Great Acoustics: A Cutting-Edge 1931 Martin OM-18 Owned by Country Legend Conway Twitty
Twitty was renowned for his voice, his hair, and songs like “It’s Only Make Believe,” but he also had excellent taste in acoustic guitars.
Play Kacey Musgraves’ Dreamy Ballad “Too Good to Be True”
This intimate song is built on layers of acoustic guitar, with fingerstyle parts that are so closely entwined it’s often hard to pick out the individual instruments.
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Ask the Expert: Modifying a Standard Flattop for Lap-Style Playing
I'm thinking about converting an instrument for lap-style playing. Will I be putting the guitar at risk if I raise the nut and saddle high enough to play it with a bar?
Hone Your Cross-Picking Skills with the Classic Fiddle Tune “Soldier’s Joy”
"Soldier's Joy" is almost always played fast. In this lesson I present two versions that offer options for navigating this tricky melody.
Learn to Play the Doobie Brothers’ Roots Rock Anthem “Black Water”
This mellow 1974 tune features an acoustic solo that requires a bit of dexterity and finesse to play convincingly.
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Review: Thomastik-Infeld Bronze IBR112T Strings
The company’s first-ever phosphor bronze acoustic guitar strings are strong performers.
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.
Margaret Glaspy Connects with Her Younger Self—and an Old Gibson L-00—on ‘The Sun Doesn’t Think’
It wasn’t until a recent solo acoustic tour that Glaspy played for a public audience with just her steel-string guitar for the first time in her professional life, a format she found freeing both literally and metaphorically.
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Learn a Jazzy, Reharmonized Arrangement of “Sweet Georgia Brown”
This beloved tune became a popular standard, performed by guitarists like Django Reinhardt, Doc Watson, and Bucky Pizzarelli, among many others.
With ‘All My Friends,’ Aoife O’Donovan Composes a Soulful History Lesson and Call to Action on Women’s Rights
'All My Friends' alternates between orchestral movements and quiet passages, blending folk/Americana and orchestral flavors for a potent mix.
Approaching His 80th Birthday, Legendary Roots Singer-Songwriter Chris Smither Reflects on Lessons from the Stage, Studio, and Woodshed
When Acoustic Guitar invited me to interview Smither, I was delighted to sit down in his study to talk about how his performance and writing have evolved over the years.
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How to Play “In the Jailhouse Now,” a Novelty Number Turned Country and Pop Hit
“Jailhouse” has been recorded many times over the years—often in very divergent styles—by the likes of Hank Snow, Johnny Cash, and others, and has been featured in major motion pictures.
Boost Your Bottleneck Slide Playing by Focusing on Chord Tones
Chord tones provide not only a solid foundation for expanding your slide playing but a template for soloing in general, with or without slide.
How the Orchestra Model Went from a Flop to Become One of the Most Popular Guitar Types
The first OMs were built by Martin in 1929, and today, almost every modern guitar builder inspired by the venerable company builds an OM of some kind.
Cat Fox of Sound Guitar Repair Fixes and Restores Instruments for Stars and Hobbyists Alike
The acoustic instrument "health and wellness" expert talks about her training, memorable repair jobs, and her recent move to New England.
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Borrowing Rootsy Ideas to Generate “Americana,” a New Solo Guitar Piece
I wrote this piece from my own classical perspective, rather than in an authentic Americana style, and set out to paint a picture of a landscape with a natural sort of pulse to it
UK Guitarist-Composer Laura Snowden Combines Instrument and Voice for Fresh Classical Sounds
Snowden shares reflections on her education, the extramusical disciplines that inform her practice regimen, and her adventurous work as a composer-arranger.
Review: Collings Debuts New Series with the Striking OM1A Hill Country
Designed to be "just a guitar—simply in its purest form, open and woody,” every inch of the OM1A HC speaks to lutherie at its finest.
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Eclectic Fingerstylists James Elkington and Nathan Salsburg Blend Seamlessly on ‘All Gist’
On a long, jovial Zoom call, Elkington and Salsburg spoke to Acoustic Guitar from their respective homes about the nuts and bolts of their work as a duo.
Guitar Basics: How to Use Sus and Add Embellishments with Open Chord Shapes
Sus and add chord voicings are used all the time to add variety to rhythm patterns and create riffs.