Preston Reed (born April 13, 1955) is an American

fingerstyle guitar Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of guitar picking, playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with ...

ist. He is noted for a two-handed playing style and compositional approach that uses the guitar's body as a percussion instrument.

Biography

Reed learned guitar as a child on his father's guitar and, for a short time, studied classical guitar. When he was 16 his interest was rekindled by

Jorma Kaukonen Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen Jr. (; ; born December 23, 1940) is an American blues, folk, and rock guitarist. Kaukonen performed with Jefferson Airplane, and still performs regularly on tour with Hot Tuna, which started as a side project with bassist ...

's acoustic guitar-playing in

Hot Tuna Hot Tuna is an American blues rock band formed in 1969 by former Jefferson Airplane members Jorma Kaukonen (guitarist/vocals) and Jack Casady (bassist). Although it has always been a fluid aggregation, with musicians coming and going over the ...

. He began to compose his own songs in the style of

Leo Kottke Leo Kottke (born September 11, 1945) is an American acoustic guitarist. He is known for a fingerpicking style that draws on blues, jazz, and folk music, and for syncopated, polyphonic melodies. He has overcome a series of personal obstacles, i ...

and John Fahey. His first public performance was at

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, in a concert with poet

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

. Reed moved to Scotland in 2000.

Technique and musical influences

Reed plays with his fingers, thumbs, fists and hands at once. He is also a player of blues or ballads reminiscent of

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, a ...

, one of his musical idols. As a teenager, Reed was initially influenced by

and John Fahey and in the beginning of his career was a more traditional fingerstyle player. In the late 1980s he began to experiment with his own highly individual and percussive style, shortly after

Michael Hedges Michael Alden Hedges (December 31, 1953 – December 2, 1997) was an American acoustic guitarist and songwriter. He was known as a virtuoso who used unorthodox playing techniques, and much of his output was classified as new age music. Hedges ...

released his first records using some technically similar techniques. Reed's approach created a very distinctive style of music. His guitar style is characterized by the use of percussive effects he generates with both hands on various parts of the guitar body. He names them ''rim shots'' and ''bongo hits''.''The Guitar of Preston Reed'', Text on video cover.
Accessed on November 25, 2007. He uses slap and tap techniques like slap

harmonic In physics, acoustics, and telecommunications, a harmonic is a sinusoidal wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'' of a periodic signal. The fundamental frequency is also called the ''1st har ...

s or the generation of notes or whole chords with his left hand (''

hammer-on A hammer-on is a playing technique performed on a stringed instrument (especially on a fretted string instrument, such as a guitar) by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down on to the fingerboard behind a fret, causing a note to sound. Thi ...

'', ''

pull-off A pull-off is a stringed instrument playing and articulation technique performed by plucking or "pulling" the finger that is grasping the sounding part of a string off the fingerboard of either a fretted or unfretted instrument. This intermediate ...

''). He uses both hands for tapping ('' two-hand tapping'') and frets chords with his right hand (''right-hand fretting''). He often plays with both hands from above the guitar's neck. In many of his compositions, Reed uses alternate tunings characterized by very low bass string tunings, for example BGDGAD or CGDGGD.

Guitars and technical equipment

On his first recording Reed used a Martin D28 12-string and a Martin D28 6-string. He later used guitars made by the American luthier Michael Jacobson-Hardy.Discography at Preston Reed's website.
Accessed on November 25, 2007. Later he played Washburn guitars with ''Seymour Duncan'' pickups and in the second half of the 1990s a custom ''Adamas Long Neck''

Ovation The ovation ( from ''ovare'': to rejoice) was a lesser form of the Roman triumph. Ovations were granted when war was not declared between enemies on the level of nations or states; when an enemy was considered basely inferior (e.g., slaves, pira ...

. He now plays his signature models, acoustic Jumbo and Baritone from Bailey Guitars. Around 2000 he began using several different guitars, not only steel-string acoustic, but also solid body

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

s, semi-acoustic guitars, electrical

baritone guitar The baritone guitar is a guitar with a longer scale length, typically a larger body, and heavier internal bracing, so it can be tuned to a lower pitch. Gretsch, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, ESP Guitars, PRS Guitars, Music Man, Danelectro, Sche ...

s, 12-string and classical guitars. Reed recorded his 2007 album ''Spirit'' with a semi-acoustic Yamaha AE-2000 guitar.

Discography

Studio recordings

* 1979 ''

Acoustic Guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

'' (Sky) * 1982 '' Pointing Up'' (

Flying Fish The Exocoetidae are a family (biology), family of Saltwater fish, marine Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish in the order (biology), order Beloniformes, known colloquially as flying fish or flying cod. About 64 species are grouped in seven genus, ge ...

) * 1982 '' Don't Be a Stranger'' (FolkStudio) * 1984 ''

Playing By Ear Playing or learning by ear is the ability of a performing musician to reproduce a piece of music they have heard, without having seen it Musical notation, notated in any form of sheet music. It is considered to be a desirable skill among musical p ...

'' (Flying Fish) * 1987 ''The Road Less Travelled'' (Flying Fish) * 1989 '' Instrument Landing'' (MCA/Universal) * 1990 '' Blue Vertigo'' (Capitol Nashville) * 1990 '' Preston Reed'' (Flying Fish) * 1991 '' Halfway Home'' (Liberty/Capitol Nashville) * 1992 '' Border Towns'' (Liberty) * 1995 ''

Metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

'' (Dusty Closet, re-released Outer Bridge, 2002) * 1997 ''

Ladies Night A ladies' night is a promotional event, often at a bar or nightclub, where female patrons pay less than male patrons for the cover charge or alcoholic beverages. In the United States, state courts in California, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Wisco ...

'' (Dusty Closet, re-released Outer Bridge, 2004) * 2000 '' Handwritten Notes'' (Outer Bridge) * 2005 '' History of Now'' (Outer Bridge) * 2007 '' Spirit'' (Outer Bridge) * 2013 '' In Here Out There'' (Outer Bridge)

Collaborations

* 1997 ''

Groovemasters ''Groovemasters'' is an album by guitarists Preston Reed and Laurence Juber, released in 1999. It is sometimes referred to as ''Groovemasters, Vol. 1'' The success of ''Groovemasters'' led to the series of releases by Solid Air pairing variou ...

'', with

Laurence Juber Laurence Ivor Juber (born 12 November 1952) is an English musician, fingerstyle guitarist and studio musician. He played guitar in the rock band Wings (band), Wings from 1978 to 1981. Biography Early life Born in Stepney, East London, Juber w ...

(Solid Air)

Compilations

* 1989 ''Universal Master Series'' (MCA) * 1990 ''Master Series Sampler '89'' (Capitol Nashville) * 1990 ''Master Series I'' (Capitol Nashville) * 1995 ''Acoustic Guitar Highlights'' (Acoustic Music) * 1996 ''Acoustic Guitar Highlights II'' (Acoustic Music) * 1997 ''Masters of Acoustic Guitar'' (Narada) * 1997 ''Acoustic Guitar Highlights III'' (Acoustic Music) * 2000 ''WGN Radio Live: Steve and Johnnie Live After Dark'' (Nation)

Video

* 1994 ''The Guitar of Preston Reed: Expanding the Realm of Acoustic Playing'' (Homespun Video) * 1997 ''Preston Reed in Concert'' (Homespun Video)

Video, guest-starring

* 1995 ''Fingerstyle Guitar: New Dimensions and Explorations'' (Vestapol) * 1996 ''Muriel Anderson's All-Star Guitar Night'' (Homespun Video) * 1997 ''Laurence Juber in Concert'' (Homespun Tapes) * 1998 ''Great Guitar Lessons Fingerstyle Techniques'' (Homespun Tapes) * 2002 ''Muriel Anderson's All-Star Guitar Night II'' (Homespun Tapes)

Sheet music

* ''Guitar Impact'' (2006). Bruce Muckala (MaraHaley Music)

References

External links

Preston Reed filmed by Dave Arcari – Ladies Night – video

TED Talk: Usman Riaz and Preston Reed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Preston 1955 births Living people American blues guitarists American funk guitarists American male guitarists People from Armonk, New York American fingerstyle guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Flying Fish Records artists MCA Records artists Liberty Records artists