For guitarists contemplating alternative tunings, Open G is a seductive option—it’ll give you straightforward major chords using open strings or barres right across the neck, and it’s the tuning of choice for many slide guitarists. If you fancy exercising your fingers with a little picking, here’s a folk-style blues. Keep the thumb alternating solidly in […]

With cousins visiting from Pennsylvania, I’m reminded of Heather and Dexter’s link to the Old New World, going back to the founder of the Mennonite community in America—and from whom the Amish are descended—Hans Herr. Heather & Dexter’s family tree traces directly back on Nancy’s side. Here’s my diary entry from August 04, 1991, when […]

Here’s a document I recently gave out to my songwriting class at City Lit. It’s aimed at people with no previous knowledge of chords, taking them through all the basics in a visual way with plenty of diagrams. There’s no music notation. If you think your students would benefit from it, please feel free to […]

If you haven’t tried lowering the bottom two strings of your guitar by a tone, you’re in for a treat (click here). Especially if, like me, you’re into finger picking—and you want to get a handle on alternating the bass with your thumb. Picking this way needs to be almost unconscious, so you can focus […]

Mid-March, and the frogs come out of their wet lairs for the annual jamboree.