Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Beginners Guitar - 5 Strategies

By: Richard Reynolds

Beginners Guitar Tip Number 1 - Don't just play the guitar.
Practice.

There is a great discrepancy between playing the guitar and
practicing the guitar. Usually when we play, we are simply
entertaining ourselves and in order to do that, most of us like
to play the things which we can play fairly well. Practicing
guitar involves performing things that we are not able to
accomplish and is normally quite demoralizing, which is the
reason why most student guitar players do not like to practice.
However, it is only by practicing the things that we are not
able to perform on guitar that we will improve.

Beginners Guitar Tip Number 2 - Pay Attention.

Playing guitar accurately takes a great deal of attention. After
you have played for some time, it will get more natural but you
will usually find that when working on a new technique or
complicated passage that it will necessitate concentrated
attention in order to master it. The more attention you focus on
a problem the more rapidly you will solve it.

Beginners Guitar Tip Number 3 - Stay relaxed.

If you struggle while you work on your music, then that stress
will continue to haunt you far into the future. The muscles have
a extremely good memory and they will remember all the stress
that you produced while mastering that new tune. If you would
like to play guitar easily, then you have to apply much less
effort right from the beginning.

Beginners Guitar Tip Number 4 - Play slowly.

You will need to work on your songs or pieces at a speed where
you can play them precisely and in a relaxed manner. Nearly all
of us practice way too rapidly. This leads to stress, which
tenses our muscles. We then learn our new tune with that stress
in our hands and fingers. It is much less difficult to master a
new tune by starting off relaxed than it is to try and get free
of that stress later on.

Beginners Guitar Tip Number 5 - Monitor your progress.

It is extremely encouraging if you can discover that you have
actually made progress in learning guitar. I suggest that you
keep a record of all the techniques that you are working on. On
this list might be such things as, chord progressions and
scales. You will then note on a daily basis metronome speeds,
etc. At the end of the week, you can examine your improvement.

Here is how you might use this technique. For example, if you
are having difficulty moving rapidly from a G7 chord to a D
chord, the very first thing to do is set a metronome at the
tempo where you feel at ease performing the chords. Then settle
on your target. Every day make a note showing your metronome
speed. You will then be able to examine your improvement. It is
extremely gratifying to see your metronome tempo progressively
increasing.

About the author:
Don't squander your time on ineffective guitar approaches. Learn
guitar correctly. Whether or not you are interested in folk,
country, rock, jazz, or any number of additional musical genres,
you will discover awesome tips and training at
www.how--to-play--guitar.com / Go to How to Play Guitar

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Epiphone Les Paul Studio Review - The Perfect Beginner Guitar?

By: R. S. Rasnick

Gibson's best-selling instrument is on a regular basis the Les
Paul Studio, which is understandable, since it permits its owner
many of the features of the more costly Gibson Les Paul at a
much more inexpensive price.

Since the Gibson Les Paul Studio is well over $1,000, it's still
out of the price range of many guitarists. The Epiphone Les Paul
Studio is an attempt to catch the spirit of the Gibson model at
a much more affordable price point.

Since it has a list price of only $349, the instrument will
easily find its way into the hands of many more guitar players.
Let's look at the instrument in closer detail, then.

Surprisingly, the guitar features a set neck rather than
bolt-on, which is rather odd for a guitar as low-priced as this
one. It also boasts a carved top, mahogany body and neck.

Other points worth noticing are the chrome hardware, rosewood
fingerboard, tune-o-matic bridge, stopbar tailpiece, and two
open-coil Alnico Classic humbuckers.

For the price, we found this guitar to be a superb
beginner-level instrument or even a guitar for an
intermediate-advanced player who's willing to supply a few
upgrades.

Once we set it to our liking, we though the action was quite
good; nevertheless, some buzzing was noticeable, though not
irritating.

The Alnico Classic humbuckers did a nice job of providing solid
blues and rock tones. The volume pots were a little scratchy and
could stand to be exchanged, as could the pickup selector switch.

The complaints, though, are moderately minor and not worth
focusing upon. A Epi Les Paul Studio goes for around $350 new
and $200, so there's really not much room to complain.

The bottom line: this is a nice beginning-level instrument at a
real good price.

About the author:
If you need to find the absolute lowest price of a used or new
Epiphone Les Paul Studio anywhere online,
then you've only got one place to look! Ray's Guitar Shop
offers the lowest prices on all used and new electric and
acoustic guitars for sale anywhere. Go visit their website now!

Left Handed Guitar Lessons

By: Alan Fuller

If you are one of the 10% of the world's population who are left
handed then you will be quite used to the fact that a lot of
things in life can be a little more of a problem for you than
they probably will be for the other 90% who are right handed.
Left handed guitar lessons will likely be one of those
challenges for you.

That really should not be allowed to stop you though. You
perhaps even have the upper hand. There has been a lot of
research carried out at University College London which now
suggests that folks with a left handed orientation are quite
likely to be high achievers. Prominence in the realm of sport
and the arts is specifically noticeable. Embarking on some left
handed guitar lessons is quite probably then no problem.The
important factor is to be sure you have a
really good guitar tutor.


There are many examples of massively talented left handed guitar
players to take example from. Jimmy Hendrix, Sir Paul McCartney,
Tony Lommi and Mark Knopfler who is left handed but plays his
guitar right handed, to name but a few.

At the start your left handed guitar lessons will ask you a
question. Should I play guitar left handed or should I try right
handed? What kind of peculiar question is that you may well ask?
But if you look around perhaps as many as half of the otherwise
left handed guitar players really play their guitars right
handed. It will be contingent on what degree of left handedness
you have. Just what is the level of your handedness dominance?

If you are beginning from scratch then the consensus is that you
really should try playing right handed. There is good reason for
this You will find that almost everything for guitar is geared
up for the right handed player.That applies to the guitar itself
as well as most printed and recorded learning materials.

It is worth staying with this for two or three weeks but if
after a fair try you still find a problem in either strumming
right handed or fretting the proper string left handed then move
on to your left handed guitar lessons.

Many students starting to play the guitar find that at first
they get very sore
guitar fingers!
If your fingers start to crack or hurt it is
best to stop playing for a while to let your sore fingers heal.
They soon toughen up as you continue to play your guitar..

If you can manage to buy or are able to find a left handed
guitar great, if not you can flip a right handed guitar and
restring it in reverse, thickest string at the top. Not the best
way but by far the cheapest alternative and if you see pictures
of Jimmy Hendrix and his guitar - that's how he preferred to
play it!

For your left handed guitar lessons the materials used are just
the same as for right handed players. It is how you translate
that information that will be different as you will reverse the
visual features as you come across them. Left handed players do
not normally seem to have difficulty with this and will absorb
the material with the same rapidity as their right handed
counterparts.

Elements of any left handed guitar lessons which use video
recordings will not present any difficulty as to a left handed
player what they are viewing is an exact mirror image of what
they will be playing.

Particularly for those interested in left handed guitar lessons
a comprehensive home study course makes a great deal of sense.
As it could possibly take a little more time to first get the
hang of chord position and reading tablature then as an
alternative to normal face to face lessons a home study course
can give you the ability to repeat each lesson as many times as
you find necessary.

The question often gets asked can you self teach guitar from a home study course? The
number of such courses that are purchased today certainly
suggests that the probability of success is there for those that
take action and give it a try!

As soon as you sense the time is right and the opportunity is
there then if you have been playing a flipped guitar replace it
with a dedicated left hand model. Now with a new guitar your
left handed guitar lessons will move on in leaps and bounds and
your enjoyment in learning and playing it will skyrocket too!



About the author:
GuitarAccord.com is a website dedicated to the promotion of
guitar learning. Looking at a diversity of guitar styles we
recommend appropriate methods of learning to play the guitar. If
you are looking to start playing the guitar then start by
looking at http://www.guitaraccord.com where you will find the
best courses available to you today.

Easy Acoustic Guitar Lessons for Beginners Online

By: Frank Walker

If you're simply learning to play the guitar, or if you've had
lessons and desire to get back to playing, Jamorama can be the
best method to learn guitar. These acoustic guitar lessons for
beginners online offer up step by step instructions on reading
music as well as tabs, playing by ear, fingering and chords. The
lessons are presented in a movie format together with terrific
supporting software. You can study at your own pace and play the
music you want to play. You will find hundreds to chose from.
You can also receive info and help if you desire it, any time
you need it.


Of all the online guitar lessons for beginners, and there are
dozens, the Jamorama guitar course includes the most detailed
program we have found. Their lessons cover both acoustic and
electric guitar and demonstrate many different kinds of music,
for instance rock, jazz, folk and more. Their video guitar
lessons are sharp as well as straightforward to follow.


If you want to know how to learn guitar tabs, it's covered in
this course along with how to read musical notation. While we
think that these are the best acoustic guitar lessons for
beginners online, guitarists at the intermediate level will find
the lessons valuable too. The music theory and chord lessons
will aid any musician play "by ear", without tabs and
musical notation.


One of the most remarkable features of Jamorama is the price.
There is so much included in the program and yet is merely
$49.95. We've observed many courses that charge more while
featuring less in terms of resources and directions. We
recommend these easy guitar lessons to anybody interested in
learning to play the guitar.


With personal teachers you'll spend a lot of time on finger
exercises and with book work on music theory. With this course,
you can play along with your favorite music and forego those
boring exercises. The training includes text, video guitar
lessons and audio training to help you enhance every time you
play.


If you're a novice you may think that you can study from free
beginner guitar lessons online offered at YouTube and other
blogs. These lessons can be pretty simple and the videos usually
last less than two minutes. How can you learn to play an
instrument in two minutes? You can't, of course. You may study a
few basic chords, or how to play a few notes, but that's all
these free videos can educate you.


Jamorama includes two eBooks for immediate download, as well as
148 video lessons. The videos give step by step instructions
with professional quality recordings. Additionally, Jamorama
includes their own ear training game named "GuitEarit"
that teaches students how to recognize and recognize chords, so
that you can play songs you hear without music.


Another game included in the Jamorama deal of beginner guitar
lessons is the "Jayde Musica". This game teaches you
how to learn guitar tabs as well as sheet music. Learning this
way is easy and fun instead of dull and tedious.


You will get the twenty six Jam tracks that teach easy chord
progressions and the software program which will help you tune
your guitar. There's also software which will help you
understand tempo with instruction on a few additional advanced
tricks when you're ready for them.


If you weren't interested in studying the guitar, you wouldn't
have located this Jamorama review. Consequently if you're
serious and prepared to put in some time and effort, you need
good beginner guitar lessons offered. In our view, that's
Jamorama. No other acoustic guitar lessons for beginners online
study course serves up as much as this package. Many cost more.
Personal tutors demand upwards of $25.00 every thirty minute
lesson and they do not offer the flexibility to move at your own
pace and enjoy yourself while learning. Jamorama gives real
value with outstanding directions and everything you need to
learn to play the guitar.


These really are the best beginner guitar lessons available
anyplace and you can not beat the price tag. Easy guitar
lessons, affordable cost and everything you need to take it to
the next level. If you want to learn to play the guitar, you
need to get the Jamorama acoustic guitar lessons for beginners
online deal and get started.


About the author:


In Depth Course Delivers Video Acoustic Guitar Lessons
for Beginners Online
Makes Learning Acoustic Guitar Lessons
for Beginners
Easy.

Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster Review - Vintage Inspired, Modern Design

By: R. S. Rasnick

One of my favorite guitarists has always been Eric Johnson, and
I've always respected his natural sense of superb tone. Eric is
unapologetically a tonal perfectionist, and he demands the best
from all of his guitar gear.

When I discovered that Fender was releasing an Eric Johnson
model Stratocaster, I knew that it would have to live up to
Johnson's strict criteria.

Since Johnson prefers a 1957 Fender Stratocaster as his main
instrument, the company used that as the basis for the Eric
Johnson Stratocaster, where the talented Mr. Johnson would have
final say on everything from the screws to the pickguard.

For starters, the EJ Stratocaster has an ultrathin, Custom
Shop-quality nitrocellulose lacquer finish, which ultimately
results in more resonance since you don't have a thick coat of
paint "choking" the sound.

The neck is also a thing of beauty, since Johnson decided on a
one-piece, quartersawn maple neck. The 12" radius results in
outstanding playability, and the thin-skinned glossy lacquer and
vintage tint give the neck a gorgeous appearance.

The pickups bear the same level of detail and care. The Fender
team (with Johnson's input) previewed nineteen kinds of pickups
before settling on the final model. Though it took some time,
the payoff was worth it in the end. These pickups are
world-class and some of the most fascinating pickups we have
heard.

The wiring configuration mimics Eric's preferred Strat
modification, so the tone controls affect the neck and bridge
pickup, not the usual neck/middle configuration.

Johnson also dislikes string trees (he believes they negatively
affect tuning), so his signature model uses staggered tuners,
eliminating the need for string trees.

Though it seems like an unusual request, EJ also insisted that
the tremolo cavity not have a cover plate. Furthermore, he
wanted the cavity left paint-free, insisting that this helps the
vibrant qualities of the guitar.

All of these special modifications and suggestions leave us with
a guitar as engaging as the artist who inspired it. Though it
pays homage to Fender's vintage past, it nonetheless is a
soundly modern instrument in many ways.

Of all the intriguing qualities of the guitar, the things that
stick out the most are P & P ("pickups and playability"). The
Eric Johnson Strat has a sound that is uniquely its own and has
a smooth ease of play that makes it one of the greatest
instruments I've ever reviewed.

Matched with the vintage-style case, you're left with a
world-class instrument that bears the mark of its world-class
designer. You can't go wrong with an Eric Johnson Stratocaster!

About the author:
If you want to find the most competitive price on a new or used
Fender Eric Johnson Stratocaster, then you
need to visit Ray's
Guitar Shop
today! Ray's Guitar Shop offers the best prices
on all used and new electric and acoustic guitars, including
Fender guitars and basses. Visit their website today!

Monday, January 25, 2010

How To Buy An Affordable Acoustic Guitar

By: Marius Vosloo

Buying a decent acoustic guitar is the best investment you'll
ever make in your musical career. For the inexperienced buyer,
however it can be a minefield. You have to buy with caution,or
end up disappointed. The wrong acoustic guitar can frustrate
you. As a beginner guitarist you need all the good luck you can
get. The good news is there are decent acoustic guitars on the
market. I've identified my 5 favorite acoustic guitars for
beginners.

1.Fender CD60 Dreadnought:

No lenghty discussion is needed, it's a Fender! Fender is
associated with quality and versatility. Fender has been around
for almost 60 years. This acoustic guitar has a relatively low
action which make it suitable for newbie guitarists. It's shaped
to bring out the low sounds so that your chords sound deep and
rich. It is a value for money guitar which comes with a standard
hard-shell case. It sells for around $200.

2.Takamine s34 NEX Cutaway:

The Jasmine by Takamine S34 NEX Cutaway is an immensely popular
guitar for beginner guitarists. It sounds great considering the
affordability aspect. It features includes a spruce top, nato
back and sides, 21-fret mahogany neck, dark-stained rosewood
bridge and fretboard, and covered chrome tuning machines. Its
tone is good and it plays loud. You'll be amazed by its
affordability and playability.

3.Yamaha F335:

An excellent guitar for the beginner because of its low action.
Action is defined as the space between the strings and the
fretboard and a low action is much easier to play for the
beginner. It sounds awesome for the low price.

4.Hohner HW-90LH:

It sells for around $200. Hohner is an established brand and
known for quality and durability. Nice medium low action guitar.
It has a vibrant sound with good bass. A good choice for your
first guitar.

5. Martin 000X1:

In terms of an affordable acoustic for a beginner guitar player
then the 000X1 model is one of the best beginner acoustic
guitars because of its quality and affordability. In fact, all
the acoustic guitars from Martin's X series suit beginner
guitarists. The Martin brand receives good reviews on the
internet.

Conclusion:

Buying your first guitar does not have to be difficult. We live
in the information age, we have access to the right information.
Do a bit of research, talk to other guitarists and buy a decent
acoustic guitar. May your musical journey be a blessed one.
Don't be afraid to take that crucial first step towards a great
lifestyle.

About the author:
If you found this article informative and need more tips,go to
http://www.playawesomeguitar.com Free guitar ebook downloads at
the above mentioned site.

Friday, January 22, 2010

7 Ways to Practice Guitar Effectively

By: Laurie Lea

It makes no sense to spend a lot of time practicing guitar if
you're all over the place and playing things that do not get you
closer to your goals of becoming a better guitarist.

Here are 7 methods to practice effectively and take your playing
to a whole new level:

1) Always follow a plan. You didn't go to school and just kind
of "wing it". The nice people that taught you how to read and
write and do arithmetic had a plan or a curriculum for you. To
become an excellent guitarist you need to develop a plan to
follow, master it and then modify it so it challenges you and
keeps you moving forward.

2) Never put off practicing. To learn to play the guitar you've
got to practice and the more you practice, the better you'll
get. When you set up your plan, you most likely set specific
times to practice. Never assume you'll "get around to it"
because most people will never come back to it and will have
missed their session for the day. Make it a habit to just get
into your practice time when you're supposed to.

3) Don't limit yourself to one genre of music. A rock guitarist
can learn an awful lot by checking out what great players in
other genres are doing. Learning a few jazz or country licks
will really spice up your playing.

4) Do have a great place to practice. While it doesn't have to
be anything fancy, it should be comfortable enough to allow you
to practice in peace and quiet. It also needs to have the proper
tools like a music stand and light, a metronome, a stool or
something to sit on and a TV and DVD player if you're learning
from a DVD program. Avoid the TV unless it is being used to
learn from.

5) Change up your curriculum. This is not boot camp and it needs
to be fun. Some people do not enjoy learning and memorizing
scales and modes so it's nice to slip in some fun break time
playing in between the more tedious tasks just make sure to get
back on track after a short break.

6) Warm up your hands. Many people overlook this when learning
to play the guitar but it's very important. There are light hand
stretched you can do before you ever touch the guitar that will
limber up your hands and get blood flowing to the finger tips.

7) Share your skills. The best way to learn is to teach as it
tests what you do know. You can either hook up with another
guitarist once in a while or you can even give lessons to
someone else. This will make it very clear what you do and do
not know and you can adjust your learning from the





About the author:
For more great tips and advice on playing guitar go to
http://budurl.com/a7bm Hope you enjoyed the article.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Develop Your Own Guitar Playing Style

By: Laurie Lea

Learning to play guitar is rewarding and fun. All the hard work
pays off when you can confidently rip through other people's
songs as though you wrote them yourself. But, how do you go
about developing your own individual sound? It really would be
pretty boring to just sound like everyone else.

There are two schools of thought when developing your own sound.
The first is that to some degree, you ARE going to sound like
everyone else. If you were to take all of your influences, the
guitar players you admire and have been learning from, and mix
them all together the sound that comes out would be you plus
your own flavour.

To go from here and develop your own sound from it, you've got
to be open to new things. You're going to start out emulating
all of the guitarists whose playing you admire and you'll learn
all of their songs and licks. Without realizing it, you
automatically put your own twist on things which leads to
developing your own particular style and sound.

As you go through some lead passages, the original guitarist
might have used all down strokes with the pick, while you may
decide to alternate pick. This will create a slightly different
sound. Developing your own sound comes from your preferences and
the choices you make, including picking as mentioned, but also
the way you hold the pick and how aggressively you pick the
strings.

If you take one of the guitar greats and have him play on a
totally different guitar and amp setup, it will still sound like
him, with his signature sound and playing style. While you may
not notice it right away, the same will be true for you. If you
play on anyone else's gear, it will still sound like you.

To develop your style, listen to players in other genres and
decide what you like or think might work for you. A country
guitarist can take ideas from a rock guitarist, or jazz, or
blues. As you build your bag of tricks based on what sounds and
licks sound good to your ears, you'll start to hear your own
sound come through and it will be made up of all your
preferences over the years of playing.



About the author:
If you enjoyed this article go to http://budurl.com/a7bm for
more great tips and advice on playing guitar.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

How To Learn The Guitar Fretboard - Easily Find Notes and Scale Patterns

By: Graham Pett

For many guitarists, learning the guitar fretboard can seem like
a daunting challenge. Unlike instruments such as the piano, one
note can often be played in a number of positions and the
difference between natural notes and accidentals is not
obviously marked. Even allowing for the fact that the fretboard
repeats after the twelfth fret, there are still 72 note
positions to learn on a standard 6-string guitar! No wonder,
many guitarists quickly give up learning the fretboard out of
frustration, yet developing a thorough knowledge of the
fretboard will vastly improve music reading and improvisation
abilities and so it's well worth the time spent to learn both
the notes on the fretboard and the relationships between those
notes so that you can navigate the fretboard quickly and
fluently.

So what's the best way to go about improving your fretboard
knowledge? I'd suggest breaking it down into chunks by learning
a subset of the notes on the fretboard, along with navigational
patterns to help you find other notes from those you already
know. I'd follow a programme along these lines:

1) If you don't know them already, ensure that you can
instinctively name the notes at the open strings: E, A, D, G, B,
E (low to high). Remember that these are repeated at the 12th
fret.

2) Learn the five root shapes. These are the patterns that allow
you to navigate from one note to other notes with the same note
name. They're based on the positions of the roots in the
standard open chords C, A, G, E and D. For example, the roots in
the C Major chord are on the 5th string 3rd Fret and 2nd string
1st fret. So for a note on the 5th string, you can find the
equivalent note on the 2nd string by going down two frets.
Similar patterns can be found in the other four chords.

3) Learn to spell out the natural notes on the fretboard. The
natural notes are A, B, C, D, E, F, G. You can find them by
counting up from open strings, or by using the root patterns to
navigate from notes that you already know. When counting up, you
move up two frets to go up to the next natural note, except from
B to C and E to F where you only move up one fret. Focus on
learning the positions of the natural notes on the 5th and 6th
strings and using the root patterns to find the others. Also,
try to learn the notes at the 7th fret to give you another
baseline for navigating.

4) You get accidental notes by moving up one fret for a sharp or
down one fret for a flat.

5) To properly learn a scale, start with its formula. The
formula defines the spacing between each note of the scale in
terms of half-steps (1 fret), whole-steps (2-frets), etc. For
example, the formula for a major scale is "Whole, Whole, Half,
Whole, Whole, Whole, Half". Start by counting up the scale on a
single string.

6) Once you can play the scale on a single string, you need to
be able to play it across the fretboard, so you need to know how
to make whole step and half step jumps between strings. Usually,
to move up a whole step as you move up a string you move down
three frets, and for a half-step you move down four frets.
However, when moving from the 3rd to 2nd string you move down
two frets for a whole step and three for a half-step. Use this
knowledge with the scale formula in order to find scale patterns
across strings whilst moving your hand as little as possible.

7) Repeat this process for other scale formulas. For example,
the Natural Minor scale formula is " Whole, Half, Whole, Whole,
Half, Whole, Whole"

Hopefully this has given you some pointers for how to go about
learning the guitar fretboard. With anything like this
repetition is key so try and build in 5-10 minutes of your
practice time every day to practice finding fretboard notes and
working out scale patterns.

A useful tool that can help you with learning the fretboard is
the GuitarCo
urses.ws Fretboard Trainer
. This software provides lessons
in learning fretboard patterns, but more powerfully includes a
practice section that allows you to easily practice the guitar
fretboard patterns on a virtual fretboard so you can practice
any time, even without your guitar.

About the author:
GuitarCourses.ws is an
online directory of guitar courses helping guitarists to make
the right choice when choosing an online guitar course. We also
help guitarists to learn
the guitar fretboard
with our free and innovative Fretboard
Trainer Software. ©2010 GuitarCourses.ws - Reproduction
permitted with this bio text intact.

Guitar For Beginners - How To Get Started

By: Jason Jones

There's more to learning to play than just picking up a guitar
and getting to it. It's important to start out with the basics,
know what your goals are, and have a good learning program.
There are a few things you can expect to learn in just about any
beginners' guitar course. They'll be necessary for moving on to
an intermediate one. Here's an overview of what you should learn
during your guitar studies.

After you have completed your guitar for beginners course you
should have enough information to let you decide which guitar
genre you might want to learn. You can choose from rock guitar,
classical guitar, country and folk guitar, jazz guitar and many
other types of music. But every one of these guitar specialties
starts out the same, using the same basic lessons.

You'll learn the difference between steel strings and nylon, and
when you want to use each one, what kind of neck flexibility
works for which kind of playing, and how guitar shape affects
sound. You'll find out what different strumming techniques do,
and the difference betweeen upstrokes and downstrokes. Most
players just learning to strum will start with a few basic
chords: C, G, D7 and F. Be sure you can find out how the chords
are constructed and how they interact with one another.

Finger picking is another style you'll learn in a guitar for
beginners program. It might seem too advanced or like it might
be a better choice for a different type of music, but it's a
talent well worth learning. you'll learn how to use both hands
and have a good amount of dexterity with both. It's much better
to learn some extra techniques that you end up not using than it
is to not know how to do something you'll need to accomplish
your goals.

you'll start your guitar for beginners program by learning the
different parts of your guitar and the way they work together,
what makes a guitar good as opposed to bad, and how you should
look after your guitar. Knowing these things will make it much
easier for you to get the kind of sound you want out of your
guitar.

Tuning and knowing how each chord works with each key are also
important skills to have during your guitar for beginners
course. You'll start off using open tuning and then try barring,
which is pressing down the strings across the fret and
completing the chord using the rest of your fingers.

If you'd like to learn to
play the guitar online
, it can be tempting to jump right in.
Don't! Instead, take the time to get a good grounding in the
basics and become a skilled player. You'll be able to do a lot
more when you move onto advanced techniques. Anyone who really
wants to be skilled with the guitar has to take time and learn
those beginning techniques - even the professionals. They might
sound great now, but they were once beginners just like you.
It's amazing what a little bit of practice can do.

Learning scales are part of guitar for beginners lessons too,
because they're the foundation of almost all guitar playing.
When you learn your scales you will begin to progress much more
rapidly.

About the author:
Jason Jones loves to write and give tips about learning the guitar for
beginners
as well as helping people to shorten their
learning curve.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Online Guitar Lessons: Learn At Your Own Pace

Online guitar lessons are a great way to learn guitar. Cheaper and more convenient than private studio lessons, the technology is now at a point where the difference in quality is nonexistent and actually has many advantages.

Many guitar instructors are limited to a certain style. With the better online courses the styles and musical genres are practically unlimited. There is no boredom factor involved either. Many students quit guitar lessons if their teacher doesn't know the songs,artists or type of music they like. The top courses cover all the bases. If you don't like certain musical styles, don't play them and go on to something else more interesting.

The most comprehensive online guitar courses have something for everyone, from beginners to advanced. You're an advanced guitarist and want to explore exotic scales? You'll find lessons on them. Decent player who wants to find ways to increase fretboard speed and accuracy? There's a ton of different exercises available. Don't want to play lead guitar and want to become a master at chord work? Go right to it.

Perhaps the single biggest advantage of online music courses is the convenience. You don't have to get to a regularly scheduled lesson every week. You can learn at your own pace. You have a twenty four hour day to use also if you work shifts that make it hard to get to regular lessons. If you're a quick learner and want to put a lot of time and practice in to get good fast, you can do it. That's something that would be almost impossible anywhere but online lessons.

The best guitar courses online will have a number of different instructors all with their own videos and software tools to help you master your instrument. One canned software product is not good enough to learn properly. Most of these courses are incomplete. Look for programs that have plenty of tools and instructors and that will interact with you for help if you get stuck.

The most comprehensive guitar course online is GUITAR SUPERSTARS. They get bigger and better all the time. Check it out AND there is a guarantee if you're not satisfied.

Guitar Lessons DVD - 4 Tips for Beginner Guitar Lessons

By: Jim Farlow

If you are just getting started with the guitar it is vital that
you choose specific beginner guitar lessons that have the proper
tools geared towards rapid advancement.

Here is some of what you will learn once you have choose the
correct guitar lessons DVD.

When you look at online guitar lessons you will find that many
of them are geared towards helping more advanced players to
reach a higher level. The problem for those who are new to
lessons is that every lesson promises the world for both
beginners and advanced players.

The truth of the matter is that there are only a handful of
qualified guitar lessons that are geared towards beginners and
have the tools that are extremely important if you expect to
advance quickly with the guitar.

There are a few other factors to consider when choosing the
correct lessons.

What is the specific type of guitar you want to learn? Acoustic,
electric or bass. Another question is the type of music you are
looking to play. There are many instructors specific to jazz or
blues yet those instructors many times are not qualified to tech
hard rock. There really is a major difference and I have seen
many guitar instructors with beginner guitar lessons who are
excellent teachers with their specific music and for that reason
try to guide their students towards that type of music.

Now let's take a minute to look at just a few of the tools you
as a beginner need to make sure you have within your lessons.

* Jam Tracks - An excellent tool for beginner guitar lessons
which allows you to play along with your favorite artist and
songs.

* Guitar Lessons DVD - Having a DVD to look at with the many
lessons that include frets notes and other instruction will help
you to advance quickly. For whatever reason though many online
lessons do not offer DVD. I have found that those that do not
offer their lessons on DVD simply have not put the time into
their lessons.

* Online Support - This is an added benefit that I have found
with some of the top beginner and advanced lessons. This of
course allows you to interact directly with the instructor and
other advanced students that can answer your questions within a
private forum which can be a Hugh plus. Most online lessons
though do not offer this benefit. If all the other criteria are
met this benefit may not be necessary but it again is a nice
plus..

* Experience of Instructor - I cannot tell you how many lessons
out their are given by guitar players who have very little
experience. This is actually one of the biggest problems if you
are not careful when seeking the correct lessons for you.

When I first started seeking guitar lessons DVD I went through
many lessons that did not make sense and certainly did not offer
the proper tools to help me advance as I wanted.

It was only after going through several lessons and getting so
frustrated I was ready to quit that I finally found lessons that
had me playing my favorite songs in less then a week.

Guitar Lessons DVD in most casses should be a must. While I have
seen a few lessons that were qualified enough not to have a DVD
it again helps to see what you are doing right and what you are
doing wrong.

About the author:
If you are a beginner or simply looking to advance your skills
Click Here to review the top online guitar
lessons that use the tools mentioned within this article. A
review is the best way to look at what is available and which is
best for you and the type of music you want to play. By choosing
the correct lessons you should be playing songs you enjoy within
a few days.

Guitar For Beginners - Do You Want To Learn?

By: Craig Mooney

There's more to learning to play than just picking up a guitar
and getting to it. It's important to start out with the basics,
know what your goals are, and have a good learning program.
There are a few things you can expect to learn in just about any
beginners' guitar course. They'll be necessary for moving on to
an intermediate one. Here's an overview of what you should learn
during your guitar studies.

When you get through your guitar course, you should have the
information to decide what kind of specialty you want to take
up. There's rock guitar, classical guitar, jazz guitar, country
and folk and many other options. But all these styles start off
with the same basic lessons.

First you'll learn the parts of your instrument and the way they
interact, what makes a good guitar vs. a bad one, and how your
guitar should be maintained. This information will make it
easier for you to achieve the kind of sound you want.

Finger picking is another style you'll learn in a guitar for
beginners course. It might seem too advanced or like it might be
a better choice for a different type of music, but it's a talent
well worth learning. you'll learn how to use both hands and have
a good bit of dexterity with both. It's much better to learn
some extra tips that you end up not using than it is to not know
how to do something you'll need to accomplish your goals.

Guitar tuning and familiarizing yourself with the ways each
chord works with each key are important skills as well. Your
guitar for beginners lessons will start you off with open
tuning, then work up to barring - pressing down the strings
across the fretboard and completing the chord with your other
fingers.

Your guitar for
beginners
course will show you the difference between steel
strings and nylon, along with when you will want to use each
type. It will teach you what kind of neck flexibility works best
for different types of playing, and how the shape of a guitar
can change the sound it produces. The lessons will also teach
you about what different strumming techniques do and how
downstrokes are different than upstrokes. A lot of people just
starting to strum begin with some basic chords like C,G,D7 and
F. Your guitar for beginners course will teach you how chords
are played and how they work together.

Learning scales will be on the agenda, as well. After all,
scales are the basis of almost all guitar playing. Your ability
to progress on the guitar will soar once you master your scales.

When you're eager to learn
to play the guitar online
, jumping in without preparation
can be tempting. Don't do it, though. Get a firm mastery of the
basics and become a skilled guitar player instead. If you start
with the basics you'll be able to play more skillfully when you
move into more advanced guitar techniques. Even professional
guitarists took the time to learn the basics, and so must
everybody else. The guitar professionals sound really good now,
but they started out as beginners, just like you. They're a
great example of what a little practice can do.

About the author:
Craig is a guitar enthusiast and plays in his spare time. He has
reviewed some of the best guitar for beginners programs
available and is constantly trying to improve his own guitar
skills. For more tips and tricks go to
http://www.guitarblaster.com

Monday, January 18, 2010

Easy Guitar Lessons Online - Learn How To Play In Record Time

By: Dean James

The Internet is a growing place for musicians to gather, offer
advice, inspire one another, and even give lessons. Technology
is taking music further than it has ever gone before. The
question is not whether music will survive this thrust of
technological advancements, it's how it is going to affect it.
So what happens if you are a musician, or a want to be musician
who is looking for a place to get better? It used to be that in
order to get easy guitar lessons you would have to find a local
teacher who could fit in with your schedule and budget. However,
with this push of technology at our fingertips we are able to
find easy, and even free information with the push of a mouse.

If you want to know how to get easy guitar lessons, all you need
to do is search for it. Within a few seconds you will be given
many different websites that offer a number of different
services depending on your skill level, musical interests, time
commitment level, or any number of other possibilities. Once you
figure out what you are looking for you simply move forward at
your own pace.

Easy guitar lessons can be done on your time frame and at your
pace. With you setting the pace there is nobody pushing you too
hard or fast. If you missed something in the online lesson then
you simply pause the video and go back. Along with video there
are usually various other tools that accompany the lessons. This
can include, but is not exclusive to, music books, practice
CD's, or even other web links with other information on them.
You will be surprised with just how effective this kind of
training can be.

Once you have mastered or feel comfortable with this level of
training you can move on to the next level. With music there is
always some place else to go and learn. Easy guitar lessons
might be where you start, but where you end up is completely up
to you. The possibilities are literally at your fingertips and
waiting for you to click on them.

About the author:
With this FREE 10 Part Course you can master basic guitar skills
quickly and discover the best place to take EASY guitar lessons online
at => http://www.LHGuitars.com

Learn to Play Fast Guitar

By: Laurie Lea

A lot of guitarists long to be able to play blazing fast or
"shred" guitar and we all know it's no easy task. Not many
beginner players (or even many advanced guitarists) can just sit
down and play smoking fast lead lines that tear up the fretboard
and sound really impressive.

If you've ever tried to play fast and you just weren't ready, it
would have been very obvious right from the start as all the
notes would sound jumbled together and just sound like a
confused mess.

What you are thinking right now is most likely "Well, then how
do I get to play fast too?" You've heard the saying "you've got
to walk before you can run" Well, like it or not that is true in
this case too, but there are a couple of little shortcuts for
you to take to help you get shredding sooner rather than later.

The first thing you need is a metronome. They come in various
styles but the simplest one to use is the simple electronic one
with a small built in speaker, whose speed or BPM (beats per
minute) can be increased and decreased one BPM at a time.

The next thing is you'll take a super simple exercise like the
standard 1234 warm up exercise, where the 1234 represents
playing the first, then second, then third and then forth note
on each string starting with the 6th string and then moving onto
the 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd and finally the first.

Now, instead of playing this exercise using all down strokes of
the pick, you'll want to incorporate alternate picking. As you
may recall, alternate picking is where you pick one note using a
down stroke and then the next with an upstroke and then you just
alternate back and forth. This is a very efficient picking
method and it is essential to master it if you want to play fast.

Begin with a slow metronome setting like 80 BPM or so and see
how it feels and work your way up from there.

You should be picking a note every time the metronome ticks. Do
this perfectly and adhere strictly to the alternate
picking...down-up-down-up-down-up etc., making sure to stay
exactly in time and being careful to avoid playing sloppily.
When you feel comfortable that you can easily pick every note
clearly and perfectly at that speed, write it in a notebook and
increase the metronome BPM slightly. Keep repeating this process
and before long, you'll notice you're ripping up the notes at a
high rate of speed of 150 BPM or more!

Repeat exactly the same exercise on any scales you may know as
well as the 7 modes. Clean, deliberate alternate picking is the
thing that will help you become a fast player that people want
to hear.





About the author:
For more great tips and advice on playing guitar go to:
http://budurl.com/a7bm

Learning Guitar? Accelerate your Playing

By: Laurie Lea

Learning to play guitar can, at the beginning, be very
rewarding and fun but can also be frustrating especially if
you're expecting results too soon.

We all know it takes time to become proficient (or even really
"good") at anything, deep down we all just want to be awesome
guitarists and we want it super fast, right? There's one slick
tip I can share with you. It'll accelerate your playing very
quickly if you stick with it and incorporate it into your
playing. It'll also set you apart from other players and enhance
your own sound, because you're creating totally new sounding
riffs and licks that your friends and other players around you
simply aren't playing.

The secret tip is:- to play things backward. That's right...take
every scale, mode and exercise that you play and play it
backward. It will seem difficult and unorthodox at first, but
trust me, and give it a go. Let's say you were playing a warm up
that started on the first fret of the 6th string and moved to
the second then 3rd and then the 4th fret and then repeated on
the 5th string , then the 4th, 3rd, 2nd and finally the first.

It would look kind of like this...

E|1234 B|1234 G|1234 D|1234 A|1234 E|1234

But instead, you are going to start on the 6th string and play
it backward starting with the 4th fret on the 6th string or the
G# and descend each string down to the 1st fret before moving
onto the 5th string and so on. It would look kind of like this...

E|4321 B|4321 G|4321 D|4321 A|4321 E|4321

Now a great exercise to do if you were doing the conventional
1234 warm up would be to carry on up the neck and on the 6th
string play the next 4 ascending notes starting with the F# on
the 6th string but we're getting crazy here so you're not only
going backward, but also upside down!

After you play the 4321 run from the 6th string on up to the
first string you're going to end on the 1 which will be the 1st
fret on the 1st string (or F for the keeners following along ?).
Rather than jumping back up to the 6th string on the guitar
simply slide your index finger from the 1st fret, 1st string up
to the 2nd fret on the first string (F#) and play the next
ascending run which fret numbers would be 5432 so that is going
to look like this...

E|5432 B|5432 G|5432 D|5432 A|5432 E|5432

Keep repeating this exercise until you've reached or passed the
12th fret. How the heck is this supposed to accelerate your
playing you ask? It will teach your fingers to work way more
independently and make it easier to play difficult runs with
weird fingerings and I would bet most of the other local rock
stars aren't even thinking about going backward in order to move
forward!

Rock on!







About the author:
If you enjoyed this article go to http://budurl.com/a7bm for
more great tips and advice on playing guitar.

Guitar Classes For Adults

By: Paul Gian

Who says learning the guitar has an age limit? For adults who
have been thinking about pursuing their long time goal of
playing the guitar for years but never got around to it, guitar
classes for adults may be just the thing to teach you the skill.
Guitar classes for adults are targeted specifically at teaching
working professionals how to learn the guitar.

Adults learn differently than children. Adults are able to make
judgments based on past experiences, they are better experienced
at taking criticism, and they tend to be more patient and
willing to ask questions as they learn. Learning in the same
environment as children can be de-motivating and frustrating for
adult learners. Making sure that adults learn with their peers
is the best way to facilitate a desire to learn the guitar which
will help the adult in following through with his or her goals.

Guitar classes for adults are usually available through
traditional institutions, independent tutors, or distance
education tutorials. Traditional institutions include colleges,
weekend / night schools, and brick and mortar guitar studios.
These places will put on regular guitar lessons at pre scheduled
times in one central location. Tutors and private instructors
are usually people who are self employed and passionate about
the guitar. A tutor / private instructor may or may not be
affiliated with a larger school. Most guitar instructors do the
job on the side in order to make a few extra bucks a month. Few
guitar instructors / tutors can do their job full time. A third
option for adult guitar students is correspondence courses.
Correspondence courses can be taught at a distance and can be
delivered in a variety of platforms including the Internet,
snail mail, videos and DVDs. These courses will be most
difficult for beginners because they will have no prior
experience to base the lessons off of. The down side to learning
an instrument through correspondence courses is that there is
nobody else available to let you know if you are doing something
right or wrong. Questions cannot be asked and matters cannot be
clarified. Correspondence courses are best to be used as
refresher courses for people who already have a basic
understanding of guitar principles.

No matter the type of format used to learn the guitar, a person
can never be too old to learn how to play.

About the author:
Find Out More About Guita
r Classes For Adults
? You Can Learn Guitar
With Free Lessons Here.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Learning Disciplined Guitar Practice

By: Laurie Lea

Many guitarists start out with the dream of becoming a great
guitar player. It's well within the reach of anyone willing to
put in the work to learn their craft but all the hard work is
what stops many people. Practice won't always be exciting and
will sometimes be downright boring if you don't go at it with a
plan and some discipline . When you first start to play guitar,
it's easy to practice because you're basically just sitting
around noodling away and getting to know the instrument. You
have no real direction or agenda and things are pretty simple.
Sooner or later you're going to see or hear other guitar players
that are playing things a little beyond your current ability and
you'll want to ramp your skills up so that you play as well as
they do.

The good news, realistically, is that everyone starts at zero
and builds on their skills from there. How quickly you excel or
how far you can go is entirely in your hands but you can rest
assured that having disciplined practice will allow you to go
further faster.

You'll want to pick definite, specific times for practice.
Choose times when you can concentrate in a focused way on the
task at hand without anything interrupting you. Have all of your
household chores and duties completed and out of the way,
homework done, dog walked, and everything else that could
possibly interrupt and interfere.

Work out a practice plan and stick to it until each topic is
completely understood and you can play it very fluidly and
easily. You can break practice up into categories like this for
example:

- Warm up - Major Scales - Free jamming - Minor scales - Riffs
from songs you like

- Warm up - Major Scales - Free jamming - Minor scales - Riffs
from songs you like

...and so on.

The point is to stick to the plan every day until you've
mastered the topics. Play slowly and cleanly and with the use of
a metronome if possible.

Resist the urge to want to play fast too soon. It will come with
time, but you'll become a much better guitarist if you take the
time and effort to cleanly pick every note.

So, you want to practice regularly and with a plan, as well as
playing everything you learn very deliberately so as to get it
perfect before you move on. Once you're confident that you've
got it down, move onto something else to keep challenging
yourself.





About the author:
Enjoyed this article? Go to http://budurl.com/a7bm for more
great tips and advice on playing guitar.

How to Buy a New Guitar without Getting Ripped Off

By: Laurie Lea

 If you're looking to buy your first guitar, upgrade the guitar
you have or add to your growing collection, you'd be very wise
to do your research first to make sure you get a decent
instrument that you'll be happy with. It makes no sense at all
to rush the process. You may wind up hating the guitar you get,
you'll never play it, be angry with yourself that you wasted the
money and you might lose money on it when you go to re-sell it.

Most people will suggest that you to go down to your local music
shop and try what they have. We'll get to that point, but there
is some fun and easy legwork you need to do before you ever set
foot in a music store, especially if it's one of those that are
crawling with commissioned sales people.

You'll need to narrow down exactly what type of guitar it is
you're looking for. The two basics types of guitars are acoustic
(hollow body) and electric (solid body). After you've picked the
basic type you also need to consider what you want the guitar to
look like. While this makes absolutely no difference to how the
instrument sounds, you're going to have it for a long time and
you want to be proud of it. What the guitar looks like is an
extension of your personality so don't be ashamed to make the
look of an instrument a priority.

Guitar magazines can be great sources of information as they
usually have monthly reviews of guitars and equipment. Be
careful with these though. While most guitar magazines will give
honest and unbiased reviews of instruments if you flip through
the magazine you'll also notice that the magazine has full page
ads for most of the top companies. The companies pay the
magazines big bucks to run those ads so obviously saying their
instruments are junk in a review wouldn't be good for business
would it? The good things is that most companies now make entry
level guitars as well as many levels above, so a magazine is not
likely going to bother reviewing guitars that are likely to be
terrible. Next you'll want to check out the web. Go to
www.google.com and type in forum:guitar and you will get a whole
list of forums that are based on guitars. Of course this will
cover all aspects of guitar playing, guitar lessons, and even
guitar players but it will give you a starting point to find
forums that contain honest user reviews.

After you've trawled the forums and found some reviews you
should be narrowing down the choices and reading up on a few
models. Before you head to the music shop to try them out, check
out what your favorite guitarists are playing. Many have
signature models which generally cost more but they've
customized them based on years of experience and trial and error.

Armed with all of this knowledge you'll be able to make a very
informed purchase and hopefully buy a guitar that you'll be
happy with for years to come!



About the author:
Enjoyed this article? Go to http://budurl.com/a7bm for more
great tips and advice on playing guitar.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Epiphone Les Paul Special II Review - Solid Quality, Low Cost

By: R. S. Rasnick

Because the market for novice guitars is so popular, you're
beginning to find beginner-level instruments everyplace you
turn. Even retailers like Target and Wal-Mart have gotten in on
the action.

However, the old proverb "you get what you pay for" applies when
purchasing a musical instrument at the same place you can buy
motor oil. Obviously, it's difficult to buy a substantial,
beginner guitar without wasting your money.

Look out, then, for the Epiphone Les Paul Special II! It has a
street price of less than $170, so it's moderately obvious that
this instrument is aimed at budget-conscious consumers. Despite
the low cost, you get rather a bit for your money.

There's no shortage of instruments in the budget market, and the
Epiphone Les Paul Special II is a worthy entry into this growing
marketplace with its killer rock sound and ease of play.

The Epiphone Les Paul Special II boasts two open-coil humbucking
pickups (the 700T and 650R), which translates the acoustic tone
from its basswood body. The guitar features a bolt-on neck
(mahogany) and a rosewood fretboard. A tune-o-matic bridge with
stopbar tailpiece are standard, as are dot inlays.

A 3-way selector switch along with master volume and tone
controls allows you to set your sounds. The guitar's
specifications include a 24-3/4" scale and 1-5/8" nut width.

Upon our first review, we did have to make a few little
adjustments such as intonating the guitar, adjusting the action,
and tightening up the tuners. The pickup selector was also a bit
scratchy.

After we took care of these minor problems, we were extremely
pleased with the overall quality of the guitar. The finish is
moderately thin, so you do have to be cautious, but the wine red
finish was well done overall.

We were encouraged with the action and tones, which are simply
superb for a guitar as budget-priced as the Les Paul Special II.
We did observe a couple of dead spots on the neck, but what do
you want for $170? We still enjoyed the instrument very much.

Given its price, we strongly recommend the Epiphone Les Paul
Special II for anyone seeking a budget-level instrument that is
both playable and good-sounding.

About the author:
If you are looking for a great price on a guitar for beginners
or for a wonderful budget-priced guitar, you should definitely
consider the Epiphone Les Paul Special II. For the
absolutely lowest prices, look no further than http://www.raysguitarshop.com">Ray's
which offers the best prices on all used and new electric and
acoustic guitars on the Internet.