Hiroya Tsukamoto’s Orchestral Fingerstyle | Acoustic Guitar Session

Taking time out from a recent West Coast tour, fingerstyle virtuoso Hiroya Tsukamoto stopped by the AG offices to share some songs. Originally from Japan, Tsukamoto got his musical start on the banjo as a teenager, and in 2000 moved to the US to study guitar at Berklee College of Music in Boston. These days, he’s renowned not only for his masterful technical ability on the six-string, but also for his sublime compositions. Tsukamoto’s expansive and exploratory approach to music is on full display in this three-song session.

First up are a pair of DADGAD pieces: the graceful “From Coast to Coast,” and “Gemini Bridge,” on which Tsukamato uses a looper pedal to create a sonic experience inspired by the Moab desert. The third piece, “No Matter How Far,” is in Orkney tuning, C G D G C D.

Tsukamoto plays a custom handmade model from Yen Guitars.

Learn how Tsukamoto employs his looper in this lesson. And check out his arrangement of “The Water is Wide.”