Clinic on Alternate Tunings with Teja Gerken

Clinic on Alternate Tunings with Teja Gerken

Saturday March 2 at 2:00 p.m. Free admission.

DIRECTIONS: Evergreen Valley High School

Alternate tunings are used by many fingerstyle guitarists, singer-songwriters, and Irish/Celtic players. Expanding the range of the guitar, alternate tunings allow fingerings that would be impossible in standard tuning and sometimes make the guitar easier to play and are an exciting way to introduce new tonal color into your playing. Whether you’re completely new to playing in alternate tunings or want to expand on the tunings you already use,fingerstyle guitarist and Peghead Nation co-founder Teja Gerken in this clinic will help you see beyond EADGBE.

Teja will show musical examples in common tunings such as Drop D, Open D, DADGAD, Open G, etc., and will discuss why you might choose one tuning over another. He'll provide music/TAB for a couple of tunes for you to play.  Teja will emphasize ways to understand the common territory between various tunings as well as their relationships to standard tuning, helping you navigate the rearranged fretboard. He'll also demonstrate how alternate tunings facilitate contemporary fingerstyle techniques and how they can be useful in the context of playing with others and in multiple keys.

Teja Gerken (www.tejagerken.com) has been deeply involved with the contemporary fingerstyle guitar scene for more than 30 years. His three solo guitar CDs, On My Way,  Postcards, and Test of Time have received international acclaim. Teja has also released an album of guitar duets with Doug Young. Acoustic Guitar magazine says, “Test of Time is a sonic marvel from top to bottom,” while Guitar Player writes, “Gerken’s technical facility is obvious, his performances impeccable, and his tones gorgeous.” Teja is a co-founder of the music instruction website Peghead Nation (www.pegheadnation.com), and has written extensively about guitars and guitarists during his 15 years as an editor for Acoustic Guitar magazine contributor to Fretboard Journal, Guitar Player, Premier Guitar, and other publications.