Added: 5 years ago
From: massiveDestruction
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  • fantastic lesson

  • I've gotta say, that hop technique is pretty cool. I'm going to have to try it out!

  • @CelticSound65 Medium or medium/ light are fine. Depending on the action of your guitar, since your tuning down a little... Some adjustment could be necessary,but only if your guitar already has a very low action. You could also check out partial capos like the Kyser short cut capo, puts it in Esus tuning, which is basically a raised DADGad tuning.

  • I've always been a standard tuning guitarist but later went on to bouzouki and mandolin because I was able to express my playing better, however I may want to go back to guitar but tune it to DADGAD. do I have to change my string gauges for this tuning and if so, what gauges do any of you recommend? Thanks!

  • I had the privilege of making a signature guitar for this guy around 10 years ago when i worked for Lowden Guitars. What a guitar player

  • Loved your heart felt espression on the open strings. It rings beautifully.

  • I tune my guitar this way...

  • Pierre..you and kate B ..I still try!..JG

  • "DADGAD is not playing the music -- you are playing the music." So true, and yet I've never thought of it before. This guy is awesome.

  • Wow, I could listen to this guy talk and play all day. Very insightful, interesting stuff.

  • especially like you played out around 4.50 onward! I didn't know dadgad could sound like that..

  • shut up and play yer guitar

  • In standard tuning I was beginning to get stuck in routine forms with my playing, chords and other things were less inspiration and more repetition to the point where my playing was not progressing. Using these techniques and this tuning I've broken down some of the barriers I had built up and have been able to become a better, more rounded, and a much happier guitarist. :D

  • Inspirational teaching method. Simply a must watch lesson. Thank you very very much.

  • beautiful thank you for posting this !!! DADGAD is still my favorite i write more in DADGAD than in e standard

  • beautiful thank you for posting this !!!

  • breath......sigh....soo good man .....most awsome 

  • J'adore Pierre Bensusan mais il me semble moins accessible depuis qu'il ne s'exprime plus qu'en anglais!

  • @BubblingOne

    C'est un peu normal son public est surtout aux états unis

  • At 7:11 Pierre explains his magic secret that makes his playing sound more dreamy than any other guitar player -a technique that makes it sound like he has a piano sustain pedal hooked up to his guitar. I've never heard anyone else do this as effectively and effortlessly as Pierre. Except for Chet Atkins doing his rendition of "When You Wish Upon a Star" here on youtube search.

    watch?v=Dc9fbCzUzPU

  • im normall y a flamenco and classical player, his technique is a beautiful modern adaptation of old traditions. Really my type of playing

  • wow, that really did sound like bagpipes. i'd like to learn to play that.

  • What a pleasure to listen to. It was very gracious of Monsieur Bensusan to give us a glimpse into his inspiration.

  • CLAUDIO BELLATO THE SOLO CONCERT (ACOUSTIC GUITAR ,OBJECT,E-BOW AND LIVE ELECTRONICS)

    PLAYS RALPH TOWNER,KEITH JARRET,NINO ROTA & ORIGINALS (19 ore fa)

    /watch?v=69Mw-3szOzM

  • Great player and a very interesting approach.I have enough troubles without worrying about chasing Pierre Bensusan.Lol

  • Great demo and playing, and what a tone. Anyone know what guitar he's playing?

  • @ColinPRS its a lowden

  • @tylerjesus Thanks for that.

  • @ColinPRS I'm afraid me tylerjesus is wrong, Pierre is playing a Kevin Ryan guitar in this video

  • @MrCoolDude506 Thank you.

  • OK so all these years I've been playing in E, A, D, G, B, E and you show me this new tuning. Well its back to basics then. DADGAD now and two weeks in, coming along nicely. Even treated myself to a new guitar. Trouble is, are there any teachers out there that use this tuning? Pierre, I'm only a short boat trip away. 21 miles across the channel from Calais and 10 mins drive from Ramsgate. Pop in for a cuppa any time!

    Regards,

    IGK

  • Yup, I'm a convert. All my life with E, A, D, G, B, E and you show me this. Been trying DADGAD for the last few weeks and even treated myself to a new guitar. Sounds great, just need time and maybe a few lessons. Any teachers out there other than Pierre? Hey Pierre, I'm only just across the channel from Calais. Drop in for a cuppa if you're in the UK. 10 minutes from Ramsgate. Any time!

    Regards,

    IGK.

  • Just incredible!! I just started playing guitar 3 days ago and chose DADGAD for my entry because I am a celtic musician. I play flute, whistle, bodhran drum and McNally Strumstick- and sing....This is my first time with the guitar after an unsuccessful 2 months as a youngster- I am determined this time around! I really enjoyed your presentation- You are VERY likeable, and very interesting...Please keep them coming! Jamie

  • I like how really good guitarists are almost as interesting to watch (without sound) as they are to listen to.

  • inspiring!

  • your not arrmanian or libanian are you just to be sure your not a member of soad

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  • "excetera" (!)

  • The raeal deal!

  • So inspiring, thank you sir!

  • Shoot I'm all up for practicing my guitar to sound better but what do I need to do to sound like him when I talk. Yea my wife would like that.

  • He makes a mistake. Modal doesn't mean no 3rd, it's mean that you play in one mode (scale) and you don't play any note out of this mode unless you change mode.

  • @pascal27able

    Pascal, he's talking about an Open Modal tuning which has no third..but it's still within the 7 note scale. Modal can still be called modal even if it's pentatonic. He's also improvising using the full notes within mode as well.

    What he means is that the open tuning does not go outside a mode and does not commit to the the major or minor. There are many possibilities.

    This is one of the best demonstrations of the state of the art for finger style guitar there is.

  • son les mon tres bien ensemble

  • wow this guy is epic

  • What song is Pierre playing at 6:01?

  • @blinddog99 That song is Santa Monica, off his Solilai record!

  • Self Taught! WOW!

  • @L1feisg00d i paused it at that part.

  • genius

  • I hope he lives a thousand years. (In excellent health, of course.)

  • I represented Pierre in the US for about a year. I know a lot of guitar players. Pierre is a true genius. He's pure spontaneity. Music flows from his playing, not technique. Now if he would just get to the gigs on time...

  • thank you there is some thing very inspiring with the way you use your words. its as if you know how guitar feels to me.

  • more inspiring than any lesson I have ever personally had, Bensusan mentioning 'self taught' has shown how free you are to innovate, taking music from anywhere - brilliant!

  • i like this session very much as well! as for i am self taught myself i really enjoy lessons like these! my brain frankly shuts down when i'm watching lessons by teachers with a strong theoretically basis!

    i'll definitely try dadgad!!!

  • One of the best lesson I've watched in my whole life.

  • yeah it truly is

  • He's a wizard... just amazing!

  • La premiere fois que j'ai vu Pierre Bensousan joue, c'etait a LIEGE- a la SALLE DES CHIROUX il y a PLUS DE VINGT ANS!!! Il etait eblouissant. Un merveilleux guitariste. Mais c'est si difficile de trouver ses disques en Belgique.. Merci beaucoup Mr Bensousan pour m'avoir fait decouvrir la beaute de la guitare. Ensuite j'ai vu Marcel (Dadi) et Lalanne. Ah quelle joie immense de vous ecouter.

  • Must go off and practise my scales...

  • This has to be the best Intro to DADGAD on YouTube. Too many people just talk about the tunings and how you play it - Pierre talks about how you feel it. Awesome.

  • Even when he's just doodling, he sounds more musical than most guitarists ever achieve. Fabulous sound a great ideas.

  • I agree with j1mm... it is hard to know what to admire the most about this man - his adept hands, the phenomenal musical brain or the emotional integrity.

  • Thanks for uploading this video.

  • He makes my hair stand on end. His feel is incredible. He caresses the instrument in such a profound way. There's always someone better than you. And for most people, Pierre is that someone. ;-)

  • He's a great communicator, esp. not in his first language. I like his philosophical approach.

  • does anybody know which songs have quality like 4:55

  • One of his tracks called "Santa Monica" has some lovely use of those maj with 9th chords. But in general all his music is so rich with harmonic delight - you should just buy it all :)

  • does anybody know which songs have similar quality as 4:55 .

  • You bring peace to a lesson. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  • He kind of proves the old saying, "The guitar is the easiest instrument to learn, but the hardest to master."

  • excelent!

    i don't like when the "teacher" starts to play with no explanation, and just play until the end of the vid.

    Very concise, opened my mind =)

    man...how much wider is the possibilities of this instrument? That's why I love guitar!

  • It's like potato chips or salted peanuts--it's hard to eat just one. One idea is that playing music enables us to experience time differently--it gives us the feeling that normal time has stopped, and we are in control of a section of time for the duration of the piece. Holding the potential for such an experience in your hands is difficult to pass up. It makes me smile when people do that, because I do it a lot and it bothers people, and because it shows me they really enjoy playing.

  • very well said

  • etcetera! indeed...

    a wonderful insightful guitar lesson.

    Thank you.

  • i saw this guy with mike dawes last night both of them were completly mind blowing!

  • bon sang pierre why tu parles pas franchais

    où est le conseil de guerre et le roi roland

    ma soeur avait une prof d'anglais à paris XIII qui était je crois de ta famille

    j'ai découvert ta musique grace à ma frangine

    bravo

  • Depak Chopra of guitar!

  • i went to his concert yesterday!

  • In the Sugar Club? I was there last night, man it was so good!

  • Thanks for posting, very well said.

  • we have same surnames! lol

  • thank god for Pierre Bensusan

  • "DADGAD is not playing the music. You are playing the music." Genius.

  • Excellent musician, and great point of view! Thanks for uploading the video :D

  • 4:52-5:27 was so beautiful! This was so detailed and explained. Thanks for posting!

  • whoever posted it and then took it off is an f-ing waste of oxygen!

  • Guitar is an infinite instrument! GEE, that's what wise guitar players say! I've heard it from BB King, and now this guy? Total Respect for Pierre :D...

    He's one with his guitar!

  • where the hell is the alchemist video with the blue suit???????goddammit

  • its been taken of...

  • If I fell asleep tonight and woke up as this guy tomorrow I wouldn't complain.

  • But his wife might complain....ha.

  • hahaha

  • Comment removed

  • jreinke4 writes, "If I fell asleep tonight and woke up as this guy tomorrow I wouldn't complain."

    Hey, if I fell asleep and woke up next to this guy tomorrow, I wouldn't complain.

  • Now I understand completely why Hedges wrote music inspired by this man. He really is an amazing musician.

  • Wow! Words of wisdom:

    "DADGAD (or, more broadly spoken, the guitar), is not playing the music...YOU are".

    And

    "Take a step back to take a step forward".

    I would gladly pay for a dvd, or a website subscription to learn from this guy! It feels like he is sitting in my living room, rather than in front of the camera. A conversation, more than a lesson!

    Thanks for posting this!

  • I think you might be the Eric Cantona of guitar. Vrai ou merde?

  • Not untrue. Both of them 'made it' abroad as opposed to France.Pierre is better known in the States than in his homecountry. Cantona was worshiped in England but an outcast in France.

  • AMAZIN GOOD  FOR U TRES BIEN

  • si davvero mica dico palle

  • Wow.

  • he's nailin those scales!

  • 三哥 你太牛逼了~! 永远支持你~!

  • Being able to play anything in DADGAD that you would play in standard E tuning is why this guy is perhaps the best DADGAD/Alternate tuning player there is. What video is this from?

  • cool! thats the way i do it :)

  • Saw him in concert in Stockholm a few years ago. Just incredible, a true virtuoso.

  • this guy is great, now I know what my cousin was talking about. well back to the woodshed.

  • wow...and I thought I knew my guitar :-(

  • Just amazing. Such wonderful feeling in the playing. I've never been so in awe of scales!

  • Self-taught.....in that case, he really IS a musical genius.

  • Yes... so much insight from a self-taught guitarist is great. Where you talk about playing the guitar in the spirit of the piano, I think of it more as, in whatever I play, I play it as it is, as an instrument, and that's all.

    So do you learn songs by ear or do you get music?

  • Pierre Bensusan is the man

  • super la deco!!

    hey minette on veut voir jackson...

  • really Beautifull pierre,

    that is a fun tuning to play with

  • HOLY CRAP PLEASE POST MORE

    d(-_-)b

  • Fascinating...what a fantastic musician.

  • What a fantastically passionate man.

  • He's amazing. I think I'm in love. <3

  • Just brilliant - What an inspiration!!

  • Bensusan is Amazing. What an awesome person.

  • ricardo moyano and pierre bensusan.... great guitarists really...

  • great video!

    thanks!

  • wow its like pierre is teaching me guitar. nice!

  • I saw Pierre and Michael Hedges at the Varsity in Palo Alto, CA USA years ago. Very few impress me as much as Pierre and I play a few of his songs often. However I learned them in 'dropped D', not DADGAD. Back to practicing!

  • Man, that would have been like my dream concert...Hedges and his hero Pierre, two of the greatest ever.

  • you are so right with the practicing, you describe it so precise... And I really learned alot about DADGAD tuning.... thank you very much

  • Ben oui, c'est super, mais à quand des explication en français ?

  • le jour où Pierre sera reconnu à sa juste valeur en France comme c'est déjà le cas aux Etats Unis et en Europe.

  • je préfère qu'il reste discret... je penses que le bute de pierre bensusan c'est d'être guitariste et musicien ... pas une star

  • "You 'ave to make DADGAD discrete"

    That's a great point!

  • Inspiring, I think I'll give DADGAD another go!

  • DADGAD and Pierres playing. The reason I bought my Lowden 18 years ago!

  • simply amazing. pretty inspiring.

  • I play ONLY in open tunings. The chords in open are way more emotional, sensual, and expressive. I've been listening to Pierre's music for over 15 yrs. I think he's the most talented and creative guitartists out there. I will never ever forget the experience of seeing him play live in NYC years ago. It was a small venue and I got to shake his hand and chat with him afterwards. "Nice feeling"!

  • No way. I know that comparison of these two is foolish, but you got it the wrong way round. if one is the better musician, then it's bensusan by far. I feel that hedges (rest in peace), although a virtuoso, was too slappy. I'm not sure about that guitar slapping - it's a neat technique, but everybody tries to do it - I think a lot of guitarists think "wow, aint that cool - gotto do that.....". Anyway, i do like hedges - specially eleven small cockroaches - beautiful.

  • Ijust discovered DADGAD;;; whole new world unfold to me

    merci beaucoup...:)

  • It's his Kevin Ryan Signature Model. I own #2 in this series. He owns #1 obviously... Breedloves are nice, but no comparison.

  • Whew....wow! What a talent!

  • very very inspiring

  • Im also a Bensusan! Nice to see an artist carrying my name

  • Pierre-

    Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us.

    -ken

  • he was at the guitar workshop plus week 1 in toronto, his seminar and concert was AMAZING.....in his seminar he kept telling me to lift my hand off the guitar, so a mouse can fit through.

    i will never forget you pierre, you ROCK!

  • PIerre, on s'est connu à Edmonton en 1988 au Folk Festival. Vous m'avez inspiré à jamais. Merci de votre temps avec ces tutoriels.

    Yvon L.

  • Breedlove guitars are the bomb! They just about play themselves.

  • It's not a breedlove! It's probably his Kevin Ryan Signature guitar. Last time I saw him play he had just started to use it after using a Lowden for such a long time. I own a breedlove.

  • How I wish he was my neighbor. Can you imagine hearing that all day throught the walls. nice.

  • i'm really glad i watched this.

  • hello PIERRE !!! Merci beaucoup pour savoir si bien faire partager tes merveilleuses connaissances.

  • I wish I knew where this came from so I could hear more :)

    The suggestion about playing things that are usually more repetitive as melodies struck me as very interesting- I think I'll try that.

  • For those of you who may be new to Pierre, think George Benson meets Michael Hedges meets Nicolò Paganini meets Andrés Segovia - in French. He is the undisputed master of DADGAD tuning. His live performances are spiritual experiences... especially for guitarists.

  • Amen to that, saw him yesterday in Liverpool with my jaw dropped

  • too right - I saw him about five years ago when intuite was just out. He was playing in this pub in cleveland, it was a really small venue - probably about 100 people packed in this place, and I was in row 2. It was spiritually lifting man - no shit. I nearly wept with Joy, and i dont doo much crying, and I wasn't under the influence.

  • Ha! That's beautiful. Was first introduced to Pierre in early 80's by painters and sculptors in Philadelphia area who listened to him while they worked. No fellow guitarist I knew had heard of him. Saw him perform in a small cafeteria after his three-hour transportation delay due to a massive snowstorm. He finally arrived, sat right in front of my seat and unveiled a performance that had my head in the clouds for a week.

  • This man is great. I first saw him on a celtic guitar dvd I recieved from netflix. does anyone know if there are any tutorial videos floating around? I really like his philosophy, but would like to get down to the actual lesson.

  • I have experienced Pierre live on numerous occasions and always leave feeling spiritually burnished; Great stuff!

  • There are some real pearls of wisdom in what tou have to say, thank you so much.Often free advise is free for a reason!

  • I don't agree with the idea that someone who tries to learn Hedges songs should be considered a Hedges wannabe. Many people simply want to learn it because they like it, and/or because they feel it would help them expand as a guitarist, because of how hard it is to learn. If you have to improve in order to learn a song, then you're benefitting from it. The question of identity never comes into my mind anymore. I loved this vid.

  • Spoken like a true guitarist, we hear a gorgeous piece of music we want to own it, to learn it ,master it, rip-offs, wannabees, just dont come in to it

  • sunbeams7 -- I will agree that many guitarists try very hard to create something very original and new, but as Pierre himself alludes to in this video, he has derived technique and inspiration from classical and flamenco techniques. Denying our influences is impossible, as we a product of history. Read Milan Kundera's book "The Curtain" if you're interested.

  • I think you misinterprate my comment! I was not being "sarcastic" or "flippant". I truly embrace my influences when I play (for my own enjoyment), I delight in pinpointing phrases plucked from other styles, I certainly dont deny them. I may look up that book "The Curtain"just to see what your talking about!!

  • I saw Pierre Bensusan play in Odessa, Ontario, Canada two years ago at the National Fingerstyle Championships. What an incredible, magical experience. Technical wizardry aside, the beauty of this man's music is just beyond compare. Please come back to Canada soon.

  • I saw this man perform once in a small New York City cafe; he was humbling yet humble. A tremendous talent and a really charming personality. One of the greats.

  • Thanks so much for this video -really helpful.

  • Thank you for this lesson, its really very very good.

  • i dont understand why anyone who plays in DADGAD or uses tapping is automatically labelled as a "Micheal Hedges wannabe". personally, i dont want to be anything like micheal hedges, i dont want to play like him i dont want to sing like him, i just happen to play in DADGAD and I do two hand tapping.

  • The same thing with a pick; anyone who alternate picks 16th notes above 200 BPM with a pick is a shredder.

    Anyone who taps is a Van Halen rip-off.

    Anyone who's percussive on guitar is a Hedges rip-off

  • I'm the guy who wrote about "so many Michael Hedges wannabees". Don't get me wrong, I say it tongue-in-cheek because their vids get more views than Bensusan. All guitar players should enjoy its majesty no matter what level they're at. I'd like to clarify one more thing I believe may have been misinterpreted in my post. Bensusan is no Hedges wannabee. If Hedges is King Arthur, Bensusan is Merlin. I'll take magic over glory any day.

  • what a legend

  • There are so many Michael Hedges wannabees out there. Many of them are quite good. However, as a guitar player, I find none of them to be as musically mesmerizing as the sound of Bensusan. DADGAD is not a gimmick for him, it's a launch pad.

  • Well, at least we can congratulate the Justin Kings or the T-Cophony's or the Kotaro Oshio's for not taking the MTV-path and making crap pop-rock albums....or even worse, rap!

    I'm so glad that there are so many wonderful PLAYERS out there right now. It still shows that the guitar will live on. Too bad these guitar players cannot even touch the musicality of Hedges.

    Basically, great shred acoustic/electric PLAYERS are a dime a dozen. But great MUSICIANS are rare.

  • he is THE BEST!!

    I worship him as a god :hail:

  • ahhh..santa monica..i love that song..its at around 6 minutes..

  • Pierre is easily one of the Greatest guitarists ever. An original and a musician who can do almost anything. Even Michael Hedges wrote a tune in hommage to him.

  • An hommage that I covered on my channel. *grin*

  • My first guitar "lesson" was with this guy - I learned more in 3 hours than 3 years flubbing around the fretboard on my own. Hopefully THIS video doesn't get taken down for copyright infringement.

    Many thanks.

  • saffron, i was crushed when one of his videos got taken down for copyright infringement, i wish i knew where to find it -- i have the VHS of him, but I cannot find the other videos that were up here -- any ideas on where they came from? the murtagh mur kahn (not sure i got that right but im in a hurry)