Sumatran guitar, Alas style! Pak Rabadin is an Alas flute maestro from Kuta Cingkam, Southeast Aceh who, I found out, also happens to shred on guitar! He plays in a picking style I’d never seen in the north of Sumatra but which is eerily similar to guitar styles popular in the south of the island (check the AA archives for versions from Bengkulu, South Sumatra, and Lampung).

Back in the day, Pak Rabadin's brother played in a keroncong string band, so he picked up his particular fingerpicking style from that milieu, later playing as a “tukang melodi” (melody guy) in a “ben” (band) back in the 70s that played Alas songs with the orkes Melayu flavor that was popular at the time. “Back then, guitars were everywhere…you’d have six in just one village! Now, not so much…”

Here Pak Rabadin plays an Alas piece he calls “Khetak ni Papan," or "Cracking the Board." Notice he does it all with one thumb!