ABILITY RATING
Moderate/Advanced
Info
Key Various
Tempo Various
Will improve your…
✓ Economy of motion
✓ fretting hand versatility
✓ Rest stroke/free stroke plucking
Aborn and bred Sicilian, Matteo Mancuso hails from the city of Palermo and has recently gained international acclaim, receiving high praise from many of the guitar world’s luminaries including Steve Vai and Joe Bonamassa who have applauded his versatility and brilliance at taking the instrument to a new level. Al Di Meola was so enthralled by him that he invited Mancuso on stage to duet with him at the Eddie Lang Jazz Festival in 2022.
Aside from his jaw-dropping virtuosic and lyrical writing style, it is Mancuso’s distinctive technique that turns many guitarists’ heads. This technique didn’t simply appear out of nowhere but is rather a product of his technical and musical influences thus far. Mancuso started playing electric guitar at the age of 10 guided by his father, thefingers and, luckily for us, he admits in interviews that he was too lazy to learn how to play with a pick as fingerstyle felt more intuitive. This approach was only solidified further when as a high school student aged 14 he began formally learning classical guitar. Like any true artist, academics weren’t Mancuso’s forte and he failed his second year of music school, ironically because he spent nine hours a day practising guitar! This dedication saw him being awarded a scholarship to Berklee College of Music after taking part as a student at Umbria Jazz Festival, though he instead opted to remain in his home city to continue his studies, graduating with honours from the jazz guitar programme at Palermo Conservatory of Music in June 2022.
