Again with the United broke my guitar theme

Probably the only guitarist in the world achieving  fame and fortune off a damaged guitar: Part 2 (Part 1).

“While my guitar gently beeps”

“…Martin is a youthful 39, with his father’s patrician accent but also a rakish demeanor that more recalls the young Lennon. “When they first approached me, I thought, Do I really want to do a plastic-guitar Beatles game?” he said. He was persuaded to do so, he told me, after seeing how the games intensify people’s engagement with music. “In the same way we listened to records over and over again,” he observed, “because I don’t think kids do that anymore. They’ve got too much other stuff competing for their attention.” Read article here.

Les Paul

Jazz/pop guitarist/musical innovator/inventor Les Paul dead at 94.

In The New York Times’s Now Playing video section there’s an excellent video rundown on Les Paul’s career, how he started, how he influenced the Beatles, etc. It’s called Now Playing: Les Paul.

NY Times article on Les Paul here.

Classical music upswing

BBC reports an incredible leap of listeners tuning into classical music stations; evidently, at least for many,  the toleration threshold of flashy pop dubbing and screaming has been breached. If this keeps up it could pay some decent dividends for classical guitarists.

Classical guitarist explains fingernail playing

Slava Grigoryan explains his finger-style technique a little.