How Three Guitar Duos Work Together to Create Tapestries of Sound
From interlocking rhythms to wide, piano-like harmonies and melodic counterpoint, two guitars—skillfully and tastefully employed—can cover a tremendous amount of musical territory.
Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, founding editor of Acoustic Guitar, is a grand prize winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and author of The Complete Singer-Songwriter, Beyond Strumming, and other books and videos for musicians. In addition to his ongoing work with AG, he offers live workshops for guitarists and songwriters, plus video lessons, song charts, and tab, on Patreon.
Video Lesson: How to Make the Most of Playing With Two Guitars
Creating a full-fledged duo sound doesn’t necessarily require playing anything tricky or fancy.
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Syracuse’s Guitar League has Created an Impressive Model for Both Teaching and Learning
On a Monday night in Syracuse, New York, guitar cases line the walls of a hotel meeting room. Around 70 players, many cradling their instruments, are listening to a presentation by singer-songwriter Tim Burns, leader of the local Americana band Two Hour Delay. Burns is sharing ideas on how to back up another guitarist, and to demonstrate, he’s invited to the stage John Cadley, a veteran of the bluegrass/country scene in upstate New York and beyond (Lou Reid & Carolina once topped the bluegrass charts with Cadley’s song “Time”).
I’m With Her Brings Out the Best from Aoife O’Donovan, Sara Watkins, and Sarah Jarosz
What happens when these three musicians band together is something greater than a typical all-star project, where the members take turns in the spotlight.
Mary Gauthier Helps Veterans Turn Stories into Songs on ‘Rifles and Rosary Beads’
In 2015, singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier was sipping coffee inside the Carey Center for Global Good in upstate New York, watching one of the participants arrive for a weekend retreat led by an organization called SongwritingWith:Soldiers.
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Video Lesson: Building Solos Around Chord Shapes
Chord shapes are great tools for expanding the range and flexibility of your guitar solos—in any style. They can help you get your bearings up and down the neck and find phrases and riffs that truly lock in with a song’s chord changes.
A Songwriting Tip from Pete Seeger (via Woody Guthrie)
Explore what Pete Seeger, citing Woody Guthrie, called "the genius of simplicity."
Acoustic Classic: George Harrison’s ‘Within You Without You’ Arranged for Guitar
Like the Indian traditions it’s based on, “Within You Without You” has no chord changes—the melody unfolds over a drone.
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Photo Recap: Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase 2017
Though the instruments on display were stunningly varied, one trend in clear evidence was the continuing resurgence of the small-bodied guitar.
Classic Shawn Colvin Revisited: ‘A Few Small Repairs’ 20th Anniversary Edition
“Sunny Came Home” and A Few Small Repairs are back in the spotlight with the recent 20th anniversary edition from Sony/Legacy.
Video Lesson: Get More from Your Accompaniment by Strumming Less
Vary your fretting- and picking-hand technique to create accompaniment parts that are more dynamic, supple, and nuanced, both harmonically and rhythmically.
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A Guitarist’s Guide to the Benefits of Single-Miking
In an era of in-your-face beats and cage-rattling bass drops, when even nominally acoustic performers often stand behind banks of pedals, it’s hard to overstate how radically different it feels to perform with a single microphone. There’s no line of…
Inside the American Acoustic Tour – A Roundtable with 5 Younger-Generation Acoustic-Music Masters
These young musicians—all in their 20s and 30s—have long been on the vanguard of the acoustic/roots scene and have quite a bit of shared history.
Paul McCartney Delivers the Goods—and More—in ‘One on One’ Tour
By Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers; Photo by Sandy Roe/Juan Junco The woman behind me caught the Beatles at Shea Stadium back in ’65. The teenager down the row wearing the black Bieber shirt certainly did not, nor did the two young…
How to Write a Bridge For a Song
There’s no formula for constructing a bridge, but taking a close look inside some classic songs can help you get started.
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Punch Brothers, I’m With Her, and Julian Lage Hit the Road this Summer on American Acoustic Tour
By Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers A dream team of younger generation acoustic musicians, including Punch Brothers, I’m With Her, and Julian Lage, is hitting the road this summer for a tour called American Acoustic. See the complete dates below. The tour…
Meet Joan Shelley: Folk’s Rising Star Talks Open Tunings, Influences, and Working with Jeff Tweedy
There’s a kind of clarity and calm in Joan Shelley’s music that feels especially welcome in these fractious times.
Video Lesson: How to Use Chord Grips to Generate Great Soloing Ideas
Solos don’t have to be fast or fancy to be effective!
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Video Lesson: Using a Partial Capo Can Open Up New Doors Tonally
If you’re drawn to the creative possibilities of alternate tunings but don’t want to completely lose your bearings on the fingerboard, a partial capo may be just the ticket.
Next-Gen Pickers: 6 Rising Stars are Carrying on the Bluegrass Tradition by Making It Their Own
Today’s rising generation of bluegrass musicians carries on the tradition of remaking the tradition in their own way, as is clear from these conversations with six standout guitarists.
The Secret Sauce in J.J. Cale’s ‘Cocaine’: Use the Flat VI Chord in Your Blues Rock Songs
The bVI chord is most often heard in edgy rock tunes. One function of the bVI is to lead to the V, before resolving to the I. You can hear this in J.J. Cale’s “Cocaine.”
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How to Use Familiar Songs as Songwriting Templates
One good way to defamiliarize a familiar song is to switch the key, putting it into a different register and zone on the guitar.
Lesson: Folk-rock Songwriter Peter Mulvey Explains How to Create a Dynamic Solo Sound with Alternate Tunings
Songwriter Peter Mulvey visited my home studio while on tour in upstate New York and walked me through his song “The Knuckleball Suite.”
Too Many Guitarists at the Jam Session? Play Bass on Your Guitar [Video Lesson]
In this Weekly Workout, you’ll practice some techniques for playing bass on guitar, from alternating roots/fifths and bass runs to octaves and the walking bass, using the chord progressions from some perennial jam-session favorites.
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Highlights from the Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase 2016 [Photos]
A photo gallery from the Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase 2016.