Monthly Archive for June, 2008

Electrifying Performance with Your Blues Guitar

by Zack R

Electric guitars are what they are-simply electrifying. They can cause your adrenaline to rush and your head to bang. They get everyone jumping and excited to hear the music. Simply put, playing the electric guitar is truly fun.

Here are the basic ways on how to add more zest to your performance with your favorite electric guitar.

1. Teach yourself the theories. Everything should start from here. Oftentimes, wannabe blues guitar players believe that as long as they can play eardrum-shattering music with their amplified guitars, they are already good to go. They are completely wrong. You got to teach yourself the different theories governing music and guitar playing.

There are many benefits you can derive from it. First of all, you should remember that principles remain the same, but strategies may change. This only means that if you know the reason why notes sound like this, or why scales have to be like that, it will be very convenient for you to improvise. The most important thing is you can fulfill the principles of guitar playing. Second, you can learn to appreciate your music more. It will help you add passion to what you're currently doing.

You really don't need to learn everything right away, though. If you're new, then you need to start with the basics. This may include learning the notes, scales, and basic electric blues guitar techniques.

2. Listen to different kinds of music. Don't feel bad if you practically have to start like a copycat when you're still learning how to play. After all, this is one of the most basic steps. You may have to listen to as many songs with electric guitars as their main accompaniment. Your goal is to be able to produce the same sound from your own electric guitar. You can download these songs from the Internet, or you can purchase a CD compilation of greatest singers and bands, such as Jimi Hendrix, Steve Morse, and Mattias IA Eklundh.

3. Learn how to do the blues licks. This is actually an unraveled mystery. One of the greatest techniques in playing the electric guitar is to learn how to do some licking or ad libs. This means blues guitar improvisation. When you know how to do this, you can add more soul, meaning, or depth to any kind of song that you're going to play. Most of all, you can spice your music with a little bit about yourself.

About the Author:
Calling all blues musicians - Visit 50 Blues for your #1 Blues Guitarist Resource. We have free blues rhythm guitar lessons as well as free blues backing tracks to take your blues to greater heights!
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5 Fantastic Methods for Guitar Solos – Blues Guitarists

by Zack R

Serious blues guitar players aren't really content playing the guitar with the chords given to them. More than ever, they are definitely looking forward to the day that they will be able to have the spotlight to them-or to their music-by going solo. However, what does this mean to you? It means that you can already improvise with the music that you have.

Here are the things that you need to remember once you decide to go for a guitar solo:

1. Don't attempt to create random notes. Why is Santana one of the best blues guitar players of all time? He has countless guitar solos, and yet he never misses to sound so great. The technique doesn't really lie on the random notes. As a matter of fact, this is a completely wrong strategy. What you're definitely after is to create your own template, where you can make your improvisation.

2. Get yourself a blues scale. This doesn't really refer to the blues music. There's no clear explanation why it's called as such, though you can assume that it could be because of the certain random feeling of the music that the blues music has. Nevertheless, the blues scale is the widely used template when you're starting to train yourself for a guitar solo.

3. Practice alternate picking. The way you pick your guitar will matter when it comes to the kind of music that you want to produce. Since you're going to do improvisation, you need to try out the different ways on how to pick your guitar. This way, you can determine if the sound produced is good or not. The bottom line is you should avoid surprising yourself once you get on the stage.

4. Make sure that the notes are clear and even. Again, there should be no random notes in your blues guitar solos. You can accomplish this if you learn how to play the scale in different motions, such as forward and backward. Each note, moreover, should also be played twice before you proceed to the next note.

5. List the notes. Unless you have memorized the different kinds of scales used in guitar playing, or if you are already too experienced in guitar solos, you need to list the improvised notes, so you can bring with you when you're performing, especially when it's going to be your first time to do the improvised chords.

About the Author:
Calling all blues musicians - Visit 50 Blues for your #1 Blues Guitarist Resource. We have free blues rhythm guitar lessons as well as free blues backing tracks to take your blues to greater heights!
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Lead Guitar Transposition Tips and Techniques

by Eugene W

Every so often, we decide to dive into a new aspect of playing guitar that many are either afraid of, or just simply have no idea what it's all about. We're going to tackle one of the more feared issues evolving around guitar... Transposition.

Join us as we teach you the most simplistic and easy ways to transpose your music.

Getting That Riff In Your Favorite Key!

How many times have we composed a riff that we absolutely love, or perhaps found a song that we really enjoy playing and wanted to put it into a new, original song and truly make it ours? Chances are that we've all wanted to at least try it out once or twice but always came across one roadblock... Keys.

As mentioned in our last article, the probability that two riffs will be in the same key is very low if you are writing a lot of songs or wish to link two well known songs together. This is where you need to transpose one of those riffs so you can connect them together and put them in that song.

Another scenario is that you just wrote an awesome riff that you envision going into one of your band's songs... The only problem is that it's in the wrong key! With transposing, you can still use that riff and play along with the rest of the band.

If you're a true band nerd, like myself, you have probably been around transposition since the days of Jr. High or Middle School. Now, if you're still like me, you didn't have two clicks on how to do it either. I was always amazed to see how my teacher would take a trumpet part and transpose it so I could play it on my sax and still be in the right key!

With guitar, this is invaluable. You can take a sax part and transpose it to your guitar. If you happen to have a sax player around, you can now play along with that sax and still be in the proper key.

One of the most unique things about playing guitar is that we have a number of tools available to us to use for easy transposition. Many other musicians envy us for this and call us cheaters in the game of music theory, however, if you can use it... Why not?

The tools that you can use.

One of the most common tools used to transpose music on the guitar is the capo. The capo is essentially a piece of rubber that is glued onto two pieces of metal with a spring placed in between. When clasped onto the neck of your guitar and placed behind a fret, it acts as a new nut (AKA the "zero" nut.) This new nut raises the pitch of your guitar, therefore changing the key.

Most guitarists use them so they can make really complicated chords into easy open chord shapes. This is where the whole joke about cheating comes in. Instead of actually practicing those really hard chords and getting your technique down, you can transpose that chord using the capo and turn it into an open chord shape such as an E Major or an A and still have the same chord.

While I don't recommend that you always do that because it's always good to know how to play a song if your capo breaks, it's great for live performances where you want to minimize the risk of messing up a complicated chord. If you're a lead guitarist, you can still use a capo but in all honesty, it's far easier to find the key that everyone else is playing in relative to the capo and just use the scale that suites the song best.

In most cases, it's actually quicker for a lead guitarist not to use a capo and just find a scale. Switching a capo around the neck of your guitar can cost valuable seconds between songs.

About the Author:
E Walker is the founder of Planet of Rock Music Studios and contributes regularly to many guitar publications. Find out how Guitar Backing Tracks will improve your guitar playing. Planet of Rock also provides CustomBacking Tracks Recordings.
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Choosing The Right Guitar for Intermediate Players

by Zack R

You are done with your beginner lessons and your beginner's guitar doesn't seem to satisfy you anymore. It might be the time to buy a new one for your new level. It's time to buy a guitar for intermediate players. Buying a guitar for intermediate players is not as nerve racking as the time you bought your first guitar. This is because you already the basics and you already know what you are looking for. However, not because you are already familiar with guitars; you will just grab any guitar that you see from the music store with the thought that you already know how to tune it and play it. Below are some tips to help you with selecting the best guitar for an intermediate player like you:

1. Know what music you would like to play. Now you know the basics, you already know what style of music you are inclined to. The type of guitar that you should buy depends on what style of music you are playing or you would like to play.

2. It should be not too small, not too big. You will probably be playing much more than you did when you were in the beginner level. Thus it is necessary that you feel comfortable with the guitar you are using as you will be using this most of the time. Pick the right size of guitar. You should pick one which is comfortable to play. You probably do not want to mess up with your music just because of uneasiness and discomfort.

3. Listen and compare. The reason why you learned tuning in your basics is for you to learn how to compare sounds. Now you are keener with the guitar sounds so when buying a new guitar, make sure to listen. Try playing different guitars and pick one with the best sound.

Things to Remember

1. Not because you are already in the intermediate level means you will just go for any kind of strings. Check one which will make you feel comfortable playing. Nylon strings are highly recommended.

2. Check if the neck of the guitar is bowed back. If it is, do not buy it as the finger board will be too close to the string. If this is the case, the sound the guitar will be producing will not be pleasing to the ears.

With all the above tips, you are now ready to your next guitar playing level.

About the Author:
Zack R is the founder of 50 Blues. If you love the blues, visit 50 Blues to access over 50 professional blues jam tracks. These blues guitar music tracks will skyrocket your desire for blues playing and practicing.
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Acoustic Guitar

by Scott M Green

Many people are susceptible to the mystery and romance of an acoustic guitar. It can produce spicy and passionate flamenco pieces as well as soft melodic tunes for a wide range of beautiful sounds. While most people don't think about its range when they think about the acoustic guitar, everyone can appreciate the beautiful music from an acoustic guitar.

Do you ever wish you knew how to play the acoustic guitar? Does walking past one in the store window make you long to walk inside, pick it up, put one hand lovingly around the neck and caress the strings gently with the other, and begin playing a tune? Have you ever thought about how expensive it would be to take lessons? Or how difficult it would be to learn?

You imagine how your family and friends will be in shock when your bring out your acoustic guitar and show off your new talent. You dream of having the ability to play like your favorite musician but then shake your head and back on the rack the guitar goes.

You may think that acoustic guitars are magical, but not by themselves. The magic is in the music, not the guitar. It can be compared to the time when you were a child learning how to use a pencil to write words. As you grew up, you developed the ability to write well and started to write all kinds of material such as book reports and essays. The pencil was simply a medium to create your writing. The same principle applies to acoustic guitars. The guitar is just an instrument you use to make music. The learning process of writing is similar to how one learns to play acoustic guitars. Initially, before you learned how to play the guitar, you just tinkered with one at a store, much like scribbling with a pencil. You observed what would happen if you moved your hands a certain way or another. At first, you started to learn how to be comfortable with the guitar then eventually, your fingers learned to move the right way on their own. Very soon, your guitar becomes an extension of your hands, a vehicle through which you express your thoughts.

Acoustic guitars have a kind of draw to them, but people who have never played guitar before are often amazed by them. It is often assumed that there is much more to the guitar than there actually is. The ability to produce music is almost mystical to some.

Music is such a intense expression of sound and emotion that it can be overwhelming to think that anyone could produce such beautiful sounds. This outlook can make people apprehensive with learning to play an acoustic guitar. Remember, the acoustic guitar was built to speak this language.

If you really want to play guitar and find yourself checking out the acoustic guitars in all the local music stores or if there's a forgotten one sitting in your attic, pick it up and learn how to play it. You won't be sorry you did.

About the Author:
strumming your acoustic guitar is a skill that you will never forget. I love playing mine and learing new tunes.firstacousticguitar.com has acoustic guitar sheet music for you to aquire, find out what you are missing
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Acoustic Guitar Chords

by Jon Ferriss

An acoustic guitar chord is several notes all played at once. There are a lot of different acoustic guitar chords, but if you can learn a few basic ones, you can then play hundreds, if not thousands, of songs. There are some of the major chords, which have a brighter sound whilst the minor chords have a darker or sadder sound.

Acoustic guitar chord diagrams notate guitar chords. Rather than side to side (horizontal) the way guitar tabs run, the lines that represent an acoustic chord diagram will run up and down, or vertically. You will see a grid when looking at a chord diagram. The strings are represented by the vertical lines, while the frets are represented by the horizontal lines. The areas where you need to hold the string down is where the dots appear.

Numbers will be at the top or bottom of the acoustic guitar chord diagram. This diagram represents the finger that holds down each strong - 1 means the index finger, 2 means the middle finger, 3 the ring finger, and 4 the pinky. If you see a 0, that means to leave the string open when you play. On the other hand, an X means an string open that is not played. And occasionally you'll see T used. This means to use your thumb to play, but this does not occur too often.

The first acoustic guitar chord we're going to tackle is the G-major chord. Your middle finger goes on the sixth string at the third fret, your index finger goes on the fifth string at the second fret and your ring finger goes on the first string on the third fret. Play each individual note, including the open strings one by one. Be careful you can plainly hear each note and make sure you don't hear any strange buzzing or rattling noises from the strings.

If anything sounds off, you can push down firmer on the string or move your fingers so they are closer to the fret. Your fingers should not be in contact with one another and only on one string at a time. When each individual note sounds good, strum them all together. You have just accomplished a G-major chord on your acoustic guitar.

The chord E-minor is considered to have easier fingering than the others. Use your index finger to hold down the fifth string on the second fret and your middle finger to hold down the fourth string on the second fret. Both fingers need to have plenty of room on the fret and can not touch each other. Try the notes out and alter your fingering a bit until it sounds right to you. Finally, strum the E-minor chord. You will note right away the dark sound associated with this acoustic guitar chord. With a little practice, you will have this chord down in no time.

There are only a few basic acoustic guitar chords you need to learn. These include C-major, D-major, A-minor, and A-major. You should familiarize yourself with them by moving back and forth between these acoustic guitar chords. With practice, you will commit them to memory and playing will go more smoothly.

At first you will need to position your fingers one at a time to get the acoustic guitar chords to sound right, but with practice, the fingering will become natural and you will be able to position your fingers in the correct places quickly without having to think about it.

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If you want learn more about acoustic guitar chords and learn how to perform over the weekend Visit our site.
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Playing an acoustic guitar

by P R jones

Endless hours of playing your guitar can strain your back If you do not maintain the correct upright posture. If you want to learn how to hold your guitar correctly, here are a few tips on how to hold your guitar properly. Pick your guitar and hold it with the back against your stomach. Point the guitar neck to your left if you are right handed. Set the guitar body on your upper right thigh. Next, grab the guitar neck with your left hand, wrap your right arm around the guitar body, and place your right hand on the strings. If necessary, adjust your body position so that you feel completely comfortable when playing guitar.

If you're a right handed person you will use the left hand for constructing chords. The fingers of the left hand are bent and you will be pressing down on the strings on the fret board.

The guitar neck's back is curved, so that your hand will naturally conform with the shape of its neck. Your thumb should arch over the top of the neck when you hold it properly. From there, your thumb is in position for constructing chords. When you are constructing chords it is ok to press your thumb into the back of the guitar neck, although this is more in common with playing guitar scales. You should try both thumb positions and then you will be able to use the one that is most comfortable for you.

When you are first playing guitar watch your positioning while playing. Your right bicep should be resting on the top part of the guitar body. Getting into bad guitar playing habits now may afflict your playing for years to come so try to get it right now. With your right arm resting on top of the guitar and your hand positioned over the sound hole use your right hand to "strum" the strings. The sound hole is where the sound of the guitar comes from.

Many people make use of a pick when playing guitar. Simply hold the pick between the thumb and forefinger of your right hand. Draw the pick across the strings you want to play. It's similar to plucking the string but you use a little bit more pressure than you normally would when strumming with your fingers.

Left-handed musicians do not need to worry. There are two options for playing guitar left handed. First, you can re-string a right-handed guitar to reverse the order of the strings. Second, you can buy a specially made left-handed guitar.

When playing guitar, holding the instrument properly as well as maintaining a good posture permits you to play longer and is crucial to achieving the correct tone. Get into the habit of starting properly and it will serve you well.

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When you start playing Guitar here you will find lots of tips and tricks to get you playing you Guitar,plus lots of great resources and acoustic Guitar printed music Playing Guitar
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Guidelines In Understanding The Bass Guitar

by Chris Channing

Chances are that if you're writing a piece of music that calls for a low-pitched instrument, you're not going to have many choices. Luckily, the bass guitar is an instrument that can be put to a variety of uses in modern music.

A bass guitar is very much like a regular guitar, although many differences are apparent. While both bass and normal guitars can be acoustic, electric bass guitars are widely preferred over acoustic versions. Bass guitars are usually limited to only four strings, which are tuned one octave lower than the lowest four strings on a normal guitar. In addition, the frets of a bass guitar may be removed. This has been copied by guitar players over time, but interestingly enough bassists were the first to try it.

One thing that makes the bass guitar so appealing to so many people is that there are many ways to play it. One method, called fingerstyle, involves the player using only their fingers to fret the notes on the neck and pluck the strings. Fingerstyle is a popular method mainly because of the many tones one can create using it.

When bass guitars were first separated from upright basses, the guitar players of the time could all be seen using picks more often than not. Not surprisingly, many bass guitar players use ordinary guitar picks to play also. The string is simply strummed with the pick, resulting in a sharper tone compared to a bass guitar played with the fingers only.

Bass Guitars in Modern Music

Musically, the bass guitar is not as versatile as a regular guitar. Having two less strings makes less chord tones available, which limits the bass guitar to a more rhythmic role instead of a melodic one. In modern rock, a genre the electric bass guitar is well suited for, the bass guitar usually forms the backbone of a song along with the drums. By playing single notes in a rhythmic fashion, the bass moves the song along from chord to chord and keeps the music going. In more extreme hard rock and metal music, the bass is often distorted much like an electric guitar and played just as quickly as the lead guitar player might play.

The bass guitar was synonymous with jazz since before the electric bass had even been invented, back in the days of the upright bass. Modern bass guitars are well suited to jazz because along with the drums, a bass guitar is perfect for maintaining the swinging feeling of jazz. Upright bass lines are perfect examples of jazz bass playing. As the bassist moves from chord to chord, playing one note per beat, you can literally feel the song swinging and rocking back and forth.

At first glance, a bass guitar may simply seem like a normal guitar with a few less strings and a lower voice, but in reality bass guitarists can accomplish just as much, if not more than any other guitar players. After all, not many other instruments have as many applications in the modern music world as the bass guitar.

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Learn more about cheap bass guitars and cheap electric bass guitars.
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The Basics Of Bass Guitars

by Chris Channing

Since the beginning of music and the dawn of musical composition there has always been a demand for low-pitched instruments. In nearly all modern musical arrangements the most desired instrument is a bass guitar.

Not surprisingly, the bass guitar remains true to the design originally intended for normal guitar. However, differences do exist. Four-stringed basses are the most common, which differ from the six-stringed guitars most people are used to seeing. The strings of a bass guitar are longer, as is the entire instrument. Most bass guitars are played through an amplifier, although acoustic basses are preferred by some. One deviation from the normal guitar design did occur when a few bass players began to remove the frets from the necks of their instruments, which has since been applied to normal guitars by an even smaller percentage of players.

One thing that makes the bass guitar so appealing to so many people is that there are many ways to play it. One method, called fingerstyle, involves the player using only their fingers to fret the notes on the neck and pluck the strings. Fingerstyle is a popular method mainly because of the many tones one can create using it.

Like a normal guitar, a bass guitar can also be played with a guitar pick. Any normal guitar pick can work on a bass guitar as well, and it is known to create a more percussive tone which many say is more pronounced and distinct than a bass guitar played fingerstyle.

Bass Guitars in Modern Music

Unlike the guitar, which has great potential for harmonic and melodic uses, the bass guitar is mainly classified as a rhythmic instrument. For example, in modern rock, a genre that electric bass guitars are prevalent in, the drums and bass are often used to set up the heartbeat of the piece and drive it along. Rock bassists often simply play single notes in a uniform rhythm in order to keep the pace and harmony of the song simultaneously. In faster, heavier rock genres such as hard rock or heavy metal, bass players are often heard playing blisteringly fast sixteenth notes and using distortion and feedback just like their lead guitar playing counterparts.

The bass guitar was synonymous with jazz since before the electric bass had even been invented, back in the days of the upright bass. Modern bass guitars are well suited to jazz because along with the drums, a bass guitar is perfect for maintaining the swinging feeling of jazz. Upright bass lines are perfect examples of jazz bass playing. As the bassist moves from chord to chord, playing one note per beat, you can literally feel the song swinging and rocking back and forth.

Although bass guitars are sometimes seen as boring instruments when compared to regular guitars, the endless possibilities that a bass guitar presents make it an exciting instrument. When it comes to versatility in terms of playing methods and different musical styles, the bass guitar may very well be unrivaled in the modern musical world.

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Learn more about cheap bass guitars and cheap electric bass guitars.
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Finding an Acoustic Beginner Guitar

by Mark Thompson

When it comes to buying an acoustic beginner guitar for the first time there are several things that need to be taken into consideration before it is purchased.

Certainly, if you have he money then you should invest in as good a quality first guitar as you possibly can. The more you actually spend on the guitar then the better the quality of the tone that comes from it and it will be easier to play.

Although there are plenty of good quality acoustic guitars for beginners available if you are looking for one of the most exceptional then Seagull S6 should be your first choice. Even though you will need to spend between $400 and $500 on one of these they are truly exceptional instruments. In fact, there are many professionals guitarists who first brought a Seagull S6 and still own it even though they have purchased other guitars since learning to play the instrument. However if you want to spend a little less on your first one then the Washburn D10s voted no 1 by Acoustic Guitar magazine may be more suitable. The Washburn D10s costs less than $500 so is only slight less expensive than the Seagull. Yet in most cases, those that can afford to will purchase either one of these as their first acoustic guitar.

However if you do not have the funds to be able to afford the above mentioned then the Yamaha F310, Takamine G-240 or the Fender DG7 are perfect choices as well. But for those who are looking for the least expensive acoustic beginner guitar then the Epiphone DR-100 is the ideal instrument for them. This particular one costs between $120 and $150 and once a person feels more confident with their playing they can then spend more and trade up to a more expensive model in the future.

What one should never do when purchasing an acoustic beginners guitar is buy one that costs $100 or less. The major problem with these kinds of guitars is not only are the poorly made but they can be extremely difficult to play especially if you are only just starting to learn. The reason for this is that the fingerboard and strings are often widely spaced so getting the right position to play them becomes much more difficult.

But if you cannot afford to spend more than $100 on your guitar, rather than buying one of the above instead purchasing a second hand one instead. Go to a guitar store and check out what second hand ones they have available and try them out. As you will soon discover each one has a slightly different personality and this is often because it has been based on the guitarist who was previously using it.

Also when buying a guitar you need to take into consideration the kind of person who has used it previously. Preferably, buy one that has been well cared for as they will not only look nice but will sound much nicer too. Also trying out each guitar that you are considering buying will give you a chance to work out if it feels comfortable. If it does not even though the sound quality is good, you should never buy it.

One saying that comes to mind is that you should never buy a guitar from a jerk. But whether there is anything in this depends on whether you believe such myths or not, yet most people who play the guitar will treat their instrument in much the same way as they treat people. So a guitar, which has not been well cared for, is not likely to play as well as one that has been. So if the acoustic beginner guitar you try does not feel right even if the sound and tone is go then select a different one.

About the Author:
Above we have offered advice and information regarding buying an acoustic beginner guitar. If you would like to find out more about this instrument click on this link Acoustic Guitar Information.
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