TrueFire's Guitabulary

1960, Henry Worrall wrote "Sebastopol," a parlor guitar tune that was enormously influential in folk playing, delta blues, country fingerpicking and other disciplines. The simple but fetching tune is in open D, which became a favorite among rural American players. The top-string slides foretell bottleneck playing. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: ACOUSTIC U. Get more audio and video lessons, notation and tab at TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

Preston Reed's Showcase Solo "Fat Boy" will literally have you playing "over-the-top". Using left-hand multi-string taps, slaps, pulls, and slides along with right-hand whacks and whunk-dumps, you'll be a complete one man band with a percussion section right on your guitar. There's even an easy-to-read percussion key signature along with the music so ya can fit in yer hi-hats and kick drums. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: HOW TO PLAY GUITAR: Anthology , ACOUSTIC U. Get more audio and video lessons, notation and tab at TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

You don't need a rack full of gear to generate amazing guitar textures. Just listen to Chet Akins. With his bare hands, the country boy from Tennessee created more fretboard magic than entire genres of guitarists. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: TWANG U, ACOUSTIC U. Get more audio and video lessons, notation and tab at TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

The ever-clever Adrian, an English fingerstyle wizard, takes us back to his early days in Brit C&W bands, where he got a lot of stuff wrong and stumbled into his own style. The examples cover what he calls "corny double-stops," a shuffle intro and a very hip ending tag. Let some of Adrian's originality rub off on you. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: ACOUSTIC U. Get more audio and video lessons, notation and tab at TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

Elfin Brit Adrian Legg is one of the most inventive pickers on the planet. He sat with Joe Gore and described his methods, which is a mish-mash of Celtic, classical, and twang, buoyed by his fluency with banjo-picking style: fluid, three-note rolls, percussive frailing, and other techniques. By learning some of Legg's stuff, you can tap into the intuitiveness of his playing - which will ultimately give you a leg up. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: ACOUSTIC U. Get more audio and video lessons, notation and tab at TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

Adrian Legg's column is a diatribe about the virtues of the acoustic guitar and the "macho materialism" of the electric. A basic eight-bar phrase accompanies the article. Play it on acoustic. If you don't have one, get one. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: ACOUSTIC U. Get more audio and video lessons, notation and tab at TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

There are two kinds of guitar players in the world: those who are fans of Adrian Legg and those who haven't heard him yet. This lesson offers a window into Adrian's inventive use of basslines, open strings and passing chords- you'll learn how to sound like a banjoist and bass player jamming with guitar accompaniment, all within your own six strings. Don't miss this one. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: ACOUSTIC U. Get more videos, notation and tab for this guitar lesson on TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

Adrian Legg's beautiful, harp-like arpeggios are featured in this example. Using a capo at the fifth fret and combining open strings with fretted notes, you'll learn how Adrian creates his shimmering arpeggios. Beautiful! This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: ACOUSTIC U Get more videos, notation and tab for this guitar lesson on TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

Richard Gartner unveils a very cool and very player-friendly open tuning called "Dadgad" (D,A,D,G,A,D). It allows you to improvise via the use of pattern picking and using shapes. Richard's "Dadgad Bluerag" is a fun, in-your-face 16-bar song that employs all the versatility found in the tuning. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: HOW TO PLAY GUITAR: Anthology , ACOUSTIC U. Get more videos, notation and tab for this guitar lesson on TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

Description: Accompanying his wife on a recent song, Celtic bluesman Martin Simpson needed to find the appropriate tuning. He ended up with the exotic B-Flat-sus2 (B-Flat, F, B-Flat, F, B-Flat, C). He serves up a helping of his solo from the song "Raglan Road," which will give you some jumping-off points for further explorations of your own into open tuning. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: ACOUSTIC U. Get more videos, notation and tab for this guitar lesson on TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

To play alternating bass lines, you need to commit certain fingers to sustaining bass notes, while leaving other fingers free to fret melody notes. This typically involves unorthodox fingerings. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: ACOUSTIC U. Get more videos, notation and tab for this guitar lesson on TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

How'd you like to learn a song that paved the way for blues and country slide playing? In an earlier lesson, John looked at Josh White's version of "John Henry," which relied on finger slides. Puckett's rendition calls upon a slide and is more a guitar solo. Bottom line: This one's fun to play. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: ACOUSTIC U. Get more videos, notation and tab for this guitar lesson on TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

The blues can be traced to many things - slave chants, chain gangs and such - but you don't hear much about the influence of late 19th Century parlor guitar. John establishes the connection with 'Country Fool,' a tune written by Bo Carter, who had a major impact on the Delta blues players. The country-blues piece is in altered tuning and is based on the chord progression from 'Spanish Fandango'. The rolling, finger-picked style has real charm. It's a great song to add to your solo steel-string repertoire. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: ACOUSTIC U. Get more videos, notation and tab for this guitar lesson on TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

Bill has adapted a bottleneck muting technique to standard playing. It'll enhance your fingerpicking articulation and dynamics and help get rid of unwanted notes. Essentially, each of the top four strings is played and muted with its own finger. Start slow, build up to speed. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: 280 Killer GUITAR LICKS, ACOUSTIC U. Get more videos, notation and tab for this guitar lesson on TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

Bob Brozman is master of bottleneck slide guitar and various open tunings for the blues. Here's a primer for all of us that are ready to incorporate slide technique into our repertoire. Tunings, tone, technique and five exercises are included in this detailed lesson. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: HOW TO PLAY GUITAR: Anthology , BLUES U, ACOUSTIC U. Get more videos, notation and tab for this guitar lesson on TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)