Fingerstyle Guitar Competition
While there is no entry fee for the guitar competition as such, only those who purchase either a weekend pass or a weekend pass with camping will be eligible to compete for the competition on Sunday Aug 02, 2009. Advanced ticket sales are required via PayPal or other means for eligibility verification. No exceptions.
We are accepting applications for the Canadian Guitar Festival Competition now... just send us your request and we will be in touch!
Please note the following important Rules for the Competition.
Craig D'Andrea, 2007 Competition winner
On stage rules:
- No singing
- No talking to the audience
- No flat picking
- Thumb picks are acceptable
Competition prizes
Once again this year there are over $12,000 in prizes to be won.
- 1st Place winner will receive a recording contract with CandyRat Records plus ...
- guaranteed entry to this year's Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas plus ...
- first choice of ONE of the 3 prize options listed below:
- the 1st Place winner will receive ONE of the following:
The 2nd Place winner will choose second from the remaining A-B-C sublist options.
The 3rd Place winner will receive the remaining prize in the A-B-C sublist above.
Hone those chops and we'll see you at the park!
Competition General Rules
There is no entrance fee for the competition itself but only those who purchase either a weekend pass or a weekend pass with camping will be eligible to compete for the competition on Sunday Aug 02, 2009. Advanced ticket sales are required via PayPal or other means for eligibility verification. No exceptions.
The competition is open to anyone of any nationality. The title of the event is "The Canadian Fingerstyle Guitar Championship"
The number of entrants is limited to 24. Each contestant will play two separate pieces for a total time of no more than twelve minutes. Contestants must pre-register and have had there registration confirmed by the organizers.
Five finalists will then be selected from the 1st round and will perform two additional songs each. The order of these performances will be determined by 'random draw', in keeping with the same manner as that which determined the order of the first round.
Three finalists will then be selected by the judges in order of first to third.
Hired main stage performers of the guitar festival are not eligible to compete at the fingerstyle competition that same weekend. The main stage performers, those willing and available, we be the judges. Like the wise folks in Winfield have discovered, the judges will be in a separate area away from the stage and will only know the contestants by their respective competitor identification numbers.
Each contestant will perform in a seated position into a condenser microphone as provided by the organizers.
Judging will be done on an Olympic model points system.
There will be four judges.
Competition Q & A
We have put together your most commonly asked questions and provided the definitive answers. Please review this section thoroughly if you have a question about the Competition.
Q: "I just had a quick question concerning the use of thumb picks. Can some parts of songs be played only with a thumb pick (ex. a fast melodic line being playing with cross-picking)? I play fingerstyle guitar, but my pieces are peppered with some cross-picking. I just wanted to make sure this is permitted."
A: - Thumb picks are a mainstay in the FS world...if their use occasionally crosses over then this is chalked up to added technique. I can see no negative connotations here.
Q: I just read over the rules and would like more information about the requirement that:
"Each contestant will perform in a seated position into a condenser microphone as provided by the organizers."
My instrument of choice is the Gibson Chet Atkins solid body nylon string, requiring amplification such as direct in to the board. Also, I very much prefer a stool to a chair. Please advise.
A: You're the first one to raise this question about the solid body guitars. In short, the rules require that all contestants are amplified by the same condenser mic. This of course implies that the instrument should have some ability to project. What we can do is have you play into your own amp and we can pick this up with the mic. It's not really the optimal way for us to go, but if the alternative would negatively impact your performance, that would not do anyone any favors with respect to the spirit of the event.
Chair, stool...whatever you'd like, that's fine.
One note of advice on the amp: try to keep your sound as clean and honest as possible. ..ie no digital delay etc ;-)
See you at the lake!