5 Simple Exercises to Help Center Your Mind and Hands Before You Play Guitar
Whether preparing for a practice session or a performance, guitarists can tap into the mental resource of mindfulness.
Jane Miller
Jane Miller is a composer, arranger, and professor in the guitar department at Berklee College of Music with roots in both jazz and contemporary acoustic guitar.
Discover the Creative Power of Transposing on Guitar
Learning to play songs in different keys by actually transposing and understanding the resulting chords and melodies can transform your guitar playing.
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How to Easily Communicate Chord Progressions with the Nashville Number System
It makes sense that a shortcut system to convey chord progressions efficiently would emerge from Music City.
Finding Seventh Chord Shapes All Over the Fretboard
In this lesson, you’ll see that you can use familiar three-note chords, or triads, to find smooth and easy ways to play different types of seventh chords.
Take Your Sight-Reading to the Next Level with Duets in Higher Positions
In this final installment of our three-part lesson on developing sight-reading skills, we'll move up the neck and try out some new rhythms and harmonies
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Sharpen Your Sight-Reading Skills by Playing Duets with Counterpoint and Triple-Stops
This second lesson in a three-part series on learning to sight-read on guitar adds some exercises that are a bit more complex.
Work on Your Sight-Reading Skills Through Two-Part Studies
Playing together with a partner in real time is a great way to have to have fun while improving your single-line melody reading.
Learn to Improvise All Around the Neck Using Moveable Chord Shapes
Being able to visualize chords all over the neck as they happen is a great foundation for building melodic lines.
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Weekly Workout: Using Triads to Negotiate Seventh Chords
Learn to use three-note, three-string triads — you probably already know a lot of these chords, and in this lesson, you’ll find ways to repurpose them.
Make the Most of Your Capo: 4 Essential Concepts
When used as a tool—and not merely a crutch—a capo can offer inspiration and creativity for guitar players of all skill levels.
Song Builder: How to Put Together a Repertoire—and Use it Wisely
Whether you’re a solo singer-songwriter or instrumentalist, or you play with a group, as you develop plans to play shows, you’ll need to carefully consider your repertoire. If you’ve performed in bars and restaurants, then you understand the value of…
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Quick Tip: All Practice and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Guitarist
Writers have a saying to describe the process of practicing their craft: B.I.C. or Butt in Chair. That’s a good starting place for guitar players, too. If you’re dreaming of being a better guitar player, then have a seat.…
Stage-Ready: Understanding the Latest Options in Acoustic-Electric Guitars
Given a market teeming with attractive options, it can be overwhelming to find the acoustic-electric guitar that’s right for your style and which sounds great acoustically.
Video Lesson: Harnessing the Power of Sus Chords
Look at some sus-chord symbols commonly seen in popular music and learn how to play them on guitar.
Video Lesson: All About the Essential ii–V Chord Progression
Given the guitar’s well-established role as an accompaniment instrument, it behooves acoustic players to learn a lot about chords. Backing up your own singing or someone else’s means you’ve probably recognized familiar chord progressions that occur throughout popular music. As…
