Musical Instrument Guitar

Musical Instrument Guitar - Learn Guitar, Learn Guitar Online, Online Guitar Lessons, Guitar Resources and Articles and More

Musical Instrument Guitar - Learn Guitar, Learn Guitar Online, Online Guitar Lessons, Guitar Resources and Articles and More
 

 
 

 
 
 

Archive for the ‘Guitar Lessons’ Category

Guitar Lessons on DVD

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

The guitar is a wonderful instrument and it is easy to learn how to play it. Several people just learn how to play the guitar by doing three simple steps. One, they bought (or borrowed) a guitar; Two, they memorized the chords; the last is that they buy a lyric magazine, pick a song, and strum the guitar. This all sounds so simple but in reality it is not. Unless you know your music, you might end up sounding like a fool and end up embarrassing yourself in front of many people.

Learning how to play a guitar by watching professional guitar players do it on a DVD is really beneficial for beginners and even those who have been playing for a long time. Watching a DVD provides many advantages such as doing this in the privacy of your own home. You can also pace yourself and learn more in a shorter amount of time, back up anytime if you forgot anything, or pause. Using a DVD as a tool, you will not have to go to the hassle of looking for a private tutor and/or spend a lot of money for guitar lessons.

Watching someone else play guitar is the easiest way to learn how to do it. whether that someone is your friend, a private tutor, an artist or someone in a DVD, it is advisable to learn by watching how they do it.

Professional guitar players help other people by showing the simple steps in learning how to play a guitar in a DVD.

The first step they usually show in the video is learning how to tune the guitar. This is particularly helpful for beginners as they usually do not know how to it. This is usually done by playing EADGBE (low to high) and listening to ascertain if there is a problem with the sound. Another thing they will teach will be steps on how to replace a string and tune it again.

The next step is learning different kinds of fretting techniques and chord shortcuts to help in learning the easiest ways of plucking and strumming of the guitar. There will also be different instructions on how to create chord accompaniment when composing a new song.

These DVDs usually are packed with information and is usually focused on only one subject (facet) of guitar playing so a student can learn more about that particular part of playing the guitar.

Chords And Strings: Basic Guitar Lessons To Get You Started

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Playing a guitar is one of the most interesting talents that have continued to amaze and entertain people through the years. Guitar playing gained popularity through the ages, especially with the advent of 80’s and 90’s prominent rock bands like Guns ‘n’ Roses, Bon Jovi and Scorpion, equipped with their mind-blowing solos that will surely make you want to be able to master a guitar in a way those great guitarists do. In essence, playing the guitar is quite tedious, but can definitely be really rewarding for those who have the passion and eagerness to learn it. We can never be sure how we are going to play, until we try out some fundamental guitar lessons.
The most basic requirement in guitar playing is to have sufficient knowledge of guitar chords. Guitar chords are fundamental basics to learn because they serve as foundations for advanced guitar lessons. To start with learning about guitar chords, we need to familiarize ourselves with the meaning of a chord first. It is essentially a synchronization of two or more notes, played at the same time. It forms the rhythm or harmony of the music to be played, which is why it is very important to learn the chords by heart. With guitar chords, guitar playing becomes very flexible because you can either use them as a rhythm player or use them as a base for your solo performance. There are many different types of guitar chords, each having its own distinct sound that forms the melody of a song. To mention just some of them, we know major chords (which produce open, determined sounds), minor chords (which produce sadder, more mellow tunes), seventh chords (which include an added tone to make them feel unfinished until you make a transition into the next chord). All of these divisions of guitar chords give the guitar player “distinctive flavors” which are very important for wholesome playing. They make songs pleasing or powerful - and not only Santana can create those splendid melodies, even you can begin exploring these guitar pleasures once you get familiar with the basics of guitar playing. Remember, with the basic knowledge of guitar chords, you can definitely start playing songs.
But of course, even a simple chord cannot be played without a prior knowledge to what appropriate strings should be pressed. Learning the names of strings (which is basically the notes they produce) is just as important as learning the chords. Facing up front, you can see that there are six open (meaning, not yet pressed) strings. These strings differ in pitch and thickness. Obviously, the thickest string produces the lowest note, represented by lower E, while the thinnest string produces the highest note, represented by higher E or e. In order to facilitate the memorization of these notes, there is an accompanying mnemonic to help you out. You can try this: Every Boy Goes Down And Eat, with “Every” as the first and highest note string and “Eat” as the lowest and sixth string. This is very important since most guitarists need to know where to find these notes in order to read their music.
Just imagine how much fun playing a guitar is. Learning to play the guitar can actually be as easy as reaching high notes in singing. Deep within everyone there is a talent that only needs to be unleashed and cultivated, the only hard part is putting your efforts in to find it and show it. That is, starting from scratch, just like playfully plucking the strings of your guitar until you hear a very beautiful melody coming out of it.

A Metal Guitar Lesson

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Metal guitar is a very popular genre with people who feel that negativity and hopelessness are not getting a fair go in modern music. If you are reading an article called “Metal Guitar Lesson” you probably have an idea about what Metal is but if you don’t, the best way to describe it is by listing some Metal groups.

The genre originated with the loud, in-your-face music of the late sixties and early seventies pioneered by guitar players like Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. This style quickly moved onto another definition of the word “music” where melody fades into the background to give way to the quantity and quality of sound the guitar player is able to produce. Iron Maiden and Judas Priest are early Metal guitar groups. Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth, Motorhead and Slayer, Sodom, Kreator, Destruction, Children of Bodom, Tankard, Testament and Pantera are also well established but represent the more ruthless Metal guitar music known as Thrash Metal.

Every metal guitar player needs to be a fantastic string bender. The whammy bar on your guitar will change the pitch of your strings but if you have a cheap guitar you might have a problem with strings breaking. It’s best if you do it the non-whammy bar way which is pick a note and move the string sideways to bend the note up.

To get that chugging effect so desired by heavy metal guitarists, you will need to learn to mute the strings. If you have been listening to Metal guitar, you will have heard the sound, so now follow the description to find a comfortable way of MAKING the sound: simplay hold your pick in the usual playing position and place the pinky side of your hand on the strings to muffle the sound. Now take a few minutes to slowly find a way so you can pick notes on the sixth string while your hand is still muting the sound. As you become more familiar with picking in this position, you will be able to extend your range of palm muting techniques.

Once you have palm muting working for you, you could start to master machine-gun picking. This is lightning-fast up and down strokes with the pick. It takes some practice but you will be glad you did when you start combining this standard metal guitar technique with palm muting.

Vocals are not the strong point of Thrash Metal so let’s get to the equipment you need to become a Thrash Metal guitar player. Distortion is an important part of Metal so a distortion pedal is essential. You will need the usual guitar stuff like plectrums and a tuner and a metronome.

The musical background you need for learning Metal guitar is much the same as for blues players. The major, minor, pentatonic, minor harmonic scales will be handy plus the phrygian, lochrian and byzantine modes. You might want to learn to read music or at least, tab.

Another characteristic of Metal guitar is the use of drop tunings. If you play Metal your guitar should be tuned low. It gives you a totally different kind of control over your strings, your sound is more aggressive and you can do more with hammer-ons and tapping. You could just begin by tuning your guitar half a step down. Not a drastic change but it makes your guitar sound more growly without losing all the high range. Or you could take your strings down a whole step so that your guitar is tuned D G C F A D.

If you take your tuning one and a half steps or two steps down your guitar is now sounding menacing. If you want to tune your guitar any lower than two steps down, a longer than normal neck will stop the strings from moving around too much.

Guitar Lesson: Learn To Play White Christmas With Guitar Tabs

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

In this guitar lesson you will learn to read a special type of guitar tablature. We will use the song White Christmas as an example. You will learn to play the melody and the chords on your guitar.
Guitar tabs show you how to put your fingers on the guitar fretboard in order to play a song, chords or something else.
A very common type of tabs has a staff with six lines representing the six string on the guitar and numbers showing which frets to press down.
In this lesson we will use a form of tablature with numbers telling you which fret and which string to play. Here is an example:
24
The first number tells you which fret to press down and the second number which string to play. These two numbers tell you to press down the second fret on the fourth string.
Let us take a look at the first line of the Christmas carol White Christmas and the corresponding melody written with this type of guitar tabs:
(C)I’m dreaming of a (Dm)white (G7)Christmas
24 34 24 14 24 34 44 03
As you can see the first note to play is the second fret on string four. The last note 03 tells you to play the third string without pressing down a fret.
I have also included chord suggestions in brackets in the lyrics immediately before the appropriate syllable.
The chords C-major, D-minor and G7 can be played as follow:
C: 35 24 03 12 01
Dm: 04 23 32 11
G7: 36 25 04 03 02 11
Time to continue with the next tabs:
(F)Just like the (G7)ones I used to (C)know
23 02 12 32 12 02 23 03
I suggest that you assign your left hand fingers to play specific frets on your guitar fretboard according to this table:
index: first fret
middle finger: second fret
ring finger: third fret
If you use these left hand fingering suggestions it will be easier for you to find your way around the fretboard as you can keep your left hand in a relatively fixed position as you play. It might be a little bit tricky at first but with practice it will soon be a natural way to play on your guitar.
Time for the next tabs:
Where the (C)treetops (C7)glisten and (F)children (Fm6)listen
35 04 24 24 24 23 03 35 35 35 03
The chords C7, F-major and F-minor6 can be played:
C7: 35 24 33 12 01
F: 34 23 12 11
Fm6: 04 13 12 11
Here is the end of the first verse:
To (C)hear (Am)sleigh bells in the (F)snow (G7)
34 24 34 24 04 35 04
The chord A-minor can be played:
Am: 05 24 23 12 01
I suggest that you memorize the melody by practicing one line at a time. Then you are prepared to play the melody as soon as you find a guitar around.
The next verse starts with an identical melody but the last two lines have changed.
(C)I’m dreaming of a (Dm)white (G7)Christmas
24 34 24 14 24 34 44 03
(F)With every (G7)Christmas card I (C)write
23 02 12 32 12 02 23 03
May your (C)days be (C7)merry and (F)bright (Fm6)
35 04 24 24 24 23 03 12
And may (C)all (C#dim)your (Dm)Christma(G7)ses be (C)white
35 04 24 24 23 25 25 25 35
The chord C#-dim7 can be played:
C#dim: 15 24 03 22 01
In this type of guitar tablature notation you will not find any indication of the length of individual notes. I suggest that you sing the melody as you memorize the lines to get the rhythm right.

How Early Can a Child Start Taking Guitar Lessons?

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Starting your child on a musical instrument is an exciting prospect. Many parents dream of being the proud parent sitting at their child’s music recital, hearing the final strains of a beautiful selection coming from his fingers. However, starting a child too early on an instrument can lead to failure and frustration. Most instruments require some measure of strength and understanding that a small child does not have. If you are considering guitar for your child, here is what you need to know.
The Best Age
Children need to have strong enough wrists and fingers in order to successfully play chords on the guitar. For this reason, experts recommend waiting until a child is at least seven years old to start this instrument. Children who want to start playing before the age of seven can start on the piano. They will learn basic chords, notes, and rhythms while their bodies grow strong enough to play the guitar.
Choosing the Right Type of Guitar
One of the first decisions you will have to make when you are ready to give your child guitar lessons is the type of guitar you are going to have him play. You have two basic choices: acoustic or electric. An acoustic guitar is typically played by strumming chords as an accompaniment to a song. Electric guitars can also be played by playing chords, but they are also used to play “leads” in modern songs. Children can learn to fingerpick easier with an acoustic guitar, but power and barre chords are easier on an electric. The choice is really a personal one. You will have to think through the situations when your child is likely to play his instrument and then decide which one is a better fit.
Considering Group Lessons
Beginning guitarists often learn in a group setting. There are benefits and downsides to group lessons. Most parents choose this option because it is the most affordable. Also, children may feel more comfortable in a group setting, especially if they are not used to being one on one with a grown up outside of their families. On the other hand, students do not get to benefit from this one on one attention in a group setting. In an individual lesson, the teacher is able to pinpoint areas that the child needs to work on much easier, because she is not assessing the needs of several students at once.
You will have to decide which lesson structure is the best fit for your child’s needs and your family’s budget. Your son or daughter will be able to learn guitar in either setting, so do what works best for you.
Encourage Good Practice Habits
Once you have started lessons, you must work hard to encourage your child to practice. Keep the guitar in a visible location, and allow your child to practice whenever she wishes. However, insist on scheduled practice times as well. Schedule a practice time every day, and make sure your child sticks with it. Keep distractions and interruptions to the minimum when it is practice time. Make sure your child’s music is readily accessible, and record the amount of practice time when it is over so you can show the guitar teacher.
When your child is practicing, be encouraging, not critical. Your child is going to make mistakes, and that is part of learning a musical instrument. It’s the teacher’s job to correct mistakes. Your job as a parent is to encourage and support. Soon you will be enjoying the beautiful sounds of precise chords coming from the practice room as your hard work and persistence begin to pay off!

Should You Buy Guitar Lesson Ebooks ?

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

In this clandestine world of the Internet, people have come to realize the wonders of the new technology. It has brought them many advantages and has changed their lives quite remarkably.

One of the best things that the Internet was able to reveal to humanity was the remarkable uses of the ebooks or the electronic form of books. These virtual replicas of books have gained considerable recognition because they are able to provide the convenience, information, and the feasibility that every consumer is looking for.

For instance, when people started to demand information about learning to play the guitar, many experts found the idea appealing, and thus, created guitar lesson ebooks. This particular type of ebooks were specially made for people who wish to learn how to play the guitar but do not have time to go to the shops or bookstores to search for regular books.

Best of all, guitar lesson ebooks provide additional features that ordinary guitar lessons cannot supply. These ebooks provide interactive features that serve as added benefits for the beginner.

Many ebooks about guitar lessons contain songs that a beginner can use to learn how to play the guitar as easily and as fast as possible. Experts contend that learning to play the guitar with songs playing in the background is a much easier process than reading guitar song tabs.

For people who wish to know why guitar lesson ebooks are consistently gaining recognition, here is a list of some of their benefits:

1. Convenience

One of the best things about this kind of ebook is that you can instantly download them to your computer once they are paid for. This shows that you can instantly start learning the mechanics of playing the guitar.

2. Affordable

Guitar lesson ebooks are available on the Net at very affordable prices and even if some guitar books are cheaper, the additional money that you will spend when you go to the mall or store for books could cost you more.

3. Variety of features

The best thing about a guitar lesson ebook is that it does not just contain the lessons that the learner has to know but also has some added features making the learning process easier and more fun.

For instance, there are ebooks that provide lyrics, chords, transitions, strumming patterns, and songs.

Indeed, guitar lesson ebooks are not just merely new technology but they are especially made to meet the growing demands of the consumers.

Are Online Guitar Lessons Effective ?

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

There are many reasons why a person might like to learn to play the guitar online. There are many sites in the internet that help a person expand their knowledge about this great instrument. It has been proven that the traditional methods, which include using books and magazines, are not effective for a person who wants to learn to play without spending time memorizing the chords and learning through visual tools.

Nowadays, many people visit sites of the internet that provide techniques to learn fast to play the guitar with a complete tools and guidelines. Here are some features about learning how to play the guitar online:

1. A beginner may forget about textbooks and magazines because online learning will provide a beginner the exact guitar lessons and have audio visual images that allow a person to see and hear the tones he will follow.

2. A person will be provided with high quality tablature. Online lessons will teach a person how to read TAB. This will allow a person to easily pick up the guitar TAB, and read it faster than learning from textbooks or magazines.

3. Online lessons about the same as hiring a personal guitar instructor. There are techniques and methods a person may develop in his continuing learning about the guitar.

4. It will provide a person unlimited access to the guitar lesson. A person may choose when he wants to access his lessons.

5. Online lessons will help a person develop his own technique of playing the guitar. He will be able to execute soloing styles and he may apply these when playing.

6. A person may save more money because of the free access that an online guitar lesson offers. Hiring a personal instructor may be expensive especially if he is a slow learner.

7. A person will learn the correct way to use finger style techniques and realize that he will have more knowledge of picking and strumming.

8. A person may learn how to write his own songs and be creative with the notes of his composition.

Online lessons are especially created for people who are interested in learning to play the guitar with little or no effort because all of the needed tools and information are there with just one click. Remember there are many sites that offer comparisons of all the online guitar lessons that are available - use these prior to making your choice. A little time spent doing this can save a lot of frustration later on.

Guitar Lessons for a Christmas Gift

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

So, the guitarist in your life already has a guitar (or a few guitars) that they are happy with. You want to get them something special, but can not think of anything. They really seem to have everything they need already. Well, why not give them guitar lessons for a Christmas gift?

Great for Any Level

Guitar lessons are a great gift for the guitar player in your life because you can take them no matter which level you are at. There is so much to learn about the instrument, there will always be room for improvement. You purchase lessons for to help them graduate to the next level or to help them learn a new genre. For example, if the guitarist already knows rock guitar, they may want to learn jazz guitar. Or, they can take rock guitar lessons that will help get them to the next level of playing.

Finding a Teacher

There are a few places you can look to find a teacher. If there is a college in your area with a music program, there may be a guitar student who is looking for extra cash. The rates the students charge are usually less expensive. Check on the bulletin boards or in the college newspaper. If you cant find anything, consider posting your own sign stating that you are looking for a guitar teacher.

You can also check local music stores, the classifieds, and the boards at local clubs. You may want to ask around, too. Sometimes it is best to talk to people to get their recommendations and critiques of particular teachers. You also may want to ask the person who will receive your gift if they know of anyone. Maybe they want to take lessons with a particular person but cant afford it.

In general, you will want to find a teacher who will fit the needs of the guitarist. Do not just go with the least expensive teacher. They may not have the skills to teach certain players.

Pay up Front

Instead of giving the guitar player in your life cash to go towards the lessons, you can contact the teacher and pay for the lessons up front, or have them give you a gift certificate. The problem with giving cash is that they may find other reasons to spend it and forget about the lessons.

Guitar Lessons as a Gift

Guitar lessons make a great gift. They help encourage and give feedback that the guitarist is making progress. This is also a good gift to accompany a guitar pack or starter kit.

Guitar Lessons — Do You Really Need Them?

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

I grew up listening to some amazing guitarists. I don’t have enough space to list them all, but a few of my favorites were Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Clapton, the highly underrated Robby Krieger, and all the blues playing Kings. These guys were phenomenal guitarists and, to me, were nothing short of inspirational. The more I heard, the more I wanted to learn to play the guitar like them.

 

I became obsessed with the idea that I could learn to play guitar as well as these guys. However, at the time, resources were limited. I didn’t know anybody who played the guitar, there was no Internet, no guitar lessons at school, and no money for expensive lessons. It was up to me to grope my way toward my goal. I was like a blind man searching for a light switch. I didn’t know where enlightenment would come from.

 

When I was about 15 years old, I acquired my first acoustic guitar, a cheap no-name with bailing wire strings.  Then, in a second-hand store, I found a book that contained guitar lessons for beginners. From the book, I learned to restring my guitar with some decent strings and how to tune it. I learned some basic major chords and some old simple classics,  like “On Top of Old Smokey” and “Greensleeves.”

 

However, my most useful resource was my collection of rock and roll records, LPs, wax disks, or whatever you want to call those old vinyl anachronisms.Once I figured out how to tune my guitar to the same frequency as my turntable, I could listen to the music and try to reproduce the tones on my guitar. And that is how I acquired the guitar fundamentals. By trial and error and determination.

 

I don’t believe that there is a right way or a wrong way to learn how to play the guitar. I do believe that, with determination and persistence, anyone who is serious about it can do it, regardless of what resources are available. The most important piece of advice that I can give to the aspiring guitarist is to practice, practice, practice. Learning to play could be considered hard work, but to the serious student, it is not work at all. It is more like an extraordinary learning experience.

 

Next, to save time, find an instructor or a good book from which to learn music theory. To be a well rounded musician, it is essential that the student learn to read music and tab and to discover how the two are interrelated. Technique will come with practice, and eventually the fundamentals will become second nature and you will develop a distinct style that you can call your own.

 

From experience, I can tell you that you can learn to play the guitar without guitar lessons. However, it behooves you to find some source  of instruction. It will save time and a good instructor will steer you away from time consuming mistakes and bad habits.If you would like to hear more, copy this link into your address bar: http://joe-guitar.blogspot.com/ 

Guitar Lessons - Do I Need Them or Am I Wasting My Money?

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

In this article we are going to examine traditional guitar lessons and the new technologies for guitarists that present guitar lessons online we will also give a brief overview at what guitar lessons are truly the best.

Do I Need Guitar Lessons?

If you want a complete step-by-step guitar playing education that can take you from beginner to the stage, then you are going to need guitar lessons in some form. You can learn without lessons but this makes it much more difficult in the long run. Guitar lessons come in 2 forms. The traditional method is to pay for each lesson and have a tutor guide you step-by-step which can be very expensive in the long run. The alternative that the Internet has provided us with is online guitar learning.

Taking traditional guitar lessons are fun and easy to do but they also require you to put some effort into them and to stick with it and every lesson costs you. For that reason most new guitarists (and experienced guitarists) turn to online guitar lessons which are much more cost effective and provide a much broader scope of options for the aspiring guitarist. Online guitar lessons are a way of allowing a person to learn how to play the guitar in the comfort of their own home at their own pace and with their wallet still in tact. The problem is often knowing which online guitar lessons are good, and which ones are a waste of money. You can check our resource link at the bottom of this article and we go over that in more detail where we review them all for you and help you choose the best option for you.

The Advantages of Learning Guitar Online

The future of guitar lessons is here with all sorts of new online guitar music lessons being offered by many very qualified and creative guitar lesson teachers and guitar music lovers alike. The Internet has certainly opened up the guitar learning industry to guitarists all over the world and this has put their teaching skills in your home for you to learn at your convenience at any time you wish!

Almost all online guitar lessons are interactive which means you get to control the flow hearing & seeing, one fingering at a time as you learn and master each lesson. Don’t think that online guitar instruction is just for the novice, though, because many of the available lessons will teach you, not only the basics, but many advanced techniques as well including specialist styles such as blues or even lead guitar skills (any budding Slash’s our there?). The one drawback to online guitar lessons is that you don’t have a teacher right there in the room with you to help you place your fingers on the right strings and show you a specific chord. However, the better guitar courses come with instructional streaming video to show you exactly what you need to be doing and how to do it so you can accurately mimic the guitar teachers positioning and style.

With online lessons, you are able to take the lessons whenever you want without having to go anywhere, there are no restrictions. You get to learn at your own pace, as with online guitar lessons, but the difference between the books and online lessons really remains in the presentation. In addition, there are also some video lessons available online which really separated the best guitar courses from the mediocre ones.

Unfortunately, not all online courses are equal, there are online courses that are basic, hard to use with separate lessons and audio, or written by nobodies who are about as good as you are already. Luckily we have reviewed, tested and compiled the better online guitar courses on our site so you do not have to worry about wasting you money on these bad courses. We will show you the best online guitar courses to choose from and ensure you are on the right road to guitar success. You can review these guitar courses on our website listed below.

Guitar Lessons Are Useless Without Practice

Whether you have an existing guitar teacher or learning online, mastering the guitar comes down to practice! t is more beneficial for you to practice multiple times during a week than to practice for one long session. Also, if you give yourself time between practicing, even if it is just 10 minutes, you’ll find that your brain is much more efficient at turning your short term practice into long term knowledge as your muscle memory kicks in. Also a tip for parents who want to help their kids learn, you can encourage children to practice by granting them occasional rewards for successful practicing and presenting what they have learned to you. Be positive and encouraging even if their performance is not that great. The building of self esteem and confidence will do as much good as the entire practice session.

Conclusion

If you have the money to spend on traditional guitar lessons, great, enjoy them and have fun learning but do not ignore these online options as a excellent supplement to your learning arsenal. If, like me, you enjoy learning at your own pace in the comfort of your own home on your schedule then learning online is defiantly an option for you! Check out our website and discover for yourself the best options available for learning online today!

 

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