Comments on: Ronnie of Botswana, on guitar

Ronnie of Botswana, on guitar

flapjax at midnite — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:00:09 -0800

OK. Alright. That's it. Ronnie of Botswana is my new favorite guitarist.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:02:27 -0800

One more from Ronnie here, and Ronnie's Buddy takes the guitar here to sing a song for you. And just in case you missed it a while back, let's drop in on the amazing spoon guitarist of South Africa, as long as we're in the neighborhood.

By: Dumsnill

Dumsnill — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:05:39 -0800

Jesus! Awesome!

By: ORthey

ORthey — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:07:03 -0800

holy crap my head EXPLODED that's how good this is flapjax you are amazing.

By: Huck500

Huck500 — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:09:56 -0800

Freaking killer... and the guy in the background seems to care not a whit... as he zips up his jacket... and adjusts his hat... wicked.

By: OmieWise

OmieWise — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:11:58 -0800

I loaded it. My wife, normally reserved: 'Whoa! Oh, my god! What!?!" Great post.

By: Splunge

Splunge — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:13:46 -0800

Cool. Thanks.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:14:16 -0800

this is great...thanks.. I giggled through most of it... so... why do we listen to the crap we do, when there are people like this....

By: pianoboy

pianoboy — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:15:57 -0800

That is wonderful. I love the way Ronnie's hands flip upside down and around. It it an open tuning? Seriously fun stuff.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:16:15 -0800

why do we listen to the crap we do What you mean "we", kemosabe? ;-)

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:17:41 -0800

THIS is why I love mefi.... damn ... a crappy week at work, things suck in michigan...and, THIS turned the corner for me...

By: etc.

etc. — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:17:49 -0800

For anyone new to Metafilter today: This is what we're after.

By: Huck500

Huck500 — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:18:28 -0800

Yeah, open tuning, but still a killer technique.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:21:14 -0800

flapjax... that is GREAT!

By: lalex

lalex — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:25:45 -0800

this made me incredibly happy and you are awesome.

By: desjardins

desjardins — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:26:23 -0800

I like the dude in the back, he's all "yah, I hear this every day." He even yawns at one point.

By: pianoboy

pianoboy — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:27:03 -0800

Huck500 - Just to be clear, my question about open tuning was not meant as a criticism at all. The technique is awesome! Playing other videos of Ronnie right now. My daughter is going to love this when she wakes up tomorrow. Thank you, flapjax.

By: CheeseDigestsAll

CheeseDigestsAll — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:28:06 -0800

So is there any way to turn those nearly 100,000 page views into some income for this guy?

By: stefanie

stefanie — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:29:03 -0800

Oh, wow. This is so awesome. Thanks!

By: carsonb

carsonb — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:40:28 -0800

so... why do we listen to the crap we do, when there are people like this.... Not so much a question with a right answer, but a question that we each should ask nonetheless.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:46:37 -0800

As for Ronnie, she's a joy to watch and hear. Still not my favorite fingerpicker though... Kaki King still reigns.

By: chococat

chococat — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:48:35 -0800

Cool open technique. Usually with open tunings I think of styles like Richie or Joni (who are great) but I love the whole hand-movement thing that Ronnie is rocking, and the individual bass line that's going throughout. So great.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:55:21 -0800

carsonb: I too thought Ronnie was a she at first, but the other Ronnie clip in this FPP (in my first comment) indicates Ronnie is a he. Here's more Ronnie, singing and playing: Ditsala tsame di Tsamaile Monna ke yole

By: ginky

ginky — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:58:36 -0800

Another fantastic flapjax FPP. Thanks.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:59:35 -0800

And another: Pidipidi

By: cashman

cashman — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:00:13 -0800

Fantastic. Just outstanding.

By: Camofrog

Camofrog — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:09:35 -0800

The most exuberant record I own is by a certain Peter Owino Rachar and the Golden Kings, from Sierra Leone. Nobody's ever heard of them; the record is impossible to find now. I don't even remember where I got mine. This sounds quite a bit like that. It's always seemed to me that the best musicians are hidden away, playing on porches and stoops to crowds of three from Zambia to Appalachia. Maybe it's for the best.

By: Huck500

Huck500 — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:10:43 -0800

Pianoboy... yeah, I totally didn't take it as criticism.

By: bwanabetty

bwanabetty — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:11:52 -0800

So is he using just four strings?

By: umbú

umbú — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:14:12 -0800

Amazing. I love the passages where his hand becomes a highly trained circus squid dancing down the fretboard.

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:20:20 -0800

flapjax – I think you may as well just link to Bokete7's user page. There are 130 videos there. I'll let you know when I find one that isn't awesome, but I think it'll be a while.

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:32:09 -0800

5.00 ONE SONG

By: blue shadows

blue shadows — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:50:42 -0800

carsonb, that is awesome!

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:54:11 -0800

Made me smile very wide. Thanks.

By: Slarty Bartfast

Slarty Bartfast — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:23:53 -0800

Flapjax: WHY ARE YOU SO AWESOME AT THIS?!!

By: saulgoodman

saulgoodman — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:30:17 -0800

So very cool. What else to say? Damn.

By: anazgnos

anazgnos — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:31:24 -0800

Wait, wait, wait a second here. What you all seem to be overlooking is that this guy is playing guitar totally wrong! awesome

By: Trapped Vector

Trapped Vector — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:36:42 -0800

I was all ready to come in here and fume (but not comment) about Mefi's seeming penchant for self-conscious wuss rock, shaky voices, and acoustic guitars --- and the general lack of Dragonforce fans around here. But this is great.

By: msalt

msalt — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:46:07 -0800

Cool suggestion, carsonb. On this clip, Kaki King plays with a lot of the same "upside down" fret technique that Ronnie brings on the OP clip. Except completely different.

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:47:30 -0800

I really want to get Ronnie the two strings he's missing and a peg and key to go with them, but it might totally ruin the sound he's got going.

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:56:38 -0800

Oops. So Ronnie is a woman. Should have gone by the face rather than the name.

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:13:06 -0800

(No, Ronnie's a guy, all right. Go by the voice.)

By: Threeway Handshake

Threeway Handshake — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:11:59 -0800

So I take it you're all Jeff Healey fans?

By: Skygazer

Skygazer — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:41:26 -0800

So intuitive and playful. Berry nice.

By: sour cream

sour cream — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:09:41 -0800

Freaking killer... and the guy in the background seems to care not a whit... as he zips up his jacket... and adjusts his hat... wicked. He's Ronnie's manager.

By: nola

nola — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 06:55:29 -0800

His eyes, my god, even when he smiles those eyes are so so sad.

By: es_de_bah

es_de_bah — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 06:56:36 -0800

That's not just open tuning! Looks like four strings: one bass and the three high strings spread out over the rest of the guitar. I'm definitely going to buy a cheap kid's classical guitar and rig one of these up.

By: readery

readery — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 07:13:19 -0800

love this. and needed it. thanks.

By: Benny Andajetz

Benny Andajetz — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 07:30:22 -0800

Some people love music. Some people play music. Some people are music. It seems to me that the really great musicians can make music with anything that's available. It's not the bow, it's the hunter. Thanks again flapjax. Another great post.

By: CuJoe

CuJoe — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 07:53:28 -0800

I like Andy Mckee doing some Drifting, Adam Fulara doing some Bach on the double neck, Erik Mongrain doing a little AirTap, and Gustavo Dal Farra on bass.

By: lupus_yonderboy

lupus_yonderboy — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 08:49:40 -0800

Very sweet sound! The comment about the open tuning is exactly what I was thinking. A few minutes of this is priceless but if you heard an hour of this, you'd unfortunately hear much the same thing over and over. This is something you see around the world - the "one amazing trick" player who has created one amazing idea that no one else ever came up with. And one of the nice things about the Internet is that you get to see this person's amazing trick in your living room.

By: ErWenn

ErWenn — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 09:33:54 -0800

I love musicians whose technique is as much (or more) fun to watch as their sound is to hear.

By: zaelic

zaelic — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 11:55:59 -0800

OK. I have now seen everything... oh, wait... no I haven't! Put your hands together and give a great big metafilter welcome to the... Shangaan dancing clowns!

By: elmer benson

elmer benson — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 11:57:30 -0800

I want this song to be my theme song and play in the background as I'm walking around. Do dee deepy deep dee dee Do dee deepy deep dee!

By: Countess Elena

Countess Elena — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:04:15 -0800

I would buy the heck out of these songs if I could. If the internet can bring inexplicable fame and fortune to the "David After Dentist" kid, why shouldn't someone be able to get these guys their $5 a song?

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:23:36 -0800

Usually with open tunings I think of styles like Richie or Joni ... The Richie Havens clip does look like the open tuning is a mere convenience. I've been looking at Joni's system of open tunings, and it's pretty deep. She devised and categorized 50 open tunings, with her own system of notation for them. She eventually had developed a special guitar, very advanced for the time, where each of the string signals are separately captured and sent back stage to a technician with electronics that allow him to change the tunings that were played over the sound system to any of the 50 she had notated in her tuning charts. This is your last warning: if someone doesn't put together a post on that, I will make that my first FPP someday in the near future.

By: dabitch

dabitch — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 18:09:27 -0800

I am difficult to win over if you only have a guitar but man that made SMILE so wide, I'm still grinning from ear to ear. I want to send Ronnie some money, because I'm ripping this to listen to on walks now.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 18:32:32 -0800

I just loved it when she thunked her fingertip on the neck for the harmonic, just like that. And the way she curled her hand on the neck, the creative ease in which she played like nobody I've ever seen before. Superb. joyous and a delightful surprise. Thanks flapjax! What lovely music. His background nonchalance was an interesting straight man counterpoint to her humble exuberance. Her heartbeakingly sad and shy eyes.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 18:58:42 -0800

Thanks for your thoughts, nickyskye, as considered and indicative of your joyously receptive personality as ever! You should note, though, that Ronnie is a he. You weren't the first to assume he's a she, though. Almost everyone, I think, including myself, first thought that this is a woman.

By: Songdog

Songdog — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:14:07 -0800

Glad to see this today. Thanks, flapjax!

By: purephase

purephase — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:34:36 -0800

This is excellent, thanks! One of the finer times in my life was spent in Botswana. Particularly, during the International Day of the African Child. I was privileged enough to visit one of the local schools as they put together an entire day worth of plays, music, dancing (both modern and traditional) and so much more. A lot of the themes hovered around domestic violence and HIV/AIDS awareness but, while distressing topics, the children managed them in stride (even humour, they couldn't make the whole day depressing!). During the intermissions, there was a small handful of kids that pulled out instruments (drums, stand-up bass, guitar, tambourine etc.) and they blew me away. Ronnie is something special, and none of the children showed this level of prowess on the guitar, but as a whole they put on one of the best shows I've ever witnessed. Beautiful country, talented people. Here's my favourite moment of the event:

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:33:20 -0800

A propos of completely nothing, my favorite guitar player in the world is still Agata from Melt-Banana. Seeing him perform seven years ago was a revelation to me; Agata takes the guitar and makes it a completely new instrument, revising melody along the way. The sounds he produces with his instrument were never intended or even dreamed of by previous guitarists. Evidence: "Chain-Shot to have some Fun!"

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:49:43 -0800

koeselitz: He's a really sweet guy, too. Very unassuming, almost a wallflower type. But he sure lets rip when he's onstage!

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 22:07:22 -0800

Thanks for the correction dear flapjax. Looking at the other videos on Bokete7's channel, it's now clear Ronnie's a guy.

By: treeshar

treeshar — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 23:04:08 -0800

This is awesome. I spent some time in Botswana a LONNG time ago, and this brings me back to the areas around Gabs. This video brings me back to khombi rides with cheesy tunes (that I kind of like).

By: criticalbill

criticalbill — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 04:21:03 -0800

Luckily I added flapjax as a contact or I'd have never noticed this post and damn, that would have been a shame and not to take nothing from Ronnie, but these 1, 2, 3 by a guy called Western (and joined midway through by his wife) made me happy

By: everichon

everichon — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 09:46:01 -0800

I enjoyed this way more than I expected to--the FPP and the ensuing thread.

By: turgid dahlia

turgid dahlia — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 13:12:05 -0800

I hate it when people make genius look effortless.