Every now and then a song comes along that I instantly know I have to learn. Such was the case with Peppino D' Agostino's Close To Heaven, which was featured in the July-August 1995 issue (Vol. 10) of Fingerstyle Guitar. After looking at the tuning that Peppino used (FBbDFCD), I knew that it would be next to impossible for me to retune 5 strings during a concert, some of which were tuned a whole step off, and then get the guitar back in tune for the rest of the show. It's hard enough to temporarily detune one or two strings and then listen to my wife tell me later that I spent too much time tuning. After giving up on the tune for a few weeks, the idea suddenly came to me that the song might work in another less drastic tuning, so I began to experiment with other tunings and eventually came up with FADGCEb, which involves retuning three strings by 1\2 step.

After placing the guitar into an unusual tuning, it helps to play a familiar chord just to see if you're really in tune. It can sometimes be confusing just trying to find a familiar chord. To find a first position F chord in this tuning, place your 2nd finger on the 1st string-2nd fret, play the 2nd string open, place your 1st finger on the 3dr string-2nd fret, 4th finger on the 4th string-3rd fret, 3rd finger on the 5th string-3rd fret, and leave the 6th string open. You might also figure out a C chord to double check the tuning.

The companion recording was done in the Santa Barbara Mission on January 16, 1996. I just happened to be passing through Santa Barbara on the very day that Christopher Parkening was going to do some microphone testing in the Mission to see how he liked the natural reverb of the room. The session was set up by my friend George Lyman and since Chris wasn't due to arrive until about 2:00, I asked George if I could have a few minutes beforehand to try out his new analog-to-digital converter. I decided to try Close To Heaven since I had just learned the piece and needed some practice on it, and was also curious to see how it sounded. Much to my amazement, we soon had an entire take without a mistake. This is an all natural recording with no edits, EQ, or added reverb. (See Vol. 3 of Fingerstyle Guitar for my workshop on all natural recording.) The main disadvantage of this type of recording is that once the sound is on the tape there's no way to cut back on the reverb. For this reason it's very important to do some preliminary microphone and room testing before going in for a major recording session in a live situation. When the original recording is done dry in a studio, it can then be moistened to taste by electronic reverb. Since there was almost no time for testing the relationship between the natural reverb of the room and microphone placement before recording the companion tape to this column we wound up with a sound that captured a great deal of the room reverb. If we could try the recording again, I'd tend to move the microphone a bit closer. When a room reverberates as much as this one, it's difficult to move the microphone close enough to cut back on the reverb without beginning to pickup string squeaks, breathing, etc. The room has since been carpeted, making it useless as a recording studio and eliminating our idea to experiment further on microphone placement. The recording was made with a Nagra digital recorder using a 24 bit analog-to-digital converter and Neumann TLM 170 microphones placed approximately three feet from the guitar. It is performed on a 1995 Milburn Guitar, made by Orville and Bob Milburn of Sweet Home, Oregon (541-367- 4513).

One of the highlights of this year's tour was the honor of having Chet Atkins attend one of my concerts in Nashville. When I played this tune for Chet, he said that he liked the song, but avoided performing things in modal tunings because if he got lost, he couldn't improvise. These are wise words, so be sure to learn the piece well before performing it. Before our concert, Chet treated us to a little bit of guitar player's heaven by playing a few of the tunes that he wrote for his new album entitled Almost Alone. Afterwards, he mentioned that he was playing them better now than he did on the album, since he had just learned them when he did the recording. These words hit home, since I almost always regret it when I record a tune that I've barely learned. After playing Close to Heaven in concert for a season, my interpretation of the piece is a bit slower and more soulful than the Mission recording, which gives it a chance to breathe.

A few slight changes were made so that the song would lie well in this tuning, but for the most part it is like Peppino's original manuscript. You'll notice that the harmonic section is missing from the companion recording. I generally don't like to do artificial harmonics during concerts, because they are too easy to miss. Another reason I tend to shy away from artificial harmonics is to lessen the possibility of nicking the nail on the edge of a fret when playing on the first string with the right hand directly over the fretboard. If you compare the two arrangements, you'll notice a few more slurs in my version, which helped to maintain the smooth effect that Peppino achieved by the use of open strings. In measure 74, the unusual fingering was used to avoid squeaks. When Peppino heard my recording for the first time, he called and said that it captured the spirit of the piece and that he was pleased with the tuning and with the way it sounded on classical guitar. After playing it in over 30 concerts this year, I believe it's here to stay. Thanks, Peppino, for a great contribution to the world of fingerstyle guitar.

Rick Foster resides in southern Oregon with his wife, Wendy, and their daughters, Jody and Tobi. When not on concert tour, he spends much of his time arranging new music for guitar. The Fosters area also avid organic gardeners, growing their own fruits and vegetables. Their organic garden is featured in the May, 1997 issue of Sunset Magazine. Their e-mail address is edensong@pioneer-net.com. Rick Foster's web site is www.pioneer-net.com/~edensong

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