About
Kirby Jane is a professional solo guitarist and music transcriber from Charleston, South Carolina, currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee. Her guitar style borrows heavily from influences in the piano world such as Elton John, Billy Joel, and Michael McDonald; as well as from fingerstyle guitarists Tommy Emmanuel, Michael Hedges, and Jerry Reed.
Kirby has done a large portion of the official guitar transcriptions for Tommy Emmanuel (linked here), as well as official sheet music for artists like Andy McKee, Jerry Douglas, Richard Smith, and Gareth Pearson, in addition to her own arrangements, and has been a longtime lesson contributor to Premier Guitar Magazine.
In April 2014 Kirby and her talking Yorkshire Terrier, Grabel, were featured on The Late Show with David Letterman for an episode of "Stupid Pet Tricks."
Kirby is proudly endorsed by Marchione Guitars, G7th Capos, Guitar Pro, and Izotope.
Articles
Meet Kirby Jane | Guitarist, Music Transcriber and Educator
We had the good fortune of connecting with Kirby Jane and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Kirby, let’s talk legacy – what do you want yours to be?
I don’t really know what I want people to remember about my life, and I won’t pretend to be in control of others’ perceptions of me.
However, I think the most important aspect of how I define my own legacy is that I want my work to make people feel something. In order for it to do that, I need to feel something as well when I create. It also needs to challenge me so that I stay interested, which is a slower process than just churning out whatever material is popular this week read full article...
Learn to craft workable arrangements on the fly with these simple patterns…Since fingerstyle is so closely linked with the singer-songwriter and Americana genres, we'll be looking at chord movements and voicings loosely inspired by Jim Croce's sound in songs like "Operator" or "These Dreams," as well as other related fills…
How Did Lenny Breau Do That?
“In this lesson, we’ll explore some of Breau’s fundamental techniques with the goal of helping any daring souls adopt what they can from his music and—at the very least—help listeners approach his repertoire with a better understanding of how he expressed his thoughts and emotions on the fretboard.” (Free online lesson with Premier Guitar Magazine.)
How to Handle Harmonics
“It’s easier than you might think to create mysterious, ethereal notes that seem to float through the air.” (Free online lesson with Premier Guitar Magazine.)
Jerry Reed’s Red-Hot Picking
“An in-depth look at the techniques used by one of the most influential fingerstyle guitarists of all time.” (Free online lesson with Premier Guitar Magazine.)
Scott Joplin’s Sweet Syncopations
“Conventional guitar and piano teaching methods are worlds apart, but I believe the two instruments are more alike than they are different. I’d like to continue to bridge the gap between them by taking a fresh look at one of the most iconic pianists of the 1900s, Scott Joplin, and study how his music relates to guitar…” (Free online lesson with Premier Guitar Magazine.)
Fretboard Workshop: A Fingerstyle Manifesto
Don’t be intimidated by ditching that flatpick. Here are some quick-and-easy ways to get your fingerstyle chops up to speed. (Free online lesson with Premier Guitar Magazine.)