Posts Tagged ‘beginner guitar lessons’
Monday, April 19th, 2010
If you feel you need to give your guitar skills a boost and make some forward progress in how you teach yourself guitar then the Jamorama system could suit you.
To provide the reader with a gauge of my ability, I had attended over two dozen lessons over the years, been mentored by friends who are quite good guitarists and read numerous books to try and improve my skills which had seemed to plateau at an intermediate level.
The guitar tuition progress was limited to the 30/60 minute class and how much effective practice I could do during the week after getting maybe 2/3 key takeaways from a class. The cost of guitar tuition didn’t help either. In any case, I have always felt it is much easier and more beneficial to teach yourself guitar anyway. My experiences with reading guitar books was short lived due to the passive nature of reading books – in truth we can all learn the guitar best from ’seeing’ how a chord/technique is performed.
I needed an approach that was visually oriented, helps you teach yourself guitar but at your own pace and had enough variety in its teaching approaches to stop me losing interest in the lessons. Learning guitar online seemed to be the ideal approach. After assessing reviews of several online products I chose to go with Jamorama.
The product’s learning method incorporates video lessons, eBooks and jam tracks. There is a natural progression through the lessons to build up the player from an absolute beginner to advanced level meaning I could skip over the simpler lessons and focus in on the more complex sections.
Jamorama builds upon the online guitar lessons to apply your new skills using a jam-along approach (hence the name). This means the student can play along with professional tracks that are suited to that lessons stage. Tracks are chosen from rock, country, jazz, blues, dance & hip-hop genres in an effort to broaden the guitarists range of skills (why restrict yourself to one genre when you can apply the skills of one genre to another – true innovation).
The jam tracks introduce different playing styles and while some players will perhaps baulk at the idea of learning jazz riffs, or country picking styles, or hard rock hammer-on techniques, you ultimately becoming a better player on a technical level by giving these skills a try.
Jamorama also introduced me to music theory concepts (chord progressions, etc.) which I had not fully grasped previously. This was an eye-opener for me as I have now come to understand the progressions used in most modern songs follow some very simple templates. This knowledge makes it easy to then play by ear with any tune once you have worked out the root chord that is used.
In conclusion, I’ve been happy with the progressive improvements that Jamorama provides through its logical sequence of lessons. The interactive video media suits my learning style (replaying techniques or sections of lessons repeatedly) and the jam tracks have solidified the new knowledge in a simulated band setting. The bonus of learning some music theory has given me the confidence to understand popular tunes song structure and now forms a key tool in my own songwriting tool-kit.
Learn the easy way to teach yourself guitar. Read my full Jamorama review to discover all of its benefits and free extras.
Tags: Acoustic Guitar, beginner guitar lessons, beginning guitar, guitar, guitar for beginners, Guitar Lessons, guitar playing styles, Guitars, hobbies, learn guitar, music, music study, musical instruments
Posted in Guitars | No Comments »
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
For any beginner starting to play guitar the question is often raised whether you should start on acoustic guitar or electric guitar. For some, this will be a simple choice as they will be drawn to one or the other based on the type of music they like.
But the question still stands about which provides a foundation in technique that will form a basis for improving guitar skills? If you are going to teach yourself guitar then which guitar type does not hide your faults?
There are advantages and disadvantages to both at different stages of a guitarist learning so any assessment needs to take into account the short and long term benefits of each. Over the years I have taught other guitarists using whatever guitar they had to hand. I noticed that you can nearly tell from a guitarist’s technique whether they started on electric or acoustic just by watching them play.
So here are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.
Beginning On Electric Guitar
Pros
* The narrower gauge strings and guitar neck make it easier to play.
* Amplification makes it easier to develop a subtlety of playing as it permits various nuances in your play (e.g. vibrato).
* It is possible to practice using earphones.
Cons
* Muscle strength in the fingers does not increase to the same extent as when playing acoustic.
* Using effects/distortion hides a multitude of sins.
* Natural tendency for incorrect placement of the left thumb on the guitar neck.
Starting On Acoustic Guitar
Pros
* Lower cost starting option.
* Doesn’t require an amp, so allows you to play anywhere.
* Builds up finger muscle strength.
Cons
* Strong temptation to strum through all songs. Beginners should take the time to learn subtle finger picking styles.
* Guitar solos require great dexterity and can get ‘lost in the mix’ if playing in a group.
* Using earphones with an acoustic is not an option.
Guitarists who start out on electric build up speed of playing solos and chord changes which is admirable, but it is often at the cost of proper playing technique. Playing the electric guitar hides faults such as incorrect placement of the thumb and not holding down strings solidly. This results in strings buzzing or being muted during play.
In comparison, the acoustic guitarist builds up the finger strength, learns better hand placement on the frets and fosters clear sounding play.
That said, if you can saddle the cost of buying both electric and acoustic guitars then you could balance out the beginners training on each instrument and they will benefit from both approaches.
Are you frustrated with the lack of progress from your current guitar tuition/guitar course? Read Ed’s review of Jamorama online guitar lessons and start to teach yourself guitar the modern way.
Tags: Acoustic Guitar, bands, beginner guitar lessons, Electric Guitar, guitar, guitar for beginners, Guitar Lessons, guitar tuition, guitarist, Guitars, learn guitar, music, music instruments, musical groups, musical instruments
Posted in Bass Guitars Amps and Effects | No Comments »
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
All guitarists can learn to play guitar by ear. There is no great art or skill to doing it. In fact, all it takes is some practice to train yourself to tell apart the chords and scales played in songs.
This article has some drills and techniques that I have used over twenty five years to train myself to play by ear.
At beginner level, you want to start out by being able to differentiate between major and minor chords. A simple drill for starting with this is to record yourself playing a progression of major chords (A up to G). Next, record variations of the chord progression, but replacing a major chord with a single minor chord. Once you play back the variations you should be able to say to yourself whether each chord is major or minor as you hear it.
You can refine this by listening to songs on the radio or advertisement jingles on TV and picking out the major or minor chords. You can check if you are correct by playing your guitar along with the tune. Start by just playing the bass note (E string) to find the root note then try playing the major and minor chords and decide which sounds better to your ears. For example, the root note could be ‘g’ so play a G-major followed by a G-minor along with the tune and see which fits better. This is not perfect as complex tunes could have bass to chord variation (for example a ‘g’ bass note played with a C major chord).
Proceeding on from this you should begin to focus on chord progressions. This simply involves listening to songs and trying to figure out the progression of chords being played. Pick a tune and break it down into its the verses, chorus and bridge. Take each verse/chorus/bridge and try to work out the chords used. You might find that most verses use two/four chords for each line of the song or that the chorus repeats four chords. Playing along with the tune to find the chords and start to build up a map of the chords. You can writing these down at first but move to memorizing the chords and their progression.
With some practice playing along with various songs, you will have internalized several chord sequences and should start seeing that the majority of songs use standard templates for their structure and chord progressions and in how they group chords (major/minor/sevenths/etc.).
Playing by ear is a skill that you can never stop learning. You can always find a songwriter new to you or a type of music that you can try to analyse the chord progression and chord types. With time you learn to pick out of complex chords (diminished chords, sevenths, etc.) to a level where you can play along with most songs after a one listen.
Looking for other ways to teach yourself guitar? Read Ann’s review of the Jamorama online course for learning guitar. Covers all skill levels.
Tags: beginner guitar lessons, composing music, guitar, guitar instruction, Guitars, how to play a guitar, learning guitar, music, musical instruments, song writing, stringed instruments, teach yourself guitar
Posted in Bass Guitars Amps and Effects | No Comments »
Sunday, December 27th, 2009
In my twenty as a guitar teacher I had quite few students and it’s interesting to notice that the questions beginners ask are often the same. Therefore I would like to take this opportunity to clarify a few issues. An all time favorite is whether you should start with acoustic or electric guitar lessons and my answer is always the same: “Acoustic guitar lessons!” My reasons are the following:
Acoustic guitars are loud enough and you don’t need any amps or gadgets you would normally need if you play electric. That will save you quite a bit of money you could spend in online guitar tutorials or even a better instrument.
When you play electric guitar you can get distracted with some advanced techniques, while if you start with acoustic guitar lessons you are going to practice basic techniques like strumming, chords changes and fingerpicking. It’s so important to lay down a proper foundation and you can only do that if you start with the basics.
Strumming songs sounds better on acoustic guitar and it will definitely inspire you to practice more.
You can take your acoustic guitar anywhere you like without having to worry about amplification. That is quite useful if you want to play at a camp or friends home and don’t want to worry about carrying around extra stuff.
Starting on an acoustic guitar will make your hands stronger because it’s a bit harder to press than on an electric guitar. This is perfectly fine remember we are laying down foundations here.
I hope you get my point by now why you should start with acoustic guitar lessons. Another very common question is whether to use a steel or a nylon string guitar and in my opinion they are both okay fine to start with. A gear junky like me would actually buy them both but if you are starting out you might just want to make a decision based on the kind of sound you are after. If you like classical, bossa nova, spanish music then a nylon string will help you nail the sound while for country, pop, rock a steel string is what you need.
Once you’ve been practicing for a while and you’re playing loads of songs then you can move on to electric guitar. Electric is easier to play and you’ll be glad you started with acoustic guitar lessons.
Playing a musical instrument is a very enjoyable activity and the effort you put in will soon pay off. Therefore keep on practicing as practice make perfect and at all times have fun in the process.
Tommy Beltrani has been teaching guitar for almost twenty years and his main focus has been acoustic guitar lessons. You can get access for a limited time to a 4 weeks Quick Start Guide with great guitar instructions and video lessons. Grab a totally unique version of this article from the Uber Article Directory
Tags: acoustic guitar lessons, beginner guitar lessons, easy guitar lessons, education, guitar, guitar instructions, Guitars, How to, learn to play guitar, Teach yourself
Posted in Guitars | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
When people ask me whether it’s possible to learn the guitar, my reply depends on the mood I’m in. You see, I am a self-taught guitarist, so my honest answer is always yes, since I taught myself the guitar without any instructors guiding me. However, back when I was learning, teaching yourself the guitar wasn’t as simple as it is today. I learned from guitar learning books and from tapes, and it took way too long, as the information available wasn’t as abundant as it is today in the world of the Internet.
The Internet offers an overwhelming amount of information on any topic, including guitar lessons. Many beginner guitarists type the phrase guitar tutorials for beginners into Google or Yahoo, and don’t know what to do with the 20 million + results the search engines give them. This is actually a negative part of learning guitar online, since beginners have a tendency to go from one site to the next, without actually learning anything.
Teaching yourself how to play the guitar takes time and dedication, but the end result will be more than worth it, you’ll never look back. First of all, make sure you find a good quality website to learn the guitar from. I’ve seen several sites, which I will not name in this article, who try to get aspiring guitar students to believe that they can become a guitar God by tomorrow. Unfortunately, this is not possible for a number of reasons, but you’ll see for yourself when you start playing. Becoming good takes practice, that is the ultimate secret of learning guitar.
Once you start, you’ll never look back. There will be ups and downs, but if you keep at it, you’ll get better and better. One great way to keep yourself motivated is to learn beginner guitar songs at an early stage already. Learning songs is much more exciting than practicing simple exercises, since you’ll be playing songs you’ve been listening to for years.
Here is the shortened lesson plan I utilize with all of my guitar pupil:
1. First of all, learn the basic building blocks of playing the guitar.
2. Refine and advance the basic techniques by using the while learning beginner guitar songs
3. Next I teach my students how to play chords
4. Again, don’t just play chords randomly, practice them by playing songs
5. Advance to another guitar technique
6. And keep on practicing the new techniques in real songs
In short, I’ve found that rigorous practice routines kill all motivation a guitar pupil has. However, practicing any given technique in the context of a song, a song that is popular and will cause the student joy when playing, will motive the student to practice the technique. And as we know, practice something enough, and you’ll be able to do it soon, guaranteed. This method of learning the guitar works, no question about it.
So returning to the original question, of whether you can start teaching yourself guitar, my answer is a definite yes. Mind you, learning the guitar will take practice, and lots of it if you want to become a good guitarist. The most famous guitarists were beginners at one time as well, they went through the exact same process as you are about to. Learning how to play the guitar will be a bit more difficult at times, but keep in mind that you are learning a wonderful new hobby, one which will cause you and your family countless hours of joy later on.
Tom Fontana has been a personal guitar teacher for more than 10 years. His new website, TheGuitarLesson.com provides high quality video online guitar lessons for beginners, including beginner guitar songs you can start playing quickly.
Tags: beginner guitar lessons, guitar, Guitar Lessons, Guitars, instruments, music, music education, online guitar lessons
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