Years of playing guitar has taught me the hard way about what to do, and what NOT to do with an acoustic guitar. I believe these rules apply whether you are playing on stage or just picking at home. Primarily, these considerations are aimed at reducing wear and tear on the instrument, preventing damage and…
Do you use a metronome when practicing guitar? Like the guitar pick and the capo, the metronome is one of the most valuable tools the guitarist has at their disposal. It provides objective feedback on tempo and timing and is a valuable tool to develop a solid sense of rhythm and timing. If you’re like…
Your guitar strings are one of the biggest factors that determine the quality of the overall sound and play-ability of your acoustic guitar. Electric guitar players tend to select nickel strings in a lighter gauge that do not have a wound G string. Acoustic guitar players prefer a heavier gauge with a wound G string…
The bluegrass guitar capo is one of the most important tools you have in your guitar case for controlling your tone. The capo allows the bluegrass picker to play out of the G position in almost any key. This gives you access open strings while soloing and flatpicking melodies at speed. Norman Blake points out…
Pickers will tell you, their choice of guitar flatpicks are largely a matter of personal preference. Like the guitar itself or your choice of capo, musicians usually go with what feels best for their personal style of playing and the tonality of their particular instrument. In this post, I’ll go over a few of my…
Through the history of bluegrass guitar, many iconic guitar players have added their unique sound and vision to the catalog of traditional American music. In many cases, the guitar that these influential pickers play is just as iconic as the person. In addition to their playing technique, their signature sound can equally be defined by…
1. Play Music, Not Just the Notes Sometimes I notice when someone is struggling to play a guitar ‘part’ that they rehearsed on stage instead of playing music. It’s always obvious when someone is trying to play something exactly like they rehearsed it or how they expect to hear it. We are all individuals and…
