The Guitar Journal
All about guitar.
The oft-overlooked, but so-essential guitar gear: the guitar stool. Or maybe you call it a "guitar throne" if: a) you happen to feel awesome today, or b) you've been hanging out with drummers lately (they insist on calling their stool a …
Continue Reading about Top 7 Best Guitar Stools (or “Guitar Throne”, if you’re feeling awesome…)
Wondering how to use a guitar capo? Let's take a quick look at what a capo is, why it's important, and how to use it. What is a Guitar Capo? A guitar capo is essentially a clamp for the guitar neck, which depresses all (or some) of the …
Continue Reading about How To Use A Guitar Capo…In 97 Seconds
Writing guitar tabs? There are a lot of tools that can help you do this - some are better than others. Here is a quick overview of several, popular software tools for writing guitar tabs. Keep in mind, there are a few basic goals you should …
Continue Reading about Writing Guitar Tabs? Seven Serious Software Options
I'm excited to have a guest blog this week from Sam at Fretish℠. Sam is the founder of the recent site, Fretish.com, which aims to make borrowing a guitar easier. Talking with Sam this week, it was easy to see how bringing the sharing economy to …
I love the idea of 30 Day Challenges! They're a great way to focus on a goal that is both a) short enough to be realistic, and b) long enough to see a big change. These types of challenges are popular in fitness, food, and other creative areas (for …
Continue Reading about 5 Things I Learned Doing a 30 Day Sweep Picking Challenge
I went to see Béla Fleck and the Flecktones this Sunday at the Wiltern in L.A. Only one word: brain-melting. (is that two words?) There’s no corollary for the combination of skill, soul, and artistic humility that is the Flecktone group. The speed …
Continue Reading about 3 Béla Fleck Songs Played on Acoustic Guitar. Shouldn’t There Be More?
The truth is, you can begin to learn guitar quickly and painlessly. Guitar is an amazing instrument because you can begin playing songs within minutes (I'm looking at you, "Nothing Else Matters"), yet be exploring the limits for a lifetime (see Chet …
Continue Reading about Learn Guitar: Top 5 Beginner Guitar Lesson Courses
Bluegrass flatpicking is a long tradition with a lot of fine players. And many of those players are not just excellent flatpickers on acoustic guitar - they also excel on banjo, mandolin, and more! It's an intimidating amount of talent to …
Continue Reading about Top 25 Best Bluegrass Flatpicking Guitarists
Is your guitar getting too hot (or cold) in storage? Sometimes it's hard to know. The optimum temperature to store an acoustic guitar is 70° - 75° F, or 21° - 24° C. Optimum humidity is 40 - 50%. The general wisdom is that you shouldn’t keep …
Continue Reading about 5 Steps (and $9) That Will Save Your Guitar From the Heat
Acoustic blues guitar lessons are partially a study in history. That's because acoustic blues goes back as far as the early 1900's with players like Robert Johnson (the granddaddy of acoustic blues), Lead Belly, and Big Bill Broonzy. It …
Continue Reading about Top 5 Places for Online Acoustic Blues Guitar Lessons
I’ve used an acoustic guitar amp in a lot of settings: concerts, weddings, churches, and just at home practicing. Acoustic guitar amps have come a long way in the last 20 years thanks to improved technology, specifically the ability to both …
If you're looking for the best guitar tuner app, you're likely to go search the App Store for "guitar tuner" ...and you'll get 452 results. That's a lot of guitar tuners. But which one is best? After downloading some apps, reading up, and asking …
Background: You’re flying out to Chicago this week from Los Angeles for 2 days. The trip is for business and is a relatively quick turnaround. Unfortunately, it’s not convenient to bring your guitar along on the trip. So what’s the best way to keep …
Continue Reading about 14 Ways to Practice Guitar on a Business Trip (Without Bringing a Guitar)
Guitar tabs are a godsend for most guitarists. They allow us to easily figure out how to play a song by plotting out numbers, which correspond to your guitar's frets, on six lines which correspond to your guitar's strings. This is a much easier …
Continue Reading about A Comprehensive Beginner’s Guide on How to Use Guitar Tabs
