Cross Picking 101: A Private Bluegrass Lesson with Molly Tuttle
Cross picking is an essential technique in the bluegrass guitar tool kit. Here are some tips from bluegrass phenom Molly Tuttle.
These articles originally appeared in the April 2017 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine. You’ll find even more lessons, music to play, profiles, and guitar coverage in our digital archives.
Ann Savoy Is a Driving Force in Louisiana’s Folk Scene & the Matriarch of a Kick-Ass Musical Dynasty
“A friend of mine once said, ‘You’re the most egoless guitar player I’ve ever met,’” Ann says. “It’s not about me, it’s about how I fit into the band and how I can make them happy."
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A Tribute to British Fingerstylist Bert Jansch and His Influential Arrangements
The legendary Scottish musician sojourned through the pits and pinnacles of music-making guided by his own compass, largely disinterested in popular trends.
Flatpicking Champion Scott Fore Offers 5 Tips on Acing a Bluegrass Competition (with Music to Play) [VIDEO]
“I love flatpicking, but I could never afford a decent guitar,” Scott Fore says. “The only way I was going to get one was to win it.” From humble beginnings—Fore taught himself to play with a library book and picks fashioned “from broken 78 records and plastic milk jugs”—the 57-year-old…
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.
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GUITAR TALK: Union Station Guitarist Ron Block on Developing Your Bluegrass Technical Skills
Ron Block discusses his formative influences, buying his first good guitar at his father’s music store, his tunings, and the best way to start learning to play bluegrass.
Guitarist Shawn Camp of the Earls of Leicester Gets to Wear a Colonel Sanders String Tie & Emulate Lester Flatt—Life is Good
Covering a range of standards and rarities, these 17 new tracks with guitarist Shawn Camp find the Earls of Leicester at the top of their game.
Guitar Roundup: 3 Travel Guitars Reviewed
Scaled-down is the new “bigger is better,” a design aesthetic for guitars that are easy to transport, gig-ready, and quite attractive. These days, modern guitar players value portability in addition to tone, playability, and visual aesthetics, and the industry is responding with compact acoustic axes that travel easily, accommodate players with small hands or ergonomic challenges, fit into cramped living spaces, and suit modest budgets.
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Lesson: How to Play the Guitar Rag ‘Jitters’
Often called Piedmont guitar—after the East Coast regions, running from Virginia to North Carolina, where many of the players lived—this challenging style makes use of an upbeat fingerpicking technique, which I’ll break down for you in this lesson.
Acoustic Classic: Play Bert Jansch’s Arrangement of the Trad Tune ‘Blackwaterside’
A Los Angeles judge recently exonerated Jimmy Page on charges of “stealing” the intro to Spirit’s “Taurus” for Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” but there’s no doubt the famed guitarist had a habit of “borrowing” from songs he liked. Take “Down by Blackwaterside,” an old folk song the influential British fingerstylist…
Video Lesson: 5 Ways to Learn Hybrid Picking
This versatile technique is used across genres—guitarists from Jimmy Page to Jorma Kaukonen have made it an essential part of their acoustic work.
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Video Review: Breedlove’s New All-Myrtlewood Concerto E Is a Sonic Wonder
With the recent introduction of the all-myrtlewood Breedlove Concerto, the Oregon-based guitar company became the first large-scale US manufacturer to incorporate this intriguing tonewood in a production line of instruments.
Review: Preston Thompson Makes a Killer Dreadnought Inspired By the Late Bluegrass Master Charles Sawtelle
The Thompson has a huge velocity of sound and great clarity, whether strummed or fingerpicked
Epiphone Masterbilt Century De Luxe Classic, an Affordable Archtop
Though it has a vintage appearance, the Century De Luxe Classic doesn’t necessarily feel like an old guitar. In some ways, that’s a good thing.
Gear Review: The Grace ALiX Preamp/EQ/DI Is a Robust, Stage-Ready Package
This device is rugged, relatively compact, and boasts high-quality audio.
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Video Lesson: 4 Ways to Improve Your Sightreading
Playing by ear is a great skill to have, but being able to read music is an asset that will take you to the next level as a guitarist.
