Doyle Dykes. A Grammy-nominated artist and ambassador of the acoustic guitar, Dykes is renowned for his incredibly fluid fingerstyle technique, his warm and engaging stage presence, and a sound that blends faith, country charm, and breathtaking technical precision. For any player looking to explore the expressive potential of the acoustic guitar, the music of Doyle Dykes is an essential study and cracking his playing style wold make any guitar players best Christmas present.
The Sound of Joyful Virtuosity
Doyle Dykes’ musical style is a radiant expression of American roots music, deeply steeped in country, gospel, and the trailblazing fingerstyle traditions of legends like Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, and Jerry Reed. His sound is characterized by its clarity, optimism, and intricate complexity. Dykes is a master of “thumbpicking,” a technique where the thumb maintains a steady bassline and rhythm while the fingers simultaneously play melody, chords, and fills. This creates the illusion of multiple guitarists playing at once. His compositions are often inspired by his faith, life experiences, and a pure love for melodic storytelling, resulting in music that is not just technically astounding but also profoundly uplifting and accessible.
The Secrets Behind the Sparkle: Technique and Tone
To understand the sound of Doyle Dykes is to understand a lifelong dedication to clean, articulate fingerstyle playing. His signature technique is built upon the foundation of Travis picking, but he expands upon it with a wide array of tools. He is a master of artificial “harp” harmonics, a technique where he uses his picking-hand thumb and a finger to simultaneously sound a fretted note and a chime-like harmonic an octave above it, adding a magical, bell-like quality to his melodies. His left-hand technique is flawless, allowing for smooth, buzz-free chord changes and legato runs even during the most complex right-hand patterns.
For decades, Doyle Dykes was famously associated with Taylor Guitars, which produced his signature Doyle Dykes Signature Model (DDSM). This grand auditorium-style guitar was built to his specifications, featuring a shallower body and a shorter scale length to facilitate his intricate playing style. More recently, he has endorsed and co-designed guitars with Guidone Guitars. A key component of his live sound is the L.R. Baggs pickup systems he employs. When it comes to amplification, he often favors Rivera amplifiers, such as the Sedona 55, which are specifically designed to handle the nuances of acoustic instruments. He uses minimal effects, preferring the pure, unadulterated tone of the guitar, occasionally adding a touch of reverb or delay for ambience. The real “gear” behind his sound, however, is his incredibly precise and dynamic touch.
The Essential Doyle Dykes: A Fingerstyle Showcase
Doyle Dykes’ extensive catalog is filled with gems that beautifully showcase his talent for arrangement and composition. To get a true sense of his artistry and the joyous energy he brings to the guitar, these pieces are a wonderful place to start.
“Gitarre 2000”
Gitarre 2000″ is the title track from the 1998 album by American fingerstyle guitarist Doyle Dykes, showcasing his distinctive blend of country, jazz, and contemporary acoustic instrumental music. Known for his virtuosity and influence from masters like Chet Atkins, Dykes performs this upbeat, intricate piece using a high-level fingerpicking technique that emphasizes an independent bass line played by the thumb, often with a thumb pick, while the fingers handle the melody and inner harmony. The complexity of the arrangement often requires advanced right-hand control for things like banjo rolls, ‘machine gun’ strums, and subtle percussive attacks on the strings or guitar body. Fortunately for the aspiring player, the song is played in Standard tuning (E A D G B E), which avoids the need for alternate tunings that Dykes frequently uses in other compositions. To play it, you would need to study the official sheet music or credible tablature, focusing on separating the bass, rhythm, and melody parts and practicing them slowly before attempting to bring them up to the required speed and fluidity.
“The Road Back Home”
“The Road Back Home” is arguably Doyle Dykes’ most famous and beloved composition, often noted for its inclusion on New Age sampler CDs despite its strong foundation in the Nashville country/fingerstyle tradition established by artists like Chet Atkins and Merle Travis. The piece is characterized by its warm, gentle, and reflective melody over a rhythmic, alternating bass line—the classic “boom-chick” or Travis picking style. Dykes’ rendition elevates this style with his signature technical polish, incorporating jazz-influenced harmony and more contemporary, higher-order chords, particularly during the middle key modulation. For the player, this piece requires a solid command of Standard tuning (E A D G B E) and a very disciplined alternating thumb technique to maintain the driving bass rhythm while the fingers weave the melody and complex chord voicings. A notable technical feature is the use of artificial harmonics in a section high up the fretboard, which requires precise right-hand execution. While musically sophisticated, the piece is considered a challenging but achievable goal for intermediate to advanced fingerstyle guitarists who are dedicated to developing their right-hand independence and timing.
“White Rose for Heidi”
“White Rose for Heidi” is one of Doyle Dykes’ most poignant and technically unique compositions, famously written for his daughter, Heidi. The piece is deeply connected to a heartfelt story where a young Heidi prayed for a white rose, an out-of-season request that was miraculously answered, inspiring Dykes to translate the wonder and grace of the event into music. This narrative gives the song its profoundly tender, reflective, and ethereal quality, setting it apart as a beautiful instrumental expression of faith and paternal love. While rooted in his typical Travis-picking and country-influenced fingerstyle, the melody adopts a more classical and melodic sensibility, often using a rich, arpeggiated bass line to support the delicate, singing tune.
The principal challenge for anyone attempting to play this piece is the use of an Alternate Tuning: C G D G B D (low to high). This non-standard tuning is key to achieving the song’s signature deep resonance and allows Dykes to execute complex, wide-ranging voicings that are simply impossible in Standard tuning. The technique demands absolute independence between the picking-hand thumb, which maintains a steady, moving bass rhythm, and the fingers, which execute the swift, intricate melody and inner harmonies. The player must focus on dynamic control, smoothly transitioning between soft, reflective passages and slightly more energetic movements while maintaining crystal-clear separation between the voice parts. Due to the combination of the unusual tuning and high technical demand, studying credible, accurate tablature is indispensable for mapping out the fingerboard and mastering the precise string-crossing patterns that define the piece.
Exploring the music of Doyle Dykes is a journey into a world of acoustic elegance and masterful musicianship. He stands as a testament to the idea that a single guitar in the right hands can be an entire orchestra. His dedication to his craft, his influential techniques, and his ability to communicate pure joy through music make him a cherished and inspirational figure in the global guitar community.
Cover Photo Credit “Doyle Dykes” by Bug In Box is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
