The How-To Repository for the Cigar Box Guitar Movement!
How to Build and Play Cigar Box Guitars and other Homemade Instruments
Everything related to cigar box guitars, the flagship instruments of the Home-made music revolution.
The tablature in the PDF link below will show you exactly how to play the melody and chords for the classic Christmas song O Holy Night, written by Frenchmen Placide Cappeau and Adolphe Adam.
This tablature is arranged for 4-string Open G “GDGB” tuning. Continue reading “O Holy Night 4-string Cigar Box Guitar Christmas Tablature”
The tablature in the PDF link below will show you exactly how to play the melody and chords for the classic Christmas song Oh Christmas Tree, known in its native Germany as O Tannenbaum.
All of the cigar box guitar tablature here on CigarBoxGuitar.com is presented by The Southbound String Company, the only strings specifically chosen and voiced for cigar box guitars. Be sure to check out our line of Open G GDG cigar box guitar string sets here!
If you need some help with this style of tablature, here’s a video where Glenn Watt shows you how to read it
Click this link or the image below to view the printable PDF: Oh Christmas Tree Cigar Box Guitar Tablature PDF
The tablature in the PDF link below will show you exactly how to play the melody and chords for the early American folk song Oh Susannah, written by Stephen Foster in 1848.
All of the cigar box guitar tablature here on CigarBoxGuitar.com is presented by The Southbound String Company, the only strings specifically chosen and voiced for cigar box guitars. Be sure to check out our line of Open G GDG cigar box guitar string sets here!
If you need some help with this style of tablature, here’s a video where Glenn Watt shows you how to read it
Click this link or the image below to view the printable PDF: Oh Susannah Cigar Box Guitar Tablature
The tablature in the PDF link below will show you exactly how to play the bass line for the classic spiritual popularized by American jazz musicians, “Oh When The Saints (Go Marching In)“. Continue reading “Oh When The Saints (Go Marching In) 2-String Bass Tablature”
The tablature in the PDF link below will show you exactly how to play the melody and chords for the well-known spiritual Oh When the Saints Go Marching In.
This song has been sung in churches for many years, and has also become a New Orleans Dixieland Jazz favorite. Louis Armstrong was the first to record it in 1938. It is a very simply arranged song with a simple, repetitive melody line, well-suited to playing on the cigar box guitar.
All of the cigar box guitar tablature here on CigarBoxGuitar.com is presented by The Southbound String Company, the only strings specifically chosen and voiced for cigar box guitars. Be sure to check out our line of Open G GDG cigar box guitar string sets here!
Click this link or the image below to view the printable PDF: Oh When the Saints Go Marching In – Tablature for 3-string Open G GDG Cigar Box Guitars
The tablature in the PDF link below will show you exactly how to play the melody and chords for the classic rock song Okie From Muskoee, written and performed by Merle Haggard. This tablature is arranged for 3-string Open G “GDG” tuning.
Click on the image above to download the printable PDF document.
All of the cigar box guitar tablature here on CigarBoxGuitar.com is presented by C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply, your one-stop shop for all things Cigar Box Guitar: Instruments, Kits, Parts, Gear & More.
If you need some help with this style of tablature, here’s a video where Glenn Watt shows you how to read it
The tablature in the PDF link below will show you exactly how to play the bass line for the classic country song “Okie From Muskogee“, by Merle Haggard. Continue reading “Okie From Muskogee By Merle Haggard | 2-String Bass Tablature”
Learn how to play On The Road Again on your 2-string bass with the free tablature in this post. Continue reading “On The Road Again By Willie Nelson 2-String G-Bass Tablature”
Learn how to play one of Willie Nelson’s most recognizable songs. In this post you can download the free 3-string cigar box guitar tab for the country classic, On The Road Again. Continue reading “On The Road Again By Willie Nelson 3-String Cigar Box Guitar Tablature”
Learn how to play People Are Crazy, as performed by Billy Currington, on your 3-string cigar box guitar with the free tablature in this post.
Continue reading “People Are Crazy By Billy Currington | Free 3-String CBG Tablature”
Putting electronic components into a cigar box guitar, and getting everything properly wired and connected, can be a daunting task for the first-timer – but it doesn’t have to be. In this article we will present several basic wiring diagrams created by Ted Crocker, and discuss each of them in some detail to help you understand what is going on.
Don’t forget that you can get most of the parts shown in this article, including piezos , jacks, volume potentiometers and potentiometer knobs , right in our C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply Web Store!
Continue reading “Piezo Wiring Diagrams”
The tablature in the PDF link below will show you exactly how to play the melody and chords for the well-known Christian hymn Precious Memories.
This song has been recorded by a number of big-name artists, from Johnny Cash to Pete Seeger, Emmy Lou Harris to Bob Dylan, Alan Jackson and more. It has a nice easy melody line and chord progression. We include the melody line, chord accompaniment, additional verses and also the chord form diagrams on this printable sheet, so you should have everything you need to play this great old hymn.
All of the cigar box guitar tablature here on CigarBoxGuitar.com is presented by The Southbound String Company, the only strings specifically chosen and voiced for cigar box guitars. Be sure to check out our line of Open G GDG cigar box guitar string sets here!
Click this link or the image below to view the printable PDF: Precious Memories Cigar Box Guitar Tablature
Red River Valley is one of the top cowboy songs of all time, and also one of the first songs learned by any aspiring guitar player who went through the classic Mel Bay Guitar Method Volume 1 instruction book. More info about the song can be found in the Wiki article here.
This version of it has been arranged and tabbed by Glenn Watt. Glenn gives us three versions of the song – the basic melody line, and then the tabbed version with the chords, and finally a “double stop” version that provides an interesting take on a two-part harmony.
You can view the printable tablature sheets by clicking on the link or images below. You can also watch the video below where Glenn shows you how he plays (and sings!) the song on his 3-string cigar box guitar tuned to Open G “GDG”.
When looking at the use of piezo elements as pickups in acoustic instruments, and specifically in cigar box guitars, there are two main types that get used – disk-style piezos, and rod-style piezos
While disk piezos are perhaps more prevalent, because they tend to be cheaper and easier to find, many builders feel that the rod-style piezos offer superior sound and tonal quality. This article delves into the differences between disk and rod-style piezos, and takes a close look at how rod piezos are put together.
First, a little bit of piezo basics. Piezoelectric elements, whatever the type, are based around layered ceramic wafers and conductive metal. Continue reading “Rod Piezo Primer”
The tablature in the PDF link below shows you how to play the melody and chords for the popular song Royals, written and performed by Lorde. This is the biggest hit the young performer has had, and it comes out surprisingly good on a 3-string cigar box guitar.
The printable tablature sheet linked below contains both the simple melody-only version as well as a more advanced version that includes some chords.
All of the cigar box guitar tablature here on CigarBoxGuitar.com is presented by The Southbound String Company, the only strings specifically chosen and voiced for cigar box guitars. Be sure to check out our line of Open G GDG cigar box guitar string sets here.
We also have a video by Glenn Watt that shows you how to read and play this style of 3-string CBG tablature: click here to view it.
Click this link or the image below to view the printable PDF:
Royals by Lorde – Tablature and Chords for 3-string Cigar Box Guitar
Learn how to play the bass line for Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer on your 2-string G-Bass with the free tablature in this post. Continue reading “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer 2-String G-Bass Tablature”
