Learn to Play Guitar FAST

In the simplest terms, a guitar tab is a word that is used to describe a musical notation, which may contain either numbers or letters and explains to the musician where to place his/her fingers on the student guitar. Guitar tabs are made up of six lines that is often called a “staff notation”.Each separate string on a guitar is represented by a line on the guitar tab.

New musicians often find guitar tabs to be especially baffling in that the strings are written backwards. The highest string is found at the top of the guitar tabs, which is often difficult to learn since most people would expect that guitar tabs would be written from top to bottom instead of the other way around. In actuality, guitar tabs are written from the highest to lowest and the numbers on each line represent the guitar fret. In order to understand guitar tabs, all new guitarists need to learn string placement and how to correctly read frets.

Depending on the music publisher, guitar tabs, usually written in a standard format may vary a little. Not to mention, reading staff notation is much more difficult than learning to read guitar tabs. Because of it’s visual representation, new musicians are often more comfortable reading guitar tabs than any other kind of music.

When learning the acoustic electric guitar, musicians will become familiar with the instrument and how it works. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways, including private instruction, informational reference books and videos. In some cases, classroom lessons may even be used to help better equip the musician to learn electric guitar and how to read guitar tabs. Terms used to describe the guitar you need to be familiar with include the neck, fret, string, chord and so on., he/she will also begin to easily read guitar tabs.

When first beginning to play, guitar tabs will seem intimidating. Tabs may seem a bit confusing because of all the lines, symbols, numbers and letters. With practice and time, a guitar tab will be as easy to understand as the links found your favorite website. Few musicians can play by ear without first learning a song via sheet music, which is why reading guitar tabs is the first step that a guitarist must take before learning how to play.

If you need further information on finding a guitar instructor, check the local yellow page listing or stop by your local high school or college and ask the music director for a recommendation.

Tags: tuning guitars, guitar playing, left handed guitar, electric guitar, lynyrd skynyrd

Some great guitar players have used Gibson guitars to tear up the fretboard and entertain the masses. Here’s afew of the players that have used Gibson guitars to bring rock & heavy metal to the people.

• Angus Young -AC/DC. Perhaps the most famous Gibson player on the planet, Angus Young has been donning the school uniform and strapping on the Gibson SG  ever since before most of us were born -and hes still doing it. Angus has rarley ever been seen without his Gibson SG, although he also owns a Gibson Firebird & a 335.
  Classic tracks: Highway to hell, back in black, let there be rock
• Slash. Slash, or better known as ‘Saul Hudson’, has been wailing away on a Les Paul since during the recording of rock band Gun and Roses most famous album ‘appetite for destruction’. But what isnt known is that the Les Paul on the album is a copy job, and not a Gibson model. It didnt matter, as Slash’s use of the instrument made the guitar even more iconic in the 80s and helped to increase sales in the instrument. Slash now has his own signature Gibson guitar, but still uses his 1987 Les Paul standard as his main guitar for live playing.
  Classic tracks: Welcome to the jungle, Sweet child of mine, Slither
• Tony Iommi. The father of the heavy metal riff, Tony Iommi and Black Sabbath shook the world with their arrival in the seventies. Iommi lost his middle & index fingertips in an industral accident and had to relearn to play guitar all over again -inspired by Django Rienhardt, who had limited use of his 3rd and 4th fingers. Iommi has been playing with a Gibson SG since the recording of the first Black Sabbath album when his Fender’s neck pickup broke and hasnt returned to them since.
  Classic tracks: Paranoid, Black Sabbath, War pigs
• Zakk Wylde. Ozzy bought Zakk into his solo band after being sent a tape of him playing, and Wylde has been playing with him on and off ever since. Wylde also plays guitar in his ’side project’ band, the black label society, which has its own following. Wylde’s guitar certainly sounds out with its custom ‘bullseye’ paint job and signature range of Les Pauls, which recently added a flying v guitar crossed with an SG.
  Classic tracks:Suicide messiah, Still born, In this river

Tags: tune your guitar, learn how to play guitar, How To Play Guitar, ben edwards, guitar for beginners

Custom Guitar Bulider Video

Guitars - custom guitars are still made today. This video shows a man who makes custom guitars, and it tells some interesting history of the guitars he’s made. Most of us aren’t in the market for a handmade guitar. The good news is that guitar manufacturers have some good guitars at affordable prices for us “regular” folks.

Whether you are a beginner guitar player or an experienced guitarist…

Maybe you need to buy your first guitar, or you possibly want to buy a better guitar than the one you are using. Or, you may be wanting a different style of guitar or are just adding another instrument to a collection.

It’s a good idea to do some homework by researching all that you can about guitars before buying one. The best places to do this research is in guitar shops, guitar magazines and, of course, check what is available online. With these three ways to research you can find out more about guitars’ current prices and the variety of brands and styles. You can also read many online blogs with great information about guitars and guitar lessons.

Ask guitarist friends for recommendations, look up all the information you can about guitar manufacturers, or read reviews in magazines or on the internet. Go test out guitars in more than one shop (if you have guitar stores in your area). Focus on how the guitars you try out sound and if they are easy to play (you don’t need to worry about your playing abilities). Hold the guitar out straight and look down the fretboard to make sure it is not warped or bowed.

Play it first before you buy a guitar! 

When you try out a guitar that you might want to buy, when you strum there should not be a buzzing sound. Be sure that the distance of the strings from the fretboard is not too high (which makes the guitar much harder to play).

To check an electric guitar, be sure to be plugged into an amplifier to check the sound and tone controls - make sure they work properly. Check the pickups and the tone and volume controls. Most music stores have a salesperson that can play a guitar - have them play something on a few guitars. If you can bring a guitar playing friend along to the store, they can be a resource to test guitars and give you an objective opinion.

When you have a better idea about the current new guitar prices, you’ll be able to know how much to budget for your guitar purchase. You need to know the current prices and information about guitar brands before you try to negotiate with the guitar store salesperson. It’s their job to persuade you to spend money - and they are usually very skilled at making you spend more than you planned to. 

If this is your first guitar, you probably should not consider buying your instrument in an online auction.The reason I can’t recommend buying through an auction is because you really should play a guitar before you buy it. A guitar should feel good to hold and play - get the right size and style that suits you and the kind of music you play. Your goal is to find a guitar (within your budget) that feels and sounds right to you.

Tags: guitar for beginners, led zeppelin, ben edwards, How To Play Guitar, learn how to play guitar

Metal has a huge string of guitar players who completely destroy and own the stage as though nothing else mattered. Lets talk about three guitarists who influenced the sound of heavy metal, and how they still impact on the genre even today.

• Randy Rhoads. Randy Rhoads was remembered more for his work with ex Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne rather than the LA band Quiet Riot. Rhoads helped write such classic Ozzy songs as ‘Crazy train’ and ‘Dee’. Randy’s classical influence and background can be seen on the first two solo Ozzy albums which he played on. 1979’s ‘Blizzard of Oz’ album and 1981’s ‘diary of a madmen’. Ozzy believed Randy would’ve gone on to leave the band and further study classical music, which seemed to be the direction he was going in. The specialist Jackson guitars made for Rhoads are a popular choice amongst guitarists today. Rhoads lost his life in a plane crash in 1982 and guitar playing and character has been paid tribute to numerous times throughout the years.
• Chuck Schulidner. ‘Death’s main axeman, vocalist and head songwriter. Hailed as the father of the death metal subgenre, a term he himself wasnt comfortable with, Chuck was a huge influence on many guitar players and extreme metal. ‘Scream bloody gore’, the first album from Death, was the template for the genre known as death metal, but with each album the style and directions changed. Death released four more albums before Schuldiner folded the band in 1999 to play guitar in a new band ‘control denied’, which released the one album ‘the fragile art of exsistance’. Chuck Schulidner died after a long battle with cancer in 2001, which saw the metal community unite many a time to try and raise funds for his surgery.
• Darrell Lance Abbott -’Dimebag’. Guitarist of the infamous Pantera later of Damageplan and also played guitar on the country band rebel meets rebel. Pantea began as a ‘glam metal’ band in Texas in 1981, but thier sound changed dramatically and 1989s ‘Cowboys from hell’ album saw them becoming heavier, with a groove in their sound. Thier next album 1992’s ‘Vulgar display of power’ was the band breakthrough album, featuring the songs ‘this love’,'walk’, and ‘a new level’. Next album ‘Far beyond driven’ jumped to the top of the US charts on its release, proving at the time that metal was still ‘alive’. Pantera brought out 2 more albums before a breakdown in communication split the band into two camps, never reconsiling before the guitarists death. While playing onstage with Damageplan in Dec 2004, Dimebag was shot and died instantly. His sound is still seen in alot of bands today- ‘Lamb of god’ are an example of this.

Inspired to get playing some electric guitars? Come to these guys to get a great deal on guitars

Tags: ben edwards, Country Guitar, How To Play Guitar, guitar lessons, guitar for beginners

Guitar hero has convinced you that you want to upgrade from coloured buttons upto 6 strings -well done. So what do you need to know before buying your first guitar? These are afew tips that you should keep in mind when looking for your new guitar.

• What kind of guitar are you after? The myth used to be that you had to buy an acoustic before you could progress to electric. Thats completely untrue, as if you want to play electric guitar you should go and get one. You will benefit most from starting on the type of guitar you want to want in the first place. Its the same if you give someone whose interested in acoustic playing an electric guitar- not a good idea. while you are still playing a guitar, which is a good, by playing on the instrument you want your posture and hand positioning will be alot better.
• What guitar is the right one for you? So you’ve decided you want an electric, but what suits you and the style you want to play? You shouldnt get a Gibson 335, a guitar thats built for blues playing if your thing is brutal heavy metal. The tone of a guitar will vary from guitar brands depening on the pick ups and the wood used to make them. Single coils pickups have a very clean tone as opposed to humbucker pickups, which will throw you a more bassier, rock guitar tone. Starting off on one of the cheaper models, such as a Squier or a Yamaha brand guitar which are good solid beginners guitars are good.
• Try out the guitar before you buy. The only way you’ll know if you enjoy playing the guitar is by trying it out for yourself. While going into a guitar shop in front of other players can be daunting, they’ll know that we are all beginners at some point. If your buying the guitar as a suprise gift, know what kind of music they want to play and ask the shop for recommendations. A good guitar can set them onto a new path, while a bad one can put them off.

After to get your first guitar and guitar accessories

Tags: learn how to play guitar, history of the guitar, jamorama.com, guitar playing, jazz guitar

The great motivator Earl Nightingale came up with the following definition of success…
Success is the progressive realization of the goal you want to achieve.” I love that definition! What does this definition mean to you? Let’s take a closer look at the worthy ideal part of it…

Please spend a few minutes writing down what the words “worthy ideal” mean to you. I feel that it is my vision of perfection…a vision of how I would ideally like things to be.It is a vision that I fine very energizing & inspiring!

If your success with guitar is totally dependant on working towards a worthy ideal, doesn’t it make sense that you first need to figure out what YOUR worthy ideal is? How can you progressively realize something even if you don’t know what it is? How about we do some exercises to figure your one out…

Please invest at least a couple of hours doing the following exercises. They will seriously help you build a mental picture of what your goal is in your head…

Exercise 1:
Imagine how would ideally like to play.Try to imagine what your electric guitar will look like, sound like, and feel like.What kind of electric guitar are you an expert at? How does your improvising sound? What about your composing? You can write down your answers now.

Exercise 2:
I want you to imagine your ideal guitar playing career. Would you be a expert guitar teacher? What about an amazing performing artist? Or another goal can be performing as part of a highly successful band? How would you like to be an in demand studio guitarist? What do you TRULY want to do? Please write down your answers now.

Exercise 3:
Jot down your ideas for a worthy career in guitar playing. Write it down in the present tense, as if you have already achieved it.Try to condense it down into a one paragraph statement.

Exercise 4:
Invest 5 minutes every morning and night to read your worthy ideal. This will be a factor in helping you stay motivated and focused on the goals that you want to achieve.

Clarity is something that you must have. Without it you won’t be able to start developing an effective plan to work towards your worthy ideal.

You will find that while you are answering the questions that self-doubt will start to creap into your mind. You may doubt whether or not what you write down is even possible! This is normal. Just write down your answers anyway You don’t need to know right now HOW you will achieve your worthy ideal. It’s easy, just figure out what it is.

You can improve your electric guitar skills. You only learn by doing.

Anyone at the 02 arena on saturday to see Metallica play their final dates of their ‘world magnetic’ tour? Its great to have a whole new set of Metallica songs to see them play, rather than just dusting of the much loved classics again.

The new Metallica album ‘Death Magnetic’ is cruelly compared to the classic ‘Master of puppets’, But maybe this is because it doesnt sound like the other albums. Death magnetic doesnt have the simplicity of the ‘Black’ album, yet the technicality of ‘And justice for all’. ‘That was just your life’ and ‘end of the line, which open up the album feel as if ‘Battery’ and title track ‘Master of puppets’ got an update for 2008/9. The same is true of the album closers ’suicide and redemption’ and ‘my apocalypse’ -its like they wanted to reproduce ‘Orion’ and ‘Damage inc’ from Master of puppets. The album surprised alot of people who were ready to to write it off- myself included.

After main support Machine head build the crowd up into a frenzy, its up to Metallica to deliver, and they dont disapoint. Starting with the opening two tracks from the new album and dont let up the pace by playing 3 tracks from the much loved ‘And justice for all’. Perhaps aware thats its Justice’s 20th aniversary? Who knows, i was just happy to get the train wreck (in a good way) that is ‘one’, ‘harvester of sorrow’ and the title track itself -all nine minutes of it.

One surprise in the set list was ‘fight fire with fire’, from the album ‘Ride the lightning’, a song very rarely brought out live, and the trip to London to see them play that song was worth it alone. Metallica end up playing a further four tracks from the new album, and you cant help feeling that the guys are actually enjoying having new material to play, with Hetfield running in between the four microphones placed around the stage. The encore sees them bust out a Motorhead cover of ‘Overkill’, followed by bringing the house down with ‘Kill ‘em all’ favourites ‘Hit the lights’ and ‘Seek and destroy’.

I last saw them at Download 2006 when they playedall of the master of puppets album, an amazing set which I didnt think they would ever top. I was wrong, and glad of it, Metallica proved with Death magnetic they could still write fast aggressive music, and tonight proved (to me anyway) they can still deliver a set full of surprises and fist pounding metal.

Just a shame about the trains then huh? Thinking about holding a riverside event near the O2 or want to keep up with London events?

Country music is a very popular type of music which began in the southern regions of the United States. It saw a real boom in popularity after the 1920s. This type of music is a wonderful blend of folk music, gospel music, and Celtic music. Country music was called hillbilly music at one time. We see the introduction of the term country music in the 1940s when some believed the term hillbilly to be degrading. The country music that so many people enjoy today was made by blending the music of many cultures and ethnic groups.

Country music has brought us some of the most successful recording artists. The popular Elvis Presley had his beginnings with country music long before he sang rock and roll hits and became the “king”. Country singer Garth Brooks is the best selling solo artist in the United States. While the recent years have seen a real decline in the sale of albums we can see continued growth in country music downloads.

Nashville became the center of country music in the United States after World War II. Nashville stars such as Hank Williams and Roy Acuff went on to become international stars. While country music came out of the south its popularity spread out much farther than that after the 1960s. It is at this time that country music began enjoying huge commercial success. Country music now has acceptance around the world.

The subject matter for country music lyrics has remained farily consistent during its long history. Some of the themes commonly found in country music consist of spending time in jail, working hard, and traveling. Some other topics typically addressed in country music include religion, a troubled home life, and love. Country music often sings out about the strong feelings that come as a result of missing home and a broken heart. While country music has been shaped by a wide variety of influences over time it maintains an unmistakable character all its own.

Everything is possible. Even you can play a guitar the rock star way. Those who are still new with this, then you have to learn the basics. Even those who are big names in the music industry started from scratch.

If you are grim and determined to learn the guitar like a pro, it takes constant practice and guidance from the expert. Learning to play can both be physically and mentally draining.

To many, the first step in learning the guitar is by familiarizing the guitar chords. This way, it would help you to strengthen your fingers, wrists, and most specially the hand.

This strength that will be developed will eventually help you in mastering the art of guitar playing. Constant practice on learning and playing the chords will be a big help to coordinate the picking hand together with the hand which is voicing the chords.

Though this may be considered as one of the basic ways in guitar playing, this would serve as your solid foundation in your further endeavors in playing the guitar. If you are now confident that you have mastered the basics of playing the guitar, then you can let some of your friends and families witness your new talent.

By doing this, it will give you greater confidence and inspire you to work hard in practicing.

When planning to play the guitar, remember that the longest journey starts with a single step. If you want to learn how to play the guitar, then do it now.

There are now many free resources on the internet teaching people how to play the guitar. There are also many online guitar learning courses such as Jamorama that provides a step by step guide online. These are prefect for people who are busy and can´t attend a traditional guitar learning class.

You can go online anytime of the day when you are free and learn guitar online. Most online guitar learning courses provides videos and software that makes learning easier than ever before.

If you want to learn how to play a guitar, i highly recommend Ben Edwards Jamorama. Check out my in depth Jamorama review and learn how it can help you learn guitar online fast.

Many of us in the New York Metropolitan area literally grew up listening to popular music on the superstation we knew as Musicradio WABC 770 AM.  From 1960 to 1982, WABC essentially dominated the medium we now fondly recall as Top 40 radio. While in its early days, it had its share of competition with stations such as WINS (1010 AM) and WMCA (570 AM), WABC soon became the standard (in New York as well as nationwide) by which all other Top 40 as well as music radio stations generally are (and were) judged.

Early 1960s disc jockeys included Herb Oscar Anderson, Charlie Greer, Scott Muni, Chuck Dunaway, and Bob Lewis, but the best known WABC DJs are the ones that followed them in the mid-1960s and beyond including: Harry Harrison, Ron Lundy, Jim Nettleton, Jim Perry, Dan Ingram, “Cousin Brucie” Bruce Morrow, Chuck Leonard, Bob Cruz, Frank Kingston Smith, Roby Yonge, George Michael, and Johnny Donovan. Also heard on WABC at the time was sportscaster Howard Cosell who hosted a special segment in his own peculiar, nasally New York drawl, called ‘Speaking of Sports’.

Especially in the afternoons and evenings, WABC was the station that teenagers could be heard listening to on transistor radios all over the New York metropolitan area.  From the beaches of Long Island to the shores of New Jersey, from the Pocono’s to the Catskills, the station could be heard over 100 miles away from midtown New York City going as far outlying areas of Philadelphia during daytime hours, due to its strong signal. After sunset, it could also be heard well into Canada and even (reportedly) in mile high Denver, Colorado well into the night and early morning hours.  This was long before the global reaches of the Internet and satellite radio.

In the 1970s, WABC was either #1 or #2 consistently, often trading places with WOR 710 AM. A few times, a station attracting an older audience (like WOR or WPAT 930 AM) would move into the top spot, but these stations were not truly WABC’s competitors. Chief competitor WMCA stopped playing top 40 music in 1970 and WOR-FM (later99X) came and went from 1968 to 1978. Other FM competitors like oldies station WCBS-FM 101.1, and album-oriented rock (AOR) stations like WPLJ (95.5 FM) and WNEW-FM (102.7 FM) all did well in the ratings, but none rivaled WABC’s consistent success. AM competitor WNBC (660 AM) also   tried sounding younger, older, and somewhere in-between, WABC remained dominant.

By February 1982, however, things had changed.  WABC officially confirmed it would be going to an all-talk format that May. The airstaff began saying goodbye with a comment here and there from February into May. Finally, on April 30, it was announced that the switch to all-talk would occur on May 10 at noon. For three days, the WABC staff said their last goodbyes, from May 7 to 9.  Music Fans were saddened and the shutdown was even referred to as, to quote Don McLean, “The Day the Music Died.”  On May 10, 1982, a 9 a.m.-noon farewell show was hosted by longtime WABC disc jockeys Dan Ingram and Ron Lundy. The very last note heard was the familiar WABC “Chime Time” jingle, then a moment of silence before the debut of the new talk format.  While TalkRadio 77 is a powerhouse and a station of great programming, the music format is greatly missed by many New Yorkers.

But as we all know, hard core rock and roll music fans do not give up without a fight.  With the rise of the Internet and lots of listeners pining for oldtime radio, fans put up tribute pages and started a groundswell lobby. Jingles, photos, radio playlists, interviews, memorabilia and logos were collected and soon a new website was born and a whole fanbase was ripe to bring back some aspect of the ‘old’ Musicradio WABC. (www.musicradio77.com)

As a result of this and, after many rumors, on a cold Saturday night in December 2005, Veteran DJ Mark Simone started to host Saturday Night Oldies (SNO) on TalkRadio WABC. Since then on each Saturday Night from 6 to 10 p.m. (pending some other interruption by a local sports team) Simone hosts the show and it sounds very much like the WABC Musicradio of old.   Simone plays old station airchecks, bumpers and station ids and even many of the old Musicradio WABC jingles. He talks about old commercials, New York history, pop culture and music.

For nostalgia fans (and for this nostalgia guy) (www.nostalgiaguymusic.com), in these tougher modern times, it is a show that I look forward to each weekend.  In my humble estimation, Mr. Simone (whom I have never met), has the World’s Greatest Job in (as DJ Ron Lundy would often say and Talk Show host Sean Hannity says today) the Greatest City in the World.   Kudos to Mark Simone and the management of WABC. Some other stations are trying to compete with Saturday Night Oldies with their own shows, Mark Simone’s style, delivery, and program content make SNO the best show to recapture the glory days of music radio.

Listen in this Saturday night. If you are on the East Coast you are likely within the AM signal reach of the station’s 50,000 watts of power, or, thanks to modern technology, tune into your local Internet connection. You will thoroughly enjoy every minute.

 What’s in your music collection?  http://nostalgiaguymusic.com/?page_id=16