Jon Calderbank asked:




Online guitar courses are advertised all over the place but there is so much free guitar tuition available, it’s natural to assume that you don’t need to buy guitar tuition. Progress with free guitar tuition is can be slower because you may never have properly decided to put your faith into that resource or tutor, so you may tend to surf around unnecessarily and mix lessons together. You will either repeat things or miss things out, either way, it’s very difficult to get it right. Slow progress leads to frustration and either quitting, a lifetime of being average, or you may decide to pull things around and make a better commitment to learn to play the guitar quickly from now on.

Play Simple Guitar Chords: You should enjoy the stage of playing basic guitar chords and understand that they are the foundation behind every great guitarist. You can invent your own short cuts later on, but if you don’t know how things are done properly, you won’t figure things out on guitar half as well in the future.

Starting Guitar Tuition: The most basic guitar lessons don’t actually take that long to go through, but they give you all the information you need to get you learning the guitar in the right way. With all the videos around telling us how easy it is to play songs, it’s so easy to miss out that little bit of music theory which pulls everything together in your head. If it doesn’t make sense to you, it can feel like a world that you’re never going to fully understand. However, it can be learned in comfortable sized chunks along the way.

Awesome guitar player: Imagine being fantastic on the guitar but wanting to figure out something new. It will still be a challenge for the experts to play new things as it’s natural to want to push your limits. The feeling of ‘I can’t do that’ won’t go away, but you need to change it to ‘I can’t do that yet’ otherwise you will always be frustrated. Even the greatest guitar players in history were unable to play at one point.

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Zach Eapen asked:




There are a number of courses that you can find on the internet and millions of reviews. But to find an unbiased review on some of the best guitar courses are very difficult and that too from a guitarist himself.

I had a tough time finding a good online guitar course for upgrading my skills. It was then I decided to create a site that gives an impartial and in-depth review on some of the genuine, affordable and reliable guitar courses online. Please read my review and I am sure you will get a fairer idea on where to join.

Courses Best Suited for Beginner & Intermediate Level Guitarists:

1. JamPlay
2. Learn and Master Guitar (from Legacy Learning Systems)
3. Jamorama Guitar and Team Method Guitar (Both from Jamorama Team)
4. Musician University
5. Guitar Tricks

Courses Best Suited for Advanced Level Guitarists:

1. JamPlay
2. Guitar Superstars

Now a brief note on each of these above mentioned guitar courses. Please take a look at it below

JamPlay is focused equally on all Skill levels:

JamPlay is making a lot ripples these days for their quality of video lessons and expert guitar tutors specialized in different genres and styles of playing. Their courses are designed and focused equally on Beginners as well as seasoned guitarists to upgrade their skills on advanced techniques like hammer-on, finger picking and other playing styles.

Guitar Courses in Detail:

* Learn and Master Guitar( from Legacy Learning Systems): This course is from their Home School Edition, which means that it is best suited for beginner level guitarists and children. Their courses are designed to complete in 2 years,like a school or a college. So the progression will be slow, but at the same time, you will be building a very strong foundation. Cost is slightly higher compared to Jamorama, Team Method and Musician University.

* Jamorama Guitar and Team Method Guitar(from Jamorama Team): Both these courses are also focused toward beginners and intermediate level players, but the best thing about Jamorama and Team Method is that no other guitar courses can beat them on the cost front. Very affordable and quality guitar courses online that you can enroll for.

* Musician University: Musician University is very similar to Learn and Master Guitar in their coaching style. Their courses are usually for an year with weekly lessons, sound, quiz questions, interactive games and features which can help you learn faster and make the course more interesting than just reading a book. Most of their courses have about 40 to 60 lessons, over a year worth of music lesson with a teacher. There are other courses that feature up to 200 lessons and thousands of exercises. New content is added every month. But unlike Learn and Master their prices are extremely low.

* Guitar Tricks: Guitar Tricks was started in 1998 by Jon Broderick. Though they claim to have courses focused on all skill levels their Intermediate and Advanced level courses are not in-depth as Beginner level ones. But they are very affordable and their experience of the past 12 years in guitar training has definitely an edge over the others.

* Guitar Superstars: Guitar Superstars is by Andy Johnson who has over 20 years of guitar experience and a good guitar teacher who has designed the course that bypasses the traditional methods and enables the students to learn different techniques much quicker.

Note: Both Legacy Learning Systems and Musician University have different courses for different instruments. Learn and Master has courses for Ballroom Dancing, Painting and other arts. Musician University covers everything from Song Writing, Audio Engineering, Sound Mixing and more.

*Demo Videos*

#1 Don’t Cry(GN’R) Chords
In this video I have played the opening chords of ‘Don’t Cry’ by Gn’R, a very easy to learn song on guitar especially for beginners. The 3 chords are A minor | D minor | G Major

#2 Holiday (Scorpions) Chords
The opening chords in the acoustic ballad ‘Holiday’ are D minor | A Major | A 7th. When the lyrics begin the chords are D minor | C Major | A Major | D minor. And for the lyrics “Exchange the cold days for the sun…..and fun” the chords are D minor | C Major | D minor | C Major | A Major | D Minor

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Ismail Mohd asked:




Here are some tips to help you learn to play lead guitar in a rock band. You need to put in a lot of work to learn the skills it takes to create and play great solo guitar in a band context.

One difficulty you will encounter is that it is hard to get experience playing lead guitar with a band when you are still learning. Bands are almost always looking for a lead guitarist who can already play. Fortunately there are several solutions to this problem.

The first easy solution is to record yourself playing the chord progressions and songs you want to solo with. You can record yourself with a tape recorder or a more modern digital recorder. You can even use your PC. You’ll need a cable to connect your electric guitar to the PCs line-in connection. Alternatively you can use a microphone with your acoustic guitar.

This solution also gives you plenty of opportunity to practice playing your chord progressions. You’ll need recordings several minutes long to give you room to practice and try out different scales and licks.

You might find recording complete backing tracks like this gets tedious after a while. If this is the case then you might want to get yourself a sampler/looper. A sampler/looper allows you to record a short passage, the sample, and then play it over and over again in a loop.

With a sampler/looper you need record only one verse or even only one measure of the chord progression or song you want to play over. You then let the looper play this sample for as long as you want while you practice your scales, licks and solos.

The two solutions described above are both very flexible, you can record any backing you want. However, at some point you will want to practice with a fuller band sound to back you up. This helps you to get used to listening to and following the drums, bass and other instruments. You can also learn how your licks and solos sound in the full band context.

Backing tracks, also known as jam tracks, are an excellent tool for this. You can find many high quality whole band backing tracks for you to play solo guitar over.

You can buy backing tracks in many musical styles. Some popular backing tracks series are the “Play Guitar With…” series from Wise Publications, or Band In The Pocket from Five Feathers Music. These come in book and CD format and you can use them easily with your home stereo. You can also find many web sites where you can download backing track audio files.

There you have three ways to develop your lead guitar skills with backing music. Use them to build your note choice and timing skills and one day you will be ready to take the lead in a real live rock band.



learn to play guitar

Peter Edvinsson asked:




It’s time for you to reap the benefits from all sheet music that has been written by good composers. Let’s see how you can improve your sighreading skills.

I know by own experience that many guitarists at first find it hard to read sheet music. Why is that?

A guitar is a fantastic instrument in many ways. One interesting feature is that you can find the same note on differents strings. It makes for interesting effects if you want.

However, the same feature can make it hard to read a sheet music note as you can find it on more than one place on a guitar. Many beginners on classical guitar master the notes in the first position on the guitar. That is, the first four frets on the fretboard.

I suggest that you also learn to find the notes you know on the first four frets on your guitar on the higher frets. For example, the C on the first fret on the second string can also be found on the fifth fret on the third string and on the tenth fret on the fourth string.

A fun little exercise you can use to become a little more familiar with the entire guitar fretboard is to work on finding a note on all six strings on the guitar. You will of course have to play the note in various octaves on the strings.

For example, try to play the note G on all six strings beginning with string six down to the first string and back again until you can find the frets without to much thinking.

Another reason why it can be hard to read guitar sheet music is the habit to always look at the fretboard to find the right place to put your fingers. How can you avoid looking at the fretboard all the time?

One reason for looking at the fretboard is that it has become a habit probably initiated at your beginning endeavors when you really had a hard time finding the right places on your guitar.

To overcome this habit I suggest that you practice reading very easy guitar sheet music in the first position. Here your fingers already know how to find their ways without the aid of your eyes if you pay attention to correct fingering.

Trying to avoid looking at the fretboard will also improve your posture preventing you from muscle injuries in your neck for example.

A good ear is a great asset for a guitarist. It will help you play the music you hear in your head or with your ears and this ability is really something worth developing.

However, a good ear can be your enemy if you don’t watch up. That is, when you learn to play sheet music.

I myself as a beginning guitar student had a good ear and like many other such students developed my own strategies to find the frets to play by looking at the sheet music and listening my way around the fretboard.

This strategy really works but you will not really learn the notes on the fretboard and subsequently will not develop your sight reading skills.

You will have to make a conscious effort to learn the guitar fretboard in order to be able to find the notes fast enough to sight read sheet music.

One way to develop your sight reading skills is to put sheet music in front of you trying to play the music you see. Be aware though that you probably cannot use the same piece of music more than once. At least not for practicing sight reading. You need fresh pieces to play.

One way to get fresh pieces is of course to write them yourself. This will develop your sight reading skills from two directions. The concentrated effort to notate easy guitar pieces will also help you learn sheet music notation.



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Michael Fletcher asked:




Writing articles for the beginning guitarist is a challenge that I engage from time-to-time in order to reach out to those who really want to learn to play the guitar, but are confused as to the how’s, when’s, what’s, and why’s of learning to play the guitar. For the beginning guitar player, there are many challenges that must be conquered before moving on to more advanced guitar techniques and approaches.

Many beginning guitarists wrestle with issue of whether or not to take guitar lessons. This particular issue is easily solved. Should the beginning guitarist seek out a qualified guitar instructor? The answer, of course, is yes. However, please note that I stated that a qualified guitar instructor should be sought.

There’s a big difference between learning, guitar scales, guitar chords, and music theory from your friends and learning from a professional player. Learning from friends is normal, and in most cases lots of fun. However, it’s also very important that the beginning guitarist learn the proper finger,wrist, and picking techniques from a professional. This type oftraining saves time, in that it teaches one good habits from the beginning. Remember, if one practices bad habits, then one will end up with bad habits. Therefore, it makes good sense to practice good habits from the beginning.

A qualified guitar instructor will make sure that your right and left hand are coordinated and the general rules of control are implemented. There are so many elements involved with learning to play the guitar, but if approached step-by-step, the process will be smooth and enjoyable.

With all of that said, what do I mean when I refer to a qualified guitar instructor? Does this mean an instructor who holds a degree in music? Does it mean someone who plays the guitar well? Think about this for a moment. Who would you prefer to take guitar lessons from…an individual with a music degree or the lead guitar player from the group Yes, Social Distortion, or Guns and Roses, etc. Don’t be too fast with your answer. Remember, we’re talking about the whole package here. In short, education.

Of course, it would be a feather in your cap to boast of guitar lessons from Slash. However, is Slash qualified to teach you the proper techniques and theory associated with guitar? Perhaps he is, but then-again, perhaps not. Just because someone has acquired fame as a player, does not mean that he or she is somehow magically qualified to teach the instrument. Learn the basics from a qualified instructor and turn to Slash for your style…if that’s your style.

Learning to play the guitar is like building a pyramid. The foundation has to be very strong and vast in order to withstand and supportthe weight of the upper tiers of the pyramid. Once again, a qualified guitar instructor will guide you to a strong foundation.

Building a solid foundation of guitar chords, guitar scales, and knowledge of music theory will enable you to progress beyond your own expectations. By-the-way, what are your expectations? Communicate with your guitar instructor. Let him or her know where you’re headed as a guitarist. Communicate the styles of guitar playing that you want to learn. Communicate the songs that you’d like to learn. Communicate various artists that you enjoy. In other words, it’s best to know which road you want to travel. This will enhance the relationship between you and your guitar instructor.

As a beginning guitarist, it’s important not to over-think things. Learn lesson-by-lesson, step-by-step. Enjoy the journey, and yes, it’s OK to play around and learn things from your friends. It’s all a part of the learning process.

Most of the challenges for the beginning guitarist are mental challenges. One’s mind must overcome the physical challenges associated with learning how to play the guitar. However, I’ll guarantee that once you play your first song in it’s entirety, you’ll fall in love with the guitar and with music. You’ll be well on your way to accomplishing all of your musical goals.Each journey begins with the first step. What’s your first step? If you’re not sure, then read this entire article again. Hopefully, you’ll sort it all out and get moving.

2009 Michael E. Fletcher. All Rights Reserved Worldwide

learn to play guitar

Nathalie K asked:




Is there one best way to learn to play guitar? The question to that would be a ‘no’.

Each one of us has different goals as well a different way we each enjoy learning.

In this article we will look at the different methods of learning and which one would fit you best.

Let’s go ahead by looking at what your goals are:

Maybe you only want to play popular songs because you like singing and want to play along or perhaps just want to learn some of those great popular rock or acoustic tunes.

You don’t want and need to get into all the technical stuff and only need to learn a few of the basics to get you going.

If this sounds like you then I would suggest the easiest way would be to opt for one of the video-e-book combinations available on the internet. These programs are usually prices under $50.

If these product lacks anything on the technical side, they will definitely make up for it in the speed of learning.

The combination of these e-books, videos and sometimes games to teach strumming, chords, strumming and all of the basic techniques is by far the best method for learning to play simple or popular songs.

No let’s say you want to know everything

You want to be able to play different songs from the radio or different styles. You would like to grow as a guitarist and not only do it as a simple hobby.

Your best option for this, if you want to do it from home and not go to a music school would be an in-depth guitar lesson DVD course. While it is more expensive than the Products mention above, the amount of information on these are much greater.

If your end goal is to become a skilled guitar player from home, this dvd course would be your best bet.

There is two great courses available that teaches more intermediate and advanced teachings with enough info to last you for about a year.

Whether your goal is to just know the basics or become more advanced, there is a program out there to fulfill your every need.

Create a video blog…instantly.

Peter Finlay asked:




As an absolute beginner looking to learn the guitar, getting on the right track can be quite confusing. More likely than not, you will be confronted with a variety of conflicting information about who to see and how to start learning guitar. With everyone trying to offer you their own advice, keeping focussed on your end goal can be difficult, although is essential if you’re looking to learn how to play the guitar proficiently. So where do you begin when trying to learn the guitar? And how can you ensure your guitar learning experience is as fruitful as possible.

Before even beginning to learn the guitar the first step is to consider whether to learn on your own basis through a book or online, or whether to learn with a tutor through individual or group lessons. This can be an important decision, and one that is crucial to your ability to learn how to play the guitar. If you find self-motivation and dedication easy, you may find learning on your own to be a more cost-effective way of picking up the guitar, and one that proves to be more rewarding in the long run. Alternatively, if you find the prospect of learning quite daunting, it may be a better idea to get in touch with an expert guitar tutor, who will hold your hand through the learning process, and keep you on track to build on your guitar playing abilities. Either way, it is important to ensure you practice everything you cover, and to play at every opportunity to improve your skills and technique, which will provide more stable foundations for becoming a great guitarist.

The first thing to consider when learning to play the guitar is how often you are going to practice, and from where you will access your guitar. As a beginner, it is desirable to pick up a second hand or cheap first guitar. There’s no point spending hundreds, or even thousands, on a new top of the range guitar when there is no guarantee that you will be able to play it. When selecting a guitar, you should look for something that is sized appropriately for you, and that sits comfortably when playing. A Spanish or classical guitar is slightly softer on the fingers, although the acoustic guitar is better for smaller hands initially. Obviously each type of guitar has its own specific advantages for more advanced performance, but as a beginner it may be wise to put consideration into the actual size and shape of the guitar and how it fits with you.

Learning to play the guitar can seem like a mammoth task for the complete beginner, but with a few tips in the right direction it doesn’t need to be out of reach. With the means to learn and some form of guidance, either through a book, online or through a tutor, learning the guitar can be a fairly straightforward process, and one which can prove to be very rewarding in a short period with drive and determination.



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