Hole Notes: The Inimitable Style of Ani Difranco

The following content is related to the November 2012 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.

This column celebrates the ferocious fingerstyle output of singer-songwriter — and all-around "indie-musician" inspiration — Ani Difranco, whose recording career spans more than two decades, since the release of 1990 debut.

Today, with more than 20 albums to her credit, Difranco remains fiercely independent: she releases her music through her own Righteous Babe label, and she gigs incessantly, dragging her Alvarez-Yairi Bob Weir model acoustic around the world to spread her unique form of "punk folk"

In this lesson, I'll dissect Ani's signature pick-hand moves, grooves, tunings and voicings through an offering of "in the style of" examples, many of which are adapted from the way she currently performs her older "staple" songs.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3