Jane Miller

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.

Jan 3, 2025 | acousticguitar.com | Jane Miller

Just as there are many reasons to change the key of a song—vocal range, chord form preferences, collaborations with horn players, or tone quality, for example—there are also many effective methods for transposing. Some electric keyboards have a transposing switch that allows the player to perform in their favorite key (like C) while adjusting the sound to match any other key.

Oct 18, 2024 | acousticguitar.com | Doug Young |Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers |Judy Minot |Jane Miller

Songwriters, guitar players, and Nashville. That’s a tight-knit trio. Nashville holds a long tradition of writing sessions, jams, open mics, studio dates, and songs getting passed on from player to player. It makes sense that a shortcut system to convey chord progressions efficiently would emerge from the city. Neal Matthews, part of the singing group the Jordanaires and a guitarist himself, is credited with developing such a system in the mid-1950s: the Nashville number system.

Sep 18, 2024 | acousticguitar.com | Sean McGowan |Sean Mcgowan |Scott Nygaard |Gretchen Menn |Jane Miller

Browse through a guitar songbook and you’ll see the names of chords (called chord symbols) written above the staff. Sometimes those symbols are accompanied by chord diagrams, but not always. Even if you know an option or two for chord forms, there are always different ways to play them. Having choices keeps your fretting hand from jumping around too much in search of the next chord.