Chris Bird
Chris has been the Editor of Total Guitar magazine since 2020. Prior to that, he was at the helm of Total Guitar's world-class tab and tuition section for 12 years. He's a former guitar teacher with 35 years playing experience and he holds a degree in Philosophy & Popular Music. Chris has interviewed Brian May three times, Jimmy Page once, and Mark Knopfler zero times – something he desperately hopes to rectify as soon as possible.
Latest articles by Chris Bird

Best acoustic guitars 2025: Super steel string acoustics for all players and budgets
By Chris Bird last updated
Our pick of the very best flat tops from Taylor, Martin, Gibson, Fender and loads more

Best electric guitars 2025: Our pick of guitars to suit all budgets
By Chris Bird last updated
Find the top electric guitar for your budget and playing style, whether you play rock, metal, blues or beyond

Best bass strings 2025: Electric and acoustic bass strings encompassing every tone and budget
By Chris Bird last updated
Breathe some fresh life into your bass with our pick of the best bass strings on the market

Best guitar audio interfaces 2025: Record killer guitar parts at home with our top picks
By Chris Bird last updated
The best audio interfaces for guitar from IK Multimedia, Focusrite, UAD and more

The minor pentatonic is the essential scale for guitar solos: we'll show you how to get to grips with it today
By Chris Bird published
If you learn one scale on the guitar then it should be this

Best cheap bass guitars 2025: Top budget basses for every style of player
By Chris Bird last updated
Take a tour through our pick of the best budget bass guitars for beginner to intermediate players

8 essential contemporary blues guitar licks to learn
By Jon Bishop, Chris Bird published
The styles and techniques of the current crop of blues guitarists with audio and tab

5 ways to improve your guitar recordings
By Rob Laing, Chris Bird last updated
Pro tips and useful tricks you can use at home and in the studio

Cory Wong: “The key to it all, the starting point for understanding, is just to listen”
By Chris Bird last updated
We talk to the Vulfpeck guitarist and modern funk whiz

10 ways to improve your guitar practice now
By Charlie Griffiths, Chris Bird, Rob Laing last updated
Improve your routine with our quick lessons and tips

Best Bass Strings
By Chris Bird published
Give your bass a boost with our pick of the best bass guitar strings around

"We’ve been making guitars for 70 years. We'll be teaching people how to play for the next 70" - Fender CEO Andy Mooney on the company's mission
By Chris Bird published
Chief Executive talks Fender Songs and how the iconic guitar company is trying to reach out to new potential players

Easy guitar theory: Chord structures
By Chris Bird published
Learn how to build some of the most commonly used chords with 5 different chord structures and accompanying arpeggio patterns

New Fender Songs app features over 750k songs to learn
By Chris Bird published
Slow down to learn, complete with lyrics plus chord boxes

Me and my guitar: Joey Landreth
By Chris Bird published
The Canadian alt-country star on his custom-made go-to Goldtop

10 ways to get more from your guitar
By Chris Bird, Rob Laing published
How to sound better using what's right in front of you

Blur the line between rhythm and lead guitar with these smart playing approaches
By Chris Bird published
10 ideas that will help you handle both roles in your band

Guitar basics: getting started with rhythm guitar
By Chris Bird published
Try some rhythm basics with a lesson on strumming and staying in time

A-Z of classic rock guitar
By Chris Bird, Simon Bradley, Rob Laing, Stuart Williams, Henry Yates published
Music styles don't come much wider, cooler or more inspirational than the behemoth that is classic rock

Opinion: Percussive acoustic guitar… is it any good?
By Chris Bird published
In the first of a series of monthly opinion blogs Total Guitar's Music Editor, Chris Bird, asks if the acoustic scene really needs to get percussive.

Rockschool makes Drums, Guitar and Bass syllabuses available via KR Player app
By Chris Bird last updated
Rockschool makes Drums, Guitar and Bass syllabuses available via KR Player app

Animals As Leaders - The Joy Of Motion review
By Chris Bird last updated
Some of the most creative guitar playing around today? We'd say so...

VIDEO: Mattias IA Eklundh new video out today
By Chris Bird last updated
The Swedish axe wizard covers AC/DC's classic track 'Hell's Bells' on latest album, 'Freak Guitar: The Smorgasbord'
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