PATRICK O'BRIEN

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/nytimes/name/patrick-o-brien-obituary?id=22992425&condolenceId=179183970&utm_source=copiedlink&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=obitshare

Every time I sit down to practice, I hear, for just a moment, Pat's voice, reminding and coaching; he is still teaching. Nancy Grilikhes

We were kids together in North Merrick LI. Pat played bass in our bluegrass band in high school. I was with him when he bought his first Lute. RIP Pat. In the photo: The Back Alley Boys ~ Bob McCarthy, Ray Harvey, Patrick O'Brien, and Dennis Ferrigno, 1964, N. Merrick, NY

Around 1985 -86, Pat took me on as a beginning guitar student. How incredibly generous and kind he was to do that when he was in such demand from professional musicians. The archive of blues and country musicians in his mind was fantastical! I treasure the memory of the afternoons we spent together as well as the dinners with Mary Lou and sometimes Eleanor and my late ex-husband David Smith who was studying lute with him. I'm so sad to learn just now that he transitioned out of this life at...

The most remarkable combination of regular ol' guy and Zeus (or better, perhaps, Apollo), Pat was my lute teacher for many years. His exquisite sensibility, wit, and encyclopedic knowledge are never to be forgotten. What a loss.

Besides being a consummate musician, scholar, mentor to thousands, and a fantastic player; Pat was the guy I always liked running into on the sidewalk. He is missed.

Pat was a master teacher - the kind who you visit with a query and leave with a brand new insight into how you play the instrument. In my very few lessons I gained more technique than several years would yield elsewhere. He personally transformed modern lute playing.