Classical Guitar Phenom Jiji and Her Polystylistic Adventures
The South Korea born guitarist/composer reflects on her diverse influences, shares practice techniques, and previews some upcoming projects.
Gretchen Menn
Gretchen Menn is a guitarist and composer. She is the author of The Way Music Works.
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.
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Eric Johnson & Gretchen Menn | The Acoustic Guitar Podcast
While both our guests are lauded for their electric guitar chops, this episode is all about playing unplugged.
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
Video Lesson: 5 Ways to Build Your Rock Rhythm Guitar Rudiments
Developing your sense of time and rhythmic vocabulary won’t just make you a better rhythm player, it will make you a better lead player, and a better musician overall.
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Guitar Basics: How to Build Scales on Acoustic Guitar, Part I (Major Scales)
In this acoustic guitar lesson, Gretchen Menn breaks down the basics of scale formation and shows you how to apply that knowledge to the fretboard.
Video Lesson: Learning the Notes on the Acoustic Guitar Fretboard and the Staff
Guitarist Gretchen Menn offers beginner's tips on how to familiarize yourself with the guitar fretboard and learn the fundamentals of music theory.
A Guitar Tribute to J.S. Bach on His 336th Birthday
Here is J.S. Bach’s transcendental prelude to Cello Suite No. 1 performed on acoustic guitar. Learn the history of this arrangement and find advice for learning to play it yourself.
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How to Use Modes and Pentatonic Scales on Guitar
Here are some tips on understanding the power of modes and pentatonic scales (major and minor), and how to fit them into your own playing 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.
Start Enriching Your Music Now with Seventh Chords
The basic concept for seventh chords is simple enough: any number following a chord indicates the note that is to be included in the basic triad to form a more colorful harmony.
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Introducing ‘The Way Music Works’ by Gretchen Menn
"Many guitar players have an aversion to anything that smacks of music theory," Gretchen Menn says, "My aim is to show you that having a basic understanding of the fundamentals will benefit you as a guitarist, a musician, and a creative soul."
The Way Music Works | Acoustic Guitar Champions
A step-by-step guide to using the fundamentals of music to unlock both the fretboard and your creativity.
Guitar Basics: How to Build Chords and Use Them in Progression
In this guitar lesson we study the fundamentals of diatonic harmony to understand the theory, then apply it to the fretboard to build chords and use them in progression.
Video Lesson: Chord-Building Basics
The guitar is a wonderfully flexible instrument that allows for full, rich harmonies with easy fingerings. Yet so many guitarists stop there.
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Video Lesson: All About the 12-Bar Blues Form
You can find the blues everywhere. Its characteristic 12-bar form and blue notes permeate jazz, rock, country, soul… you name it.
Video Lesson: How to Build Pentatonic Scales Up and Down the Fretboard
The pentatonic scale is everywhere. Its characteristic sound is useful in a wide variety of genres.
Video Lesson: How to Build Scales on Acoustic Guitar, Part 2 of 2 (Minor Scales)
If you’re going to spend any time learning scales, why not really learn them? Why not own them? In the long run it'll be a valuable use of your time.
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Video Lesson: Get Rhythm, Part 2: More on Beats, Meters, and More
Even if this is review for you, it’s always a good idea to revisit the basics—not only to further solidify the foundation upon which all else is built, but to provide new insights as you examine something familiar with fresh eyes and skills.
Video Lesson: Get Rhythm, Part 1: Beats, Meters, and More
THE PROBLEM Rhythm is a shaky area for you. You have a difficult time communicating a rhythmic idea unless you can play it; you have a tendency to fall into familiar, repetitive rhythms. THE SOLUTION Learn the fundamentals of rhythm, then…
Start Soloing on Acoustic Guitar with These Essential Building Blocks [Video Lesson]
Pentatonic scales are an effective and generally manageable way to get started, and many guitar players derive much of their approach from this basic framework.
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Video Lesson: 5 Steps Toward Developing Chord Fluency on the Fretboard
Use a little music theory to learn how major and minor triads are built and to start connecting chord shapes. With an awareness of how these chords work, you’ll be primed to play songs as diverse as the Who’s “Substitute” and Paul Simon’s “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard”—and to create your own chord progressions and solos.
Video Lesson: 5 Ways to Learn Hybrid Picking
This versatile technique is used across genres—guitarists from Jimmy Page to Jorma Kaukonen have made it an essential part of their acoustic work.