Monday, September 26, 2011

Online Guitar Lessons

Many people would love to learn how to play the guitar. From a ten year old, to teenagers, and even seniors. Some people want to learn how to play the guitar just for the fun of it and others want to play at parties and become a professional. What ever their or your reason is, the most important thing to consider is that you find the right guitar tutoring coach from the first day that you start.

I can guarantee you that there are plenty of great guitar teachers all over the place in your city or town. If you are looking for one, the best thing to do is to go and open up your local yellow pages. In there, you will find a list of people who are offering their service for a fee.

Another option for you to do is to go online and do a search for a guitar teacher on a major search engine like Yahoo or even Google. While you will find people in your yellow pages offline, you will also be able to find a teacher who offers online materials on how to play the guitar and will teach you what you will need to know.

One of the benefits of having an online guitar tutoring is that it allows you to learn at anytime of the day. You can learn very early in the morning. If you are a night person, you can even learn at that time too.

Here are some of the benefits of playing a guitar:

* It is a stress reliever

* It relaxes the body and mind

* It takes your mind off of everything in your life

If you are looking for an online guitar course, you need to know that there are plenty of courses that you can join. Some of the best courses online do require that you pay a one time fee. If you go and hire a guitar coach offline, it would cost you money too.

Some guitar courses on the Internet are better then others. Some are less good. If you are not sure where to begin, since you will be able to find thousands of guitar lessons products on the web, I am personally inviting you to visit my website below to check out one of the best online guitar tutoring courses that is available on the net today.

It is just a matter of time that you will be teaching others to play the guitar too. And the most important thing is to have fun.


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To learn more about guitar playing, grab your copy of the "Insider Secrets to Playing the Guitar!" system right now: http://www.guitar-playing-guide.com/

5 Tips For Choosing The Right Electric Guitar



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How to Play the Piano - Basic Piano Learning Techniques for Beginners

Learning to play piano is something that was done in almost every household at one point. In days gone by it showed the gracefulness of a lady and it showed that a gentleman was proficient and profoundly skilled. Nowadays, many don't hold it with the same regard but to me, playing the piano is still the same. Those that know how to play the piano well show me that they have something special and that they have patience as not all can pick it up that quickly. Hopefully if you wish to learn how to play piano these simple tips can speed the process along.

First off, try pressing on the piano keys lightly and gently. The anxiety of trying to hit the correct notes all the time may cause stiffness in your fingers which will only make the task a lot more difficult. Try to relax. It is much easier to press the correct notes with a relaxed hand than a rigid one. Besides, nobody likes the sounds someone makes by clomping their fingers along.

When you first learn to play, try playing a jingle that you are quite familiar with so that it will be easier going along with. Do not jump into anything too complicated at first, especially songs that require the use of both hands to play. This will only lead to frustration and it is the reason why many beginners quit so soon into their training. Also, there is just no sense trying to learn on stuff that you've never heard before because how will you know it sounds wrong if you don't know the original tune?

If you are like me and like playing by ear, that is great! Not everyone can do that but it really helps me start off with a song. Yes, there are the notes in front of me but if I know the basic tune I can sometimes pick it up by ear a lot easier. My fingers just seem to anticipate where the next note is going to be, even if my eyes haven't quite caught up. You don't have to become an expert at playing by ear, but if you practice until you can do it a little bit, it will greatly improve your sight reading capabilities!

When you learn how to play the piano you will, at some point in time or another, have to start keeping rhythm. The trick to doing this well is to choose a small piece of a song, and practicing it over and over again until it is in perfect rhythm, then adding another piece of the song to that. You do this a little bit at a time first, making sure each section is in rhythm. Before long, you will be able to get more and more notes included in the chords, or you will learn which notes are optional. In most cases nobody but you will realize that there is a note missing.

Learning how to play the piano is a way to open yourself up to all genres of music. Many who have gone on to do great things with their music generally started with one of two instruments, the piano and the guitar. In my experience, the piano is easier to learn than the guitar so why not give it a shot?


Ron Grand has over 35 years of piano playing experience. He currently plays piano at a Jazz bar and gives private piano lessons during the day. Visit his website, www.how-to-play-the-piano.info, to get some free piano lessons online.

7 Easy Metal Songs To Play On Guitar

So you may have started playing guitar, learning the necessary skills to get yourself going, and now you're on the hunt for easy metal songs to play on guitar. Well, I salute you for indulging in metal guitar since attempting this genre on guitar will really test your tempo, speed, technical detail, and patience.

Here is a compilation of easy metal songs to play on guitar that are practical goals for beginning guitarists. There's always going to be a debate on what "metal" truly means as a genre, but this list is really all about sculpting your skills for the heavier and more aggressive side of playing guitar.

* "Confined" by As I Lay Dying

This metal song on guitar is definitely a test of your double-picking abilities. The tempo for this song may appear daunting, but your main focus should be on precision and rhythm since picking is emphasized in somewhat simple patterns.

* "Faint" by Linkin Park

Although this is considered "nu-metal" it still falls into the genre of metal. This song can give you more of a lesson in consistency and chord structure as you move smoothly in and out of the verses and choruses.

* Most of "End of Heartache" by Killswitch Engage is fairly easy.

When you take a stab at an easy metal song on guitar, you need a taste of a break-down riff and "End of Heartache" contains just that. To be honest, most of this song is a break-down riff. You'll also find a nice mix of fair lead licks to practice on as well.

* The lead riff of "Enter Sandman" by Metallica isn't too bad.

This riff is considered a classic and anybody who's anybody as a guitarist usually knows this one. It's at a medium tempo and isn't too difficult for a beginner.

* "All That's Left" by Thrice

This easy metal song on guitar starts with a sweet riff that gets fists pumping immediately. As the song continues, you'll find a nice mix of power chords and strong palm-muted rhythms to practice.

* "It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door" by Underoath

Again, this can be considered a different kind of metal, but Underoath usually doesn't disappoint. "Dangerous Business" gives you some experience with power chords along with some more diverse chord formations right from the beginning of the tune.

* "Change" by The Deftones

Another "nu-metal" tune that's easy on guitar for metal players, "Change", should introduce style into your playing. Although this tune appears to be side-splittingly simple, the subtleties of the song lie in your ability to emulate the band's style.

In your guitar travels I'm sure that you'll start your own personal list of metal guitar songs that are easy for you to play, but these can get your foot in the door if you're not sure where to go yet. And who knows? Maybe you'll find a new favorite band out of this list.

For more easy metal songs and other fast guitar tips, visit How To Guitar Tune.

Beginner Guitar Online - Super Easy Introduction to Guitar Strumming

In the process of learning how to play your guitar chords, you will want to get started and apply these chords to a musical situation like a favourite song.. If you have learned even just one guitar chord, then you are ready to begin learning how to strum on your guitar.

Strumming on the guitar can seem like a mystery when watching other players flawlessly play rhythm on the guitar. What looks difficult, is in reality, a combination of practice and what are called strumming patterns.

Let's take a look at how to strum on your guitar in three easy mini lessons to describe how to get started strumming your guitar.

1. Guitar strumming: It's great to learn how to play guitar chords, however, It's even more fun once you figure out how to strum your guitar chords. Guitar chord strumming consists of learning rhythm strum patterns that will utilize your right hand while holding your guitar pick. With your guitar pick you strum your hand up and down the guitar strings with the chord that you are playing with.

2. Strum patterns: Basic guitar strum patterns consist of what are called down stroke's and upstroke's. Begin to Mix and match your Up and down stroke's with your guitar chords. Mixing around your up and down strokes will allow for variation in the sound of your guitar chords. As you improve your strum pattern technique, you will discover a whole new world of strumming pattern variations that will add life and creativity to the guitar chords that you are learning.

3. Get Started: Pick your favourite guitar chord. With your right hand holding your guitar pick, count to yourself the following; one, two, three, four. Repeat this to yourself four times so that you have in your head what is called a 4/4 time signature. In a downward motion strum your guitar four times. You have now played the most basic guitar strum pattern available. Next, strum upwards four times counting 1234. Next, we are going to vary your strum pattern. With your right hand strum down and then strum up. Do this 2x. In other words: down, up, down up. While you are strumming your guitar remember to count out loud. For example: Down="1", Up="2", Down="3", Down="4". Repeat this strum pattern over and over, and try different strum pattern combinations such as up=1 up=2 up=3 down=4.

Interested in learning to play the guitar?: CLICKHERE FOR FREE GUITAR VIDEO LESSONS:beginner guitar online

With a passion to teach guitar, Jeremiah La Follette helps beginner and intermediate guitar players unlock the secrets of learning guitar in a snap!


How To Easily Master Guitar Chords You Must Know

As a guitar player advances in skill level, the toughest part he must face is learning a core group of basic guitar power chords. Anyone who plays guitar must realize chords are like the framework of nearly all rock and pop songs. Chords work in harmony with a melody or an instrumental solo. This is why it's imperative that any guitar player must learn basic chords.

Think about the memorable rock riffs from the past: AC/DC's "Back In Black" or the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again". They are played by a rhythm guitar based on basic chords. Did you know that by learning only 10 to 15 simple guitar chords you can be skilled in playing thousands of rock and pop songs? It's amazing and true.

In order to understand chords we must understand what one is. A chord is three or more musical notes played together. Thus, a guitar chord is created when three or more notes are strummed or plucked at the same time, sounding a series of three notes. The highest number of notes in a chord can be six, hence the number of strings on a guitar. All chords can be categorized as Major, Minor, or Seventh according to their musical structure. Each of these chord groups has its own "sound" and "feel". Major chords have a stable or complete sound. Minor chords convey a somber or pensive mood. Seventh chords are jazzy and have a rather incomplete sound. Knowing these facts is important when learning guitar chords.

Regardless of what level you're at in your guitar practices you must take time out to master guitar chords. But there's one little catch: There is no one set of "basic guitar chords" that is universally defined. Still, there is a list of between 8 and 18 open string, basic guitar chords every guitarist must be able to play by heart. These chords are shared between all genres of music from rock to pop to country, jazz, and classical. Once you have these chords down you'll have the expertise to play a great assortment of songs and will have the flexibility to entertain a greater variety of audiences.

Here are some basic guitar chords you'll need to know, including the Major and Minor chords from common musical keys A, G, C, and D. They're referred to as "open chords" meaning that at least one string is not pressed down with a finger (fretted). Open chords are easy to learn guitar chords and should be mastered before attempting the more advanced chords like those further up the guitar neck or even the Barre chords. A great set of major and minor chords are as follows:

A Major (or A), A Minor (or Am), C, D, Dm, E, Em, F, G

These chords are group according to key in categories or "families". When played in combinations they produce great sounding chord sequences and hence are what many well-known riffs are composed of. The concept of grouping chords in families makes learning guitar chords more amusing than just memorizing them in a random order.

These chords grouped by chord family (key) are as follows:
A Family (Key of A): A, D, E
D Family (Key of D): D, Em, G, A
G Family (Key of G): G, Am, C, D, Em
C Family (Key of C): C, Dm, Em, F, G

Here are some pointers regarding guitar chords to learn:

1. Pick a Chord Family and master it. This will give you rapid results and enable you to play great sounding progressions in a short amount of time.

2. Use a Guitar Chord Chart as a reference tool. A chord chart shows each chord as an easy to read "chord diagram" including finger positions.

3. Find the chords and lyrics for an easy song that is based on the chord family so you can make use of your present skills. Numerous popular songs are based on only three chords!

4. Ensure each string sounds right. Take care to make sure that each string is sounding clearly, and that only the strings that should be played are played.

5. Practice, practice, practice! Master one chord family before moving on to another. Practice changing from one chord to another, on a daily basis, until you're able to do it quickly.

6. Master all the basic chords first. Only then move on to Barre chords and other more complex chords once you've got the basic chords down.

7. Expand with 7th chords. Expand on your basic chord knowledge by adding 7th and minor 7th chords based on the nine basic major and minor chords.

8. Have fun using your new skills! Once you know and can play 5-10 songs by heart you will enjoy guitar playing even more.

Liam Gibson of LearnGuitar-User-Reviews.com, specializes in helping aspiring guitarists get the info that they need to make the right choices. Liam, a stage guitarist himself, leads his team of guitar experts to constantly review new courses and products in the market and make sure you get the best value products that work for you. Check out actual user reviews and feedback of the most popular guitar courses at LearnGuitar-User-Reviews.



Finger Picking Lesson - How To Play An Arpeggio On The Guitar

Arpeggios are often a challenge for guitar players who are just starting out with finger picking lessons. An arpeggio is sequence of notes from the chromatic scale played on the guitar as a finger picking pattern. Another way to think of arpeggios is as cords that are broken up into separate notes. There is no difficult piece of theory behind finger picking arpeggios and after a day or two of practice you will begin to get the hang of playing the strings on after the other.

Playing any sequence of strings on the guitar can be defined as an arpeggio but let's stick to convention and start with the root note. With your left hand, make a C major chord shape in the first position. The root note is C on the third fret of the fifth string, fretted by the third finger of the left hand, and it's the lowest note on this arpeggio.

The other notes of this finger picking pattern are E played at the second fret of the fourth string using the second finger of the left hand, the open third, or G string, and the highest note is C played at the first fret of the second string fretted by the first finger of the left hand. On the scale the notes are the first, third and fifth steps.

The main point I want to make in this finger picking lesson is that by far the best approach to playing arpeggios on the guitar is to place the fingers of the right hand on the strings they are about to play. Holding the C chord, you place your right hand thumb resting on the fifth string and the first finger lightly placed under the second string ready to play an up stroke when it is needed.

Now play the low C with your thumb, then the thumb drops to the E, continues on to play a down stroke, drops again to play the open G string, and continues down as if it was going to strum the second string but instead you then start an upward motion on the high C with the first finger. Make it an even, natural rolling motion with the thumb dropping from the fifth to the fourth string followed by an up stroke of the first finger on the second string.

Another way to play this arpeggio is to place the thumb on the fifth string and the first finger under the third string and the second finger under the second string as though you were going to pluck those three strings. Then move the thumb down the fifth and fourth strings and the first finger plays its up stroke on the third string and the first finger plays the second string as before.

Another alternative I want to point out in this finger picking lesson is to make a different first position C major shape by using the pinky of the left hand to fret the C note on the fifth string, leaving your third finger free to fret the G note at the third fret of the sixth string. The other notes are fretted as the first arpeggio. Then you add the open E, or first, string. Now you have an arpeggio of all six strings playing the notes G, C, E, G, C E.

Newbie guitar players are flocking to Guitar How-To for the free articles, tutorials and videos on every aspect of guitar playing you can think of. Fast track your guitar expertise now at http://guitar-how-to.com/

The Use Of Courses To Learn How To Play The Guitar

Learning to relax while playing guitar will help immeasurably so be sure to have fun.
Guitar methods and techniques can be applied to beginners on all kinds of guitars: electric guitar, acoustic guitar.

With private guitar lessons you could find yourself paying $20 to $30 for a half an hour each week whether you've had the chance to practice or not. How many times have you walked past that guitar and thought, I only have 15 minutes what good will it do to practice. The truth is some practise is better than none.

Courses available on the Internet take guitar learning to a new level, which enable people to learn how to play the guitar all over the world in the comfort of their own home. You can then learn at any time whenever it suits you.

From carrying out research you will find courses take you from being an absolute beginner right through to playing some of the most advanced guitar techniques around. With the right tuition you'll take your guitar playing to a new level of musical performance, while mastering all aspects of playing the guitar.

Guitar lesson products today contain a great deal of material and provide as much in depth instruction as you could wish for, and teaches such advanced techniques. You could probably buy guitar-learning material from your local music store but nothing would contain as much in depth information or software as products bought online.

In these guitar courses you'll also discover how to read music, how to recognise chord shapes and how to transcribe songs from the radio and CDs, simply by playing fun and sophisticated software games. You will discover amazing methods to learning how to play virtually any guitar song you hear.

It doesn't matter what level you are at now beginner, intermediate, advanced or returning, courses are packed full of quality step-by-step lessons, video files, games and other resources to get you results fast. There is information and resources for every level of ability.

Within some products there are computer games so that you can train your ear to identify all the various guitar chords, and take you to a higher level of guitar playing. It will also give you the self-confidence to become the guitar player that you always wanted to be.


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Learn How to Play Blues Guitar



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Beginner Guitar Online - Super Easy Introduction to Guitar Strumming

In the process of learning how to play your guitar chords, you will want to get started and apply these chords to a musical situation like a favourite song.. If you have learned even just one guitar chord, then you are ready to begin learning how to strum on your guitar.

Strumming on the guitar can seem like a mystery when watching other players flawlessly play rhythm on the guitar. What looks difficult, is in reality, a combination of practice and what are called strumming patterns.

Let's take a look at how to strum on your guitar in three easy mini lessons to describe how to get started strumming your guitar.

1. Guitar strumming: It's great to learn how to play guitar chords, however, It's even more fun once you figure out how to strum your guitar chords. Guitar chord strumming consists of learning rhythm strum patterns that will utilize your right hand while holding your guitar pick. With your guitar pick you strum your hand up and down the guitar strings with the chord that you are playing with.

2. Strum patterns: Basic guitar strum patterns consist of what are called down stroke's and upstroke's. Begin to Mix and match your Up and down stroke's with your guitar chords. Mixing around your up and down strokes will allow for variation in the sound of your guitar chords. As you improve your strum pattern technique, you will discover a whole new world of strumming pattern variations that will add life and creativity to the guitar chords that you are learning.

3. Get Started: Pick your favourite guitar chord. With your right hand holding your guitar pick, count to yourself the following; one, two, three, four. Repeat this to yourself four times so that you have in your head what is called a 4/4 time signature. In a downward motion strum your guitar four times. You have now played the most basic guitar strum pattern available. Next, strum upwards four times counting 1234. Next, we are going to vary your strum pattern. With your right hand strum down and then strum up. Do this 2x. In other words: down, up, down up. While you are strumming your guitar remember to count out loud. For example: Down="1", Up="2", Down="3", Down="4". Repeat this strum pattern over and over, and try different strum pattern combinations such as up=1 up=2 up=3 down=4.

Interested in learning to play the guitar?: CLICKHERE FOR FREE GUITAR VIDEO LESSONS:beginner guitar online

With a passion to teach guitar, Jeremiah La Follette helps beginner and intermediate guitar players unlock the secrets of learning guitar in a snap!


How to choose the right guitar for beginners



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How You Can Play Guitar and Sing Together at the Same Time

Learning how you can accompany yourself on guitar (alternatively known as "singing and playing guitar at the same time") is certainly among the more important goals for a lot of newbie and intermediate guitarists. How awesome is it to be able to sit around with pals at a social occasion and sing all those party hits! It is also a real benefit when starting or auditioning for a band.


Do You Need a Superb Voice to Sing and Play Guitar?

The short response is "No." Naturally, you need to be able to maintain a tune. But being able to sing like some amazing recording musician vocal superstar is just not required! In truth, some of the biggest singer-songwriters ever, like Neil Young or Elliot Smith, haven't got notably awesome voices nor are they especially awesome guitarists. However, boy do they know how to write and perform a tune! It doesn't make any difference whatsoever whether or not you want to just play and sing guitar at social events or you wish to write your own songs for the entire world, don't let an average singing voice prevent you. Singing is one thing that speaks from the heart.

Now, of course, you do need to be able to sing fairly okay-ish, however that's only a matter of training. Take a handful of singing lessons and study all of the basics of how to sing and you will notice your voice strengthens dramatically. Then, determine whether you wish to take your singing even more seriously or if that's sufficient for just singing at the same time as playing guitar.


Take the Song You've Selected and Learn How to Play It

The natural inclination for most newbies is to try to play guitar and sing together right from the get-go. That is really, really not a very good idea. What you might want to do is learn the guitar part first. Only when you've done that, learn how to sing the vocals. After that, put them together.

The first thing you need to do, then, is to decide on a song you want with relatively simple chord progressions and straight-forward chord changes. It does not matter which one. It really doesn't. There are hundreds of straight-forward songs for beginner guitarists. Just something you'll be able to learn how to play the chords to pretty simply, and which you like. Oh, and which doesn't have a super-hard vocal part. No matter what you choose, it needs to be accomplishable. You don't want to spend all this time and then not actually be able to sing the song.

As soon as you've chosen your tune to learn (and you need to solely deal with ONE at a time!), spend as much time as you need and practise till you can play the guitar part without thinking about it. Do not simply focus on your fretting hand, either. Take note of your right hand: the rhythm patterns and your strumming technique. Practise, practise, practise without singing until you've learned how to play the guitar part and built up a sort of "muscle memory," meaning you can play the song without looking at each chord change or slowing down.


Take the Song You've Chosen and Learn How to Sing It

Next is to move on to learning how to sing it. Your first step right here is to commit the lyrics to memory. Do NOT attempt to play guitar and sing together quite yet! Merely study the lyrics and pay attention to how the singer hits particular notes, holds other notes (and the length), and communicates the emotion of the track.

When you have "the vibe" of the tune and you have memorised the lyrics, you will want to record yourself singing along to the music. Sure, the idea of that probably sends shivers down your spine, however the fact is you might want to understand how your voice sounds and the places you require some additional focus and assistance if you are ever planning to play guitar and sing at an event.


Now Put the Singing and Playing Together!

Okay, now it's time to tackle putting together the two halves, playing and singing. be aware of the weird thing that may occur: You will start making mistakes in the chord changes, you may confuse the lyrics, you will stumble on easy parts of the song... All the parts that you had perfectly under control just before, they will now seem hard again. Weird. It will seem hard at first (and, it is not an easy thing to do), as if your hands and your mouth just will not work together!

Take a breath. This is just a small adjustment and by slowing down and practising in a very deliberate and careful fashion, you'll begin to get the hang of it pretty quickly. The risky thing right here is that you might get frustrated and bored. Do NOT give up now and begin playing a new song. Stick with the plan and sooner than you realise you'll find that you can play guitar and sing at the same time!

How to Get Started Right Now...

If you want to learn to play guitar, there isn't any good reason you can't. Start playing immediately. Click here for your free online guitar lessons.

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Join the tens of 1000's of people who know how awesome playing guitar makes you feel!

Guitar Pinch Harmonics - How To Make Your Guitar Screech

If I had to recommend one guitarist for a student to listen too, when learning guitar and attempting to get to grips with pinch harmonics, I would have to choose Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top fame.

This Texas style player is an absolute master of the pinch and bend, for a great example, check out the track titled My Heads in Mississippi, from the 1994 album Recycler, some fine examples of this tricky technique are found within this piece.

Pinch harmonics - The Truth

I can't think of a single technique that is harder to get down than pinch harmonics, trust me, even after years of playing you will still fluff one now and then, I know I do.

The real problem with a fluffed pinch harmonic is that there is often no way to disguise it, unlike a dropped note of a miss pick.

So how do we make our guitar screech like a tomcat on the prowl?

Almost every other technique can be built up slowly, not so with pinch harmonics, you either get it right, or you do not get the required sound.

So into the deep end with a little technical of harmonics, and how we use this knowledge to coax that amazing sound from our guitar.

Strings vibrate and create natural harmonics, if you pick an open string, the natural harmonics would sound on the 5th, 7th and 12th frets, try it, play the open string then gently damped the 5th fret with your fingertip, congratulations you just played a natural harmonic.

Now, if we were to fret the E string on the third fret and play the string, the harmonic positions would move up the neck to the 8th, 10th and 15th fret.

Are you with me so far?

You now know how to locate the position of those harmonics just waiting to be unleashed.

Next we move on to actually encouraging them, there are a lot of ways to accomplish this, I do it with an up-pick, and pinch off the string with my index finger after the pick has played the string, think of it as dampening immediately after the pick, by using the finger as it follows the pick.

By performing this right had technique at the correct place on the neck for the current note you are fingering, you will be rewarded by one of the finest sounds known to mankind.

The best way to learn to play pinch harmonics is by accident, learn the theory and then play around with it until you accidentally produce a pinch harmonic.

Once you have done it a single time, it will fall in to place, then begins the long road to being able to produce punch harmonics flawlessly every time, something that is a lot more difficult than it sounds.

Don't miss out on your 3 FREE E-Books on Learning Guitar Chords (37 pages), learning guitar scales (44 pages) and learning guitar tab (17 pages) at Learn Guitar

Dave Long is the owner of http://www.LearnGuitarBlog.com where he writes articles, creates videos and posts a newsletter about learning guitar

How To Play Eighth Notes On Guitar

Once you've gotten through your whole, half, and quarter notes, it's time to get to the interesting rhythms in between the beats. Your next step is 8th notes. Let me show you some simple steps to getting your eighth note grooves rock solid.

First off, a single eighth note is worth half of a beat. That means that one whole beat contains two eighth notes. Now, what the heck is half a beat?

It's a common mistake to think of the beat as the click of your metronome. But that's not quite right. Actually, the beat is the time between one click and the next. Picture it like a ruler...

|------------------|
click click

All of that space in between is "the beat". And that time can be divided up into smaller amounts of time. Like this...

|---------*---------|
click click

That star represents where the eighth note in the middle of the beat would go.

When you count quarter notes, you're simply counting 1 2 3 4. But now that we're playing in between the beats we need another syllable to put in there. So we're going to count
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & - See, two eighth notes for each beat.

The first eighth note is called the downbeat. If you're tapping your foot (which you should) that's when your foot goes down. The "&" is called the upbeat. That is when your foot comes up.

Follow these steps, making sure you can do each correctly before moving on. You'll have 8th notes down in no time!

1. Tap your foot and count 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &, with your foot going down on the numbers and up on the ands.

2. Set your metronome at a medium, comfortable tempo. Do the same foot tapping/counting thing, making sure that your foot goes down on the click and up in between. Keep your ups and downs evenly spaced.

3. Keeping your metronome at the same tempo, clap 8th notes. Again, make sure you're clapping once on the click and then evenly in between the clicks. Always count out loud.

4. Place your hands of your lap. Start by setting up a quarter note rhythm with your left hand by patting your leg. Every hit right on the click. Now, at the same time, pat an 8th note rhythm on your right leg with your right hand. On the beat your hands will come down together. On the and just your right hand with come down.

5. Now grab your guitar (finally, right?). When you play 8th notes on the guitar you're going to double pick. That means use a down stroke on the click and an up stroke on the and. Grab any note you like. Fretted notes seem to be easier at first. With your metronome at the same tempo as before practice picking 8th notes. Down stroke on the click. Up stroke on the upbeat. Make sure to keep your foot tapping. Everything goes up and down at the same time.

6. Lastly take a simple warm-up exercise like just running fingers 1 2 3 4 up each string. Try playing that as an 8th note rhythm. You could also do it with any scale patterns you know.

By this point you should be on your way to some solid eighth note playing. If you're not quite feeling it yet, just repeat those 6 steps a few times and it will come together.

Get your free Get Hot On Electric Guitar report for the best guitar practice techniques to make you the hottest six string slinger in town! http://www.GetHotOnElectricGuitar.com

How To Play Guitar Like a Pro!

How To Play Guitar Like a Pro!
) Copyright 2005 John Bilderbeck

Having taught the guitar for many years, I see the majority
of beginners experiencing the same problems and making
the same mistakes over and over again in their quest to
learn how to play guitar. It's my job to steer them through
these problem areas.

These "mistakes" are basic errors that most beginners
naturally tend to make. But these mistakes can cause
major problems if you allow them to become habits in your
playing. Unfortunately, 90% of guitarists have done just
that!


Avoid These 3 Mistakes Like The plague

The three main mistakes MOST people make when learning
how to play guitar are:


1: Trying to play too fast too soon.

Don't be in such a rush. Trying to go too fast too soon
causes serious problems. Sloppy playing and mistakes will
become your trademark.

Learn to practice slowly and perfectly. The reason for this,
is, what you program your brain and fingers with while
practicing, is what you'll get as a habitual and
subconscious end result.

The GIGO computer term describes it best. Garbage In =
Garbage Out. If you program a computer with faulty data,
your results will be faulty too. It's exactly the same with
learning how to play guitar.

So practice everything very slowly and perfectly. Do this,
and your playing will be to a higher standard than 90% of
all other guitarists. Yes - even those that have been
playing for years!


2: Too much body and hand tension.

Have you ever noticed how the top professionals make it
all look so easy and effortless? How relaxed they are?

Take a lesson from that.

When learning how to play guitar, and in all practice
sessions, you need to be as relaxed as possible at all
times.

Unnecessary tension anywhere in the body when playing
will stop you like a brick wall. Any "excess" tension in
your fingers, hands, arms, elbows, wrists, shoulders, neck,
chest, stomach, thighs, legs is extremely hazardous to
learning how to play guitar properly.

Practicing the right things in the right way will give you
amazing results - even if you practice only 10 - 20
minutes a day.


3: Learn the difference between practice time and noodling
time.

Basically, you learn how to play guitar in two ways:- 1:
when you practice, and, 2: when you noodle and try out new
ideas.

Practice Time is SERIOUS Time!

It's when you are specifically and very deliberately
teaching your body and brain new motor and muscle-
memory skills. This is all done very slowly, with great care
and meticulous attention to detail. Never practice fast.

Practice time is where you develop muscle-memory and
train your body to act in the most beneficial way for
playing guitar. Remember - GIGO!

This is the foundation building time.. where you lay the
foundation for learning HOW to play guitar the best way
you can - without imposing limitations upon yourself
through bad practice habits.

Noodling Time.

Noodling Time is where you learn how to play guitar by
putting into practice what you study during your practice
time. It's where you to steal licks, chords and solos off
records. It's where you hunch over your cd player or
computer with your guitar trying to hear and learn that
tricky chord or lick.

It's where good habits can easily become undone!

Better to do this... Once you learn a lick, sit down in your
chair in the proper position and play that lick over and over
at a slow speed while focusing on being as relaxed as
possible and with absolute minimal finger movement.
Program that lick, your physical movements and relaxation
"perfectly" into your brain. Only when it becomes 2nd
nature to you, and you "own" that lick, should you start
speeding up.

But... always focus on being as relaxed as possible.

Noodling is fun, and a necessary part of learning how to
play guitar. Do as much as you can. But.. don't mistake it
for real practice time. Don't noodle with bad habits either.

Next... you need to ensure you are practicing the correct
things in the correct way too. But that's another story.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
John Bilderbeck has been teaching guitar for 30 years. He shares his valuable insights on his new Free Guitar Chords web site. For a FREE e-Book on How to Master Guitar Like a Pro, visit: http://www.free-guitar-chords.com now.


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How To Play Guitar - Discover 20 Tips To Play Like a Pro Part II

Welcome back to part two of how to play guitar - discover
20 tips to play like a pro...

Most guitar players desire to become a better guitar player.
Guitarist ask me quite often why they are not at the
level that they desire and what can they do. In the past
I have asked myself the very same question. Soon I began
to understand the answers.

Just as you have probably done, I have read a lot of how
to play guitar interviews and articles from great guitar
players. I often found it frustrating whenever the subject
of how to play guitar came up or when advice was offered
on improving someone's playing. With a few exceptions,
little time and space was ever devoted on this.

It is not uncommon to see a guitar player give advise to
learn to play the guitar summed up in as little as three
words: Practice! Practice!! Practice!!!

I remember when I first was learning how to play guitar I
would practice on some days so long that the ends of my
fingers would be tender to the touch and hurt for days.

We all know that practicing is the main ingredient. Does
a football player practice a few times and then is able
to play up to the caliber of an NFL football player?

Rarely are we told anything more than on how to play the
guitar then to just practice. In my long quest to become
an excellent player I carefully took note of what worked
and what did not - which parts conventional wisdom are
accurate and which parts are (at least in my opinion)
are not. I believe the following twenty tips have proven
to bring great results to those who use them:

6. Surround yourself with better players (or at least with
those on your same level.) When you started out playing
guitar, everyone was better than you, but now you have
grown and there are less people better than you than
before. The better you get, the harder it will be to find
others who are superior to you to hang around or jam with.
But no matter how good you get, there will always be
something you can learn from someone else. Look for those
people, get to know them, jam with them, discuss music
and how to play guitar with them. Be willing to give as
much (or more) as you want to take. If you are fortunate
enough to be above the level of other guitarists in your
area, seek out great bassists, pianists, violinists,
drummers, etc. You can learn from them as well (even if
you are not better than your guitar player friends, seek
out musicians that play other instruments as well anyway).

7. Find out what inspires you and soak yourself in that.
For me, going to concerts to see great players or bands
inspires me to practice more. Listening to great singers
inspired me to refine my vibrato and phrasing. Listening
and studying the music of great bands inspired me to
study music composition. I wanted to write great music.
The greatest source of inspiration has been my own
personal experiences in life and within myself. The
desire to express that was (and still is) a constant
burning desire and powerful force that thrusts my desire
to improve. Know what truly inspires you, seek
it out, surround yourself with it and soak and soak
there.

8. Define your purpose. What is your definite purpose? Do
you really know what it is? If I were standing in front
of you right now and asked you this question, could you
give me specific answers and explanations? Can you write
it on paper in specific terms? This is critical to
planning strategy and monitoring the results, etc. Don't
set goals just decide what you want to do and just do
it like the shoe brand NIKE says...Make a commitment
to completion. When all the enemies of progress start
to creep into your mind, you will need to bring your
definite purpose to the forefront of your thinking. I
have seen procrastination, fear of failure, self doubt,
lack of motivation, temporary setbacks, and other negative
things bring people with great potential to a halt.
Knowing your definite purpose and reminding yourself of
it when a negative thought comes into your mind will
help you overcome it.

9. Define exactly why your purpose exists in your mind.
I specifically choose to list this separately from
defining your purpose because I did not want you to let
the WHY get lost in the act of DEFINING. Trust me, this
is important.

10. Create a strategy! You need a strategy that will
layout exactly how you are going to reach what you want
to accomplish. Dreaming alone won't take you anywhere.
Telling yourself that you are going to play your guitar
everyday isn't enough. There is a lot more that goes
into being an excellent player than simply playing
your guitar. Ultimately you should work backwards. State
your ultimate things you want to accomplish (on paper)
then make a bunch of short and medium range blitzes.
Think of reaching your goals as a relay race, NOT as a
marathon. Each short term and medium term blitz is the
end of one segment of your plan and the beginning of
the next segment (just like a relay race.) There are
many benefits of looking at things this way as you will
discover for yourself in your own way.

If you clearly know what your ultimate goals are, you
can do this yourself. But if you need help in planning
out the short and mid term goals to plan your strategy.
Consult a teacher whom you trust and believe can help you
with this - it's worth it, believe me. If you can't find
a teacher who can do this for you, pay someone (YES I
said PAY) to help you develop a specific plan to do this.
The best person to approach for this is someone who is
already doing whatever it is that you want to be doing.

Remember that it's okay to daydream and fantasize about
where you are planning to go, but it can't stop there.
Don't wish without planning! Don't dream without doing!
And always, always, have a strategy. You may need to
revise certain aspects of your strategy as time goes on
and that's okay, but don't try to go forward without one
if you want the maximum results in the shortest amount
of time. In my early days learning to play guitar, I
wasted a lot of time aimlessly desiring to get better
without having a clue as to how to plan for it. Sure I
practiced a lot, but without direction and without an
efficient path to follow. Most of my substantial progress
as a musician came only after I developed a strategy and
worked with it.

If you are wondering why I haven't given you a detailed
explanation of the strategies I used in the past, it
would be pointless for me to tell you what my strategy
was, because it was specific only to my goals. Chances
are, your goals may differ greatly from mine in many
different ways. That is why you need your own strategy
for your own personal goals. One last piece of advice
before we move on, write everything on paper and read it
everyday! It will keep you focused and on target.

Each of us has some natural ability of some kind. You may
already know what yours is or you may not yet discovered it.
If being a better musician is not coming easy for you that
simply means you are like the rest of us.

I have continued the next five tips of 20 tips to part III
of how to play guitar - discover 20 tips to play like a pro.

The next tip I will be discussing is "Imagine yourself
having the skills that you desire." Be sure to get part III
with the next 5 tips.

Jason owns a few blogs on guitar lesson and how to play guitar and learn guitar and learn guitar online and learn to play guitar and free guitar lesson

The Use Of Courses To Learn How To Play The Guitar

Learning to relax while playing guitar will help immeasurably so be sure to have fun.
Guitar methods and techniques can be applied to beginners on all kinds of guitars: electric guitar, acoustic guitar.

With private guitar lessons you could find yourself paying $20 to $30 for a half an hour each week whether you've had the chance to practice or not. How many times have you walked past that guitar and thought, I only have 15 minutes what good will it do to practice. The truth is some practise is better than none.

Courses available on the Internet take guitar learning to a new level, which enable people to learn how to play the guitar all over the world in the comfort of their own home. You can then learn at any time whenever it suits you.

From carrying out research you will find courses take you from being an absolute beginner right through to playing some of the most advanced guitar techniques around. With the right tuition you'll take your guitar playing to a new level of musical performance, while mastering all aspects of playing the guitar.

Guitar lesson products today contain a great deal of material and provide as much in depth instruction as you could wish for, and teaches such advanced techniques. You could probably buy guitar-learning material from your local music store but nothing would contain as much in depth information or software as products bought online.

In these guitar courses you'll also discover how to read music, how to recognise chord shapes and how to transcribe songs from the radio and CDs, simply by playing fun and sophisticated software games. You will discover amazing methods to learning how to play virtually any guitar song you hear.

It doesn't matter what level you are at now beginner, intermediate, advanced or returning, courses are packed full of quality step-by-step lessons, video files, games and other resources to get you results fast. There is information and resources for every level of ability.

Within some products there are computer games so that you can train your ear to identify all the various guitar chords, and take you to a higher level of guitar playing. It will also give you the self-confidence to become the guitar player that you always wanted to be.


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Learn How to Play Blues Guitar



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Learning how to play guitar

There are many ways in learning how to play guitar. Your choice of which lesson to take will depend on your time, budget and learning phase.


Online Guitar Lessons


Online guitar lessons have come a long way since early 90s. There are several helpful videos available that you can pause or slow down, sound files, and illustrations to show you exactly where you should put your fingers, the right way to strum a chord and even sound files to help you tune your guitar! You can actually learn guitar lessons online from a well-qualified instructor in the comfort of your own home. Some lessons may charge a small fee, and some can even be for free!


Free Video Lessons


Another way to learn guitar is to simply browse the free sites like Youtube for people teaching the songs you want to learn to play. You can learn numerous of good riffs from this type of lesson without every really learning how to play the guitar. If all you want is to pick a part of some song to impress a girl or a boy you like, then this is probably the best lesson for you! As for others, to learn real skill or master any music, more guidance is needed.

Guitar DVD


Guitar DVD courses are another amazing way in learning how to play guitar in your own time. While you don't always get a lot of lessons or instructors, the quality is far better to what you can get online. It also ends up a little bit more cost effective since most quality DVD courses will include over a year worth of guitar lessons. Most guitar DVD courses come with a book to follow along with. You can learn guitar in front of the television rather than in front of the computer.


Private Instructor


Some people would prefer to learn from a live instructor in order for them to ask questions ad get feedbacks as they are learning or practicing. For those learners, the best way to learn how to play guitar is to go ahead and hire a private guitar instructor. Among the types of lessons, this is the most expensive method of learning how to play guitar ad may cost more than $2,000 USD annually. Those learners who need that personal touch, private guitar lessons are matchless. On the other hand, finding a good instructor is not an easy thing to do since there are so many guitar instructors with varying skill levels and education. Some may have to try more than one instructor before they can find the one that they actually like.


Group Lessons


A cheaper option where you can still get that personal touch is to group up with other people who want to learn how to play a guitar and form a class. You won't get quite the same quantity of personalized attention as you would get from the private lessons but of course, the catch is that it will be more likely to fit on your budget. You can find group lessons from the net, or you can check your local community college or churches for these classes as well. Lastly, having group lessons in learning how to play guitar is the ability to work with other people and have new friends