malcolm young

 i can feel the autumn in the air so it's no surprise that as the night's draw in i'm picking up my instrument again and i'm loving knocking out a few chords at the end of the day. it could be argued that malcolm young's 'simple' riffs would suit me just fine but, as with many so called simple things, it belies the skill behind them. these sound great but, for me, they make me focus on technique and precision (and using a pick!) as well as being a laugh 

silvia cignoli

rick beato caused something of a social media storm of late stating modern music is rubbish. which, if you listen to the charts, is likely true, but if you listen to the charts then that's your own lookout. me, i've never known a time when music was so diverse or, it seems to me, there's so many players with so much talent. not rick beato's defintion of modern muic as chart music but hey ho. in that vein here's this. maybe not all to my taste but, for me, full of ideas i want to try  

paul galbraith

 i have no idea what this instrument is all about. but lovely

barre chords

 guitar, as with most things, is definitely improved with good technique. mine's is horrible and it all starts with poor technique. i like this guy's view on barreing. not saying i'll be able to do it tho! 

edith pageaud

 unlike rachmaninoff i do like his prelude in c sharp minor but that doesn't mean i can do it anything  like justice! but here's edith pageaud, who's transcribed it, changed her tuning, and played it like a boss. amazing! 

marta pereira da costa

 portuguese guitar? nope, never even seen one. so here's marta pereira da costa to show us how it's done. lovely. but those tuners!? 

notes on the fretboard

 i've been mystified for years about why bass/guitar/uke players are mystified by the fretboard. i remember speaking to a guitary friend about it when he was getting confused by his chords etc (and before i'd ever picked up a guitar before) and i said - but all the relationships between the notes are the same. and then demonstrated, albeit via a piano keyboard, that given a basic knowledge of how a scale worked, i could work out any chord and find a position for it on the neck. which sounds great, except that when i'm playing guitars now i play like someone who learned piano as a child! anyway, this video is decent if you're finding all a bit of a pain, or like me, you're forgetting your basics

*ear players - this is a talent i do not have! it's not better or worse, just different. if you're not getting to grips with the above, consider yourself blessed you have an ear!

tim henson's guitar

back in early polyphia i heard tim henson was getting to put out his own guitar. looked lovely, sounded lovely and i love a nylon string. and now they're ludicrously priced on resale! my skill level is so low i can wait the current boom out but, watching this video, i still want one! lol 

how fretboards work

i remember sitting down with a guitar playing friend of mine years ago after he'd been lamenting how complicated making a chord was. i drew a piano keyboard and explained. it was, he said, revelatory. from that day to this i don't know why guitar players make this all so difficult for themselves. ukulele players even moreso! so here's brandon acker doing it better than i could.....

tarrega

 nowt better when you've got insomnia than to drift away on the entire works of tarrega, all played by giulio tampalini

ana vidovic

 work music, improve your day. a delight 

eliot fisk and paco pena

more from the npr tiny desk series. if you can't find something on here that you like you need to do some serious thinking! this fills me full of joy and makes me want to give away all my stringed instruments at the same time!

william tyler

here's a bit of william tyler courtesy of yesterday's link. i think i could practice forever and still not be able to do this!

marisa anderson

i was reading a review of marisa anderson's new album on the rather excellent caught by the river and came across this. she makes it looks so simple!