Hole Notes: The Exotic Tunings and Percussive Techniques of Fingerstylist Kaki King

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Over her 10 years as a recording artist, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Kaki King has released six solo albums and a pair of EPs and contributed to soundtracks for films such as Into the Wild and August Rush (which featured King’s hands in close-up shots for the main character). Although King started out playing classical guitar at age five, drums became her primary passion, and she didn’t return to the guitar until she was 10 and became interested in blues-rock guitar.

By her mid teens, Kaki was listening to acoustic fingerstylists and odd-tuning innovators Nick Drake, Mark Kozelek (Red House Painters), Bill Mize, Alex De Grassi and Will Ackerman, along with percussive-guitar pioneers Preston Reed and Michael Hedges. King’s take on their techniques and approaches, plus moves derived from her own drumming talents and a fascination with jazz and other styles, from Brit-pop to speed metal, forged the foundation for a riveting, high-energy guitar style that is uniquely her own. Let’s examine the techniques and tunings of some of King’s longstanding solo-guitar concert staples.

A singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/film composer, Musician's Institute instructor, and author of 50+ transcription/instructional books, Dale Turner is also Guitar World's "Hole Notes"/"Acoustic Nation" columnist, and the former West Coast Editor of Guitar One magazine. Some of Dale’s old, weird, rare, and/or exotic instruments are featured in his score for WEEDS, the first animated short completed within the Filmmakers Co-op at Disney Feature Animation. His most recent CD, Mannerisms Magnified, was praised by Guitar Player magazine for its "Smart pop tunes that are crammed with interesting guitar parts and tones ... Like what the Beach Boys might do if they were on an acid trip that was on the verge of getting out of control. Yeah!"