Meeting Tommy... ....

Me, Tommy and Kim

I first got wind of it on the www.tommyemmanuel.com website.
My hero was coming to town! I was like an excited school-girl meeting F4 for the first time...
I rushed down to Maestro Guitars to get the tickets for the show as soon as I knew of it. Maestro guitars, by the way, are really doing a good job at marketing. They were quick to grab Tommy when he came, and impressionable o me went to get a Maestro guitar shortly. (which I sold rather quickly)
Then I knew of this Masterclass that was to be held at Victoria Concert Hall, the venue of the concert, a few hours before the start of the concert. Only 20 bucks. What the hell, I attended it, saw many local musicians there as well. The guy was amazing. Got a photo, and a signature on my 大老婆。

Tommy rocked Victoria Concert Hall and was "promoted" to Esplanade the year after that. I enjoyed myself on both occasions.

The strange thing is, unlike other solo guitarists, you don't have to be a guitar player to enjoy his shows. He is a superb entertainer as well.

If he comes this year - YOU should go catch him.

Song of The Week - Heartbeats

Lovely, lovely song. Go check out the original by The Knife and be surprised!

Jose Gonzalez - Heartbeats

One night to be confused
One night to speed up truth
We had a promise made
Four hands and then away

Both under influence
We had a divine sense
To know what to say
Mind is a razor blade

To call for hands of above
to lean on
Wouldn't be good enough
for me, no

One night of magic rush
The start a simple touch
One night to push and scream
And then relief

Ten days of perfect tunes
The colors red and blue
We had a promise made
We were in love

To call for hands of above
to lean on
Wouldn't be good enough
for me, no

To call for hands of above
to lean on
Wouldn't be good enough

And you, you knew the hand of the devil
And you, kept us awake with wolves teeth
Sharing different heartbeats
In one night

To call for hands of above
to lean on
Wouldn't be good enough
for me, no

To call for hands of above
to lean on
Wouldn't be good enough

Altered Tunings

Laurence Juber

Around last year I tried playing some Laurence Juber and one of Tommy Emmanuel songs.
Tommy's song "Those Who Wait" features the Drop-D tuning, which essentially means dropping the low E of the standard tuning on a guitar to a low-D. And the result is an extended lower range on the guitar of two notes, and a really nice droning quality because of the D low note, especially for songs in D key.

Laurence Juber is an advocate of the DADGAD tuning (read DAD-GAD). Probably his most famous cd is LJ Plays the Beatles, which has some really nice DADGAD work. I would say that Laurence Juber's tone is more towards the mellow side, while Tommy is slightly more aggressive.

Did you know that Goo Goo Dolls's Iris was played in DDDDB tuning?

I urge fellow brothers-in-guitar to try altered tunings with your guitar. You'll be surprised how such a small change makes it sound like a new instrument.

That's why I love the guitar. Whoever heard of altering the tunings on a piano. Hmm.. anyway on piano all the keys are laid out anyway.

Tommy Emmanuel - Those Who Wait

Tommy Emmanuel - Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Amazing teeechhhhniqueeeee.. just wants to make you go wow! I'm a Tommy whore!

Tommy Emmanuel - Classical Gas

One of his famous "youtube songs". Check it out!