Author Archives: gunnarsalyer

So, this collab was completely online, and done through banjobenclark.com the arrangements are also from banjo Ben Clark. Here’s the post at banjobenclark.com https://banjobenclark.com/forum/t/away-in-a-manger-mandolin-guitar-duet/10023/47 So, she asked me if I would learn this for an online collaboration, and of course I couldn’t turn down a fun request like that, so I said totally! So IContinue reading “Check out this Christmas song duet we did!”

This post is basically for my Instagram “link in bio” cuz I don’t want to change that link all the time, so here’s all my links on one page (subject to change without you noticing) My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChFeQSpLfyWuaTrtB4YORAg My Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/africanbanjogunnar/ My Blog: https://theoffgridmusician.music.blog/ My backing track website: https://backingtrackers.wordpress.com/ Dr. John Cockman interview:Continue reading “My links”

little disclaimer here: this is the first time I’ve interviewed someone, so be a little forgiving of my questions. Hey guys, today I’m excited to be interviewing Dr. John Cockman! For those unfamiliar with you, can you tell us a bit about yourself?  Hi Gunnar, thanks for requesting the interview. I started fiddling at the ageContinue reading “An interview with Dr. John Cockman”

So following on from my last post, here’s a video of me playing the guitar/dobro conversion It’s very quiet, cuz it’s a quiet guitar anyway and I’ve got it tuned down to F Anyway, that’s what I’ve been up to, playing this incessantly…. “When you learn a tune, learn one you like, cuz you’ll beContinue reading “Fireball Mail on my new “Dobro””

Well, I’ve wanted to do this for a while, I’ve played a couple of dobros before and they’re super fun and I’ve wanted one for a couple years. So, I just joined resohangout.com, and some people over there recommended I put a riser nut on an acoustic guitar to start learning. Shipping here isn’t reliableContinue reading “I’ll be joining the Dobro world!”

This is a beautiful tune, which is uncharacteristic for a banjo tune…. I first heard the Hartley family playing this on YouTube, and immediately wanted to learn it. This is about the fifteenth take, as I was having some trouble getting through twice cleanly. And I had to tune my banjo down half a stepContinue reading “The Dusty Trail!”

So all the time I hear people make comments about people like “oh he’s so musically talented, I could never get that good” etc. and it kind of irritates me. So I’m just gonna talk a little about being naturally talented vs practice. Now the assumption that most people seem to make is that toContinue reading “Natural talent vs Practice”

If you’re listening to that, I’ll explain what you’re hearing. That is the regional honeybees choir tryouts winners. Coming from windmill hive, they have some of the most talented bee singers around, and the director is none other than the amazingly talented Mr. Shuyeona. I joined them as an instrumental accompanist (each choir group wasContinue reading “Ashokan Farewell”

So I started recording this a couple months ago, and got almost done but didn’t add a bass track. Then I got busy and wasn’t able to finish till yesterday, when I decided to finish it and add some pictures so i could put it on YouTube. Well, I’m definitely not a computer person, thatContinue reading “Cherokee Shuffle feat. The pickin’ critters”

“Perfection is unattainable. But if we strive for perfection we may achieve excellence.” -Vince Lombardi (I think) So, as a musician, I’m always practicing, and there’s that saying “practice makes perfect” which is totally not true, but practice does make you better. So I’m on the journey of chasing perfection, which I know I’ll neverContinue reading “Practice, Perfection, and Professionalism”