Basic Arranging That Every Guitarist Should Know #1. Here’s the first in a two-DVD lesson series that will be deeply satisfying for any acoustic guitarist who wants to move beyond simple chords and easy strums. Beginning and intermediate players will quickly gain an understanding of guitar basics through the process of building compelling arrangements of well-known, much-loved traditional songs. In an instructional tour de force, Happy details each step, starting with a simple version of each song and then slowly adding chord substitutions, bass lines, harmonies, fill-in licks, fingerpicking patterns and other techniques that eventually create a fully-formed performance...

When you hear someone say “Texas Blues Guitar,” you may immediately think of Steve Ray and Jimmie Vaughn or maybe Freddie King. The invisible presence, buried deep in everyone of their guitar riffs, is the true king of Texas blues, Lightnin’ Hopkins. Lightnin’, who knew Blind Lemon Jefferson as a child, is Jimmie Vaughn’s favorite guitarist. Offered here are all the basics, many of the secrets and tricks of Lightnin’s deeply accomplished, deceptively simple acoustic Texas boogie guitar style. This lesson features rare video footage from the 1950’s and 1960’s of Lightnin’ playing five tunes. Lightnin’ plays the tune...

Get ready to give your left hand a workout! Pete Huttlinger has created a “video chord library” that’s a must-have for every serious guitarist. This crash course is designed to show you all the important chords and fingerings you’ll need, from the easiest shapes to some challenging finger-twisters. Pete has developed a unique and effective study technique he calls “Say It and Play It”. This is an powerful way to memorize root notes by playing chromatic scales and applying chords to the root location. It’s like your personal GPS system on the fingerboard, helping you lock in exactly where...

Oscar Herrero – Flamenco Guitar Step by Step Basic Technique: Volume 2. After performing a taranta with accompaniment from hand clappers, Óscar Herrero explains advanced techniques for strumming using the thumb, alzapúa (right hand technique whereby the thumb is brandished repeatedly against the same string, usually a grave string) and tremolo (accompaniment with the thumb, index, middle and ring fingers on the same string, to give the impression of a faltering sound). Flamenco harmony. Playing in bulería and alegría styles. It also includes pieces for guitar recitals that summarise all the techniques that are explained in the volumes 1...

Keb Mo expertly accompanies his distinctively soulful songs with folk/blues fingerpicking, swampy slide licks, contemporary pop chords and a touch of jazz. The seven arrangements he teaches on this DVD are simple enough for early intermediate guitarists, but provide enough twists and turns to interest advanced musicians as well. With his easy-going humor and deep musical knowledge, Keb Mo makes it a joy to play along with this lesson. You ll learn unusual chord shapes, a variety of tunings, bottleneck/slide technique, picking patterns and seven beautiful songs from his award-winning repertoire: Your Love, Life is Beautiful, I’ll Be Your...

Drawing on four decades of teaching experience, Happy Traum has devised this nearly foolproof method to help you get off to a great start. He trains you to “rewire your brain” so that playing in this style becomes second nature. Happy also imparts invaluable information about finger picks, string damping, Travis style picking and other important topics. DVD 1 starts you from scratch. The simple children’s song “Skip to My Lou” helps you learn the basic concepts before you move on to fingerpicking standards such as “Spike Driver’s Blues,” “Green, Green Rocky Road,” “Staggerlee,” “Nine Pound Hammer” and “Hobo’s...

Music of Louis Armstrong Arranged for Fingerstyle Guitar. This lesson is over 2 hours and forty minutes. The arrangements are for the intermediate to advanced players. They are multi-section compositions with lots of fingerpicking challenges. But all your hard work will be very worthwhile as these tunes are some of the greatest in the early jazz repertoire. Ernie teaches phrase by phrase and then uses the split-screen so you can carefully study what each hand is doing. A detailed tab/music booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD. This DVD lesson could be titled The Music of...

Here’s a lesson that’s packed with dozens of time-tested musical phrases that will help you become a strong lead guitarist. Even beginners will be able to start playing hot licks over blues changes. As the phrases get more advanced, you’ll start to use slides, bends, hammer-ons, pull-offs and other techniques to increase your speed and dexterity. Each riff is played slowly and then at speed to give you a feel for how it sounds in context. Jeff Pevar (currently playing guitar with David Crosby) joins Artie to demonstrate how two players jamming together would use these lead lines in...

They don’t call it “hot guitar” for nothing! The driving style pioneered by Django Reinhardt and other Gypsy players became one of the dominant sounds in jazz during the thirties and forties, and its influence is still strongly felt today. Paul Mehling knows the style as well as anyone, and he takes it apart in detail for the learning player. A band won’t swing without a strong rhythm section, and the powerful guitar accompaniment that typifies the Gypsy style is the foundation of this terrific lesson. Starting with basic four-to-the-bar comping and damping, Paul takes you through a variety...

When you hear Peter Huttlinger on recordings or in concert it’s no mystery why he won the National Fingerpicking Competition in Winfield, Kansas, or why he is quickly becoming a powerful force in the acoustic guitar world. Pete’s picking is clean, soulful and, at times, blazingly fast. Whether he’s playing his arrangement of a classic pop tune or one of his own compositions, listeners are inevitably startled by what they hear. Pete starts with the lyrical Lennon and McCartney tune “And I Love Her,” played on a nylon string guitar. This richly textured but relatively easy piece will get...