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Member Info: James Pierson - My name is Jim Pierson |
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memberInfo |
Name: James Pierson
Focus: Other
Location: Media, PA USA
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I've been playing informally for almost 30 years...
Because of my informal approach, I haven't progressed as far as you might expect over that time. Another reason is about 20 years ago I injured my left hand so I couldn't play right-handed anymore. So I've spent the time since learning to play lefty! Now I'm better playing lefty than I ever was playing righty, and my goal now is to get a little more serious in my approach to playing.
My current stable of guitars includes 1) a blond D'Agostino steel-string flattop; 2) a Korean Epiphone steel-string flattop, 3) a workaday lefty classical from south of the border, can't remember the brand; 4) a Norma classical which I switched over to lefty; 5) a Stagg lefty hollow-body electric; 6) a Stagg electro-acoustic classical; and 7) an Epiphone SG copy. I play the electrics through a Roland Micro Cube practice amp.
FWIW, to me the Chinese guitars (Staggs) represent good value for money. They both required a little additional work to improve intonation and action, but so did the D'Agostino and the Epiphone flattop. In my experience these lower-price guitars enable me to get some nice styles of guitar off-the-shelf in left-hand for not a lot of $$$ and without sacrificing sound or playability.
In addition to buying guitars, I have built five cigar box guitars. It's fun to build something you can play, and I'm hoping the skills I develop will eventually help me when I want to build a real guitar!
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What kind of music do I play?
I play for fun, and I play whatever I can (that is, whatever I can that sounds like music!), which means right now I play basically a lot of three-chord rock/blues plus some folky material.
A year or so ago I wandered into the realm of bossa nova. I love the way it sounds and it's something completely different for me, given what I've been playing for years. The bossa nova style forces me to learn new, more complex and more nuanced chords; plus, it's an opportunity for me to get back into fingerpicking! I had given up on fingerpicking after injuring my left hand but the bossa nova practice is bringing it back. It's really exciting to feel the fingers (middle, ring and little -- the index doesn't work) start doing their stuff naturally! See below for a great, simple beginning bossa nova lesson (#5169); it's the one that got me started. EDIT: Also look at 11602; it really takes apart the bossa nova sound in a way that's easy to understand and accomplish!
In the future I intend to work on improving my technique across the board, and move into more complex styles of music that I enjoy, such as jazz. Joining the WholeNote.com community is one way I'm pursuing that goal. Thanks for reading...
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Musical Influences
• John McLaughlin
• Rory Gallagher
• Jeff Beck
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Favorite Recordings
• My Goals Beyond
• Tattoo
• Wired
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Favorite Lessons
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