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Archive for the ‘Guitar’ Category

What does it take to learn to play guitar?

Playing the guitar is a great way to express yourself through music. If you feel a strong urge to learn to play the guitar, here’s a quick self-test to determine if you’re ready to take this giant step.

Test Mind and Body

Before signing on for guitar lessons, test your mind and body. Your mind should be clear to learn. Learning to play the guitar is like learning any other skill. You must have some free time to dedicate solely to learning – even if it’s only 15 minutes per day. This should be a time of total concentration when you can block out the cares of work and life to work on your lessons and practice.

Physical Health and Playing the Guitar

Your body’s physical health is also important. Playing the guitar requires holding a guitar in an upright position, either resting on your legs or held upright by a shoulder strap. Consider the strength of your back, shoulders, arms and legs. A person who suffers from severe lower back pain may find it difficult to hold a guitar for any length of time. If you know someone who owns a guitar, you can practice holding theirs to test your strengths and weaknesses.

Also, consider the physical condition of your hands, fingers and wrists. Some conditions that could hinder your playing ability include arthritis, carpal tunnel or frequent swelling of the wrists or fingers.

It’s Still Possible

Even if you have a condition that makes it difficult to play a guitar, this doesn’t mean you will never play. You can research online or talk with a professional instructor to find out if there are ways to work around your disability or physical weakness. For example, if you have back pain, you might find a lightweight guitar that’s easy to hold. Or, if you have swelling or pain in the hands, there may be exercises to help relieve the tension. Don’t give up until you’ve done the research.

The Relevance of Musical Talent

If you have natural musical talent, that’s great. However, if you don’t feel that you are naturally talented, don’t worry. You only need the desire to learn and the ability to listen, read and practice. You learn to play the guitar by taking one step at a time – or one note at a time. Without musical talent, you might have to concentrate just a little harder at the beginning, but soon you’ll find it to be similar to learning any skill.
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If you are on a budget, but still want to buy a decent guitar, you should look into purchasing a used guitar. For little money you can buy a quality guitar that will be able to suit all of your needs.

Used Fender basses or used Fender Stratocaster guitars can be had for relatively cheap compared with buying a new one. This is the route that a lot of people go when they are looking for their first guitar. The best place to find a used guitar is at a music store that is specialized in selling second hand equipment. If you can’t find a store like this in your area, you may also want to search the internet. There are hundreds of online stores that sell used instruments.

Used, cheap electric guitars are also a top seller. Brands like Ibanez, Squier or Epiphone can be found for very little money. Used Gibson guitars or a second hand Fender Stratocaster will cost you probably more, but will still save you a lot of money. In return you will get a top quality guitar which will last you a very, very long time! Read the rest of this entry »

Live rock concerts were the rage in the 70′s and they are still the rage. The essence of rock music does not just lie with the lyrics; it also lies with the electric guitar and the various sounds that it can produce. There are so many kids across the block who would give up anything to play like Ritchie Blackmore, Mark Knopfler, David Gilmour, John Petrucci, Steve Vai, Kirk hammett, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Carlos Santana, Jimmy Page etc. These men are not just some of the best guitarists of their times, they are legends.

Now if you are interested in learning how to play the guitar then the first thing you will need to buy is a guitar. Most people start with an acoustic and graduate to the electric guitar. It is quite difficult for anyone to choose the right electric guitar since there are hundreds of models and several brands out there in the market. If you are buying an electric guitar then you will need to also buy amplifiers, pick-ups, pick, tuner etc.

Electric guitars are available in a lot of variety, colors, and designs with the aerodynamic designs being one of the most popular. Don’t go for the first electric guitar you see. You need to look around a bit and check out the prices and models before you buy one. In fact, one of the best ways to choose a guitar is by the brand or by the style. Here’s our take on the four important styles:

Stratocaster
This certainly is a show stealer and has a typical style. The most famous is the red and white color combination, which was extensively used by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits. The Stratocaster is from Fender and has a neck bolted to the guitar body. Apart from this, it has double cutaway sides, 22 frets accompanied by a tremolo system or the wammy bar and three single-coil pickups. Fender designed the first Stratocaster in the early 50’s. Some of the popular designs include:

1. Fender Deluxe Stratocaster: approx $600
2. Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster HSS Electric Guitar in Rosewood: Approx $1200
3. Fender Standard Stratocaster Electric Guitar in Maple: Approx $400
4. Fender Standard Stratocaster Electric Guitar in Rosewood: Approx $600
5. Fender Stratocaster Eric Johnson Signature model: Approx $1800

Telecaster
The Telecaster is another creative instrument from Fenders. It is more than just a guitar it is a complete orchestra. It is a solid body electric guitar and comprises of dual pick-ups. The first Telecaster was manufactured by Leo Fender in the 1940′s and has a single cutaway body. It doesn’t have the tremolo or wammy bar but has two different single-coil pickups. Some of the popular Telecaster models include:

1. Fender American Telecaster HS guitar: $900-$1000
2. Fender Standard Telecaster Electric Guitar: $400-$500
3. Fender 63 Telecaster Relic Solid Body Electric: $2500-$3000
4. Fender 72 Telecaster Custom Electric Guitar: $700-$800

Les Paul
This is a classic guitar that has been designed by Gibson. The salient feature of a Les Paul’s is its set neck construction, which means there are no joints or bolts. The body is a single cutaway and rounded. It is equipped with two humbucker pickups as well as a raised scratch-plate. If you want to play distorted sound then the Les Paul’s will provide you with a varied range of such sound. Some of the legends who use the Les Pauls include Eric Clapton, Kirk Hammett (Metallica) and Slash (ex-G’N’R). Some of the famous Les Paul models include: Read the rest of this entry »

What grooves you? Why do you want to improve?

Regardless of your intentions – whether to get started playing, learn a few licks of your favorite tunes, or want to expand your repertoire to include blues, funk, or rock and roll music, on your way to recording yourself, there are resources out there that can help you.

Here are a few ideas that may help you better understand your guitar playing and some solutions you can consider.

Guitar videos
You can purchase guitar playing videos, either for home or computer watching, that include hand position, strumming technique, rhythm and timing, and finger exercises that take through various type of songs. Essentially these become a mirror for you in learning to play as you mimic what you’re watching on screen and then reproduce this on your own. With commitment and determination, this can be a good one to go – especially for the visual learner who likes to learn primarily on their own.

Guitar lessons
You can find a community of guitar instructors in your surrounding area who are either private tutors or work through a community college. You’ll want to consider their expertise, the type of students they work best with, their flexibility with your schedule, success stories, and of course their fees, in considering working with them. In pursing guitar lessons, you can either do one on one or group – both have their plusses and minuses but either can work for you. Read the rest of this entry »