Songwriting, composing, and arranging go hand in hand with playing the acoustic guitar. In these lessons you’ll find instruction and inspiration for developing your own voice as a writer—whether you’re getting ready to write your first song or your hundredth.
In this live workshop, ‘Holiday Songs for Fingerstyle Guitar’ author Sean McGowan explores an arrangement from the book and gives an inside look into his arranging process.
When used properly, a looper pedal can transform the sound of your acoustic guitar into something new and beautiful, while making your performances more dynamic.
As a songwriter, do you stick to your guns and your own songs—or cave and just deliver the hits everyone can sing along with? There’s a healthier way to look at covers: as a creative vehicle that can actually enhance rather than compete with your songwriting.
From interlocking rhythms to wide, piano-like harmonies and melodic counterpoint, two guitars—skillfully and tastefully employed—can cover a tremendous amount of musical territory.
Vary your fretting- and picking-hand technique to create accompaniment parts that are more dynamic, supple, and nuanced, both harmonically and rhythmically.
The bVI chord is most often heard in edgy rock tunes. One function of the bVI is to lead to the V, before resolving to the I. You can hear this in J.J. Cale’s “Cocaine.”
The guitar can do much more than accompany your voice and fill in the chords—it can spark ideas and help guide you throughout the process of developing them into complete songs
The chord trinity known as I–IV–V is one of the most useful theoretical concepts for any musician. The I–IV–V is a skeleton key for countless songs in folk, country, rock, blues, and beyond, revealing the basic similarities of, say, “Louie Louie,” “Ring of Fire,” “Man of Constant Sorrow,” and “I Fought the Law.”
