Vital Steps for Soloing Success in Lead Guitar learning

September 3, 2010 by  
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There are various reasons we learn to play guitar. While some want to be like rock stars and get all the glamour and fame that comes with it, others simply want to learn how to play guitar and sing along just to impress girls. Irrespective of the aim of your quest to learn guitar, the actual guitar learning and play is what separates the wana-be guitar players and those that actually play. As in most things in life, learning guitar takes lots of practice and dedication. If you really want to learn how to play lead guitar, then read the following three steps very well.

The first thing you must do is to learn as much arpeggios and scales as you possibly can. All the solo guitar works have been known to face serious obstacles by the players' inability to master much scales and arpeggios. You have to ensure that you can play them is as many ways as possible. Playing them in many different keys are also very important.

The second vital step you should take to be able to properly play guitar is to try jamming along with your favorite song after you must have learnt and mastered some arpeggios and scales. You will be able to learn more and faster too if you can device good practice methods and try to record your self while playing rhythm guitar and then follow it up by trying to solo over it. You don't have to concentrate on the notes and how they sound whenever you are improvising. It may be quite tempting to start playing very fast soon as you grab bits of guitar playing but it is very necessary you remember that you have to learn to be accurate before trying to play fast. It will be easier for you to recognize how any scale would sound over a certain cord if you can easily rip through it and figure out a good ending point to make it sound fluid.

Third vital step towards learning how to play lead guitar is by indulging in practices that would help to build finger dexterity. And help to synchronize the pick hand with the fret hand. The practice isn't like drinking a cup of coffee but you will gain speed by adequately learning it. These, may seem burdensome at the beginning but by the time you get more matured as a guitar player, you will discover that these ‘simple' exercises are quite useful while warming up before practices.

Learning how to play guitar may seem demanding but the experience is quite rewarding. If you don't play guitar, you are definitely missing the exhilarating feelings in the world that are cause by merely wailing out a hot guitar lick. Playing guitar can never be termed a lazy man's idle because of the work and dedication that is required.

You should simple follow the tips mentioned above to learn guitar playing but don't forget that you have to memorize as many arpeggios and scale as possible.

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Vital Steps for Soloing Success in Lead Guitar learning

How Long Does It Take To Learn How To Play Guitar Online?

September 1, 2010 by  
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There is definite time schedule it will take for anyone to start playing guitar perfectly. The individual is one major propellant that pushes people to either stay glued till they ‘perfect' it or simply rush to YouTube to learn a song. It all depends on what the individual learner want to achieve with it. Importantly, the length of time isn't that necessary but how well the person can be able to play guitar at the end of the day.

If music has always been what you really desired to do, then you simply have to do it well but if you are there just to while away time, it is a different ball game altogether.

Many people had actually wanted to know how long it will take them to learn how to play guitar and this prompted me to come up with a simple test. It is called “passion test” and will help you to test your strength and interest in guitar and music.

The first passion test question: “How passionate are you about guitar and music?”

You are advised to take a sheet of paper and number from one to ten at the left hand side of the plain sheet. Then in a very relaxed form, write all the interests, professionals and personal roles, activities and musical engagements that stir up feelings inside of you. Make sure you write these in order of their importance to you.

Example of how your answer will be is:

  1. Going To Dance
  2. Listening To Music.
  3. Staying At Home With My Wife And Kids
  4. Going For Hiking During Holidays
  5. Going To The Beach With The Kids During Breaks e.t.c

Just be frank and write all the things you would ordinarily do when you have free time and detailed musical engagements you may have wish you can take part in.

The feedback may simply be interpreted thus;

If guitar or playing guitar falls in the top 5 of these interests, then the analysis below might be of great interest to you.

You have to know today that guitar playing isn't a destination in its self by a life time journey. Anybody that decides to embark on it will enjoy it more if he or she is dedicated and determined.

You definitely need a well structure guitar course and if you really want to stand out and start playing to your heart desires real soon, you may have to contact a private teacher that will take time to groom you.

You have to ready to read and learn everything about guitar but nothing will work and you can never play if you don't practice continually on a daily basis.

On the other hand, if guitar fall below the top 5 in your priority above, you may still play guitar but you are advised to take it simply as hobby your time and energy to other productive activities. You can learn to play guitar in an average of 12 months if you are in this category.

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How Long Does It Take To Learn How To Play Guitar Online?

Learn Guitar Fast – 3 Awesome Tips To Playing the Guitar in 24 Hours

September 1, 2010 by  
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Most people want to learn guitar fast. How can you blame them because it is such a fun instrument to play, and almost anyone enjoys hearing someone talented playing the guitar. The truth is you can pick up the guitar for the first time and play a simple in a couple of hours. But, you will still not know all the great things about playing the guitar. The purpose of this article will be to give you three tips you can use to play the guitar fast and provide a foundation for continued learning of this wonderful instrument.

First, when learning to play the guitar fast is to learn all the parts and pieces of the guitar. I understand this may sound boring and unimportant, however, it is extremely important. This will give you a solid foundation in your education of the guitar and is extremely important. Knowing how the instructors and the books speak will help you understand better what you are being taught. Furthermore, it will help you understand how sound is created so learning to play the guitar will be more logical. It should not be overlooked.

Second thing to learn guitar fast is you will want to spend some time researching the different places online where you can get instruction. This site has a list you can join that offers some awesome tips for learning the guitar. The best part is they do not charge a dime. There are also other great places to visit online like YouTube and other video sharing sites.

The third thing to do to learn guitar fast is to stay committed to practicing. 30 minutes a day, and five times a week is a good rule of thumb to learn to play the guitar. It may seem like a lot, but it isn’t if you have a passion for learning the guitar. They do not have the proper techniques and teaching they need to learn how to play the guitar. A nice book or guide can help someone overcome this obstacle.

As you can see if you want to learn guitar fast there are some simple things you can do to start playing within a day. The learning, however, will never stop. Therefore, while learning the guitar can start quickly there is a lifetime of learning for any guitar player.

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Learn Guitar Fast – 3 Awesome Tips To Playing the Guitar in 24 Hours

Learn To Play Guitar While Mastering Simple Beginner Guitar Songs

August 20, 2010 by  
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When my friends ask me whether or not someone can learn how to play the guitar, my personal response actually depends upon the mood I’m just in. Being a self-taught musician, my honest response is always “absolutely yes”, since I taught myself the guitar without tutors guiding me. Nonetheless, back in the day when I was figuring out the acoustic guitar, it wasn’t as easy as it can be currently. I learned through publications as well as VHS educational videos, and yes, it took too much time, as the material out there was not as plentiful as it is at present in the modern world of the World wide web.The net provides an tremendous amount of info on any kind of topic, as well as guitar lessons. Countless newbie guitarists type the phrase guitar lessons into Google or Yahoo, and don’t know what to do with the 20 million results the search engines provide them with. This is really a bad element of learning guitar on the internet, since beginners tend to go from one site to the next, without learning anything.

Training yourself how to play the electric/acoustic guitar requires time and perseverance, but the outcome will be more than worth it, you are going to never look back. Firstly, make sure you find a high quality, highly regarded website to learn the guitar from. I’ve come across numerous websites, which I will not name in this article, which attempt to get amateur guitar players to believe they can become a guitar god over a weekend. However, this is not possible for a number of reasons, but you are going to discover for yourself once you begin playing. Getting good takes practice, that is the ultimate key of learning guitar.

Practice is vital, and practice you must if you want to become a good player. You will find that practicing the same techniques every day can get monotonous, that is why it really is essential that you start learning how to play easy guitar songs beside your normal exercises. Having the ability to play songs is the ultimate end goal of learning your guitar, but more importantly, learning songs will develop your technique, and help you stay enthusiastic at the same time.

For example, have a look at how I have been teaching beginner guitarists for many years:

  1. Teach my guitar students fundamental guitar techniques
  2. Polish and advance the essential techniques though learning easy guitar songs
  3. Afterwards, learn to play guitar chords, and the way to change between them
  4. After that, you should not simply play chords randomly, practice all of them by playing songs
  5. Master more techniques
  6. And keep on practicing the fresh techniques in real songs

The above approach to learning how to play the guitar guarantees that the student will continue to be motivated, and that is key to getting adequate practice. If you merely practice monotonous exercise routines day after day, chances are that you will have enough of practicing the guitar after about 2 weeks… But if you learn to use your newfound skills to actually make music, you will definitely remain motivated and keep on practicing. You can expect to desire to practice even more, since you’ll want to play the song perfectly. And the more you play, the better you become, this is a fact.

Learning how to play guitar online is especially possible these days, there is no question about it. Be sure you find a website that offers a well structured approach to learning, and you are going to be off to an excellent start already. Learning how to make music is among the best things I have ever done for myself and my family and friends, I hope you will do the same.

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Learn To Play Guitar While Mastering Simple Beginner Guitar Songs

Guitar Lesson — How to Deal With Double Sharps and Double Flats

August 17, 2010 by  
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On occasion, you may, as a guitarist, run into a situation where you will run into double sharps and flats. The good news is that it is rare in popular music. The bad news is that you still may run across them now and then, and you may as well learn how to cope with them.

Let’s start this off by talking about keys and major scales in particular.

Recall that major scales have a formula ( 1 + 1 + 1/2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1/2)

There are also rules concerning the construction of these things:

1. You must use every letter of the musical alphabet ( ABCDEFG ). You cannot skip a letter. Ever.

2. You must use the major scale formula.

3. You must never mix sharps and flats in the same scale. A major scale will have sharps in it, or flats in it, or none of either.

So, if I wanted to construct an A major scale, I would start off with rule number 1 — Use every letter.

A B C D E F G.

Now it becomes a matter of whether or not there are any sharps or flats. So let’s apply the formula:

1 step above A is B

1 step above B is C#

1/2 step above C# is D

1 step above D is E

1 step above E is F#

1 step above F# is G#

1/2 step above G# is A

So my A major scale is: A B C# D E F# G# A (There are 3 sharps in this key C#, F# and G#)

Most of your “pop keys” will not have more than 5 sharps, but what if I’m in the key of G#? Let’s construct this headache of a scale:

1. Use every letter. I will start by using G# because I know that that is the key. I also know that I will be using sharps and not flats because I cannot violate the rule that concerns mixing sharps and flats. But at this point I don’t know where these are so:

Rule number 1 — Use every letter. G# A B C D E F G#

Rule number 2 — Apply formula ( 1 1 1/2 1 1 1 1/2 )

1 step above G# is A#

1 step above A# is B#

1/2 step above B# is C##

1 step above C## is D##

1 step above D## is E##

1 step above E## is F##

1/2 step above F## is G#

G# A# B# C## D## E## F## G#

Look at all of the pretty double sharps! What’s up with that and how did they get there?

In truth, these guys are a pain for any musician. It forces even the best and most cultured musicians to “think fast” (as you can imagine). But they are not hard to understand if you know what a sharp (#) really does.

A sharp (#) raises a note 1/2 step. That is the definition of a sharp. So, for example a C## is a C raised a half step twice.

Now let’s look at the Chromatic Scale:

A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A

Recall that this baby is a 1/2 step scale. That is, the numeric distance between each and every note in this scale is 1/2 step.

Now, what does a sharp do? It raises a note 1/2 step.

That means that if I wanted to (I wouldn’t, by the way) I COULD express a D as A##### (D raised a 1/2 step 5 times)

1/2 step up from A is A# (raise number 1)

1/2 step up from A# is B (raise number 2)

1/2 step up from B is C (raise number 3)

1/2 step up from C is C# (raise number 4)

1/2 step up from C# is D (raise number 5)

Fortunately you will never, ever see this to this extent — it’s too demented even for classical music.

But you will see double sharps on occasion.

So going back to the despised G# major scale

G# A# B# C## D## E## F## G#

A B# is really a C, but because of the rules of major scales it has to be represented as a B#.

A C## is really a D, but because of that rule, it has to be represented as a C##.

A D## is really an E.

An E## is really an F# (This one’s fun!)

An F## is really a G

So, if you have the misfortune of seeing a piece of music in the key of G#, you might run across an E##m7 chord — which is really F#m7!

Now ain’t that special?

Again, you may play for years before you are forced to deal with something like this on a practical level (and certainly not to this extent. A piece of music will be written in Ab rather than G#). But sooner or later you will, so it’s important that you understand what’s going on.

Now dealing with double flats is the same problem — only in reverse. The definition of a flat is to lower a note 1/2 step.Double flats are far less common though. If you can understand double sharps, you won’t have much of a problem understanding double flats.

How To Select And Buy A Cheap Electric Guitar

August 1, 2010 by  
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If you are thinking about learning guitar, you have to make some hard choices right off the bat. The first one is how much you want to spend. A lot of people think that if you are starting off you should buy a cheap electric guitar, but this isn’t always the case. The problem is that if you buy a lower quality instrument, it will be harder to play and will not sound as good. Many cheap electric guitars are not very well designed. That doesn’t mean that you can’t find one that is. If you know what to look for, you can find a low-cost electric guitar that will still help you shred like a guitar god.

With cheap electric guitars, you have quite a few options. A lot of people assume that the only way to go is to buy an all-in-one beginning guitar kit, but this is not the case. The electric guitar is probably the most popular instrument in America. As such, people buy and sell them all the time. You can find a used musical instrument that is still in pretty good shape. It helps to take someone along who knows what they are doing. You need to understand whether the frets are lined up properly, whether the neck is warped, and a lot of other things that you might not know how to evaluate as a beginner. Pawn shops can be risky business, and used musical instrument stores are not always reputable.

Of course, you can buy cheap electric Guitars without buying them used. A lot of the main manufacturers produce beginner lines that are still pretty good. My personal favorite is the Epiphone LP Special II Les Paul Collection Electric Guitar.

Epiphone guitars are made by the same people who produce Gibsons, but they are a whole lot cheaper. The quality is still good – they just aren’t as fancy. I know some professional players who still use beginner Epiphones, so they are well regarded.

There are a few other strategies to consider when you are buying cheap electric guitars. I have a friend who swears by factory seconds. Factory seconds are new guitars that were somehow slightly damaged in the factory. Usually the damage is simply cosmetic – they have a ding on the body somewhere that looks a little bit ugly. If you don’t mind a bit of cosmetic imperfection, this is the way to go. You still get a new electric guitar, but with substantial savings.

How To Learn Guitar Fast By Practicing Right

October 3, 2009 by  
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Your guitar instructor tells you to practice. Practice – what and how exactly should you practice?

Does this mean to go home and play everything that you covered in your lesson in one day? Maybe it means to dig out your most impressive song or riff and play it over and over.

Practicing guitar is an art form all to itself. Everyone has their own way of guitar practice, and what works for one student will not necessarily work for another.

Like most guitarists, you probably have a few things in your tool belt to work on: scales, arpeggios, chords, picking technique, soloing, exercises, songs, theory, etc. How do you juggle everything and feel like your moving forward and not stepping backward?

Plan a Learn Guitar Practicing  Strategy

What do you want to accomplish today? If you can set aside 30 minutes or an hour and focus on 1 or 2 of these tools you’ll be able to focus better than thinking of a dozen things you need to cram into your practice session.

The operative word here is “Focus”. You can “play” for 3 hours and get nothing accomplished because you’re just “playing” guitar and not committing yourself to a “focused practice” routine.

What happens if you get to a couple notes on that 2nd string that don’t sound right? Play ONLY THE 2ND STRING. This is so important because many, many students will play the WHOLE passage or exercise again. This wastes A LOT of time because you already know the rest – it’s just the 2nd string that’s a concern.

After practicing the 2nd string problem, back up and play a note or two before the problem area to transition smoothly. Another big problem now is working transitions, so after working on any problem area – practice transitioning INTO the problem area. Practicing slow will teach the fingers exactly what they need to do.

Ok, so DAY 1 maybe you work on scales and exercises. Memorization might be on your list. If the scales are 2 octaves, just focus on the 1st octave and memorize that part.

Be sure you can play smoothly through the exercises and/or scales you are practicing even if it’s only 1 or 2!

Day 2 – Attempt these scales and exercises with a metronome. Start slow and write down the tempo you can play comfortably.

This tempo marking will only be temporary because you’ll be getting more comfortable with the fingering. You may also want to start creating melodies with these scales today.

Mixing them up and making music is the best way to understand these scales. This is also a good time to work in your arpeggios if you have them.

Day 3 – Review scales and exercises and get into your reading. The only way to be a better reader is to practice reading.

Read anything you can get your hands on. If you’re still working out the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd string notes in open position – read them and write your own ideas that use these strings. Writing your own ideas and playing them is a GREAT way to relate to the notes quicker.

Day 4 – Review what you’ve been doing this week, maybe spend 15-20 minutes on review and jump into a song you’re working on. If there is an area in the song that you have problems with, begin there. You don’t have to start at the beginning. Start at the end and work backwards if you want.

Day 5 – You know you have chords to work on.first, review everything to this point. It doesn’t have to be laborious like previous days, just run through your tools so you don’t forget them. Start with some easier chords and work your way to the difficult chords. When dealing with complicated chord progressions, take your strumming hand out of the equation and just focus on what your fretting hand is doing.

Observe each finger as it transitions to the next chord. Do this many times until you see the responsibility of each finger. With this knowledge, you can minimize the movements of every finger resulting in a smoother transition because the fretting hand is now moving as a precision tool.

Day 6 – You guessed it, quick review. Cover everything in roughly 20 minutes or so and work on your theory. You may have written work to complete or apply to the guitar. Spending time with the written work will give you new perspectives into the fingerboard, so really take your time here! This is a vast subject, so take your time and make sure you understand each phase because everything builds from the basics.

Day 7 – Oh, it’s your lesson day! Depending on the time of your lesson you may be able to practice and you may not. If you do, great! Go over everything thoroughly and touch on any problem areas a bit longer.

Ok, this is a nice way to organize your practice sessions, but what if you don’t have the time to commit to a 6-day practice schedule?

Any teacher who is worth your time will be flexible. If you have 3 or 4 days to practice and you can only realistically practice one – three concepts or tools, than that’s what you work on in your lesson. Believe me, you won’t be working on EVERYTHING in a typical 30 or 45 minute lesson.

Usually the teacher selects 1 or 2 tools to work with. You may even have a couple questions that take up 15 minutes of the lesson, which leads to examples and discussion if necessary!

The above schedule is only a suggestion and will hopefully give you a great guide to tailor for yourself on your musical journey.


Do you play the acoustic guitar and want an in-depth course just on the acoustic technique?

Acoustic Guitar Methods gives you the tools you need to be an acoustic guitarist.

The information in the course covers both finger style guitar & playing with a pick plus there is something for all level of guitarists.

Acoustic Guitar Methods is a great learning platform to branch off and learn acoustic guitar.

You find it at http://www.guitartips.com.au/acoustic


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10 Easy Ways To Improve Your Guitar Playing Today

October 3, 2009 by  
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One of the most frustrating aspects of playing guitar is when you reach the point where you are not improving.

Whether you are a novice or a seasoned musician, we all face the same problem when we learn guitar and ask the question, “Why am I not at the level I want to be and how can I get there?”

To add insult to injury, we see our guitar heroes in magazines and on TV everyday and it seems as if they are constantly inventing new tricks and improving their skills.

When we read about them in Guitar World to try to emulate their skills and learn their tricks only to leave more confused. Becoming the ultimate guitarist is far harder than it looks.

So what is the key to success?

While there is no one answer that can solve everyone’s problem, there are a number of concepts and theories that can help you break through the barrier that keeps you from reaching your full potential to learn and master your guitar.

The one thing that you need to realize is that you don’t need to be a genius to become a great guitarist. The two key things you need to have in your possession are interest and commitment.

You’ll never meet a great guitarist who isn’t passionate about music.

They didn’t get to the level that they are at by being apathetic and lazy. They took the initiative to go out and try to learn something new.

The guitarist who dares to challenge himself takes the risk of failing. This is where many musicians lose their battle with low self-esteem and quit.

It’s not that they didn’t take the risk, rather, that they failed and couldn’t pick themselves up again. If you realize that failure is a part of growth and that it takes many jam sessions to get some tricks down, you have just acquired the first skill you will need to become the ultimate guitarist.

I have compiled a list of concepts that I believe every guitarist should try out. Unlike other articles you will read, these short and simple steps ask you to do, rather that simply read. Thoughts and attitude are important but in the end it’s what you do that counts to your audience.

Let’s get started with the top ten things you can do to obtain maximum results as a guitarist.

Top 10 tips for success…

  1. Learn something new - Educating yourself is the first step to becoming a better guitarist. Whether you choose to believe it or not, there’s always something new to learn and master. If you are currently studying music in a conservatory, at school, or in college, you will find that learning will come more easier to you. If not, I highly recommend that you get in a program. While I believe in teaching yourself, I also know from first hand experience that motivation and encouragement from a teacher is priceless. Once you conquer the subject that you were learning, push yourself to learn something that you’re not quite comfortable with. Learning within your comfort zone often results with you running around in circles.
  2. Make your time count – Practicing does not make perfect, it makes permanent. That makes the time you spend playing your guitar all the more important. Don’t waste your time fiddling around on your guitar. Dig in and learn something that will aid you on your quest for musical success. Set goals and work towards achieving them. Whether it’s technique, tricks, or a new song, you can become better just by using your time more wisely.
  3. Listen to more music - The more music that you are exposed to, the better guitarist you will become. Listen to the bands that you enjoy most and draw inspiration from them. Take note of what the musicians are doing in their songs and make a list of the techniques you want to learn. This can be the motivating force that gets you to play your guitar more often.
  4. Surround yourself with excellence - When you play your guitar with people who are better guitarists, you not only learn from them but feel motivated to push yourself to keep up. At first this idea seems obscure. Why would you expose yourself to that kind of stress? Let’s face it, if there’s one thing that will make you get motivated quickly it’s the fact that people are counting on you. Don’t play with musicians who are arrogant and rude. Embarrassment doesn’t foster self-esteem and will only get you down. The people you want to learn from are patient and understanding. Eventually you will find yourself at their level. It happens faster than you might think.
  5. Ask yourself what will you do when you obtain the skills you want – What do you want to do with what you learn? Perhaps you want to make a CD or join a band and play at some local venues. Start planning for it now and use what you currently have. This ties into setting goals but is not to be underestimated. Knowing how you want to use your talent is important. Create a vision and use goals to act on it. Whether you want to play for others, or to the wall in your bedroom, the choice is yours.
  6. Teach someone how to play guitar - To teach is to learn. If the only chord you know how to play is a G chord, show someone that. Why? Because it reaffirms what you know and solidifies your knowledge. I can tell you from personal experience that I have learned more through teaching than I ever learned through being taught. It forces you out of your comfort zone and when questions are asked, you need to know the answer. I’m a firm believer that anyone can teach someone something if they want to. Give it a shot and see the results for yourself.
  7. Believe in your ability - Yes, I know how cliché this sounds. However, you need to hear it. You can do anything you put your mind to and if you choose to play guitar well, chubby fingers or not, you can! Don’t listen to what others say and be true to yourself. This can be hard seeing as we live in a critical society that doesn’t realize how much words can hurt. Keep at it and surround yourself with supportive people. More of a life lesson than a guitar lesson, but as far as I’m concerned music is intertwined with daily living.
  8. You are incomparable - In case you haven’t picked up the hint yet, you are the ultimate guitarist. There is no one like you and there will never be anyone who even comes remotely close to being like you. Integrate who you are into your music and you will never have a shortage of material. Your music will soon form into your own tone and style.
  9. Learn what worked for others - Whether you research your favorite guitarist or talk to your guitar teacher, ask others what worked for them. I don’t claim to know all the answers but when everyone puts their heads together, some really neat ideas start to flow. Networking allows you to give and receive at the same time.
  10. Crush your weakness - We all know where we lack the most in the guitar realm. For me it’s in technique and finger picking, for others it’s something different. Whatever it is, don’t ignore it while enjoying your recent victory. Keep attacking your weak points and you’ll soon see improvement. The secret is that you never stop seeing problems and you continually get better over time. You’ll never be stuck without something to do. Take out a sheet of paper and write them down. Then find the resources you need to help you destroy them. It’s not unlike a war, but in the end you always win.

Don’t Believe The Popular Myths

You may be surprised to hear that a lot of the common advice distributed amongst guitarists couldn’t be farther from the truth. There are myths and tokens of advice that get passed along and guitarists like yourself use them. Try as hard as you like, but you’ll end up realizing that what meets you at the end of the road is failure.

To avoid that, let’s look at some of the most common myths floating around:

All good players can play all styles: While great in theory, it doesn’t work out in practice. Throughout the history of this newsletter, I have consistently pushed trying various genres of music and becoming a more cultured guitarist. However, no where will you ever hear me, or any other teacher, say that you should be able to master all of them.

The fact is that it takes a lifetime to master one style. Some take up two genres that mix well together, such as blues and rock, but those genres are the exceptions. You will never hear a neoclassical shred guitarist play country. Many jazz musicians take decades to perfect their craft and even then they still see areas that need improvement.

If you want to be a great guitarist, take the genre and style that you’re passionate about and focus on it. Don’t get distracted with other music. Your guitar heroes are heroes because they mastered a genre. Very few will ever play outside of their specialty and that’s just the reality.

You either have “it” or you don’t: Let’s face it, some understand music more easily than others. That doesn’t mean that you can’t be as good as them. Everyone can play guitar, it just depends on the effort and time you want to put in.

There are dozens of specialties within music and no one knows all of them from the time they are born. Perfect pitch is developed, as is technique and originality. Look at where you started from as opposed to where you are now. Would you say that you are just as original as you were when you first picked up the guitar? I know I’m not.

While things may come easier to others, remember that we all have our own struggles within music and that we are in it together.

To sound good, you need the best gear - The best gear is nice, and yes, you do sound better. However, it’s unnecessary for those who aren’t interested in professional music or are just starting out.

Beginners love to see the rack of guitars at their local music store and say, “I want the $2000 one.” That was me for years but the truth is that a guitar of that caliber is useless to someone who can’t play it. Learn on something modest and work your way up.

Not only will the experience be more rewarding, it’s also nicer on the instrument and your self-confidence. In the end, the guitar is only as good as the person who plays it.

I have heard crappy guitars sound half-decent when played by someone who knew what they were doing. The same applies to you. For those who can afford $5,000 guitars, my advice is go for it.

For the rest of us, I say save your money and work towards being the ultimate guitarist. Think about it, if you sound good on a crummy guitar, how much better will you sound on something that can really produce a good tone?

You need to be the most talented to succeed- All too often, as mentioned above, we tend to compare ourselves to others. The ultimate guitarist is you meeting your goals and making progress.

There will always be others who sound better in certain areas but who cares? Be the person you want to be and music will be far more enjoyable. Success is measured on a personal level, not n how many CD’s you sell.

The famous musicians in today’s society often find themselves wishing they weren’t so pressured by record labels. They want to be in your shoes where they have the choice to do what they want to do. Enjoy yourself and the rest will fall into place.


See how fun & easy teaching yourself to learn and master guitar really is with the help of Guitar Secrets.

Did you know the reason why most beginner guitarists put learning guitar in the “too hard basket” is because they choose lessons without structure.

These beginner guitar lessons cover the basics and move into more intermediate topics in the correct order.

This article is courtesy of http://www.guitartips.com.au


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10 Most Important Things When You Learn Guitar

April 24, 2009 by  
Filed under Guitar Learning & Playing Tips

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  1. Get a good guitar that will not impede your learning ability. Make sure the action (distance of the string to the neck) of the guitar is good and that it is correctly intonated (the bridge adjusted so the strings are the correct length) or you will have tuning and playing problems. Also learning on light gauge strings is advised to stop finger strain. It is worth paying a few extra dollars to have the guitar ‘set up’ before your start to play. Here is a more comprehensive guide to selecting a good acoustic guitar.
  2. Get a good teacher or a good Guitar Lesson DVD or software or a great Learn Guitar Online Course that explains the methods of learning in a simple and easy manner and will ensure you are playing songs or at least riffs within the first couple lessons. Avoid learning boring scales and exercises that will just de-motivate you! You will have to learn these too, but it can be done later.
  3. Practice every day for at least 15 minutes, and always practice what you cannot play yet rather than playing what you already know or you will not progress. Try to learn simple versions of songs you know so you can sing along even if it’s just in your mind with the song.
  4. Learn a mixture of chords, single notes, scales and riffs even at the first stages of learning. This is important to develop your technique and strength in the finger and wrist.
  5. Have the guitar, if possible, in a place where it is easily accessible, so you will want to pick it up often. If it’s in a case in your closet you will forget about it.
  6. Know how to tune your guitar. Always have a tuner to ensure you are in tune otherwise you will sound horrible. If you don’t have a tuner you can use our free online tuner.
  7. Use a metronome (click to download free metronome software!) so you can stay in time and develop a sense of rhythm. This is one of the most neglected areas of learning and often the biggest cause of bad habits later on in a student’s progress.
  8. Try to learn to play songs you enjoy and play a style you like. Don’t play Bob Dylan if you like AC/DC. However its not a bad idea to learn new styles but stick to what you know and like at least when you are still Learn To Play Guitar Fast.
  9. Take a recording device (your MP-3 player e.g.), record yourself and listen back to it. No matter how awful it may sound it will improve both your desire to learn guitar, and your ability to play better. Also if you want to play lead guitar, play over a recorded rhythm part so you have a musical backing to play to. This will improve your solo ability dramatically.
  10. Set a stopwatch or timer for 3 minutes and continue to play without stopping. Sounds too easy? Try it! It is a lot more difficult than you think. Most students play on average for about 30 seconds before stopping and starting again!

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Don’ts When You Learn To Master The Guitar

March 30, 2009 by  
Filed under Guitar Learning & Playing Tips

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You are having a midnight beach party. You have the spirits flowing, the barbecue steaming and the moonlight for company. What more could you ask for? An acoustic guitar, maybe. There is something about the acoustic guitar that makes it the most popular musical instrument in the world. If you have ever seen a great guitarist, then you must surely have wondered at least once what it takes to play like that. The question is ‘Why can’t you play like that?’

What does it take to easy learn the guitar? Does it require extremely fast fingers? Or maybe a musical ear is what you need? Is your friend gifted with some special powers that the ‘guitar genie’ from the lamp bestowed upon him? Not really. The fact is that just about anyone including you can learn guitar easy provided you are willing to put in the time and the effort. However, the reason most people are unable to easy learn guitar is because they unknowingly pick one of the ‘five golden don’ts’ of guitar learning. These are mistakes that almost every one of us can make and yet, they can very well end your aspirations to be a good guitarist.

Number 1: Trying to self learn guitar without a well structured guitar learning program: Are you bitten by the do it yourself bug? I love the do-it-yourself bit too. But there are certain things that require the special and skilled hands of a teacher or a disciplined training, and the guitar is one of those things. There have been and will be self learners. For the rest, there is the safer and saner option to learn the guitar. All the free guitar lessons floating around the internet cannot replace a well structured guitar course it you want to learn guitar easy. So, if you have been dabbling with the thought of self learning with free online lessons, then drop it and find an effective guitar learn program.

Number 2: Trying to learn guitar too fast: I must have heard this a million times. ‘I want to learn guitar easy and fast.’ If you feel that the guitar doesn’t deserve too much of your time, or regular guitar practice is unimportant to you, then you shouldn’t learn guitar in the first place. And thanks to the demand for ‘fast learning’ courses, there are hundreds and thousands of websites and books that are dedicated to such learning techniques. ‘Learn to play the guitar in 7 days’, ‘Learn to play basic guitar tabs in 3 days’. Why I have even seen the extreme in which you can learn to play the guitar in two hours! Absurd is the word to best describe such courses and websites. Be realistic! Do yourself a favor, stay away from these scams. Get a solid guitar learning program, go slowly and steadily through the lessons, and it will be easy for you to learn the guitar.

Number 3: Lack of Practice: The guitar is an instrument that requires immense patience and resilience in order to master. If you learn a new guitar lesson, then you must practice it ‘at least’ once every day until you can play it blindfolded. This is the technique that I successfully used. I have seen people practicing the guitar once a week. Believe me, you are going to find it very difficult to learn guitar if you practice it once in a millennium. Another common problem is that people only practice what they are good at, learning only the easy parts and avoiding the rest. The reason is very simple. If you are good at something, then it obviously sounds good when you practice. But you are limiting your progress by avoiding the difficult parts. So start practicing the worst part before anything else. Slowly, you will learn to play it with equal ease.

Number 4: Jumping to chords: Another trait that is commonly seen in the ‘fast learners’. Chords are the mainstay of guitar music. Yes, they certainly are very alluring. But most people want to jump to chords and start playing songs as soon as they start to learn the guitar. This is extremely difficult, almost impossible. You have to master playing the scales first. Not only will the scales help you to build a musical ear, but it will also help you to spread out your fingers. Finger exercises are an extremely important part of building a strong foundation. And yeah, don’t forget to use that lil pinky.

Number 5: Give up too soon: You are going to be miserable at it for the first 5 to 6 months. Admit this fact and get along with it. It is human to produce those dead sounds at first while learning to play guitar. But do not give up. You have to stick to it. Most people quit when they are nearly there. It’s up to you whether you want to make it or quit midway. Its different strokes for different blokes. Do not be flabbergasted if your friend is learning faster than you are. Work hard, keep practicing and you will definitely be a good guitarist one day.

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_787621_48.html Author: sanjaynair http://www.sanjaynair.com, Occupation: Freelance Content Writer and Blogger

Sanjay is a freelance content writer and blogger with over 3 years of experience. He loves to twiddle with words and blogs about freelance writing, copywriting and blogging. His articles are informative and make a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience.

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