Twelve Strings Of Blue
Aug 2nd, 2007 by skanson.com
The Twelve Strings Of Blue- Solo acoustic 12 string guitar. Recorded May 1995 for the original Darren Curtis Skanson CD “The Guitar Tree”. Darren uses a 1970’s Takamine twelve string guitar in standard tuning.
“If you like rippin’ playing and twelve string guitar, this is your tune. I have always been a fan of quick little guitar motifs. The ‘head’ of this 12 string guitar tune is a great example of that. Notice the blues ‘twist on 3rds’ that are a staple of blues playing. A ‘twist on 3rd’ is a term coined by guitar teacher Michael Coates when he wrote his ground breakling method for lead guitar playing called Chase The Dragon. Basically it describes the use of both the major and minor thirds in blues lead playing giving the auditory feel of flipping between the 2 keys. ” - Darren Curtis Skanson
Guitarist Mike Coates has an impressively vast and varied professional career. Currently professor of classical guitar at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN and formerly professor of Guitar and Audio Production at Minnesota
State University Moorhead, Mike Coates is now an independent record producer and solo performer, A master of both the classical and electric guitar and a sought-after teacher, his decades of experience as a classical guitarist, international touring rock guitarist, audio producer/engineer and acclaimed guitar teacher are revealed both in the musical mastery of his playing and the technical artistry of his recordings. In addition to three CD recordings with flutist Debora Harris as the Harris-Coates Duo, Mr. Coates’s personal discography includes four CD releases with vocalist Linda Coates, an album of Spanish and South American song with tenor Ricardo Visus, and three art-rock albums with his 1970s bands WhiteWing and ASIA (all three of which are now internationally sought-after collectors’ items) in which his fusion of Liszt-inspired electric guitar pyrotechnics with classical compositional style created a singular, powerful bridge between two musical worlds.
Darren Curtis Skanson (1967 to present) American composer. Encouraged in music from a young age, Skanson began singing, playing instruments, and composing as early as he can remember. At 13 he took his first classical guitar lesson and began a partnership with the classical guitar that has produced a wide variety of music. After an outstanding collegiate career studying electric guitar, classical guitar, composition, and recording science, Darren spent the early part of the 1990’s touring and composing for both the progressive band Mata Hari and violinist Malcolm Watson. Embarking on his solo career in 1995, his composition output exploded with works for classical guitar, acoustic fingerstyle guitar, 12 string guitar, cello, and violin. Skanson is known mostly for his classical guitar compositions and arrangements of Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, and other classical composers. Skanson continues to record, compose and perform out of his Denver, Colorado base. His discography currently includes 10 compact discs of classical guitar arrangements and original work with over 200 pieces to his credit. As well as playing solo, he performs with his trio of classical guitar, violin, and cello aptly named The Skanson Strings.