Paul Mehling

2 weeks ago | acousticguitar.com | Greg Ruby |Adam Perlmutter |Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers |Paul Mehling

The joy I felt strumming my first open G chord was liberating. My fingers fell into place, and the sound was big, bold, and powerful. At 12, I was convinced I could play guitar quickly and easily. Soon, I was switching between open chords, leaving behind the formality of seven years of piano lessons—I was a guitarist! Who needed written music or note names?

Dec 15, 2023 | acousticguitar.com | Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers |Greg Cahill |Paul Mehling |Jane Miller

If you are starting to get the hang of sight reading and want to sharpen your skills, try playing some duets with music that’s a bit more complex. The first lesson in this three-part series showed how to interpret written notation using its associated clues.

Nov 1, 2023 | acousticguitar.com | Paul Mehling |Cathy Fink |Gretchen Menn

Andrés Segovia’s version of the iconic Tárrega piece “Recuerdos de la Alhambra” was love at first listen for me. Even with ears accustomed to the polyphony that abounds in classical guitar repertoire, I found the effect fascinating—not just for the clarity of the separate voices, but for the long, seemingly sustained melody notes accompanied by arpeggios in the lower and middle range. The guitar doesn’t allow for sustained notes the way wind or bowed instruments do.

Oct 25, 2023 | acousticguitar.com | Adam Levy |Doug Young |Paul Mehling |Jane Miller

The problem: You are either unfamiliar with reading standard musical notation altogether or would like to improve your sight-reading. The solution: Get together with another guitarist who also wants to practice reading skills by playing together in real time. Hundreds of years ago, J.S. Bach famously composed his two-part inventions for his students to study composition and counterpoint. These pieces have become standard repertoire for not just pianists but guitar students as well.