a.) Tough to learn and I’d have to memorize everything
b.) Some what pointless at the time because I wanted to learn to play songs.

As I progressed as a better guitar player I came to realize that neither was true. They weren’t pointless, as they taught me some very important musical theory lessons and where notes lived on the fretboard. They also weren’t as tough to learn as I had once thought.

It’s all in the Patterns

If you’ve learned the CAGED system for guitar chords, or have learned how the notes on the fretboard work then you’ll recognize that the guitar fretboard is made up of hundreds of different patterns. The patterns once learned you can apply all over the guitar neck and expand your horizons with a little practice and effort on your part.

The major scale, in any key, follows this same rule and I’m going to introduce you to it right now.

NOTE: I am going to assume that you know what I mean when I say half step or whole step between notes.

The Major Scale Pattern

ANy major scale in any key follows this same pattern starting from the root note:

Whole Step – Whole Step – Whole Step – Half Step – Whole Step – Whole Step – Half Step

The easiest example of this pattern is the C major scale because there are no sharps or flats involved in that scale.

C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C

You’ll note that there are half steps between E and F as well as between B and C which is the exact same locations as in the pattern illustrated above.

I scoured the web looking for the best guitar lessons online to solve this problem for me and when I finally learned this it was a light bulb AH HA moment for me. Once I grasped the power if this I realized that I could

a.) Work out in my head the notes that are in just about every major scale
b.) Drastically speed up my learning of the fretboard and where notes were located

I hope that this has created the same sort of AH HA moment for you.

I’d suggest you go grab your guitar now and sit down and work on figuring out some basic notes to scales using the pattern above.

There’s needless to say an entirely different kind of beginner guitar player. The guitar player who has the complete intention of generating discovering guitar a lifelong journey for themselves. Most beginners who aren’t that serious about grow to be an incredible player will opt to utilize absolutely free videos on a website like YouTube rather then pay the funds for an excellent guitar course or private instruction. Nonetheless these who’re thinking about learning every thing they are able to in regards to the guitar and turning it into a lifelong studying process will see the value in spending a number of bucks on private guitar lessons or perhaps a high class guitar lesson dvd.

If you are just starting out on the guitar then you might prefer to think about which sort of guitar player you’re. Are you someone who’s just picking up the guitar for enjoyable or are you going to turn discovering to play guitar into a lifelong journey.

Thanks to the Internet it’s never before been easier to learn to play an instrument or improve your current skills. It takes less time (thanks to making your own schedule of when you learn and practice) and less money (online membership websites are far less expensive then taking private instruction).

For example. Did you know that taking weekly blues guitar lessons can cost up to $30 per week? Or that taking private bass guitar lessons can run you well over $1000 a year?

When you consider the huge cost of private lessons for a year it makes that $150 guitar lesson dvd look a lot more attractive doesn’t it?

If you’ve got the passion or even just a small inkling of interest in learning to play an instrument stick around. We post frequent content about how you can use self study music courses and lessons to learn to play the instrument of your choice entirely from home.

I want to give you one great tip that won’t only help that older guitar sound great but it’ll instill confidence in your playing and help you pick up your guitar more often.

Change those strings

Most beginner and all guitarists for that matter that I know don’t change their strings nearly enough. You should likely be changing up those strings once a month pending on how much you play, but just stop and ask yourself when you last changed your strings?

For less then $10 bucks you can usually get yourself a half decent set of strings, change em out in less then a half hour and be rocking again in no time.

Try writing on the calendar when you put your new set on so you at least have a reference point when you ask yourself “Hmmm I wonder when I changed my strings last”. You’ll be amazed at how much more enjoyable your playing will be if you spend the time to maintain your instrument and keep the strings fresh.

Take it from me, someone who used to only change his strings when one broke, new strings sound awesome, improve your sound and make you want to play more.

One more Tip

To help your strings last longer ensure you wash your hands before you play your guitar. Dirt that gets on our skin from the run of a day sticks to the coiled guitar strings and reduces their life span fast. By ensuring you wash your hands well before playing you’ll save yourself time and money in string changes.

Other Sites:
http://www.abbadabbadoo.biz/
http://www.dansdrumlessons.com/d
http://www.musenews.info/
http://www.funkybuddhaband.co.uk/

I’ve used most of these programs and what I’ve found is that as a thirty something who uses the Internet frequently I can find my way around how to use any online guitar course, and well DVD courses are pretty straight forward.

How ever if you’re an older individual who doesn’t use the web that much, you might prefer to use a DVD course rather then online lessons.

This is what the point of this post is. If you’re a “mature” guitar player who’s just getting started I feel you’re money and time are best spent in a DVD guitar course, such as Learn and Master Guitar, rather then signing up for the latest and greatest online video or downloadable course.

This is just my 2 cents, but I’ve pointed a lot of people in the direction of Learn and Master’s course and it hasn’t done me wrong yet.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.