We just got back from the Great American Guitar Show in PA, it was a hoot. There was a lot of activity at the FreeNote booth, and our luthier Darren did a great job prepping the guitars and necks. On display were Ultra Plus, 19-tone, and fretless necks and complete guitars in all price ranges. Many of the people walking by during the demo had never seen or heard of any other fretting system besides standard. There were many questions, like ‘how do you fit your fingers in the small spaces between some of the frets?’ (You don’t have to, your finger just has to stop at the right place). Also, ‘what style of music is this for?’ As with standard fretting, any style of music can be played using alternate tuning systems. Rock styles can benefit from the purely in tune notes that allow new, unheard power chords. Jazz players can find new chord progressions and melodies to play over. Blues players can play all the blues notes as chords and fretted pitches. Folk and country players can play simple, solid in tune chords. And avant garde players can go wild.    Some players showed up who knew us, or who knew of Just Intonation or Harry Partch. Rob Birch had actually played the Marimba Eroica in the Partch Ensemble at college, this is the marimba that is so low pitched that it really can’t be recorded, it must be heard in person. Rob was one of the players who got a great deal on a FreeNote guitar at the show, and we wish him and the others all the best and look forward to hearing some of the new sounds they come up with. The next performances with La Monte Young’s Just Alap Raga Ensemble start this week, on Friday the 13th. This time we are doing Raga Darbari, which is in a 7-limit Aeolian minor, using 7/4 for the seventh and 7/6 for the half minor third.  This one is just fretless Sustainer guitar with voices and tabla. Naren Budhkar is the tabla player, he really has a great feel, and one of the best things about playing this music is that the drums are tuned and play in the same key as the piece. This is such an important concept, as it never made sense to me that the drummers in American music are the only ones who don’t have to play in tune! Tuning a drum set to the key of the song is something I started doing on the Cowpeople record. When using a more Just tuning system, it can really make a difference when the drums are in tune, and it also allows the drummer to play melodically. 

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