All Song Tutorials
Song Tutorial

'In the style of' Andy McKee

Rick Graham
AdvancedAcousticTechnique Song tutorial9 lessons18m

Hey IG'ists and welcome to this tutorial in the style of the phenomenal acoustic guitarist Andy McKee. Andy McKee was born in Topeka, Kansas and is one of the world’s finest acoustic soloists. After receiving over 20 million views collectively for his Youtube videos which were posted by the independent record label “Candyrat”, Andy’s success is a testament to the changing nature of the music industry as well as people’s desire for something new and interesting to listen to. At one point, Andy held the #1, #2 and #3 positions for Top-Rated Videos of All Time on the hugely popular website. His videos are still among the highest rated on Youtube. Consequently, Andy has performed to sold out shows all over the world. While there are countless amazing guitar players in the world, it is Andy’s attention to song structure and melodic content that elevates him above the typical guitarist. It can be observed that Andy likes to try different things with the guitar such as; altered tunings, partial capos, percussive hits, and tapping. But in the hands of Andy these are not mere tricks, they are compositional tools used to create some of the finest crafted music for the steel string acoustic guitar. Check out Andy's amazing piece 'Drifting' here: Andy McKee - Drifting  

Play
Unlock all 9 lessons Premium includes every lesson, tab and backing track on the site.
See Premium Plans

9 Lessons

  1. 1 1:04 Lesson · 1m 'In the style of' Andy McKee - Introduction Hey IG'ists and welcome to this tutorial in the style of the phenomenal acoustic guitarist Andy McKee. Andy McKee was born in Topeka, Kansas and is one of the world’s finest acoustic soloists. After...
  2. 2 2:27 Lesson · 2m 'In the style of' Andy McKee - Solo OK, lets check out the piece in it's entirety. I wrote this piece to highlight the techniques which Andy employs in his compositions so, as always, pay close attention to everything that is happening both... Tab
  3. 3 2:17 Lesson · 2m 'In the style of' Andy McKee - Part 1 Welcome to part 1! Lets look at how the guitar is tuned: 6=D 5=A 4=D 3=G 2=A 1=E I have chosen to notate this piece in 4/4 as opposed to 2/4 for ease of score writing. However, what I have done is divide the... Tab
  4. 4 1:45 Lesson · 2m 'In the style of' Andy McKee - Part 2 The rhythmic figure we have here in the second part of the intro is the same as the first part but we have some development with the use of the open top string. Be sure to let that open string ring on... Tab
  5. 5 2:50 Lesson · 3m 'In the style of' Andy McKee - Part 3 Here we have the main melody of the piece. Notice how the tonality has changed from D min to D maj. I feel this has a very uplifting but subtle feel which I like a lot. A key element of playing pieces like... Tab
  6. 6 2:35 Lesson · 3m 'In the style of' Andy McKee - Part 4 OK, we are now back to the D min tonality. This section may require some extra practice as there are a couple of moments which could prove a little tricky. During bar 33, make sure that immediately after the... Tab
  7. 7 1:09 Lesson · 1m 'In the style of' Andy McKee - Part 5 This section is a repeat of the previous section but with a change in bars 45 and 46. Tab
  8. 8 2:31 Lesson · 3m 'In the style of' Andy McKee - Part 6 The percussion effect during this section is played slightly differently to how we achieved the effect before, as in with the thumb. What is more effective here is to clench the hand into a fist and let it... Tab
  9. 9 1:45 Lesson · 2m 'In the style of' Andy McKee - Part 7 OK, we have now reached the final part and perhaps the most exciting part, Tapping!!! Note wise it is an exact repetition of part 6 but played with the inclusion of right and left hand taps. In order to get... Tab

More like this

Memories Sean Conklin
IntermediateAcousticCool Riffs 5 lessons9m
Hello all! In this tutorial, we'll be learning an acoustic piece called "Memories". It's a soft CMaj7, G progression that gave me the imagery of taking a "stroll through memory lane". Once you've checked out... Introduction to Fingerpicking Rick Graham
BeginnerAcousticTechnique 2 lessons6m
Welcome to an Introduction to Fingerstyle! Fingerstyle is a technique that is beneficial to us in many ways. With this technique we are able to achieve a much more pianistic way of playing; that is, the... 'Lullaby' Acoustic Piece Rick Graham
IntermediateAcousticTechnique 3 lessons5m
Hello again! Welcome to my latest acoustic fingerstyle tutorial in which we will be studying a piece I wrote called 'Lullaby'. I have done some strategic editing as the original piece is much longer and I feel... "Hypnoustic Groove" - Acoustic Demo David Soltany
AdvancedAcousticTechnique 5 lessons12m
Hey Guys, welcome to this song tutorial! We're going to be checking out some advanced techniques in order to familiarize yourself with modern percussive-style playing. This demo was made by a sample company... Rhythmic Strumming Al Joseph
BeginnerAcousticRhythm 8 lessons14m
In this tutorial, I'm going to show you how to use only two chords to build your sense of "Pocket" playing, i.e. Rhythmic awareness. We're going to discuss how to go about maximizing your strumming technique... Ballad in the style of Andy McKee David Soltany
IntermediateAcousticCool Riffs 3 lessons6m
Hey everyone! This is a song tutorial that will show you how to play a ballad with thumb percussion, in the style of Andy McKee. Here's the tuning for this short song: D Bb C F G C Change Low E string to...
Browse all Acoustic lessons