A Cigar Box Guitar (CBG) can range widely when it comes to decoration. The most basic, primitive CBGs have very little decoration; reduced to its most basic form, a CBG is a stick, a box and a couple of strings, without any need for show adornment. While there is definitely nothing wrong with that austere simplicity, many builders enjoy adding some decorative touches to their builds. Many cigar boxes start off as pretty decorative pieces anyway, so it is natural to try to build upon that when creating a handmade instrument from one.
In this video lesson, Shane Speal distills Howlin’ Wolf’s two-guitar attack in the song, “Back Door Man” into one easy riff for cigar box guitar. Speal is the author of Making Poor Man’s Guitars (Fox Chapel Publishing, 2018)
Video lesson for cigar box guitar. Shane Speal breaks down the iconic riff from Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning” into an easy-to-play 3-string cigar box guitar riff. Speal is the author of Making Poor Man’s Guitars (Fox Chapel Publishing, 2018)
Shane Speal explores the classic Howlin’ Wolf song, “I Asked Her for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)” and arranges the riff for a 3-string slide cigar box guitar. The classic blues song was first recorded by Howlin’ Wolf for Chess Records in 1956. Shane Speal is the author of Making Poor Man’s Guitars (Fox Chapel Publishing, 2018)
Musician and author, Shane Speal explores the classic Howlin’ Wolf song, “Little Red Rooster.” The song contains a deep blues riff that that has appeared in other great blues songs by Son House, RL Burnside and others. Speal distills the guitar parts down to an accessible riff for 3-string cigar box guitar. Speal is author of Making Poor Man’s Guitars (Fox Chapel Publishing, 2018)
Shane Speal tackles an obscure R. L. Burnside blues song, “Nine Days In Jail” by inventing a brand new cigar box guitar tuning. This in-depth lesson explores RL’s riffs and the Missississippi fife-and-drum style rhythm involved. Essential blues lesson for 3-string cigar box guitar! Shane Speal is the author of Making Poor Man’s Guitars (Fox Chapel Publishing, 2018)
The questions come up often among Cigar Box Guitar builders: Is fretting worth it? Why would I want to fret my build? What do I need to know and what tools do I need to get started? Fretting can be a complex topic, but it doesn’t need to be a murky mystery to builders.
When it comes to electrifying a cigar box guitar (or really any stringed instrument, for that matter), there are two basic options: either a piezo pickup (sometimes called a contact pickup), or a magnetic pickup. Well, really there is a third option – a microphone – but we’ll not cover that here. So, what are … Continue reading “Differences between Piezos and Magnetic Pickups”
This tablature will show you exactly how to play the melody and chords for the song Folsom Prison Blues, written and performed by the “Man in Black” himself, Johnny Cash.
Here is one of the most famous and easily recognized classical music masterpieces of all time – Beethoven’s “Fur Elize” piano sonata. We have taken this fairly simple melody and arranged it for 3-string cigar box guitar. It does require a little moving around the neck, and one or two finger stretches that take a … Continue reading “Fur Elise by Ludwig von Beethoven – 3-string Open G GDG – Cigar Box Guitar Tablature”
In this series of posts, we feature various U. S. patents from the last 150 years, which were either historically significant in the development of modern musical instruments and instrument-building methods, or which present something interesting or just plain cool. We hope that these historical curiosities will help give cigar box guitar builders some context … Continue reading “Gibson’s Guitar Truss Rod Patent from 1923 – US Patent #1446758”
The tablature in the PDF link below shows you how to play the melody and chords for the song Hallelujah, written and performed by Leonard Cohen. This is one of the best known of Cohen’s songs, and has been covered many times. It is one of the most hauntingly beautiful modern songs, and like many of … Continue reading “Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen – 3-string Open G GDG – Cigar Box Guitar Tablature”
