Posts Tagged ‘How to’
Sunday, August 29th, 2010
When you take the decision to learn acoustic guitar a number of things become very important for your eventual success and in this article we?re going to take a look at what some of those factors are.
If you?ve spent some time surfing the Web looking for sites offering lessons to learn to play acoustic guitar then you probably already know that there are hundreds of thousands of them. The quality can vary quite substantially so you need to be prepared to conduct your own research in order to find the guitar lessons which suit you best.
The way to maximize the effectiveness of any program teaching you how to play is to make sure that you understand how to practice properly, without this essential skill your chances of failure more than double.
The guitar is one of the easiest instruments to start to learn to play but it?s also extremely hard to fully master. Learning acoustic guitar involves a lot of patience, the motivation to sustain your practice over an extended period of time and a love of music.
All good quality online acoustic guitar lessons will teach you those things as a priority.
Don?t fall into the trap of thinking you need an expensive guitar in order to play your favourite songs to a high standard. It?s much more important to make sure that your guitar will tune up correctly and that it has a low action.
One off the most common questions asked by beginners is ?How long will it take me to learn to play acoustic guitar??
Most students of average ability will take less than four weeks to fully learn all of their basic open guitar chords and anywhere up to a year to learn how to play acoustic guitar songs fluently and with a high level of confidence.
Try not to criticize yourself and think that you have no talent for playing guitar just because you are not improving as fast as you would like. Anything worthwhile takes time and learning this instrument is really nothing more than regular practice with good quality acoustic guitar lessons.
Beginning Acoustic Guitar Knowing how to correctly tune your guitar is very important when learning to play. The best way to learn guitar is by following a great guitar program. Give yourself the easiest time learning guitar with this brilliant new guitar method.
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Sunday, July 25th, 2010
There are a few things to consider before you purchase your new acoustic beginner guitar. If you are able to afford a high-quality guitar, by all means indulge yourself and get it. The price tag may be higher but you will find that the quality will be reflected in the ease of playing and in the tone of the guitar as well.
If you’re looking for a high-end acoustic beginner guitar, an excellent choice is the Seagull S6, costing about $400-$500. It may be more expensive than what most beginners are prepared to pay, but it is an exceptional guitar for the price. Even professionals often keep their Seagull S6 after they’ve purchased many other guitars. Another good high-end acoustic beginner guitar is the Washburn D10S. Acoustic Guitar magazine voted it #1 for guitars under $500. Most people looking in this price range will end up choosing the Washburn or the Seagull.
Excellent choices if you want to spend a bit less include Yamahas F310, Takamines G-240 and Fenders DG7. For a rock-bottom price in an acoustic beginner guitar, you will want to look at Epiphones DR-100. You’ll have to switch to a more advanced instrument down the road, since its only meant for rookies, but you’ll get a really good buy for somewhere between $120 and $150.
When you are looking for your first guitar, avoid the very cheap ones. These are actually harder to play and can be hard for even an experienced player. A cheaper made acoustic beginner guitar is just not made well and usually have really high action, meaning there is more space between the strings and the fingerboard than the more expensive guitars. This can make a beginner just give up.
If you were planning on spending around $100 or less, a second hand acoustic beginner guitar is a good option. One of the benefits would be the guitar having some character. Take for example, two second hand Yamaha F310’s. Try them both out as they will likely have distinctly different sounds. These sounds may even give you some insight on the personality of who owned the guitar before.
You should always avoid buying a guitar from someone who doesn’t know beans about caring for one. A guitar has to be handled like a lover (or at least a friend!). When it hasn’t been properly treated, its just never going to make great music. If an acoustic beginner guitar you’re trying feels a bit off for any reason, go on to the next one.
When you are buying your first acoustic beginner guitar you should ask the salesperson to play it for you. The person selling the guitar should understand you can not yet play the instrument but want to hear what it will sound like when you can. You never know, maybe they are helping the next great guitar player to buy their first instrument.
Get more great free guitar online lessons at our Beginner Acoustic Guitar Lessons site. This article, Tips For Buying Acoustic Beginner Guitar Players has free reprint rights.
Tags: acoustic, Bass Guitar, Beginner, Buy Guitar, guitar, Guitars, How to, learn, learn guitar, lessons, music
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Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
You may have just heard your favorite song on the radio. It could just be running through your mind from the last time you heard it. You may even think, “Why can’t I play songs on guitar?” You definitely not the only person out there that has though that.
Luckily, many ways exist to learn how to play guitar. If you are a person that is adept and learning on your own, then many options available. There are many tutorials on the internet that will help you to study the guitar. Many of these websites are free.
The websites that offer the video tutorials can be the most helpful. It allows you to go along and learn chords while seeing it being actually played. If there are any questions, then you can pause the video and check it out.
Deciding on the guitar should be easy. If you have not received a hand me down guitar from a family member then consider getting a starter guitar. These can be purchased at retail stores and specialty music stores. It is also possible to find them at a pawn shop. Consider getting a less expensive guitar to start with unless you are incredibly dedicated to being a musician.
Besides self teaching, you can be taught by a professional across the internet. Some teachers have started giving lessons using web cams. This is a very effective method and something to consider.
The best way to play songs on guitar is the way that best suits your learning style. This is a very rewarding endeavor. It should provide hours of entertainment for both yourself and your audience. It could even lead you to the person of your dreams.
Want to learn guitar the quick way?? A great video to check out is how to learn guitar fast
Tags: guitar, Guitars, hobbies, How to, learn guitar
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Saturday, April 3rd, 2010
When you learn to play acoustic guitar it’s advisable to learn the right techniques but also to make it a bit more fun and learn as many songs as possible. There are a number of easy guitar songs that have become huge classics and every guitarist should be able to play them.
The first song I normally teach my beginner students is “Stand By Me”. The all song is very simple and uses just 4 chords. Also the same turn around is used on many different songs, so if you learn it you can literally play “I Believe I Can Fly”, “Lonely”, “Every Breath You Take” just to name a few titles you might know.
In our quest for easy guitar songs we cannot forget Bob Dylan. This artist wrote a large number of great songs using few simple chords, selling an insane amount of records and having many popular singers (Jimi Hendrix – Guns & Roses to name a few) covering his songs. Some of the tracks you should be learning are “Knocking on Heaven’s Door”, “Blowing In The Wind” and “All Along The Watch Tower”.
British bands are also popular for writing easy guitar songs. The n1 band is obviously the Beetles. These guys had a big variety of music in their repertoire some of which was quite complex for a boy band while a large number was quite simple to play. They use 7th and sus chords in their songs so make sure you know all the open chord shapes at least. Titles you should learn are “Let It Be”, “Yesterday”, “Here Comes The Sun” and “Hey Jude”.
Britain has given us many great band and artist, U2 and Cold Play are a typical example. Both bands have good songs with simple chord structures, normally 3 or 4 chords per song. Clocks from Cold Play is a typical example of that, 3 chords and you have a song: Riff, Intro, Verse and Chorus.
To have fun jamming a few easy guitar songs with some friends can be quite a simple thing. Learn a few of the songs before hand and get a couple of beers.
Before you buy any guitar tutorial online check out the Author free guitar finger picking tutorials on Youtube. Also learn these easy guitar songs videos he made for you.
Tags: acoustic, Easy, education, guitar, guitar instructions, Guitars, How to, learn, music, songs, Tuition
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Thursday, March 18th, 2010
What is a Jedi with no lightsaber or Michael Shumaker without his Ferrari? Have you seen Pamela Anderson without her boots?
You should have a good axe if you want to became a good guitar player. Now it doesn’t have to be a 1960’s Les Paul or something fancy like that but it needs to fulfill a few simple requirements.
What am I saying?Carry on reading to find out more. I have a few words of wisdom if you look for advice on this topic.
This is what you need to do. Buy the best instrument you can afford and start learning. Here are some advantages of buying a good guitar.
You are going to have to spend loads of time with it so you might as well get something that feels and sounds good. The last thing you want to do is to struggle to get a nice sound out of the guitar. That will make you loose your passion and make you give up and you don’t want that I presume.
When the time comes to upgrade your guitar, be aware of it, your axe will have better resale value and you’ll have a good deposit for the new guitar.
Now what happens if you don’t have any money and trust me I’ve been there and know all about that. Well you could find someone with a guitar that they’re not using and ask them if you could borrow it for a while so that you can start practicing while you save for your own axe.
If you already got a guitar and it’s not good enough what should you do then? Well get a guitar tech to have a look at it, some times you can do little improvements that can make a big difference and put a new set of strings on it and you’re good to go. A not so expensive guitar with a good setup can be a good start. And a bad axe is better than no guitar at all.
I strongly suggest you get some good easy guitar lessons and start learning the instrument the right way from the word go. You don’t want to learn bad habits or even worst get stuck in your learning process just because you don’t want to spend cash on good online guitar lessons. Here’s to your success as you start learning guitar!
The Author is an expert guitar teacher and session guitarist. Before you buy any guitar tutorials online check his Free Guitar Tutorials. Guitar Tutorials Videos
Tags: easy guitar lessons, education, guitar, guitar tutorials, Guitars, How to, Instructions, lessons, music, online, online guitar lessons, teach, tutorials
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Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
In this acoustic guitar lesson we are going to look a little closer at how you should organize your practice routine.
Once you have allocated 30 minutes a day for you practice time you need to know how to divide that time up to get the best results from your efforts. If you just mess around for 30 minutes you don’t actually learn anything new and it’s really just wasted effort. Now don’t get me wrong! Goofing around on the guitar could be a lot of fun and there should be some of that everyday but you must realize that it’s playing guitar and not practicing.
We are all different and you might want to make a few changes but the basic concept is the same. Focus on the foundations every day.
1. The first 5 minutes work on chords. Don’t learn all the chords at once. Instead start with 2 or 3 and make sure you get the changes right.
2. 5 minutes is rhythm time. Start with 2 or 3 rhythms and make sure you can play them properly and relaxed. Play along to a drum machine if possible.
3. Songs are a great way to solidify the chords and rhythms you’ve been practicing and you’ll also get a taste of your new skills in action.
4. The next 3 minutes is set aside for some left and right hand coordination. Scales and Chromatic exercises are great ways to enhance your left and right hand synchronization.
5. Spend 3 minutes on some ear training. This could be as simple as recording yourself playing some Major and Minor chords while you try and tell the difference.
6. Now that you’ve worked hard and been very committed you can reward yourself by playing whatever it is you like! Make it count and end your practice timewith something that will make you feel good!
This is the end of this acoustic guitar lesson. A sample practice time broken up to focus on some very important fundamentals. Keep it up and soon you’ll be donned guitar hero extraordinaire!
In the last 20 years Josh has taught many of students how to play the guitar. He has developed a guitar course that really works check it out for acoustic guitar lesson. He has also a series of easy guitar songs video tutorials to make you learn in no time at all.
Tags: acoustic, Acoustic Guitar Lesson, Beginner, Easy Guitar Songs, education, guitar, Guitars, How to, Instructions, learn, Learn Acoustic Guitar, lessons, online guitar lessons, tutorials
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Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Learning a skill these days is becoming easier every day. There is so much info available out there in books, magazines and DVDs that has become very easy to teach yourself guitar or anything else for that matter without the need of a mentor. All you need is determination and a good practice regime to follow.
When committing to a program you want to set yourself achievable goals and a practice routine. To practice a little bit each day – or at least 5 days a weeks – it’s better than a lot every once in a while. This is what I call “the principle of under achieving” and it’s very important because you don’t want to burn out before you get anywhere.
You must be realistic with your practice and don’t over do it unless you really have the time for it. Half an hour per day is probably good enough for most of you and it’s definitely a good start. During you practice work on your guitar tutorial exercises and don’t waster your time on jamming too much.
Your practice time is precious! The less time you have for your practice the less time you have to waste, therefore make sure you practise the right exercises that gets results ASAP.
Your first goal when you teach yourself guitar is to learn a few open chords, a few rhythms and with that you can start practicing easy guitar songs. The trick is to make the song flow by keeping the beat and off you go.
That’s all for this column. I know I’m making it sound a bit too easy but in a nut shell that’s the secret that made many great guitarist.
The Author is a renown session guitarist and has a series of free guitar video tutorials that will help you Teach Yourself Guitar in no time at all. His method has been developed over the last two decades and it works. Teach Yourself Guitar Today!
Tags: acoustic, education, guitar, guitar tutorials, Guitars, How to, Instructions, lessons, online guitar lessons, teach yourself guitar, tutorials
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Monday, February 1st, 2010
Learning acoustic guitar can be a very smooth process but yet there are thousand of people around the world that are struggling to learn to their full potential. The reason is simply luck of professional advice and in today’s world there are no excuses. The internet is an unlimited source of informations and you can find almost any kind of tutorials online for free or a minimal price.
YouTube alone has millions of free acoustic guitar lesson videos and all you need to do is to try a few of these to find the ones that are right for you. The free stuff is cool and can be a good start but remember that often teacher give free tutorials but they keep their best informations and courses for their paid content. So unless you want to waste your time searching for ever online I suggest you subscribe to the course that you like the most.
Once you find the right course for you the next step is to follow the acoustic guitar lesson instructions and practice diligently. There are no short cuts here and you’ll get out what you put in, therefore it’s a good idea to set aside some time during the day where you can do your exercises.
You need a minimum of 48 hours of practice to get to a decent skill level on the guitar, the trick is to be realistic with your time and to do a little bit every day. I suggest a minimum of 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week and in just 4 months you will have your 48 hours.
This is the end of this short article hope it helped you in your journey to became a better guitar player.
Santo has been in the music industry for almost twenty years as a guitar teacher & music producer. He suggests you start learning from these Acoustic Guitar Lesson & Free Video Tutorials. Also check these Easy Guitar Songs on YouTube.
Tags: Acoustic Guitar Lesson, Easy Guitar Songs, education, guitar instructions, Guitars, How to, learn, Learn Acoustic Guitar, music
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Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
“How much do I need to practice”? I get asked this question very often by new students on their first acoustic guitar lesson.
The answer to that is very objective and it all boils down to the following question. Are you learning guitar for fun or to master it? Guitar is the easiest instrument to learn and the most difficult to master or so they say.
If you want to “Master” the guitar then you should need approximately 10000 hours of practice and you can stop reading this article right now.
However if you’re just into guitar for fun and you’re just about to start playing then you would need 48 hours. 48 hours? Yes that’s it. Let me explain. If you can practice 30 min a day for 6 days a week then after 4 months you would have practiced about 48 hours. Not just 48 hours of aimless goofing around but 48 hours of dedicated and focused practicing. Once you have kept that going for the 4 months you should achieve your goal.
A good course should be able to show you in 4 months all you need to know to became a proficient guitarist and play some relatively easy guitar songs.
The frequency with which you practice guitar is way more important than the time you spend in one practice session. It’s better to keep the 30 minutes a day going as opposed to practicing 2 hours one day a week which is a sure recipe failure. We learn guitar through muscle memory and the only way to get that going is through repetition. That’s why it’s way more beneficial to practice regularly in short chunks of time as opposed to long sessions every now and then.
Don’t let the simplicity of this advice fool you, this is it!
Josh has developed, over the last two decades, a practice routine for his students that really works. Check it out for your self Acoustic Guitar Lesson. Have a look at these Easy Guitar Songs Free Videos.
Tags: acoustic, Acoustic Guitar Lesson, Beginner, Easy Guitar Songs, education, guitar, Guitars, How to, Instructions, learn, Learn Acoustic Guitar, lessons, online, Play, tutorials
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Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
Easy guitar songs are extremely helpful when learning guitar just make sure you don’t choose songs that are too difficult and focus on easier songs at first.
When I started studying guitar I took a couple of classes and I asked my teacher to teach me some cool songs. The problem was that I wanted to learn some of my favorite songs at the time which were far from easy. That ended up being a huge mistake and after much frustration I decided to give up playing altogether. Not cool!
I went to a party with a friend of mine and everyone gathered around this guy strumming away on his guitar. They all joined him by singing along to all the tunes he played. I knew the guitarist as he also went for guitar lessons with my guitar teacher but he started a month after me. I had to wonder to myself why could he play all these songs and I couldn’t play any of the songs I asked my teacher to teach me. He recognized me and walked up to me. We started chatting and I asked him how he did it. He responded by saying “I only know 4 chords and a few strumming patterns! Luckily I can play loads of songs with those chords and strumming patterns. It dawned on me that the songs I was learning were far too difficult and that I should have focused easy guitar songs instead. Here are the 7 secret tips I wish I knew when I started.
1. Don’t try and learn all the chords at once. Take 3 or 4 chords that belong to a key and learn them extremely well. For e.g. C Am F G.
2. Learn a couple of different strumming patterns to so that you can cover a wide variety of tempos and different feels ranging from ballads to uptempo.
3. Find a couple of easy guitar songs and if necessary transpose the songs that are in different keys to the key you chose to focus on in the beginning.
4. As soon as you can play these chord changes comfortably start by playing along to the cd’s or mp3’s. Use a capo if necessary.
5. Try and sing along or even going to jams and playing with friends so that you can get the hang of accompanying yourself or others singing whilst playing the guitar.
6. Make a note of all the songs you have learned so that you can have a repertoire handy of all the easy guitar songs you know.
7. Now that you can play a couple of tunes using the basic chords in your chosen key choose a new key and learn it’s 3 or 4 basic chords. Transpose all those tunes you already know to the new key. Once you have that down start with songs that are a bit more challenging.
So by following these steps you will quickly learn how to use the 3 or 4 chords along with the strumming patterns to play a couple of tunes. It’s a lot more fun to play loads of songs with a few chords than to know (or try to learn) loads of chords and not know any songs. This incremental increase in difficulty will serve you well in the long run. I’ll leave you with a joke.
What’s the difference between a jazz guitarist and a rock guitarist? A rock guitarist plays 3 chords to 1000’s of people and a jazz guitarist plays 1000’s of chords to 3 people.
The Author is a professional composer and guitar tutor. He has free Easy Guitar Songs Video on his site to guideyou Learn Acoustic Guitar fast.
Tags: Easy Guitar Songs, education, guitar, guitar instructions, Guitars, How to, Learn Acoustic Guitar, Learn guitar chords, music
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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
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