Steve Eckels

Guitarist, Steven Zdenek Eckels – American Folkloric Nationalism

Guitarist, Steven Zdenek Eckels, is perhaps the most significant representative of American folkloric nationalism of the late twentieth and early twenty first century. For his unsurpassed contribution to the body of published guitar literature, he is known as “The Lion of Fingerstyle Guitar”. The arrangements that form the core of his concert repertoire include American classics in genres such as Gospel, Blues, Stephen Foster, Appalachian Ballads, Cowboy Songs, and Native American Music.

Eckels has spent the majority of his career, creating concert arrangements of American traditional music for Mel Bay Publications and developing classroom-teaching techniques for guitar in the public schools. When Mel Bay Publications needed an author for its' new series “A Modern Method for Fingerstyle Guitar” Eckels was chosen. Eckels was also asked by the Music Educator’s National Conference to write a classroom guitar-teaching manual which was published in 2009. This landmark publication is the first classroom-teaching manual written by an educator who is also a virtuoso guitarist. It will influence the future of music education by making classroom guitar pedagogy available for the core curriculum for music educators.

Of the more than twenty books he has written for Mel Bay Publications, several of them are historic firsts including Cowboy Classics, Gregorian Chant for Fingerstyle Guitar, Native American Music for Fingerstyle Guitar and a folio and recording of the music of Stephen Foster. His contributions to American guitar literature have earned him the nickname of “The Fernando Sor of Americana”.

During his formative years, Eckels lived in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia where he was listened to Afro American rhythm and blues, folk, bluegrass, and Southern Gospel music. After high school, he received his formal training in Boston Massachusetts at Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory, where he graduated with a Master’s Degree in guitar. Later, he was to receive music education certification, and for the past ten years, he has been the high school guitar instructor for the Kalispell public schools in Montana. He recently received his National Teaching Certification by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards.

For more information visit www.guitarmusicman.com

Titles by Steve Eckels:

Product Number	Title	Format	Price
95273	Blues Classics for Acoustic Guitar	Book	$12.95
20147BCD	Blues Guitar for the Young Beginner Book/CD Set	Book/CD Set	$14.95
99881	Christmas Encyclopedia Fingerstyle Guitar Edition	Book	$14.95
98293BCD	Fingerstyle Blues Method Book/CD Set	Book/CD Set	$14.95
21089BCD	Fingerstyle Classics Made Easy Book/CD Set	Book/CD Set	$14.95
21458BCD	Global Adventures for Fingerstyle Guitarists Book/Cd Set	Book/CD Set	$22.99
95704	Gospel Classics for Acoustic Guitar	Book	$14.95
WMB005	Guitar Tabsongs: Classic Rock	Book	$12.95
WMB008	Guitar Tabsongs: Popular Country for Fingerstyle	Book	$12.95
99781	Mariachi Favorites for Solo Guitar	Book	$9.95
98424BCD	Master Anthology of Blues Guitar Solos Volume One Book/2-CD Set	Book/CD Set	$29.99
98370BCD	Master Anthology of Fingerstyle Guitar Solos, Volume 1 Book/3-CD Set: (formerly 2000 Fingerpicking)	Book/CD Set	$45.00
21496BCD	Modern Fingerstyle Guitar Method Grade 1 Book/CD Set	Book/CD Set	$14.95

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