Celtic guitar lesson with John Doyle

Irish guitarist John Doyle is a wizard of rhythm. Few rhythm guitarists demand the spotlight, but Doyle’s superpowered accompaniment in trad-music settings like Solas is a marvel. On tunes that most players would cover with two or three chords, Doyle is all over the neck, substituting chords on the fly so each pass through a tune is a different harmonic journey, with bass runs and countermelodies that make the music jump.

Back in 2011, I met up with Doyle at a Philadelphia-area house concert for an interview and video shoot. In this lesson, he breaks down his approach to accompaniment, as well as to writing songs that fit naturally alongside the traditional repertoire. Watch the lesson videos above (in a playlist), and find the full text and tab online on the Acoustic Guitar website.