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.
These articles originally appeared in the March-April 2020 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine.
Beyond Flattops: The Magic of Archtop Guitars
Though long favored by jazz and swing guitarists, the archtop is currently enjoying a revival among roots and Americana musicians, flatpickers, and singer-songwriters.
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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.
Ask the Expert: All About Celluloid Rot—and What to Do About It
Celluloid rot, the degrading of the plastic used for the binding on vintage guitars, is a common occurrence. Here we take a look at why this deterioration happens.
Digital Conservatories: Online Learning Resources for Classical Guitarists
We looked into a number of the most popular classical-guitar learning sites and offer profiles of three here; at the end you’ll also find brief glimpses of four others.
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Video Lesson: Learn the Classical Guitar Standard “Romanza”
So, you want to play a composition like the 19th-century “Romanza,” eh? Here's how to make it sound beautiful on classical guitar.
How I Learned to Make Guitars: Eight Modern Luthiers on the Origins of Their Craft
What does it take to go from loving acoustic guitars to actually building them? To answer this, we asked a handful of luthiers to tell us their origin stories.
Beyond Flattops: The Magic of Baritone Guitars
If the baritone guitar were a basketball player, it would end up on the scouting report as a tweener—a player whose size and skills don’t fit a standard position.
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Beyond Flattops: The Magic of Resonator Guitars
In the past 20 years, the resonator guitar has seen a reawakening as builders continuing to refine the basic concept that’s nearly 100 years old.
“Picking the Guitar”: Tackling a Classic Steel-String Instrumental
Overall, the rhythm of “Picking the Guitar” lies somewhere between ragtime of the early 1900s and the hot music of the 1920s.
‘The Devil Is In It’ – Beautiful, Collectible Volume Traces the Acoustic Guitar’s Evolution and More
The limited-run, 380-page book is divided into 31 chapters that offer an inspired and accurate chronological overview of the evolution of the guitar in America.
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Gear Review: DPA 4099 CORE Instrument Microphone
DPA’s series of 4099 CORE microphones includes models designed to cover a wide range of instruments, depending on their sound-pressure levels. Each mic features some important qualities—a small footprint, a pre-polarized supercardioid condenser capsule, and mounting hardware optimized for the instrument in question.
Video Lesson: Learn to Play Like John Denver
Thanks to his gift for simple and emotionally direct expression, the songs John Denver wrote and interpreted have remained standard repertoire for any musicians who sing with an acoustic guitar.
Guitar Talk: French Guitarist Antoine Boyer Is a Master of Many Styles
Guitarist Antoine Boyer Boyer grew up in a Paris suburb, where his musical education began with the Gypsy jazz his parents would play around the house.
Beyond Flattops: The Magic of Resonator, Baritone, and Archtop Guitars
The wide tonal palette of acoustic guitars includes archtop, resonator, and baritone colors. Here's more about the history, makers, and players of these instruments.
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Great Acoustics: Yasmin Williams’ Skytop Grand Concert
This unique Eric Weigeshoff-built instrument is as individual as the music Yasmin Williams creates with it.
Ruminative Originals Highlight Bill Scorzari’s ‘Now I’m Free’
The New York-based singer-songwriter transcends titles like songwriter or poet.
Shop Visit: Luthier Raymond Morin and His Pleinview Guitars
Pleinview’s reputation has spread predominately through word of mouth, an approach to marketing that has worked well for Raymond Morin and his assistant, Adam Rousseau.
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Album Review: The Milk Carton Kids Return to Spare Acoustic Sound on ‘The Only Ones’
The quietness of the production makes these songs feel especially brittle and heart-worn, as if there’s nothing left for Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan to hide.
Album Review: Billy Strings’ ‘Home’ Moves Beyond Bluegrass
Billy StringsHome(Rounder) Home begins with 30 seconds of down-tempo guitar arpeggio and fiddle birdsong. It ends with the full quartet—Billy Strings (guitar), Billy Failing (banjo), Royal Massat (upright bass), and Jarrod Walker (mandolin)—crashing through a cover of Bill Monroe’s “Big Sandy River.” In between, there’s an hour of bluegrass played…
Acoustic Classic: Prince‘s “I Feel for You”
It might seem incongruous to see “I Feel for You,” a song made popular by the R&B singer Chaka Khan in the mid-1980s, in this magazine. Sure, it’s a classic, but there’s nothing even faintly acoustic about Khan’s version of this Prince tune, with its dominant synth and drum programming.…
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Acoustic Classic: Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash’s take on “Just a Closer Walk with Thee”
“Just a Closer Walk with Thee” finds Dylan and Cash—incidentally, with rockabilly legend Carl Perkins on the electric guitar—putting a country spin on a New Orleans funeral standard.
Review: New World Guitars P640S FS Nylon-String Guitar is an Affordable, Acoustic-Electric Kenny Hill–Designed Instrument
The New World Guitars P640S FS nylon-string guitar is an extremely well made guitar & great choice for steel-string guitarists looking to expand their sonic palette.
Gear Review: Beard A-Model Odyssey
With its mixture of vintage and modern appointments, the Beard A-Model Odyssey resonator guitar has a stunning look that is certain to captivate the audience at any gig.
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Campfire Songs: “Stealin’”
Learn a simple arrangement of the classic tune "Stealin'" in this video from Acoustic Guitar's Campfire Songs series.