Acoustics

The singer-songwriter reflects on her 30-year career through the prism of her latest work, ‘Crown of Roses,’ a moving set of songs infused with folk, gospel, country blues, and dashes of flamenco.

In this lesson we will explore how chord shapes are especially useful for soloing over songs that use chords from outside the key.

Sponsored by Taylor Guitars: At 11 years old, Trey Hensley had been playing guitar for less than a year when a chance encounter changed everything. After hearing Trey perform at a county fair, Marty Stuart invited the young guitarist onstage. Two months later, Trey found himself performing on the Grand Ole Opry. What followed was a […]

In an expansive new multimedia project, the celebrated Paraguayan guitarist collaborates with performers from across the Americas to explore the instrument’s shared roots and regional transformations.

This set showcases Emmer’s mix of heart and humor and shines a light on his deft guitar work.

Sponsored by MusicNomad: A proper setup can help reduce unwanted buzzing, improve tuning stability, dial in intonation, and help your guitar sound and play its best. Saving time and money while improving sound and playability, thousands of guitar players have learned to set up their guitar with MusicNomad’s Keep It Simple Setup (KISS)™ system. “Setting up […]

Add flavor to this beloved traditional melody with strums, arpeggios, and cross picking.

Try these musician-tested ideas for making your guitar room more efficient, comfortable, and creatively inspiring.

From the Summer 2026 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine There’s a certain kind of guitarist whose influence becomes so embedded in the acoustic guitar world that it can be easy to forget how fresh and unusual they once sounded. Jorma Kaukonen is one of those players. Long before stylistic openness became commonplace in acoustic guitar […]

In this lesson, you’ll learn to make creative choices in reharmonizing a simple eight-bar melody, discovering methods that may open new doors in your own songwriting.

Jackson Emmer offers a practical introduction to bluegrass jam etiquette, aimed especially at players attending their first jam session

Apollo Picks are favored by players like Norman Blake, Bill Frisell, Julian Lage, and Mary Halvorson and are made one at a time in Monnin’s Ohio workshop.

A rugged, reliable, preamp with all the essentials for high-fidelity acoustic amplification.

One lucky winner will receive this Taylor Next Generation 412ce Offering players a more accessible entry point to the beloved sound of solid rosewood and spruce, the Next Generation 412ce is sure to impress everyday players and professionals alike. The combination of Indian rosewood back and sides with a Sitka spruce top gets a boost […]

This month’s TA lessons cover a wide range of topics: Argentinean jazz licks, the boom chuck, harp harmonics, slide blues, and flatpicking bass runs.

Thanks to Scruggs’ frequent appearances on ‘Grand Ole Opry’ television shows, this distinctive guitar was widely documented throughout the late ’50s and ’60s.

This guitar arrangement combines bass and chords in one part that can stand alone, and it’s a blast to play.

Sponsored by Taylor Guitars: Is your acoustic guitar feeling stiff, sluggish or harder to play than it should? The culprit may be your action. In this episode of Two Minute Tech, Rob Magargal breaks down one of the most important factors in playability: string height, also known as action. He explains what action really means, why […]

Scale length is one of the most important variables in the tone and playability of a guitar, and often gets less attention than it deserves.

Covered by artists across genres—from Lawrence Welk to Keith Richards—the song is built on just a handful of chords that repeat through both verses and chorus.