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Category Archives: Creativity
John Fahey: A Tribute
I first heard John Fahey‘s solo acoustic guitar playing on an album when I was a teenager. I liked his strange, minimalist, visually and emotionally evocative instrumental compositions, performed in open tunings in an alternating-bass fingerpicking style. I found his … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Creativity, Culture, Guitar, History, Music, Music business, Recording and producing, Uncategorized
Tagged Acoustic, fingerstyle, Guitar, Music
3 Comments
The 20th anniversary of my instructional video
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of my 1994 instructional video, The Guitar of Preston Reed: Expanding the Realm of Acoustic Playing on Homespun Tapes. (I can’t believe it’s been twenty years!) In the late 1980’s I … Continue reading
Posted in Composing, Creativity, Guitar, Learning, Music
Tagged Composing, Creativity, Guitar, learning, Music, Percussion, teaching
3 Comments
Let’s get bored
When I was in China last fall I watched a teenage girl on a Beijing subway say goodbye to a friend getting off at a stop. As soon as they had waved goodbye and the doors closed, the girl pulled … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Health and Well-Being, Neuro-science, Psychology, Technology, Thoughts, Uncategorized
Tagged boredom, Creativity, Culture, neuroscience, psychology, Technology, thoughts
209 Comments
When you are doing nothing, you are doing something
When I first finish a challenging creative project, I feel a sense of relief and euphoria. That feeling may last for a little while. But eventually it wears off…and I am left feeling exhausted. The truth is, the project has … Continue reading
Posted in Art, blogging, Creativity, Guitar, Music, Photography, Psychology, Thoughts, Uncategorized
Tagged Art, blogging, Creativity, Guitar, Music, photography, psychology
15 Comments
An incredible year
I think this past year has been the biggest of my life. It was a year of creating, producing, traveling, performing, making new friends, learning, meeting challenges and growing. It was a year of “firsts” — my first album in … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity, Guitar, Learning, Music, Performing, Photography, Recording and producing, Teaching, Thoughts, Touring, Travel, Uncategorized
Tagged Guitar, learning, Music, thoughts, Travel
6 Comments
A unique festival
I recently participated in a unique music festival in Rochefort, France, called Rochefort en Accords. The slogan of this small festival in the south of France — the brainchild of French Canadian organiser Pascale Graham and her partner, American cellist … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Composing, Creativity, Culture, Learning, Music, Performing, Travel, Uncategorized
Tagged festivals, france, international, Music, musicians, rochefort
2 Comments
Thoughts on openness
I gave a talk at TEDGlobal 2012 in Edinburgh recently, alongside a young guitarist from Pakistan named Usman Riaz. It was an instrumental guitar performance, but still a TEDTalk with a great (and true) story behind it. The video of … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Guitar, Learning, Music, Teaching, Technology, Thoughts, Uncategorized
Tagged Guitar, Music, teaching, TEDGlobal
2 Comments