just ride standing up in a nice cushioned environment that keeps it from getting to hot or too cold. They do well in there.
[ WM ] Given the nature of a number of songs you play, acoustic guitar is very important. What are some of the most important things that an acoustic guitar player should be thinking about?
[ Daniel ] I first started playing acoustic, which was my first love. Before I ever started getting into electric guitars and amps and tones and pedals, it was acoustic guitar. That’ s what my Dad played around the house, and that’ s what I first learned on. I think it really helped me learn to get tones with my fingers and pick and just hearing the strings resonate. Without a cable, electronics, or any sort of effects or even a tube amp, the acoustic to me was the first way I learned to really get a guitar to resonate. To get a note to sing, or get any emotion out of the instrument, it was all done first with the acoustic.
So over the years I’ ve come back to it time and time again because I love playing on acoustic. You have to play it differently. It’ s a different instrument that an electric guitar in a lot of ways, so you’ re getting your tone based on how you hold your pick or use your fingers and strum, and where you’ re sitting on the neck. It’ s a really inspiring instrument, something I come back to a lot on tour.
This might be an answer to a different question, but we have these big nights on tour where we’ ll have lots of big songs and things we’ ve worked really hard on, and inevitably after the concert the people that we talk to a lot of times say,“ Man, I loved when you guys did the acoustic set!” you know? Those three or four songs that we did just on acoustic were really powerful. I think people resonate with it because you’ re stripping back all of the mystery behind the lights, sound and big noise. It’ s such an honest instrument in that way, and as an artist, you kind of can’ t hide behind it because it’ s just a guitar( laughs).
[ WM ] When working with another acoustic guitar player what are some of the strategies used as far as where you capo, the voicings you commonly use, and where you place your right hand?
[ Daniel ] My whole life as a guitarist has always been kind of the accompanying or secondary guitar role. Accompanying Chris is what I’ m getting at, so I let him decide where he’ s comfortable playing the song on guitar first. If he’ s playing G position, then yeah, I capo a lot, especially on acoustic. So there’ s a lot of capo, or sometimes even alternate tunings to try and find a different voicing. If he and I are both playing exactly the same thing, it’ s not that there’ s anything wrong with that, but it doesn’ t feel as deep, there is not as much depth to that.
When I learned to add some different chord voicings and play in a different position, that really was a secret for me unlocking the fret board. It was a big game changer when I realized that if he’ s playing in G, and I capo at the 3 rd fret and I’ m playing an E then, oh, that’ s the G barre chord. Then if I play‘ capo 5’( capo at the 5 th fret) and I play in D then that gives me a whole new position to play G in. So, if I imagine my guitar without the capo, I can play that D chord even without a capo and it’ s the same chord. The capo thing really became a language I had to learn to speak playing with Chris, because he likes to play in a couple of keys he’ s comfortable playing in because he’ s carrying a lot with leading, and singing, and lyrics.
I’ m constantly trying to let him be as comfortable as he can be and then I follow by being like,“ Okay, I’ m going to capo a little higher up.” Or maybe on another song he capos up high, so I go down low and play a half step down. That’ s a secret that we use a lot too, one of us will play a half step down to open up some different
October 2018 WorshipMusician. com
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