Mark & Greta in Los Altos, Calif.
Mark and Greta join Fred Cummins in Los Altos for the church service Sunday morning, September 29. Solo guitar, vocals, pipe organ and choir music will all be included!
Tag: acoustic guitar
Guitar Workshops at Gryphon in Palo Alto, Calif.
Mark Hanson teaches two fingerstyle guitar workshops at Gryphon in Palo Alto, Calif.
Modulate the B String to Help Make the Melody Stand Out
The B-string on a steel-string guitar can be loud – it is the thickest wire on the guitar, even thicker than the wire inside the wound sixth string. The inherent volume of the second string can produce unbalanced melody notes compared to notes played on the first string. Your ear is your guide in determining how hard to pick each string to balance the melody. However, when you pick the first and second strings simultaneously, it’s not easy to make one louder than the other. The volume differential between the first and second strings may obscure the actual first-string melody […]
Mark Conducts a Fingerstyle Guitar Workshop in California
Mark conducts a fingerstyle workshop in Shingle Springs, California, in the Sierra Nevada foothills above Sacramento.
Mark Plays His Solos for a Private Event in Portland
Mark plays his serene and scintillating guitar solos for another private event in downtown Portland, Oregon.
Mark & Greta Perform in Morro Bay, California
Mark and Greta participate in Morro Bay Wine Sellers’ “Songwriters At Play” event.
Mark & Greta Afternoon Concert in Los Altos, California
Mark & Greta in concert in Los Altos, California, with fingerstyle guitarists Teja Gerken and Doug Young.
Right-Hand Muting Without a Thumbpick
Several people have asked recently how I mute the bass strings without the aid of a thumbpick, as heard in my tune “Easy Virtue,” which we published recently in the 30th Anniversary Edition of Art of Solo Fingerpicking. Video. I learned this approach from the late, great John Renbourn, who picked with skin and nails (glued on ping-pong balls, actually!) – no picks. Above is a bird’s-eye-view photo of my right hand for the section of the tune that mutes the bass strings. From my normal “classical” picking-hand position (high wrist; palm parallel to the top; nothing resting on the […]
Mark’s Three New Books Released!
Mark was busy in 2018: Two 30th Anniversary Editions and a new Repertoire book! Relaxing Songs for Fingerstyle Guitar includes 15 new Hanson solo guitar arrangements of well-known tunes, from a spectacular new version of the classic “Sleepwalk” to Ed Sheeran’s recent “Photograph” and “Hallelujah” from Leonard Cohen. Notation/TAB/Online Audio. Lower-Intermediate to advanced. More info. The Art of Solo Fingerpicking 30th Anniversary Edition includes 20 new/updated pages and four cool new tunes, including Mark’s “Cast Away” and “Easy Virtue.” Notation/TAB/Online Audio. More info. The Art of Contemporary Travis Picking is the perennial best seller, having trained scores of thousands of […]
Acoustic Guitar Summit in Lake Oswego, Oregon
AGS holiday show at Lake Theater Cafe, Lake Oswego, Ore.