Jorge and Ardeshir open with a newly written duo performance and discuss the rehearsal, memorization, and “baking in” needed to make intricate two-guitar arrangements feel secure.
World Music
The duo discusses international influences, the limitations of genre labels, Latin American and Caribbean rhythms, flamenco traditions, and the blend that became their own musical identity.
Flamenco - F# Phrygian Dominant
Flamenco - B Phrygian Dominant
Early Influences
Flamenco records, Iranian pop culture, the Beatles, top-40 bands, and education abroad shape the different musical paths that eventually bring Jorge and Ardeshir together in Los Angeles.
Flamenco - A Phrygian Dominant
Forming The Duo
Ardeshir’s acoustic concept, a mutual friend’s introduction, and the emerging model of high-speed flatpicked acoustic guitar lead to the formation and early recordings of Strunz & Farah.
Developing Speed
McLaughlin, flamenco picado, quitting smoking, scale practice, and fretboard expansion frame the deliberate work through which Ardeshir developed a clear high-speed picking technique.
Tens Ascending
Tempo Families
Jorge organizes tempos and subdivisions into practical families, explaining how duple and triple patterns determine the left-hand groupings available at different musical speeds.
Tens Ascending Demonstration
150bpm Sixteenths - tk1
Meeting And Musical Partnership
Ardeshir recalls first seeing Jorge’s extraordinary playing with Caldera, tracking down an introduction, and recognizing a compatible technical and musical partner for the acoustic duo.
Csardas
Core Picking Techniques
Jorge’s elbow-and-wrist alternate motion and Ardeshir’s rotational, wrist, and finger blend solve similar lines in visibly different ways while both prioritize a continuous, snag-free pickstroke machine.
Elbow And Wrist
Tens Circular
Tens Eights Sixes Circular
Tens Circular and Sixes Descending
Fours Descending Variation
Fours Descending - tk1
Fours Descending Demonstration
Fours Descending - tk2
Fours Descending - tk3
UWPS Signature Ascending - tk1
32nds Circular - tk1
Pedal Tremolo Demonstration
Pedal Tremolo
Pedal Tremolo Speed Anchor
Fours Descending Variation Anchored
Starting Strokes And Pick Grip
“Jamilah” and related phrases compare starting pickstrokes, accents, leading- and trailing-edge grips, thumb flexibility, tone, and the hand positions each player built around the pick.
Jamilah Downstroke - tk1
Jamilah Upstroke - tk1
Jamilah Downstroke - tk2
Jamilah Upstroke - tk2
Jamilah Bass Strings - tk1
Jamilah Bass Strings - tk1
Jamilah Bass Strings - tk2
Jamilah Bass Strings - tk2
Trailing Edge - tk1
Trailing Edge - tk2
Trailing Edge - tk3
Wrist Movement
Scale Sequences
Overlapping sixes, doubled groups, descending triplets, and circular patterns show how three-note-per-string fingerings are reorganized to fit each player’s mechanics and rhythmic grid.
UWPS Signature Ascending - tk2
Sixes Overlap Ascending - tk1
Sixes Double Ascending - tk1
Sixes Overlap Ascending - tk2
Sixes Double Ascending - tk2
Sixes Double Ascending - tk3
Sixes Overlap Ascending
Sixes Double Ascending
Sixes Triplet Descending Signature - tk1
32nds Circular - tk2
Sixes Triplet Descending Signature - tk2
Speed And Subdivision
Controlled demonstrations at several metronome markings compare sixteenths, triplets, and thirty-second notes, revealing how the same note rate can be notated and felt in different tempo families.
100bpm Sixteenths
100bpm 32nds - tk1
100bpm 32nds - tk2
100bpm 32nds - tk3
32nds Circular - tk3
100bpm 32nds - tk4
100bpm Triplets - tk1
100bpm Triplets - tk2
150bpm Sixteenths - tk2
Pasatiempo
Outro
The interview closes with performances of “Pasatiempo” and “Bolero No. 3,” returning the detailed mechanical and rhythmic discussion to the duo’s music.
