Posted on 17 September 2009. Tags: Acoustic Guitar, Body Image, Drastic Results, First Guitar, Girl Pop, guitar, Guitar Articles, Guitar Playing, Guitar Songs, Hannah Montana, Heartbreak, hobbies, hobby, Learn Guitar, music, Musical Instrument, Peer Pressure, Pennies, Play A Guitar, Play Guitar, Playing Guitar, Pop Star, Princesses, School Girls, Social Expectations, Teenage Boys, Things That Matter, Young Girl, Young Girls
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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Posted in Acoustic Guitar
Posted on 30 July 2009. Tags: guitar, Guitar Articles, hobbies, hobby, Learn Guitar, music, Musical Instrument, Play A Guitar, Play 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.
Posted in Guitar Articles
Posted on 15 July 2009. Tags: guitar, Guitar Articles, hobbies, hobby, Learn Guitar, music, Musical Instrument, Play A Guitar, Play Guitar
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.
Posted in Guitar Articles
Posted on 08 July 2009. Tags: guitar, Guitar Articles, hobbies, hobby, Learn Guitar, music, Musical Instrument, Play A Guitar, Play Guitar
by Nico Davenport
The style of music you want to play should be kept in mind when shopping for a beginner acoustic guitar. A nylon-stringed guitar is best for those wishing to play Latin, classical, and certain types of folk or pop music. A steel-stringed guitar works better for rock, country, and other types of pop or folk music. For beginning guitar players, it’s recommended to play the different types before making a final decision as to what sound you prefer.
Most teachers will recommend purchasing nylon guitar strings for the person just learning to play as they are a little easier on the fingers. However, this may not be a good idea if the student wants to learn to be a rock star or if they don’t care for the classical style music as the nylon string will never sound just right.
Music intended for steel-string guitars obviously sounds better when played on a steel-stringed guitar. On the other hand, if you are dreaming of learning how to play classical guitar music, a steel-string guitar is not the right instrument for you to begin practicing on. Either way, you’ll eventually develop calluses on your fingers after about one to two months of steady practice.
If you are shopping for a more classical nylon-string guitar, you should remember that these guitars are called classic for a reason – they all have the same relative dimensions. Their bodies are smaller and their fingerboards wider, which produces a distinctive classical sound. It is the feel and the tone to these classical guitars that varies. As is true when buying any guitar, you need to try out several of them before choosing the beginner acoustic guitar that you are going to buy. The steel-string model of beginner acoustic guitar that people usually start out with is the six-string dreadnought guitar. There is only a slight variation between dreadnought guitars and they provide a sound that novices are often seeking.
The wood your beginner acoustic guitar is made of is significant as it will affect the tone of the sound the instrument makes. You will soon learn that most beginner acoustic guitars consist of a spruce top. Make sure your new guitar has a solid spruce top rather than a two-piece one. This will increase the durability of your new guitar. Your choices of wood for the back and sides will likely include mahogany, rosewood and spruce. Mahogany produces a light tone. On the other hand, rosewood results in a heavier tone.
The space between the neck and the strings is called the action. Low action is one thing a beginning will want to consider in a beginner acoustic guitar. Action that is too high makes for difficult playing. This will just be another hurdle to overcome in the learning process.
An accessory you need to buy along with your beginner acoustic guitar is a good electronic tuner. As a novice you haven’t yet developed an ear. If you have the ability to easily tune your guitar using the tuner it will give you more time to spend practicing and playing.
Posted in Guitar Articles