Develop a Guitar Practice Schedule

By: Kathy Unruh

Now is as good a time as any to develop a Guitar Practice
Schedule. Let's face it, if we want to be better guitar players,
then we need to play! Notice that the key word here is play, not
work. But, if you're anything like me, then you know how easy it
is to let other demands on your time get in the way of
practicing your guitar. Time management is always a challenge,
but I find it helps when I write things down and can visualize
my priorities.

Today I would like to help you develop a practice schedule so
you'll be able to reach some of your goals as a guitar
player.Every guitarist's practice schedule will differ due to
personal lifestyle, job & home demands, hobbies, social life,
etc. Being a beginner, intermediate or advanced guitar player
will also effect how and what you practice.

As a beginner, your main goal is to develop the calluses,
strength and coordination skills needed to play the guitar.
Practicing 15-20 minutes a day should be enough time to
accomplish this. Once you gain some proficiency on the guitar
you can adjust your practice schedule according to your
particular needs and desires.

It's a good idea to set aside a specific time each day when you
will be able to focus on playing your guitar. Mark down this
time on a calendar and keep it some place where you can see it
as a reminder of your committment. Tell your family about it
too. Let them know that their support is important and will help
you reach your goals.

Next, take a sheet of paper and create a basic outline of what
you will need to work on each day. Make sure you incorporate
chords, various guitar techniques, plus tab and/or note reading
skills into your practice schedule, as these are the common
areas that every guitarist can use to develop their skills.

Here is an example of what your Guitar Practice Schedule might
look like:

MONDAY

• Reading Music - Use standard notation &/or
  tablature to learn a song, or play a single line melody.
  
  
• Goal : To improve sight reading skills in order to learn
  new songs and guitar techniques.

TUESDAY

• Chords - Practice strumming various chords
  progressions and songs in different keys.
  
  
• Goal: To change easily & smoothly between chords. Long term
  goal being to learn the fundamental chords for all 12 keys.
  

WEDNESDAY

• Performing - Memorize a song you have learned.
  Play it in front of someone, or record yourself.
  
  
• Goal: To gain confidence and get feedback in order to
  improve guitar playing abilities.

THURSDAY

• Theory & Technique - study scales &/or chord
  structure. Incorporate slides, hammers, pull-offs, arpeggios,
  finger-picking and other techniques.
  
  
• Goal: To increase understanding of music and improve finger
  dexterity on the guitar.

FRIDAY

• Fretboard - Memorize &/or review the notes on
  the fretboard.
  
  
• Goal: To improve fretboard awareness in order to facilitate
  a broader range of playing options.

SATURDAY

• Review - Take time to go over any trouble spots.
  Concentrate on one specific area. Write down any thoughts or
  steps needed to improve performance &/or understanding.
  
  
• Goal: To play the guitar in such a way that it produces
  music with a clean, clear, quality sound.

SUNDAY

• Free Time - Take time off or experiment. Play
  around with different sounds using your ear. Make up a chord,
  song or melody line. Create a repertoire so you can play the
  pieces you enjoy. Have some fun.
  
  
• Goal: To become a creative guitarist and
  musician.

About the author:
Kathy Unruh is a singer/songwriter and webmaster of href="http://www.abclearnguitar.com/free-guitar-lesson.html"targe
t="_blank">ABC Learn Guitar. She has been writing
songs and providing guitar lessons to students of all ages for
over 25 years.

href="http://www.abclearnguitar.com/newsletter.html"target="_blan
k">Get free guitar tips here!

Effective Practicing on the Guitar

By: Andy Weaver

Effective Practicing on the Guitar

Ah, guitar practice. It really means a different thing to each
and every guitarist. For quite a few guitarists, practice simply
means looking up a new song and learning it by tab. Though this
is beneficial to an extent, it is by no means effective
practicing. Allow me to elaborate:

The guitarist who knows a huge library of songs (because he
learns a new one each time he practices) can play quite a few of
these songs, but can he play them convincingly? Can he play them
very closely to the original, is everything clean and played
with conviction? How is he phrasing everything, and how tight is
his rhythm playing?

These are all questions you should ask yourself as you are
practicing. Being able to play a 1000 different songs would be
great (and would be impressive) but I would much rather be able
to "nail" a song note-for-note than be able to play several
other songs in a half-assed fashion. Being able to "nail" a song
really gives you a sense of satisfaction that is truly
unmatched. Or better yet, composing your own work -- and being
able to nail it effectively every single time is truly
liberating. You feel great!

The key to effective practicing is to use your ear, and be
honest with it. Was that bend intonated correctly? If it wasn't
start over again and work extra hard on making that bend scream
in tune. Record yourself trying to play the song you want to
learn, and go down the following check list:

* How is my intonation? Any bends that sound off, any vibratos
that sound out?
* How solid and tight are my rhythms?
Does the song call for a relaxed, almost swing rhythm or for a
more fast-paced on the dot rhythm?
* How is my
articulation? Do some of the notes sound too weak, too strong,
or are otherwise distracting?
* How is my phrasing? Did
I give the notes a decent amount of space, and how predictable
is the phrasing? Pretend you're a listener who's never heard the
piece, could he effectively predict what's going to be played
next? This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I believe that a
good balance between predictability and unpredictability is what
we should strive for.
* How clean is the playing? Overall
cleanliness.. do I need to woodshed that lick a little bit
more? Do I need to practice this phrase with a metronome for a
while? There is much more to pay attention to, but I think you
get the idea. Don't cut yourself short. Realize that there are
going to be some flaws. A lot of times it helps to record
something and save it one day, and then the next day come back
to it and listen. You'll be listening to it with fresh ears, and
you can better identify what needs to be worked on.

Post your playing on internet forums. Find a decent music forum,
and post your work there, see what non-biased ears think of your
work. Tell them that you're open to c&c on your playing and
tone. This is the #1 way to improve your playing. Pretend like
these people are your guitar teachers, they are there to let you
know what needs work and what sounds good. Follow their advice.

There have been times where I practiced a simple section of a
solo (that wasn't any longer than 8 seconds or so) for 3-4 hours
in one day. I was somewhat satisfied with my performance of that
section, but I *knew* that I could play it better. I just knew
it! Deep down inside, I felt like I could totally ace it
flawlessly. After a few days of practice, I did it! It sounded
great. And I felt great about it too!

Hell, I've sat around practicing my vibrato on one note for
close to an hour. Boring? Yes. But did it pay off? Hell yeah!
From that point on I focused a lot on my vibrato, always trying
to pull off that same vibrato I had after practicing it for an
hour that one day.

You may think it's a waste of time to spend hours on end
practicing only 8 seconds of a solo, but it's truly worth it.
The overall effect it has on your playing is like glue. When you
work so hard to fix your mistakes within a short section of a
song, it's like sealing the glue.

And once that glue is sealed, it's there for good. =)

Check
out more of my guitar articles

About the author:
About me

The Gibson Les Paul Guitar Story

By: Gareth Owen

In 1950, there was a big boom in the world of music when the
Fender Telecaster (electric guitar) was introduced in the
market. Another breed of guitars led the world of music after
this with Gibson Les Paul. As the name suggests Gibson is the
leading musical instrument manufacturer and Les Paul was one of
the most respected guitarists in history. Les Paul has been
known for his innovation in musical instruments and it was for
this reason that the president of Gibson Company, Ted McCarthy,
got Les Paul to be a consultant for Gibson.

Les Paul made a solid body prototype, which was known as The
Log. Les Paul had approached Gibson in the year 1945 with this
prototype but this idea was refused, but then again in 1951 Les
Paul and Gibson worked together and Les Paul's innovative idea
gave birth to a marvel that rocked the music world. The line of
models for the Gibson hollow-body electric guitars provided
ideas to create Gibson Les Paul, which differed from Fender in
having a more curved body and a glued-in neck.

There are different controversies regarding the role of Les Paul
in Gibson. One of the controversies is that the president of
Gibson Corporation approached Les Paul and asked him for the
right to print his name on the headstock of the guitar so that
they could increase the sales of that specific model and name it
Gibson Les Paul.

It was also claimed by McCarthy that they only had discussions
with Les Paul regarding the tailpiece and fitting of a maple cap
over the mahogany body for increased density and sustain. Les
Paul also wanted the new model to have a gold finish but the
Gibson gave flame and tiger maple finishes for it to compete
with the Fender.

The Les Paul guitar started out with two models, the regular
model, which was then nicknamed as the Goldtop and the other was
the custom model in which up gradation of the hardware was
offered with a black finish. There was a constant improvement
seen in the pickup, body and hardware patterns that truly pulled
lots of guitarists towards it.

There are different features that distinguish the Gibson Les
Paul from the rest of the brands. Gibson Les Paul is known for
mounting of its strings, which are always mounted on top of the
guitar body and not through the guitar body as was seen in the
Fender's models. Gibson Les Paul has offered a wide range of
decorative models, customized hardware, and electric pickup
options. The humbucking pickup completely eliminated the
60-cycle humming that previously beset the amplified guitars.

Gibson Les Paul has gone through an evolutionary process over
the years and has brought on unique models to gear up with state
of the art advanced technology and style. The line of Gibson Les
Paul models are Goldtop (1952-1957), Custom (1954-1960), Gibson
Les Paul Junior (1954-1960), Gibson Les Paul TV (1955-1960),
Gibson Les Paul Special (1955-1960), Gibson Les Paul Standard
(1958-1960), Gibson Les Paul SG 1961, Gibson Les Paul Deluxe
1968, Gibson Les Paul Studio 1983, as well as the modern Gibson
Les Paul guitars.

It was in the 1960 that the icons in the world of guitarists
such as Mike Bloomfield, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page as well as
Eric Clapton acknowledged the professional capability of Gibson
Les Paul's late 50s guitars because they had the thicker and
more sustaining tone of Gibson's humbucking pickups. This
innovation just gave Gibson Les Paul the unique standing in
electric guitars and then there were a lot of companies that
followed the lead of Gibson in making the humbucking pickups.
Following these icons, a lot of other bands and artists made
Gibson Les Paul their choice and now a 1959 Les Paul can cost in
a range of about $100,000 to $500,000.

About the author:
For further information visit http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com

Learn How to Play Guitar in Less Time

By: Groshan Fabiola

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!

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

Line 6 Guitar Amps

For wonderful Effects Choose Line 6 Guitar Amps


Line 6 HD147 300W Guitar Amp Head





By: Rocky

Line 6 was founded in 1996 and was based in Agoura Hills,
California. It is a producer of digital modeling electric
guitars, acoustic guitars,amplifiers and for good effects
processors. The company experienced a quick expansion in the
early 2000s due to it's achievement of their POD branded product
that reproduced the sound of various classic and amazing modern
guitar amplifiers, effects pedals,amplifier cabinets and other
microphones, with a high-quality deal of accuracy. The PODxt
Live product is a current development, and extends the
characteristics of the unique POD with more reproductions and
effects in a pedal board package. Line 6 now has numerous other
product lines in production: Line 6 has an energetic user
community, and that provides software, which allows users to
simply download and share patches or machine settings. This
software covers all of Line 6's obtainable flagship products.
Their products are used and authorized by many expert artists.
Line 6 guitar amps offers stirring various kinds of effects,
consisting of chorus/flanger, phase, tremolo, digital delay,
tape echo, and other sweep echo as well. By using Smart FX all
effects could be jerked easily, Top Tempo permits change of
delay times. Line 6 has come up with the Spider II guitar amp
with the Smart Control FX.By using the delay knob you could
select a standard delay, tape echo, and other sweep echo. You
have an option to choose among chorus/flange, phase,and as well
from tremolo using the modulation effect knob. Line 6 guitar
amps Tap Button permits you to set the pace of your delay
effects, as well as gives you entrée to a Tuner, Distortion
Boost, and a built-in Noise Gate. The distortion improve of the
Line 6 guitar amp permits you to hit the model harder and get a
more indistinct sound, by boosting your guitar signal before it
attaining the Amp Model. Line 6 amps built-in Noise Gate would
help to cut down on hiss and noise. You would recognize the gate
is on when the Channel D LED comes on. When you get the Line 6
guitar amp you will discover even more hidden functions.

About the author:
Rocky is a Copywriter of www.gigasonic.com

He has written many articles in various topics.For more
information visit:

www.gigasonic.com

contact him at gigasonic1@gmail.com


Line 6 HD147 300W Guitar Amp Head

Fender Telecaster Guitar

By: Gareth Owen

Popularly known as Tele, this variety of electric guitar is
known worldwide for its efficient design and ground breaking
sound, which has made it a very popular choice among musicians.
The sale of Fender Telecaster can be traced back to the era of
1950 when the single and dual pickup Esquire models were being
commercially produced. This is what makes Fender Telecaster one
of the world's highest ranking solid body electric guitar.

The first form of Fender Telecaster was known as the Esquire and
there were about fifty guitars that were produced originally. In
about 1950, Esquire, which was a one-pickup model was replaced
with a two-pickup model and was named Broadcaster. There was a
legal threat from a company known as Gretsch, which was already
producing guitars and drums and said that Broadcaster was
violating its trademark Broadkaster, which was the trademark of
its drums. Therefore, Fender changed the name from Broadcaster
to Telecaster.

The design of Fender Telecaster was very simple and it was made
in such a way that servicing the guitar or repairing the broken
ones was made very easy. The guitars were produced on a large
scale in an assembly line and were not made as an individual
piece. The bodies of the guitars were band-sawed and the necks
of the guitars were bolt-on because of making the repair and
service really easy. There was a removable control plate, which
could be removed easily and the electronics could be accessed
with great ease. This feature gave it a hook and gained
attention of a lot of musicians because in the standard make of
guitars one had to take the strings off and then remove the
pickguard to get to electronics.

The classic form of Fender Telecaster was a very simple
framework, which had a neck and fingerboard including a single
piece of maple, which was bolted to an ash or alder body with
both sides flat, the front and back. The hardware included the
two single coil pickups, which were controlled by a three-way
selector switch with volume and tone controls. Earlier, the
pickguard was made of bakelite, which was later made with
plastic and was fixed on the body with five screws at first but
later on with eight screws. The bridge had three saddles, which
were adjustable with the strings doubled up on each. This became
a thrilling addition in the world if guitars and soon different
companies followed its lead.

The modern Telecaster is a lot different from the standard. They
have 22 frets rather than 21 and at the headstock is present the
truss rod adjustment rather than the body end. It has a six
saddle bridge that allows the adjustment for length and height
for individual string. It has a plain flat plate and the bridge
cover has been discontinued for most models. The wiring of the
modern Fender Telecaster is also different from the classic one,
which is a 3-way toggle switch, which selects neck pickup in the
first position, neck and bridge pickups together in the second
position and in the third position is the bridge pickup. The
volume control for all pickups is in the first knob and the
second knob controls the tone for all pickups. The Fender
Telecaster is made up of a solid body, which allows it to give a
clean and crisp sound quality, which resulted in other leading
companies to follow the trend.

With this magnificent equipment a lot of new genres have evolved
such as country, electric blues, rock and roll and it is because
of its solid construction that lets the guitar to be played as a
lead instrument with a long sustain as an awesome effect. One of
the musicians that have made Telecaster their signature include
Elvis Presley, Merle Haggard, Danny Gatton, Roy Buchanan, Albert
Collins who played the blues with the Telecaster, Muddy Waters
as well as a long list of musicians who when played the guitar
just touched the hearts of millions.

About the author:
For further information on a wide range of guitars and musical
instruments please visit http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com

How Do Guitar Amplifiers Work?

By: Max Cane

Guitar amplifiers amplify the sound fed into it from the guitar
and drive the guitar loudspeaker. The sound waves generated by
the guitar strings are converted into minute electrical signal
with the help of the guitar pick up and then fed into the guitar
amplifier (or simply guitar amp). Depending on whether or not
the input of the guitar amp can work with the minute signal
coming from the guitar, the guitarist may need to feed the
guitar signal first into a pre-amplifier and then take the
output from the pre-amplifier to feed the guitar amp.

The working of a guitar amp typically has four stages - input,
signal modulation, signal amplification and then finally the
output stage.

Input Stage

The input stage of the guitar amp accepts the input signal
either from the guitar pre-amp or directly from the guitar
itself. Normally, there are input female jacks installed onto
the amplifier where you attach the input signal cable. If the
guitar signal is too weak to be fed into the guitar amp, the
signal should first pass through a guitar pre-amp. It is very
important that there is proper impedance matching between the
available input signal impedance and specified guitar
amplifier's input signal impedance. More often than not, signal
impedance mismatch is the cause of deterioration of the final
guitar sound on the loudspeaker.

Nowadays, there are many guitar amps, which have a
pre-amplification stage incorporated into them. For such amps,
you do not need to pass the guitar signal into a separate
pre-amp. You can directly feed the signal into the amp itself.

Signal Modulation Stage

Plain in and plain out is not exactly the way normal electric
guitarist likes it. He wants the guitar sound to be jazzed up,
twangy, funky, heavily distorted etc. etc. For such sounds, the
input signal has to under go modulation before they can be
amplified. Say suppose the guitarist wants a heavy distortion
akin to heavy metal rock sound. To get this type of sound, the
input signal is fed into the signal modulation stage where the
signal undergoes the required (but controlled) distortion. The
same applies to other sound effects like wah-wah sound, reverb
etc. Many guitar amps have equalizers and other tone control
knobs, which also come under the signal modulation stage.

Signal Amplification Stage

The signal amplification stage is the 'business' stage of any
guitar amp. It is here where the guitar sound is actually
amplified. Good guitar amps will faithfully magnify the signal
coming from the Signal Modulation Stage, i.e. the incoming
signal will be the exact replica of this stage's outgoing
signal, only that it will be of much greater amplitude. It is
the 'business' of any amplifier (be it voice or guitar amp) to
faithfully amplify the incoming signal.

Output Stage

This is the final stage of all guitar amps. Some guitar amps
have the output driver stage as a part of the output stage,
while some of them do not. In some cheap guitar amps, the
outgoing signal from the signal amplification stage is directly
fed into the loudspeaker. However, good guitar amps have proper
signal conditioning output stage where it is ensured that output
signal is properly matched to the input specifications of the
loudspeaker.

Every good guitarist should have good knowledge about guitar
amps. Getting a good guitar amp is very important if you wish to
have a reliable and predictable output musical sound whilst
playing your guitar.



About the author:
For more information and reviews on guitars, guitar
amplifiers and equipment visit GuitarHeadz.com, the complete
guide for anything you want to know about guitars and related gear.