
Weekly Workout: Building Colorful Chords from the Harmonic and Melodic Minor Scales
In this advanced guitar lesson, meet the melodic and harmonic minor scales and then explore the harmonies that can be generated from them.

In this advanced guitar lesson, meet the melodic and harmonic minor scales and then explore the harmonies that can be generated from them.

In this guitar lesson you'll learn economy picking, which includes alternate and sweep picking styles, as well as legato techniques for your fretting fingers.
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This technique involves using a plectrum to play a series of single notes on adjacent strings in a consecutive motion, resulting in a fast, fluid sound.

Watch the replay of Ron Jackson's Facebook live event featuring Mimi Fox and Paul Mehling

It was your typical summertime Friday night—the sun taking its time to retreat into the horizon, dreams of a fun weekend beginning to form in the mind, and the computer fired up and ready to provide a fun, safe, socially distant evening of music and guitar talk with two superb…
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Looking for something fun, safe, and socially distant to do on Friday night? Seven-string guitarist Ron Jackson will take over Acoustic Guitar’s Facebook page Friday, July 10 at 6–7PM (PST) for a live performance and Q&A. Joining him for a portion of the event will be Sean McGowan, who will…

This arrangement is in the guitar-friendly key of E minor and includes a steady eighth-note bass line that nods to the Clash version.

If you'd like to strengthen your knowledge of the fretboard, try viewing it through a handful of different perspectives.
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The scale is known for its ambiguous, dreamlike quality and has been used to great effect by composers such as Claude Debussy and jazz musicians like Thelonious Monk.

By taking a basic melody and changing the rhythms, pitches, and articulations, you can make some hip variations.

Jazz is actually comprised of lots of little bits of language that, when strung together in different ways, sound as if they’re spontaneously composed.
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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.

Learning to play chord-melody style—that is, expressing melodies in chords rather than single notes—is a formidable and valuable skill.

Explore four solutions and subtle technique adjustments to deal with unwanted, distracting string noise when you play guitar.

The concepts taught in this Weekly Workout will help you play with new depth and excitement.
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Learn the secrets behind George Benson's special way way with the plectrum to improve your own picking technique.

Whatever style you prefer—and regardless of whether you’re more of a soloist or accompanist—you should learn how to get these techniques under your fingers.

Funk guitar might be most commonly associated with scratchy electric rhythms, but the acoustic guitar lends itself just as well to these cool percussive sounds.
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Whatever your style, if you work on these etudes diligently, you’ll develop speed, finger independence, and flexibility.