Muriel Anderson (born June 17, 1960) is an American

fingerstyle guitar Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with a single plectr ...

ist and

harp guitar The harp guitar is a guitar-based stringed instrument generally defined as a "guitar, in any of its accepted forms, with any number of additional unstopped strings that can accommodate individual plucking." The word "harp" is used in reference to ...

ist who plays in many genres. She is the first woman to win the National Fingerpicking Guitar Championship.

Career

Muriel Anderson was born in

Downers Grove, Illinois Downers Grove is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1832 by Pierce Downer, whose surname serves as the eponym for the village. It is a south-west suburb of Chicago. The village is located between I-88 and I-55. ...

, and is of Finnish descent: her great grandparents emigrated to the United States from Finland. Her grandfather played saxophone in the

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dist ...

band. She learned piano as a child. When she was eight, she was given a guitar from a family friend who was going to throw it away. In her early teens, she took lessons at

Old Town School of Folk Music The Old Town School of Folk Music is a Chicago teaching and performing institution that launched the careers of many notable folk music artists. Founded by Folk musicians Frank Hamilton and Win Stracke, and Dawn Greening, the School opened in the ...

in Chicago. In high school she was a member of the jazz band and helped form a bluegrass band with which she performed through her college years. She attended

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

in Chicago on an academic scholarship. At DePaul she took mandolin lessons from

Jethro Burns Jethro is a male given name meaning "overflow". It is derived from the Hebrew word ''Yithrô''. People named Jethro * Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns (1920–1989), mandolin player in satirical country music duo Homer and Jethro * Jethro Franklin ( ...

, who introduced her to his brother-in-law,

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music s ...

. Atkins became a friend and mentor to Anderson. One of her classical guitar teachers at DePaul was Leon Borkowski, who had been a student of

Christopher Parkening Christopher William Parkening (born December 14, 1947) is an American classical guitarist. He holds the Chair of Classical Guitar at Pepperdine University under the title Distinguished Professor of Music. Biography Parkening was born in Los Angel ...

. She took master classes with Parkening in Montana. Anderson has performed with

Tommy Emmanuel William Thomas Emmanuel (born 31 May 1955) is an Australian guitarist. Regarded as one of the greatest acoustic guitarists of all time, he is known for his complex fingerstyle technique, energetic performances and use of percussive effects on ...

Earl Klugh Earl Klugh ( ; born September 16, 1953) is an American acoustic guitarist and composer. He has won one Grammy award and thirteen nominations. Klugh was awarded the “1977” Best Recording Award For Performance and Sound” for his album “Fi ...

Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype ...

, and

Doc Watson Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. W ...

. Her 2020 release is "Acoustic Chef," a cookbook with a CD of music for each recipe. She recorded an album with the flamenco duo Tierra Negra. Her double-album, ''Nightlight Daylight'', won eleven national and international awards. The CD cover contains fiber optics that illuminate an image of the sky when the cover is pressed. She usually plays a nylon string guitar and a Doolin custom 21-string

which has both nylon and steel strings. Anderson has released more than a dozen solo albums, instructional CDs, and DVDs through TrueFire and Homespun, and songbooks published by

Hal Leonard HAL may refer to: Aviation * Halali Airport (IATA airport code: HAL) Halali, Oshikoto, Namibia * Hawaiian Airlines (ICAO airline code: HAL) * HAL Airport, Bangalore, India * Hindustan Aeronautics Limited an Indian aerospace manufacturer of fight ...

Mel Bay Mel Bay (February 25, 1913 – May 14, 1997) was an American musician and publisher best known for his series of music education books. His '' Encyclopedia of Guitar Chords'' remains a bestseller. Biography Early life Melbourne E. Bay was bo ...

, and Zen-On Japan. Her compositions include commissioned classical works for the Nashville Chamber Orchestra and Vox Caelestis Women's Choir. She is a member of the advisory board for Mel Bay. She started All Star Guitar Night, which donates its money to the Music for Life Alliance, a charity she founded. Her music can be heard in Woody Allen's film, ''

Vicky Cristina Barcelona ''Vicky Cristina Barcelona'' is a 2008 romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. The film stars Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson in lead roles. The plot centers on two American women, Vicky ...

''. Her album ''Heartstrings'' accompanied astronauts on the space shuttle ''

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

''.

Discography

* ''...Just Begun'' (Rotary, 1978) * ''Le Duet'' with Jean-Felix Lalanne (Rarefied, 1995) * ''New Classics for Guitar and Cello'' (Valley Entertainment, 2003) * ''Uncut Gems'' with

Phil Keaggy Philip Tyler Keaggy (born March 23, 1951) is an American acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist who has released more than 55 albums and contributed to many more recordings in both the contemporary Christian music and mainstream markets. H ...

Stanley Jordan Stanley Jordan (born July 31, 1959) is an American jazz guitarist noted for his playing technique, which involves tapping his fingers on the fretboard of the guitar with both hands. Music career Jordan was born in Chicago, Illinois, United St ...

(CGD Music, 2003) * ''Hometown Live'' (CGD, 2004) * ''Wildcat'' (Heartstrings Attached Music, 2005) * ''New World Flamenco'' with Tierra Negra (2009) * ''Harp Guitars Under the Stars'' with

John Doan John Doan (born May 16, 1951) is an American guitarist and composer. Background Doan grew up in Venice, California, and at the age of eleven began playing the guitar, first a 12-string, and later a double-neck electric in a rock band. Later, w ...

(CGD, 2010) * ''Arioso from Paris'' (CGD, 2012) * ''Nightlight Daylight'' (CGD, 2014) * ''Nightlight Daylight'' (CGD, 2014) * ''Acoustic Chef'' (CGD, 2020)

Video

Concert DVDs * ''Muriel Anderson's All Star Guitar Night'' (Homespun, 1996) * ''Muriel Anderson's All Star Guitar Night 2000'' (Homespun 2002) * ''Muriel Anderson's All Star Guitar Night 10th Anniversary'' (Mel Bay, 2004) * ''One Camera One Concert'' (Snapshot, 2004) * ''Muriel Anderson Live in Europe'' (CGD, 2006) * ''Wonderlust'' (CGD, 2019) Instructional DVDs * ''Building Guitar Arrangements'' (CGD, 1994) * ''Adventures in Fingerstyle Guitar:Techniques & Arrangements of Muriel Anderson'' (Homespun, 1997) * ''Great Guitar Lessons'' (Homespun, 2001) * ''Innovations for Acoustic Guitar'' (TrueFire, 2009) * ''10 Lessons'' (TrueFire, 2010) * ''Fingerstyle Guitar Essentials: Arranging in D'' (TrueFire, 2010) * ''50 Right Hand Techniques You Must Know'' (TrueFire, 2011) * ''1-2-3 Fingerstyle'' (TrueFire, 2012) * ''Essentials Fingerstyle'' (TrueFire, 2014) * ''Essentials Fingerstyle, Chet Atkins Style'' (TrueFire, 2016)

Books

* ''Chord Constellations'' (Creative Concepts, 1990) * ''Building Guitar Arrangements'' Book/CD (Hal Leonard, 1994) * ''All Chords in All Positions'' (Hal Leonard, 1996) * ''Muriel Anderson Hometown Live'' (Mel Bay, 1998) * ''All Scales in All Positions'' (Hal Leonard, 2000) * ''Hometown Live Songbook'' (Zen-On, 2000) * ''Selected Guitar Works'' (Zen-On, 2000) * ''Acoustic Chef'' (CGD, 2020) Compilation books * ''Winfield Winners'' Songbook/CD (John August/Mel Bay, 1995) * ''Portraits of Christmas'' Songbook/CD (John August/Mel Bay, 1996) * ''Blues 2000'' (Mel Bay, 2000) * ''Fingerstyle Guitar Solos'' (Mel Bay, 2000) * ''Remembering Marcel'' (Mel Bay, 2001)

External links

Official site

All Star Guitar Night

Music for Life Alliance

Muriel Anderson Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2009)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Muriel 1960 births Living people American classical guitarists Fingerstyle guitarists Guitarists from Illinois Women classical guitarists American people of Finnish descent 20th-century American women guitarists 20th-century American guitarists Classical musicians from Illinois 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists