Truefire's Guitabulary

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)

Like all great blues players, John Mooney derives mojo from his fingers, not his gear. Mooney can fill a hall with soulful slide sounds, whether he’s fronting a band with a Strat cranked through a Super Reverb, or doing a solo set on an unmiked National resonator. Here, Mooney shares some cool slide tips and hot riffs. But before you get started, Mooney has a simple way to avoid the common problem of slide slippage. “I superglue a piece of cork to the inside of my slide so it stops halfway up my pinky and stays there,” says Mooney. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: BLUES U, ACOUSTIC U, TWANG U. Get more videos, notation and tab for this guitar lesson on TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

Chris Whitley is a heck of a blues player, but he isn't what you would call a traditionalist. Jeff McErlain shows you one of Chris' more "twisted" blues pieces, played on open-tuned Dobro. Chris describes it as "Bukka White meets Thelonius Monk"...need we say more? 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)

Customizing turnarounds is what makes them your own, and you can never have enough nifty ones. In this lesson, Mark issues a couple of "must know" variations on a classic blues move. Transpose 'em to other keys and stick with the fretted notes - skip the open strings - so you can move freely up and down the neck. Then tweak 'em to your heart's content. 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)

Enter the brave and bluesy world of laptop slide guitar. David sticks to high G tuning (GBDGBD, low to high), which allows him to play in the guitar-friendly keys of E, A, and D. Here he issues six licks, with feels that range from greasy blues to garage rock. 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)

In this two-part lesson, we'll explore open D and acquaint ourselves with it fascinating sounds. So grab a tuner and a guitar , put yourself in an open frame of mind , and get ready for some sonic stimulation. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: TWANG U, BLUES U, ACOUSTIC U. Get more videos, notation and tab for this guitar lesson on TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

So you thought bluegrass was hokum for hicks. Try this tricky staple, known as the (Lester) Flatt run or G-run. Rogers also extends it up an octave to make a longer lick, partially inverts it and throws in a bluesy variation. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: TWANG U, ACOUSTIC U. Get more videos, notation and tab for this guitar lesson on TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

In this lesson, we’ll take the primary 8-bar themes from several Celtic fiddle tunes, arrange them for guitar, and use the results to polish our flatpicking chops, timing, and tone. The themes have been rigged for maximum sonic vibe not playing comfort so they’re tricky in places. Within a line, for instance, we’ll play the same note in different locations to facilitate a slur. Or we’ll create harp-like cascades by alternating fretted notes and open strings. In short, we’ll search for fingerings that challenge our dexterity while adding mojo to the melodies. 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)

Let's say your relatively new to flatpicking guitar, but you wanna get musical, wanna start learning some relatively simple songs. Given a choice, do you want to work on a tune that's corny or hip? Dumb question, I know. "Flop-Eared Mule" is a traditional pickin' tune that's very hip, indeed - with a nice melodic sweep that's full of dynamics. Cool thing is: The song sounds almost as good in the slower "learning" mode as it does in a faster tempo. 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)

Step up and learn one of the most powerful, least-used and exotic accompaniment licks known to guitarists. This basic bass/strum/bass/strum move is so fundamental to good accompaniment that a lot of players overlook it. Dan's lesson gives you plenty of insider tips on how to best play the basics and add variations. He also throws in a segment on how to play slow. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: Rhythm Guitar SWAT Camp, ACOUSTIC U, HOW TO PLAY GUITAR: Anthology . Get more videos, notation and tab for this guitar lesson on TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

Here's an intro to Doc's style, which involves explosive flatpicking-speed with taste-on acoustic guitar. Whether folk standards or reworked fiddle tunes, Watson's sound is always exhilarating, always musical. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: TWANG U, ACOUSTIC U. Get more videos, notation and tab for this guitar lesson on TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

Dan serves up two beautiful traditional guitar tunes that you can play slow and steady: "Soldier's Joy" and "Wildwood Flower," which has been the starting point for generations of flat-pickers. The tunes are fairly easy to play, but you can make them consummately musical with careful study and attention to detail. 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)

OK, so what's with the math? Dobro master David Hamburger breaks it all down for you in this Bluegrass-flavored lesson. Two six note phrases plus a four note phrase equals a two bar lick...got it? This simple formula lies at the heart of a surprising number of classic licks. So put down your calculator, pick up your guitar, and start figuring out what it's all going to add to your playing. This lesson includes Power Tab and is featured on the following CD compilations: ACOUSTIC U, Twang U. Get more videos, notation and tab for this guitar lesson on TrueFire TV (http://truefiretv.com)

If a Nashville studio ace - a guy who's played on albums by Garth Brooks, Randy Travis, the Judds and others - gave you inside tip on how to play effective session acoustic guitar, would you listen? Well, then, listen. Casstevens stresses the percussive attack and the "high, ringing stuff," and trying to break the constant Travis-style mold. To put these ideas into motion, here's a twangin' I-IV-V,16-bar sequence. 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)

Here, Dan encourages you to break free of other guitarist's arrangements and approach a song with originality in mind. He submits a handful of different arrangements of "Sally Goodin'" to get you started, then gives you a method: learn the complete melody (the best source is fiddler players who play it straight), get a thorough knowledge of the tune and then set out on your own. A most rewarding adventure. 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/)