Tag Archives: fingerstyle guitar

Horn – Nick Drake Cover on Nylon String Guitar

Songsacoustic guitar, altered tuning, classical guitar, fingerstyle guitar, Horn, Nick Drake, open tunings, Pink Moon, relaxing music, taylor 414ce-NR, taylor classical guitar, taylor nylon guitar, tranquil song

Appearing as a sort of interlude on the Pink Moon album, Horn is a fascinating little study of a song in its own right. I love the simple melody and the atmosphere created by the space between the notes. I also really like the way this song works on nylon string guitar. (Apologies for the intonation in places – still getting a feel for this guitar and nylon again.) Of course, Drake apparently used really old, beat up steel strings, so his guitar work translates well to nylon. I don’t know what it is about the deceptively simple genius of his guitar parts, but they get me every time. Hope you enjoy.

Tranquility – original fingerstyle on nylon string guitar

Songsacoustic guitar, altered tuning, classical guitar, fingerstyle guitar, open tunings, relaxing music, tranquil song

Up until now, you’ve mostly heard me play steel string acoustic guitar. “Tranquility” is a song I recorded a years back on nylon string guitar. It’s a mellow, contemplative, and relaxing song. My friend Chris in Kona (no slouch on guitar himself) says it’s his favorite thing he’s heard me do. With that vote, I thought I would dig this out from the vaults for you.
Anyway, I haven’t had a nylon string guitar for going on 10 years… up until recently that is. I’ve made several recordings with it so far, and I hope to have them edited and posted before long. Meanwhile, please enjoy this song.

Pua Lililehua

Songsacoustic guitar, fingerstyle guitar, open tunings, performances, Pua Lililehua, relaxing guitar, slack key, taylor guitars

Here is a rendition of Pua Lililehua from the vaults. I always enjoyed this song because it is mostly sweet and mellow, but still has a bit of tension that creates a sense of yearning in it. I recorded this while living in an ohana unit with a large, tiled room that I kept mostly empty because I enjoyed the acoustics. (Plus, I don’t own a lot of furniture.) Hope you enjoy.

Recorded in Holualoa, Hawai’i, 2/27/08.

Iris

Songsacoustic guitar, fingerstyle guitar, open tunings, relaxing guitar, taylor grand concert, taylor guitars

Iris has a lot of harmonics, which creates a light, chimey atmosphere. A thunderstorm rolled in while I was recording and gave some interesting punctuation to the take. I’ll probably try to record another version of this song, but thought the lightness of the song coupled with the thunderstorm left an interesting contrast. Hope you enjoy.

Morning and Night

Songsfingerstyle guitar, gotoh 510, relaxing guitar, taylor grand concert, taylor guitars

Morning and Night started out as a fingerpicking study I wrote for one of my students way back when. I added a little to the study to perform it as a slow, relaxing solo piece and it has stayed in my repertoire ever since.
A few years back I decided to write a harmony part for the song, which I almost forgot about until I found a demo take while combing through some old files. I think it’s interesting to hear the song both with and without the harmony. Hope you enjoy both versions.

Nick Borho

Slack Key & Fingerstyle Guitar