Laboratory and practical courses, where students become familiar with experimental techniques and learn to interpret data and relate them to appropriate theory, play a vital role in chemical education. In the large panoply of currently available techniques, it is difficult to find a rational and easy way to classify the techniques in relation to their performance and usefulness. This article provides an overview of various experimental techniques of chemistry and their physical bases, corroborated by the evaluation of their impact in current research. A generic scheme in the form of extended Probst-type diagram is proposed as a suitable unifying tool of straightforward systematization. In addition, an example of a spectroscopy-oriented curriculum for chemistry studies is described and some practical suggestions concerning implementation are briefly discussed. (Contains 5 figures and 2 tables.)