Get A Guitar

Ralph Serpe asked:


I am sure you have been searching for acoustic beginner online guitar lessons for quite some time now. Perhaps these sites have not answered some of the most basic questions that a beginner has when starting acoustic guitar. This article was written to address those questions with tips, lessons and basics that I hope will help you on your way.

What is the best beginner acoustic guitar?

This is probably the most common question amongst beginner acoustic guitar players. Do not buy the most expensive guitar, but do not buy the cheapest you can find either. A good range to shop in would be between 100 - 300 dollars.

If you can, find an experienced guitar player to come shopping with you. Ask him or her to pick up and play all the guitars within your price range and then purchase the one that feels and sounds the best. Make certain to examine any guitar you plan on purchasing.

Look down the neck of the guitar to see if it is warped. Check the action on the guitar. The action refers to the height of the strings from the fret board. If the action is too high or too low, it can cause problems with your playing.

Remember that you are just a beginner and this is your first guitar. Do not invest a lot of money into buying a guitar at this stage. If you do, and you find that acoustic guitar playing is not your thing, then you will have a beautiful guitar collecting dust in the corner of your room. If you enjoy playing and you find yourself getting better, then you can begin to explore your options and purchase a higher quality guitar.

Do not let yourself get stressed out when buying your first guitar. Just get a descent one and start practicing.

Some good brands to consider: Epiphone, Takamine, Yamaha and Squier.

Ouch! My fingers hurt. I can't play!

This is a very common complaint amongst the beginner. Every single guitarist has experienced hand and finger pain when just starting out. It is something that you simply cannot avoid. The remedy? Keep playing and build up strength in your hands and fingers and develop those calluses!

Building calluses on your fingertips will allow you to hold down the strings of the guitar without any pain while flattening your fingertips to produce a better sounding note.

You build up calluses and strength from practicing. Practice, practice and more practice. In time the pain will subside, but you have to get through this difficult stage of playing first, so hang in there.

Listen to your body though. If you are in serious pain then by all means give your hands and fingers a rest.

Here is a great exercise to help strengthen your hands and fingers and to build up calluses:

This exercise will also familiarize you with the entire neck of your guitar and give you the agility to play chords and solos. Building the muscles in your hands will improve your stamina for playing and will develop what is called "muscle memory".

The object of this exercise is to play each note going up and down the neck of the guitar.

Start with your pointer finger on the 6th string 1st fret, let your fingers follow up the neck of the guitar, one note at a time, staying on the 6th string until your pinky finger reaches the fourth fret.

Play the 1st fret with your pointer finger

Play the 2nd fret with your middle finger

Play the 3rd fret with your ring finger

Play the 4th fret with your pinky finger

Note: After you have played the first fret do not lift your pointer finger up. Keep each finger on the string as you play them. This is important as it will aid in the strengthening process.

Repeat the same process on the 5th string, then the 4th, and so on.

When you get to the bottom string, slide your entire hand over one fret without lifting your fingers.

So at this point, your pinky finger should be on the 1st string 5th fret, your ring finger on the 4th fret, middle finger on the 3rd fret and your pointer finger on the 2nd fret.

Now play in reverse, starting with your pinky, going back up the guitar to the 6th string, only this time you have to lift up your fingers as you play.

Then simply repeat the process until you reach the last fret of your guitar.

Do not rush this exercise or you will develop poor playing habits. Go nice and slow making sure you are producing a nice tone with each note you play.

More Beginner Guitar Tips

Make sure to stretch your fingers and hands before practicing.

Learn to actually read music and not just tablature.

Hire a guitar teacher if you can afford it. A teacher will be able to catch any mistakes you are making and correct you on the spot. This will help you develop better playing habits. If you cannot afford a guitar teacher, then invest in a good home study course.

Learn how to play chords, scales and techniques and not just your favorite songs. I know you just want to jump right in and learn "Stairway to Heaven", but if you do not put the time in to learn the theory behind those great songs, you will not improve as a guitar player.

Do not pack up your guitar. Leave it out in the open. This will make it more convenient for you to just pick up your guitar and play at any time.

Practice everyday for at least 20 minutes, more if possible. If you find yourself getting bored, or making too many mistakes, then take a break and do something else. 20 minutes of quality practice is better than an hour of sloppy practice.

Listen to other guitarists and not just in your favorite genre of music. You will be surprised at how other styles of music can influence your playing.

Play with other musicians as often as possible. This is a great way to learn and pick up new techniques and advice.

Learn the proper way to string and tune your guitar.

Learn the proper way to take care of and maintain your instrument.

I hope this article has helped. The best tip I can give you is to never give up. Keep playing every day and try not to get discouraged. Good guitar playing is not just about technique, it also comes from your heart. If you truly love playing guitar, and you are dedicated to getting better, then it is only a matter of time. Enjoy and God Bless!



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Muna wa Wanjiru asked:


The Guitar can be defined as an instrument with a long fretted neck. Guitars have been popular since five thousand years ago. The word guitar has been derived from the Spanish language. This musical instrument has six strings but even four, seven, eight, ten and twelve strings guitars also exist. In olden days, guitars have been made by using various woods and strung with animal gut. Recently guitars are made of either nylon or steel strings. Guitars are one of the main instruments used for flamenco, rock music, and blues and even in many forms of pop. Guitars can be divided to two categories that referred to as acoustic and electric guitars.

There are different kinds of guitars and each produce different sound. The difference between each guitar can be recognized by the sound of each guitar. The different types of guitars are as follows

* Acoustic guitars uses a soundboard that is a wooden piece mounted on the front of the guitars body. Acoustic guitars are available with a variety of pickups that enable the layer to amplify and modify the raw guitar sound.

* Electric guitars are used in blues, jazz and pop music. Unlike acoustic guitars, electric guitars need an additional amplifier. These amplified electric guitars are different from other guitars.

* Arch top guitar has a hollow body and steel strings are used for this instrument. These arch top guitars have holes on top.

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* Classical guitars have nylon strings and they are played mainly for classical music.

* Russian guitars are seven string guitars that were very popular through out the 19th century.

* Guitar battened is smaller compared to the classical guitar and is played with four or five metal strings .It is popular in Calbria in Southern Italy.

Bass guitars enable the musicians to play a very low note as they have very thick strings. An electric bass guitar is very common. Guitars meet the demands of both the left-handers and right-handers. The various parts of guitars are as follows

Headstock is at the end of the guitar neck far from the body of the guitar. Headstock is used mainly for tuning the instrument.

Fret board is a piece of wood that is at the top of the neck and this helps in tuning the higher pitch notes.

All parts of guitars are attached to one long wooden extension and it is called as neck.

Strings are another important part of guitar and the strings made of steel are commonly used.

Guitars are transposing instrument. Its pitch sounds normal and the most commonly used tuning is standard tuning. Guitars can be played as solo or with other instruments .It can be used for pop music as well as for classical music.



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Ian Williamson asked:


The guitar is one of the most popular musical instruments today. There are different kinds of guitars that are available out for different guitar players. Guitars are different in terms of playability, overall appearance and sound quality.

Here are some of the types of guitars that guitar players or aspiring guitar players can choose from:

Acoustic

If you want go get into the guitar world, you can start learning with an acoustic guitar.

Acoustic guitars are dependent on their structures and body shapes for resonating sounds. Unlike the more modern electric guitars, they don't rely on other external devices to enhance sounds. The natural vibrations of the strings are resonated by the body of the guitar.

Acoustic guitars are generally made out of wood. The neck is usually made from mahogany and the fret board is made of maple or rosewood. There are many kinds of acoustic guitars, here are some of them:

1) Classical

Classical guitars are very popular and are usually the choice guitar for beginners. The strings are usually made from nylon. They are usually played in a standard sitting position and used in playing classical music. Classical guitars produce whole sounds which are very pleasing to the ear.

Flamenco guitars are similar to classical guitars, however, they produce crisper and thinner sounds than the other classical guitars.

2) Steel-top

Steel-top guitars are much similar than the classical guitar but are constructed to be more resilient. The parts of the steel-top guitar are reinforced and their bodies are significantly larger than the classical guitars. They also produce a warmer tone than the classical guitar.

3) 12-String guitar

A normal guitar usually has 6 strings, but the 12-string guitar, as its name implies, has 12 strings. Each string is accompanied by another string with the same note but is usually tuned in a higher octave. This guitar produces a semi-chorus effect which is very pleasant to the ear.

4) Resonator

This type of guitar is similar to the steel-top guitar, but the steel in the middle of the soundboard is used to amplify the sound from the vibration of the guitar strings to produce a very thin and distinct sound. These guitars are generally used when playing the blues. There are also variations of the resonator guitar: the square-neck resonator guitar is played on the lap like a piano or organ; and the round neck resonator guitar is played like a common guitar. Resonator guitars work very well with glass or metal slides.

5) Archtop

The archtop guitar was inspired by other instruments such as the violin and the cello. An archtop guitar usually has the f-hole design. Jazz players prefer archtop guitars. Some archtop guitars can command a price of about $25,000.

6) Acoustic Bass

Acoustic bass guitars are bass guitars without electronic pick-ups. The body of the guitar is used to produce the sound. They are usually 4-stringed guitars but there are acoustic bass guitars which have 5 or 6 strings.

Electric

Electric guitars make use of electronic pick-ups to amplify the vibrations of the guitar strings. They are usually connected to electric amplifiers. Electric guitars have a solid or semi-solid body type and they don't use the body for sound resonance so usually make very little or no sound when played without an amplifier. The concept used by electric guitars is that the energy of the strings is diverted into electrical impulses and not directly into sound so that they are able to achieve an amplified sound.

Electric guitars usually have control knobs for changing the volume or the tone of the guitar. There are also pick-up selectors in electric guitars and many electric guitars use multiple pick-ups to achieve the best guitar sounds. These pick-ups gather and produce different tones from the guitar. The tone knobs are used to shift from a bass-intensive sound to a treble-intensive sound or vice versa.

Some electric guitars also have whammy bars. These bars are attached to the guitar to shift notes without changing the finger positions on the fret board. Whammy bars are used to produce "crying" guitar sounds and are a very useful tool when performing rock and roll songs or even ballads. The use of the whammy bar in less expensive guitars is not advised because it may cause the strings to go out of tune.

These are some of the basic types of guitars that are available for everyone. Guitars are made to fit the preferences of the player in terms of playability and sound. Choose the guitar that best fits your preference.



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Groshan Fabiola asked:


If you are interested in learning how to play the guitar the easy, convenient way and in the quickest time possible, then it is advisable to turn to the Internet for help. At present there are thousands of high-quality, dedicated online resources that have been especially designed to meet the needs and requirements of existing and prospective guitar players worldwide, so everyone who wishes to learn more about playing the guitar can find and access a wide range of invaluable guitar playing tips, video tutorials and lessons simply through a few clicks of the mouse. However, in order to have the guarantee that you will only be provided with quality information and online guitar lessons that really produce significant results, it is very important to separate the efficient, properly designed and administered websites from the rest and only stick with the ones that are reliable and can help you improve your guitar playing in the minimum of time, with the least of effort and most important, for less money.

With so many guitar lessons out there (both free and paid), the task of finding the best ones (and more important, the ones that are most appropriate to you) can be very difficult. The best approach to this problem is to do a quick research on the specialized online resources with a good reputation and choose the websites that provide the guitar lessons which best suit your needs and requirements. Before choosing the lessons of a certain online tutorial-providing website over the lessons of another, it is recommendable to ask for the advice of your friends or other persons in whom you trust in order to find out whether those particular guitar lessons are efficient or not. Checking the testimonial sections and blogs of online guitar lesson websites is another way to determine the actual quality of the guitar lessons, tips and tutorials they provide.

By choosing to use only the lessons and tips of the major, highly reputed online guitar lesson-providing websites, you will ensure that you will be able to learn to play the guitar in an exciting, efficient and simple manner and that your efforts of learning how to play the guitar will pay off in the least of time. Especially if you are a complete novice at playing the guitar (and aren’t yet capable of evaluating the quality and efficiency of online guitar lessons you may come across), it is very important to stick with the ones offered by the best guitar learning online resources. By doing this, you will avoid wasting time and money with guitar lessons that don’t produce the expected results.

Once you have found the online guitar lesson-providing websites that are right for you, all you have to do is choose the lessons, tips and guitar-playing video tutorials that match your levels of skill and experience and start practicing in order to improve your playing. In case you are a beginner, it is also recommendable for you to decide over what you are interested in learning first or what guitar techniques you wish to master. For instance, if you want to become a pro at playing electric guitar, using acoustic guitar lessons would in most cases be a waste of time, considering that the guitar techniques used for playing the electric guitar are very different from those used to play the acoustic guitar.

Furthermore, it is very important to establish a list of priorities of the things you want to learn and take guitar playing one step at a time. As an example, rushing in at learning advanced guitar playing techniques such as guitar tapping or harmonic picking without knowing the basics behind guitar playing (the basic chords, the most extensively utilized guitar scales) are very likely to get you nowhere.

Another important thing to take in consideration is the genre of music you are interested in learning to play. For instance, online guitar lessons which concentrate on teaching playing rock guitar are very different from those which concentrate on teaching playing jazz guitar. To obtain the best results, it is therefore crucial to decide exactly what you want to learn and also establish a list of learning priorities. After doing this, with the help of quality guitar lessons provided by a reliable, dedicated guitar lessons website, and with a little ambition and practice you will be able to play the guitar like a pro in no time!

For more information about online guitar lesson or even about guitar lesson your can check on this website http://www.guitar5day.com for more guitar related subjects.



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Luciano Figallo asked:


Tuners are vital for guitarists. Whether tuning by ear or using computer software or a pedal, tuning is necessary before one can maximize performance of his/her instrument and perform at his/her best. Normally, if you play your guitar only on a daily basis your strings will not get out of tone. But if your guitar is rarely used or is in a bad condition or your playing is extremely hard, then most likely you'll need to tune your guitar always. Tip: TUNE your guitar EVERY TIME you pick it up.

For professional tuning, you MUST use electronic guitar tuners. These devices allow tuning with the use of pedals, little boxes, or rack mounted units. There are a number of manufacturers who specialize in these sophisticated gadgets

ELECTRONIC GUITAR TUNERS

• Boss, a division of the Roland Corporation (big japanese company), employs its proven technology in musical equipment and accessories to develop sophisticated tuners - known for their accuracy and superb functionality. One of its renowned inventions is the TU - Series tuners technology, which incorporates tuning accuracy in an ultra convenient tompbox design...ideal to take them into the guitar case everywhere.

• Korg. This world's favorite tuner started introducing excellent tuners in 1999. It came out with the DT-7 GUITAR/BASS chromatic tuner, the first guitar tuner to feature the legendary Buzz Feiten Tuning System. The critically acclaimed DT-7 could be one of the most accurate tuners in the market ever, featuring an ultra - wide tuning range. Later on, Korg introduced the extremely flexible GT-12 GUITAR & BASS chromatic tuner and the OT-12 designed for Orchestra.

Other models that came out were Korg GA30 Guitar & Bass Tuner which features a pitch reference tone and quinta-flat tuning while maintaining functionality and convenient tuning functions in Ultra - Compact bodies.

The Korg CA30 Chromatic Tuner and the Korg TM40 Chromatic Tuner/Metronome; Tuner with Metronome which can function simultaneously or independently, its large LCD-type needle delivers both the accuracy of an LCD and the excellent visibility of a needle indicator. It also has LED indicators that show pitch deviation or blink to indicate the tempo, thus, making the TM-40 a highly visual tool. The superb functionality and the highest accuracy have made Korg tuners a worldwide favorite.

• String Master, is another respected manufacturer. String Master produced the world's first motorized guitar tuner featured in the Guitar One and Guitar Player Magazines. This guitar tuner is very innovative, convenient and could be the friendliest tuner ever invented

• The Qwik Tune QT-11 is the next generation's automatic guitar tuner. Featuring an electronic pitch pipe with an internal speaker it plays E, A, D, G, B, and E tones for tuning reference. It also includes an Off-Meter tuning mode, which detects the string which the user is trying to tune (even if the guitar is severely out of tune). This portable battery operated Guitar or Bass tuner features an 'electric pitch pipe' that plays the note for the user. The user can tune each individual string while the display tells her/him which string is being tuning and whether the note is sharp or flat. The highly sensitive built-in microphone & spèed metering allow easy tuning.

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TUNING WITH COMPUTER SOFTWARE

Tuning via use of software abounds. Free or for a fee you can find various guitar tuners in the internet. These softwares eliminate the need to tune a guitar with an instrument or the conventional tuning by ear. All you have to do is to listen to the sound from the software, play it on your guitar and adjust the tuning machines tension until your guitar produces the same note as the tuner software.Keep in mind that the basic requirement in tuning is to get the same note as the tuner, not the sound because the difference in thickness of strings may cause varying frequencies and sound...just listen to the pitch.

Listen to the tuner and tune your guitar until you hear almost the same sound, though, it might be deeper. This is specially true when you get new strings and tune your guitar immediately after putting them on. Your stings have to adjust to the pressure applied to them so initially your guitar will not make the right tuning, it will sound detuned. But after exposure to a certain limit of stretch, they will hold on to a certain tone. Tip: Tune your guitar and leave it alone for a few hours then tune again and...that's it. After each playing session the strings tend to mantain the pitch with better accuracy and stability.

One of the common (and free) tuners available in the internet is the DGT or digital guitar tuner. DGT is windows software, which allows you to accurately tune your guitar using direct input or microphone. Another free software is AP Tuner3 which supports an improved detection algorithm for low notes for bass and piano. It has a helpful Harmonics Graph window to see the harmonic content of any note. PitchPerfect can also be downloaded for free. It also provides a highly accurate professional tuner with a very simple to use interface. There is more flexibility in the PitchPerfect software because it automatically detects the note you're playing and therefore, you're not limited by standard tunings.

Apart from free downloads on your personal computer,you can also download tuners on your pocket PC or on your ipod. An example of this is the 4Pockets Guitar Tuner. Because it can be downloaded on your pocket PC, you can take the 4Pockets Guitar Tuner with you on your gigs . A high precision real - time guitar tuner,this Guitar Tuner can accurately determine the frequency,musical note and octave for each of your strings. The ability to estimate the note and octave makes this a very useful tool in musical notation and musical learning.

The iRocker is another convenient set of tools for guitarists which you can load on your iPod. iRocker is produced by Talking Panda,the makers of iBar.A great help for beginners, the iRocker includes not only a virtual book with 200 chords and fingerings but likewise a guide to scales. It also provides 5 different chord progressions/riffs that you can play along. Moreover, it contains a set of guitar tuning recordings with a variety of tunings and a basic 10 - speed metronome.

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WICH TUNER IS RIGHT FOR ME?

Your choice of tuner would depend on your needs – amateur or professional use. You might use a tuner for practicing at home or gigs with friends or you might need the tuner for a larger audience - like performing in a big concert. Regardless of your need, convenience and accuracy, tuners are of foremost importance...you can avail of a wide range of guitar tuners, free or for a fee.



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Justin Sours asked:


20 easy tips that will put you on the path to being a guitar hero

By Justin Sours

http://www.guitarmadeez.com

Practice how you play

When you practice guitar chords, scales, songs, etc., make sure that you focus on quality and not quantity. The guitar sounds a lot better if all the notes in a chord ring or you hit every note in that scale with perfect timing instead of rushing through a scale or playing a chord and having some notes be muffled. Just remember to focus on playing things slow and with good technique (This is Key!). Learn whatever you are trying to learn slow and then increase the speed little by little until you get where you want to be. That's how you guitarists learn to shred or solo extremely fast. They start playing a scale or riff slow and then gradually speed it up with a metronome.

Keep your guitar out of the closet or storage

This is probably one of the biggest mistakes that a person learning guitar could make. KEEP YOUR GUITAR OUT IN THE OPEN!!! Keep it next to your bed or in your family room on a stand or anywhere where it is out of the closet or out from under the bed. If it’s out in the open, this will force you to play it and force you to mess around and practice.

Memorize the fret board of the guitar

Memorizing the fret board of the guitar can turn out to be an interesting task. There are little tips and tricks that allow you to find notes really fast. The reason why all guitarist who would like to get good should memorize the fret board is because it allows you to play create chords in different shapes, find notes in different areas of the neck and allows the guitarist to familiarize and open up to playing in different parts of the neck. Memorization of the fret board is also very beneficial in soloing and improvising.

Jam with other people with different styles and techniques

You will not believe how much your guitar playing will improve when you jam with other people. If you ever feel like you are reaching a "plateau" (you feel like you're not getting any better) in your playing, jamming with other people will definitely open you up to new tips and tricks. There's always something to learn from someone else that plays guitar no matter how good or bad they are. Also, everyone's individual style is different and the more open minded you are to other styles, the better player you will become.

Listen to new types music and try to play it

I know it’s hard, just force yourself to do it. When all else fails go back to the basics of music. A great way to do this is to listen to some classical music for inspiration. Elton John is an amazing musician and he says whenever he reaches a dull moment or block in his playing, he refers back to church hymns that he learned when he was younger.

Read guitar magazines

Guitar magazines have allot of cool stuff, but they also have allot of filler. The one thing I hate about guitar mags is that they are extremely complex (not for beginners). The articles, stories and advice are cool but some of the lessons are intense! The advanced guitar lingo having to do with intervals of certain modes and technical guitar talk gets to me sometimes. It's nice to know that stuff but ehhhhhhh..... It can be boring.

Go to concerts

Nothings more inspiring then going to a concert and seeing someone rock out on stage and totally impress the crowd. I remember a couple of years ago; I went to Vans Warped Tour. Immediately after the show, as soon as I got home, I ran to my room and tried learning allot of the songs I had heard. When I saw The Eagles back in October of 06', I couldn’t stop learning all their songs. It's amazing to be extremely inspired and motivated once again about playing guitar and going to concerts definitely rejuvenates my interest in playing guitar.

Buy concert DVDs

If you've never seen any ACDC music video or concert DVD.... then we definitely need to talk. Angus Young is an amazing guitarist and It's just amazing to see that this scrawny little Australian guy can play like he does and with such attitude and soul. Seeing that guy rip up the fret board definitely shows us that anyone can play guitar... all it takes is practice, discipline, motivation and commitment. Concert DVDs are great because they show you up close and in really good quality what exactly a guitarist is playing, unlike music videos where bands just dance around and they add in the music later. Concert DVDs are filled with raw footage of guitar playing at its best.

Always use your guitar strap

This is another biggie. When first learning how to play guitar, I never wore my guitar strap. I ended up paying for it later and basically having to relearn guitar standing up instead of sitting down. If you always play with your guitar strap on, there will be no difference to you while playing either sitting or standing. Playing with your guitar strap will also allow you to get to the "show-off" level so you can impress all your friends earlier.

A lot of people who use guitar straps find that they fall off very easy or tend to drop the guitar. There are many different types of locking mechanisms out there (I currently have two guitars that use the DiMarzio locking mechanism and it works very well)). Go to your local guitar shop and check all of them out and see which one fits you best.

Play with passion (slash)

Have you ever heard a guitar player who is a great player, but you feel that there is something missing...... THERE'S NO SOUL!!! Soul is the emotion, the love, the purpose behind guitar playing. Listen to that same talented yet boring guitar player and then compare him to Gun's and Roses guitarist or Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash. Every solo that Slash plays has so much soul, so much emotion, and so much purpose. What I want you to do is Google "Slash - Godfather theme video" or get on Napster, iTunes, kazaa, etc. and download it. This video is nuts!! Slash plays with such a great amount of solo that it's amazing. I really don't know how to explain exactly how to add soul into your playing, however I will tell you that you will understand if you choose to stick with guitar and stay committed to the instrument. It's basically playing to express yourself and not to just play because you have to or don't want to but feel you should.

Watch the clips of legendary guitar scenes or solos

Here's some instant inspiration.... Go to yahoo or Google and click on the "video" tab above the search bar and type in anything having to do with guitar solos. You will find some amazing solos along with amazing guitar tricks. One really cool guitar clip I remember is of this Asian guy playing the super Mario brothers theme for Nintendo. That guy can play that song like you wouldn’t believe. There's so much inspiring guitar playing footage out there. It's everywhere and anywhere you look, especially online. Also, checkout the movie with Ralph Maccio from the 1980's called "Crossroads"... there’s some amazing guitar playing in it.

Try tabbing out songs by ear

This is extremely helpful. Tabbing songs by ear develops your musical ear very quickly. Choose one of your favorite songs and sit next to your cd player with a guitar and a piece of paper and try to figure out the chords in the song first, and then try to figure out the riffs within the chords. Once you find out the overall "key" of the song it's easy to figure out all the riffs and chords.

Take a college music course (Beatles, history of rock and roll)

While I was at community college for two years studying to get my Associates Degree, I had taken a "History of Rock & Roll course". This course was extremely interesting. There was so much music that this class opened my eyes up to. I gained so much more appreciation for the Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who and many more bands of that era. Those bands really did change music forever. I definitely recommend taking a class like this anywhere you can; it will definitely open up your eyes to some great music out there and help you grow as a musician.

Read biographies of guitarists you appreciate

Some musicians out there have led incredible lives. The majority of them come from nothing and in the end, become legendary guitar gods. Look at Johnny Cash; he was a rural country boy that grew up almost penniless and turned into an amazing musician through inspiration and practice. There are so many interesting stories behind bands and musicians. Here's some that I find interesting (off the top of my head): The Beach Boys, Def Leppard, Metallica, Van Halen, The Beatles and Thin Lizzy. Do some research online and try to mirror yourself with these artists. It will give you a whole new thought process to playing their songs and guitar in general.

"Steal" riffs and ideas from other guitarists

I know it sounds bad but every great guitarist does it. Clapton stole the "crossroad blues" from Robert Johnson and the Beatles used some of Elvis' ideas and expanded upon them. Every musical generation steals ideas, riffs, chord progressions from the generation before and when it comes to music... its ok. I find this to help guitar players progress a lot, especially if you reach a plateau. One of the biggest things that helped me expand as a guitarist is to learn all my favorite solos by my favorite artists. Once I had learned them, I would play the same solo over different progressions in the same key and then play the same solos in different keys all around the neck and in different scale positions. Once I did this, I had "unlocked" all of the licks in the solo and I'm now able to use them in whatever I play. Just like how in video games you unlock new characters, levels and secrets throughout the game... you do the same in music. From there you can constantly expand upon your lick directory.

Play in front of others

This is one of the hardest parts about performing music. Playing in front of others is something that just takes time. Remember to relax and don't think about everyone watching you. Just focus on you and the instrument. The more you play in front of others, the better you will get. Everyone's first time playing in front of others can be pretty gut wrenching. Just remember that it gets easier every time and that you'll get through it just fine. What you can also do is videotape yourself playing and then put it on the internet. Lots of people including myself put videos on Youtube.com or other online video sites and its up to the viewers to judge. Some people will rip your playing apart but most will applaud you for trying and really like it. The way I look at it... "Led Zeppelin didn't write songs that everyone liked... they left that to the Bee Gees" - Wayne Campbell (Wayne's World)

"What if I screw up"? Who cares?! In music, everyone screws up while playing music. When big bands record in studios they spend days, sometimes even weeks recording tracks so that they turn out absolutely perfect. What really creative people do when they screw up is to elaborate on the screw up. If you hit a wrong note, maybe trying hitting the note again within the rhythm of the song and maybe it will sound good.

The Internet and Youtube are valuable tools...

Eric Clapton learned guitar by listening to old Robert Johnson, BB King and many other great blues records on a turntable and then trying to mimick the same sounds on guitar. Eddie Van Halen would be in his room with his door closed for days just messing around with different sounds that a guitar can make just by moving his fingers around in different shapes and seeing what they sound like. Alex Van Halen (Eddies brother and drummer for Van Halen) would go on dates and leave the house listening to Eddie whale away at 5:00pm and then come home to Eddie still whaling away at 2:00am. These artists didn't have the internet! They had a cassette player or record player and plenty of time on their hands. We're incredibly lucky today to have such great resources like youtube.com and the internet in general. Youtube.com is great for learning how to play guitar. You can find lessons, people covering songs, tips and tricks and just about anything that you need to get off on the right foot when it comes to playing guitar. The great thing about Youtube guitar lessons is that "they get to the point". No BS. Each lesson is usually under 5 minutes and they give you great info very fast, because who wants to watch a 30 minute video. Guitarists attention spans aren't that long, I know mine isn't. And Finally, you have the internet. The internet has absolutely everything you could ever possibly need, including Youtube.com, lessons, information, ultimate-guitar.com (for tabs), guitars101.com (for any other type of help that you may need), etc. The possibilities are endless. The point is that learning guitar today is and should be way easier than learning guitar in the past due to the great resources we have.

You can learn any riff from any song no matter how crazy or how fast.... just slow it down

Any riff is learnable, you just have to slow it down to a pace that you feel comfortable with, learn it, and then gradually speed it up. There are numerous programs out there that allow you to do this. One very popular one is called Transcribe. You can import any .mp3 file and then control the speed of the song. Practice the riff over and over and gradually raise the speed. If you can't play the at a given speed, then slow it down 1%, if you can play it and feel comfortable with how you played it, raise it by 2%. Doing this will allow you to master any riff, any song, anything!

Try learning the difficult songs or riffs that you've always wanted to learn, no matter what level you are at and no matter how hard the song is...

This is what makes guitar fun, seeing your improvement (ie. Quick Results). I remember trying to play songs that were at my level when I first started playing guitar. Stuff like : The Animals - House of the Rising Son, and Don Mclean - American Pie. I could play them ok, but they weren't really songs that I had started playing guitar for. I wanted to play Metallica's fade to black and Eric Clapton's Crossroads. I put the other two songs aside and started working on the new ones that had inspired me to play guitar. I had spent weeks and months on them even though they were outside my playing level. I was determined to learn them. I kind of wanted to be one of those guys that can't play anything else, just cover songs note for note. If I couldn't play any other song aside from the super hard ones note for note, I'd be happy. So I spent so much time learning these songs, and I could play them.... ok... not great.... However, when I went back to playing House of the rising son and American Pie, I could play them 100 times better. I played them like a pro. Its kind of like.... as long as you challenge yourself, you'll get better. You play with musicians that are better than you... you'll get better. You lift more and more weight than your used to... you get stronger.

A great musician once said.....

A great musician once said that as soon as guitar becomes a chore and isn't fun, that's the moment that you should put your guitar down. Come back to it later. Now this doensn't mean that when your first learning guitar and you get frustrated, you should put it down and forget it. Sorry, this rule only applies to guitar players who are advanced or who have been playing for a while. It sucks and is frustrating for everyone at first so you have to stick with it. The overall point is, guitar playing should be fun. Don't turn it into a chore or a task.



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Daniel Lehrman asked:


More women than ever are playing the guitar nowadays. More luthiers and guitar manufacturing companies are paying attention to the needs of smaller female players, their playing styles, and their sense of style and design. What exactly is a girls/womans guitar and what are the differences one might expect to find in a guitar described this way?

Guitars made to fit the female form are becoming more fashionable than ever. The first time I picked one up to play I noticed it weighed less and had a nice but smaller feel that adapts well to a smaller hand without loss of tone or sound quality at all. I would not hesitate to recommend this sort of guitar to anyone who is smaller than the average man, including the up and coming virtuosos, and rock stars; children. Although your favorite nephew may not appreciate a pink guitar like the Squier Hello Kitty Electric Guitar.

Playing an instrument that feels right may help you to achieve your emotional and creative goals more easily. Wrestling with a guitar that is too big or heavy takes away from the concentration and comfort needed to perform at a high level.

The major players in bringing Girls Guitars to the public are limited, but include Squier, Gibson. Epiphone, Luna and Daisy Rock. These are just a few of this type of companies known to this author, catering to this new niche. There are a range of models to fit taste preferences as well as budget. It should be noted that Luna, which is one of the smaller companies listed above is owned by a woman who is an artist whose bass player mother inspired her to create a guitar to better suit her mothers needs. It is clear in looking at a Luna guitar that it is a beautifully crafted instrument.

Lets get to it, here are my personal picks for the best guitars for smaller players:

1. Luna Muse Parlor Acoustic Guitar is a brilliant acoustic guitar that is beautiful in design and is very comfy for any player. This is a particularly *affordable model, and plays easily and has great tones, including some very pleasing deep bass tones. It has a lovely soft matt finish, and some clean well crafted celtic knot style wood inlays in various places, as well as moon phase inlays of pearl (pearl like appearance) on the fretboard. The tuners have a really lovely matt grey metal finish. This guitar plays like it wants to be played.

2. Luna Andromeda Phoenix Bass Guitar. It is noticeably lighter in weight than the majority of bass guitars I have examined with out losing any of the tone and pop heard from any good bass guitar. It is also a very affordable guitar.

3. The Squier Hello Kitty Stratocaster Electric Guitar is an extremely affordable solid body electric guitar, The friendly face of Hello Kitty is painted on the custom kitty head shaped pickguard on either a bubble gum pink or a black Stratocaster style guitar. This is a decent first guitar for an aspiring rock star gal in your life. Squire also makes an even less expensive Hello Kitty Mini Stratocaster Electric Guitar. It is smaller, has three single coil pickups, a 20 fret neck, and simpler Hello Kitty Graphics on the guitar body. It comes in black and Pink.

4. Daisy Rock Candy Series Daisy Rock Guitars guitar company was established in 2000 by Tish Ciravolo. The company manufactures and markets guitars designed specifically for girls and women. The Daisy Rock Candy Series includes several models of solid-body electric guitars with a single-cutaway body, similar to the body outline of a Gibson Les Paul or Paul Reed Smith single-cut guitar. They sound great and are easy to play. A top quality guitar that allows you to express yourself with great clarity.

5. Daisy Rock Short Scale Guitars. The Heartbreaker Short Scale is proof evolution still is alive in guitar design with a uniquely cut feminine body and a 22-1/2 scale neck making the guitar comfortable for smaller guitarists while still holding on to the the soul of a rocking guitar. Top quality features include a rock maple neck, basswood body, beautiful pearloid heart inlays, and shiny chrome hardware.

6. Minarik Inferno Electric Guitar Endorsed by Shred-mistress Rynata. It has an unusual body design and top notch electrics along with beautiful hardware, manufactured using advanced design techniques. Most women players agree that it has a great feel and super tone.

7. Gibson Les Paul Goddess delivers the same pure tone of a traditional Les Paul in a light, streamlined body. Comfortable enough to play for hours, tough enough to shake the house down. Typical Gibson quality and sound. Uniquely crafted light weight mahogany body with a figured maple top & narrow nut. The slim 60s-style neck is really slippery along with hi powered translucent 490R & 498T humbuckers you can wake up the neighborhood. The slim reduced body size is designed for optimum fit and performance for smaller body sizes. This is a real top line guitar for serious players.

8. ESP Horizon 3 Girl Electric Guitar. The ESP Horizon 3 Girl Electric Guitar is an unbelievable custom axe that incorporates a breathtaking emerald green see-thru finish over a figured maple top with an anime girl graphic. It's an excellent partner to the sleek Horizon 3 body, with it's scalloped double cutaways, large upper horn and jet black headstock that follows the body's curves. This guitar doesn't stop at great looks. . In addition to the maple top, the Horizon 3 Girl features a solid mahogany body and maple neck to ensure great tone and sustain. Two EMG81 humbucker pickups means this young lady has a very powerful voice, one that will growl on your chunky chords and wail high and clear on your solos. All of the hardware is black including high quality Sperzel tuners, a tone-enhancing Gotoh bridge, volume & tone knobs and a 3-way pickup switch. This guitar is an amazing high quality guitar for the accomplished player, or performer.

9. Epiphone Emily the Strange SG Electric Guitar. The limited-edition Epiphone Emily The Strange G-310 SG features Emily's face and other graphics from the Cosmic Debris character including, of course, one of Emily black cats. This axe delivers everything from warm distortion to all-out scream with 2 hot-wired humbuckers. Crafted with select hardwood body, bolt-on mahogany neck, and rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays. Also features tune-o-matic bridge, stopbar tailpiece, and chrome tuners.

10. Taylor Baby Taylor Mahogany Top Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar is a 3/4 scale guitar. It has a perfectly symmetrical design and is like a full sized guitar. it is not designated as a womans/girls guitar, however it's unique size and the usual superior Taylor quality will surprise smaller people with it's perfect sound and feel. The Taylor Baby Taylor is a great slightly smaller guitar at an affordable price .

11. Fender Custom Shop Bonnie Raitt Model . This particular guitar is excellent. It is one of the sweetest guitars I have ever played. It is a Stratocaster in every way. Primarily, the biggest difference between this Strat and a stock American Strat is the nice narrow neck and terrific manufacturing job performed in The Fender Custom Shop. This guitar is not in production now, and must be acquired used. It is a great find if you come upon one.

*GPC defines affordable as any guitar which costs under $550 when new.



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Ian Williamson asked:


The guitar is one of the most popular musical instruments today. Most of the music that you hear on the radio uses guitars in many different ways: pop, rock, reggae, blues, ballads and everything else is influenced by the guitar.

The guitar, together with the drums and the piano compose the modern music scene equipment set. The playability of the guitar has made it one popular instrument. A guitar can be played by a learning child or an experienced guitar player. It's not "picky" about its players.

Today, the electric type of guitar is most often used in musical production. The guitar has been enhanced with a very good accompaniment in the form of the effects box. Today, guitars can emulate the sounds of a piano, a violin, even the sounds of the human voice and is continuously widening its horizons.

With the functions and features of the modern electric guitar, one can't help thinking about the beginnings of the instrument. Where did the guitar come from? This article tries to give a brief history of the wonderful musical instrument, which is the guitar.

The creation of the guitar cannot be traced to a single person. The guitar came about through the evolution of its predecessors. Its image has also undergone change throughout the centuries. Today, playing the guitar is a symbol of talent and musical prowess, but during the early times, the guitar was actually a symbol of being poor and it was refuted by most classical musicians.

Predecessors

There have been many guitar-like musical instruments in the ancient times, up to as many as 5,000 years ago. Instruments which look like the guitar were seen in statues which were recovered in archeological expeditions in the Iranian region of Susa. However, the very first documented mention of the instrument dates back to the fourteenth century. At that time the guitar-ancestor had three pairs of strings (usually referred to as double courses) and a single string with the highest tone.

Some say that the word "guitar" came from the word "qitara". Qitara is an Arabic name for the different kinds of lutes during the early times.

Evolution

The guitar, as we know it, is said to originate in Spain. It is believed that the people of Malaga invented the instrument. The guitar evolved from having three pairs of strings to four pairs of strings and eventually six single strings.

The guitar began to become popular in the 16th century. It was played by the lower and middle classes as a counterpart for the vihuela which was played by the aristocrats. The vihuela was tuned like a lute but had a body similar to that of the guitar.

The guitar made a serious evolution during the 18th century: the double strings where replaced by single strings and a sixth string was added. In the 1800s, Antonio Torres de Jurado gave birth to the classical guitar. Basically, he increased the size of the body of the guitar. The guitar still struggled because it was considered as an instrument for the taverns - an instrument which could not be used for classical music. In Spain, where people hated the piano, the guitar found refuge. However, it was also tainted by the views that guitars were for gypsies and for no-good bums who asked for loose change in bars.

Electric guitar

The modern electric guitar was invented in 1931. The electric guitar uses electronic "pick-ups" to enable it to produce sound. The pick-ups convert the vibrations from the strings into electric signals. The body of the electric guitar is semi-solid or solid, depending on the design. The structure of the guitar took a great leap when the electric guitar was born, no longer did its sound depend on the structure and construction of the body, but on the quality of the pick-ups and soundboard.

The sounds of the electric guitar can also be altered to be able to achieve a desired tone. The use of the guitar effects box has given the guitar a wide array of sounds. I is continuing to garner popularity in all fields of music, even in classical music.

The guitar is a very dynamic musical instrument. Through evolution, the guitar has made its mark on the modern music scene. From crude instruments with many variations, the guitar has become a real and much-sought after instrument.



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Phil Donahoe asked:


Most people think learning guitar is difficult. Well not true, learning guitar is always easier than most people think. Learning guitar is often like yoga for the fingers, as they learn to stretch and even grow a little differently. The key to learning guitar is practice. Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of first learning guitar is that it is seemingly impossible to play anything that actually sounds good and most people get frustrated and leave it at that. Once you get that first "good" tune from the playing the guitar it acts as a trigger for more enthusiasm and encouragement that you are seeing success from your endeavors. When you have that first guitar success it is a great feeling to have. One thing to remember is that learning guitar is a passion for each and every one of us and is something that takes a long time to master.

A guitar is primarily a rhythm instrument, meaning you can make good music with just a handful of chords and a couple of scales. Above all, the most important thing is to make sure that playing the instrument is something you actually enjoy, or no matter how much you put into it, you won't ever get anywhere. It is undeniably the most popular instrument in our country at this time. For only a small amount more you can get a quality instrument.

Learning Guitar: Getting Started

I have found that learning to play guitar is like many other activities it takes practice and perseverance. A person can get along fine these days by learning a few chords and knowing how to read tab, right. That should be the first guitar goal and that alone will unlock many doors to guitar progression. The best and easiest path to becoming a competent guitar player is by learning some chords and then applying them to learning the rhythm parts of songs that you hear and enjoy. Guitar players often spend hours learning new chords and practicing them over and over again. Almost anyone can learn to play the guitar if they put their heart into learning, in addition to putting in a substantial amount of effort and passion. Although many prefer to take lessons, which can be very expensive, learning to playing guitar by purchasing guitar courses online is also a very realistic option.

Choosing an Acoustic Guitar

If you are looking to choose an acoustic guitar as your learning guitar then I would recommend the following:

- Taylor, moderately priced

- Dean, some good deals available

- Gibson, expensive, but you get your money's worth in terms of quality

Acoustic guitars may be more expensive up front but then again you won't need an amplifier. I often recommend learning acoustic first, and then moving to electric, but it doesn't really matter what you start on and is often a matter of taste. An acoustic guitar is generally used by learners because it produces a cleaner sound and the chords crisper as a result. Some people consider it harder to play on an acoustic because you have to “push” harder, and when you take an electric guitar in your hands after that, you’ll see how it is easier.

Choosing an Electric Guitar

If you are looking to learn guitar by starting with an electric guitar I would recommend the following makes:

- Ibanez, great starters and very attractive prices

- Gibson, same as acoustic, expensive but worth it

- Fender, moderately priced, but if you don't want to pay full price you can go with Squire

If you decide to start with an electric guitar, then you'll want to purchase a practice amp too. You can usually pick up a reasonably high quality practice amp for around $50-$100. If you buy an electric guitar first, it will be great fun learning to do power chords and noisy solos, but when you reach certain level where you want to start using more complex chords and arrangements, it's time to knuckle down to practice chords and progressions as if it was an acoustic. One advantage of learning guitar with an electric guitar as opposed to acoustic guitars is that you can practice silently by using headphones.

Conclusion

Learning guitar is about repetition, repetition, repetition and if you have time, repetition. Once you have those chords and scales burned into your muscle memory playing guitar is very relaxing. One major aspect of learning guitar is that of confidence and getting to that first goal and persevering is a must. Also some people find it difficult initially teaching the left hand the chords and fingering but again, this comes down to practice. The first thing to understand is that learning guitar is something that takes a long time. The most important thing to keep in mind while learning guitar is never give up and you will succeed.



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Groshan Fabiola asked:


With so many quality guitar lesson-providing websites out there, increasingly larger numbers of existing and prospective guitar players are nowadays turning to the Internet when it comes to finding efficient guitar playing lessons, tutorials, tips and tricks that can significantly improve their playing. Although many types of guitar lessons have good potential of teaching both the basics and subtleties behind playing the guitar, guitar lesson videos are still regarded as the best methods of learning how to play the guitar. Designed by the best guitar players and instructors in the world, the right video guitar lessons can teach you everything you want to know in the least of time and with minimum effort. Video guitar lessons are nowadays provided by dedicated websites either under the form of downloadable or CD/DVD video files, they are properly categorized on criteria such as difficulty and music genre, and can be either accessed for free or obtained in exchange of a small fee.

Regardless of your level of skill and experience at playing the guitar, online guitar lesson videos are perfect for helping you polish your guitar playing technique and discovering new things about playing the guitar. Providing you with valuable guitar playing techniques, tips and tricks in video format, video guitar lessons are ideal for both novice and experienced guitar players looking to further improve their playing.

Presenting a variety of concepts in a descriptive and highly comprehensive manner, guitar lesson videos are easy to put into practice and can help you discover and reach new levels of guitar playing in less time and with less effort. Therefore, if you are interested in learning everything you can about the art of playing the guitar from professional guitar players, all you need to do is find a reliable, dedicated guitar tutorials-providing website, enter in possession of a few quality video guitar lessons and start practicing. With good motivation and regular practice, results will begin to show in no time.

If you are a complete beginner and want to learn the basics of playing the guitar the quick, easy and convenient way, then it is advisable to enter in possession of quality beginner guitar lessons in video format. Video guitar lessons for beginners are perfect for learning the basics such as the notes on the guitar fret board, basic finger positions on the fret board, the most commonly used scales, finger strength building, picking techniques, speed training, and so on. Helping novice guitar players build a solid guitar playing foundation, beginner video guitar lessons are crucial for ensuring that all exercises are performed correctly and naturally. Considering that the first guitar lessons that you receive have a great impact on your future guitar playing (once formed, bad guitar playing habits are usually very difficult to eliminate) it is crucial that you use the best quality beginner video guitar lessons right from the beginning and build a clean, proper technique.

Once you have reached the next level with your guitar playing, then you can switch to a set of intermediate and advanced video guitar lessons and develop new skills while also working to further improve the ones you have already learned. High quality, efficient video guitar lessons for intermediate and advanced-level guitar players are designed to help you learn how to play the guitar like a pro, and cover a variety of topics, as well as a wide range of tips, tricks and secrets that most guitar players prefer not to expose. If you want to be able to play the guitar like a pro and impress all your friends with your skills, then you should enter in possession of a few quality video guitar lessons for advanced, start practicing, arm yourself with a little patience and results will definitely show!

For more information about guitar lesson video or even about beginner guitar lesson your can check on this website http://www.guitar5day.com for more guitar related subjects.



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