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Need a quick lesson on how to read Wayne’s free bluegrass guitar tabs? Read the brief instructions here: “A Word About the Free Bluegrass Guitar Tabs”
Little Rosewood Casket – Free Bluegrass Guitar Tab
Category: Guitar
Little Maggie – Free Bluegrass Guitar Tab
Need a quick lesson on how to read Wayne’s free bluegrass guitar tabs? Read the brief instructions here: “A Word About the Free Bluegrass Guitar Tabs”
Easy Guitar Songs
By Wayne Erbsen
The Internet is abuzz with people wanting to learn to play the guitar. My guess is that you are one of them! Of course, you want to learn the easiest songs possible. Who wouldn’t?
The songs that are the easiest to play are the tunes you already know. They’re the ones you’ve had in your head for years. So instead of having me teach you a totally unfamiliar tune on the guitar, let’s get you to learn how to play the tunes you already know.
I suggest you start making lists of your favorite songs. If you
Just 2 Chords! Easy Bluegrass & Folk Songs on Guitar
By Wayne Erbsen
In Basic Guitar Chords, I showed you a number of basic guitar chords. Armed with that knowledge, there are thousands of songs you can play simply by strumming the chord and singing, humming, or whistling the song.
Before you can do that, you will need to figure out which chords to play when.
The good news is that most bluegrass, folk, and country songs can be played with just three chords. These three chords form a little family called a “key.” We often give the chords in the same family the numbers 1, 4, and 5.
Ernest ‘Pop’ Stoneman
By Wayne Erbsen
We couldn’t quite figure out who he was. As the lights were dimmed and the audience hushed, my sister Bonnie and I sat in suspense at the West Hollywood club known as The Ash Grove. All at once, the band started to play and even as our attention became riveted on the spectacle unfolding before us, we wondered about the little old man sitting on stage in a hard-backed chair with an autoharp flat on his lap and a little black hat stuck on his head.
We got a hint when members of the Stoneman Family eventually
Clarence White and the Roots of Bluegrass Guitar in Southern California
By Wayne Erbsen
In the early sixties I lived within earshot of the Ash Grove, a legendary folk club on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. As I recall, Monday night was called “hoot night,” and the house band was “The Country Boys.” When I first heard the band in mid-1962, it consisted of Clarence White on guitar, Billy Ray Lathum on banjo, LeRoy Mack on Dobro, and playing bass was Roger Bush.
In the fall of 1962 the band got the opportunity to record their first album for Briar International. At that time the founder of the band, Roland White,
A History of Bluegrass Guitar in Western North Carolina
By John Martin
When folklorists like Cecil Sharp came to the mountains of North Carolina they found an enduring musical culture of Scotch-Irish fiddle tunes and ballad singers as well as some of the only black banjo and fiddle players in the country. In the 1940s, western North Carolinians helped produce a new form of music: bluegrass. Earl Scruggs popularized the regional three-finger banjo style that in many ways defined bluegrass, and the state also made many contributions to guitar playing.
While the acoustic guitar began as a rhythm instrument, North Carolinians Don Reno, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, and George
How to Tune a Guitar
1. The Fret Method is a time-honored way to tune your guitar to itself, without using slick and newfangled electronic gizmos. With your guitar resting comfortably on your lap, follow these steps:
a. Take your left index finger and push down the 6th or E string at the fifth fret. There should be a dot or marker at the fifth fret. Be sure to play in the space between the two metal bars. Push down hard enough with the tip of your finger so it produces a clear note. Then, compare the pitch of that note (A) with the 5th
Basic Guitar Chords
By Wayne Erbsen
If you’re wanting to learn the basic guitar chords, you’ve come to the right place. Although there are thousands of chord positions, I’m only going to show you the basic chords you need to start with. In certain kinds of music, such as as bluegrass, Appalachian, folk, gospel, country and blues, these chords are pretty much all you’ll ever need.
Important Tip: When you’re making your chords, it’s ESSENTIAL that you go to the chord all at once, not one finger at a time. Landing on the chord all at once will guarantee that you’ll be able
Buying a Used Guitar
By Bob Smakula
First, play the guitar. Is there excessive buzzing? Is it too easy to play or do you need hydraulic-assisted fingers? String height is determined by several factors. Nut height, saddle height, neck curvature and neck angle all make one guitar’s action better or worse than another’s. String height can be changed to suit any playing style. My opinion of ideal string height for a steel string guitar (measured from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string at the 12th fret) is 1/16″ at the high E gradually increasing to 3/32″ at the low
