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ON THE D . Tracks 20 22Stills got thbluesCrosby Stills Nash and Young: Four And Twenty

Th is is actually a solo piece by the talented Stephen Stills,althoughcredited to the who le band. Eric Roche is all fingers and thumbs ..BIUTY R TING

Moderate-AdvancedWill improve your:l J Fingerstyle techniquel J Use ofaltered tuningsl J Co-ordination

STEPHEN STILLS IS one quarterof probably the greatest supergroup ever. Crosby, Stills,Nash and Young emergedfrom the remains three of

TECHNIQUE FOCUS Alternating thumb fingerstyleStephen Stills' right-hand technique can be tricky, but use our guide to help you The right-hand techniquewill need more attention tha nthe left The left hand usessome simple, movable shapeswith plenty of open stringsound. The right hand usesa simple adaptation of Travispicking (that's Merle Travis forour younger readers ) wherethe thumb alternates prima rilybetween the low sixth string andthe fourth string.Interestingly, despite his

variation n the tuning, Stillscompletely avoids the retunedA string. However, Iwould stillrecommend that you use thetuning correctly as the Bnoteon the open fifth string vibratesin sympathetic resonance withthe other notes nd dds to theoverall tone of the sound.In video footage I have seenSti llsuses his right hand thumband index finger exclusively inthis piece, although it is certainly

possible (and easier) to includeat least the middle f inge r. Inthe interest of accuracy I havetranscribed the piece as athumb-and-forefing er workout.This piece will help your righthand picking technique as wellexpanding your knowledgeof altered tunings. To developthe techn ique you will need topractise apattern such as bars 1and 2 repeatedly, preferably witha metronome.

I

111II11I111II11111I111II

the most popular acts of thesixties- The Byrds, The Holliesand Buffalo Springfield. Theystarted playing together in1968 (Young joined in 1970 ,re leased their debut album in1969, and played Woodstockthe same year.

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The qua rtet was oftenreduced to a trio when NeilYoung was pursuin g his solocareer. and David Crosby andTR CK RECORD

In my opinionthe first. selftitled Crosby,Stills and Nashrecord and thefirst Crosby, Stills, Nash andYoung record, Deja Vu countamong the greatest works thatStills has recorded. To add someof his solo work to the top threelist. I would also include his 1976album 111egal Stills.

Graham Nash often touredas a duo when Stills wasunavailable. Stills was oftenreferred to as the lead guitaristof the group, armed withhis trademark White Falconor one of his many GretschCountry Gentleman guitars.However, no discussion ofStephen Stills's playing wouldbe complete without a look athis acoustic fingerstyle talents.Th is month's lesson focuseson his tune Four And Twentyfrom the first Crosby, Stills,Nash and Young album, DejaVu. It s a simple vocal andguitar arrangement with darklyrics citing the devil and othersources of torment.Stills uses a variation of theBruce Palmer Modal Tuning

(EEeebe'), tuning the A stringup to B giving EBeebe'. Withall those octaves, fourths andfifths the tuning creates adream-like droning sound. Toget to this tuning, tune theGET THE TONE

G string down to e, the dstring up toe (check thesetwo strings for unison) andthe A string up to B. Theopen strings wi ll give you avery resonant ES chord. T

Stephen Stills is known for his fat electric sound, usually createdwith Gretsch guitars and Fender amps. When playing acousticallythough, he is almost always associated with the pearl encrustedMartin D-45 - Martin's top-of-the-range dreadnought modelat the time. Stills always gets agreat tone: clear, warm and yetcutting through in the treble register. Even if you can't afford1000s for said Martin, you can go some way towards emulatingthe tone with nothing more than a fine emery board or nail f ile,and judicious placing of your picking hand over the guitar body.Frst. smoothly filed and shaped nails sound sweeter, smoother andyou're less likely to catch the strings When picking, try not to restyour hand on the bridge arch it in a pseudo classical fashion andthe guitar's top will ring more freely. Position your picking fingersover the soundhole to achieve warmth; nearer the bridge for cut.

My loudest sound is acheived by keeping my right t humbnaillong and using it to add a little guts. JJStephen Stills50 GuitarTechniquesFebruary 2005

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In bar 7, Stillsmoves fromthe Emajor harmony into themore bluesy Gchord. Getsme every time, even thoughit ismore than 20 years since Ifirst heard it

C EBET ROBERTS / REDFERN

CROSBY STILLS NASH AND YOUNG FOUR ND TWENTY ON THE CD Tracks 20 22Four Twenty. Words and Music by Stephen Stills@ 1970 Gold Hill Music Inc. Allrights administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing Music Square West. Nashville,TN 37203

Crosby, St i is, Nash And YoungThe Guitar Collection (Guitar Tab/Vocal, 240pp, 19 .99, ref: PG9519.Complete guitar transcriptions of24 classic numbers.

For UK/EU: Reprinted by permission of Music SalesFor US/Can: Reprinted by permission of Hal Leonard CorporationAll nghts reserved. Internationa l Copyright Secured

[Bars 2] As the lef t hand shapes are so easy,concentrate on the right hand. Follow the right handfingering carefully. The thumb will act as your referencepoint for the more syncopated higher notes.E > >7 rJ_ > - rntro H r

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[Bar ] The thumb replays the lowE string again, slightlydisrupting the regularity of the pattern . Practise this carefully.[Bar 8] As in all the other measures, hold the left handshapes down for as long as possible so that the notes ring on.Add a little light vibrato to g1ve a more spooky bluesy effect.- > -. ..;;.> > - I "';'T ?n l "2T: : : = =

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52 Guitai'I'eclutiquesFebruary 2005

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February 2 5 GuitarTechniques 53