Monks changed Dan Reed’s guitar style
Dan Reed has told Rock Radio how he discovered a new way of playing guitar - thanks to being the house guest of Tibetan monks in India.
In a guest blog for this site he explains how the remote location and prayer cycles presented two problems - he couldn't replace his guitar strings and he couldn't play loud.
The result was the development of a deep drop tuning and a new finger technique.
The former Dan Reed Network frontman says: "Most of my new songs' chordal beginnings started while I was living in Northern India a few years back. I couldn't get access to a tuner, or new strings for that matter. As the months passed my guitar's tuning drifted lower and lower, eventually reaching a C tuning - two steps lower than normal.
"Discovering the impact of playing soft was another accident. Playing with a pick was out of the question if I was to avoid disrupting the monks' meditations. So I had to 'pretend' I had a pick between my thumb and finger.
"I tried using the fingernail surface of my forefinger on the downstroke, along with the nail surface of my thumb on the upstroke, then striking with the fleshy tips of my fingers.
"For most of my earlier career I believed it was best 'to be heard' when playing live. This translated into working for the effect - as opposed to the effect working for the emotional content of the music."
In the complete guest blog Reed explains further how the lessons he's learned can help anyone perform with more emotion and impact. His forthcoming album Coming Up For Air can be pre-ordered at www.danreed.com now.
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