Dan Crary Flatpicking Medley

[@DarthTwilight]

He's an exceptional guitarist and a pretty cool guy. Got to go eat dinner with him and a few friends after a gig about ten years ago, and this dude is an interesting character with a lot of good stories.

[@temriver]

Absolutely stunning. Dan Crary is one of the masters! Thanks for posting.

[@briandowdall1958]

Dan taught me that pick grip when he visited the UK in 1980's..changed everything for me...

[@poeta067]

Bonaparte`s Retreat is STUNNING....love so much....played so well by Mr. Crary.....

[@billieg826]

A phenomenal musician and a very good guitar teacher !

[@samartist9319]

All ..or at least..most of us competition pickers.. Learned Dan's material..I started back in the early 80's.. Great solid player! Highly recommend Dan's Music !

[@grahambrown3593]

Heard him live with Bepe Gambeta in Aberdeen. I think it was the richest sound I had ever heard. Thanks. Sure he is the greatest.

[@stevesprinceofsteaks]

Dan has always been one of my favorites. And that is high praise from a fiddler.

[@MichaelOfRohan]

Guitar is sloppy violin and they fall in love often

[@poeta067]

Excellent performance!! Congratulations Dan.....

[@tantoonie0]

I interview Dan last week for our newspaper, and he's even nicer as a person than he is good as a guitarist. Phenomenal.

[@murrmac]

excellent, fluid clean flatpicking from one of the all time greats. thanks for putting up all these great videos, Stefan.

[@beatlish]

Oh please...Tony and Dan are equally fine players with different approaches to flatpicking. Tony has a nice bag of trademark licks which he regularly throws into the mix, while Dan tends to work variations directly form the melody most of the time.

[@reddstewart]

Wow! Beautiful! Very moving!

[@monsterzero1965]

I remember teaching Dan it was rough at first but he eventually got it

[@nancychace8619]

Lol! 😀

[@jakemf1]

Just so musical

[@joesshitguitar3116]

Fantastic

[@1700roadstar]

What this man can do with a drop D tuning . I wish I could do that. That’s amazing.

[@nancychace8619]

Very good! Used to enjoy listening to him back in the day.

[@krautyvonlederhosen]

AND NOW?

[@nancychace8619]

​@@krautyvonlederhosen He hasn't crossed my newsfeed, for starters. Also I got out of the music business.

[@RandySchartiger]

Sweet! The man definitely has what it takes and THEN some!

[@rtgray7]

Awesome! Man I'd love to have that guitar!!!

[@belascialoja4812]

That 6-tape cassette program that Crary did, was it 1982? '83? for Homespun Tapes... I think they released Crary's tapes one month and Tony Rice's awesome crazy-selling set the next month, with Russ Barenberg's "Exploring the Fingerboard" somewhere in there too, and I was a big kid and wanting all of them, but couldn't afford them all. I got the first Crary tape and learned Julie's Reel and that crazy, long arrangement of Black Mt. Rag and then Blackberry Blossom. Still available, and absolute *goldmines* for flatpickers -- _especially_ the Russ Barenberg tapes. Gosh, the time we had for practice back before internet!

[@TheDaddyNaggins]

Amazing !!!!!!!!!

[@wesmanshaw]

Big Dan is a prof at some university in Ca. I met the guy, and spoke to him on different occasions-this looks like it's in Winfield Ks., at the Walnut Valley Festival; but I could be wrong. Dan's been one of the more prominent flatpickers for 30 years or so.

[@billieg826]

If you say Doc, Norman, Tony... you have to finish the sentence with Dan !

[@IHatchetJack]

This is 'drop D' tuning capoed on the 4th fret for those wanting to attempt Crary's style.

[@Tycho114]

@letebaguere You can also see it in the version of "Shenandoah" that's on KZbin. In his 2007 interview in Acoustic Guitar mag, Tony says there are difficulties in using that technique in a live context. By the way, I think the genesis of that technique for flatpickers is Clarence White; he started hybrid-picking when he was playing electric with the Byrds, and by all reports he had incorporated it into his acoustic style at the time he died.

[@johnthacker5171]

Awesome

[@needs2know1]

The first time I heard this guy was a download on Limewire and still to this day it is the best solo I have ever heard. I wish that could end up on youtube. I couldn't find it on iTunes but it was labled as "celtic guitar solo" or something to that effect. Can anyone help me out??????!

[@jasonginsberg5377]

needs2know1 I know this comment is quite old, but just in case, might this be what you're thinking of? kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqPWaXSdr5Z7m6s

[@cairnal]

Do you mean the Irish tune suite? It's on KZbin and Spotify, look it up and I bet that's it!

[@Lanearndt]

thanks for the tip, mornar75, i will check it out. I teach music for a living and have been a professional musician for 20 years. did a masters in music theory blah blah blah, I love every minute of it and I'm glad that what I said grabbed you! means a lot! cheers, la

[@toyman81]

Wow, this was 16 years ago,

[@chuckecory]

Dan Crary is my greatest KZbin discovery next to Tony Rice.......

[@thadmesser5329]

Next to Tony Rice,, for sure!

[@chuckecory]

Tony Rice is much better known and it's a shame because Dan Crary is SO GOOD!

[@GuitarSlinger2112]

Chuck Cory Perhaps I should point in David Grier's direction. :) (you're welcome)

[@matthewbuckley8936]

I spent sometime in California and Nashville tryin' to broaden my horizons. You can check out a cool medley that I picked up over there.

[@swvacollings290]

See some comments are a bit harsh Re: tone. Actually, remember this is a guitar through a pickup system from how many years ago? 20? Pretty amazing with nowhere near the normal “Quackiness” that still plagues many saddle based systems today. That’s a Dan Crary custom model Taylor. Taylors had a rep for being braced fairly rigidly back then, kinda like a Martin with a bad head cold. They’ve since redesigned, I’m told. It’s not a critique; they’re darn good guitars that sound great plugged in. Dan contributed to the design to give a less boomy tone for his flatpick style. Given the era, this sounded incredible IMHO.

[@bayviewherb]

Oh do I miss Berline, Hickman and Crary.

[@dreadnought45]

Thanks, beatlish.

[@dreadnought45]

I think it's a very low tuning down a whole step with a dropped D from E on the sixth string with the capo on the 4th fret which make it sound like he's playing in the Key of E. Hope it's not too confusing.

[@oddiomio1]

1:36 - 2:32 .....Wonderful....

[@flatpikinguitar]

@MrDJoers its not a baritone. its just a regular guitar in regular tuning. if anything just drop the low e down to a d

[@Mmmyess]

Not sure about the tuning, but he's playing a baritone guitar, which would also explain why it's tuned down and then capoed back up.

[@JTTrawick]

lol! dan crary rocks, but he cracks me up sometimes! haha!

[@chesshirecat2]

niice

[@bt7358]

@41452124 He's tuned down a whole step, with drop D on the top string

[@flatpikinguitar]

i dont see how david grier can hold the pick and control it like he does, but HE DOES.

[@flatpikinguitar]

@MrDJoers ive played this guitar before. its his custom taylor

[@Nashvilleagain]

. . . great to hear Dan again - superior ! Please check my Dan Crary video with Groundspeed in Germany ! ! !

[@Lanearndt]

if the music is in you, and you need to get it out then whatever technique you pursue will work fo ryou. Just look at PAt Metheny's technique in both hands. technically wrong on every level but oh so right because it allows him to make the music he does. Agreed that it seems improbable, David Grier as well, but they can do it because they HEAR it!

[@methodinsane]

Anyone know what pickup system he's using? I see an internal mic for starters.

[@IHatchetJack]

Pretty sure that Taylor was smoking near the end!

[@beatlish]

Apologies dreadnought45. I just capoed up and followed a few of the phrases and I think he is a whole step low.

[@letebaguere]

tony rice? check out church street blues or shenandoah on youtube- he most definetly fingure picking as well as flatpicking

[@beatlish]

It looks like standard tuning to me, though Dan does like to use dropped D when playing in D, as that low D gives him somewhere to go when he paints himself into a corner, and it gives a nice drome in Celtic material.

[@feralhybrid]

Of course JUNIOR, the church taught YE to remove yer offensive comment too late for me not to archive it. They teach pseudo-cuss words like the last on above too, I reckon. I'll book Crary again, no doubt about that. My great grandson loved 'im at the last show.

[@mornar75]

Lanerant,great comment !! :)) Have you read "the music Lesson" Judging from your deep comment, I yould say that you have if not you might want to give it a shot ! P.S. I have no clue why I wanted to respond to your comment, grabbed me I guess :)) book is by Victor L WOOTEN.

[@travis8947]

Is he holding the pick with 3 fingers? He seems to hold his right hand differently than other legendary pickers

[@gam1471]

Yes, he uses his thumb, index and middle fingers. He discusses the reasons for this on pages 104 and 105 in his book 'Dan Crary -The Flatpicker's Guide'' (Hal Leonard/Centerstream Publications).

[@travis8947]

@@gam1471 thank you. Know of anyone else who does that?

[@gam1471]

@@travis8947 I've read about others using this method - but I can't recall who.

[@travis8947]

@@gam1471 cool. Thanks for being so helpful

[@gam1471]

@@travis8947 My pleasure - keep picking!🙂

[@ghsr82]

Anyone know what tuning he is using?

[@spikedude55]

how do you even play that fast? my wrist cant even move that fast for very long without getting tired

[@peterpun1]

A Martin? Why? He plays his signature model Taylor.

[@gimpyjwilliams]

@lostcowhand so is martin thats all opinion

[@maggottilleternity]

@489177 Yeah? Why so?

[@ilovemydog6847]

Dump a day brought me here.

[@41452124]

What tuning is this? It sounds different.

[@popoaggie]

Dude, watch the video. He's capo'd on 4th fret.

[@d35s2]

It is a pity he plays Taylor and not his famous Mossman anymore. The Taylor sounds too thin and boxy for me...

[@GeordieHalma]

Dennis Schut I was thinking the exact same thing, a complete absence of a low end.

[@konnfusius]

well played. but he hands the pick like a pencil. i would use another (in my opinion) better technic by leading it with just 2 fingers!

[@FenceThis]

it´s a bit annoying witnessing how a fairly skilled guitarist seem to moreorless denying his perfectly functional and pretty long 4th finger permission to participate in the action most of the time.

[@feralhybrid]

It was deserved. Thump that bible elsewhere, it won't get ye a gig anywhere that counts. I work with Crary and his ilk on a regular basis, and don't intend to book YOU, either.

[@TheBibleWitness]

Dude, seriously, that's harsh. People like what they like, get over yourself.

[@johnnycmajor]

Pretty good his timing is a little sketchy in places.

[@geoffbendall9274]

Good listening but not clean by any means and goodness, that guitar is all "pingy" and lacking in full richness.

[@DrDizzleFrizzle]

It's because it's plugged in. You can't really play live without using a pickup, but yeah, electrified acoustics get all thin and lose most of their tone.

[@martinpleass913]

Its just a poor recording thats all, the guitar is huge in tone...youtube is not.

[@softailspringer9915]

Turkey in the Straw? Seriously? Why rehash worn out tunes like that, even if playing them at ridiculous speeds. There’s way too much showing off in Bluegrass.