Oct 11

 

There’s been a surge of people learning to play the guitar at home over the past ten years. Pushed by lessons available online and cheaper acoustic guitars then ever before. It’s become easier to learn guitar then ever before and teaching yourself is becoming the trend.

If you don’t use a quality home study dvd courses or online video you risk making some mistakes while learning that will be more difficult to correct down the road. For the remainder of the article I’m going to explain to you the three most noticeable errors new guitar players make. So if you’re a beginner or have been teaching yourself pay close attention, if you’re making or have made any of these mistakes now is the time to fix them.

Thumb on the Neck

Frequently I notice beginners with their thumb popping up over the top E string on the neck. From the start beginners must learn the correct form for the left hand. Starting out with the wrong habits should be fixed right away because it’s a lot tougher to change it later. Having your thumb on the back of the neck and your wrist caulked correctly ensures you can have fast action and maximum stretch from your fingers when changing chords or picking.

Tips of Fingers on Frets

Along with improper hand positioning comes using the fleshy part of your finger tip on the frets rather then just the tip. So why does it matter? As you advance to become an intermediate guitar player you’re going to be making more complex chords. Not pressing strings down with the tips of your fingers often causes you to blunt other strings when making chords. This doesn’t allow the strings to ring/chime nicely.

Notes on the Neck

This last mistake is usually over looked because it’s boring and beginners don’t see any benefit to learning it. Knowing the notes on the neck for each string on the guitar is the first step to becoming a great guitar player. Any one who wants to take guitar lessons should learn this first, this is the skill that will help you become a great guitar player. All great lead guitar players know their way around the guitar neck and every note on each string like the back of their hand.

If you notice yourself doing any of those above mentioned mistakes I’d recommend trying to fix it now. Learning the correct way is much easier now then trying to undo bad habits in several years.

 

Sep 28

The acoustic guitar arrived on the scene in the 16th century and is the most classical kind of guitar. The electric guitar did now show up until the 1930s. The lute and the oud have are ancient cousins of the acoustic guitar. You are indeed in following centuries old footsteps while learning to play the acoustic guitar.

The most used type of guitar is the acoustic guitar. It has been used in unplugged sessions by musicians for decades. It doesn’t produce a loud sound like the electric guitar, because it is not amplified. In the right hands, an acoustic guitar is a very powerful and emotion provoking instrument.

You can learn to play the acoustic guitar without too much trouble. You do however; have to choose the proper acoustic guitar to play. You must have one that is the proper size and weight for you.

When you learn to play acoustic guitar you should never try using an acoustic guitar that does not belong to you. It is essential that you have the proper size and weight to suit you. You should purchase your own acoustic guitar.

Visit a music store to buy a new acoustic guitar. Alternatively, you can buy an acoustic guitar second hand. You must ensure that it is the proper size for you to use when you learn to play the guitar.

There is various ways to learn to play an acoustic guitar. After finding your acoustic guitar, you can begin. Choose the right method for you to learn to play. Most commonly, you can learn acoustic guitar in two different ways.

Take lessons – Taking lessons is the way, most people learn acoustic guitar. You hire and pay a qualified acoustic guitar teacher. Taking one-on-one lessons has its advantages. The teacher will make sure you use proper techniques as well as motivate your to play. When you are stuck in a rut, they can assist you.

Lessons do carry disadvantages, since you pay weekly for lesson and it can get expensive. While you try to work lessons in with your other activities the costs can add up. It takes fuel to drive back and forth to lessons as well as time.

Internet – Thanks to modern technology you can learn just about anything you want, including how to play acoustic guitar. There are free guitar lessons out there and paid ones. You can wind up wasting a lot of time and effort looking for free quality guitar lessons. It’s better just to find a good one and pay the money instead of wasting your time.

The advantages are clear. You only pay a one time fee and you have all the instruction and lessons you need. You don’t have to leave your house. You can take your lessons when it’s convenient for you. Of course, you won’t have one-on-one instruction, but this is very close to it.

Rest assured when you learn to play acoustic guitar from the right source, you will progress nicely. You can easily learn how to play acoustic when you follow the right steps. Follow these tips and you will soon learn how to play the acoustic guitar.

Sep 28

Prior to making any attempt to play guitar songs, you need to make sure your guitar is tuned correctly. If your guitar is not tuned as it should be you will soon discover that the song you are trying to play will sound absolutely nothing like it should. On top of this, you need to know how to read guitar tabs before you can play guitar songs too.

Once you have tuned in your guitar and know how to read guitar tabs, you will need to train your ear when listening to a song in order to be able to play guitar songs. Listen to simple songs to begin with, preferably those songs consisting of three simple chords.

At the time of listening to the song, concentrate on the rhythm and timing of the chords and strums you hear being played. Then, after you have heard the song a few times you can try to go along with the song by reading the guitar tab at the time it is playing. Carry out this procedure a couple of times and make a mental note of the rhythm and timing.

After you have listened to the song a few times and followed along on the guitar tab, you should then pick up your own guitar. As the song is playing strum along with the song. Of course, you don’t want to play your guitar too loudly; you want to be able to still hear the song you are trying to mimic.

As you begin to pick up the timing and strumming style, you can start to play the song on your own without the assistance of the music. Don’t worry if you forget the song because you can easily listen to it again if you need to. The songs you practice on your guitar should be played over and over again, one at a time, until you are able to sing along with the song as you play. It will help you if you master one song before moving on to the next.

If you have a video recorder you may even want to film yourself playing. When you are finished playing, you can watch the video. This will help you to correct any errors you may be making in regard to proper technique.

Discovering how to play guitar songs is not as difficult as you may first think. All you need is passion and patience. If it takes a while and you make many errors, don’t worry about it too much as this will only lead to you making more mistakes. If you just can’t seem to get it right and become frustrated put down the guitar for a while and go off and do something else. But remember to pick up your guitar later on and get back to practicing how to play guitar songs until you get it just right.

Sep 28

Not all instruments are as dynamic as the guitar. Take control of your guitar and the first step is that you need to acquire the art of strumming. The difference between a regular guitar player and a legend is in the mastering of the art of strumming. There are different strumming patterns and they originate right at the time instruments with strings were invented. Visual artwork found in the Egyptian pyramids shows several stringed instruments.

Between those ancient times and now a rich variety of guitar strumming styles was developed. You can pick the string with your finger or with a pick or you can pluck the string. The shells of tortoise turtles used to be the material for guitar picks. Tortoise turtles became rare and the music world responded by starting to use other materials for picks.

Strumming sounds different depending on what type of pick you use to strum or when you strum with our fingers. This is helpful when you play different types of music, like different genres. Many top guitarists ended up on the top just because they developed individual strumming routines.

More information on the guitar strumming lessons

No matter how complicated this all seems to be right now or what you hear from others, you can be assured that it is not hard to learn to master the guitar. You only need to be able to master a pattern to strum the strings and a couple chords and you will be surprised to find out that you are able to play hundreds and hundreds of songs on your guitar. The first step of the guitar strumming lessons is to learn how to strum the instrument. Learn all the different techniques for both the electric and the acoustic guitar. This is all you need to know to play the simple songs.

Go for the next step in the guitar strumming lessons and you will be taught some performance requirements. That will help you perform the songs better. The way you sit down while you are performing will definitely affect your playing. Even songs that have only a couple chords will sound so much more complicated when the artist knows his way with strumming patterns. You can strum a guitar with a plectrum or a pick or with the nails on your fingers.  It does make a difference how you hold the pick (=plectrum) or your fingers.

There are also a few other things you need to know when it comes to strumming.
There are many different strumming patterns and the way to learn those is taught in the third phase of the guitar strumming course.

It is very important to learn these patterns because that is how you will learn how to time yourself in a professional way.  Two chord songs can sound complex if they are played by somebody who knows what he is doing.  You will be able to recognize strumming patterns just by hearing the song being played on the guitar. You will become able to compose your own songs soon and you will develop patterns that just belong to you.

Learn to include different chords in the way you strum the guitar. Many songs do not contain more than a few chords and some patterns of strumming on some initial chords. Once you get the hang of this you will be able to play the songs of your favorite guitar artists.

For an explanation in detail on how to play the guitar we refer to our guitar strumming lessons. A very important consequence of taking these lessons seriously is that after a very short time your guitar play will sound real good and you will have a lot of fun.

Guitar Lessons Singapore is the Only Guitar Agency In Singapore. Master The Guitar Quickly And Easily. Fun & Inspiring Guitar Lessons.
Learn more at http://www.guitarlessonssingapore.com

Sep 28

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The application of team teaching in the field of Guitar learning is a relatively new technique. Team method of teaching utilizes the coordinated knowledge of a number of faculty members to teach a wide range of specialized areas, in order to achieve the common goal of equipping the student with complete all-round knowledge about the subject under focus. Instructors involved in team teaching are inspiredd and encouraged to do incredibly great as compared to their social group. By delivering to him in a simple and understandable manner, the student has the edge of learning the top of the line concepts and newest facts about the subject matter. To systematically appreciate the given topic, team of teachers must be engaged to expose the students to a variety of different guitar playing styles and techniques. Lately, the team teaching concept was applied to the area of guitar learning by Ben Edwards who is a successful guitar teacher and a skilled guitarist himself with a lot of years of practice.

He applied this concept and was able to produce a unique guitar training program named Team Method Guitar, a guitar training program that is considered as one of the most successful programs to date. Learn and Master Guitar by Steve Krenz and Team Method Guitar are hands-down the best. Through this course, each teacher can utilize his individual unique styles and expertise to educate the students in guitar playing. Through his perfect planning, Ben Edwards communicates with the teacher so well that each of them knows days before the lecture what he has to teach and what topics he has to deal with. In this manner, overlapping is prevented. Teachers are assigned areas of discussion according to their individual area of interest and level of technical knowledge in guitar playing.

When you get Team Method Guitar program, you will become the recipient of two manuals (one for beginners and one for intermediate level learners), two professionally produced DVD’s (which show the realistic aspects of guitar playing techniques, like the up close shots of the left and right hand movements and positioning, strumming techniques, etc), two audio Jam along CD’s (that permit you to play the guitar lead along with a real band), a mini course called “Learning to Play by Ear” (which could be helpful in ear training and in developing a musical ear), a book and a DVD called “Chord Reference Kit” (that explains you the different chords and chord progressions in small songs, free guitar licks and riffs). Brett Manning’s Singing Success can also help with this. For advance level guitar players, the kit includes an exclusive book, a DVD, and a Jam-along CD.

Included in the purchase is a mini course meant exclusively for acoustic guitar players, with five video directions, numerous jam tracks and lots of useful tips and interesting guitar tricks. Ordering this kit will give you the chance to get four special software programs that are made to work on both PCs and Macs. Copying music in your ear and sharpening your musical ear is possible in a thrilling program known as ‘GuitEarIt’. Sharpening music reading skills is made possible in a game called ‘JaydeMusica Pro’. A software known as ‘Guitar Tuner Pro’ that adjusts your instrument accurately and a Team Method Guitar Learning Metronome that improves your rhythm, tempo and timing would also be obtained. Audacity is a computer software that is helpful in recording your solos, guitar licks, riffs and small songs and changing them.

Sep 28

One reason some musicians don’t continue playing the electric guitar is because they find it boring after a while. They get exhausted at the lack of excitement and practicing the same songs and techniques over and over again. But by taking electric guitar lessons, musicians can add some fun to an instrument they once loved.

Guitarists lose interest in the hobby and as a result end up not spending enough time with the instrument. Some of the reasons for that could be because of a change in their in their lifestyle, but mostly it’s because they lose interest in playing their prized instrument. Watching television or even reading end up monopolizing a musician’s time instead of the hours of practice needed.  But why do such things when there are a variety of electric guitar lessons available?

The fact is, learning to play the guitar will flow much more smoothly if a musician feels comfortable and receptive. Guitarists must make sure to give some consideration to what works best for them. Looking into different guitar lessons is the best way to find something new and exciting. A variety of techniques can be learned from numerous lessons given through books, the internet or by an instructor.

Although it may be too simple, an electric lesson book it the most popular way people are taught to learn. We are taught to study texts and books on a variety of different subjects throughout our lives. If a book isn’t your thing, then the Internet can also be of help. Many guitar lessons are available on the hundreds of internet sites dedicated to the electric guitar. Some of them are created by expert guitarists, but there are also others that are done by ordinary people.

Seasoned guitar instructors can be hired to provide a more intense experience. Whether it’s done through the Internet or in-person, learning from an instructor can be very helpful as musicians will be taught in-person. The unique experiences and tips and techniques an instructor will purvey will be helpful while learning the guitar.

Electric guitar lessons can be exhilarating for bored musicians. They can introduce new techniques and styles as well as create more interest. Quitting a passion can be hard, so why bother? Instead, musicians can gain more experience and develop new skills to make sure they never lose interest in their favorite hobby again.

Sep 28

The universal written language for the guitar is called tablature. This way of writing down notes for guitar music does not just give you the notes but it tells where to put your fingers. It is very interesting to read up on where this system came from. “Tabulatura” is the old word for it and it is Latin. Organizing notes into a table is “tabulate” in English.

Tablature is not only used for the guitar. Other fretted instruments use tablature too. Some examples are the banjo, the ukulele, the mandolin, and the Gamba violin.  The Lute, Bass, Theorbo, Archlute, Mandora, Gallichon, and Vihuela use this form of notation also. Renaissance and Baroque artists were among the first ones to use tablature to accompany their folk songs. Nowadays, pop, rock, and blues artists make good use of tablature. Some Spanish, Italian, and German music writers have even written tablature for organ music and in Spain and Wales (Great Britain) they use tablature for the harp.

Guitar Tablature Course Description

An explanation in detail about the use of different guitar tabs when you play the guitar is basically what you find in this guitar tablature course. You cannot learn how to play the guitar if you cannot read guitar tablature so no matter what guitar course you take this is always an integral part of the course. To become a good guitar player you have to cover this base first.
Lines with letters from the alphabet, is what it looks like at first when you take a look at it.

Try to picture each line as a string on your guitar. String number 6 is the E-string on the sheet. String number 5 is the A-string and string number 4 is the D-string.  Furthermore, string number 3 is the G-string, string number 2 is the B-string, and string number 1 is the e-string.

The E-string is the thickest string on the guitar and the e-string (Lower case!) is the thinnest string on the guitar. The next thing to look at is the numbers on the lines. It basically tells you what fret to use on the string. The lined up numbers give you the order of the frets that need to be pushed down. The numbers 1 and 2 stand for moving the frets with that number, while the number 0 to open the A-string by plucking.

This guitar tablature course has the goal to have you practice and understand the basics. Numbers that are written one on top of the next one represent chords. An example of chord C major is B2, D3, A0, and E. That means that E and G are open, or in other words they do not have a number. Those are the third and the first string. The third and the first string are generally not played, strummed, or muted.

These are some of the things that you will learn when you enroll in this guitar tablature course. To become an all-round guitar player it is of extreme importance to cover the basics first.

Guitar Lessons Singapore is the Only Guitar Agency In Singapore. Master The Guitar Quickly And Easily. Fun & Inspiring Guitar Lessons.
Learn more at http://www.guitarlessonssingapore.com

Sep 28

One of the most important aspects of the bass guitar is that you will have to play it using your fingers or the thumb. The pluctrum is used only by electric guitarist players. The electric bass guitar of today is used as a soloing instrument in fusion, rock, jazz, and Latin styles predominantly. Of course, you may have seen a Steve Harris solo on several iron maiden numbers!

If you are ready to take on a bass guitar then we have some great bass guitar lessons for the absolute beginner. Our lessons have been developed by a pro bass guitarist in such a way that it will be easy for you to understand the fundamentals of bass guitar. Above all – these lessons comprise of “learn as you play” modules to make it a complete learning experience.

The first phase of bass guitar lessons will include how to become comfortable with holding the guitar, how to play it and above all how to tune the guitar. If your guitar is not well tuned then you will not get the desired rhythm. Once you are comfortable holding and playing the guitar, you will move on to the second phase, which will include comprehending and playing bass notes. The notes in a bass guitar are exactly the same as the ones on a 6-string acoustic guitar. The only difference is that there are 2 missing strings in the bass guitar, which is the high E string and the B string.

From understanding and playing the notes, you will move on to your third lesson, which will focus mostly on the various chords and scales. You will learn different types of bass scales like the 5 basic scales, which include major, major pentatonic, minor, minor pentatonic, and blues. Apart from this, you will also get to learn more about chromatic scales, which will consist of 12 possible pitches.

Your final and most important lesson will be focusing on bass rhythm followed by techniques and chops. Some of the techniques that you will master include producing natural harmonics, string crossing, slides, and hammer-ons. Once you have completed each of the lessons, you will be proficient in playing the bass guitar on covers and even create your own solo compositions!

Bass Guitar Lessons – Strong Influences in Rock

The bass guitarist plays an important role in Rock, metal, progressive rock, alternative, and other similar genres of music. The bass guitar is quite different from an electric guitar or the traditional acoustic guitar as it has only 4 strings although 5 and 6 strings bass guitars are also available. The first bass guitar was developed in the 1930’s but the bass guitars of today have really evolved into high precision musical instruments. Bass guitars today are available in fretless or fretted format. Jaco Pastorius is one of the greatest Jazz fusion bassists to have spearheaded the art of playing on fretless bass guitars.

Some of the “Hall of Fame” bass guitarists include John Entwistle (The Who), Jack Bruce (Cream), Paul McCartney (The Beatles), John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Steve Harris (Iron Maiden), Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead), Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane), David Ellefson (Megadeth), and Roger Waters (Pink Floyd).

Guitar Lessons Singapore is the Only Guitar Agency In Singapore. Master The Guitar Quickly And Easily. Fun & Inspiring Guitar Lessons. Learn more at http://www.guitarlessonssingapore.com

Aug 22

Starting guitar lessons for beginners can be a daunting task for some people. Learning the notes, strings, strumming, tablature, chords, tuning, and other basics can seem like an awful lot to master. Music can be quite complex, with the feelings that songs express, as well as, learning to play different tempos or rhythms.

Having a teacher to guide you through guitar lessons is helpful to avoid confusion as to where or how to get started. Learning to play different songs and different styles of music is easier to learn from a listening and watching a teacher (either in person or on a video) than learning from a book.

As such, there are multiple ways for a beginner to learn about how to play the guitar:

Private Instruction

This was the most common method of learning to play the guitar for beginners before the availabilty of electronic lessons, affordable video and computers with internet access.

A student will be able to receive lessons custom-made to fit his or her needs under the tutelage of a private teacher. This is perhaps the most effective method to teach an individual the finer points of guitar playing.

There is a drawback to this intensive learning method, however. Private guitar lessons may not be affordable to everyone – the costs can run over $100 per month. In some towns it is hard to even find an accomplished and experienced teacher (or it’s hard to find one that is affordable). Scheduling the lessons can be a problem if you can’t be available when the teacher has an opening for a new student.

Subscribe to online lessons

An alternative to getting a private teacher is to subscribe to guitar lessons via the Internet.

The lessons can either be similar to or totally different from getting a private teacher. The available video style lessons include those that are pre-recorded, live webcam demonstrations, and there are lessons of diagrams and text, too. Jamorama is the name of one of the popular providers of online lessons – they have rock, lead, and acoustic guitar courses. (For a review, see Jamorama Acoustic Guitar.)

If you choose the former, then you can expect rates to be slightly less compared to hiring a private teacher, but the lessons will be a lot less interactive and customized because of the virtual limitations. On the other hand, subscribing to the former is definitely the most affordable but eliminates any fine-tuning and customized lessons that real-life teachers have to offer. A good Internet connection and a multi-media player that is capable of playing the videos is a requirement for these lessons.

Buy guitar lesson DVDs

A third choice for lessons are those on digital video (DVDs).

These are similar to video-taped online lessons, but come packaged into DVDs instead. You have more control over lessons on DVDs since you can watch and learn with or without a computer (and no internet connection is required). The quality of DVD lessons is generally far better than online videos. These are affordable and often come with printed materials, as well as, recorded video tutorials. (See a review of Learn and Master Guitar.)

As far as disadvantages to DVDs, about the only one is the slightly higher cost as compared to online lessons – due to their having to be packaged and shipped. Though DVD courses are a great option for beginner guitar players, they may not be enough – sometimes personal input from a teacher is needed. The better DVD courses have online support and community forums, as well as a more interactive type of recorded music that the student can play along with. One of the better parts of a good learning program includes the ability to contact the teacher, have contact with other guitar players, and to upload videos of yourself in order to get constructive criticism, feedback or encouragement.

So there you have it, the three primary means to learn guitar lessons for beginners. Your goal of becoming a guitar player is sure to be accomplished by one of these learning methods – go for it!

Aug 22

When you get right down to it, there is no good way to instantly learn the guitar. While there are methods that you can use to cut down on the learning curve, you’ll discover that you are never going to be able to pick up and get good at it in one day.

Learning to play the guitar doesn’t take only one day of practice. The most famous guitarists didn’t learn their skills in just one day. They put a lot of time into practice and disciplined themselves to be patient.

Before they even made it into the big time, a lot of famous guitar players were playing guitar for years. No matter how good you are, there are still thins to learn.

Start by looking at your guitar and learning all the different parts of it and what they do. Start with the easy chords and until you get good, stay away from the sharp chords, the minor chords and the power chords.

Remember that you should practice one chord at a time. Before you move on to another chord, make sure that you master the previous one. Remember to be attentive to good hand posture and that you are getting a good sound out of the instrument.

When you want to get good, remember that repetition is the key. Remember that easy songs are your friend and that you should concentrate on playing them well. Look over the chords that you have already learned.

By learning and mastering each chord, you’ll find that it is important to build confidence in yourself. The more songs you master, no matter how easy they are, the more confident you can be. Remember that you are working towards continually getting better than you were the day before, rather towards some definite goal.

As long as you make sure that your expectations are realistic and that you are practicing on a daily basis, you will find that learning to play guitar is easy and fun. You just need to put some work into it. Take advantage of the tutorials that will show you what to do.

If you are looking to make sure that you can learn to play the guitar with ease, remember that you need quality instruction. It doesn’t matter what form it takes, just remember that the more knowledge you have to work with, the better it is going to be. Check online for more help.

If you are interested in learning to play the guitar quickly and without fuss, consider getting into an online guitar course. This can teach you a lot and you don’t even need to leave your house to do it. Online guitar lessons are fairly inexpensive and you’ll find that there are lessons that can suit you whether you are a novice or an expert.