Tag Archives: fingerstyle guitar

Momentum (K22ce)

Songsblue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, Hawaiian koa, koa taylor, momentum, Neumann TLM 102, nick borho, taylor grand concert, Taylor K22ce

Momentum is an original I’ve been playing for a while. Over the years, I have added different bridges and changed the intro at times, but at its core the song remains the same. This version has a new bridge and was recorded on my Taylor K22ce.

Jewel Ponds

Songsacoustic guitar, big island, blue sky guitar, Elixir Polyweb, fingerstyle guitar, Hawaii, Holualoa, kailua kona, ksm141, nick borho, open tunings, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, shure, slack key, taylor 310ce, Taylor Dreadnaught

This improvisation is named for the beautiful anchialine ponds you find along the leeward coast of Hawai’i Island. These ponds are an ultra rare and pristine habitat (please do not bathe in them) that host rare tiny red shrimp – ‘ōpae ‘ula – and can have a magnificent array of turquoise and opaline colors, like jewels. Some of these ponds are tiny indeed, almost more of a puddle than a pond, and legends tell of ponds that would mysteriously appear to someone only to vanish when visited again. There can be no denying the strange, quiet magic of Hawai’i’s anchialine ponds.

Bron-Yr-Aur (912ce)

Songsacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, Jimmy Page, Neumann TLM 102, nick borho, open C6, peaceful guitar, physical graffiti, relaxing guitar, Taylor 912ce, taylor grand concert, Welsh Countryside

Bron-Yr-Aur is probably my favorite Led Zeppelin acoustic song. Written about a tranquil cottage in the Welsh countryside, the song is meditative and bucolic; it always puts me in a different place whenever I hear it or play it. This version was recorded on my Taylor 912ce.

Momentum (912ce)

Songsblue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, momentum, Neumann TLM 102, nick borho, rosewood taylor, Taylor 912ce, taylor grand concert

Sí Bheag, Sí Mhór (Taylor 912ce)

Songsacoustic guitar, celtic guitar, fiddle tunes guitar, fingerstyle guitar, Hawaii, kona, Martin Simpson, O’Carolan songs, open tunings, Pierre Bensusan, relaxing music, slack key, Taylor 912ce, taylor grand concert, Tony McManus, Turlough O’Carolan

Here is another version of my arrangement of Si Bheag, Si Mhor (Little Fairy, Big Fairy), reportedly the first song composed by famous 17th century bard Turlough O’Carolan. This version was recorded on my 912ce, which I feel is a perfect guitar for this arrangement. Hope you enjoy.

Every Little Thing (Is Beautiful)

Songsblue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, nick borho

Today’s song from the vaults is an exuberant song called “Every Little Thing (Is Beautiful).” Hope you enjoy.

Louisville Rag

Songsacoustic guitar, fingerstyle guitar, open tunings, ragtime guitar, Taylor 310, taylor 310ce, Taylor 310e, Taylor Dreadnaught guitar

Here is a demo from the vaults of a song called “Louisville Rag” that I recorded a few years back. The idea behind the tune was to write an uptempo instrumental with a similar feel to the Nashville Skyline Rag from the eponymous Bob Dylan album. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded in Louisville, Ky 9/28/12.

Kaiminani Slack Key

Songsacoustic guitar, big island, blue sky guitar, blueskyguitar, ear trumpet labs, edwina, fingerstyle guitar, Hawaii, kailua kona, kaiminani drive, kalaoa, Keahole Point, ki ho’alu, Kohanaiki, Kona International Airport, Kona Palisades, Mamalahoa, open g tuning, open tunings, OTEC beach, peaceful guitar music, Pine Trees beach, Queen Kaahumanu, relaxing guitar, relaxing music, slack key, taro patch, taylor 414ce-NR, taylor classical guitar, taylor nylon, tranquil song, Wawaloli

Here is an original slack key song I named for Kaiminani Drive in Kalaoa, North Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii. Kaiminani Drive is a main mauka-makai road that connects the Queen Kaahumanu and Mamalahoa highways (lower and upper roads, respectively). It also runs through the Kona Palisades neighborhood where I lived for a number of years as a child. Back then, the neighborhood was less developed, and my friends and I would build tree houses and play in the vacant lots. We could also watch the planes come and go at Kona International Airport at Keahole Point (KOA), and had easy access to then-uncrowded OTEC (Wawaloli) and Pine Trees (Kohanaiki) beaches. Hope you enjoy.

Wonderful Tonight (Alternate Take)

Songsacoustic guitar, apogee one, Elixir HD Light, Eric Clapton, fingerstyle guitar, Fred Kelly, love, Neumann TLM 102, Pattie Boyd, peace, peaceful guitar music, relaxing guitar, relaxing music, rosewood taylor, Taylor 400 series, Taylor 412ce-R, taylor grand concert, taylor guitars, thumbpicks, tranquil song

Here is an alternate take of my fingerstyle rendition of Eric Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight. Eric wrote the song about his then-wife Pattie Boyd, who had already inspired great songs from Eric and previous husband George Harrison. This song has been the theme to many a high school prom, and its simple yet tasteful melody has held up over the years. In keeping with that, my arrangement here is fairly straight forward: it doesn’t move around the neck very much or have any unusual chord voicings. Hope you enjoy it.

Recorded in Honolulu, Hawaii 4/27/15.

Embryonic Journey (Jorma Kaukonen / Jefferson Airplane)

Songsapogee one, Drop D, ear trumpet labs, edwina, Embryonic Journey, fingerstyle guitar, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, john hardy preamp, Jorma Kaukonen, love, peace, relaxing music, Surrealistic Pillow, Taylor 900 series, Taylor 912ce

From the uber psychedelically titled Surrealistic Pillow album, Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen’s solo fingerpicking tour de force Embryonic Journey highlights his country blues influences and provides a rootsy counterpoint to far out songs like White Rabbit. Though I don’t listen much to the rest of the album, Embryonic Journey stayed on rotation in my car for a number of years – sometimes when I was in the mood I would listen on repeat four or five times in a row. It seems like this song was often playing when I was cutting over from Waialae to cruise on down Kapahulu, stopping for groceries at Kokua Co-op or Down To Earth Moiliili, or hanging out at Kapi’olani Park. Hope you enjoy.

Nick Borho

Slack Key & Fingerstyle Guitar