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…… Read more »
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…… Read more »
Whether for a few people at a coffee shop, an open mic, a club or theatre, playing live is the best practice you can have. There are no do-overs. You have to play on the beat and when the solo comes to you, you better be ready! I struggled for years with playing fast, particularly…… Read more »
In certain musical situations, the head or the lead part will be passed around from player to player. Even the bass player will occasionally take a solo over the melody of a fiddle tune! Sometimes, you haven’t heard the song or don’t know how to play the melody. In this situation, it helps to have…… Read more »
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…… Read more »
This song is played with capo on the third fret and out of the D position which means it’s in the key of E. The chord progression for “Blue Railroad Train” uses an A – A – B – B form. When playing rhythm guitar on this tune, the form differs slightly over the lead…… Read more »
Reading guitar tabs can be challenging for beginners and often times tab sheets are written slightly differently. The tabs that I create for lessons on this website are written with specific notation and in a way that is consistent throughout all the tab sheets. Guitar Tab Staff Let’s start with the basics of how to…… Read more »
Capos can be very different in the way they are used and how they affect your guitar. I’ve been using guitar capos as long as I’ve been playing. Using them on tunes like Two Soldiers with the capo on the first fret and Jimmy Brown the Newsboy with the capo on the 7th fret. Flatpicking…… Read more »
