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Excerpted from Acoustic Rock Essentials: Seventh Chords Minor-seventh chords are common in pop and rock, and Example 12 shows this chord in a progression similar to the bridge in “Norwegian Wood,” by the Beatles. You can color many minor chords with this sound. In Example 13 an Em7 chord is used to make the transition between Em and the next chord (C) more interesting, in a progression similar to the opening of the Beatles song “A Day in the Life.” Excerpted from Acoustic Rock Essentials: Seventh Chords BUY NOW FOR $3.99

Singers, slide players, and instrumentalists, try playing in Open-D tuning. Learn how to get into and experiment with an Open-D tuning in today’s excerpt from Explore Alternate Tunings. Open-D tuning (D A D F# A D) is also very popular among singers, slide players, and instrumentalists. Well-known examples include Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi," Richie Havens' "Handsome Johnny," and Ry Cooder's "Vigilante Man." The open strings of this tuning explicitly state a major key (D major), but with a little effort it can be used to play in other keys. Slide and blues players often shift this tuning up a whole...

Swinging the Beat teaches you how to swing your rhythm playing and dial in just the right amount for any situation that calls for it. This lesson covers the roots of the swing feel, the aural concept, its application in jazz and blues, and the mechanics involved so you can try it in whatever type of music you enjoy playing. Buy Rhythm and Strumming Basics: Swinging the Beat  This informative guide offers written instruction, tab, and full notation, plus video of all the examples. CLICK HERE TO BUY THE GUIDE FOR JUST $3.99 Rhythm and Strumming Basics is a series...

Use fretting-hand muting to put a little more of a percussive groove into your playing.  Excerpted from Rhythm Guitar Essentials. Strumming’s great, and once you can move smoothly from chord to chord there are a million songs you can play with that wide-open, down-and-up kind of strumming. But chances are you’ve run across songs that don’t sound quite right when you just strum the open chords. If you want to put a little more of a percussive groove into your playing, you may want to check out the sound of fretting-hand muting. The name explains what it’s all about: muting the...

The Acoustic Guitar store is now offering strings! Check out our great offer on C.F. Martin & Co. Acoustic SP Strings MSP4100 Light Phosphor Bronze. One set of strings is $7 - a savings of more than $10 off MSRP. But you can save even bigger when you order multiple sets: $19 for 3 sets (10% off the single set price) or $28 for 5 sets (20% off the single set price). And, to sweeten the deal even more, you'll get our PDF + video guide to changing guitar strings added to your cart for FREE (value $3.99) instantly with any string order! Want to...