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[Guitar strumming]
>> Lucas Haneman: When I was
eight years old, I got my first
official guitar lessons and then
when I was 10 years old, I
started studying with a great
guitar teacher who teaches at
Carlton University, named Wayne
Eagles.
I started playing jazz when I
was in high school.
I started playing in a rock band
as well and it was always one of
those things.
I used to listen to old, like
Eric Clapton records and Stevie
Ray Vaughan records and things
like.
I used to really love blues, I
still do, but that was one of
the first types of music I was
into.
So I'd listen to old CD's and
I'd try to mimic the parts on
the CD's.
I tried to learn how to play the
solo's and just by listening.
So, that was --
That's how I got into it and
that's how it sort of evolved
early on.
[Guitar strumming]
>> Lucas Haneman: My visual
impairment has effected my music
in a way that I think it makes
me approach music in a very
organic fashion because I can't
really write or read music, very
well at least.
I can read brow music sometimes,
but it's very complicated and
the music I tend to gravitate
towards is more organic music, I
guess we can call it.
[Guitar strumming]
>> Lucas Haneman: I think it's
made me work on strengthening my
ears.
At first when I started playing
the guitar I didn't really know
what I was doing, but gradually
overtime I developed a more
tactile approach to the guitar,
where I learnt were things were.
I learnt where all the notes
were on the fret board.
I could shift from one place to
another, I found kind of more
easily than lots of people who I
know, who rely on their sight.
If you always look at the
guitar, it's a distraction,
right?
So, I actually see it as
something that helps me.
[Guitar strumming]
>> Lucas Haneman: The guitar I
have here today is made by
Althea from Canada, Ontario.
His name is Pat Holy.
[Thumping]
[Guitar strumming]
>> Lucas Haneman: So this
guitar, it's got angleman's
spruced shop and rose wood
backing sides.
He put my initials in the fret
board.
Tiny little subtle initials.
[Guitar strumming]
>> Lucas Haneman: I wanted to
have this guitar for my whole
life.
When I played it, I felt like I
identified with it.
So, I'm really happy with this
guitar.
It's been my main acoustic
guitar for the past four years
and it's just always sounding
better and better.
[Guitar strumming]
>> Lucas Haneman: You know
the...
[Mandolin strumming]
>> Lucas Haneman: When I play a
mandolin, it's entirely
different than a guitar.
The mandolin is not like a
guitar at all.
It has doubled strings.
So they're called these courses
of strings.
So it's got two of...
[Mandolin Strumming]
>> Lucas Haneman: of that
pitch, which is a G.
[Mandolin strumming]
>> Lucas Haneman: Two of this,
which a D.
[Mandolin strumming]
>> Lucas Haneman: Two of this,
which is an A.
[Mandoline strumming]
>> Lucas Haneman: and then an E
here and the interesting thing
about the mandolin is that it's
tuned very differently than a
guitar.
A guitar, in musician terms is
tuned in fourths, which is just
an interval of a fourth, it's a
smaller interval.
Whereas this is tuned in fifths,
which is a wider interval.
So they'll play scales or chords
in the mandolin, that the whole
fingering system is completely
different.
I just love the challenge of it.
It's just a really, fun, fun
little instrument to play.
[Mandolin strumming]
>> Lucas Haneman: I write music,
It's instrumental music and I
also write music with lyrics.
[Mandolin strum]
>> Lucas Haneman: Often, my
ideas for instrumental music
come from drum grooves that I
play on the drums and the reason
for that is because I try to
approach the guitar and the
mandolin almost like a drummer.
So, I think rhythm is such a
crucial aspect of music and it's
something that I've really tried
to work at and I've tried to
find my own things that are kind
of my own trademarks with
rhythm. [Guitar playing]
>> Lucas Haneman: Because I like
to hear how my songs would sound
in kind of a full band context
and then with songs with lyrics,
I often just do started with
either a melody that I just
can't stop singing because I
like it so much, or I'll start
off with a guitar part that I
find is catchy enough, that I
can make that a part of a song.
[Guitar strumming]
>> Lucas Haneman: When I
perform, I feel --
It's hard to explain, it's
timeless.
Sometimes I feel like I get into
this state where I'll just close
my eyes and get into the music
so much that I just lose myself
and I lose my sense of time in
reality.
[Guitar playing]
>> Lucas Haneman: I don't just
play it for myself, I play it
for all the people who are in
the room and I try to reach
everyone.
Try to give them something a
little bit different.
Something that makes them think
and something that makes them
happy, you know?
Maybe even something that makes
them think about things that
they haven't had the chance to
think about in life before and
might even bring up some
powerful emotions in them.
So, that to me is the purpose of
music, is to be a messenger.
[Guitar playing]