Learn to Play Mary Flower’s ‘Waltz,’ a Jazzy Roots Piece in Dropped D Tuning
“Most of the time I have no idea how the music comes from my fingertips while writing. It’s not like I’m going for some genre or sound. It just happens!”
Adam Perlmutter
Adam Perlmutter holds a bachelor of music degree from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and a master's degree in Contemporary Improvisation from the New England Conservatory. He is the editor of Acoustic Guitar.
Learn How to Play Joe Robinson’s Showstopping “Let the Guitar Do the Talkin’”
It’s one thing to play blazingly fast Travis picking, and quite another to sing at the same time, as Joe Robinson does.
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![Cover artwork for the ablum 'Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1]](https://i0.wp.com/acousticguitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/TRAVELING-WILBURYS-VOL-1.jpg?fit=750%2C568&ssl=1)
Learn to Play “Handle With Care,” the Traveling Wilburys’ Impromptu Hit
George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, and Bob Dylan had so much fun recording this song that they ended up making a band together.
Fanø/Black Sea Dress: Learn to Play this Pair of Miniatures from Charlie Rauh
While hybrid picking lends a certain definition and crispness, especially on the bass notes, straight fingerpicking will work equally well on the two pieces.
Sunny War’s “No Reason” Is Built from a Cool and Distinctive Riff
It has a non-Western vibe, but at the same time connects to the Travis picking tradition
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Improviser Grant Gordy Thrives in the String-Band Ensemble Setting of His Latest Work
Since Grant Gordy's 2010 self-titled debut album, he has used bluegrass as a foundation while stretching out far beyond the genre’s confines to find his voice as an improviser, composer, and arranger.
A Visit with Archtop Luthier Tim Frick
For the last decade, luthier Tim Frick has quietly been pushing the envelope on the design of the archtop guitar.
How to Play “Willin’” — Little Feat’s Trucking Anthem in Open-G Tuning
This guitar lesson is based on Little Feat’s original recording of "Willin'," a duet with George on vocals and acoustic guitar and Ry Cooder on bottleneck electric guitar.
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Steve Nall Steps into a Big New Role at Collings Guitars
Steve Nall recently took over selecting tonewoods and voicing the tops and backs of all Collings acoustic guitars after working for decades with mentors Bill Collings and Bruce VanWart.
How to Best Take Care of Your Guitars—When They’re Not in Your Hands
With a little thought into how you store and display your guitars, you can keep them in optimal shape, ready to receive your ideas when inspiration strikes.
Learn the Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreamin’” on Guitar
This classic song captures the ethos of the early hippie era and is played in the key of A minor, with a capo at the fourth fret causing the music to sound in C# minor.
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2022: The Year in Gear
Despite uncertain times, makers unveil guitars, guitars, and more guitars. There have been many new gear releases in the past 12 months - in this story, we explore the year's highlights and trends.
Tips on How to Play Michael Hedges’ Evocative Composition “Breakfast in the Field”
This meditative song uses two-handed tappings to fret notes in unprecedented ways.
Adam Levy Teaches His Moving Solo Guitar Composition “Clandestino (Elegy for a Cheesemonger)”
“Clandestino” begins with a playful single-note figure drawn from the D major pentatonic scale.
“What’s Going On”—Learn an Unplugged Version of Marvin Gaye’s R&B Masterpiece
Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” has nary an acoustic guitar in its swirling arrangement, but the song, in the guitar-friendly key of E major, lends itself nicely to an acoustic treatment.
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Exploring the Open Tunings of Robert Johnson and Other Blues Guitarists
This trio of lessons explores some of the open tunings most frequently heard in the blues: Vastopol, Spanish, open-C and open-G
Video Lesson: Inside Nick Drake’s Idiosyncratic Guitar Style
Unorthodox tunings made it possible for Nick Drake to create complex harmonies from one- and two-fingered chord shapes, freeing him to concentrate on his highly detailed picking patterns.
Lily Henley’s ‘Oras Dezaoradas’ Is a Beautiful Fusion of Sephardic and American Folk Tunes
Sephardic songs from 15th century Spain and tunes from the American folk tradition fuse together as the core of Lily Henley's album Oras Dezaoradas.
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Learn Gretchen Menn’s Challenging Chord-Melody Arrangement of “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling”
Guitarist Gretchen Menn based this lovely chord-melody guitar arrangement of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" on a version that vocalist Bing Crosby recorded in 1939.
Learn Peppino D’Agostino’s ‘Dancing with Shadows’
“As in a painting, the melody should be the subject right up front, close to your eyes, and the bass should be the mountains in the background,” D’Agostino says.
Fingerstyle Legend Will Ackerman Plays a New Piece, “I Had to Go There,” in a Radical Open Tuning
This song has a striking tuning of F C Eb Ab C Eb, try your hand at playing it!
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Between the Lines: All About Guitar Notation
Here you’ll learn how guitar notation evolved into the sophisticated tool it is today, how it’s prepared for publications like AG, and most important, how you can use it to learn new music, whatever your style.
How To Play Lead Belly’s Version of the Blues Ballad “John Hardy”
This guitar transcription of Lead Belly's blues murder ballad "John Hardy" uses the tuning of low-B from the 1940 Library of Congress recording.
Paul Reed Smith Took Inspiration from Torres for His Acoustic Guitar Design
When Paul Reed Smith first heard an 1800s acoustic guitar built by Antonio Torres, he knew his own steel-string guitar designs would borrow structural elements from Torres.
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‘Little Satchel’— Learn Sarah Jarosz and John Leventhal’s Take on a Traditional Tune
On “Little Satchel,” the most traditional number on Sarah Jarosz’s brilliant new album, World on the Ground (see link to review below), Jarosz sings and plays clawhammer banjo while her producer, John Leventhal, lends spare but effective guitar parts. Leventhal’s…
