Martin Carthy's adaptation of American guitar-playing styles to English material is interesting both in terms of tunings, meter (some songs are in 7/4 and other mixed meters). His strategies for accompanying voice have been a reference for many better-known performers. Several folk guitar standards identified with others were actually created by Martin (e.g., Dylan, Paul Simon).

In this workshop Martin will show us his musical influences, his arrangement of a Morris Dance Tune, described how he arrived at his favorite tuning and comment on the evolution of his guitar style. He will also illustrate his arranging process with a work in progress.

Official site: Waterson/Carthy


Lyrics and Chronology:


Instructional DVD:


Recordings: Topic Records

from "Down Home Music" on San Pablo Avenue


Online sources: Emusic


Morris Dance:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_dance


Morris Tunes:
http://www.ucolick.org/~sla/morris/music/


local Morris Dancing: Berkeley Morris

Heavy strings for low (e.g. C in bass) tunings:
D'addario
In stock in Berkeley at 5th string