Wendell Ferguson Guitar Seminar at Bernunzio's, January 19, 2013

Known to some as the “Clown Prince” of folk music, Wendell Ferguson is capable of jaw dropping, finger picking licks while cracking jokes about nearly everything. I had the pleasure of meeting him in the ramp garage, January 19, while on the way to his guitar workshop at Bernunzio’s Uptown Music. Wendell is a genuinely friendly person with a genuinely huge talent for fingerpicking. His goal in this workshop is to help guide the attendees in development of their own style with encouragement to “find out what you do best and develop it.”

In this workshop he is speaking more to the folks who either create their own songs or adapt other people’s music to their own style. The folks who want to do note-perfect renditions of another’s tunes must do exactly what that performer does, i.e.; playing “as written” in sheet music. If you want to put your own spin on it, you use the tools you have in your toolbox to modify it. The specific tools you choose will result in your style. Style, of course, over time is a moving target as you pick up additional tools and tunes. Some of the general tips Wendell offered up are:

• Cover as many strings as possible with your chords and hold them even though you may only pick a couple of strings. If you accidentally pick a wrong string, it will still tonally belong in the chord, making it somewhat mistake-proof.
• Use your left thumb when necessary to cover bass notes. (frowned upon in classical circles but works for everyone else)
• Practice mindlessly – even while watching TV—until you don’t have to think about it. Drive anyone nearby crazy.
• Work on your ‘independence,’ thumb first, then thumb and chords, finally melody on top.
• Find an easier position to play in. Find the chord farther up the neck and it may become easier to reach. 

Next Wendell spoke of and demonstrated the specific techniques that he uses-–clearly footnoting that he didn’t invent them-–just uses them in his “style.” These are just listed here to pique your interest. If you wish to learn more about them, either catch one of Wendell’s next seminars or buy his instructional video which he hopes to offer later this year.

• Triple thumbing
• Sweeps.
• Banjo rolls                   
• Natural Harmonics
• False Harmonics
• Cross-picking
• Open-string Arpeggios
• Pull-offs and Hammer-ons
• Comping for yourself
• Oblique Bends
• Dumps (or Dougie Deveaux’s)
• Diverging/converging lines
• Slurs
• Key Changes
• False Echoes
• Arrangements
  ♦ Melody
  ♦ Key Changes (vocalist, pure music)
  ♦ New keys, new ideas
  ♦ Finding the best key
  ♦ Putting it all together

One final recommended technique he recommends is to unabashedly steal techniques that you like from other players. After all, forgery is a sincere form of flattery.

Now, he had a few comments about “Practicing.”

• Set aside time each day.
• Always set new goals.
• Start slow practice until it can be smooth and fast.
• Repetition-–must capture these moves in “muscle memory.”

Wendell finished the presentation with a few words on “Performance.”

• Use that nervous energy, but don’t let your increased heart-rate cause your tempos to accelerate and, if you do choke a bit, don’t stand there making excuses-–shake it off—nervous, but ‘no excuses.’
• Get into the moment—Don’t let Flubs throw you. Just reload and keep going.

If you get a chance to see Wendell perform, don’t pass it up. It is guaranteed to amuse and impress. If you get an opportunity to attend his workshop, I highly recommend it. It’s impossible not to pick up enough tips to be worth your time and your money. I greatly enjoyed both.

~Jeremy Carter

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