Post archive
Guitar Sessions 45: Easy open-string chords up the neck
Explore open-string chord shapes up the neck that give you alternate-tuning-like sounds with easy fingerings—while staying in standard tuning.
Guitar Sessions 44: Play “Deep Elem Blues”
Play a funky dropped-D guitar arrangement of the classic traditional song, inspired by the Grateful Dead.
Songwriting collaboration with ChatGPT
Introducing “Don’t Let AI Write Your Stinking Song”: a co-writing experiment with ChatGPT.
Guitar Sessions 43: Play an acoustic “Sunshine of Your Love”
Learn an acoustic arrangement of the Cream classic, played in dropped-D tuning.
Guitar Sessions 42: Inside the“Day Tripper” guitar riff
Learn how to play the original George Harrison guitar riff, and then how to adapt it for other keys and other songs.
Guitar Sessions 41: Play Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer”
Learn an acoustic arrangement of Don Henley’s classic song, with a guitar adaptation of the original synthesizer riff.
How Bob Dylan built new songs on tradition
Dylan traces songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “Boots of Spanish Leather” back to the folk songs that inspired them. An annotated excerpt from his 2015 MusiCares speech, with an accompanying playlist.
Guitar Sessions 40: Four-note scale workout
Try this exercise to improve your fretting finger dexterity and strength and practice alternate picking too.
Guitar Sessions 39: Limber up with scales in thirds
Here’s a great exercise for warming up and playing melodies and lead too.
The interviewer gets interviewed
Read a deep-dive interview/profile on my path as a musician, writer, and editor.
How to play like Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek
Video lesson on the guitar style of Nickel Creek’s Sean Watkins, with examples from their album Celebrants.
How to create sophisticated harmonies on guitar with cluster chords
Video lesson with examples based on songs by Neil Young, James Taylor, Janis Ian, Dave Matthews, and more
Guitar Sessions 38: Play Jimmy Cliff’s “Sitting in Limbo”
Learn a fingerstyle guitar arrangement of the Jimmy Cliff classic from The Harder They Come.
How to take a creative approach to cover songs
A songwriter’s guide to arranging and performing other people’s songs
Get into the learning zone
Tips and exercises to help you get out of ruts and discover new territory on the guitar
Guitar Sessions 37: Play Brandi Carlile’s “You and Me on the Rock”
Learn the correct tuning and the intro riff for the Brandi Carlile’s Joni Mitchell–esque song.
Guitar Sessions 36: The sweet sound of sixths, part two
Part two of a video lesson on playing sixths intervals on guitar, as used in classic riffs from songs by Cat Stevens, Van Morrison, Jim Croce, and more.
More Christmas carols for solo guitar
The Silent Nights Guitar Collection album/songbook expands with new arrangements of “What Child Is This?,” “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” and “Jingle Bells.”
Guitar Sessions 35: The sweet sound of sixths, part one
Explore sixths intervals on guitar, as used in classic riffs from songs by Van Morrison, John Fogerty, Cat Stevens, and more.