Learn to Play the Guitar Right From Home

You can learn to play guitar right from the comfort of your own home. Once you learn how to play the guitar, you will also understand the concept of playing other musical instruments as well.

It is not difficult to learn to play the guitar. Like any other type of lesson, you have to take it one step at a time. The first thing that at home lessons will teach you is to get familiar with the guitar, understand how to tune the guitar and then learn the basic chords. A guitar is one of the easiest instruments to play. You can pick up a used guitar and get started with your at home lessons. With an electric guitar, you are putting out more money and also need an amplifier, but with an acoustic, it’s just you and the guitar.

By learning at home, you can see if you have a knack for this instrument and then move up to other guitars. You will get to know the sounds of the guitar as you play along with CD’s and DVD lessons in an at home program.

The most important concept you have to understand when you want to learn to play guitar, or any other instrument for that matter, is that you have to practice. Good musicians are those who have a passion for music and want to learn to play. The more you practice playing the guitar, the better you will become at mastering this instrument. If you really want to learn how to play the guitar, you can do so by using a learn at home lesson package.

Learn at home lesson packages cost a fraction of what you would expect to pay for guitar lessons at a local music shop. Instead of having to spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars with private lessons, you can have your own private lessons, right in the comfort of your own home, and get expert training. You only need to purchase a guitar and an at -home guitar package to learn to play guitar and you will be on your way to being a guitarist. Whether or not you are a good guitarist is up to you and the time you invest in lessons, practice and learning to master the instrument.

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Buying An Acoustic Guitar And The Importance Of The Neck Angle.

When looking for a guitar to easy learn on it doesn’t really matter the price range that you have in mind. Years back a low cost guitar would be a nightmare to play, and for a beginner it was worse, I had one for my first guitar. These days with advanced machining and mass production techniques there are a large number of guitar manufacturers turning out quite good guitars at low cost.

Regardless of the price if you take any two guitars of the same make and model, even with consecutive production numbers it’s quite likely that one will be easier to play than the other.

How well a guitar plays is determined by the action. The action on a guitar is the distance between the underside of the strings and the frets. The frets are the thin metal strips that lie across the neck. The maximum distance is found in the area where the neck and body join. If the distance is greater than say 3mm then it will be harder to play the guitar up the neck than it should be and for a beginner it can totally discouraging. Keep in mind that that a small difference can mean a lot. A 4mm gap is a big step up from 3mm.

There are four things that influence the action.

1. The Saddle Height

2. The Nut Height

3. The Truss Rod Adjustment

4. The Neck Angle

The first three can be adjusted. If the neck angle is bad then adjusting the other three will bring about little change to the action. Picture a guitar lying level on its back and you place a straight edge along neck and extending down to touch the bridge. The bridge is the piece of timber attached to the body of the guitar that has the strings attached to it, and the saddle is the (usually) white plastic strip that sits in the bridge and has the strings running across it. When the neck angle is good then the neck and the top of the bridge will be on the same line. When the angle is bad then the straight edge will point to a spot closer to where the bridge joins the body and is a really bad case it would touch the body of the guitar first.

Now we cannot carry out this test in a music store, however what we can do is sight down the neck and it’s fairly easy to see where the line of the neck points to, it should be in line with the top of the bridge.

This is all probably a lot to absorb in one go, the important thing is to be aware of the action and any good guitar salesperson should know all this and be able to point them out to you so you can make the best choice so you have a guitar that is easy to play.

Lastly do not buy a guitar because you like the color of it, buy the guitar that sounds good and plays well.

Good Luck

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What Is Guitar Action?

The term ‘action’ refers to the height of the strings above the fretboard. It is the way a guitar is adjusted and how well it plays, relative to the style of music that is being played. The action on an instrument played by an aggressive strummer or flatpicker will vary greatly from that for a jazz player or fingerpicker.

Acoustic guitar have generally a higher action than electric guitars. An action that is too high is hard on your hands and will cause the guitar to play sharp. When it is set to low, it’s easier too easy to play, but causing the strings to rattle and buzz against the frets.

Action adjustments are made to improve the feel of the instrument, decrease pressure on your fingertips which can be severe when the action is too high, avoid buzzing and generally just get the best sound out of an instrument. Most instruments are set-up at the factory with higher action then necessary. This is because it is easier to drop the action than it is to raise it. Adjusting the action can be a costly undertaking. Raising action can require replacement of the nut, saddle and neck rod (since nylon string guitars rarely have adjustable neck rods, this step would be eliminated), while cutting them both lower can be done by resetting the neck. Often an inexperienced repairperson will plane down a bridge in order to lower action which not recommended as it can result in the loss of both volume and tone.

Depending on the abilities of the instrument and the needs of the player adjustments can be made to improve the instruments action and increase the comfort of playing. If you feel that you would like to adjust your action, take your guitar to a repair shop and play in front of the repair guy so he can observe your playing style so he can set it right for you.

Learn To Play Guitar Fast And Easy

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Acoustic Or Electric – Which Guitar Is Easier To Learn And Master?

You decided you want to learn guitar and now you wonder: is it better to learn on an acoustic or electric guitar? Despite what many would lead you to believe, it is a little more complicated than “acoustic is best”, or “electric is best”.

To find an answer for this question yourself, let’s begin by learning a little bit about both electric and acoustic guitars, and what makes them different.

Let’s start with acoustic guitars, because most professional musicians agree that starting to learn on a decent acoustic guitar is the way to go:

• An acoustic guitar is a lesser investment
• Acoustic lets you hear the ‘true’ notes. It helps you learn the music faster and you will be able to play be ear quicker
• You can’t ‘cheat’ with sloppy technique masked by distortion, as an acoustic guitar requires that you learn the techniques properly for it to sound right
• You may learn some acoustic-style fingerpicking that you won’t learn on an electric guitar
• While you are learning you wont drive you your family and neighbors mad as it’s not so loud
• You don’t depend on amplifier, cables, adjusts, controls and picks, so you can grab your guitar anytime and take it everywhere, which means you probably will practice more and get better sooner

Learn And Master An Acoustic Guitar Is Harder But You’ll Train Your Ear Better

It is in fact harder to learn  an acoustic guitar as it provides more of a challenge to a beginner. An acoustic has generally a much thicker neck, and a higher action (meaning the actual distance between acoustic guitar strings to the acoustic guitar fingerboard is greater than the distance between electric guitar strings and the electric guitar fingerboard). The strings are generally thicker. This means you have to press your fingers down further with an acoustic as opposed to an electric, but that at the same time helps you building strength and dexterity in both hands and you will build your calluses on your fingers faster.

Learning Electric Guitar May Sound Cooler When You Want To Play In A Band

You may think that some music played on an acoustic guitar doesn’t sound as cool as when played with an electric guitar. Electric guitars are fun to play after you’ve learned, but the notes sound different with the electric and it will take you a while to transfer strumming and fingerstyle techniques from the acoustic to the ‘feel’ of an electric guitar . On the acoustic you hear bare bones notes so when you go to play an electric, the notes make more sense and are more recognizable.

If you start out with learning electric guitar, you will be much slower getting used to play an acoustic guitar, because after playing electric you still need more strength for an acoustic, and you don’t develop a number of techniques for obtaining certain sounds that you discover right on the acoustic.

As Long As It Has Six Strings…

Bottom line is – whether you start with an acoustic or electric doesn’t really matter, as long as it has 6 strings – there is no difference between acoustic and electric outside the obvious of the mechanics, and the above mentioned characteristics – they are played in the exact same way.

Remember, the most important is that you keep practicing  in order to learn and master your guitar!

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How to Buy A Second Hand Guitar

Often cheaper than a new guitar and just as ready to rock out, a second hand guitar could be the perfect addition to your collection or the perfect thing to learn on, but how do you know that your potential purchase isn’t a potential dud?

The truth is that some fantastic guitars, while expensive when new, are relatively cheap second hand. Sometimes you can find a custom or a limited edition guitar that someone is selling quickly for the cash and you can often get a real bargain if you know what you are looking for. It really pays to do the research before thinking about buying a second hand guitar as some sellers will push their price up to cash in, especially if they know they are selling to a beginner who is just starting to learn guitar and may not know much about them.

So what should you look for when inspecting a second hand guitar?

Let’s just say that you have found a second hand guitar in the musical instrument section of the weekly classifieds and you are quite keen to go and take a look at it. Below is a list of hints that will help you when inspecting the guitar and talking to the seller:

When talking to the seller, ask them the following:

• The make and model of the guitar – It is best if you can do some research on the guitar model to find out the asking price elsewhere, both new and used, and whether or not other people are experiencing problems with it. You can find reviews for almost any guitar submitted at Amazon, or you can go and ask at your local music store.
• About the condition of the guitar – If they are honest, the seller may tell you about any damage that is undetectable upon rough inspection.
• How long they have had the guitar – If they have had it for a long time, they should have a good knowledge of its history of use, repairs and maintenance etc. If they are not forthcoming with that sort of information, they may be trying to pull one over you.

When inspecting the guitar, check the following:

• The overall condition – Look the guitar over and make note of any obvious damage – guitars often take a bit of wear and tear and if its just small scrapes and scratches then the guitar will probably be fine. Look for rust also , not on the strings, but on the hardware that is holding the strings and the pickups. If there is any rust in these places… run! It’s not worth it. What good is a guitar that may fall apart on you in the near future? Trust me – leave it alone.
• The neck of the guitar – the neck is really important. Here are some areas to look at:
• Make sure that the neck is not warped or out of shape in any way.
• Check the area where the neck joins to the body of the guitar – look for cracks where it may have been broken in the past.
• In the same fashion, check the area where the neck joins the head of the guitar.
• Check the action – Action is a word that describes how close the strings are to the fret board starting at the head of the guitar all the way down to the bridge. It is preferable to have the strings very close to the fret board as to make it easier to press them down (not so close that they are touching of course). If the strings are nice and close to the fret board all the way along, you would say that the guitar has a good action. Pictured right is a guitar with poor action. Notice that the strings sit quite far off the fret board. Guitars with poor action are harder to play and don’t sound very good. You can fix the action on your guitar by taking it to a guitar technician, but it will cost you between $20 and $50.
• The Intonation of the strings. Intonation is a word that describes the accuracy of each individual note that the guitar can produce on any string. If the intonation is correct, every note on the guitar will be the correct pitch – If it is out, the guitar will be impossible to tune and it will sound horrible. To roughly check the intonation, play the E shape barre chord on each fret of the guitar. As you move towards the bridge of the guitar, you should hear the chord keeping its pitch – if not, the intonation is out and you will need to get a guitar technician to work on the problem.

• If the guitar you are looking at is an electric, you must plug it in and see how it sounds through an amp. Ask the seller if you can play it through your amp and if you don’t have one, ask someone if you can borrow theirs. Try the following when testing an electric guitar through an amp:
• Turn the amp up to a fair volume level and then play with the volume and tone controls by turning them to full and then back to zero. Test the pickup selector by flicking its switch back and forth. Carefully listen to any sounds that are being made while doing these things. You are looking for scratchy sounds or clicks that might indicate old or worn electrics.
• Strum a single chord and while the chord is ringing start playing with the controls like before, still listening for scratches or clicks or any other nasty sounds. Guitar technicians can fix these problems and most guitars need to be done about once every 5 – 10 years. Just be aware of this fact or you could find yourself spending more money than you first intended to get a good guitar to learn on.
• Check the sound of the guitar – Before you buy, you want to know that the guitar sounds like it should? Once you have tested the guitar sound, go to a music store and ask to play on a new model of that guitar. If at all possible, use a similar amplifier to the one that you tested the second hand guitar on, and see if you notice any BIG differences. There is a simple rule that I like to follow: If you’re not happy with the guitar sound… Don’t buy it!

The most important thing to remember when shopping for a guitar to learn on is… Don’t shop impulsively. A guitar is a major purchase and you want to get the right one. Leave yourself time to go away and think about the purchase. If you have doubts when checking out a guitar, you are probably better to leave it and hold out for something that better suits you.

If you are a guitar beginner and a little worried about testing guitar in public – don’t worry. It is important to remember that you are not there to showcase your playing ability – you are there to discern whether your proposed buy is a good deal or not so just go for it.

If you are still worried, take an experienced guitarist along with you when you are looking at a guitar to learn on. See if you can persuade a teacher or a friend – most musicians love to help beginners who are interested in learning to play the guitar. Not only will they be able to offer helpful advice – they will be good moral support when it’s time to pick up the guitar and test it out in public.

This FREE course was brought to you by Jamorama – The Ultimate Guitar Learning Course

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