Adam Perlmutter

4 days ago | acousticguitar.com | Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers |Greg Olwell |Michael Simmons |Adam Perlmutter

Jason Isbell owns some prized vintage guitars, such as a 1934 Martin 000-28 that he calls the best acoustic guitar he’s ever played. But when it came to recording his solo acoustic album Foxes in the Snow, he turned to this smaller and plainer Martin 0-17, a recent acquisition from Retrofret Vintage Guitars in Brooklyn, New York. Listed at $30, the 0-17 was nearly the bottom of the line in Martin’s 1940 catalog—only the 0-15, a very similar model with a less glossy finish, was cheaper, at $25.

1 week ago | acousticguitar.com | Adam Perlmutter |Pete Madsen |David Surette |Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers

Sue Foley is both a guitarist and a scholar, and she was kind enough to create this exclusive lesson, breaking down key techniques from some of the musicians she celebrates on One Guitar Woman. In Example 1, Foley demonstrates the Carter scratch, a technique pioneered by Maybelle Carter in which the guitarist plays single-note melodies on the bass strings while adding chordal accents on the upper strings.

4 weeks ago | acousticguitar.com | Joey Lusterman |Adam Perlmutter

Five awesome Teaching Artists—Isa Burke, Lisa Liu, Mamie Minch, Sean McGowan, and Thu Tran—want to help you grow as a guitarist!Beginning April 1, they’ll be sharing engaging insights and invaluable guitar wisdom with you each and every week in the Acoustic Guitar Patreon community. To kick things off, we hosted a live hangout with the TAs. It was a whole lot of fun and featured songs, stories, and a window into the musical lives of these great guitarists.

1 month ago | acousticguitar.com | Jane Miller |Adam Perlmutter |Mark Goldenberg |Louise Lee

Mindfulness meditation has been in practice since Buddha himself taught private lessons and classes. Vipassana, the Pali word for this Buddhist technique of meditation, roughly translates to clear-seeing or insight—to see something as it is. Guitarists can tap into the mental resource of mindfulness in their own practice, especially as a centering warm-up exercise. Before beginning our exercises, consider players of wind instruments for some perspective.

1 month ago | acousticguitar.com | Peter Penhallow |Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers |Adam Perlmutter

It is said that the shore in this song is the shore of the Jordan River, and that Michael is St. Michael, who guides us at least metaphorically, if not at one time literally, to the Jordan shore. I enjoyed “Michael” at age seven, when the Highwaymen made this wonderful spiritual a big hit on the radio. You can hear their version on Michael, Row the Boat Ashore: The Best of the Highwaymen. “Michael” uses a four-chord progression, arranged here in D (D, F#m, G, A7).