Dave Keir

acoustic fingerstyle guitar & songs

Category: A Blog… of sorts

  • Tourism and songwriting

    Last week I was in Italy with my family on holiday and we spent some considerable time strolling around the streets of Rome and Florence taking in the sights. I had decided before the trip that while there I would try and put lyrics to a few songs that I had kicking around waiting for…

  • Wherefrom the will to ignorance?

    I ask in terms of playing guitar… Who was it that quipped (oft quoted) that he didn’t read music well enough to get in the way of his playing? Or words to that effect. I also read recently that the best improvisers don’t bother overmuch with scales and just play what they hear in their…

  • The benefits and dangers of listening to other peoples’ music

    I count among the benefits of listening to other people’s music a broadening of understanding and the encountering of new musical vocabularies that can be absorbed and used in new ways to enrich your own creativity. It’s also refreshing and can reinvigorate your own muse. In fact, for my part, it would be nice if…

  • Why did I “retire”?

    Certain events stick in the mind. Who knows whether they were indeed as pivotal as they appear to be in retrospect; nevetheless, they carry certain charisma in the memory that can seduce you into thinking that, yes, this was a moment when the world changed. I have one such memory of a night, spent with…

  • Why boredom is a “good thing”

    Because it forces you, albeit eventually, to break out and seek new ground. Perhaps tedium is the mother of invention. Oh, the unbridled joy of altered chords. A prising open of hidden doors. Enabling the smash and grab of fresh sounds. A suprise for the ears around every corner. A break from the humdrum of…

  • Driving Under The Influence Of Song

    In preparation for recording vocal tracks I’ve often practiced singing to the guitar backing which I’ve burned to CD as I’m driving along. I’ve decided to cease and desist this practice because, while it is indeed helpful in all manner of ways in expediting a good recorded performance, it is putting me in mortal danger…

  • Why just guitar and voice?

    From time to time I receive advice or comments from other musicians that this or that song of mine would suit an ensemble arrangement of some kind; a bass here, some percussion there, perhaps a fiddle or a wind instrument”¦ I’ve no doubt that much may be done to provide some ear candy over some…

  • I used to play with a flatpick…

    … but gave it up after it flew out my fingers and struck an audience member in the eye! Well, that’s the story I tell, anyway. Consequently, I’ve had to arrange some songs for fingerstyle which involved many happy hours of figuring out new nail-breaking preventative measures. A number of songs haven’t lent themselves to…

  • Playing Guitar: More on ageing “chops”

    I have been assuming that over the past couple of years that my guitar technique was in terminal decline simply due to advancing years. (I remember my middle age crisis with nostalgic fondness.) I mean, my fingers feel stiffer in the morning (…would that – oh, never mind…) and it takes them longer to get…

  • Songwriting – Stirring the muse

    Sometimes I’m asked… Most of the time I stumble across something when I’m working on some experimentation with harmony and finding different ways to change key, or trying to get some weird scale under my fingers. An idea will pop up which I’ll mess around with to see if it’s got any legs. Thoughts of…

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