Guitar Technique – Fundamental

Start Soloing with Gretchen Menn

What are fundamental acoustic guitar techniques? Basic strumming, flatpicking, and fingerpicking are all techniques that provide a solid foundation on the instrument. Legato moves like hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides also fall under the umbrella of fundamental technique. The lessons here are perfect for beginning and intermediate guitar players.

Gretchen Menn playing a Kenny Hill nylon-string guitar using tremolo technique. Photo by Daniele Gottardo

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.

Gretchen Menn
November 1, 2023

connecting chords up the neck on acoustic guitar

Learn to Improvise All Around the Neck Using Moveable Chord Shapes

Being able to visualize chords all over the neck as they happen is a great foundation for building melodic lines.

Jane Miller
September 8, 2023

woman playing acoustic guitar and singing

Try These 5 Simple Steps to Sing and Play Guitar at the Same Time

Learning to sing and play at once can seem daunting, but the simple steps outlined in this lesson can make the process much more enjoyable.

Bobby Weinapple
August 31, 2023

david hamburger barre chords guitar lesson

Acoustic Guitar Basics: A Gentle Introduction to Barre Chords

In this lesson you’ll learn a handful of essential barre chord shapes and use them to play the swing favorite “After You’ve Gone.”

David Hamburger
August 23, 2023

Cathy Fink, seated with guitar, teaches a guitar lesson on boom-chuck accompaniment patterns

Learn These Essential Americana Accompaniment Patterns in D Major

Make your I-IV-V boom-chuck accompaniments in D sound more interesting by adding some variety to your bass lines.

Cathy Fink
July 12, 2023

Cathy Fink, seated with guitar, teaching a lesson on strumming

How to Add Bass Lines to the Boom-Chuck Guitar Strum

Learn how to use different kinds of bass lines to add variety to boom-chuck accompaniment in the keys of E and A major.

Cathy Fink
March 8, 2023

person holding a guitar with a capo strumming

Video Lesson: How to Use a Capo to Play Music in All 12 Keys

The capo is a small but powerful tool for guitarists that raises the notes of the open strings but retains the individual relationships between strings. Here's how to use one.

Jamie Stillway
March 2, 2023

closeup of a guitarist holding and playing an acoustic guitar

How to Play the Boom-Chuck Strumming Pattern on Guitar

In this guitar lesson we will break down the classic boom-chuck pattern heard throughout American roots music and begin to use it on songs.

Cathy Fink
February 1, 2023

closeup of a hand holding a pick and strumming an acoustic guitar

How to Add Variety to Basic Guitar Strumming Patterns and Use Them When Playing Songs

Here are some patterns you can practice on their own and then use in traditional songs

Cathy Fink
November 2, 2022

close up of acoustic guitar playing, how to get good tone

30 Ways to Improve Your Acoustic Guitar Tone

Improve your acoustic guitar tone with these tips and techniques for fretting-hand, flatpicking, and fingerstyle playing for both your right and left hands.

Sean McGowan
September 2, 2022

Cathy Fink seated in front of a microphone holding a guitar

Guitar Basics: 3 Simple Tips to Get Better at Strumming

Learn to get comfortable holding a pick, then try some common strums of increasing complexity

Cathy Fink
August 24, 2022

man-singing-into-vintage-microphone-while-playing-acoustic-guitar

How to Sing and Play Guitar at the Same Time

In this lesson you'll learn how to sing and play a whole song with any set of strum patterns you like.

Andrew DuBrock
June 21, 2022

Learn to Play Rock-Solid Rhythm Guitar

In this guitar lesson you will focus on tightening up your timing on rhythm guitar using a variety of different strumming rhythms.

Cathy Fink
May 17, 2022

gretchen menn plays an acoustic guitar in the AG studio

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

Gretchen Menn
February 11, 2022

Acoustic Guitar Basics: How to Train Your Fretting Fingers for Maximum Efficiency and Musicality

Learn to use your fretting hand with maximum efficiency by understanding how that hand works mechanically and how it should interact with the fingerboard.

Michael Chapdelaine
October 19, 2020

Guitarist Gretchen Menn playing arpeggios 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.

Gretchen Menn
July 24, 2020

Video Lesson: 6 Steps to Rock-Solid Rhythm

THE PROBLEMYou’re dissatisfied with your rhythm playing. THE SOLUTIONSummarize the range of sounds you can get from your right hand—basically discuss the problem and emphasize that there are ways to fix it. Then break those problems down in a list (with music examples) of specificexercises or techniques that you can add…

Paul Mehling
June 28, 2020

Practice with a Metronome to Shift Between Chords

Let’s start working on some chord shifting by changing between G and C chords on each beat (Example 6). Allow your fingers to change as slowly as necessary for a smooth transition. If the open strings continue to ring out as you swap chord fingerings, don’t worry about it for…

Josh Workman
April 18, 2020

Get Your Fingers Walking to Develop Accuracy and Coordination

This exercise includes the fretting hand, and is designed to aid in coordination—the goal is to get both hands working together. The first four measures of this exercise require the use of the index finger of your fretting hand. Use the tip of your fretting-hand index finger to fret each…

Ruth Parry
March 14, 2020

Learn to Easily Switch Between Acoustic Guitar Chords by Pivoting on an Anchor Finger

When switching between some chords, like A and D, you are able to pivot around the index finger, holding it down while you move your other fingers around it.

David Hamburger
December 21, 2019

Patreon Premium Content - The Way Music Works

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.

Gretchen Menn
December 3, 2019

Music Basics for Acoustic Guitarists: 5 Tips for Keeping Solid Time

Here are some ways that you can learn to keep a steady, uninterrupted pulse when playing guitar.

Ruth Parry
August 17, 2019

Video Lesson: Harnessing the Power of Sus Chords

Look at some sus-chord symbols commonly seen in popular music and learn how to play them on guitar.

Jane Miller
August 11, 2019

Chords at Your Fingertips | Acoustic Guitar Champions

A dozen four-week workouts each designed to engage both your fingers and your mind.

Acoustic Guitar Editors
August 1, 2019

Video Lesson: Learn to Feel and Play Triplets

They say good things come in threes. Musical expressions are no exception to this rule.

Jeff Gunn
July 19, 2019