Greg Hansen and Darren Skanson Explore the World of Double Fingerstyle Guitar
Two guitar players from different worlds. One is the product of a classical guitar background; and the other is from the folkish-Chet Atkins-ish, jazz-ish world. One is nylon. One is steel. Together they become completed parts of each other — creating a sum that they refer to as “double fingerstyle.”
As the description implies, this is not a case of one guitar player strumming a rhythm while the other flat-picks along in melodic movements. Rather, this is a case where these two gentlemen cooperate in composition. They operate more like a quartet. In this manner, they can arrange their music to offer more than rhythm and melody, but also imply other parts, such as bass lines, or counter melodies and such.
Their craft, therefore, is a special one in that it results from a shared philosophy for arrangement that requires true determination and a significant investment of cooperation. Such dedication is the result of loving and respecting the original inspiration — enough to see it through the uphill effort to make sure it’s right — to be responsible to the intention.
Greg Hansen
Greg has been a professional musician for years, proficient as a hand drummer, guitarist, composer, arranger, instructor, and facilitator. Music has been his passion since he was a young child, only to be fueled with the emergence of the Beatles when he was 11. Inspired by these times, it set him on a path of playing guitar professionally settings for over 50 years.
Greg and Education
Hansen studied music at the University of North Texas, formed his own bands, and toured for over 30 years. In the mid ’90s, the djembe drum from West Africa crossed his path. He was reborn into an entirely new musical universe of rhythm. His newfound instrument led him into teaching, facilitating drum circles, and forming “drum orchestras” for performance. After creating drumming communities in Memphis, Tennessee, and Boulder, Colorado, he created a community in Longmont, Colorado, in 2008 that is still going strong. Greg has enjoyed teaching over 100 people per week of all ages and backgrounds for well over the past decade.
Learn to play with Greg at the Restoration Depot
On TheRestorationDepot.com, you can join Greg to learn to play the djembe drum using “The Hansen Method.” If you can talk — you can drum! The method is a little bit West African, a little bit rock-n-roll — and a whole lot of fun! In one hour you will learn a couple of rhythms and play along with Greg and his drumming mates for a ‘live’ group drumming experience. Whether you have experience or not you will be amazed at how quickly you are able to participate.
Darren Skanson
Darren is Colorado’s foremost classical guitarist and a versatile studio session guitarist. He has studied and performed on guitar for 25 years, reaching #8 and #11 on the Billboard’s Top Classical chart. Skanson’s original composition Rondo For Michael was the #6 most requested selection on the most listened to radio station in the world, Beethoven Radio. He has sold more than 100,000 copies of his 10 solo CDs.
Endeavors
Darren is the owner and chief engineer at CCM Studios, where he has been recording, writing, and producing for 30 years. Establishing the studio in 1995, Darren’s credits now include two Billboard charting CDs that he wrote, produced, and engineered, a Coalition of Visionary Retailers Award for his music Acoustitherapy, and hundreds of sessions and projects.
Darren has a bachelor’s degree in music with concentrations in recording, composition, and guitar performance from The University Of Minnesota, Moorhead. He spent several years touring nationally with progressive rock band Mata Hari, as well as the classical guitar and violin duo Watson & Company. Darren has recorded projects as diverse as classical, hip hop, metal, and jazz, as well as corporate work like music for video and voiceover.
Skanson’s compositions stretch the breadth of country to classical and Spanish guitar to traditional songwriting to modern works for film and TV. Whether songwriting, classical composition, film scoring, audio logos, or MIDI production music, Darren is at home in any of them. He was the composer and audio engineer for the TV series Shoot! and his music has been featured by Shutterfly and Belco Credit Union.
