Mark Teaches Two Workshops at Gryphon in Palo Alto

WORKSHOP #1 (To register, call Gryphon at 650-493-2131) 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. – Introduction to Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar! Gryphon’s old friend Mark Hanson – longtime Gryphon instructor, Grammy winner, Frets editor, and author of “Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar” – will introduce you to the beautiful world of Hawaiian slack key guitar. The essence of slack key is fingerpicking in alternate tunings. In this workshop Mark will concentrate on two tunings: “Taro Patch” (Open-G) and “C-Wahine” (C G D G B E, low to high). You’ll learn the necessary fingerpicking patterns (alternating bass), the common chord shapes, parallel-sixth […]

Acoustic Guitar Summit Holiday Concert in Lake Oswego

Acoustic Guitar Summit returns to the Lake Theater Monday Night Music Series in Lake Oswego, Oregon, for their annual holiday concert on December 11. This is a fantastic, but small venue. Seating is limited to 100. Food and beverage are available. Tickets.

Acoustic Guitar Summit at Lake Theater in Lake Oswego

Acoustic Guitar Summit returns to the Lake Theater Monday Night Music Series in Lake Oswego, Oregon, on June 12. This is a fantastic, but small venue. Seating is limited to 100. Food and beverage are available. Tickets.

Mark Gives Two Fingerstyle Guitar Workshops in Seattle

Mark visits one of his favorite places – the Dusty Strings store in the Fremont District of Seattle – on Saturday, April 29, for fingerstyle guitar workshops from 10:30-12:30 and 1:30-3:30. Each workshop is $40.00. You’ll have plenty of material to take home with you afterward! To register, please call the store at (206) 634-1662. Topics: #1) Beg/Int Fingerpicking – Mark’s new approach to Travis Picking – play it in one minute! Play it even better after two hours with Mark! #2) Int/Adv Fingerpicking – Improve your mechanics (smoothness, tone), and learn to play with heart (interpretation and understanding). Plus Mark will […]

Guitar Purchase for Players with Smaller Hands

Posted on Leave a commentPosted in Stories, Tips from Mark

I received a question recently from a player with smaller hands about purchasing a steel-string guitar that fits him. I had a couple of thoughts that I passed along: Small hands suggest a couple of things to me concerning guitar size: 1) a 1-11/16″ width neck (many are 1-3/4″ now); 2) a short-scale neck; meaning a 24.9″ neck length – approximately – instead of the more standard 25.5″ (approx). Short scale makes the strings more supple and reduces lateral stretching a bit in the fretting hand. 3) a smaller body size; Martin 0, 00, and 000 guitars, for example, are short scale, […]

Mark Demos at Collings Guitars Event

Portland Music Company acoustic store hosts Mark Althans from Collings Guitars for an evening of demos and descriptions of their exquisite guitars. Mark Hanson is the demo artist. Free. Call the store for reservations: (503) 228-8437.