Five Ways to Evolve Your Musicianship Now
Guitarists Adam Levy and Ethan Sherman offer ideas for taking your music to the next level.
Adam Levy
Adam Levy is a first rate sideman, singer-songwriter, educator, and journalist. Check out his excellent lessons in Play Guitar Like the Great Singer-Songwriters and String Theories.
Video Lesson: Discover the Secrets Behind Bob Dylan’s Inventive Acoustic Guitar Work
Bob Dylan's great acoustic guitar playing is often overlooked. Here we showcase his deceptive chord moves, his fluency with standard and non-standard tunings, and his knack for constant reinvention.
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Trigger Fingers: A Look at Willie Nelson’s Jazz-Inspired Guitar Style
Though Willie Nelson is most easily described as a country musician, elements of jazz have always permeated his style. Here, Adam Levy digs into Nelson's acoustic guitar approach.
Video Lesson: Learn to Play the Talking Blues
Sometime in the 1920s, a peculiar form of blues emerged that was substantially different from the better-known varieties. The style is commonly known today as talking blues. Despite the moniker, however, it rarely employs the 12-bar chord progression that is…
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…
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Video Lesson: Learn the Bluesy Fundamentals of Eric Clapton’s Acoustic Style
Here you’ll learn some of Clapton’s most intriguing acoustic moves—sophisticated chord shapes, rollicking rhythms, sinuous solo lines, and more.
Video Lesson: Remembering Glen Campbell and His Acoustic Style
Whether playing live or in the studio, Campbell always displayed a distinctive style. Here's a look at some of the essential elements of his methodology.
Video Lesson: Inside Paul Simon’s Atmospheric Acoustic Guitar Style
Paul Simon—with Art Garfunkel and without—and has composed some of the most beloved songs of the 20th century. This lesson explores his musical styles and techniques.
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Video Lesson: Bringing Sunny Sounds Into Shadowy Harmony
Playing melodies in parallel sixths evokes the sweet sound of classic Memphis soul. Here's how to use sixths in a variety of musical ways
Video Lesson: Cultivate Your Standalone Guitar Skills
Here you’ll learn a few fundamental solo-guitar concepts that will get you started and leave you with enough tools to continue developing at your own pace.
Video Lesson: Using Horizontal Harmonies to Express Chord Changes
Try these exercises to make your melodies more harmonic and your harmonies more melodic.
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Video Lesson: Sharpen Your Rhythms with These Displacement Exercises
Guitarists tend to find comfort zones, then lean on the same patterns. Rhythmic displacement is a great way to keep your playing rhythmically fresh.
A Shop Visit with Luthier and Restorer David Eichelbaum
Luthier and instrument restorer David Eichelbaum's M.O. stems from one simple tenet: Do no harm.
Lesson: Learn From Jazz Great Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was a brilliant jazz pianist and composer, active from the 1940s through the early ’70s. You are, presumably, an acoustic guitarist, playing music in the 21st century. As such, you may or may not be interested in…
Video Lesson: Learn Neil Young’s Simple but Singular Guitar Style
Among the many players who’ve used such tactics to create sui generis riffs and chord progressions, perhaps no one has been more successful than prolific singer-songwriter Neil Young.
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Strengthen Your Accompaniment Skills
Introducing accents into your strumming/rhythm patterns can make even well-worn chord progressions sound fresh.
How to Play Acoustic Bob Dylan: the Secrets Behind 10 of His Greatest Songs
Learn some of Bob Dylan’s deceptive chord moves, his fluency with standard and non-standard tunings, and his knack for constant reinvention with music examples drawn from his early work.
Guadalupe Makes Custom Strings the Old Fashioned Way, By Hand
Gabriel Tenorio explains how and why he and his small crew at Guadalupe Custom Strings wind their strings one at a time.
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Gear Review: Recording King’s Harmonella Single 0 Offers a Modern Spin on a Vintage Vibe
If you’re into smallish flattops with ear-grabbing tones and pawnshop-chic looks, this budget beauty is right up your alley.
New Gear: Solomon Phidelity Gives a Nod to Classic Acoustic Guitars of Yore [VIDEO]
While it is the descendant of instruments usually associated with swing and bop, virtually any style that you can play on a flattop could be rendered on this guitar.
Weekly Workout: Be a Better Accompanist
Creating cool parts from scratch may seem to be a mysterious art form but it needn’t be an intimidating prospect
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Doug Wamble Couples Slide Guitar & D A D G A D Tuning for a Personal Sound
The jazz guitarist has developed a personal instrumental voice that is both steeped in tradition and wholly original.
Review: Taylor T5z Has Appeal For Electric Guitarists
This guitar has svelte contours, jazzy S-curve cutouts, and a slimline humbucking pickup near the bridge
Review: Gibson J-35 Reissue Retains the Charm of its Ancestor
Gibson's reintroduced J-35 is built in Bozeman, Montana, has all the sonic and aesthetic charm of its ancestor, and is once again priced competitively.