Drifting

About 4 weeks ago, I saw this video of Andy Mckee playing his song titled Drifting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddn4MGaS3N4. I was blown away by his method of combining percussion, rhythm guitar and melody on a single instrument. The song is played in DADGAD tuning. By bringing the low E string down a step to D, power chords can be played by barring the lowest three strings (DAD) with the left hand. While bringing the high B and high E strings down a step allows them to be played openly with the song. After studying his technique, I noticed the melody of the song is played with the right hand, and the rhythm portion with the left hand. I had only been playing guitar for a month at this point, but knew this was the perfect song to cover. I spent four weeks teaching myself to play the song, and this is the end result:

If you’re interested in playing this style of music, I suggest you check out Michael Hedges. One of Mckee’s primary influences, Hedges songs include unique tunings and innovative playing styles I’ve come to enjoy.