It’s true, the summer months are no time for feeling blue. But this month on www.acousticguitar.com, we’re out to change all that—in our exclusive bottleneck slide lesson with consummate blues master Bob Brozman. For anyone who has ever wondered how slide players make it sound so easy (even while you’re struggling to make it sound tolerable), this lesson offers tons of insight on bottleneck blues, complete with music examples and video clips of Brozman himself. Prepare yourself for the bluest summer ever.

If that’s not enough, we’ve got another special treat this month: the traditional fiddle tune “Fire on the Mountain,” arranged “harp-style” for fingerstyle guitar, complete with video.

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Dan Apczynski, associate editor of Acoustic Guitar, is a professional journalist and music editor. He is a guitarist and keyboardist who performs regularly in the San Francisco Bay Area.

DIMINISHED LICK WITH POWER CHORDS
These two exercises offer very different musical ideas—but they actually fit together quite well! The top staff shows a lick that cycles twice through the notes of a C-diminished arpeggio before ultimately resolving to C in measure 2. Meanwhile, in the bottom staff, a brief series of power chords illustrates exactly what these chords are built for—providing a chugging, attack-heavy foundation (with the added benefit of easy chord shapes and quick changes).

Practice these two exercises independently, or enlist a friend and play them together! The final C5 power chord should occur just as the diminished lick settles into its home base—the C note on beat three.
For more on these ideas, check out the Woodshed article “Diminished Chords and Scales,” and the 30-Minute Lesson article “Power Chords,” available now online and in the July 2008 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine.

Hear the audio for this exercise.

LESSONS FEATURE: SLIDE GUITAR LESSONS WITH BOB BROZMAN
Get started on slide guitar in this exclusive lesson with bottleneck blues master and world-music impresario Bob Brozman.
With video examples. [More]

SONGBOOK: "FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN"
Traditional fiddle tune arranged “harp-style” for fingerstyle guitar. With video examples. [More]

30-MINUTE LESSON: POWER CHORDS
Rock out on the acoustic guitar with movable power-chord shapes and meaty, root-position “5” chords. With audio examples. [More]

PRIVATE LESSON: PAT KIRTLEY
Thumbpicker Pat Kirtley discusses cascading arpeggios and playing with Chet Atkins. With audio examples. [More]

BASICS: BASIC SONG FORMS
A songwriting lesson that explores the building blocks from which great songs are made. With audio examples. [More]

WOODSHED: DIMINISHED CHORDS AND SCALES LESSON
Expand your harmonic palette with diminished chords and scales.
With audio examples. [More]

Search all lessons at www.acousticguitar.com.

Mannes College Announces the 8th New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes

June 25-29, Mannes College is hosting the New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes, five days of intensive classical guitar study and performance open to students, aspiring professionals, and classical guitar lovers of all ages seeking to broaden their musical horizons. Honoring Maestro Oscar Ghiglia on his 70th birthday, the seminar faculty also includes Sharon Isbin, Dale Kavanagh, the Tantalus Guitar Quartet, and many more.

For full schedule, faculty bios, and registration information,
visit Mannes College online.

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