I have some acoustic gigs coming up in November and December and realised, painfully, that my fingers have grown soft from months of playing only electric, or even air, guitar.
So I decided to try On The Path, an iPad app for instrument lessons. I chose Richard Thompson. For around a tenner you get video tutorials from Richard for four of his songs (When the Spell is Broken, Vincent Black Lightning, The Sun Never Shines on the Poor and Beeswing) where he shows you the fiddly bits, talks about why he plays them that way, and plays the whole song for you to stumble along to (“OK I’ll play four bars solo then I’ll vamp for you to play four bars solo” Yes, Richard). It’s really enjoyable actually. You can slow it right down so you can see what his fingers are up to, and you have tab or notation going along the bottom. Richard Thompson is only one of many guitarists offering lessons in the app, some costing less than £7. It’s certainly rekindled my enthusiasm for acoustic guitar. Will I be playing Vincent Black Lightning any time soon? Well maybe not but in the privacy of my own home …