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Matt Thomas has won several international fingerstyle guitar competitions (twice in “contemporary thumbpicking” and once in “open style”), is an avid harp-guitar player, and has played with some of the biggest names in the acoustic guitar world (Tommy Emmanuel, Stephen Bennet, and many more). Aaron Sefchick and Joe McMurray talk to Matt about his personal journey, fingerstyle techniques, acoustic pickup systems, recording, and gigging.
In part 1 of 2, Matt tells the guys about meeting Tommy Emmanuel, Andy McKee, and Stephen Bennett at a harp guitar convention when he was a teenager. He then goes on to explain and demonstrate percussive methods on the acoustic guitar: the use of thumb slaps on the 2 and 4, a palm kick on the 1 and 3, and a palm kick on the 2 and 4.
Matt gets deep into the details of amplifying acoustic guitars. He tells Joe and Aaron about Tommy Emmanuel’s setup with a Maton guitar and AER amp. He talks about sound hole pickups, magnetic pickups for running effects, and transducer pickups.
The conversation shifts to Matt’s experience recording with Kim Person (who has also recorded Tommy Emmanuel and Stephen Bennett), and her approach to recording acoustic instruments.
The guys talk about practicing their instruments and the need to practice properly to avoid injury. Finally (for part 1 of 2), Matt talks about some modern guitar players who use effects and multiple pickup systems to create some very unique music. Those players include Alexandr Misko, Adrian Belew, and Petteri Sariola.
Find out more about Matt Thomas at: https://www.themattthomas.com/, on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/themattthomasmusic/, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheMattThomasMusic/.
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