Learning Guitar – Lesson One – How to Hold a Pick

Hopefully, you’ve found, bought or borrowed a guitar pick. If not, you’ll need to buy yourself some. Don’t be stingy, go and pick up at least 10 of them – guitar picks are easy to lose (they often don’t cost more than 30 or 40 cents each). You can experiment with different shapes and brands, but I highly recommend medium gauge picks to start; ones that aren’t too flimsy, or too hard.
The following documentation explains how to hold, and use a pick. When reading, keep in mind that your “picking hand” is the hand which is nearest to the bridge of the guitar, when sitting in the correct position. Open your picking hand, and turn the palm to face you.Close your hand to make a very loose fist. Your thumb should remain beside your index finger.

Rotate your hand until you are looking at it’s profile, with your thumb’s knuckle facing you.With your other hand, slide your guitar pick between your thumb and index finger. The pick should be approximately located behind the knuckle of the thumb. Be sure the pointed end of the pick is pointing directly away from your fist, and is protruding by about a half an inch. Hold the pick firmly. Position your picking hand over the soundhole of your acoustic guitar, or over the body of your electric guitar. Your picking hand, with thumb knuckle still facing you, should hover over the strings. Do not rest your picking hand on the strings or body of the guitar.

Using your wrist for motion (rather than your entire arm), strike the sixth (lowest) string of your guitar in a downward motion. If the string rattles excessively, try striking the string a bit softer, or with less of the pick surface. Now, pick the sixth string in an upwards motion. Repeat the process several times. Try and minimize motion in your picking hand: one short picking stroke downwards, then one short picking stroke upwards. This process is referred to as “alternate picking”. Try the same exercise on the fifth, fourth, third, second, and first strings.

Tips: Holding the pick in this manner will invariably feel awkward at first. You will initially have to pay special attention to your picking hand whenever you play guitar. Try and create fluidity in your alternate picking. Your downstrokes should sound virtually identical to your upstrokes.

View the original article here

Learning Guitar – Playing a Scale

Now we’re getting somewhere! In order to become skillful on the guitar, we’ll need to build the muscles in our hands, and learn to stretch our fingers. Scales are a good, albeit a not very exciting way to do this. Before we start, look at the diagram above to understand how fingers on the “fretting hand” (the hand that plays notes on the neck) are commonly identified. The thumb is labeled as “T”, the index finger is the “first finger”, the middle finger is the “second finger”, and so on.

The Chromatic scale

Hear the chromatic scale (mp3 format)

The above diagram may look confusing… fear not, it’s one of the most common methods of explaining notes on the guitar, and is actually quite easy to read. The above represents the neck of the guitar, when looked at head on. The first vertical line on the left of the diagram is the sixth string. The line to the right of that is the fifth string. And so on. The horizontal lines in the diagram represent the frets on the guitar… the space between the top horizontal line, and the one below it is the first fret. The space between that second horizontal line from the top and the one below it is the second fret. And so on. The “0″ above the diagram represents the open string for the string it is positioned above. Finally, the black dots are indicators that these notes should be played.

Start by using your pick to play the open sixth string. Next, take the first finger on your fretting hand (remembering to curl it), and place it on the first fret of the sixth string. Apply a significant amount of downward pressure to the string, and strike the string with your pick.

Now, take your second finger, place it on the second fret of the guitar (you can take your first finger off), and again strike the sixth string with the pick.

Now, repeat the same process on the third fret, using your third finger. And lastly, on the fourth fret, using your fourth finger. There! You’ve played all the notes on the sixth string. Now, move to the fifth string… start by playing the open string, then play frets one, two, three and four.

Repeat this process for each string, altering it only on the third string. On this third string, play only up to the third fret. When you’ve played all the way up to the first string, fourth fret, you’ve completed the exercise.

When playing a note, place your finger at the “top of fret” (the area of the fret farthest away from the headstock). This will produce a clearer sound.Try to use alternate picking while attempting this exercise. If this is overwhelming, try using only downstrokes with your pick, but learn properly once you’ve gotten used to the scale.Once you’ve finished the scale, try playing the scale backwards, by starting at the first string, fourth fret, and playing all notes in exactly the reverse order.

View the original article here

Guitar Lessons – Where Do I Learn to Play the Guitar?

One question I often get asked is, where do I get guitar lessons?

When I started out to learn to play the guitar I had to primarily teach myself how to play and figure out where I could get guitar lessons.

However I was lucky in the fact that my dad could play and he taught me some of the basic chords to get me started and I went from there.

So what I did was listen to records of some of the guitar players and bands that I wanted to play like, and I would try to imitate what they were playing on their guitars.

Now this is not an easy way to learn to play the guitar, you can’t see what they are playing or what chords they are using. When i started you could go the music store and buy some guitar lesson books to get you started, however they were hard to understand and slow to work with.

So when I’m asked where do I get guitar lessons? Here are some of your options. You can get books from the music store, or you can take lessons at your music store,or you can hire a private teacher. However I feel one of the best ways to get started today is to learn from video lessons.

With video you will not only learn your guitar lessons but you will be able to see what your teacher is playing and how they are doing it so you can play along.

Here are some benefits of using video to learn to play the guitar.

1. Learn from home

2. Learn at you own pace

3. Actually see whats being played

4. See the finger positions of the chords

5. Hear whats being played

6. Pause the lesson

7. Replay your lessons as often as you want

8. You will become a better guitar player

9. You will learn in less time

10.You will be able to jam along with some of your favourite tunes faster than you think.

So, were do I get guitar lessons?

Well you can search the Internet for a good video training course just beware their are lot’s of poor courses that only teach the basics and are hard to learn.

Here is one high quality course that I highly recommend, they use pro guitar players and teachers,they offer free lessons, and you will learn to play the guitar the proper way form the beginning. Take a few minutes and read all about this course.

David has been playing guitar in a professional band for over 30 years, He owns his own home recording studio and recently released a new C.D. and is currently working on his next C.D. release for next year. He also spent a few years teaching guitar at his local music store.

Rhythm of the Blues: difference between straight and shuffle beat

THEORY:

The eighth notes (straight by definition) divide time into two equal parts, i.e. you play two notes, of EQUAL duration, per beat.The shuffle eighth notes divide time into three equal parts. The first note occupies the first two thirds and the second note occupies the last third. See figure I.

EXAMPLE:
Here are two popular songs. One uses straight eighth notes (Are you sleeping brother John?), wheras the other uses shuffle eighth notes (My Bonnie is over the ocean.). See figure II.

If you have doubts as to the accuracy of your rhythmic interpretation, do not hesitate to consult the part entitled “How to play the rhythm” of this guitar course.You will recognize the pieces which are interpreted in shuffle eighth notes thanks to the presence of this logo at the beginning of the piece.

View the original article here

The fingers of the right hand – Preparation for arpeggios

Playing with the fingers of the right hand supplements the pick technique. It gives the song a softer sound and makes it possible to chain chord progressions more easily using arpeggios. This technique will eventually allow you to play the melody and bass simultaneously (not approached in this volume, see volumes II and III of this guitar course).

Exercise # 1 is very simple. To allow you to understand and learn what you are doing, the left hand will not play for the moment. You just have to play the low E string separately, then the G string, then B and then treble E. Strictly respect the fingerings indicated for each string. Play regularly and with a steady tempo. AVOID MAKING THE FOURTH NOTE LAST LONGER THAN THE OTHERS (it is the most frequent error beginners make).

NOTE: Playing with the thumb, forefinger, middle and third fingers may seem easier to you or, on the contrary, more difficult than with a pick. This is actually quite normal, certain people feel more comfortable with one technique than with the other.

Exercises # 2 & 3: the arpeggio is identical except that the thumb of the right hand plays either on the second low string (A) or on the third string (D). The playing instructions are identical to those in exercise 1.

Exercises # 4, 5 & 6 are played with only three fingers (the thumb, forefinger and middle finger of the right hand), the left hand still does not play. They will prepare you for the “Anatole” with arpeggios in the following lesson of “How to play the guitar – Volume I”.

View the original article here

What You Need To Know To Learn How To Learn And Master The Guitar

Guitar Basics

Knowing most of the basics about a guitar will make learning how to play the guitar easier; the basic parts are the headstock, the nut, the neck, the body, the sound hole, the bridge, the strings and the keys. Most of these parts are pretty self explanatory; the strings run from the bridge over the sound hole, up the neck, are secured by the nut, and attached to the tuning keys to achieve the desired sounds.

The next difference is between the types of guitar, there are several, however most novice guitar players would only be concerned with the two very basic types, the acoustic and electric. Which someone would decide to learn guitar songs on, would depend on which type of music that person wanted to play; if the kind of music a person likes is played with mainly an electric guitar, the logical choice would be an electric guitar, or the same would be true with an acoustic.

Learning Guitar Songs: Pieces of a Song

Just like the guitars themselves, learning guitar songs, requires one to learn at least the very basic parts of a song; there are two ways to read music from a song, in the form of sheet music and in the form of tablature. Something a beginning guitar player can expect to learn is the three chords G, C, and D first. These are some of the most frequently used chords in learning guitar songs; and in formal lessons these are usually the first chords taught.

Trying Out a Few Songs

When someone is first learning chords and their way around a guitar, learning guitar songs can seem impossible; but once a player has mastered the three basic chords mentioned above there are actually several songs that exclusively use these chords, especially from the 1960′s or 1970′s. Trying to play songs can keep a new player interested in the instrument, although beginners likely won’t be able to change chords fast enough to make it sound quite right, just being able to get down the general idea can instill confidence in a student.

Practice

The old saying practice makes perfect holds true with any instrument; for the guitar, besides remembering the position of the chords, one must also practice strumming, rhythm, changing chords, and how to recognize the correct sounds the guitars are supposed to make. Achieving a strumming rhythm is just as important as learning the chords, when learning to play guitar songs.

Choosing a Method of Instruction

A person makes the best teacher, they would be experienced and able to give constructive criticism, and be an active participant in the guitar song learning process. A close second for learning guitar songs are DVD instructional programs, these allow the student to watch and listen as if there were an actual instructor present. Also the DVD systems, allow the person learn at their own pace.

The next best method of learning is through a CD system; these systems may not have video instruction, but will often have good illustrations that are simple to follow. The least constructive, yet still somewhat effective method of learning is over the internet; learning over the internet is virtually the same as CDs, with the exception of an online teacher may have a forum, and some music or video clips, as a point of reference. The major downfall to learning guitar songs over the internet is that one must practice in front of their computer.

5 Advantages To Taking Online Video Guitar Lessons articles

Follow this link:
5 Advantages To Taking Online Video Guitar Lessons articles

The Important Tips on How to Learn the Ropes in Playing Guitar

Continued here:
The Important Tips on How to Learn the Ropes in Playing Guitar

Vital Steps for Soloing Success in Lead Guitar learning

Visit link:
Vital Steps for Soloing Success in Lead Guitar learning

3 Mindset That You Should Know While Learning How to Play Guitar

Read more here:
3 Mindset That You Should Know While Learning How to Play Guitar

Next Page »