About This Piece
Still Awake is Tobias Rauscher's breakthrough composition and one of the most viewed original fingerstyle guitar videos ever made, with over 22 million views. Composed when Rauscher was a teenager, the piece reveals an extraordinary instinct for arrangement and emotional arc.
The piece builds from a quiet, insomniac restlessness into an intense, cathartic climax — the title perfectly capturing the emotional state it conveys.
Technical Overview
Rauscher uses Open C tuning (C-G-C-G-C-E) throughout, giving the piece its characteristically deep, resonant low end:
- Percussive framework: The guitar body provides kick and snare accents throughout, keeping a steady groove beneath the melodic content
- Melodic clarity: Despite the rhythmic complexity, the melody is always audible and singable
- Dynamic arc: The piece moves from sparse to dense, requiring control of dynamics across the full range
- Natural harmonics: Appear at climactic moments for added shimmer
Learning Path
Learn the percussive pattern first — it's the backbone of the entire piece. Once you can play it consistently without thinking, add the melody layer. The full arrangement requires both hands and the body to operate as a complete rhythm section simultaneously.