Adam Rafferty - Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder - Solo Fingerstyle Guitar

[sopwithcamels266]

Well Hey man checked out your work on YouTube.I really dig it man.I been a jazz sax player longer than I care to remember.The only other thing I do of course blues.Usually compose and write on guitar rather than piano I know my way round the axe.I think the most important thing that some how you can't teach and that's your individual expression and delivery.

Your approach is sublime.It is approach and delivery makes any music hip.

 Students of any of arts take note.He tells a great story

[crescentridge]

@sopwithcamels266 One of the greatest comments I've ever recieved. Thank you my friend. Believe me, I have studied more Bird, Diz and Trane than most guitar pickers would imagine. (A bebopper in disguise, they call me....)

[UnstoppableIT]

Guitar Hero on a whole nother level

[MRHARRY76]

This is immense!

[orilliajunction]

sweet pickin

[flyingsoundmachine]

Rockin the Sennheisers! I would never take mine off. But I have to sleep.

[mikhailchetvertnikh1]

this is beautiful

[grididamore]

Hey Adam!!! You're incredible!!!!!! What is your secret ingredient for your sympathy? :)))

[BlueScrn]

Lovers keep on lovin'

Believers keep on believin'

Adam Rafferty keep playin'

Adam Rafferty keep sharin'

I love how you keep sharing your playing on YouTube and every time you upload a new video it makes my day so much better. I much appreciate your hard work Adam and you make the world a little better place through your music, thank you!

And do you know if you are coming back to Finland some time? Only seen you live once with Tommy Emmanuel and it just wasn't enough!

[crescentridge]

@BlueScrn Man, thank you so very much. Knowing that you and others enjoy the music is really what it is all about!!!

[pullinstringstheband]

This guy has the best inner clock I've ever heard. One of the finger style greats.

[BruTuX]

Dude... You have such a feeling... Woa... Thanks for all !

[1onlyphil]

As always .... Great pickin Adam!!!

[guitarbehm]

Yes!

[The251Jazz]

Hey Adam I just got your Stevie Wonder video for Christmas and it's great. Do you have any other fingerstyle material I could buy (perhaps this)? 

[crescentridge]

@The251Jazz Hey man - nice screen name :-) I have a Jackson Five DVD, a II-V-I line and there will be a new 2012 Stevie Vol II DVD with this song, Isn't She Lovely, and others...hope you enjoy Stevie Vol I!!!!!

[Kobold833]

wow 364 (now 65) votes and not a single negative one...let's keep it that way ;)

[jimmybarcusdotcom]

Adam- your work is inspiring! Thank you for posting this, it will help me improve my own fingerstyle playing!

[TheWHEELS1952]

Your mind clock is spot on - I particularly like the way that you tackle a wide range of songs not normally covered by other guitarists. Just bumped into you tonight - very pleased to hear you.

[jdmguitar100]

Brilliant playing and arrangement. Thanks for the inspiration.

[steveshowse]

Once again, just amazing stuff Adam. A musician's musician, thanks so much for posting. Love the stink face! :)

[MrFlipvanSchil]

Dude!! So amazing! Need a drummer? ;)

[heidegger101]

your faces are great and with playing that good you can make any faces you want ! bravo !



[tubemacs57]

Simply great! great groove & timing as usual, makes my feet move and itchy hands to bring my axe and give a try to play it! I'm sure I could do half of it in a couple of years :))

[carvetop01]

Brilliant. The Funk Maister strikes again.

Cheers,

allen

[KMatteKudasaiC]

Stevie did it funky, Michael did it hard rock, and now you've done it mellow :P

[acousticstation]

ONLY Adam Rafferty can play and write an arrangement of a Stevie's tune like this!!!!great as usual!!!

[wonkapi]

aaaa.... this note that keeeep on ringing... love it

[leonardodcifali]

what is the tunningg, please??

[Drenius]

Oh my God! You and Tommy Emmanuel must be cousins! You should make both a CD together, that would be mind blowing

[gitarrelev]

fucking awsome shit!

[yojulaula78]

So much impressive ! Great ! As usual... :)

Yoann

[Razylia]

13 640 views... is it a joke? seriously?

[crescentridge]

@Razylia Whaddya mean, you think I should have more? Me too!!!

[Razylia]

@crescentridge

Yeah, many more ! around 1 million haha :D There's a fantastic grooove, i loooove it

[spacecowboy2k]

@Razylia I agree with you Razylia, he should have 10x that already!



[LIVEfromLATV]

How can I get a copy of this instrumental??? I'd love to remake it, and put it on my free mixtape...free promotion for you and Mr. Wonder.

[crescentridge]

@LIVEfromLATV Send me your private email, I'll send you the audio only...- AR

[scottdylan20]

This was awesome!!! Supreme, but isn't it an RHCP song?

[crescentridge]

@scottdylan20 Ahhh, the generation gap! :-) RHCP covered the Stevie Wonder song - listen to the original, you will love it!

[VanceEllis]

Adam, this is amazing. As usual! I've also been thinking about making the switch from Taylor to Maton, and yours sounds great! Do you mind me asking what model you are using? Thanks

Vance

[crescentridge]

@VanceEllis Its a Michael Fix model....EGB 808-c

[VanceEllis]

@crescentridge Much thanks, my friend! Keep up the good work Adam. Hopefully we'll see you over here in Indiana sometime! :)

[Ingorin]

Awsome, i am speechless ! Its brilliant !!!!

[lostprophet912]

This is why I read tabs.. No music notation on the face of the earth can give you instructions on the timing of this amazing groove.

[HeartaQ]

This is truly inspirational!

[Tommy7FilmEpidodes]

It's been some time since I have heard a fingerstyle arrangement with such a FUNKY BASS LINE, performed by anyone, as perhaps, just that type of song is not so commonly orchestrated to solo guitar, but, I anyhow, seem to see more Folk and Jazz selections on YT, and so, I mean to say it was refreshingly diff to see and cool to hear. Oh, Rick Ruskin now comes to my mind; some of you all might really like some of his funk/soul arrangements, admist his many styles and U 2, Adam R,ifUdon'tknowTXU : )

[Tommy7FilmEpidodes]

@Tommy7FilmEpidodes PS I couldn't make out the model of guitar U have quite on my screen, could I ask U to tell us. It sounded very good and with the full round spectrum of sound. What sort of hardware and software did U use to capture your recording, or was it just done with a good mike and video cam direct? LoL,,I remember when they used the Swiss Nagy, tape reel portable decks in stone chapels to get ideal natural sound for guitar!Today, it's not necessary; & w chromakey U can be anywhere!

[medicinalsnowball]

Oh put on your baddest stank face. Yeah

[MrBMJ]

love the face at 0:26

[jingobusu]

so fantastic!!))

[MrFickleFriend]

Perfect...

[jojoguita]

Marvelous, wonderful!!!

[bencongkridem]

You officially become my Inspirational Guitarist beside Tommy Emmanuel and Chet Atkins...I luv both Maton and Cole Clark too!!

Greetings from Beautiful Country Indonesia!!

[crescentridge]

@bencongkridem Thats a great honor, to be mentioned with them Thank you!

[bigdood]

bencongkridem -- if you ONLY knew how much that meant to Adam.... LOL!!! I was fortunate enough to be involved with Adam when he was agonizing over making the "switch" from pure jazz to Tommy Emmanuel fingerstyle guitar about 4 years ago... He was just perking along being one of the jazz greats -- and he heard Tommy play -- and that was one of the main reasons he switched styles. And the world is now a much happier (and definitely more melodic) place to live. :-)

[crescentridge]

@bigdood Yessir!

[MrAtheist94]

Awesome jam, nice beat!

[dixymint]

hey adam do you play "GERRY RAFFERTY "GET IT RIGHT NEXT TIME"

and long train running they would sound great from you

[dukedevil2014]

so smoooooth

[DonPohlino]

Stop it Adam!...I've been "offline" for a short while now I am back on and what do you do?

Now you are playing one of my all time favorite songs with such ease and feeling...this is almost like I am back on some sort of drug...

yah, I guess it's a rafferdiction!

[shmizkin]

You have such an amazing feel and groove...god bless you man!

[nicolaetanasescu]

Hi , Adam. Happy Birthday! Only health and continue to play the guitar;)!

[mrbiberbruder]

Cool sound... Your style is great

[badblackdays]

O_O Just FuCKING AWESOME!!!!

[johnhorneguitar]

Listening again - it sounds even better. Nice seperation of the melody with those long, sustaining notes ...

[feleru]

This is sick......

You are the men..

[MathijsMoonen]

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAH

[DoubleS1987Guitar]

This is what we all want to hear.. Great!!!!!

[sundaygbrown]

So great groovin'!

[gurreu]

You and Pino Forastiere are masters of facial expressions.

I just love it.

[sergman84]

absolutley magic! great rendition. what type of mic are you using to record your videos? Are you using multiple mics? great stuff Adam. wish you could stop by the bay area to play a few shows!

[EmsCD]

You really are a MASTER, Adam. Groovie number, toe tappin' - dancing through my livingroom! ;-))

Cheers, Jara

[YummyPork]

It's all good but my favorite part was the dig-a-dang diggitty-wannnnng part. Very nice!

[FossUlrich]

Frack YEAH!

[BOOMCHICK75]

Amazing as always Adam!!!

[liquidgoose]

good god that was funky....

[3TwelveProductions]

Beautiful playing and arranging Adam.

Subscribed yesterday and back for more today!

Bob

[crescentridge]

@3TwelveProductions Thanks Bob!

[TheMordred666]

Is there any way to have the tabs of this song?

[crescentridge]

@TheMordred666 Hopefully they will be on a DVD later this year - I am working on getting permissions now...

[TheMordred666]

@crescentridge ok!! waiting for.. ;)

[rafaelrmf]

Nice!

[raygoshay1400]

Mondo smooth. Excellent throughout...

[TheBarry33]

Adam, I just found a Cole Clark dealer in Montreal. Could you tell me what model you have and perhaps the wood, if different woods are used within one type of model. I also wondered why you didn't get a cut away? I'm also considering a Larrivee. Do you know that brand?

Barry in Montreal

[crescentridge]

@TheBarry33 Barry I no longer have my Cole Clark but I had an FL2AC - standard. It did have a cutaway but was too big for me....check the Angel models, they are smaller like the Maton you see me play . Good luck!!!

[wowamazing123]

THAT WAS SICK! :D

[peperinjo]

Wow Adam, you are ready for another Stevie Wonder DVD. Beautiful stuff!

[BlueScrn]

Simply amazing as usual. I enjoy every single cover you've made and I really hope we can see you back in Finland some day. Until then we have the lovely YouTube!

[omenranger1]

One of my favorite songs .. Thank you Master .. \m/

[violeirosurbanos]

Fantastic, Adam!

[PabloCreep]

Nice arrangement!

[heyyitsthai]

@crescentridge Thanks a bunch! :)

[xMPCxx]

Man...ur a beast...i need to take some damn lessons asap. Classical or jazz?

[crescentridge]

@xMPCxx Whatever you feel more attracted to.

[ElChivu34]

Wow Amazing, first video ive ever seen to not have any dislikes , haha great

[Bigerjoel]

Yeah ! Great job !

[quesapa]

WOW! This is finguer style!!!!!! Love it!!!

[heyyitsthai]

Does anyone know what tuning this is in? :)

[crescentridge]

@heyyitsthai Low to High - D G D G B E

[razav2]

I Just Learnt This On Bass ;D !!! Dude Do You Have Twitter Because i Sooooo Need To Follow You Your A Frickin' Genius !!!! <3

[razav2]

I Just Learnt This On Bass ;D !!! Dude Do You Have Twitter Because i Sooooo Need To Follow You Your A Frickin' Genius !!!! <3

[crescentridge]

@razav2 thanks! twitter name is adamrafferty

[razav2]

I Just Learnt This On Bass ;D !!! Dude Do You Have Twitter Because i Sooooo Need To Ffollow You A Frickin' Genius !!!! <3

[MissDanielaBarroso]

This man is amazing :D

[MikeLibman]

I'd pay to learn this 1 awesomely done!

[janludvigsen]

hey Adam! :-) Another amazing rendition!

tell me, when you record these clips, do you play really low..as in gentle..? :-)

[Hennock888888]

I enjoy every single cover of you! :)

Awesome arrangement and play, like always! :)

Could you please tell me your set-up? With microphone do you use? Or do you plug it in some amp for addition? Please tell me! ;)

Thumbs up, so that other guitar-players can see your response :)

[crescentridge]

@Hennock888888 On my channel page near my bio - I have a link which will take you to my blog post,describing recording detail! If you have trouble finding it lemmme know. God bless!

[semionbahtin]

cool



[therealzooch]

Shtevieeee.

[teunv111]

Just.. Amazing!

[nurikara]

by the way Adam, are you planning to include arrangement tab's/instruction, either on your website or for purchase.

Since this particular one is very new, i guess it didn't make it's way into earlier releases you have available for purchase in your website.

I guess it would be a good idea to have info on availability included underneath the video since many ppl will be curious to know.

[crescentridge]

@nurikara I have asked for permissions to create a second Stevie Wonder DVD as of a day ago. I will need to clear all rights, and I'll keep you posted. For any pop tune, I cannot release tabs without permission. Stand by - I'll keep you posted! Thanks for watching!

[nurikara]

Another Stevie Wonder arrangement! Right on! it's great!!

[simpletunes2]

Great stuff. Such style.

[HarryMurrell]

Man this is fantastic. Keep it up.

[DavetheIV]

Ooooooooooooooooahahahahahah! wish I could play like this, stunnin my man, some 20 years ago Stevie was my hero, you've brought the pleasure and tingle back again, thanks!!!!

[JMDenver]

Awesome! You continue to take songs that most people did not think were suitable for solo guitar and make them come to life. Happy New Year! Looking forward to more songs from you in 2011. -John

[sully41189]

awesome dude! i love listening to you do these covers, inspires me to get better at playing.

[SergeMARC1]

It's a pretty good begining ! 

[chaz23j]

OH YES!!! :)

[fendermac]

I just found (in a huge pile in the bathroom) an old Guitar Player with you and Greg Koch as the featured 'new boys'...I've said it before and I'll say it again - I'd love to hear you plugged in and cranked.

Mind you,this is still absolutely tremendous....

[crescentridge]

@fendermac That was a long time ago....if I recall. I was 23. Now I am 26 :-)

[fendermac]

@crescentridge ...Lol.I would never expect a true artist to get the numbers right.

[dopemcee]

@crescentridge man..26 aint what it used to be....

times have changed..

[YTimshel]

Great ! You really manage to have a sound of your own.

[Groove25]

Great as ever! Thanks and a Happy new year!

[TheJacklex37]

Congratulations!!!Great!!!  Happy new Year!!

[vajranurse]

Oh yes indeed!

All the Best for 2011 Adam... come play London!

Saddhasura : )

[Mennoman20]

Do a cover of Sir Duke !!

[pasha355]

@Mennoman20 already done))

[crescentridge]

@Mennoman20 I did - just search my Stevie Wonder playlist!

[carot2003]

Smooth, like it...

[MasterMaandag]

what kind of guitar are you using?? love the sound;)

[BoeckmannLudwig]

Awesome groove, man!

Martin

[aidybopification]

Funkadelic and Groovalicious.. from beginning to end. Great playing Maestro Rafferty!

[squidskunk]

very very clean playing...GREAT..!

[gallito1010]

thumbs up !!

[KrigenRo]

Your fingering looks so light and natural it's like there's no effort at all to hold the strings. Simply amazing. It's guys like you that keep me inspired to practice every day as I start down my journey of learning to play guitar.

[VLombardi01]

Very cool!

[erickim77]

I love the considerate and delicate sound of each notes you make in all of your playing including this one. I love this too.

[TheTrojanEffect]

@erickim77 I second that, awesome playing

[JesseMathews]

Groovy man really groovy :)

[krucify87]

this is SICK. you the man, mr. rafferty!

[ThinkingDog06]

SWEET!!! Funk-master, that's tight! Really great arrangement, groove-tastic as always, the BEST. Thanks (again) for the inspiration!

[puika1987]

awesomely awesome I would say and yes you are an awesome player :-)

[berean315]

One word...Funky! Excellent.

[Pen2AndyP]

This cover is so boss! Put this on your next DVD! I'd get it in a heartbeat.

[crescentridge]

@Pen2AndyP I am hoping to do a Stevie Vol II later this year if I get permissions - this will be on it for sure, if the project works out!!! Stay tuned.

[270Gmoney]

@crescentridge If you do a Stevie Vol II make sure Isn't She Lovely is on there! I learned most of it from watching you play but I keep getting hung up in some spots! Awesome Cover

[crescentridge]

@270Gmoney Isn't She Rubbery will be teh song of choice if there's a new DVD. I'm thinking that, Higher Ground ...Cherie Amour and I need one more....any ideas? Sunshine of my Life? I want to pick a pretty well known one. Lemme know your thoughts!

[DHGroove]

This gets a favorite.

[philrafferty]

This is great!!! Man do you have soul! Well done.

[MsNingles]

Very awesome :D

[SIRONEDRAGON]

Adam So fun to watch you play those tunes .!! Great playing : )

[Coppertunes]

I've got a list of tunes that I want to learn, going to stick this one right at the top, very inspiring.

Probably take a few months though!!

[patrickdickesonsmith]

the 301st viewer only has 7 days.....

[Oswlek]

Awesome.

[johnhorneguitar]

Aw yeah!

[FriggnDiggn]

That is too kool!

[chappahx]

man, u're a monster on this!

[TomEMaddox]

Wonderful Adam! What a great way to start the New Years weekend!

[SuperGuitarFreak94]

This is Amazing As always, May what make and Price your guitar is as the sound is Phenomenal? Also Please Tab this!

[retsofnalanosaj]

Sweet! How about "All Day Sucker"? You would rock that shizz!! Thanks Adam.

[Musicsavedmysoul1]

This vid makes me wanna say: "AH YEAH"

[bluesgurugod]

Oh YEAH!!

It's about time you got back to doing some real music... Stevie rules!!!

This beats ten MJ covers!

[crescentridge]

@bluesgurugod Shhhhh :-)

[dopemcee]

@bluesgurugod did you really just diss michael jackson?? son of a bitch

[jeepcjay5]

Adam Funkerty

[Oxiic]

love your epic face expressions