HOMESPUNSimple, Creative Ways to Move Up the Neck
Taught By Happy Traum.Level 2
Two CDs, includes book with chord diagrams
This two-CD course was made specifically for those guitar students who have never ventured into the unknown territory above the third fret. Although it may seem mysterious at first, it’s actually easy to find your way into the upper reaches of the fingerboard. The knowledge you’ll gain will give you a deeper understanding of the guitar and will enhance your ability to create beautiful arrangements for your favorite songs.
Guitarist and Homespun Tapes founder Happy Traum starts with the simplest three-string chord positions, explaining with clear instructions how to move them around the fingerboard. When combined with other easy chord shapes, these chords will enable you to play in any key and in any position on the neck.
Once you’ve mastered the three-string chords, you’ll move on to four, five and six-string (barre) movable chords, and will learn songs and progressions to help you put your newly acquired chord knowledge into practice. By learning to use the entire fingerboard, you’ll be able to increase your palette of sounds, accompany other players and become a better all-around guitarist.
During the past forty years, Happy Traum's avid interest in traditional and contemporary
music has brought him recognition as a performer, writer, editor, folklorist,
teacher and recording artist. He has performed extensively throughout the U.S.,
Canada, Europe, Australia and Japan, and has appeared on recordings as a featured
artist, as a member of various ensembles, and as an accompanist. He has played
and recorded with Bob Dylan, Chris Smither, Maria Muldaur, Eric Andersen, Rory
Block, Jerry Jeff Walker, Allen Ginsberg, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel
and innumerable others. Happy is the author of more than a dozen best-selling guitar instruction books, has written numerous magazine columns and articles, and for three years was editor of Sing Out! The Folksong Magazine. He and his brother, Artie Traum, have been playing as a duo since 1968. Their first two Capitol albums, "Happy And Artie Traum" and "Double Back," are widely considered to be classics. Long-time residents of Woodstock, NY, Happy and Artie co-produced several important records for Rounder, featuring some of the area's finest folk and rock musicians. These included "Mud Acres, Music Among Friends" and "Woodstock Mountains." Happy and Artie's album "Hard Times In The Country" featured liner notes by Allen Ginsberg. In 1993, Happy and Artie released their latest duet album, "The Test Of Time," featuring traditional and contemporary songs backed up by some of Woodstock's finest musicians.
Happy's solo albums include "Relax Your Mind," "American Stranger," "Bright Morning Stars" and "Friends And Neighbors." A compilation CD, "Buckets Of Songs," has been released by Shanachie Records. In 2001, “Bright Morning Stars” was reissued in CD format in the U.S. (Lark’s Nest Music) and in Japan (Slice of Life Records).
Perhaps Happy Traum's most important and lasting musical contribution has been Homespun Tapes, which he and his wife Jane founded in 1967. This dynamic and growing mail order company has a catalog of approximately 400 different music instruction lessons on audio cassette, CD and video tape, taught by top professional performing musicians. Happy produces all of the lessons, and brings to Homespun his many years of experience as a popular and productive member of the music community.