Willard's Wormholes

Teaches Traditional Guitar Instrumentals (1996)
Now You Can Play Just Like RT!

A mid-90s instructional CD by the great Richard Thompson. Subtitled “Unique Arrangements of Irish, Scottish and English Tunes,” this 34 track collection is really only for collectors (or guitarists), as it features acoustic versions of eight Irish dance jigs and Scottish bagpipe tunes & reels (with variations) arranged for acoustic guitar by Thompson. The “uninterrupted” performances are typically about a minute or two in length. On the other tracks, Thompson plays and breaks down the songs in sections to explain the necessity of pull-offs, hammer-ons and ringing strings. If you can find one, there’s also a 3-cassette version available out there that features RT playing and teaching his own classic compositions. But, as for this, there are a few nice treats fans may enjoy, including “Rakish Paddy,” which RT used to play with a well-known combo called Fairport Convention back in the late 60s. Find the entire package (w/ tabs) at Amazon.

“Banish Misfortune” (0:25)
Intro & Tuning (2:45)
“Banish Misfortune” (2:10)
Techniques & Breakdown (9:06)
Slow Version (1:29)
“McCloud’s Reel” (1:26)
Techniques & Breakdown (3:50)
Slower Breakdown (2:22)
Slow Version (0:55)
Traditional OpenTuning (1:10)
“Maggie Cameron” (1:28)
Techniques & Breakdown (4:11)
Slow Version (1:32)
Tuning Explanation (0:38)
“Dargai” (1:25)
Techniques & Breakdown (1:58)
Variation (1:04)
Accompaniment (0:58)
Tuning & Techniques (2:29)
Variations (0:54)
“The Poppy Leaf Hornpipe” Slow Version (1:17)
Slow Version With Variations (1:06)
Accompaniment (1:06)
“Rakish Paddy” (1:31)
Techniques & Breakdown (3:57)
“Jenny Lind Polka” (1:12)
Techniques & Breakdown (3:31)
Slow Version With Variations (0:58)
Intro & Tuning (1:12)
“Strathspey” (1:00)
Techniques & Breakdown (4:26)
Slow Version With Variations (0:55)
Wrap-Up (0:49)
“Strathspey” (0:34)