Latest articles by Chris Bird
Best guitar capos 2025: top choice capos for acoustic and electric guitar
A capo is a great way to boost your creativity on the instrument. Here’s our expert picks for electric and acoustic guitar, ukulele, 12-string and beyond
Beginners guitar lesson #2: How to play two essential chords
Greg Coulson shows you how to play the E chord and then – bonus! – by removing one finger, the Em chord
Beginners guitar lesson #1: How to hold the guitar, pick strings and fret your first note!
The very basics of guitar playing, from holding your guitar to using a pick and fretting your first note
Best acoustic guitars under $500 2025: get more for your money
These sub-$500 acoustic guitars are ideal for everything from folk and indie guitar to blues and country
Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 390
Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 390
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Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 389
Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 388
Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 388
Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 387
Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 387
Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 386
Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 386
How to play Sweet Home Alabama on guitar
Learn one of the most iconic guitar intros of all time from this Lynyrd Skynyrd classic
Fender currently makes over 100 Stratocasters – here’s how to choose the Strat that’s right for you
Stratocasters explained: from pickups to bodies, necks to hardware, this is what you need to consider when buying a Fender Strat
Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 385
Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 385
“Its simplicity makes it a compelling, easy-to-use pedal”: Sheeran Looper + review
Is Ed Sheeran’s signature pedal a dream for the one-man jam band?
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Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 384
Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar's Guitar Heroes
Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar's Guitar Heroes
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Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 383
Best guitar tuners 2025: chromatic, polyphonic, and strobe options
Find the best guitar tuner whatever your budget, with our top picks from the likes of Boss, Korg, TC Electronic and D’Addario
“Freddie was a good riffmeister! He was a devotee of Jimi Hendrix. People think he was just concerned with the lighter stuff but it’s not true. He did enjoy the heavy stuff”: Brian May reveals the inside stories behind 13 classic Queen tracks
In a world-exclusive interview, Brian May takes you behind the scenes of the making of 13 iconic Queen cuts, and reveals what inspired his magical guitar playing in Bohemian Rhapsody, Killer Queen, Don’t Stop Me Now and many more
Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 382
Download and stream the audio from Total Guitar 382
How to master CAGED guitar chords and unlock the fretboard
The CAGED guitar system is a speedy route to fretboard mastery – and you'll learn some cool new chords along the way
“I still don’t find it easy! It’s one of the most unnatural riffs to play you could possibly imagine”: Brian May finds Bohemian Rhapsody difficult to perform – and he points the blame at “riffmeister” Freddie Mercury
The Queen guitarist has called it “the most unnatural riff to play” and says even now he has to battle with adrenaline when he plays it live
Are you taking an honest look at your technique before you practice? By working on the fundamentals, you’ll get much more out of your routine
Your technique will improve tenfold if you know which areas of your playing need most attention. Follow our checklist to see where you can get better
“It’s probably the only time in my career I bowed out, because I knew it was going to be a fight… most of that heavy guitar was lost”: Brian May says David Bowie removed his electric guitar riffs on Under Pressure – and he never liked the results
The Queen guitar legend says the song originally sounded more like a Who-style rocker, but Bowie had other ideas…
