Blues | Acoustic Guitar

Open Tuning Lesson: How to Play the Blues in DADGAD

In this lesson, I’ll show you some fingerpicking exercises based on some of my blues in DADGAD ideas.

four portrait illustrations in a side-by-side grid depicting Booker White, Memphis Minnie, Robert Johnson, and Elizabeth Cotten all playing acoustic guitars

Learn to Play in Open G

A lesson on how to play fingerstyle blues in this popular open tuning, using examples from classic songs by Elizabeth Cotten, Robert Johnson, and more.

photo illustration of hands playing an acoustic guitar

7 Essential Books for Fans of Delta Blues

If you're a fan of Delta blues, get your mojo working with these 7 essential Delta books.

Video Lesson: Learn to Play the Talking Blues

From the January 2018 issue of Acoustic Guitar | BY ADAM LEVY Sometime in the 1920s, a peculiar form of blues emerged tha... Read More...

Book Review: A Definitive Look at the Life of Blues Legend Robert Johnson

From the September/October 2019 issue of Acoustic Guitar | BY GREG CAHILL He was cursed, but not by the devil—rather, it was his first b... Read More...

Album Review: Scorching Guitar-Dobro Combo of Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley Live In a ‘World Full of Blues’

From the January/February 2020 issue of Acoustic Guitar | BY KENNY BERKOWITZ The partnership started in 2012, when Trey Hensley... Read More...

Roots & Blues Fingerstyle Guitar Explorations for Patreon

Roots and Blues Fingerstyle Guitar Explorations | Acoustic Guitar Plus

A comprehensive guitar method, songbook, and narrative anthology by Steve James, available to champions of this site or to purchase at store.AcousticGuitar.com.

Video Lesson: All About the 12-Bar Blues Form

From the February 2019 issue of Acoustic Guitar | BY GRETCHEN MENN THE PROBLEM You’ve learned the natural minor and minor pentatonic s... Read More...

Guitar Talk: Todd Albright’s Raucous 12-String Fingerstyle Blues

From the December 2018 issue of Acoustic Guitar | BY GREG OLWELL Many musicians can cop the notes played by blues and ragtime greats, but few contemporary guit... Read More...

‘Coffee Blues’ – Learn How to Play a Mississippi John Hurt Classic

From the July 2018 issue of Acoustic Guitar | BY ADAM PERLMUTTER | VIDEO BY STEVE JAMES One of Mississippi John Hurt’s signature songs, “Coffee Blues,” contain... Read More...