A Waltz for Rebecca - Doug Young - Remembering Al Petteway
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- Опубліковано 9 жов 2023
- I was stunned to hear the sad news that Al Petteway passed away in Sept, 2023 after an illness. Al has long been a major influence on my guitar playing and taste in music, and I got to know his music fairly well, partly due to many opportunities to interact with Al over the years.
I always considered Al to be one of the quintessential composers for fingerstyle guitar. His genius was that he wrote beautiful and catchy songs that lay perfectly on the guitar. With Al's music, every note seems to be exactly where it should be, both for the listener and the player. He took full advantage of the beauty of the guitar to make the tunes come alive. Some music written for guitar can be harder than it sounds, requiring a high amount of effort to play musically. Al's compositions, on the other hand, just fall naturally under your fingers and sound better than you expect with less effort than you would think. Not that Al's tunes are necessarily "easy", it's just that they are so well suited for the guitar that nothing seems forced. This can be challenging for a composer to achieve, and Al did it over and over. A Waltz for Rebecca is a good example, one of my earliest favorite tunes of Al's - and a favorite of many guitarists. The tune starts in Am, in DADGAD tuning, and leverages the tuning's strengths to create a harp-like melodic theme.
On this video, I'm playing A Waltz for Rebecca on a guitar I purchased from Al just a few years ago. Al, of course, was a connoisseur of guitars. His years of working with Dream Guitars gave him access to some of the best instruments available, giving him a chance to play and record more fine guitars than most people get to experience. At some point he started searching for some fabled pre-war Martins. He found and acquired two, a 1926 OOO-18, and a 1931 O-28. There is a Dream Guitars webcast concert that you can find on You Tube on which Al plays both guitars ( • AL PETTEWAY LIVE FROM ... ). Al decided to let both of those guitars go at a point when he needed some funds. Our mutual friend, Steve Baughman, bought the O-28, and I purchased the OOO-18.
With guitars like this (nearly 100 years old as I write this), we're all just custodians, and I told Al I'd happily sell it back to him if he got to the point that he was ready to have it back. Sadly, that was not to be. I've been playing the guitar daily since learning of Al's passing, trying to appreciate the residual connection with Al.
So I hope this performance, one of my favorite tunes written by Al, played on a guitar Al owned and played himself, serves as a bit of a tribute to Al, and a thanks for his contribution to music and guitarists everywhere.
![Fantasia on Themes from "La Traviata" [Julian Arcas]](/img/n.gif)
I miss Al's smile and generosity
Peace
Beautifully played, Doug... and what a guitar it is.. the tone on it is sublime. A very fitting tribute to an amazing guitarist and a genuinely good human being. I met Al once, at the Swannanoa Gathering, more than a decade ago. I'll never forget his warmth and open hearted generosity in sharing his music. He, along with Jorma Kaukonen, are/were my two guitar mentors.
❤🎶❤ Absolutely wonderful 👍 👏👏👏 🦋 🌈 Thanks 🙏🙏🙏
Thank you for this beautiful tribute, Doug. I hadn't heard of Al's passing until today when I got an email from Amy and I am shocked to hear this sad news. The world has lost a magnificent artist and a beautiful, kind soul as well. I'm comforted to know that his music will live on forever and will bring joy to those us who play it and listen to it in the years to come. RIP Al. 🌅
THANK YOU, Doug. Peace.
Beautiful. This will be the next Al Petteway tune I learn. I have Sligo Creek in my repertoire. Al’s passing has a left a big hole that no other contemporary artist can fill. We won’t forget him.
simply gorgeous, one of Al Petteway's sweetest compositions, congratulations!
Wonderful tribute…such tasteful playing and great feel. I’m sure Al would be thrilled!!
I echo all of the sentiments below, and add to that my gratitude to you as a quintessential fingerstyle virtuoso and composer. Thank you.
Beautiful
Beautiful tribute Doug. Like many others, I learned how to play fingerstyle by watching Al Petteway's numerous instructional videos. I was watching one when I heard he had passed. A sad day.
Thank you Doug for the beautiful tribute. I took a class from Al at Jorma’s Fur Peace Ranch and I am so glad I had the opportunity to learn from a master like Al! God bless both of you as well as Amy!
Doug, this is stunningly beautiful - condolences for the loss of your friend, and much appreciation for the musical and written tributes to Al Pettaway.
Absolutely beautiful... and a wonderful way to celebrate Al's love of music and the joy he gave to us all.
Thanks, John
Gig Harbor, WA
Beautiful job, and couldn’t agree more with everything you wrote. Miss him everyday and sad I don’t get to see him around the shop. The Blue Ridge Suite EP he released just before he passed is brilliant from start to finish.
Thanks for this write up and beautiful playing Doug. I think Al would approve. Like you, I was shocked to hear the news. Al was one of the first, if not the first guitarist that made me aware of playing traditional and traditional influenced compositions on steel string guitar in alternate tunings. I remember being in college, reading about him in Acoustic Guitar magazine, then going out to the local Borders and buying his Midsummer Moon cd. I was lucky enough to be able to learn from him and get to know him a bit for many years at the Swannanoa Gathering Guitar Week. He will be missed.
Beautiful tribute. Lovely playing. Al taught us all so much.
What wonderful playing, and such an honoring tribute!
Doug, thank you for a wonderful tribute to Al, who taught so many of us to play with something approaching that joy which defined so many of Al's compositions. As always, beautifully played.
We are all diminished by Al's passing. Thank you for keeping his music fresh. 🎶
Hi Doug, thank you for this beautiful tribute to Al. It's true, his compositions fall naturally under your fingers not because are easier, but because he was thinking where to play every single note in a natural way and never forced. I met him at the Swannanoa Gathering some years back and I have great memories of him that will stay with me forever. Ciao da Milano.
Beautiful playing of a beautiful song. Al had a great gift. Thanks for sharing
...... :( .......... . However.. Is it “the Al's hippie Martin with flowers“? :D