Posts Related to: Guitar Instruction

A teacher who plays excessively during a lesson is not an aid to a student. In fact, the teacher often creates problems for learning. The goal of a lesson should not be to get a student to play like the teacher but to encourage the student to develop  his or her own voice.
Playing can be helpful as …

A reader wrote in with the following question: I play the guitar and sing and would like to work on vocals as well as guitar. Should I expect a guitar teacher to help me with my vocals?
A guitar teacher should not be expected to work with your voice. A vocal teacher would be the specialist …

Chords and how they’re named are sources of constant confusion. It’s not as difficult as you may think. Chords are organized into categories. One organization of chord categories is based on the number of notes that are in a chord.
Without question, if you want to understand chords and really learn chords, you need to know …

Regardless of the style of guitar you want to play, it’s important to know the fundamentals that need to be covered. Whether you want to play in a band, sing and play, or be a singer-songwriter, you’ll need to work on specific areas and skills. Here’s an overview of the ten fundamental things to learn to become …

If you want to take your music to the next level, get experience performing in front of others, and just have fun, there is is nothing better than spending a week at a summer music camp for adults. There are bluegrass camps, jazz camps, guitar camps, songwriting camps, band camps, orchestra camps, chamber music camps - all geared toward adult …

In my last post I talked about the differences between the steel string and nylon string guitar. Today, I’m going to talk about guitar strings - protecting them to ensure longevity, and what type to buy for your particular guitar and desired sound. 

Tip 1: Wipe Your Strings. It is really important to wipe down your guitar strings with a …

A reader wrote in and asked the following:
“I’m thinking of starting to play the guitar after many years and I’m not sure whether I should buy an acoustic/steel string or a nylon string guitar. Can you talk about the benefits and drawbacks of each? I like to play and sing. Didn’t Chet Atkins use a nylon …

Strumming is the rhythmic side of rhythm guitar. Strums are patterns of rhythm used while playing and switching chords. The strum is responsible for the “feel” and the tempo of the accompaniment part.
Though strumming is often considered mysterious and spontaneous, strumming is simply patterns of down and/or up strokes with varying durations.
My book “Unlocking the Guitar: …

A riff is a short melodic phrase used as a building block in improvisation. All fields that make use of the art of improvisation make use of the “riff.” There are jazz riffs, country riffs, bluegrass riffs, blues riffs, etc.
Riffs can be played on any type of acoustic or electric guitar. Most players develop signature riffs …

The nylon string guitar offers an entirely different sound and touch than the acoustic or the electric guitar. There is an entire methodology of technique for the instrument.
Although the nylon-string guitar is most associated with the classical guitar technique as championed by Andres Segovia, it has been used successfully in Brazilian bossa nova and in jazz …