Discovering Bruce Keener

I thought it might be interesting to write a series of posts introducing Toronto Fingerstyle Guitar Fans to some interesting (although not necessarily well known), guitar enthusiasts I have crossed paths with in my exploration of this great genre of guitar playing.

For this post, I would like you to meet Bruce Keener.  I have not actually met Bruce in person yet, but I sure know him through his many posts on a discussion board I frequent called “The Chetboard” and through his YouTube Channel “drkeener” (he’s not really a doctor but a lot of his friends call him “Doctor Keener”).

Right away you can tell the kind of person he is as he defines himself by what is really important:

“Retired in 2006 after almost 40 years of work. Widower with two children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.”

Of course, Bruce has a a long list of professional accomplishments but, to the above I will only add that he is a great Blogger, an incredibly knowledgeable Chet Fan – as well as about music in general – and a real fine picker!

What attracts me to Bruce’s playing is that he plays tunes as “Bruce Keener”, not as “Bruce-Keener-Trying-To-Play-Like-Whoever”.  He is not afraid to be himself when he plays.  With regards to mistakes in his YouTube posts, he says, “I don’t edit them out because it is more like me when they are left in”.  Now this is a true Fingerstyle Guitar enthusiast who gets it!

And he is a great guy to learn from as he actually has a real musical understanding of the tunes – i.e. he plays tunes from the “inside out”.

Check his “Amazing Grace (In Three Styles)”:

Here is Bruce discussing how less is more using a Tommy Jones lick from Tommy’s rendition of “Will The Circle Be Unbroken”.

Notes from Bruce: The 6th string is D, and the 3rd string is F#.  Where I say “D string pull-off,” I should have said “A string pull-off”.

Get to know Bruce through his YouTube Channel.  You will learn a great deal about music, playing guitar and, most important, the true spirit of the Fingerstyle Guitar Genre.

Thanks, Bruce, for being such a wonderful picker and for being willing to share your enthusiasm with the rest of the world.  Keep those videos coming!