Adam Levy

Adam Levy is a first rate sideman, singer-songwriter, educator, and journalist. Check out his excellent lessons in Play Guitar Like the Great Singer-Songwriters.

Folk, Play Like Your Favorite Guitarists

bob dylan seated in front of a microphone playing harmonica and acoustic guitar

Video Lesson: Discover the Secrets Behind Bob Dylan’s Inventive Acoustic Guitar Work

Bob Dylan's great acoustic guitar playing is often overlooked. Here we showcase his deceptive chord moves, his fluency with standard and non-standard tunings, and his knack for constant reinvention.

June 13, 2022

Play Like Your Favorite Guitarists

Trigger Fingers: A Look at Willie Nelson’s Jazz-Inspired Guitar Style

Though Willie Nelson is most easily described as a country musician, elements of jazz have always permeated his style. Here, Adam Levy digs into Nelson's acoustic guitar approach.

October 4, 2021

Blues

Video Lesson: Learn to Play the Talking Blues

Sometime in the 1920s, a peculiar form of blues emerged that was substantially different from the better-known varieties. The style is commonly known today as talking blues. Despite the moniker, however, it rarely employs the 12-bar chord progression that is…

February 23, 2020

Sing and Play

Acoustic Classic: Prince‘s “I Feel for You”

It might seem incongruous to see “I Feel for You,” a song made popular by the R&B singer Chaka Khan in the mid-1980s, in this magazine. Sure, it’s a classic, but there’s nothing even faintly acoustic about Khan’s version of…

January 17, 2020

Play Like Your Favorite Guitarists

Guitarist Eric Clapton seated with an acoustic guitar

Video Lesson: Learn the Bluesy Fundamentals of Eric Clapton’s Acoustic Style

Here you’ll learn some of Clapton’s most intriguing acoustic moves—sophisticated chord shapes, rollicking rhythms, sinuous solo lines, and more.

May 26, 2019

Play Like Your Favorite Guitarists

Video Lesson: Remembering Glen Campbell and His Acoustic Style

Whether playing live or in the studio, Campbell always displayed a distinctive style. Here's a look at some of the essential elements of his methodology.

April 22, 2019

Play Like Your Favorite Guitarists

Video Lesson: Inside Paul Simon’s Atmospheric Acoustic Guitar Style

Paul Simon—with Art Garfunkel and without—and has composed some of the most beloved songs of the 20th century. This lesson explores his musical styles and techniques.

November 14, 2018

Theory, Scales, Modes

Guitarist Paul Geller explains and demonstrates the musical examples from this lesson on sixth harmonies

Video Lesson: Bringing Sunny Sounds Into Shadowy Harmony

Playing melodies in parallel sixths evokes the sweet sound of classic Memphis soul. Here's how to use sixths in a variety of musical ways

June 14, 2018

Practice and Musicianship

Video Lesson: Cultivate Your Standalone Guitar Skills

Here you’ll learn a few fundamental solo-guitar concepts that will get you started and leave you with enough tools to continue developing at your own pace.

March 17, 2018

Guitar Technique - Advanced

Video Lesson: Using Horizontal Harmonies to Express Chord Changes

Try these exercises to make your melodies more harmonic and your harmonies more melodic.

December 15, 2017

Practice and Musicianship

closeup of a guitarist playing an acoustic guitar

Video Lesson: Sharpen Your Rhythms with These Displacement Exercises

Guitarists tend to find comfort zones, then lean on the same patterns. Rhythmic displacement is a great way to keep your playing rhythmically fresh.

November 14, 2017

Guitarmakers and Guitarmaking

Luthier and instrument restoration specialist David Eichelbaum at his workbench

A Shop Visit with Luthier and Restorer David Eichelbaum

Luthier and instrument restorer David Eichelbaum's M.O. stems from one simple tenet: Do no harm.

October 28, 2017

Jazz

Lesson: Learn From Jazz Great Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Sphere Monk was a brilliant jazz pianist and composer, active from the 1940s through the early ’70s. You are, presumably, an acoustic guitarist, playing music in the 21st century. As such, you may or may not be interested in…

October 11, 2017

Play Like Your Favorite Guitarists

Video Lesson: Learn Neil Young’s Simple but Singular Guitar Style

Among the many players who’ve used such tactics to create sui generis riffs and chord progressions, perhaps no one has been more successful than prolific singer-songwriter Neil Young.

August 19, 2017

Guitar Technique - Fundamental

Guitarist Adam Levy teaching a lesson on rhythm guitar

Strengthen Your Accompaniment Skills

Introducing accents into your strumming/rhythm patterns can make even well-worn chord progressions sound fresh.

June 24, 2017

Play Like Your Favorite Guitarists

Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline album cover

How to Play Acoustic Bob Dylan: the Secrets Behind 10 of His Greatest Songs

Learn some of Bob Dylan’s deceptive chord moves, his fluency with standard and non-standard tunings, and his knack for constant reinvention with music examples drawn from his early work.

October 13, 2016

Guitarmakers and Guitarmaking

Gabriel Tenorio plays a small guitar strung with Guadalupe strings

Guadalupe Makes Custom Strings the Old Fashioned Way, By Hand

Gabriel Tenorio explains how and why he and his small crew at Guadalupe Custom Strings wind their strings one at a time.

May 31, 2016

0 and Concert

REcording King Harmonella Single 0 acoustic guitar

Gear Review: Recording King’s Harmonella Single 0 Offers a Modern Spin on a Vintage Vibe

If you’re into smallish flattops with ear-grabbing tones and pawnshop-chic looks, this budget beauty is right up your alley.

May 23, 2016

Archtop

New Gear: Solomon Phidelity Gives a Nod to Classic Acoustic Guitars of Yore [VIDEO]

While it is the descendant of instruments usually associated with swing and bop, virtually any style that you can play on a flattop could be rendered on this guitar.

March 17, 2016

Practice and Musicianship

Ron Jackson, seated and holding an acoustic guitar, performs the examples from this lesson on accompaniment

Weekly Workout: Be a Better Accompanist

Creating cool parts from scratch may seem to be a mysterious art form but it needn’t be an intimidating prospect

January 26, 2016

Interviews and Profiles

Doug Wamble Couples Slide Guitar & D A D G A D Tuning for a Personal Sound

The jazz guitarist has developed a personal instrumental voice that is both steeped in tradition and wholly original.

February 26, 2015

Compact

Review: Taylor T5z Has Appeal For Electric Guitarists

This guitar has svelte contours, jazzy S-curve cutouts, and a slimline humbucking pickup near the bridge

December 16, 2014

Jumbo

Review: Gibson J-35 Reissue Retains the Charm of its Ancestor

Gibson's reintroduced J-35 is built in Bozeman, Montana, has all the sonic and aesthetic charm of its ancestor, and is once again priced competitively.

August 17, 2013