As a professional musician I am always looking for interesting acoustic guitar music and musicians. From time to time I come across music videos of exquisite music that feature some fine esoteric or inventive work . Below are links to some of amazing work I recently came across.
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| Lutenist extraordinaire Ronn McFarlane |
First up is a fellow I had the privilege of meeting about 20 years-Ronn McFarlane. McFarlane is a lutenist who is best known for his association with
The Baltimore Consort , an outstanding early music group. The Baltimore Consort gave a concert at the community college where I teach, I had an opportunity to hear and meet the members of The Baltimore Consort and Mr. McFarlane.
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| A March 16, 1981 Louisville Times article featuring a photo of me playing a lute for a local arts program (with hair!). |
Along with classical guitar I also dabbled in playing the lute; a 16th century plucked-string instrument. Playing lute is quite similar to playing classical guitar so adapting to it is fairly easy. The big difference in technique involves playing without fingernails and bracing the pinky finger on the soundboard. Lute notation is written in tab form (see below) not unlike guitar tablature music today.
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| An example of 16th century English lute tablature by Thomas Robinson |
I had not thought much about Renaissance lute music or 16th consort music until I looked up the Baltimore Consort recently. From there I hit the link to
Ronn McFarlane's website . What intrigued me at McFarlane's site were a couple of videos of original music he had developed for his Grammy nominated 2007 CD
Indigo Road. Modern acoustic-style, Appalachian-groove music for lute--- what a pleasant surprise! Below are a couple of links to the material on McFarlane's website! I love his work here!!!
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| Time for Three |
At a recent Louisville Orchestra concert I had the privilege of hearing a phenomenal new string trio-
Time for Three . Time for Three is made up three classically trained musicians (violinist Zachary de Pue, violinist Nicholas Kendall, and bassist Ranaan Meyer) who came together to create this eclectic ensemble that focuses on improvisation and amazing musical wizardry. All three began collaborating while attending the Curtis Institute of Music. I cannot say enough about there performances and abilities. Check out the video below for a sample of their work!
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| Harp guitarist Keith Medley |
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Harp guitarist
Keith Medley is another fine and tasteful musician whose music I was introduced to this past autumn. Check out this beautiful original in the video below!
