I play guitar every day. It’s one of my favourite things to do and has been for a long, long time. I learn so much from the amazing musicians I play with and I study the lessons in the acoustic guitar magazines that I buy. I have a long way to go but my playing in the past few years has improved a lot and I’ve developed a real affinity for playing with my fingers, and rarely ever use a pick anymore. I taught myself how to fingerpick Travis-style a couple of years ago, a style that features an alternating bass played with the thumb that leaves the fingers to play the melody lines, and it opened up a world new world of possibilities for me. I love to find new voicings and have been trying to navigate some alternate tunings over the past few months.
It was while exploring chords in Dropped-D tuning (DADGBE) that I came up with my March entry. Autumn on Sherbrooke St. pays homage to the home that I shared with my wife and daughter for two great years before moving into our house this past February, and is my first foray into instrumental music (well, my first public one anyway).
The melody is one that I have been playing around with since autumn of last year (hence the title), and the bridge section is more recent. My friend Chris Braydon played a single note with an E-Bow on his electric guitar to lend a little texture under the solo acoustic guitar, and I think what he did perfectly compliments the droning D notes that run throughout the tune.
Recording this song presented some challenges and hearing my playing under the microscope definitely presented some areas that need work (I’ll be buying a metronome stat!). I make no apologies though, this is only one in what I hope will be a string of instrumental songs.
So without further delay, I present to you:
Autumn On Sherbrooke St.
(to download, right click and select “save as”)
Enjoy!
(As always, I’d like to thank Sean Boyer for his assistance with the mix and my friend Chris Braydon for lending his talents)
Note: This song is also available in both .WAV and FLAC formats. If you’d like a copy in either format, please write to clintoncca@gmail.com