Guitar Technique – Fundamental

Start Soloing with Gretchen Menn

What are fundamental acoustic guitar techniques? Basic strumming, flatpicking, and fingerpicking are all techniques that provide a solid foundation on the instrument. Legato moves like hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides also fall under the umbrella of fundamental technique. The lessons here are perfect for beginning and intermediate guitar players.

Close up of an acoustic guitarist with finger pointing at fretboard

Guitar Basics: How to Connect Chords with Bass Runs

We’ll start off with a series of examples that use a bass run to connect two chords, and then we’ll try out bass runs in a few classic progressions.

Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
November 27, 2024

closeup of hand fretting strings on an acoustic guitar

Add a Blues Flavor to Your Rhythm with Simple Chord Embellishments

In this lesson we’ll work with some "blue" notes that you can use to add bluesy colors to open chord shapes.

Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
October 9, 2024

A guitarist's hand fretting a D sus chord.

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.

Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
August 4, 2024

Decorating Open Chords with Hammer-ons and Pull-offs

This basic lesson focuses on using hammer-ons and pull-offs with open chords—creating classic sounds heard throughout roots, country, and rock guitar styles.

Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
June 23, 2024

Sharpen Your Rhythm Guitar Skills by Learning to Read Rhythmic Notation

Practicing rhythmic fundamentals can show immediate results and also gives you a structure to internalize new rhythmic patterns.

Greg Ruby
May 24, 2024

Sean McGowan playing harmonics on an acoustic guitar

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Harmonics and How to Play Them on Guitar

When played clearly, harmonics sound bell-like and chimey, and they sustain to add a harp-like effect to your sound.

Sean McGowan
March 22, 2024

Jane Miller and Brian Parent playing duets on acoustic guitars

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

Jane Miller
March 15, 2024

Black and white photo of a guitarist on an orange background with the series title Level UP Your Lead

Level Up Your Lead Guitar

Make your riffs and solos more musical, memorable, and fun to play! This course is free for you thanks to sponsorship from Elixir® Strings.

Lyzy Lusterman
March 14, 2024

Gretchen Menn playing a Kenny Hill nylon-string guitar using tremolo technique. Photo by Daniele Gottardo

Classical Guitar Basics: Getting Started with Tremolo Technique

Though commonly associated with classical guitar, tremolo technique can be used on steel-string acoustic or even electric guitar to give the impression of a sustained voice.

Gretchen Menn
November 1, 2023

connecting chords up the neck on acoustic guitar

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.

Jane Miller
September 8, 2023

woman playing acoustic guitar and singing

Try These 5 Simple Steps to Sing and Play Guitar at the Same Time

Learning to sing and play at once can seem daunting, but the simple steps outlined in this lesson can make the process much more enjoyable.

Bobby Weinapple
August 31, 2023

david hamburger barre chords guitar lesson

Acoustic Guitar Basics: A Gentle Introduction to Barre Chords

In this lesson you’ll learn a handful of essential barre chord shapes and use them to play the swing favorite “After You’ve Gone.”

David Hamburger
August 23, 2023

Cathy Fink, seated with guitar, teaches a guitar lesson on boom-chuck accompaniment patterns

Learn These Essential Americana Accompaniment Patterns in D Major

Make your I-IV-V boom-chuck accompaniments in D sound more interesting by adding some variety to your bass lines.

Cathy Fink
July 12, 2023

Cathy Fink, seated with guitar, teaching a lesson on strumming

How to Add Bass Lines to the Boom-Chuck Guitar Strum

Learn how to use different kinds of bass lines to add variety to boom-chuck accompaniment in the keys of E and A major.

Cathy Fink
March 8, 2023

person holding a guitar with a capo strumming

Video Lesson: How to Use a Capo to Play Music in All 12 Keys

The capo is a small but powerful tool for guitarists that raises the notes of the open strings but retains the individual relationships between strings. Here's how to use one.

Jamie Stillway
March 2, 2023

closeup of a guitarist holding and playing an acoustic guitar

How to Play the Boom-Chuck Strumming Pattern on Guitar

In this guitar lesson we will break down the classic boom-chuck pattern heard throughout American roots music and begin to use it on songs.

Cathy Fink
February 1, 2023

closeup of a hand holding a pick and strumming an acoustic guitar

How to Add Variety to Basic Guitar Strumming Patterns and Use Them When Playing Songs

Here are some patterns you can practice on their own and then use in traditional songs

Cathy Fink
November 2, 2022

close up of acoustic guitar playing, how to get good tone

30 Ways to Improve Your Acoustic Guitar Tone

Improve your acoustic guitar tone with these tips and techniques for fretting-hand, flatpicking, and fingerstyle playing for both your right and left hands.

Sean McGowan and Sean McGowan
September 2, 2022

Cathy Fink seated in front of a microphone holding a guitar

Guitar Basics: 3 Simple Tips to Get Better at Strumming

Learn to get comfortable holding a pick, then try some common strums of increasing complexity

Cathy Fink
August 24, 2022

man-singing-into-vintage-microphone-while-playing-acoustic-guitar

How to Sing and Play Guitar at the Same Time

In this lesson you'll learn how to sing and play a whole song with any set of strum patterns you like.

Andrew DuBrock
June 21, 2022

Learn to Play Rock-Solid Rhythm Guitar

In this guitar lesson you will focus on tightening up your timing on rhythm guitar using a variety of different strumming rhythms.

Cathy Fink
May 17, 2022

gretchen menn plays an acoustic guitar in the AG studio

Video Lesson: Improve Your Acoustic-Rock Arpeggio Technique in 5 Easy Steps

This acoustic guitar lesson on fingerpicking arpeggios will benefit your rhythm and lead playing as well as your compositional ability and overall musicianship

Gretchen Menn
February 11, 2022

Acoustic Guitar Basics: How to Train Your Fretting Fingers for Maximum Efficiency and Musicality

Learn to use your fretting hand with maximum efficiency by understanding how that hand works mechanically and how it should interact with the fingerboard.

Michael Chapdelaine
October 19, 2020

Guitarist Gretchen Menn playing arpeggios on acoustic guitar.

5 Tips for Playing Arpeggios | Acoustic Guitar Lesson

Start with chord shapes you already know. Learn a handful of fingerstyle picking patterns and then begin incorporating arpeggios into your vocabulary.

Gretchen Menn
July 24, 2020

Video Lesson: 6 Steps to Rock-Solid Rhythm

THE PROBLEMYou’re dissatisfied with your rhythm playing. THE SOLUTIONSummarize the range of sounds you can get from your right hand—basically discuss the problem and emphasize that there are ways to fix it. Then break those problems down in a list (with music examples) of specificexercises or techniques that you can add…

Paul Mehling
June 28, 2020