Sep 2

This blog is dedicated to the guitar, how ever I wanted to post today about the second most popular instrument for beginners to pick up and learn. Actually, it’s more learn since this instrument can’t easily be picked up like a guitar.

Piano is the second most popular instrument amongst beginners after the guitar. More then likely this is because many popular songs are also written on the piano, similar to the guitar.

Think about some of those great pop tunes and they all start or include the piano in one shape or another.

  • Journey – Don’t Stop Beliving
  • The Beatles – Hey Jude (and many others)

So what if you’re interested in learning the piano either instead of the guitar or taking your current skills on the guitar and implementing them with the piano?

Like guitar private lessons on the piano can be expensive and they require a large time commitment on your part. Online lessons or a piano lessons dvd are becoming the most viable alternatives to private instruction for busy adults.

Aug 20

blues guitar courseI’ve written quite a bit about my love for the Learn and Master Guitar Program. I own it, I use it and suggest most beginner get a copy.

I’ve been using a couple of their newer courses lately and I wanted to share them with you.

Blues Guitar

The first is a course from their newly created “Spotlight Series” grouping of courses.

The spotlight series are smaller (fewer DVDs and CDs) programs that target a smaller niche of a larger learning area.

The first Spotlight Course I got to see was the blues guitar DVD, Learn and Master Blues Spotlight. The course is again instructed by Steve Krenz, the same instructor from the Learn and Master Guitar Course, but they’ve made some improvements in video and on screen post production quality.

Like the blues, which is very grass roots, they’ve carried that into the course. Rather then having this clean studio area where all the lessons take place, some of the lessons are done with Steve on Stage with a full band. This gives a great feel to what you’re learning and allows you to envision the over all sound of something that might sound boring alone with you’re guitar but sounds fantastic when played with a full band.

Guitar Setup

There’s been a second guitar course released as well from Legacy in the spotlight series. That course is Guitar Setup and Maintenance. While most of us opt to just get our gear setup by a professional lutheran at our local guitar shop there are those of us who have the DIY attitude.

This course will walk you through everything you need to know about setting up your instrument properly form changing strings, checking intonation and adjusting the neck.

This course won’t be for everyone, but for those that are interested in know how to do some of the more regular setup work to their guitar this is worth the $50 bucks.

As always, if you’re a complete beginner, check out our Learn and master guitar review. This is the course that started it all for Legacy Learning Systems. It’s the best self study guitar program available not just online but probably any where.

Aug 11

This service has been online for more then 10 years, which kinda blows my mind that I haven’t looked around yet.

Guitar Tricks is a huge online database of video guitar lessons recorded by some 40+ odd teachers that each have their own specific specialty.

I was reviewing the site for some of my other beginner guitar sites as I felt it was likely a good alternative to some of the DVD and online lesson videos I’ve used thus far. I wasn’t disappointed at all.

While Guitar Tricks might not look like it offers all the same bells and whistles of some of it’s competitors it does every bit a good of job at actually instructing students on how to play guitar.

They have a very well thought out and organized teaching system that works for beginner and intermediate players a like.

If you’re looking for an easy way to improve your guitar skills, learn for the first time or learn something new on the guitar check out my full Guitar tricks review.

I give some more detail info on how their service works, price and lessons offered.

Aug 10

I just finished doing a comparison for another site on the best online guitar lessons.

As I was going through the lessons, styles, topics, instructors etc. for all the different sites out there I started to realize just how little difference there is in fact between many of these guitar websites, pending your current skill level.

So I had to break it down some what like a scoring system.

The features I compared:

Price: Of course you cannot do a comparison of anything these days without taking price into consideration. How ever this was the least weighted part of the entire comparison since only $5 a month separated the different sites.

Lesson Quality: This was a big one. Since it’s so cheap today to make multi screen video and HD recordings I figured this was the standard for all online lessons, surprisingly it is not yet though.

Styles Taught: Again, this is used as a differentiator by a lot of different sites out there but truthfully I don’t know how many people are signing up to JamPlay to learn some abstract styles.

Teachers: It’s nothing to have 50 different teachers doing lessons for your site since the cost is so low. All you need is a back drop, a couple of cameras and then the video can be sent to someone who does the editing.

Bonus & Practice Features: There are a few key features you need here (backing tracks, scale and chord charts/tools, metronome and tuner). Some sites have a long list of bonus features although I don’t know that many of your members would be using them.

So what was my conclusion? There are a couple of really good sites out there (primarily JamPlay and GutiarTricks) but they’re very evenly matched when it really comes down to it.

Check out the full comparison.

Apr 15

For a long time I tuffed it out on my own with free videos and the good ol Hal Leonard guitar books as my guide. I could learn most of the songs I wanted by finding a free tab online, and I was starting to piece together some of my own tunes.

Something I hadn’t learned was theory. When someone would ask me, what key is that in, I wouldn’t know. I wasn’t any good at playing lead (although still not all that stellar) and I definitely was nervous to jam with friends since I wasn’t up to speed on stuff such as keys, scales, modes etc.

Fast forward ahead about a year to today. I’ve finally taken the initiative to get some good dvd lessons and signed up for an online membership site. I’m taking my guitar education more seriously and WOW it’s a whole lot more fun.

I always assumed that anyone could teach yourself guitar, and that’s still the case, but you need to set yourself up for success with the right materials.

So to those just starting out here’s a quick list I’d follow if I was to do it all over again.

1.) Get yourself some sort of self study instruction. A book, DVD, online videos, heck even a VHS tape if you can still find something to play it in. The point is get something that you can use.

2.) Do a little bit every day. This doesn’t mean you have to watch a lesson video, but you should pick up your guitar and spend a minimum of 15 minutes a day with it.

3.) Keep a scribbler or folder of what you’re learning. I started doing this recently and it helps me learn better when I start writing things down that I’m learning. Especially when it comes to theory.

4.) Know what you’re learning. This comes down to not trying to learn everything at once. Eventually you’ll look back and think “geese remember when I didn’t know that stuff” but for now know what it is you’re working on and focus on that.

These aren’t mind blowing points but they’re things I would keep in mind and follow if I started over again today.

Hope it helps!

Mar 19

Understanding keys in music is something beginners often overlook. Whether it’s because they feel it’s too difficult or they just don’t have a need for it I’m not sure. One thing I am sure about is that without some basic understanding of musical theory and how keys work you’ll plateau as a guitar player.

In this lesson I’m going to provide you with a primer on musical keys, how to find the right chords that “fit together” in a particular key as well as provide an example. After reading this article you’ll be able to start figuring out keys for yourself.

What is a Musical Key

The definition of a musical key can get complex. The easiest way to say it is that music in let’s say the Key of D is harmonically centred on the note D major and also uses the notes inside the D major scale. So to fully understand the notes/chords in the Key of D major we must refer to the D major scale, but don’t worry it’s not every note you’re going to be playing. Some sound better then others.

Finding the Right Chords in each Key

There’s an easy method to find the best chords to play together in each key. The method is known as one-four-five, some times written with roman numerals as I-IV-V.

This pattern refers to the note numbers in a given scale. So in our example above in the Key of D major we would refer to the D major scale and pick out the first, fourth and fifth notes that occur. These notes would be the one, the four and the five of the Key of D.

Example in the Key of D

The D major scale looks like this:

D E F# G A B C# D

So from the D major scale we can see that our one is a D, four is a G and five is an A. You can play those notes from the scale as chords and you’ll have a great sounding chord pattern in the key of D.

Watch the following video for some more insight into the I-IV-V pattern and another example.

Did you enjoy this lesson? Are you ready for some more lessons? Why not try learning more on your own at home using an acoustic guitar lessons dvd? DVD Acoustic lessons are quickly becoming the number one form of adult guitar instruction. You learn at your own pace and for less money then private lessons.

Mar 11

Pentatonic guitar scales are usually the first venture outside of chords for most beginners. Pentatonic scales are used in rock & blues guitar music, and are the easiest of most scales to learn since there are one 5 possible variations of shapes to memorize for every possible key you can play in.

This article is going to explain what a pentatonic scale is, show you the first of five shapes you will need to learn and provide an example in A minor using this first shape.

What is a Pentatonic Guitar Scale?

Pentatonic guitar scales are scales made up of only 5 different notes. While you play more then 5 notes during the sale on the neck you only play 5 different notes, that is you play some notes more then once in a different octave. Compared to other scales that contain 7 or more notes, the pentatonic scale is the easiest for beginners to master & memorize.

The A Minor Pentatonic Guitar Scale

Before I describe the scale I want to first show you what it looks like on the guitar neck, you can see it in the first illustration below. Assume that this diagram starts at the fourth fret of your guitar neck, so the second fret in from the left would actually be fret number five.

This diagram shows you first what notes you play during the A minor pentatonic scale in the first shape. Notice how there are 12 notes to be played, how ever there are only 5 different notes: A, C, D G and E.

e|——|–1—|——|——|—4–|——

B|——|–1—|——|——|—4–|——

G|——|–1—|——|—3–|——|——

D|——|–1—|——|—3–|——|——

A|——|–1—|——|—3–|——|——

E|——|–1—|——|——|—4–|——

To understand what fingers to use where I’ve included this second diagram. Keep in mind that we’re assuming the image is starting at the 4th fret, so for the first note you’d be placing for first finger on the 5th fret of the low E string.

e|——|–A—|——|——|—C–|——

B|——|–E—|——|——|—G–|——

G|——|–C—|——|—D–|——|——

D|——|–G—|——|—A–|——|——

A|——|–D—|——|—E–|——|——

E|——|–A—|——|——|—C–|——

Moving this Pentatonic Shape Around the Neck

The great thing about pentatonic guitar scales is the shapes which form the scale (such as the diagram listed above) can be used all over the neck. This example is in the key of A minor, what if you wanted to play it in the Key of G?

Changing the key is easy, slide the shape back two frets and have your starting note now on the 3rd fret of the low E string and you playing in the key of G. By following the exact same pattern but moving everything back two frets you’ll be playing the G major pentatonic scale.

There are 5 different shapes you can play for each key of the pentatonic scales, this is the first. This is an easy position to start with since the root note of the scale is the first note played.

I suggest you go grab you’re guitar and give this scale a go on your own, playing it forwards and backwards. When learning scales with either online guitar lessons, a book or even private lessons learning the material is similar, but practice is what makes it perfect.

If this stuff is a little over your head, don’t worry, you may want to consider trying a beginning guitar dvd. Learning guitar from DVD videos is becoming very popular and is far less expensive then private lessons.

Feb 26

The 12 bar blues isn’t a tough concept to understand. You do need some basic knowledge of scales, and if you know you’re way around the neck a bit that will help. If you’re not there yet don’t panic, these tips on how to play the 12 bar blues will explain how you can discover what chords to play in each key and what order to play them in. Also in the video lesson at the end of this article I’ll give you an example of how to play the 12 bar blues in A at 2 different locations on the neck.

The 12 bar blues is basically a simple pattern. While you can play the 12 bar blues in the key of A, B, D etc. There is one easy method to remember which notes you plug in.

Here’s what the 12 bar blues pattern looks like: 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 4 – 4 – 1 – 1 – 5 – 4 – 1 – 5

I now, numbers aren’t notes. No problem, because each one of these numbers corresponds to a particular note from a scale. The scale depends on the key you’re playing in.

Let’s presume you want to play 12 bar blues in the key of A. Looking at the A Maj scale:

A – B – C# – D – E – F# – G# – A

We’d grab the first, fourth and the fifth notes which would be A, D and E. Next we plug those notes into the pattern above which would make our 12 bar blues progression: A – A – A – A – D – D – A – A – E – D – A – E

Of course when we play it as a blues progression we normally use a bit of a shuffle feel with some power chord like chords. The video below will explain more about how to play this, but this article explains the basic theory behind formulating a 12 bar blues progression.

Ready to get serious about learning to play the guitar? Why not take matters into your own hands and try guitar dvd lessons so you can study on your own. Video lessons provide you with the one-on-one approach of private instruction but the freedom of self study.

Jan 31

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/

Jan 30

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/

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