Personality trumps technique in the music of Australian guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel.

By Dan Bowden
Berklee.edu Correspondent/Associate Professor of Guitar
March 20, 2006

Tommy Emmanuel performs one of several tunes during his Berklee clinic.
Photo courtesy of Berklee Video Services

Before his recent visit to the David Friend Recital Hall, the talents of guitarist Tommy Emmanuel were probably known to only a select few on the Berklee campus. But everything is different now. His hour-long concert/clinic created a wave of enthusiasm for the Australian fingerstylist in everyone attending that afternoon, from first-semester students to veteran Guitar Department faculty members.

Emmanuel started playing guitar at age four and performing professionally at six, backing up his older brother, also a child prodigy. A fan of the popular surf music of the early 1960s, Emmanuel learned songs by ear, integrating bass guitar parts into his rhythm playing without realizing he was hearing two different instruments. With such skills at picking up bass parts, he learned the music of Chet Atkins and Merle Travis after hearing their recordings when he was seven.

"It was hearing Chet Atkins that really got me going on the guitar," said Emmanuel. The influence of Chet and Merle Travis remains and is demonstrated by a right-hand technique that relies on using the thumbpick and three fingers.

Emmanuel pointed out that Atkins was a role model for him as a player and a person and that he changed many lives "with not just his music, but who he was." In turn, Atkins was sufficiently impressed with Emmanuel's virtuosity to label him a Certified Guitar Player, an honor Emmanuel shares with only two others, Jerry Reed and John Knowles.

Emmanuel began the clinic by performing a string of instrumentals, including his harmonically rich tribute to Atkins, "The Man with the Green Thumb." Emmanuel then gave those in attendance a crash course on thumbpick style by demonstrating how to place increasingly complex chord accents over a continuous bass pattern.

"The key to playing fingerstyle music properly is having an independent thumb. You need to have that solid groove . . . and then you can play those melodies over the top," he said.

To the crowd's delight, he then showed how to play melodies independently over more active bass lines, using the Beatles' "Day Tripper" and "Lady Madonna" as examples. The demonstration left first-semester student Kenny Silva inspired and eager to explore Emmanuel's fingerstyle method.

"I'm sure 99 percent of the guitarists in the room went home and tried it out that night," said Silva after the clinic.

The technique was even more fully realized on each of his subsequent performance numbers, including a swinging version of "Blue Moon" and a dazzling "Caravan." Emmanuel uses his thumbpick to execute an unusual flatpick-type technique that allows him to unleash blazing torrents of notes within his fingerstyle arrangements. He thrilled the audience with the super-clean bluegrass-style runs that he injected into the already fast-paced "Cannonball Rag" and throughout Hank Garland's "Sugarfoot Rag."

Jon Finn, professor of guitar, said that while struck by Emmanuel's instrumental mastery, it was his generous and engaging spirit that really left a mark.

"Rather than trying to impress us with how great he is, he seems to just want to share his music and enthusiasm," Finn said. "What made me instantly become a fan is his obvious love for the music he plays."

Emmanuel emphasized that his music isn't all about chops. "Melody and groove are my two main friends when I'm up here playing music." Emmanuel said that no matter where he travels around the world, " . . . the same rule applies. People respond to groove. It's primal, it's built inside of us, and when we start to play the groove, people get very interested."

Later, he showed all in attendance just how strong his drumming skills were. Using his hands as a well as a drummer's brush, Emmanuel flailed away at the body and neck of his amplified acoustic guitar and microphone, getting the crowd moving to the beat.

The goal of playing memorable melodies is at the heart of Emmanuel's music. "That's what it's all about. It's all about melody and touching people's souls," he said before playing two original compositions, "Stay Close to Me" and "Lewis and Clark," both of which provided excellent examples of his gift for melody. He also noted the timeless nature of these pieces. "My music doesn't sound like it was written fifty years ago and it doesn't sound like it was written yesterday . . . That's what I try to achieve."

Emmanuel stressed the importance of being yourself while performing. "You can't separate your sound and your personality from your music because they are one. When you play, it's you speaking. It's from your inner soul."

The importance of being in the moment, with respect to both music and everything else, seems essential to Emmanuel's approach.

"All my life, my vision has been to do what I'm doing right now," he said. "I'm traveling all over the world playing my music and trying to do something good out here. When people ask me what's my priority when I go on stage, I only have one priority. (Points to audience) You! You want to give (the audience) such a good time that they don't know what day it is. They forget their troubles and you've done your job."

Dan Bowden, associate professor of guitar, has performed rock, blues and jazz for audiences around North America. His publications include Wes Montgomery The Early Years, Mel Bay's Complete Accompaniment Method for Guitar, and Electric Blues Guitar Workout.