Happy Traum: Acoustic Fingerstyle Guitar: Level 3

Happy will teach material from his vast repertoire of traditional folk, blues and country songs, with one or two contemporary ones (including a couple of great arrangements of Dylan songs) thrown in. There will be some “monotonic bass” technique he learned personally from blues great Brownie McGhee and alternate-thumb songs in the style of Mississippi John Hurt.

You’ll learn how to incorporate bass runs, chord substitutions, double-stop harmonies, blues improvisation and other essential musical devices into your repertoire for a more exciting, professional sound. This will be a rich and wide-ranging series of classes.

Prerequisites: You should already be adept at basic chord changes and comfortable with the fingerpicking style.

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About Happy Traum

During the past forty years, Happy Traum’s interest in traditional and contemporary music has brought him recognition as a performer, writer, editor, folklorist, teacher and recording artist. He has performed throughout the U.S. and abroad, and has appeared on recordings as a featured artist, as a member of various ensembles, and as an accompanist. He has played and recorded with Bob Dylan, Chris Smither, Maria Muldaur, Eric Andersen, Rory Block, Jerry Jeff Walker, Allen Ginsberg, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and innumerable others.

Happy is the author of more than a dozen best-selling guitar instruction books, has written numerous magazine columns and articles, and for three years was editor of Sing Out! The Folksong Magazine. Perhaps Happy’s most important and lasting musical contribution has been Homespun Tapes, which he and his wife Jane founded in 1967. They have a catalog of approximately 400 different music instruction lessons on audio cassette, CD and DVD, taught by top professional performing musicians. Happy produces all of the lessons, and brings to Homespun his many years of experience as a popular and productive member of the music community.

Happy’s Website