommy caps off the workshop with a solo performance of ‘Endless Road’.
Leave a Reply