Welcome to the Nekkid Music blog! I am glad ya’ll dropped by for a generous helpin’ of conversation about traditional music played by hand, on unplugged, acoustic instruments. For folks like us, acoustic music makes our hearts and minds soar. Pete Seeger said he would “rather put songs on people’s lips than in their ears.” That is why traditional music laid bare is important… It’s important to just pick up an old guitar, throw our heads back, and sing!
Nekkid Truth (about me)
My name is Tim Hagler. My father ran a small luthier shop, his primary custom product was five-string banjos. Through him, I met and picked with so many traditional American music instrumentalists, composers, and vocalists. From simple strummers to inspiring virtuosos, I experienced acoustic music, played in homes, churches, and small venues as Abraham Lincoln’s “mystic chords swelling when again touched, by the better angels of our nature.” I love playing the banjo, guitar, mandolin, and ukulele. I am a better person when wearing fingerpicks. And I have a story to tell. Please sit a spell, let’s talk.
Blog
A Closer Look at the Magic Fluke FIREFLY 5-String Banjo
A little Get-Cha Started Background: For some time I have been envious of great clawhammer banjo players. I love how “Clucky” and mellow their sound is, how they deliver simple bit elegant melodies that get stuck in my head, and ...
4 Good Reasons to Tune Your Soprano Uke in 5ths, and 1 Great One
Fun factoid…. Avocados are not a vegetable. They are a berry. A single seeded berry. So if an avocado ain’t gotta be what it (obviously) is, then a ukulele can be a mandolin! That is to say that a soprano ...
Pickin’ in Open D and DADGAD Guitar Tuning
Spice it up a notch Sometimes, my guitar pickin’ all sounds the same, and sooo… “predictable.” At least it sounds that way to me, and that ain’t no fun. A quick way to spice it up is with a new ...
B-Flat Tenor Uke Set Up
Just a quick note about my tenor ukulele set up that I thought y’all might like to try… Y’all ever head the old axiom, “when you are a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail?” Such is the life ...
Installing the Bridge Doctor? READ THIS FIRST!
A sure-fire way to address mild to moderate belly bulge on a 12-string guitar, is the JLD Bridge Doctor. There are lots of great blog posts and YouTube videos that walk ya through the installation of the Bridge Doctor. I ...
Creole Cross Mandolin Tuning
My Dad’s friend Baptiste was a fiddling wizard. This feller was old! He remembered when Methuselah had a paper route, and he knew every alternate tuning that was ever sawed across a fiddle. My favorite was what he called the ...
Git Holta Me (Contact)
Drop me a line… Let’s talk pickin’. Really, I’ll go to “music nerd-vanna” with ya. What kinds of strings we use, how we hold a pick, what kind of wood makes our favorite guitar top… Let’s talk.