Tag: March 2017

How to improve your bottleneck slide guitar tone.

Guitar Lesson: Simple Acoustic-Blues Tips That Can Improve Your Bottleneck-Slide Technique

There are several things you can do to get a good slide sound: Set up your guitar with heavier strings, use an open tuning, try different kinds of slides, dampen the strings, and learn to properly intonate. Getting a good sound is often as much a function of proper setup as it is technique.

Pete Madsen
April 25, 2023

Matron Saints of Guitar: Elizabeth Cotten, Maybelle Carter, Joni Mitchell, and 3 More Women Who Revolutionized Music As We Know It

Here's a brief look at six often-overlooked women who took the guitar to new places and left their imprints on modern music.

Anna Pulley
February 3, 2017

Listen to Laura Marling’s Podcast ‘Reversal of the Muse,’ with Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris & More

Powerhouse British guitarist and singer-songwriter Laura Marling—whose meteoric rise began when she was 18 with her 2008 debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim (Virgin)—has women on her mind. “It occurred to me that in ten years of making records, I had only come across two female engineers working in studios,”…

Karen Peterson
February 2, 2017

In Her Own Words: Rosanne Cash, Gillian Welch, Ani DiFranco, Janis Ian, Valerie June & More Share Their Passion for Guitar

From the March 2017 issue of Acoustic Guitar | BY WHITNEY PHANEUF, ANNA PULLEY, KAREN PETERSON & PAULINE FRANCE When the editors of Acoustic Guitar decided to carve out a special section on the topic of women, guitars, and success, I was hesitant. The sheer act of compiling women guitarists, educators, and luthiers into a…

Whitney Phaneuf
February 2, 2017

Mandy Fer on Encouraging Women to Play Guitar [Video]

In this video, Fer discusses some of the challenges she faced as a female guitarist playing the bar scene, how Ani DiFranco inspired her, and the instrument designed specifically for her by AJ Guitars, named Mrs. Robinson.

Greg Cahill
January 20, 2017

Fingerstyle guitarist Steve Baughman plays "Danny Boy"

Learn to Play the Orkney-Tuned Irish Classic ‘Danny Boy’

I encourage you to focus first on getting the melody down. Once you have that in your blood, you may feel free to explore your own bass lines and arpeggios.

Steve Baughman
January 18, 2017

Buffy Sainte-Marie smiling during a performance

The Unbreakable Buffy Sainte-Marie: A Candid Conversation with the Resilient Songwriter and Activist

Sainte-Marie opens up about how she’s persevered—as an artist and an activist—and why she’s uplifted by the fact that there’s always more work to be done.

Whitney Phaneuf
January 18, 2017

Video Lesson: Dig into a Lute Work by the English Renaissance Composer John Dowland

As a fingerstyle steel-string guitarist, you might assume that your instrument precludes learning classical literature. But this isn’t actually the case.

Adam Perlmutter
January 17, 2017

synchronize your hands guitar lesson closeup

These Fundamental Guitar Techniques Can Help You Learn to Synchronize Your Hands

This Weekly Workout will show how to synchronize the hands through a variety of exercises, concepts, and articulations

Sean McGowan
January 17, 2017

VIDEO REVIEW: The Stalwart Taylor 410ce-R Is the Latest Iteration of a Classic Dreadnought

Nothing is more traditional than a dreadnought-sized guitar, but add a slim-neck profile, an elegant Venetian cutaway, and an innovative pickup system that accurately represents the true acoustic nature of the guitar in an amplified setting, and you have the Taylor 410ce-R, a modern acoustic guitar that speaks to a wide spectrum of players.

Pete Madsen
January 13, 2017

Video Review: There’s a Lot to Love About the Maple-Top Fender T-Bucket 400CE

Fender Guitars, long known for its iconic Strats and Teles, may turn a few heads with the flame-maple-topped, dreadnought-sized T-Bucket 400CE, which is not only good looking, but sounds good and, most importantly, is affordable.

Pete Madsen
January 13, 2017

Video Review: Skysonic’s Pro-1 Acoustic Guitar Pickup System Offers Flexibility & Tonal Variation

Founded in China, Skysonic has recently made its way stateside via the Allen Eden Guitar Co. Their top-of-the-line offering is the Pro-1, which combines a dual-coil magnetic soundhole pickup with an onboard mic and an under-saddle piezo pickup.

Pete Madsen
January 13, 2017

Video Review: The Hand-Built Boswell 00-14 Sparkles with Refined Tone and Articulation

utch Boswell, a self-proclaimed “wood junkie,” is taking his 20 years of guitar repair skills and putting them toward building one-of-a-kind instruments that cater to his clients’ individual needs. Boswell builds guitars in small batches of two or three instruments at a time at his shop in Bend, Oregon.

Pete Madsen
January 13, 2017

Joan Baez to Be Inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Revisit Some of Her Finest Performances [Video]

By Anna Pulley Joan Baez is receiving better presents than diamonds and rust this year, as the legendary folksinger will be one of the six recipients inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017. Inductees were announced today, and the acoustic icon is the only woman to receive the…

Anna Pulley
December 20, 2016