Welcome to the October edition of the Guitar Nine on-line magazine, and we're celebrating the 16th annual Instrumental Guitar Month, a great time to remember, support, discover, promote, and celebrate the many artists specializing in this near-underground musical sub-genre. Call a friend, open a seasonal microbrew and enjoy some great music! Working with root notes, soloing ideas, and guitar tone are just a sample of the topics covered in this issue, giving guitarists tools to improve their playing ability, and help with expression and originality. In total, two guest columnists have submitted five excellent articles on musical topics of interest to practicing musicians. After working through the information and lessons, please sample some excellent music released by the over 1400 musicians we've worked with over the past 24 years! Notably, we've now published over 220 artist interviews, while over 210 musicians and industry experts have written close to 1200 guest columns for this site since 1996.