Acoustic Guitar | lessons, music to play, and how-tos for all guitarists

acoustic guitar body shapes (martin and gibson) from acoustic guitar magazine

A Guide to Identifying Common Acoustic Guitar Shapes and Sizes

How the Music of Madagascar Can Expand Your Fingerstyle Guitar Playing

Learn to Play Rock-Solid Rhythm Guitar

2022 Cowardin 000 guitar-front-photo-Nick Davis

Great Acoustics: This Custom Style 21 Cowardin 000 Celebrates a Decades-Long Friendship

A friend commissioned Jack Cowardin to build an understated 000 acoustic guitar to complement his 1938 Martin 000-18. The result was much more than just wood and metal.

Stevie Coyle streaming guitar performance from laptop

A Guitarist’s Guide to Live Streaming

Learn Eddie Lang’s Jazz Guitar Interpretation of a Rachmaninoff Prelude

Ask the Expert: Is There a Correct Way to Position a Saddle on an Acoustic Guitar?

Introducing the Dave Mustaine Songwriter

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NEW GEAR

Guitar Review: Luna’s Vineyard Koa Bevel Folk Is a Versatile and Vibrant Acoustic-Electric

The Vineyard Koa is based on Luna’s Folk body, which splits the difference between a grand auditorium and a parlor. Hear how it sounds in this guitar review.

Amp Review: VHT True Acoustic 60 Is a Versatile Combo with Clean Sounds

The VHT True Acoustic 60 guitar amp displays relatively little harmonic distortion, even at high-volume settings. Read more in this review!

MORE GEAR

Great Acoustics: This Custom Style 21 Cowardin 000 Celebrates a Decades-Long Friendship

A friend commissioned Jack Cowardin to build an understated 000 acoustic guitar to complement his 1938 Martin 000-18. The result was much more than just wood and metal.

Ask the Expert: Is There a Correct Way to Position a Saddle on an Acoustic Guitar?

Although guitar tuning is something that can be easily measured, there are many differences in saddle/bridge position and treatment between popular makes.

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FROM THE LATEST ISSUE

‘Woody Guthrie: Songs and Art, Words and Wisdom’ is a Spectacular Portrait of American Folk’s Greatest Minstrel

The new book Woody Guthrie: Songs and Art, Words and Wisdom is a delightful visual feast, compiled by Guthrie’s daughter Nora with material from the Woody Guthrie Archive in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

How the Music of Madagascar Can Expand Your Fingerstyle Guitar Playing

Finding and Fixing Rattles and Buzzes on Acoustic Guitars

Explore Joan Armatrading’s Unorthodox Acoustic Guitar Style

Watch an Intimate Aoife O’Donovan Performance of ‘Prodigal Daughter’

Time Reveals Changes in Son House’s Approach on 1964 Recording ‘Forever on My Mind’

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FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR

Get to know Alan Barnosky

Reimagining a Fernando Sor Etude as a String-Crossing Guitar Workout

This guitar lesson breaks down the mechanics of string crossing and applies it all to a classical guitar etude by Fernando Sor to help build up picking-hand precision.

“Salt Creek” Bluegrass Flatpicking Guitar Lesson

How to Flatpick Like Roots Legend Norman Blake

Doc Watson in 1994 playing his guitar and singing into a mic at a concert

Tips for Tackling the Flatpicking Bluegrass of Doc Watson and Clarence White on “Footprints in the Snow”

Kendall Bailey Photography: Alan Barnosky in black and white with his guitar

Alan Barnosky is a guitarist and songwriter based in Durham, NC. He is a regular contributor for Acoustic Guitar magazine, and performs as a solo songwriter, as a guitarist with the bluegrass four-piece Counterclockwise String Band, and as a bassist with the folk outfit Chatham Rabbits.. Read More...

Kelly Joe Phelps sitting outside with his resonator guitar

Video Lesson: Exploring Kelly Joe Phelps’ Slide Work in Open Tunings

Prewar blues is just a stepping-off point for Phelps’ intricate fingerpicking and soulful vocals. In this lesson, you'll adapt his open-D ideas to bottleneck style.

Illustration of Charley Patton from the book cover of Play the Blues Like. Features Patton playing his acoustic guitar on a porch, with young people looking at fireflies in the background.

Learn to Play Guitar Like Charley Patton, the Father of the Delta Blues

From the November 2016 issue of Acoustic Guitar | BY TOM FELDMANN |Illustration by Olivia Wise Widely known as the Father of the Delta ... Read More...

The Guitar-Tuning Odyssey of Joni Mitchell

The melodies and harmonies of Joni Mitchell's music rarely unfold in ways that our ears have come to expect. Here's a look at her guitar tuning Odyssey.

illustration of skip james and the headstock of his guitar

Video Lesson: How to Play the Blues Like Skip James

Capturing the haunting, emotive quality of Skip James' music is a challenge. Learn to get into open-D-minor tuning and explore his evocative music.

NEW BOOK ALERT

Play Guitar Like the Great Singer-Songwriters Book Cover

The world of popular music is filled with singer-songwriters who are not just brilliant wordsmiths but distinctive guitarists, and this eclectic guide covers some of the very best. Learn how these musicians support their songs with inventive accompaniments in a wide range of styles, tunings, and techniques—so many cool ideas that you can borrow for use in your own songwriting. Learn more.

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HERE'S HOW

A Guitarist’s Guide to the Benefits of Single-Miking

From the January 2018 issue of Acoustic Guitar | BY JEFFREY PEPPER RODGERS In an era of in-your-face beats and cage-rattling bass drops... Read More...

get heard guide to acoustic guitar pickups and amplification

Get Heard: A Guide to Acoustic Guitar Pickups and Amplification

Acoustic Guitar Notation Guide

Virtual Jamming: The Latest Tools for Playing Together in Real Time

How to Set Up Your Home Studio—Home Recording, Part 1/3

Learn How to Play Guitar Online in 2021

GET STARTED ON GUITAR

photo of guitar student seated on a rug taken from above

The Best Websites and Apps for Learning Guitar

Being a self-taught guitarist (or musician in general) is as well-accommodated as it ever has been, mostly because of the wide variety of apps, software, and websites to choose from.

Ear Training Will Make You a Better Guitarist and Musician

Summer Guitar and Music Camps, Workshops, and Clinics

Video Lesson: Get Rhythm, Part 1: Beats, Meters, and More

Painting of man playing a guitar by master of the annunciation to the shepherds

Am I Too Old to Learn Guitar?

FEATURED LESSON

Exploring Slide Guitar Outside of Blues

While slide guitar is perhaps most commonly associated with the blues, it can be used to excellent effect in a range of other styles.

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CHORD BY CHORD

What is Chord by Chord? Introducing Acoustic Guitar’s How-To Video Series

Welcome to Acoustic Guitar’s Chord by Chord, a series of 62 brief lessons designed to build your fretboard familiarity, chord flu... Read More...

Learn 7 Ways to Play C Major | Chord by Chord

8 ways to play g major on guitar chord by chord

Learn 8 Ways to Play G Major | Chord by Chord

Learn to Play D Major Chords Up and Down the Neck | Chord by Chord

Kate Koenig teaching the C-G chord progression on guitar

How to Play a C-G Progression | Chord by Chord

Learn 8 Ways to Play an A Minor | Chord by Chord

Video lessons week by week, Chord by Chord. Sign up free!

SESSIONS

Richard Thompson Performs “Turning of the Tide” on His Road-Worn Lowden Acoustic Guitar

Richard Thompson performs "Turning of the Tide" on his Lowden F-35 acoustic guitar at the Freight & Salvage for Acoustic Guitar Sessions

whitmore sisters Acoustic Guitar sessions

The Whitmore Sisters Play a Song off ‘Ghost Stories’ | Acoustic Guitar Sessions in Place

The Whitmore Sisters perform the song “Friends We Leave Behind” from their album Ghost Stories.

FEATURED SONG

World Premiere: Robbie Basho’s “Great Depression Blues”

From the March/April 2021 issue of Acoustic Guitar | By Adam Perlmutter The new five-CD box set Song of the Avatars: The Lost Master Tapes is a treasure trove of more than 100 tracks spanning Robbie Basho’s recording career and covering the far-flung styles from which the guitar icon (see featur... Read More...