Jam Babble

Changing chords is something a lot of beginners struggle with. I have me theories that beginners tend to try and change chords too quickly while they’re learning. By this I don’t mean physcially too fast but rather too soon.

In order to be efficient at changing chords, especially while strumming, you need to first be profeccient in playing and strumming the chord on it’s own. I’m a big believer in breaking down skills on the guitar into baby steps then piecing all those steps together to create the full picture, so lets do that with chord changes.

As I already mentioned you need to be able to make the chord shapes and strum them well before you can think about moving between them. Once you’ve got that down I want you to take the strumming part out of the equation.

Let’s say you’re trying to switch from C to G. Stop strumming and just practice moving your hands from the C shape to the G shape back to the C shape etc. The movement is the same whether your strumming or not but by stopping strumming you’re allowing your brain to focus just on the chord change and manuvering your fretting hand. Once you feel comfortable with it add a straight strumming up down up down up etc. To the mix.

A couple of points to note, if you stumble switching the chord shapes don’t worry just keep on strumming. If you continue to strum steady you’ll get in the habit of being able to leave your strumming hand on auto pilot and worry about moving your fretting fingers around.

Last but not least don’t try to learn too many changes at once. Focus on one chord to one other chord at a time. Then worry about creating chord progressions you change between. Breaking the technique down almost always works for new skills on the guitar and if your patient it will work for you really well.

Other Posts:
http://guitarlessonreview.net/669/learning-the-guitar-fretboard-notes/
http://www.youguitarist.net/291/how-you-can-benefit-from-the-caged-guitar-system/

Palm Muting is a great skill that I don’t think is used all that often. I use it a lot since I enjoy playing acoustic songs that use the guitar as a rhythm instrument as well (think tunes a la Jack Johnson).

To use palm muting what you want to do is use the fleshy part of your palm below where you thumb joins your hand and place that over the strings just above the bridge. When you do this you reduce the amount of noise that comes from the strings since they are not allowed to shake as much as when there is no hand pressed against them.

By varying the pressure and location of your palm you can get some really cool tunes out of your acoustic or electric.

This technique takes sometime to master and you need to play with it but it can allow you to create some great rhythm parts or mix up a cover tune you might already know and love to make it your own.

Other Posts:
http://www.pianoplayingtips.info/beginner-guitar-lesson-on-learning-the-notes-on-each-guitar-string
http://www.guitarlessonscritic.com/blog/learning-guitar-string-notes-first-step-to-a-solid-beginner-foundation/

I grabbed this idea from the author over at Acoustic-Guitar-Blog, it was a solid enough idea that I wanted to pass it along to you guys.

If you haven’t been playing long you may not have run into the problem of your guitar slipping off your leg. It happens a lot if you have a pair of dress pants on or a fabric that isn’t denim. There is a quick solution to this how ever and it’s something I probably would’ve never thought of had I not come across this post.

The author there talks about using a piece of shelf liner that’s cut out to go on your leg first then place the guitar on top of that. It creates a non slide surface for you to rest your guitar on. The idea seems awesome and I’m going to try.

I often have issues with my guitar sliding on my leg when I’m really getting into a tune and stomping my feet.

Another idea was to use a thin peace of rubber like a bathing or swimming cap. Anything that’s thing enough to not be obtrusive and can fit right underneath the guitar between it and your leg will work.

Other Interesting Posts:
http://www.guitarlessonscritic.com/blog/intro-to-the-caged-system-locating-all-major-chords-on-the-guitar-neck/
http://guitarlessonreview.net/682/easy-guitar-tuning-without-the-need-for-an-electric-tuner/
http://www.pianoplayingtips.info/3-speed-exercises-to-learn-to-play-guitar-faster

A lot of beginners get caught in the cycle of constantly learning to play other peoples songs exactly as they play them. If you’re goal is to play cover tunes and possibly in a cover band awesome, keep at it. How ever if you don’t want to just mimic someone elses style and music you need to break the habit.

Here’s you 3 step plan to break the Cover Habit

1.) Learn a great cover tune that you like, if you can sing and play at the same time do that. I know it might seem counterintuitive to learn another cover song when I’m telling you break the habit but trust me.
2.) Figure out what key the song is in, make note of the chords you’re playing and also what other chords go along in that same key. If you can notice the rhythm style you’re playing.
3.) Mix it up. What do I mean by this? Well first try playing the same chord progression but with a different rhythm and timing, maybe speed it up or slow it down. If you can sing the song as well try changing up the melody to the lyrics as well. Add in a few chords here and there that might not be in the original tune but make sense based on the key of the song.

If you do this with a few tunes you’ll not only start to create your own cool cover versions of tunes but you’ll also start to find your own voice as a guitar player. This could lead to writing a few of your own tunes as well.

Other Interesting Posts:
http://www.pianoplayingtips.info/memorizing-major-guitar-chords-caged-guitar-system
http://freeguitarstudy.com/2010/01/21/how-to-learn-the-guitar-neck.aspx
http://www.bestbeginnerguitarlessons.com/blog/learning-and-loving-the-guitar/how-to-learn-the-guitar-string-notes

I know lame title but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to put together this quick post on how guitar hero fans are kinda driving me nuts. I have played the game, and truthfully it is a little fun, how ever it’s not music it’s a game.

I believe that this game is creating awareness for guitar lessons and more young players are popping up, how ever I think we’re going to have a bunch of grouchy beginners on our hands when they realize that it’s a bit hard to learn the 5 shapes of a pentatonic scale then it is to play “american women” on HARD (damn you orange button).

Becoming a good guitar hero player is about practice so that is a solid skill that kids and young adults alike are learning from the game. Also for those sly enough to catch it there is a distinct rhythm to all the songs on games like guitar hero and rock band. You’ll find you’re much better at games like these if you’re able to pick up on the rhythm and notice that every song is just a series of patterns that are repeated (also known as Verse, Chorus and Bridge).

Anyways, I just wanted to share my 2 cents on this topic because I am hearing more and more about this. I don’t want anyones hopes to be raised that if you’re a solid guitar hero player most of those button pushing skills won’t translate over to the 6 string guitar.

Other Interesting posts:
http://www.bestbeginnerguitarlessons.com/blog/learning-and-loving-the-guitar/tuning-your-guitar-without-an-electric-tuner
http://www.learnguitarblog.com/beginner-guitar-chords-using-only-three-strings/
http://www.guitarlessonscritic.com/blog/tuning-your-guitar-by-ear-without-an-electric-tuner/

If you’re into a particular style of music, say jazz, rock or acoustic, only learning songs in that genre can actually stunt your growth as a guitar player.

While it’s not always fun to learn songs we don’t love, it can be great for your development as a guitar player to go ahead and start learning some tunes that are outside your comfort zone.

Why is this important?

Different genres of music utilize different styles. For example if you’re into metal and shredding you’ll probably be great at playing loud and fast, how ever put an acoustic guitar in your hand and ask you to play a nice soft palm muted melody and you’d be lost.

Learning different techniques not only makes you appreciate your main style more it also allows you to explore and possibly meld new techniques from another genre into your own.

How to Do it?

Ideally you’re going to want to learn a few tunes from a different genre not pick up “styles”, so I suggest finding a few of the popular tunes right now from another genre and finding the tab or music for them.

Download the songs MP3 so you get a feel for how the tune sounds and it’s rhythm. Then take the tab/music and learn that tune.

After a few of these you can start to meld these new styles and techniques into your main playing style. It can really help expand your creative horizons and your skills as a guitar player.

Other Interesting Posts:
http://www.guitarlessonscritic.com/blog/3-string-beginner-guitar-chords-c-g-and-d7/
http://www.learnguitarblog.com/learning-to-tune-your-guitar-by-ear/
http://easyguitarlessonblog.com/learning-guitar-notes-on-the-top-three-strings-of-the-guitar/

It can be a long road from newbie to master when learning guitar, but it should be enjoyed not loathed.

There are a few things I’ve noticed that can contribute to you feeling over whelmed or frustrated and/or having fun while you’re learning to play. In this post I want to share with you a couple of ideas that can help you stay focused and have fun.

1. Get a good set of instructions or take private lesson: If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time then you’re familiar that I’m a big proponent of either using DVD guitar lessons or signing up for private lessons. Which ever you choose I suggest you do one or the other. Trying to teach yourself can often become over whelming and you can end up putting the instrument down for good. Having a proper instructor or lesson plan ensures you get the quality instruction you deserve and you won’t end up feeling like you’re not getting any where.
2. Don’t start with chords: A lot of beginners want to rush right off to learn how to play chords because that’s the stuff that songs are made of right! Well I’m going to tell you to do the exact opposite. Instead of learning chords first start with the names of the strings then the guitar string notes on each string. Chords and scales are both made up of individual notes so starting off with the notes is the better method of getting started.
3. Use Videos to Supplement Learning: If you’re feeling stuck, and not quite sure where to turn for more information or maybe even a different take on a particular guitar lesson why not check out youtube for some videos. Many guitar teachers can put together video guitar lessons on a variety of topics. Here’s a sample lesson that explains how to find the notes on each guitar string. While this concept is taught by most beginner guitar lessons and teachers another persons perspective might ring true with you more so then the videos you’re watching.

   NOTE: I’m not suggesting you should use YouTube on it’s own as a learn vehicle I think you need more structure then that when first starting out.

4. Enjoy Yourself: Whether it’s private guitar lessons or guitar lesson videos you choose to use when learning be sure to take time to enjoy your new found skills. It’s not worth having a hobby to learn something like the guitar if you don’t really really enjoy it. Once you learn how to read tab, take some time to go out and find a tab that you like and try to learn the song. That’s what it’s all about in the end right! Having some fun.

Try to keep these things in mind as you progress through your guitar journey. It’ll be well worth it in the end!

Enjoy and Happy Jamming!

Learning the notes on each guitar string is an important foundational lesson for all beginners. Unfortunately it’s also something that is going to require a bit of practice at first and a little memorization.

In today’s post I’m going to explain first the difference between half steps and whole steps as well as how that translates to the guitar neck. Next I’ll explain the spacing between each musical note A through G and finally I’ll give you an example of how to find the different notes on the low E string using the different steps and fret spacings explained in this article.

So Lets get Started.

The concept of half steps and full steps comes from the Piano. Since we’re not dealing with a piano we need to understand it in terms of our guitar neck.

One half step is the same as one fret on your guitar neck. So to make up a full step that is the same as two frets.

REACP

1/2 step = 1 Fret
Full Step -= 2 Frets

The spacing between each note (A through F) is either one full or one half step. The easiest way to remember is that all notes have a full step between them except for B to C and E to F, between each of these notes is only one half step.

RECAP

Space between all notes is one full step

Exceptions: B to C = one 1/2 Step and E to F = one 1/2 step

Ok time for a quick example.

To get started it’s important that you know the names of the strings, E, A, D, G, B and E. We’re going to start with the low E or 6th string for this example.

So when we play the open E string we’re of course playing an E. The note that comes after E is F and if we remember from above E to F is one of the exceptions that only has one half step between them. So we move up to the 1st fret (remember each fret is a half step). Playing the low E string on the first fret is an F.

Let’s do another one.

What comes after F? It’s a G note. We know that there is a full step between the F and G notes so we have to move up two frets to the 3rd fret. So the 3rd fret on the low E string is a G note.

One more just to make sure you’ve got the hang of it.

After the G note we go back around to the beginning and play an A note. The spacing between the G and A notes is one full step so again we must move up two frets. Slide up to the 5th fret on the low E string and we have an A note.

Starting with each open string you can easily find the notes all the way up the neck just by remembering the space between each note and then convert that to number of frets.

Below is a quick video that recaps this lesson and also shows you the notes on the A and D strings as well. Take a few minutes to watch this video and after wards grab your own guitar and give this exercise a try.

If you’re interested in learning more great beginner guitar tips like this one why not consider a learn to play guitar dvd? You get all the same great instruction as private lessons from the luxury of your own home.

OK, maybe the title of this post was a little harsh, but I always used to hear that tab was a lazy way or reading music. After you learn how to read guitar tab you may just agree with me that tab is a lazy way, but it’s a heck of a lot easier then memorizing the fret board, notes and understanding how to read the musical staff.

You see guitar tab looks like music but instead of notes on the music staff tab is actually a picture of the 6 strings on your guitar. One those strings will be numbers, these numbers correspond to the fret you play at that time.

So for instance if you were supposed to be playing an E chord it would look something like this.

1 ——-
2 ——-
3 —-1–
4 —-2–
5 —-2–
6 ——-

What this basically means is that on the 5th string, or A string, you press on the 2nd fret, then on the 4th string or D string you press on the 2nd fret and then on the G string you press on the 1st fret.

This is the simplistic view of what guitar tab can teach you but if you can get this you’ll be able to grasp reading it later on.

Here’s another great article that will help get you jump started with reading guitar tabs.

Most of us are familiar with playing Pentatonic scales. Those are the scales I’m always talking about here on the blog and they are primarily the first scales most often introduced to beginners.

Why? Well they have fewer notes then a Diatonic scale and are usually used in most pop/rock lead guitar pieces.

The difference between a diatonic and pentatonic scale is the number of notes used. A diatonic scale adds in two notes that are skipped in the pentatonic bringing the note count to all 7 notes from the scale rather then the 5 or “penta” notes used in the pentatonic scale.

When you’re trying to become a faster guitar player it’s worth learning and practicing both forms of these scales. I think they add a different dimension to your playing and they also strengthen your understanding of the notes on the fretboard.

I found a good video by Jonathan over at Guitartipsweekly.com that explains the Am Diatonic scale. You can watch it below and it should clear up a bit more of the possible confusion that exists between the Pentatonic and Diatonic scales.

He’s used some really nice images along with the video that help explain what he’s trying to teach in this quick video lesson.