Thursday, December 27, 2007

Guitar Lessons - Do I Need Them Or Am I Wasting My Money?

In this article we are going to examine traditional guitar lessons and the new technologies for guitarists that present guitar lessons online we will also give a brief overview at what guitar lessons are truly the best.
Do I Need Guitar Lessons?

If you want a complete step-by-step guitar playing education that can take you from beginner to the stage, then you are going to need guitar lessons in some form. You can learn without lessons but this makes it much more difficult in the long run. Guitar lessons come in 2 forms. The traditional method is to pay for each lesson and have a tutor guide you step-by-step which can be very expensive in the long run. The alternative that the Internet has provided us with is online guitar learning.

Taking traditional guitar lessons are fun and easy to do but they also require you to put some effort into them and to stick with it and every lesson costs you. For that reason most new guitarists (and experienced guitarists) turn to online guitar lessons which are much more cost effective and provide a much broader scope of options for the aspiring guitarist. Online guitar lessons are a way of allowing a person to learn how to play the guitar in the comfort of their own home at their own pace and with their wallet still in tact. The problem is often knowing which online guitar lessons are good, and which ones are a waste of money. You can check our resource link at the bottom of this article and we go over that in more detail where we review them all for you and help you choose the best option for you.

The Advantages of Learning Guitar Online

The future of guitar lessons is here with all sorts of new online guitar music lessons being offered by many very qualified and creative guitar lesson teachers and guitar music lovers alike. The Internet has certainly opened up the guitar learning industry to guitarists all over the world and this has put their teaching skills in your home for you to learn at your convenience at any time you wish!

Almost all online guitar lessons are interactive which means you get to control the flow hearing & seeing, one fingering at a time as you learn and master each lesson. Don’t think that online guitar instruction is just for the novice, though, because many of the available lessons will teach you, not only the basics, but many advanced techniques as well including specialist styles such as blues or even lead guitar skills (any budding Slash's our there?). The one drawback to online guitar lessons is that you don’t have a teacher right there in the room with you to help you place your fingers on the right strings and show you a specific chord. However, the better guitar courses come with instructional streaming video to show you exactly what you need to be doing and how to do it so you can accurately mimic the guitar teachers positioning and style.

With online lessons, you are able to take the lessons whenever you want without having to go anywhere, there are no restrictions. You get to learn at your own pace, as with online guitar lessons, but the difference between the books and online lessons really remains in the presentation. In addition, there are also some video lessons available online which really separated the best guitar courses from the mediocre ones.

Unfortunately, not all online courses are equal, there are online courses that are basic, hard to use with separate lessons and audio, or written by nobodies who are about as good as you are already. Luckily we have reviewed, tested and compiled the better online guitar courses on our site so you do not have to worry about wasting you money on these bad courses. We will show you the best online guitar courses to choose from and ensure you are on the right road to guitar success. You can review these guitar courses on our website listed below.

Guitar Lessons Are Useless Without Practice

Whether you have an existing guitar teacher or learning online, mastering the guitar comes down to practice! t is more beneficial for you to practice multiple times during a week than to practice for one long session. Also, if you give yourself time between practicing, even if it is just 10 minutes, you’ll find that your brain is much more efficient at turning your short term practice into long term knowledge as your muscle memory kicks in. Also a tip for parents who want to help their kids learn, you can encourage children to practice by granting them occasional rewards for successful practicing and presenting what they have learned to you. Be positive and encouraging even if their performance is not that great. The building of self esteem and confidence will do as much good as the entire practice session.

Conclusion

If you have the money to spend on traditional guitar lessons, great, enjoy them and have fun learning but do not ignore these online options as a excellent supplement to your learning arsenal. If, like me, you enjoy learning at your own pace in the comfort of your own home on your schedule then learning online is defiantly an option for you! Check out our website and discover for yourself the best options available for learning online today!



About the Author
Would you like to learn guitar starting today? Would you like to find out which online guitar course can make you a guitar god as well as impress your friends and family? Then take a look at the best guitar courses online at http://www.learningguitarreview.com and start learning the right way now!

Learning Guitar Chords - The Road To Success

Learning guitar chords is like learning how to speak a language. Learning guitar chords is quite difficult but it does not have to feel impossible for you as there are many online resources that can help you master the process. Learning guitar chords is largely a question of teaching the left hand to memorize different shapes. Muscle memory plays a very large part of this process and practice is essential. One of the tricks for when you are practicing and learning guitar chords is when taking in to consideration that you have already memorized the chord patterns and to switch randomly between these chords so that the changes become automatic and you do not have to concentrate on the changes.
I personally love playing guitar. The guitar is still the most popular stringed musical instrument and we all have our guitar idols and gods from Hendrix to Slash, Page to Clapton. All of these guys started with simple chords and chord progressions and so can you.

Once you learn how to play guitar chords you will be able to pick up any song book or guitar tab and play the songs as you read them and that is an amazing feeling of accomplishment. Many of the online guitar courses available from our website feature play-along tracks for you to practice with and you can jam along to your hearts content!

Friends often ask me how to play guitar or what guitar instruction to use, sometimes they even ask me how hard should it be to learn how to play guitar music. My answer is always the same, not as hard as you think if you are prepared to learn. Unlike the old ways of learning guitar music, taking lessons and wasting 100s of dollars, squinting at notes for hours on end, playing songs over and over, you can find very effective online training course that cost a fraction of guitar lessons. When you are learning chords on your guitar you have to consider the differences in sound that the two main kinds of guitars make. The chord sounds are very different between the electric guitar and the acoustic guitar so bear that in mind when you are learning songs, match the guitar to the song style. Easy guitar songs start right with simple stepping and rhythm. This enables the novice to study to play the guitar easier and allows faster progression. When learning guitar chords, you must bear in mind that the guitar chord is considered as the most common and simplest way of playing the guitar. There are so many different guitar chord combinations that trying to remember all of them can really be a headache. So learn the main ones and master them, memorize them and you can then move on to learn the more difficult or less used variants. Most songs are made with these basic chords or slight variants as these are the ones the guitarist who wrote the music is most familiar with and also practiced most while they learned their craft.

One thing you must consider when you are playing guitar or learning new chords is you apply yourself. If you apply yourself properly and dedicate your time to learning the chords in different ways then you will soon be on your way to a more professional sounding guitar and much better techniques than you ever had before. You will soon be playing along to your favorite songs as if you were in the band. You will soon have that warm glow of satisfaction as your family comes to listen to you play with a contented smile instead of running to the other room as soon as you pick up the guitar, and that is a true sign of success!




About the Author
Learning guitar chords is like learning how to speak a language. Learning guitar chords is quite difficult but it does not have to feel impossible for you as there are many online resources that can help you master the process. Learning guitar chords is largely a question of teaching the left hand to memorize different shapes. Muscle memory plays a very large part of this process and practice is essential. Let us show you how!

How To Play Lead Guitar

There's no secret to soloing fast or playing melodies on guitar. Learning how to play lead guitar is easy. It's the getting-good-at-it part that takes time. The time it will take is dependent upon how hard you work. I know guitarists who have been playing less than a year who can play Kirk Hammett (Metallica) and Slash (Guns N Roses and Velvet Revolver) solos.
Within this article I intend to map out what you'll need to learn and practice in order to simply "get good fast." There are 3 elements you'll need to master over time to play lead guitar effectively, and I'll be talking about each of them.

#1. Physical Dexterity and Prowess

Physically you'll need to be in great shape as far as your fingers are concerned. Stretching and flexibility is also a factor in soloing. If you want to solo as fast as Joe Satriani, you'll need dexterity and extreme hand strength.

Learning how to solo with speed you'll need to learn your 3-note-per-string diatonic scales and modes. Don't freak out about the theory. I'm talking about the Major Scale: do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-(do). By Modes I'm referring to starting the Major Scale from different notes. For example: re-me-fa-so-la-ti-(do)-do is one mode.

Guitar lessons websites on the net or your private teacher will teach you how to play the Major Scale and its Modes.

Not only do you need to practice the 3-note-per-string versions of the Major Scale and Modes to strengthen and quicken your fingers for lead guitar, you need to practice them with the right technique (especially correct fretboard-hand fingerings). Again, learning and practicing scales is one of 3 key components for getting good at lead guitar.

#2. Heart and Soul

Most guitarists focus solely on playing fast or technically good. You need Heart and Soul to play lead guitar! No one can teach you how to play with feeling. You'll need to learn that on your own by paying attention to the feel of a riff, run, lick, or general melody when playing lead.

#3. Understanding Scales in Relationship to Chords

In other words, you're going to have to know a little bit of music theory at least. Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and even Eddie Van Halen know music theory geared toward lead guitar. You simply can't be good at playing lead guitar without it.

I mentioned learning scales in part one for the purpose of physicality. If you don't understand how to use those scales for playing lead, you can't use your developed physical prowess. You'll get stuck playing in the same key all the time and every solo will sound nearly the same. Or worse yet, you won't play in harmony at all (you'll play a lot of wrong notes).

When you learn the Major Scale, for instance, you'll learn it in a certain key. If you start on the C note, you'll be playing the C Major Scale. If you start on the A note, you'll be playing the A Major Scale. The C Major Scale is in the key of C. The A Major Scale is in the key of A. Got it?

To play lead guitar in the key of C, you'll need to 1) play notes from scales in the key of C (like the C Major Scale) in order to have harmony in your lead playing, and 2) you'll need to play lead along with chords in the same key (these are called Chord Families).

Every key has its group of chords, or chord family. For the key of C, the family of chords happens to be C, F, G, Am, Dm, Em. If playing power chords: C5, F5, G5, A5, D5, E5.



About the Author
Jason Parker is an online guitar teacher at Atomic Guitarist, a resource for free lead guitar lesson videos. Parker is also the author of Key to Speed: Unlock Your Soloing Speed in 3 Days.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

How To Play Rock Guitar in 3 Easy Steps

Would you like to learn how to play rock guitar like some of your favorite bands do? Would you like to learn how to play some of your favorite songs, and make up your own? Following three very simple steps will have you shredding on the guitar just like any big time rock guitarist does.

1. Find the right guitar for the style. Guitars have different neck sizes, different fretboard designs, different body sculptures, etc. Find the guitar that seems to fit "You". Once you have the right guitar, it will only increase your desire to play and get better.

2. Practice consistantly until you have developed strong calluses. Playing guitar as a beginner will cause irritation to your fingers. As you progress in your playing, your fingers will develop calluses on the tips and will cause you to be able to play faster riffs.

3. The most important factor is to play along to your favorite songs. Find your favorite song by your favorite band and learn how to play the song. You can use Tablature or try learning the notes by ear. Once you have discovered how the song is played, play it consistantly until you know it as if it were your own song. This will help you discover your style, and will give you ideas to branch off of when jamming out on your own.

That's it! Follow these three very simple steps to learn how to play rock guitar, and you will be shredding out crazy guitar solos in no time at all!


About the Author
Bryan Richards is a lifelong music and guitar enthusiast. To learn more tips on how to play rock guitar Click Here!