Tag Archive | "Musical Instrument"

Play Learn Guitar


Mark Andrews asked:


To play, learn guitar is perhaps one of the most rewarding hobbies, pasttimes that you could take up.

Playing guitar, learn to play guitar well and not only could it give you years of great pleasure but could even with enough practice, send you on your way into a new found career which will give you everything that you desire out of life.

The great beauty of learning to play guitar is the sheer number of options open to you.  Perhaps no other musical instrument in the world is able to offer such an incredible diversity of sound, capturing just about every possible human mood and emotion as the violao, as it was traditionally know as.

The guitar, violao has been around for at least 5000 years, one can only imagine the mindboggling number of beautiful songs and sounds that have been created by the guitar in that span of time.

The guitar also give you a great number of choices, there is the classical guitar, the acoustic guitar, the electric guitar to name just three, each with their own unique sound.

Some famous brands of guitar include Gibson, Epiphone, Yamaha, listed in order of expensive guitar, middle of the range guitar and for a guitar on a budget suitable for a begginner, the Yamaha guitar.

Guitar styles and looks also vary a great deal, it is simply amazing the sheer number of guitar styles that you can choose from, truly there is a guitar suitable for everyone, no matter your gender, age or guitar playing experience.

Guitar prices range from just a few dollars to many hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Typically, for the guitar beginner, you don’t have to spend a great deal of money to buy a guitar suitable for your needs, anything from $20-25 upwards should do it, depending on where you buy a guitar from.  It pays to ask around your family and friends plus your work colleagues.

Learning to play guitar does take time, as with anything, learning to play the guitar does have it’s own learning curve.  The main things to remember are that persistence does pay off, so if you have the patience to learn the guitar, the dividend, payoff for you will be not only giving huge amounts of enjoyment to yourself but also maybe, to thousands of other people around you, throughout the course of your life.  One of the great beauties of the guitar is that it can literally be played anywhere and it’s a great conversation ice breaker, when meeting up with other people perhaps for the first time.

Indeed, you can bet your bottom dollar that many a great lifetime friendship has started off by simply playing a guitar song in front of other people, guitar jamming together.

So why not pick up a guitar today and start a life of guitar music guaranteed to bring you years of pleasure and huge amounts of enjoyment?



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To Learn Guitar, You Must Love To Practice


Iprwire Staff Writer asked:


There are few people in the world that can pick up a skill immediately and become a master without taking the time to practice. We generally consider these people to be geniuses or prodigies. For the rest of us, mastering a new skill takes a lot of time and a lot of effort. It also takes a lot of dedication because sometimes the time lag between starting and becoming proficient can seem entirely too long.

When it comes to learning how to play a musical instrument, practice is unbelievably vital. There is very little chance that the first time you pick up a cello or sit at a piano that you will be able to make a sound that even resembles music. But with a little time and effort, and the right instruction, you soon find that your practicing has paid off. This is true whether you play a classical instrument or want to learn guitar.

There is an old adage in the music community that you play the way that you practice. Essentially, this truism means that if you are lazy and sloppy when you practice then you will look lazy and sloppy when you perform. Regardless of what instrument you are trying to master, you need to practice effectively and actively. That is why practicing while you try to learn guitar is vital to your progress.

Of course there is much more to successful practicing than just sitting with your instrument and playing. In order to practice effectively you must sit down with a plan and have a structure to your session. Practicing should be goal oriented and lesson specific. Without a solid practice structure you will not be able to efficiently make progress. In fact, the benefits of practicing have nothing to do with the quantity of time and everything to do with the quality of planning.

Another key component to effective practicing is having the desire to play. If you are dreading your practice time, then it would be a good idea to re-evaluate your strategy. You will likely find that the program from which you are learning is not capturing your attention well enough, or that your practice strategy is lacking the excitement you need. Instead of allowing your motivation to lag, you should reevaluate and try to learn guitar through a new and more dynamic program.

If you are looking for more information on how to practice smarter rather than harder then check out the book The Art of Practicing. This instructional manual provides in-depth information and a step by step guide to the ultimate practice strategy. There is simply no better way to learn guitar. This learning system, as well as a selection of great essential tools, are available at http://www.guitarcoaching.com.



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Do You Fancy A Pink Acoustic Guitar ?


You might be a bit taken aback if your tween daughter has been pleading with you to get a pink acoustic guitar. You probably associate guitars with moody teenage boys, not young girls who used to pretend to be princesses and play dress-up just a few years ago. You will probably think it best to buy an inexpensive guitar in case your little girl loses interest. However, before you let her give it up, you should try and encourage her to keep at it.

It is a popular idea nowadays for a girl to want to play music and you should encourage this. This can be because of TV shows like Hannah Montana, who is a young girl pop star. There are good things and bad things about a girl wanting to be a star. As parents, you can use the desire your girl has for a pink acoustic guitar and turn it into a viable interest.

Guitar playing gives young girls a wonderful means to express their feelings in a healthy way. Young people, and specifically young girls, face a huge amount of peer pressure than in previous times. They face social expectations, worries about body image, pressures regarding sex and stress about performing well in school. Girls seem to turn pressure or pain inward on themselves with often drastic results. By supporting girls in their efforts to express their feelings, both good and bad, through playing guitar, this can help them make sense of their emotions while still retaining their privacy.

When your daughter is alone, she can write songs about all the things that matter to her, like first (or second) love and the associated heartbreak. A girl should only have to make her guitar songs public if she wants to. You can be encouraging by asking her to play after dinner. This can show you an indication of what she may be thinking or feeling that you might not know about otherwise.

There are certain things that need to be taken into consideration when it’s time to buy the first guitar for your daughter. First, this isn’t the time to pinch pennies. Don’t purchase just any old pink acoustic guitar from the dollar store or from the toy section. Even people who have been playing the guitar for awhile have a hard time playing an inexpensive guitar. Your best option is to shop locally at a music store, preferably a store that specializes in guitars.

There are various guitars that are visually appealing to girls. The Daisy Rock is a popular company that specializes guitars designed just for girls. It is with a good reason they call themselves The Girl Guitar Company. They sell a variety of guitars from plain pink acoustic guitars to heart and butterfly shaped guitars.

Rather than making your little girls first guitar a surprise gift, take her to the store with you when you shop for it. Each guitar is a little bit different so each pink acoustic guitar is not made in the same way. By allowing your daughter to choose her own guitar, she will get the one that feels best in her hands and the one that sounds just right to her and it will earn a special place in her heart.

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Jazz Guitar Strings


Playing jazz guitar is very different than rock or acoustic; so many jazz players are particular about the jazz guitar strings they use. They expect are looking for specific type of sound and tone and know the strings are a very important part of this. There are different kinds of jazz guitar strings available from many respected manufacturers and are easy to find on the Internet for really low prices.

There are two main types of jazz guitar strings. There is the flat-wound type and probably the most popular for big band and swing. These are usually flat ribbon wire wound strings with a polished nickel surface. These strings produce a very smooth sound with no string noise. There are also the round wound jazz strings. These strings have more of a pop and probably used for smaller groups. While most jazz players do not use round wound strings, some manufacturers have started to turn the tide with the way they manufacture round wound strings. These strings are dense but play with amazing clarity so they can be heard above the group.

Most high quality jazz guitar strings are made with a core of carbon steel rather than the standard hex cores. This makes them play better and also vibrate well. The string ends are wrapped in silk to keep the winding intact and to also increase their life.

It is important to choose the strings that work best for your playing style and to make sure you replace them properly when necessary to avoid your guitar detuning. The main things to remember in making your choice are: the brand you select, the composition of the strings, string gauge, and the type of winding.

String gauge refers to the diameter of the first and last guitar string since most guitar strings are sold as sets. Jazz guitar string sets are usually available as .012 – 0.054-inch diameter, which is heavier than those used for other music styles. This provides a thicker tone with increased sustain. Most jazz guitarists start using lighter sets to familiarize themselves with how to play them.

To get your jazz guitar strings to last longer, remember to wipe them down using a dry cloth after each playing session. It is best to replace your strings just as they begin to wear out. Change the entire set when you change strings rather than just a single string. This will keep the continuity of your sound.

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History of Guitars: Interesting Facts


Slash’s “Sweet Child of Mine”, Brian May of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”, Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” and Carlos Augusto Santana Alves’ “Maria Maria” Do you recognize all of these? These are songs popularized by some of the greatest guitarists of all time. People sang their music, danced with their rhythms, and enjoyed every performance they did with their guitars. But have you ever wondered how these guitars came into existence?

Guitars used to be ordinary instruments, those that could not meet the standards of classical music. In fact in the early 19th century, Fernando Sor has started the battle in raising the level of guitars in the music industry to the highest as possible. Soon enough, Sor seemed to have gained success in his quest.

Now, guitars have gained popularity as a choice of musical instrument. Basically, it’s a six-stringed instrument, but you can also find those with four, seven, eight, ten, eleven, twelve, and thirteen strings.
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The oldest graphical icon that perhaps represents the primary guitar features was an old carving of a Hittite bard. The Europeans have popularized this instrument in the medieval times, but it actually came from Indo-Europeans who existed 4000 years ago. Central Asians and Indian people have made guitars part of their cultural heritage, and this fact cannot be disregarded. Nevertheless, it was the European people who actually developed guitars into their finest.

Spaniards have the most influence in making the modern guitars. In reality, Romans were the first to bring in a stringed instrument called cithara in the year 40 AD. After these, Moors and Scandinavians carried with them their ouds and luts respectively. In the year 1200 AD, the four-stringed instrument oud had two types, namely Morrish guitar and Latin guitar. Latin guitars became the basis for making the modern guitar that is famous nowadays.

The lower and middle classes of society used these guitars for leisure. Then, Spain had come up with vihuela or viola de mano which became popular among Aristocrats in the 16th century.

Though the three major types of guitars are electric, classical and acoustic, many guitar variations have already come up today. Electric guitars were especially made for the growth of popular music in the United States. These guitars give a unique sound to any song, since they can be amplified and be given effects. Acoustic guitars make a soulful song with its pure tones, while classical guitars continue to embody the distinct sounds that the baroque and romantic eras once had.

In addition, the industry now has a variety of guitar brands, including Yamaha, Taylor, and Jackson, to name a few.

Wendy Racklave writes articles for Playhouse MM which has information on how to purchase a left handed guitar, buying a tuner for your guitar and lots more besides.

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When I First Decided to Learn Jazz and Rock Guitar, I Had No Idea Where to Find a Good Guitar Teacher so I Checked Out the Nearest Coaching School. Th


Simon Master asked:


When I first decided to learn Jazz and Rock guitar, I had no idea where to find a good guitar teacher so I checked out the nearest coaching school. They told me that I would need at least one hour a week for five weeks just to get started. They charged $35 per hour, and wanted me to sign up for this. My maths told me $175 was outside of my budget and that was just to get started… it could be $500 before I could play anything I really wanted.

Now your circumstances might be different to mine but this price for a hobby was too expensive – even if it was a passion – as I loved the idea of playing guitar.

I told my friends of my disappointment and that I needed to give up the idea of learning guitar professionally. Then one of my friends told me about how there were online music courses, and he strongly recommended I check out this site:

http://www.MusicMasterPro.com

Hey, I had no idea you could learn how to play the guitar online. For a tiny once off joining fee, I got access to online video guitar lessons that I could download and watch as much as I like.

In the beginning I was a little unsure about how learning guitar on the internet was going to go but now, after following a few of the videos, I would not take guitar lessons any other way. It’s so easy, comfortable, fun and cheap.

You can stop and start your music lessons whenever you want, go over the guitar chord tutorials again and again until you get them right, and just do it whenever you feel like it, hours and hours a day. Learning guitar this way is the best and easiest, I promise you : )

I’m also now totally sold on the musical instrument teaching skills of Jay and Greg, who are the guys that run the site and do the video guitar lessons. With these guys, even a basic beginner musician like me can learn guitar quickly and notice the improvement. The way I see it, I now have two great private teachers in my own home 24 hours a day! I couldn’t ask for more. And it’s cost me next to nothing.

In addition to the videos, what makes www.MusicMasterPro.com even better value when compared to any other music learning sites is that as a bonus, it is currently offering bass and drum courses all for the same single membership. Now, I’m able to learn bass too – at no extra cost! My musical skills are growing rapidly and I’m enjoying my music more than I ever have.

I truly recommend www.MusicMasterPro.com to everyone wanting to learn to play a musical instrument or for those wanting to improve their guitar playing skills. The guys who have put together these video courses are very skilled, friendly and have true passion for music.

This lifetime membership to www.MusicMasterPro.com is a steal. It is definitely the best online value I have ever seen.



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The Cult Of The Fender Strat Guitar


by Andrew Nelly

Throughout the history of guitars, since it’s birth as an instrument, there have been several models and types that have made an impact. Not only just because of the way that the guitar has been built or that they feature the recent and most innovative designs and materials, but that they have been strummed by the best guitarists of all time.

Most likely, the most infamous guitar would be the Fender Stratocaster. First made by its creator, Leo Fender, founder of the world leading Fender Guitar company back in the 50s, the Stratocaster or Fender Strat as it is more commonly known, has taken it’s place amongst the history of music and rock and roll. Now enjoying a cult of followers from newbie guitar players and vintage guitar lovers alike, the Strat still empowers the best of todays musical groups.

The 1957 model of the Fender Stratocaster is probably considered to be the best and most collectable of the near 60 year run classic design. The 57 model features the famous 2 tone sun burst design, usually red and orange or yellow fading to black and can be seen being used by guitar greats such as Jimi Hendrix, Metallica and Led Zeppelin during the recent years. After it’s inception all those years ago, the Strat was primarily used for playing blues style music until the likes of Jimi Hendrix blasted it into another world and started pushing the guitar and music to it’s limits and crashing into a new era. Jimi was one of many who was able to combine their talents with the Fender technicians and the team behind the Fender Custom Factory to make his own white signature model of Fender Strat. Leo Fender was famous for encouraging the worlds best guitarists to work along side them to not only design their own personally designed named models, but also re-evolve their existing designs through experimentation and customization.

The Fender Stratocaster has been used on a wide variety of different musical styles over the years from blues to thrash and jazz. It’s clean, clear sound lets the guitar player have the freedom to make any style and type of music accessible and the perfect build quality of each guitar is second to none. The main body of the strat is made from alder wood and the kneck is made from maple with a rosewood fretboard. The guitar includes a set of three single coil pickups which assists the generation of the the clean sound. There is a five way selector switch that allows you to switch between different combinations of the 3 pickups to produce very different tones and a series of volume and tone knobs.

The Strat is certainly one of the guitars that will go down in the annuls of time as being an almost perfect and extremely versatile instrument that had a hand in helping change the face of rock and roll and music made by guitars as we know it today. I am sure that Leo Fender was unaware that that when he first made the Strat in 1950, he would also be creating a cult and a legacy that will span well over 100 years.

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Tabs For Acoustic Guitar – Importance of Tabs For Learning Guitar


by Nico Davenport

Guitar music has its own musical notation. The standard musician’s notation of staffs, notes, note values, ledger lines, key signatures and time signatures is replaced with a simpler, operational type of notation, called a tab. Even if you do not know how to read music, you can learn how to play guitar with the acoustic guitar tabs. Many stringed instruments use tabs or tablature.

The form of musical notation specific to the guitar is acoustic guitar tabs, or tablature. Each chord is notated with one tab, a small chart of the guitar strings themselves. The string at the top of the diagram is the one furthest from your body as you hold the guitar. Each string will show a number, which is the fret you should hold to create that chord. If you see a zero, that means an open string. An X means that string should be muffled.

The area between the two metal bars on the neck or fingerboard of a guitar is called a fret, if you are not familiar with this. On an acoustic guitar, there are usually 21 to 24 frets. The dots on the frets are visual guides for your convenience when playing.

Take a look at the acoustic guitar tab and if all of the numbers are listed one after the other and all on one line, the numbers indicate the fret to use on that string; only pluck that particular string. Numbers that are noted one after the other indicate that you play one note at a time. If there is a number on each line and the numbers are stacked, one on top of the other; then the acoustic guitar tab is saying play all the notes simultaneously, in other words, strumming all six strings.

When researching acoustic guitar tabs you will find things like hammer-ons, pull-offs, bends and slides. The letter “h” notates hammer-ons. This might be noted on a line as 7h9. Pull-offs are noted in the same way by the letter “p”. Bends are notated by “b”s and slides, “/” (slash).

After you’ve gotten accustomed to the notion of reading music by string position, search online for basic acoustic guitar tabs and find a tune you’re really familiar with to practice on. While the approach may be new to you, you’ll see that you can pick up its melody quickly this way now that you can read tabs.

You’ll pick up a tune much more quickly if you can also listen to it while you’re trying to learn it. You get more detail and an added feel for the beat, even with a song you think you know by heart. Acoustic guitar tabs make learning more enjoyable, and it wont take long to have a small repertoire you can trot out at parties or just jam around with in the privacy of your own home.

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Learn Guitar Tab – Does it Help You Teach yourself Guitar?


Nick seigal asked:


TAB, which is short for tablature, is a good way for many people to learn to play the guitar. When learning to play the flute, piano, saxophone, violin, and other types of music, a person uses written music. However, the guitar is different in that chord diagrams are used instead. Now, some people have the ability to read chord music quite well while other people struggle. Because of this, a different method of learning was devised whereby a person can learn guitar TAB.

Tablature is simply a way in which a series of notes are written so a person can learn a riff or run on the guitar. For many individuals, the option to learn guitar TAB is a blessing, helping them learn quickly and with much less frustration. However, you need to understand that while TAB has many benefits, a few drawbacks do exist.

First, when playing the guitar, you are playing not only notes but also rhythm. With TAB, transferring information specific to an intended rhythm is difficult, if not impossible to do. For instance, if you play a musical instrument using sheet music, part of the music shows the rhythm so you know how fast or slow a song should be played. However, when you learn guitar TAB, this rhythm information is not there. For this reason, most people will choose a song they already know the rhythm to so all they have to learn are the notes.

A major difference in how a person would learn guitar with TAB is that the lines on the sheet music have lines that represent the guitar strings. In addition, the music would have dots on the lines, which is the appropriate finger placement. With this, you simple look at the fingers and place yours on the guitar string to match. Again, for many people to learn guitar TAB is the only way they can grasp this particular instrument.

Another important thing to know about TAB is that as you read the TAB, the line on the bottom is the sixth or deepest pitched string on the guitar while the top line is the first or highest string. You will also find when you learn guitar TAB that the dots may or may not be accompanied by a number, which is a reference to the fret on that particular string you need finger. For this, you would make the decision as to the finger used.

Then, as you learn guitar TAB, understand that if a song has two or more notes needing to be played simultaneously, they would show up on the TAB with one directly above the other. Additionally, when looking at a tablature, anything that shows up as an “O” means an open string or no finger placement on that particular string.

For most people who learn guitar TAB the beginning is a bit awkward and confusing but with time, it will soon become extremely easy. Many people learning to play guitar prefer this method for a number of reasons. In addition to being visually easier to learn, hundreds of TAB songs are now available online, giving them a much greater selection of songs to learn without having to pay for expensive DVDs, CDs or instructional material.



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Acoustic Guitar Tuning


by Nico Davenport

You should be sure to do your acoustic guitar tuning each time you sit down to play, whether you are practicing or performing. Its pretty unpleasant to try to make beautiful music on an untuned guitar. Lots of guitar students think their inexperience is ruining the sound, not understanding the importance of doing their tuning regularly. You will be much more successful in your music making if you set aside that small amount of time it takes to tune your instrument properly.

For acoustic guitar tuning with an electronic tuner, sit down and place the tuner on either a stool or table next to your seat. Then pluck the first string. The tuner’s microphone can sense which string is being tuned. You will know how close you are to the right pitch by the indicator on the tuner. It also indicates if you are sharp or flat. Utilize the tuning key to adjust the guitar string until it indicates that you are in tune.

Keep in mind that one always tunes up, which means going from looser to tighter till its in tune. If it becomes too tight, don’t just unwind it a little bit to try to improve it (called tuning down). It works far better to give the string some play and then start tightening it again till its right. When you tune up, not only are your results more accurate, but you also help the string hold its tuning longer.

You’ll need a way of getting the reference pitch even if you prefer to train yourself to do acoustic guitar tuning by ear. An already tuned second guitar, a piano, a tuning fork, and an in-tune MP3 will all work, but an electronic tuner is consistently more reliable. However, an excellent method for developing your ear is to attempt to tune the instrument by ear first and then check it out using the tuner.

To begin tuning your guitar, use the reference pitch to tune the sixth string (the thickest string) to low E. Once this string sounds right, the other strings can be tuned to their correct pitch based on that note. There is a reason why this technique works, but the explanation is long. Acoustic guitar tuning is a bit like driving. You don’t have to understand the internal combustion engine to drive a car, and you don’t have to understand music theory to tune your guitar.

Let’s begin our acoustic guitar tuning:

1. Strum (in tune) the sixth string on the fifth fret. Tune the open fifth string to that exact note. 2. Strum the fifth string on the fifth fret. Tune the open fourth string to the same note. 3. Tune the fourth string on the fifth fret. Tune the open third to the same note. 4. Follow closely; this is different than the above. Play the third string on the fourth fret and tune the open second string to this note. 5. Play the second string on the fifth fret and tune your open first string to this note.

Before you try acoustic guitar tuning for the first time, have an experienced player show you the ropes. The best place to learn is probably the music shop where you bought your acoustic guitar. After a few tries, you’ll get the hang of it. You have to put time and effort into mastering the skill of acoustic guitar tuning. Its a whole lot easier for someone just starting out to use an electronic tuner instead. Since they only cost about $20, they are well worth their price. Whats more, if you choose one that was manufactured especially for use with guitars, it can actually let you know which string you’re playing too.

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