Thumb Songs 3 & 4 | from Sketches I by Frank Wallace

Posted by on Aug 28, 2019 in #techandtone | No Comments
Thumb Songs 3 & 4 | from Sketches I by Frank Wallace

Here’s this week’s tutorial video on Thumb Songs 3 & 4 from Sketches I. As you contemplate rest stroke with thumb or finger, be sure to note how deeply the rest string is depressed. If you missed

Old Crones | life and death in the forest

Posted by on Aug 25, 2019 in cancer diary | No Comments
Old Crones | life and death in the forest

Five songs comprise The Game [of life], a song-cycle composed in the fall of 2007 out of desperation – desperation to create! Here are three… It had been several months of hellish administrative work and a year

Thumb Songs 1 & 2 | from Sketches I

Posted by on Aug 21, 2019 in #techandtone | No Comments
Thumb Songs 1 & 2 | from Sketches I

I will let this tutorial video on thumb technique speak for itself. Here’s a quick overview of the principles involved: The thumb has three joints and is closely tied to the position and movements of the wrist

The Tools of Life | loving the things around us

Posted by on Aug 18, 2019 in cancer diary | No Comments
The Tools of Life | loving the things around us

I have written much about the love that surrounds my dance with cancer. It is my lifeboat. I am eternally grateful for the outpouring from my community, which is so much more expansive than I realized. But

American Threads | Balmer plays Wallace and more

Posted by on Aug 14, 2019 in Reviews | No Comments
American Threads | Balmer plays Wallace and more

Jamie Balmer’s American Threads features solo guitar music by Kevin Callahan, Phillip de Fremery, Frederic Hand, Thomas Schuttenhelm, and Frank Wallace alongside  Balmer’s arrangements for solo guitar of music by Elliott Smith, Edward MacDowell, and Leonard Bernstein

More Meditations and Prayers

Posted by on Aug 11, 2019 in cancer diary | No Comments
More Meditations and Prayers

Meditations being the theme of this post, I add a video of Rain in VT as recorded by Dieter Hennings, professor of music at University of Kentucky. Dear Dieter posted this during the past week in an

My Roots as a Composer | necessity and education

Posted by on Aug 7, 2019 in composition, interview | No Comments
My Roots as a Composer | necessity and education

A couple of years ago, a young guitarist from Vanguard University wrote to say that he is a fan. He was preparing a presentation on me as a living composer/guitarist, and asked if I would help with

Cancer | I am the Gryphon

Posted by on Aug 4, 2019 in cancer diary, music | No Comments
Cancer | I am the Gryphon

I wrote this post last October after failed retina surgery and a positive prostate biopsy. My prognosis has progressed as has my psychology about death, fear and career. But this stage was a difficult and important one.