This is Part 1 of a Two-Part Series about one of the world’s most musically gifted guitarists, Preston Reed. Come back tomorrow for Part 2, an interview with Preston including insights about how his guitar playing evolved, his practice schedule and the best advice he’s ever received.

I have known world renowned guitarist Preston Reed for about 20 years. I originally learned of him through an interview he did on Minnesota Public Radio. As part of the interview he played one of his compositions live in the studio. I had studied classical guitar and lute through high school and college but also played a little 6 and 12-string guitar. I was completely astonished at the musicianship I heard from Preston, and realized immediately I wanted to learn how to play fingerstyle guitar like that.

So on a very motivated whim, I gave Preston a call and asked if he would be willing to teach me his fingerstyle technique. So for many Thursdays in the early 90’s I went to Preston’s home in South Minneapolis (he moved to Scotland 10 years ago) and learned how to play fingerstyle guitar from one of the most musically gifted guitar players in the world.

Reinventing the Guitar

By the late 1980’s Preston Reed was already well on his way to inventing a completely new method of integrating percussion with guitar. His style requires an ideophonic lexicon of guitar terms unique to Preston such as: kick drum, rimshot, high-hat, bongo, conga, slap harmonics, double hammer-ons and hand claps. When you see him play you’ll easily see how he has expanded the guitar to integrate percussion and revolutionized guitar playing. Preston is one of the most creative, innovative and relentlessly dedicated people I have ever known in my life. I’m very pleased to be able to share his career and musical journey with you.

It’s a bit tricky trying to describe Preston Reed’s style, but I’ll give it a try. It is rhythmically powerful, melodically mesmerizing and meticulous to the point of haunting perfection. His original compositions are as complex and unique as his bold, virtuoso technique. His tunes are often multi-flavored with elements of jazz, funk, rock, blues and ballads in a completely orchestrated and integrated masterpiece that is most likely unlike anything you’ve ever heard from one solo guitarist before. Preston’s exploratory evolution of acoustic guitar technique has quite literally transformed the instrument and directly influenced many of today’s most talented young guitarists including Kaki King and Andy McKee. That’s why if you do a Google search for ‘the world’s most gifted guitarist’ you are likely to find Preston Reed.

My interview with Preston will post tomorrow.

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