Email
PrintFinger-picking good with the Tulsa Guitar Society
Providing an avenue for local musicians to hear concerts, perform and share tricks of the trade.
In summer 2005, Tulsa solo guitarist Rod Saunders traveled nearly 200 miles to Wichita, Kan., to listen to a finger-picking guitarist. After the performance, Saunders asked the guitarist whether he had plans to play in the Tulsa area. The answer? The same one many renowned musicians give — no.
“I thought it was a shame we don’t have concerts like this,” Saunders says. “A lot of these great guitar players just play on the East and West coasts, Dallas and Kansas City. They bypass Tulsa.”
The Kansas concert had been organized by the Wichita Guitar Society. After talking to its director, John Francis, Saunders was motivated to create a similar organization in Tulsa to add more dimension to the city’s music scene.
“It was partly for selfish reasons,” he says. “I wanted to have concerts like other cities.”
By September, Saunders and a group of five musicians met for the first Tulsa Guitar Society meeting. Today, that crowd has swelled to 30, and their ideas are growing just as quickly.
For two years they’ve saved their money to begin the legal work necessary to obtain status as a 501(c)(3) organization — a status that will allow them to become a tax-exempt nonprofit, accept donations and hold fund-raisers. Other areas of interest include creating outreach programs in Tulsa area schools and helping underprivileged kids learn to play guitar who might not otherwise have the means to do so.
In addition, the Tulsa Guitar Society has plans to create an artist concert series that will bring renowned solo guitarists to the area who would have previously sidestepped Tulsa. Saunders also plans to attend a guitar society conference in Austin, Texas, in June, where he will learn innovative strategies to increase the impact the society has on the community.
“I’ve never done this before, so I’m learning as I go,” Saunders says. “There’s another dimension to music besides rock, country and blues, and that’s what we’re trying to make people aware of. Guitar is the most popular instrument in the world, but a lot of people don’t know about solo guitar playing. We’re slowly having an impact. Young people come up now who are exposed to us and see there’s another side to playing guitar.”
The club meets from 2-5 p.m. every second Sunday of the month at the Agora Internet Café, 4959 S. 79th E. Ave. The free meetings encourage musicians to discuss different guitar- picking styles, such as flamenco, jazz, classical, folk, new age and blues. Local performances are announced, guest speakers make presentations, members share techniques and approaches, and an open mic session concludes each meeting.
“I’d never met a flamenco guitarist until I started the society,” Saunders says. “As a result of the organization, I’ve been exposed to so many different styles and instruments I’d never seen before. It’s opened up my eyes to the possibilities of guitar playing like never before.”
Finger Style Showcase
March 2, 7:30-9 p.m.
Timko-Barton Hall, Oral Roberts University, 7777 S. Lewis Ave.
Free; open to the public.
