Acoustic Rhythm and Fills

For publisher-quality tabs & backing tracks of this lesson:

My "Guitar Zen" Courses:

Sound Tools Used in This Vid:
Vintage Goya S-10 Acoustic (nylon string)
Vintage Goya S-14 Acoustic (steel string)

[kentbeery]

Willie is a Legend we are so blessed to have him still

[MrTimdriver]

I love the sheer variety of your tastes and interests. This is what music is about. Nice one.

[atombombtom]

Thanks Eric! Not only great guitar work, but a great hang as always...Plus the best houseplants in the guitar-o sphere...

[adamtrimby]

I’m in the weird middle ground where I think I’m a bit better than I actually am (having not practiced or tried to develop my skills for years). This lesson has shown me what’s missing and in just a couple of weeks of practice got me playing some of the best, clean guitar I’ve played for years. Thanks so much Eric!

[jadynstewart]

Ur vid on why you should own a nylon string guitar is one of my favorite vids on YouTube, I watch it all the time. It’s so awesome to hear someone share my love for chilled out rhythm playing. Thank you for stressing the basics. Too often people focus on technical skill rather than vibe!

[mattylyons]

Going to hold you to that Blue Eyes lesson! Great tune! Great video, as always! Thank you!

[jasonmcvay]

Love the acoustic videos, Eric! Looking forward to the future Willy lesson too

[patrickobrien]

Not just Willy leads but the runs he puts in between chords to join them is absolute class.

[Dutcharmytent]

I learnt House of the Rising sun also aged 14 and then did not pick up a guitar till I was 50.
I am re visiting this song at 68 because like before, I liked the way you played it and it brought back memories.

[justinlapoint]

Keep the great lessons coming Eric, you're the best!

[AlanGreer-os]

On that walk up
from E to B7,
Instead of playing
A-A#-B,
I've noticed
that Wille, (and, I do it)
Will play C#
(on the 4th fret
of the a string,
down to C-to B),
that's another cool trick
to add
"to your chordage arsenal"
Alan in Columbus Georgia

[rjpritchard]

Thank you, thank you! So glad to see the acoustics back in your hands!

[Шизлманизл]

Your tutorials are so great. The song choices are superb. Maybe they are obvious for those who grew up with them, but as a foreigner all of these were new to me

[gyanissimo]

You are a great guitar player and a very good teacher. Thanks man!

[jacobpittman]

Every time you say, “Happy Friday; eat pizza!” I remember my childhood Friday nights eating the giant rectangle Little Ceasar’s pizza from a paper sleeve over cardboard as we watched TGIF, or whatever other test series they were airing, Thunder In Paradise with Hulk Hogan, or some ghost show with William Shatner.
Thanks for the guitar grooves and the memories. Totally Non-heinous!

[ralphditchburn]

Well done. From simple concepts using a well thought out organized ideas are presented so nicely I can tell you know. You know. Glad your gifting us with these tutorials. I was ignorant of wildwood flower. Carter and never heard blues till my 40's. How life has changed. How I struggled with zero instruction. Having to figure out songs by ear. One note at a time. This is so wonderful. Thank you

[digitalbit]

One of my favorite teachers teaching one of my favorite ways to play. Thank you Eric!

[cameronfoy]

Yooo no way you just named drop The War On Drugs. That’s my favorite band!

Been playing 5 years now and I have definitely been guilty of going too fast and trying to be too complicated. I really appreciate this simplified approach.

My current teacher has taught me how important the right hand is. I was thinking so hard about note selection - I originally started with a Blues teacher - that I completely forgot about my strumming hand. He flipped my thinking on its head when he said that note selection is the last step and not the first. Note selection is what makes a good solo great.

I’m trying to apply this rhythm centric approach to my playing. Tonight I’m looping a Blues in E at a slow tempo and building from there. That may not be what this video is about, but believe it or not your stuff inspires me to think this way!

[Weshopwizard]

Love it!! That guild 12-string is a beaut.

[crimfan]

I love playing nylon. I was doing a lot a few years back when my left hand fingers were having some chronic pain. It really helped keep me playing but take the pressure off to let my fingers heal. It ended up helping my overall technique, too, because I was able to lighten my touch.

The 12 sounds really boss, too!

Totally with you about the issue of comping. If you want to play fills you can’t lose the groove. If you want to throw in more notes, you need to get your time really solid and outline the chords a lot in the licks. I like shell chords for that a lot, or even just a dyad.

Great lesson!