Learn Guitar Blog

Learn Guitar Music

May 17, 2006 on 3:01 pm | In learn guitar music, learn to play guitar easy | No Comments

Many beginners who are trying to learn guitar music get stuck. They don’t know what exactly they should practice, chords feel uncomfortable and are difficult to handle and they feel they’re not making any progress at all. They just can’t seem to find anything to concentrate on.

If you’re not at the level you would like to, it’s not necessarily because guitar is not for you or you don’t actually want to learn. There may be other things wrong with your learning style, your practicing schedule or even your guitar.

The Guitar

If the instrument feels uncomfortable, it is certainly not because your hands are too small or anything like that. There are guitarists who play the guitar with their feet and there must be some who have even smaller hands than you do. However, it might be something wrong with the instrument you have chosen.  Maybe the strings are too high or the guitar is too big.

In order to be able to learn guitar music, you’ve got to find the instrument that works best for you. Guitars come in various sizes, with different lengths of fret boards. A visit to a good guitar store might prove very helpful. Better yet, if you have a private teacher or a friend who knows how to play the guitar well, you might be able to get some advice from them.

Books, Videos & Private Lessons

There are plenty of books, video lessons and online lessons that claim to help you learn guitar music. These are really useful for some people, especially for those who are good autodidacts. However, this is not the case for all. Some people need face-to-face instruction and they are rejecting anything else.

Think about the way you’ve learned other practical things in your life. If you worked well on books, you might succeed in learning guitar this way too. However, if you tend to get bored easily and don’t have the patience to read a theory book, you might need a private teacher. It may take you a while until you find one you can communicate well with and meets your learning style.

How to Practice?

Some people want to learn just a few tab songs to play at campfires. However, if you want more, a good strategy would be to start from one single song or exercise you enjoy playing and then just expand on it. This may mean learning more songs by the same author or taking a certain riff through all the keys.

The most important thing for learning to play the guitar is wanting it. Desire is much more important than talent. If you really want to learn guitar music, you are willing to sacrifice other parts of your life for practicing. This doesn’t mean you should give up your social life and practice until you’re playing like a superstar. It means that you don’t feel the need to put up practicing for later to watch TV.

You shouldn’t try to learn guitar music because someone else makes you do it. You should learn only because you want to. Practicing should be fun, not stressful. If you enjoy playing, you sure are on the right path and at some point you will progress.

Learn Guitar Fast Online – The Good & the Bad

May 15, 2006 on 2:58 pm | In learn guitar fast, online guitar lessons | No Comments

There are several websites that provide guitar lessons, some even for free. The modules are usually designed by guitarists that have already found success in music and are now trying to provide some useful tips to beginner guitar players. There are both advantages and disadvantages if you want to learn guitar fast online.

The Good

Many of us don’t necessarily want to learn to play the guitar like pros. They just want to learn a few chords to play at campfires and impress their friends or family with their music playing skills. These people are not interested in investing time and money into a more complete learning program, such as private guitar lessons. For them, being able to learn guitar fast online is a great thing.

Even if you would like to learn how to play the guitar well, you might not have the time and resources to do it. If you have a job, a family and various errands to run every day, traveling back and forth to guitar classes might not be for you. Being able to learn guitar fast by practicing whenever you find some free time without having to leave the house is a good thing.

Online lessons are often more dynamic and successful in keeping you focused than a theory book. They usually include graphics, animated images and demo sounds to make it easier for you to learn. If you get stuck, you usually can ask the guitarist providing those lessons for help.

And last, but not least, online guitar lessons are very inexpensive, sometimes even free. In contrast, private lessons are often expensive and you have to pay per hour. Not everyone wants to invest so much money into learning to play the guitar.

The Bad

As tempted as you might be to learn guitar fast online, you have to consider the drawbacks as well. If you are serious about playing the guitar, nothing compares to a good teacher. Online lessons can only provide a standard teaching program, while a teacher can tailor his/her method on your learning style.
Online lessons can not actually focus on your particular learning needs. You might want to focus more on certain aspects, but a teaching program is standard and tries to respond to the needs of average guitar players. In contrast, a private teacher will give you personal attention and respond to your specific needs.

With online lessons, no one will applaud you when you’re progressing and get you motivated. A private teacher can provide you with positive feedback and knows how to increase your motivation when necessary.

Finally, you might be making some mistakes you won’t even notice and end up playing badly. With online lessons, no one will be there to correct them. A private teacher will spot your mistakes fast and correct them in time before they turn into long-term habits.

If you want to truly learn to play the guitar well, it might be better to dedicate a little more time and work to the learning process. However, for many people who don’t want to become superstars or don’t have the time to do it, the opportunity to learn guitar fast online is actually great.

Learn Guitar Easy On DVD

May 13, 2006 on 2:55 pm | In Learn Guitar DVD, learn guitar easy on DVD | No Comments

Learning to play the guitar should be fun and not boring or frustrating. There are many ways to learn how to play the guitar and you should find the one that works best for you. However, if you’ve failed to learn guitar from a book and you can’t afford a private teacher, you might as well try to learn guitar easy on DVD.

Where Do You Get a Learn Guitar DVD?

There are many DVDs available on the market today that claim to teach you how to play the guitar. Some of them are made up by real pros. You can probably find such a DVD in a music store or you can order it from a virtual music shop.

However, be careful to choose a learning program that works for you. If you’re purchasing it online, look for reviews from other buyers. If you are buying it from a music store, the staff can recommend you one that suits your current level. It is better to choose a learn guitar easy DVD that has a 90-day money back guarantee so that you can send it back if you are not satisfied.

What Are the Benefits?

Some DVDs really offer you a way to learn guitar easy. They are not very expensive and some of them can be sent back if you find they don’t meet your learning needs. In addition, you get to practice in your own home, without wasting time on traveling to guitar classes.

A learn guitar easy on DVD can make the learning process fun and entertaining. It is usually more successful in keeping you focused than a theory book. It also provides you with relevant images that show you exactly how to play and demonstrations on how you should sound like.

Is It the Best Way to Learn Guitar?

While you can learn guitar easy on DVD, it definitely cannot compete with a private teacher. A DVD provides a standard teaching program, it is not customized to suit your learning style. A teacher can design the method he/she uses to meet your learning needs and requirements.

In addition, though it shows it how you should play, a DVD cannot tell you when you’re making a mistake and correct it. This kind of feedback can only be provided by a guitar teacher. While a teacher can offer positive feedback when you’re progressing to keep your motivation high, a DVD won’t know if you’re playing is good or bad.

Although taking up private lessons keeps its position as the most recommended learning strategy, a learn guitar easy on DVD can be an acceptable compromise for those who get bored with a theory book, but don’t have the time and money to pay a guitar teacher.

Learn Classical Guitar

May 11, 2006 on 2:53 pm | In learn classical guitar, professional guitar teacher | No Comments

What Distinguishes a Classical Guitar?

A classical guitar has a different anatomy than regular guitars. It has six strings, with the bass strings made of nylon wrapped in brass wire and the treble strings made from nylon. The body of the guitar is symmetrical and made of wood. It includes no electronics.

A classical guitarist is not just a person who plays a classical repertoire. It is also important the way he plays. A classical guitarist plucks the strings with the fingers from his right hand and doesn’t use any pick. There are also some recommendations about the position of the body that make a classical guitarist different from other guitarists.

How to Start Learning?

The best way to go is definitely a private teacher. He/she will provide you with personal attention and teach you all the technical points of posture or hand position better than any other method. You can learn classical guitar from books as well, but it will probably take longer and you may develop bad habits that are more difficult to break after a long time.

The main disadvantage about taking up private lessons to learn classical guitar is that they cost $15-$20 an hour. A solution would be to find a teacher that teaches group lessons to 4-6 students at once. This way you will pay much less, as well as benefit from observing your classmates. You can take up private lessons later if you feel the need to do it.

Where Can You Find a Teacher?

His/her qualifications: Is he/she a performer as well? What kind of degree does he/she have? What is his/her teaching experience, in years as well as number of students? Are the students satisfied with the lessons? Does he/she specializes in teaching classical guitar or teaches all kinds of guitar? Although these questions don’t necessarily reveal whether he/she is a good teacher or not, you can use the information in your final decision on whether you can learn classical guitar from him/her.

Approach to study: The prospective teacher should be able to clearly explain what you will actually learn from the lessons. If you really want to learn classical guitar, you will easily identify a teacher who seem to provide vacuous entertainments most of the lesson, just point out your mistakes and give assignments or cannot provide much advice other than practicing harder. Be careful not to choose a teacher who doesn’t take immediate and firm measures to correct any painful condition that you might encounter.

As a general advice, try to find a music tutor whose competency you believe in and give your best effort to learn classical guitar from him/her. After several lessons, evaluate whether you are actually progressing – you should actually get what you’re paying for.

Although a professional guitar teacher is definitely the best way to learn classical guitar, you may choose other methods too. If you don’t have enough time or can’t afford private lessons, a theory book can also help. If you are serious about playing better, you should be able to learn classical guitar from a well-written and informative book as well.

Learn bass guitar online

May 9, 2006 on 2:51 pm | In Learn bass guitar online, Learn to play bass guitar online, choosing your guitar | No Comments

The Internet is a great resource for all things and as you will find guides to learn to play bass guitar online is one of them. Most people think it is impossible to learn to play bass guitar online but with the multimedia world we live in it is far from it.

We will start with some steps to get you familiar with the basic aspect of the bass guitar and the fundamental’s behind it. Hopefully by the end you will be ready to play wonderful music and all from the comfort of your own home.

Choosing your Guitar

The first step when you learn to play bass guitar online is the only thing you can’t do online and that is choose the instrument, I recommended to pick up and hold it before buying, try and choose one that feels comfortable it will become very hard to learn bass to play bass guitar online if you are uncomfortable the whole time. It does not have to be the most expensive one on the rack because these days even the cheapest ones are very good so don’t let the price tag fool you.

Resources

The bass guitar is one of the simpist instruments to learn to play but it can take a life time to master, but if you choose to learn to play bass guitar online you will have the knowledge of a thousand life times at you door step and there is not one single guitar teacher that can produce that. You can purchase video tutorials online that are as good if not better then having someone in you house pointing every thing out and you have the added advantage of being able to pause and rewind at your will which will become very useful as time goes by.

Your environment

Try to choose the room you practice in very carefully, when you learn to play bass guitar online try to find somewhere quite and free of distractions and unnecessary noise because you will need full concentration all time. If you do decide to learn to play bass guitar online by downloading video’s try to get good quality versions, ones that will require you to watch fine movements and to listen to very precise sounds, which is where the environment comes in again choose a room with lots of furniture and drapes as this will stop echo which can become very annoying.

Confidence

Now you know how to learn to play bass guitar online it is always a good thing to get a group of friends or family together and and play something for them it does not have to be anything special but something you feel confident playing in front of people this will help build you confidence and will make your decision to learn to play bass guitar online seem a lot more rewarding then you first thought.

Well I hope you enjoyed this information and I hope you stick with it as when you learn to play bass guitar online it is one the most rewarding things you can do. Don’t forget to reward the people around you by letting them enjoy your music to.

Easy way to learn guitar

May 7, 2006 on 2:47 pm | In Easy way to learn guitar, guitar instruction books, select the right guitar | No Comments

There are many online resources that claim they can teach you an easy way to learn guitar. The truth is there is really no easy way to learn guitar, it takes practice and a great teaching method to become an excellent musician and there is no easy way around this.

Basics

When learning to play the guitar it is important to learn the basics first. There is an easy way to learn guitar basics that is to research as much as you can online and in guitar instruction books, then attempt it yourself. Once you have learnt the basic guitar skills you will find that more advanced riffs and chords will come easily to you.

Practice makes perfect

An easy way to learn guitar is to practice and perfect something and then move on to the next thing. Practice definitely makes perfect! When you practice you will move through chords with easy and be able to make a smooth transition from basic chords to more advanced riffs.

Selecting an instrument

When you first find an easy way to learn guitar it is important to select the right guitar. Selecting a guitar is a delicate and lengthy process and should be done with an experienced guitar sales person. It is always a good idea to hold the instrument and play a piece of music on it. This will help you get a feeling for how the instrument will feel when you start an easy way to learn guitar.

Movement

Movement is how your body relates to your instrument. An easy way to learn guitar is to treat your instrument like another body part. Move fluidly with your instrument and make all movements clear and precise and not sharp or short.

Making the most out of a lesson

Making the most out of your lesson is important and will make it an easy way to learn guitar. Try videotaping your session so you can watch and rewind anything you may wish to touch on later. Writing notes in a book is another way to make the most out of your lesson. The book can be opened at anytime and you can refer back to previous notes.

Finding an easy way to learn guitar is possible and can be very rewarding. Make the most out of your lessons, whether they be online or with a teacher. Take notes and don’t be afraid to ask as many questions as you need until you get the answer that helps you understand the problem. Most of all have fun, don’t take it too seriously as you will lose interest very quickly! Enjoy!

Easy To Learn Guitar Tunes

May 6, 2006 on 10:20 am | In Easy To Learn Guitar Tunes, guitar tunes | No Comments

When you first start learning to play the guitar you really want easy to learn guitar tunes to start with. Otherwise it is the equivelant of trying to understand French when you have only learnt the basic words.

By starting with easy to learn guitar tunes you are setting yourself up for a much quicker learning curve and you will find that you will pick up learning the guitar much quicker and easier then without using tunes or songs to base your guitar skills on.

Where can I find easy to learn guitar tunes?

There have been many books written on easy to learn guitar tunes, usually the book is written from a guitar teachers point of view so you know you are getting great advice on how to pick and learn guitar tunes/songs.

Amazon is a great place to find easy to learn guitar tune books. In fact I would recommend purchasing through amazon as they are a trusted source and have the widest selection of books on guitars and easy to learn guitar tunes that I have seen.

Can I Just Learn Any Guitar Tune?

Yes you could start at any guitar tune and try to learn it, but why would throw yourself in the deep end? You are much better trying to learn an easy guitar tune then starting off on a more advanced tune.

The entire purpose behind easy to learn guitar tunes is that they focus on the basics of learning guitar which ensures that not only are you having fun learning your guitar tunes but you are also building your core guitar skills at the same time.

This will eventually lead to you playing much better guitar and having a better learning experience.

Also when trying to pick an easy to learn guitar tune it is usually best if you can listen to that tune as well as reading the sheet music. This lets you attack the songs from both angles.

1. You are learning the tune through sheet music so you are getting a feel for how to read guitar sheet music.
2. You are developing your play by ear skills which will be extremely helpful for you later when you are tryin got learn the more advanced tunes.

So just remember, when you are looking for easy to learn guitar tunes don’t go for just any old tune, pick a nice simple basic tune or riff to start with and build yourself up from there.

If you practice learning tunes each day you will be surprised at how quickly you pick it up.

Easy To Learn Guitar Chords

May 6, 2006 on 6:18 am | In Easy To Learn Guitar Chords, beginner guitar, guitar chords | No Comments

One of the first things you will do when trying to learn the guitar is to try and learn the guitar chords and the way it all works.

I remember when I first started learning guitar the hardest thing was trying to learn the guitar chords. So what are the easy to learn guitar chords?

The easiest way to learn guitar chords is through progression and becoming familiar with the structure of the chords. It is easy to learn guitar chords this way and one of the best ways to do this is to start with the E D A D chord structure.

Most people start with those chords as they are a natural progression from one another and are the easiest of the guitar chords to learn.

One thing you need to be careful of as a beginner guitar player is what has been coined as “lockup” and it is very common when trying to learn guitar chords. “Lockup” is when your fingers and arms become tensed and no matter how hard you try to work through it, they just lockup.

This can be because you are trying to tackle complex guitar chords too early and are not used to the finger movements of the easy to learn guitar chords. So it is a very good idea to keep it basic to start with. Otherwise this will only lead to frustration of not being able to play anymore guitar.

What is the ii-V-I method?

Well this is certainly an easy to learn guitar chord and should probably be one of your first chord progressions you learn. When you start learning the ii-V-I chord you will know that you are starting to learn guitar as it actually sounds good and strings together well.

Instead of just plucking random sounds from your guitar.

The type of music most played through this easy to learn guitar chord is jazz or rock and what is called “happy” or “elated” music, this is because of the general melody and feeling that this chord gives.

The only thing I can recommend when learning an easy to learn guitar chord is to practice and when you are sick and tired, practice some more. Yes this may sound old school, that’s because it is, but it is one of the most effective ways to learn guitar chords easy, which will lead to you being able to play the guitar much quicker then expected.

Easy guitar song to learn

May 6, 2006 on 3:16 am | In Easy guitar song to learn, guitar song | No Comments

I am going to give you some tips on how to find an easy guitar song to learn there are many places to look, some better than others and some song’s easier than others. However, I will try and point you in the right direction and maybe give you the edge on everyone else. When it comes to learning guitar there are websites and books on what’s good and what’s bad. My opinion is to find what you like and stick with it there’s no point in finding an easy guitar song to learn that you hate.

For starters I will give you tips and ideas of what to look for in an easy guitar song to learn when you are first starting out.

Start small

There are so many places to look for easy guitar song to learn but the best place to start is in a basic music book. The front of the book will generally have many easy guitar songs to learn and you can work your way through them at your own pace. Music books also contain basic riffs and chords and will walk you through the learning process step by step.

Work your way up

When an easy guitar song to learn has been mastered, try something a little more advanced. If you slowly work your way up through the levels you will find your knowledge and guitar skills will improve immensely. If by now you can read music confidently and have successfully found an easy guitar song to learn then you can do a little research and find a few more advanced songs on the internet. Playing by ear is not the best way to learn music on the guitar.

Now you feel confident

Now do you feel like you are ready to try something new? There are many different of audio files on the internet and it can be heaps of fun to try replicate, the many easy guitar songs to learn that you have found. Playing by ear requires concentration and a good ear for music, once you mastered this you will be well on you way to becoming an advance guitar student.

Never give up

By now you will have realized there are plenty of easy guitar songs to learn and they are widely available and most of the time they are available at no cost you. Always keep practicing as you can never do too much!

I hope I have helped you find some easy guitar songs to learn and that you will continue to play and enjoy your guitar as much as I enjoy mine.