Guitar Craft
Fripp's Guitar Craft courses were first offered by the American Society for Continuous Education, near the Claymont Court site in Charles Town, West Virginia.
[7] Fripp has stated that previous experiences sometimes burdened players with bad habits and inappropriate expectations.
[9] Holding the pick in this manner relaxes the hand, arm, and shoulder, allowing playing without tension.
[20] Fripp recommended that students adopt the Ovation 1867 Legend steel-string guitar, which had a shallow body.
[5][21][22] "Fripp liked the way the Ovation 1867 fitted against his body, which made it possible for him to assume the right-arm picking position he had developed using electric guitars over the years; on deeper-bodied guitars, the Frippian arm position is impossible without uncomfortable contortions", according to Tamm.
The Ovation's truss rod can offset the increased tension of the NST strings, protecting the neck from bending.
Students were offered instruction in practices such as relaxed sitting,[23] Tai chi, and the Alexander Technique.
[24][25] Robert Fripp and the League of Crafty Guitarists has released several albums,[26][27] via Discipline Global Mobile.
[29][30][31] The Guitar-Craft experience and the League of Crafty Guitarists trained guitarists who went on to form new bands, such as the California Guitar Trio[32] and Trey Gunn; the California Guitar Trio and Gunn toured with Fripp as The Robert Fripp String Quintet.
following Bill Berry's retirement, developed "a musical style that beautifully balances mindfulness and force" through his long association with Guitar Craft; Rieflin stated that "I couldn't possibly describe in any detail the impact this has had in my life; I can say that it was and continues to be significant.
"[33] Davide Rossi, violinist with Goldfrapp and Coldplay, regarded Guitar Craft and Karlheinz Stockhausen tutelage as the most important experiences in shaping his musical style [34] Other alumni of the League of Crafty Guitarists include members of Los Gauchos Alemanes, such as U.S. guitarist Steve Ball;[35] Ball is associated with the Seattle Guitar Circle,[36] along with LCG alumnus Curt Golden.
[37] German crafty Markus Reuter went on to play Warr Guitar in Europa String Choir and centrozoon, subsequently designing his own touch guitar and playing in Stick Men and The Crimson ProjeKct in addition to a solo career.
The collection A Plague of Crafty Guitarists features the following Guitar-Craft alumni, who were listed in a review by Barry Cleveland: Tobin Buttram, Nigel Gavin, David Pittaway, Geary Street Quartet, Bill Hibbits, Janssen and Jensen, Sur Pacifico, Playmovil, and Santos Luminosos.
