Amazin’ Flyin’ Fingerstylin’

I’m an “evolving” guitar player. That’s the nicest spin I can put on my playing. I can strum the heck out of those six strings, and my current guitar teacher says I have a great sense of rhythm. Playing “fingerstyle” (i.e., using your finger tips instead of a pick to pluck notes on individual strings) is a style I have only recently learned.

And I’m still learning. Hence… “evolving”.

But enough about me. When I grow up, I wanna be like Peppino D'Agostino.

First, let me tell you a little story about how I met Signor D’Agostino. He was teaching guitar at Swannonoa Gathering one year, and I had heard he was an amazing fingerstyle player. So, the poor guy was just eating his scrambled eggs one morning at camp breakfast, and I popped over to his table and introduced myself. Then I started asking questions about his course. Could his class teach fingerstyle playing to someone like me (who at the time, had just started to try it)? He was very sweet and didn’t seem to mind the interruption, but he said yes, of course I could learn to play fingerstyle.

Fast forward to the next Swannanoa Gathering when I really “stretched” (as Gatherers are encouraged to do) by signing up for Peppino’s intro to finger style class. 

Oy. My hands are still sore.

No, Peppino wasn’t cruel, but he was a stickler for proper playing form. He made the whole class hold a fully barred first position F major chord (guitar players can relate!) for what seemed about 10 minutes while he came over to each student and made us play that one chord over and over again until each note in the chord rang pure. We hadn’t even started finger style playing yet, and I was already exhausted!

But Peppino’s disciplined approach was totally worth it, and I learned some great fundamentals from him that week that I still use today.

Other fun Peppino facts: he and my family are from the same area of Sicily! So, we could be eighth cousins or sumthin’. (I walked into his class on day one and started speaking Italian to him. Fun times.)

Peppino is a composer of guitar pieces; I’m really not sure how much lyric writing he does, if any. But I am so impressed by his guitar artistry that I have learned about musical expressivity just by listening to him play.

I own one of his albums called “Made In Italy”. It is a collection of Italian popular songs. On some of those songs, he sings - surprise! - in Italian while he plays guitar. I love this album because it reminds me of the songs my Sicilian grandmother listened to on the radio in her kitchen while she cooked pasta. 

Here’s a song “Ancora Un Istante” from the album “Made In Italy”. Unless you speak Italian, you probably won’t understand the words, but no matter. Just watch Peppino sing, and mostly, watch and listen to his guitar work. There are times when it sounds like there are two other guitarists playing along with him. Nope. It’s just him.

Bravissimo, Signor D’Agostino! E mille grazie per la tua musica eccezionale!