'Roots of country rhythm guitar'

The April 2009 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine, now in the shops, includes a major feature by Scott Nygard, 'The roots of country rhythm guitar', which examines the techniques that were laid down in the 1920s and 1930s and still form the foundation of bluegrass rhythm playing. The styles of Maybelle Carter, Jimmie Rodgers, and Roy Harvey (guitar player with Charlie Poole's North Carolina Ramblers) are explained with examples in notation and tab.

On the magazine's website, you can also see the article with the addition of a section on Riley Puckett, whose off-the-wall sense of rhythm and unpredictable bass runs made him the 'wild man of old-time music'. Scott Nygaard also demonstrates some of the print examples online in a video instruction session. Whether you see this in print or on screen (and we recommend both), it's well worth learning from.

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Among other good things, the April 2009 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine has two major articles, both by Larry Nager: one on Ricky Skaggs (the cover story), which is a good overview of his whole career as well as his current activities and quotes at length from the man himself; and one on Dave Harvey, fine mandolinist, repair man, and luthier, who is now head of the Gibson company's mandolin division. Another article, by Nathan D. Gibson, features Al Hawkes of Maine, who around 1950 was singing on radio with his longtime friend Alton Myers, as the earliest interracial act in hillbilly music.