How to Play Guitar - Lesson One

Image : http://www.flickr.com

Have you ever wanted to learn how to play the guitar? Well it's easier than you think. If all you learn is three chords you could be playing songs already. One of the first songs I teach you to learn after you learn the first three basic ones C, G, and D major is "There she goes" by Sixpence None the Richer. Personally I recommend learning them as opposed to learning tabs because the learning-tabs-first-approach causes confusion because differences in tabs for the exact same song can vary widely. I am not anti-tabs. I am just suggesting you learn a few basic chords first which will then make it easier for you to learn more and more. This will open your eyes to complex tabs and open the opportunity to learn more music.

The first three basic chords I'm going to teach you are G, C, and D. G looks like this. Play it. Lift your fingers off the strings and re-finger it again doing it faster and faster each time. Thats G. Next is C. It looks like this. Play it. Lift up your fingers, re-finger the chord a few times again. Now play the G chord. Now play the C chord. Jump your fingers back and forth a few times from chord to chord so you get the transition down.

You don't have to be perfect at it. Lets move on to the D chord. The D chord looks like this. Play it and re-finger it as few times. Now go back to the G chord, play it. now go back to the C chord play it. Now go G to C, D to G etc. Practice moving your fingers back and forth, from chord to chord. You'll get faster the more you practice. Now play those chords in order G,C, D there she goes. Congratulations you've completed your first guitar lesson! In lesson number two you'll learn three more chords that will enable you to play even more songs!

Beginners Guitar Lesson - Guitar Heroes Take the Longest Route

Image : http://www.flickr.com

The most important lesson we learn from history is that we don't learn from the lessons of history.

Guitar playing can either be (a) a wonderfully satisfying pass time or (b) a frustrating, confusing, expensive waste of time.

If you have just started playing the guitar it's highly unlikely that you will be aware of the real issues behind the current problems facing new players, problems that will ultimately stop their musical progress.

The latest short cut for the masses is the Guitar Hero game.

Here's some background history for those who would prefer to learn the lessons of history.

Music instrument companies in their constant search to find new ways to sell their products have always been faced with the problem "how do we keep lowering the entrance requirements for
people wanting to get involved in music"?

Translated that means instead of people having to develop skills to raise themselves "up" to the art of playing music, let's keep bringing music "down" so everyone can be "in on the game".

Short term, of course this means more sales for the corporations. But how does this effect everyone long term?

Let's take a look at the bigger picture and how it impacts the serious guitarist.

Originally the recording industry employed professional musicians to back up their new 'star' performers. Around 1957, as more singer songwriters exploded on the scene, the obvious choice for the record company was to dispense with the services of the professional musician and let the new breed of singer/songwriter/guitarists do the whole production.

The first problem was this new age "musician" could not (a) tune their instrument or (b) play in 'time', (erratic rhythm issues). In fact, these two issues where the very things that had previously kept amateur players off the bandstand and out of the way of the professional musician.

Shortcut 1: With the advent of the electronic guitar tuner and the drum machine these two issues of not being able to tune their own instrument or play in time where overcome.

Long term issues: (a) today, only 5% of guitarists can tune their instrument 'by ear', i.e., without an electronic tuner.

(b) Most guitarist's never develop the most basic ingredient of music 'their groove', they learn lot's of 'stuff'... scales, chords, sweep picking etc., but miss the most basic ingredient.

With those problems solved the big companies moved on to the next issue ... "how do we overcome the problem of having to read music?"

Shortcut 2: Guitar TAB to the rescue! Now, everyone can play immediately ... the music corporation's sales graphs soared skyward, another success for big business and another blow for music.

Long term issue: a world full of musically illiterate players, on the surface players appear to be making rapid progress, however dig a little deeper and it a serious case of "monkey see, monkey do"!

Guitar TAB show the pitch of notes but fails to give you the rhythm dimension. Since players learning via Guitar TAB do not know even the names of the notes they are playing they miss the opportunity of trying alternative ways of playing songs (the guitar offers many choices for the literate guitarist).

Onwards and upwards to solve the next problem, learning scales.

Shortcut 3: the pentatonic scale ... one scale fits all.

Long term issue: boring music, one dimensional music where we can't tell player "A" from player "B".

The pentatonic scale is a very useful scale but like everything else it should be used in moderation.

Next problem ... how do we make chords so simple absolutely anyone could play ... ah, the "power chord" will fix it!

Shortcut 4: The power chord - a chord that only uses two fingers so anyone can play.

Long term issue: guitarists can't tell the difference in chord qualities i.e., the difference between major and minor chords etc.

By now the guys in the board room had developed a formula for record breaking instrument sales.

Here it is ...

Instant instrument sales success formula:

Guitar TAB + pentatonic scale + power chord = sales

But, they even wanted more!!!

Enter ... Guitar Hero

Shortcut 5: The ultimate shortcut "Guitar Hero" ... totally replace the physical instrument!

Brilliant, what a concept ... replace the instrument so people who wants to be 'cool' canappear to be able to play a guitar without ever having to learn anything about music... and they certainly won't get sore fingers.

Ultimately, if you want to play guitar, simply start playing guitar, it's that simple.

These isn't any short cuts to playing music ... that's the whole point it's a journey not a destination. The only short cuts are at the butcher shop.

The bottom line is ... big business have created many products for people looking for external, quick-fix solutions whereas the guitarist/musician understands the whole point of learning music is to improve their quality of life by developing special skills, skills that will last a lifetime ...and no one can't take that away from you.

Guitar Lesson by Opeth - The Drapery Falls (PART 1)

Very nice lesson given by Opeth



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ASwqPPNLck&hl=en

To play the guitar - lesson

Image : http://www.flickr.com

If you are looking for a single card as played guitar lesson so important, is read.

Why? Just one can read the card, is easy to show exactly what to play. This means that a teacher can show you or a friend to play exactly what NOTE Note. You can write and you can easily see what you need.

Until you hear the melody, you may know from reading the new card, where the position of the fingers.

To begin with,a simple lesson on how to play guitar includes the Chart tab.

You have taken the guitar and put it in her lap. I assume you are a better right hand, but the same goes for the left hand, just on his knees with his head in the right place to place.

The string of fat, the string is in your area. The thinnest string is the string away.

As you look at the keyboard, you see the mother on the left (rightMancini) and see the six strings.

Guitar tab is divided so. The bottom line is the bottom string (low) string as you would with an eye on your lap.

The top line is the highest string (the thinnest - and up).

So, you see the numbers of lines. These figures say that you press the federal government, on the rope.

Now try a tab, such as text with a simple guitar lessonSymbols.

--------------------------------

--------------------------------

---------------------------------

------------------- 2-4 - 5 ----

3.2 to 5 ---------- -------------

- 3-5 -------------------------

This is a bit 'hard to do here, because I can not use images, but I think you get the idea.

If you play it (and your guitar is tuned), has just done a great g-scale, even if you do not know what are the notes of a G majorScale.

So, guitar lesson how to play this was not so hard was it?

Of course there is a bit 'more to it than that, there are other things we can only call to play with the card next to Mark, but I save that for another article.

6 Ways to Better Guitar Chords

Image : http://www.flickr.com

The more you know about guitar chords the better you will be able to play guitar. Chords are the foundation of rhythm guitar playing and must be understood well to play guitar solos too. So time invested developing skills and knowledge with guitar chords is time well spent for any guitar player. But how do you go about maximizing your knowledge and skills? Here are six things you can use to make the most of your practice time.

1. Practice often

Break up your daily practice time into several short sessions, five or ten minutes is enough. Short sessions make it easy to focus on perfecting correct movements and help to avoid fatigue. The frequent repetition gives your unconscious mind time to absorb and adjust between sessions.

2. Always have a new chord to work on

The more chords you can play the more songs and styles you will master easily. Make growing your vocabulary a long term goal and ensure you build your knowledge by working on at least one new chord at all times. Set yourself a guitar chord of the week and over time you will learn a large number of them.

3. Choose chords relevant to your style of music

There are many different kinds of chords and different ways to play them. To get the most benefit from your practice time focus on mastering chords and fingerings relevant to your musical style. Find out about the kind of chords and fingerings used by your favorite players and make those your priority.

4. Deepen your knowledge

Whenever you learn a new chord don't stop at the first fingering you come across. Learn how to play it in other places on the neck and with other voicings or inversions. This will help you create different sounds and add more interest to your rhythm playing.

5. Get the most out of chord shapes

Whenever you learn a new shape learn how that shape can be used to play other chords. Often times you can modify fingerings slightly to alter the sound, from major to minor for example. Many fingerings can have more than one name, it all depends upon point of view. For example, a C major 6 chord contains all the same notes as Am. Look out for relations like this to improve your vocabulary and playing options.

6. Develop good practice habits

When you learn new chords remember to work slowly and focus on developing accurate technique before trying to speed up. Use a metronome to help you evaluate a comfortable playing speed and gradually increase it to the tempo you need.

Let's review those points to see what we've learned.

1. Practice often, frequent repetition reinforces muscle memory
2. Always have a new chord to work on, you'll soon build an impressive vocabulary
3. Choose chords relevant to your style of music, to get most gain from your efforts
4. Deepen your knowledge, get the most out of each chord
5. Get the most out of chord shapes, you'll find many ways to reuse and recycle them
6. Develop good practice habits, remember, accuracy is your best friend

If you're serious about improving your guitar chord skills, put these ideas to work right away. Pick a chord you know already and find at least four different ways to play it around the fretboard.

Dave Mustaine Guitar Lesson Part 2 (2009)

Dave Mustaine of Megadeth gives a guitar lesson/workshop in which he discusses his gear, some techniques he uses, Holy Wars, Symphony of Destruction, and his influences. Very cool stuff!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj4tQvyqTHo&hl=en

Guitar Excellence - What Does it Take?

Image : http://www.flickr.com

What does it take to become an excellent guitarist? What qualities must you possess, and through what hoops must you jump? Here are my thoughts on the subject...

NATURAL TALENT--10%

Many people assume that natural talent is a huge issue with regard to achieving excellence as a guitar player. What, exactly, is natural talent? In her "GuitarPrinciples" newsletter, one of my favorite authors, Jamie Andreas, wrote,"Natural Talent is a predisposition in the mind and the body, to do the right thing relative to a particular skill or domain of skills. When a person who has natural talent for singing hears someone sing, their body and mind 'know' what that person is doing to get that sound. And their body/mind knows how to do it too, or how to begin moving in that direction. (They don't have to know this consciously, that is 'know what they know, and how they know it, they just know')."

Natural talent certainly is real, and we should not deny its existence. I believe it is wonderful that we all have natural talents for different areas of life. This makes the human experience interesting and exciting. But natural talent is only part of the equation--and not a very large part, in my opinion--perhaps ten percent. And, bear in mind, if you are not naturally talented for guitar playing, this does NOT mean you won't become a great guitar player!

MOTIVATION--45%

I would say motivation contributes at least 45 percent to the achievement of excellence as a guitarist. Sheer excitement about the instrument and the resultant motivation to excel will break through many obstacles, including a lack of (or limitation of) natural talent. Motivation overcomes all kinds of handicaps. It was motivation that propelled Django Reinhardt to the status of one of the greatest guitar players of all time--after injury from a fire forced him to use only two fingers on the fretboard for the rest of his life! I would say motivation is the very foundation of guitar excellence. Motivation will be the driving force through which you will do what needs to be done.

DISCIPLINE--45%

Discipline is another huge part of the picture--perhaps the remaining 45 percent. Discipline is the least attractive element: It involves committing to, and following through with, a practice schedule and taking the steps required to make the most of each session. For example, discipline will require the guitar student to play tedious exercises, to learn scales and licks and to practice with a metronome. The guitarist who employs discipline will be conscious of body position, hand position, and precisely how each finger is used on the fingerboard. Discipline even extends to the organization of study materials (sheet music, instructional videos, CD's, etc.) and the systematic development of a repertoire.

DO THE MATH...

So do the math: If someone is naturally talented with regard to playing the guitar, and is equal to you in motivation and discipline, then that person might be, say, 10 percent more proficient on the guitar than you. However, you will be a more excellent guitar player than those who may be naturally talented, but do not match you in motivation and discipline! When it comes right down to it, I believe that with motivation and discipline, ANYONE can become an excellent guitarist!

Copyright © 2008 Lee Griffith. All rights reserved.

John Mayer: "Crossroads" Guitar Lesson (Teaser)

Guitar World presents an exclusive lesson with guitar legend John Mayer where he shows you how to play his interpretation of "Crossroads." The complete lesson is on disc with the February issue of Guitar World magazine, on sale starting January 12, 2010.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxQ3iCw9BAY&hl=en

Guitar Lesson Rock You Like A Hurrican Solo by Scorpions

Encore un grand solo des années 80. Nostalgie, quand tu nous tiens. Toutes les tablatures de mes vidéos sont sur mon site : www.guitarspeed99.com



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT9_Q44ud7E&hl=en

Major and Minor Chords - A Piano Lesson for Beginners

Image : http://www.flickr.com

If you are a beginning piano student, one of the first things you learn are the major scales. If you know your major scales, then you can easily play major piano chords.

A major piano chord is formed by playing the first, third, and fifth notes of the scale. For example, a D major scale is D-E-F#-G-A-B-C#-D. D, F#, and A are the first third, and fifth notes of the D major scale, so a D major chord consists of D, F#, and A. An F major scale consists of F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F. Since F, A, and C are the first, third, and fifth notes, they make up an F major chord.

For those who don't know the major scales, there is a simple formula that you can use: root + 4 half steps + 3 half steps. A half step is the distance from one note to the very next one. C to C#, E to F, and A to Bb are all examples of half steps. So using this formula, let's find an Eb major chord. The first note will be an Eb. Go from Eb to E, F, Gb, and finally G. That's four half steps so G is the second note in the Eb major chord. Now start on G and go up three half steps: Ab, A, Bb. Now we know that Bb is the final note, so an Eb major chord consists of Eb, G, Bb.

Once you know how to play a major chord, finding the minor chord is an easy task. The only difference between the two is the third note; a minor chord has a flatted third note. By now, you have learned that a D major chord consists of D, F#, A. Lower the F# to an F natural and you have a D minor chord.

The minor chord can also be found using a simple formula. The formula is root + 3 half steps + 4 half steps. To find the G minor chord, start on G and go up three half steps: Ab, A, Bb. Therefore, Bb is the second note in the G minor chord. From there you go up four more half steps: B, C, Db, D. Now you know that G, Bb, and D are the notes that make up the G minor chord.

Now you know how easy it is to play major and minor piano chords. If you haven't already learned your major and minor scales, now is the time to start. They will make your progress as a piano player much easier.

The Ultimate Metal Guitar Lesson - Palm Muting

Image : http://www.flickr.com

The first thing you should learn, before even starting taking a lesson on metal guitar is that the metal music is the most complex music there is! People often state metal music is the classical music of our era. Therefore metal guitar playing needs you to master a lot of techniques. Let us have a look at one of these techniques before starting our metal guitar lesson.

The most important technique if you ask me is the Palm Muting. Metal music needs a lot of distortion to be metal. However you must control this distortion effect in order to create something that contains melody and aggression. Without the control distortion itself can be a big problem, creating a chaos in the music, which will make the music nearly impossible to listen to.

So what is this palm muting? What does it serve, what kind of a sound does it makes? Palm muting is what makes playing metal guitar metal in the first place. We can divide the guitar in two parts, keyboard and the body. The keyboard is the thin part where you push the notes, and the body is where the pickups are and where you hit the string with your pick. The first lesson you should learn about electric guitar is the parts of the guitar itself. The strings come out from the bridge part of the body. This bridge part can be in different types. Palm muting is a technique which you silence the strings with your palm while picking the strings.

It creates the main guitar sound of metal. From Iced Earth to Lamb of God all bands use this technique in order to create their main enjoyable riffs. The more you master this technique the faster and complicated riffs you will develop. Click here to learn more about techniques and all about metal guitar lesson.

Great Music Teaching Resources to Use With Interactive White Boards

Image : http://www.flickr.com

If you happen to teach music and you are looking for new and innovative teaching methods for your classroom, you may benefit from a new type of technology known as interactive whiteboards. With whiteboards, there are many exciting resources and options at your fingertips to make music class exciting and fresh for students of all ages.

While you may not be sure how to make use of your interactive whiteboards right away, you'll find that there are many great music teaching resources available that you can use along with the whiteboards in the classroom. If you want a few ideas of the resources you can find, here are a few examples that you can consider.

Guitar Chords Packages:
Many music classes offer guitar lessons, so if you are teaching guitar in your music class, you may be surprised to find that you can make it easier for your students with the use of an interactive whiteboard. There are resource packs available that deal with guitar chords and the proper finger positions that can make it easier for students to get the chords right as they are beginning to play guitar. This is a great option for students of all ages and levels and it makes it easier for your students to grasp the correct finger positioning.

Music Notes and Scales:
When it comes to the basics of music, notes and scales are the very basis of a music education. More than likely you will want to teach notes and scales to your students and there are great music teaching resources that will help you make this more fun. Packages that are avail able include great flip-charts, page templates for lessons, backgrounds, small and large music notations, and there are even audio files so you can add sounds to your lessons. It is a more interesting way to teach the music basics of notes and scales and students will find it easier to understand.

There are so many different music teaching resources available that you can use along with your interactive whiteboards. From the basics, to fun games, and incorporating other subjects into class, there are many options out there. Whether you are teaching infants or secondary school students, resources are available for all age levels that will make teaching music a joy for you and your students.

Playing Through the Blues Review - The Perfect Guide to Learn Blues Guitar

Image : http://www.flickr.com

Many guitar players tend to get tired of playing the same thing over and over again and want to learn something new like playing the blues guitar. There are many sources available online through which you can learn to play the blues lead guitar but most of them are crap and don't provide the results expected. Having said that, a lot of people have found the online guitar course "Playing Through the Blues" really effective since it provides a comprehensive knowledge about everything that one requires to master the blues.

It is designed by Griff Hamlin who is a very experienced guitar tutor. An important issue to note is that this training program will not benefit the complete beginners a great deal because the lessons have been structured in a way assuming that you are aware of the basic principles of playing the guitar.

"Playing Through the Blues" guitar learning program includes a main e-book that contains useful lessons to provide you with a complete knowledge of different licks, scales and solos. You will also get the Rhythm and Chords e-book that contains vital lessons on blues chords and rhythm guitar techniques. The lessons in the e-books are accompanied by more than 180 minutes of videos in which the producer Griff Hamlin will be explaining everything inside out. It also consists of audio files that cover all the examples in the lessons.

You will also receive several bonus materials along with the main package. One is "the masters section" where students will be able to learn various essential tips on how to play blues from some of the blues experts. You will also be provided with 10 useful jam tracks to enhance your ability to play blues. Also the members area will be updated with new lessons and examples on a continuous basis and you are able to enjoy them without having to pay anything extra.

"Playing Through the Blues" guitar learning course together with all of its main components and bonuses can be purchased at a fairy good price of $47. You would probably pay the same amount to a good professional teacher for just one blues lesson. Just imagine how much you would have spent at the time you feel that you have learned a lot and are pretty good at it. Why waste money on them when you can have the same lessons through this course, taught by an expert in a comprehensive manner at a price as low as $47.

The author Griff Hamlin also provides you with a 56 day-100% money back guarantee if you are not happy with the guitar training program.

"Playing Through the Blues" is an extremely useful guide ideal for anyone interested in mastering playing the blues. The well structured and easy to understand lessons will enable you to follow them at ease and will help you to become a proper blues lead guitarist by the end of the course.

How to Play Guitar - Lesson

Image : http://www.flickr.com

If you're looking for a single, important how to play guitar lesson, it's going to be reading tab.

Why? Because once you can read tab, it's easy to show you exactly what to play. That means an instructor or friend can show you NOTE BY NOTE exactly what to play. They can write it down and you can easily see what it is you need to do.

As long as you've heard the tune, you can recreate it by reading the tab to know where to place your fingers.

To start with, a simple how to play guitar lesson involves the tab diagram.

Imagine you have taken the guitar and laid it on your lap. I'm going to assume you're a right handed player, but the same thing holds true for lefties, you just have to lay it on your lap with the head to the right instead.

The fat string is the string closest to you. The thinnest string is the string farthest away.

As you look down at the fretboard, you'll see the nut on the left (right for lefties) and you'll see the six strings.

Guitar tab is laid out just like that. The bottom line is the bottom string (low string) as you look at it laying on your lap.

The top line is the top string (the thinnest one - high E).

You'll then see numbers on the lines. Those numbers tell you that you should press that fret, on that string.

Now I'll attempt a tab how to play guitar lesson with simple text symbols.

--------------------------------

--------------------------------

---------------------------------

-------------------2-4--5----

----------2-3--5-------------

--3--5-------------------------

That's a bit tough to do here because I can't use pictures, but I think you get the idea.

If you play that (and your guitar is in tune) you just played a Major G Scale, even though you might not have any idea what notes are in a Major G Scale.

So this how to play guitar lesson wasn't that tough was it?

Of course, there's a little more to it than that, there are other things we can denote with tab besides just the note to play, but I'll save that for another article.

Metal Guitar Lesson - Learn Heavy Metal Guitar Techniques Fast

Image : http://www.flickr.com

There are several approaches to take when it comes to a metal guitar lesson online for beginner or intermediate guitar players. One issue that many players run into is coming across many extremely technical lessons as the heavy metal sound is typically made up of many complex, rare, and often strange sounding techniques. This often just adds to the confusion and is obviously frustrating for young aspiring heavy metal guitarists trying to learn the basics and get their feet wet. Below we will go through a few of the top techniques you should be learning that are all essential to the heavy metal sound.

If there is one thing that is synonymous with heavy metal and one technique you should definitely be learning first its power chords. While not really chords, playing two notes together creates the sound of power chords and there are many variations of them. The two finger or note structure of power chords is essentially a replacement for bar chords typically used in rock genres. By using power chords rather than traditional bar chords, heavy metal guitarists can achieve lighting fast riffs and play them with ease. They are also commonly used as the rhythm section in songs and played religiously by metal guitarists using heavy distortion and gain. Finding a great power chord metal guitar lesson online is definitely going to be in your best interest and should be the first place you start. Once you master this technique you will quickly be able to move on to a ton of other great lessons and start learning some of your favorite metal tunes.

Another one of the most essential aspects to learning heavy metal guitar are all of the different strumming and picking techniques that are used. In order to play at the extremely fast tempos that heavy metal is known for, learning the picking and strumming techniques used by the pros is an absolute must. However, before moving onto advanced arpeggios and tapping techniques, it's vital that you find a great metal guitar lesson online teaching the basics of down strumming with metal rhythms. Your most likely not going to be able to achieve the speed of your favorite bands and songs right away, so start off at a comfortable tempo and gradually increase the speed as you begin to master the techniques.

Many modern genres of heavy metal are known for not only fast guitar parts, but also extremely percussive ones that create a melodic wall of sound with the drums. Perhaps one of the most common techniques used to create this incredible signature metal sound is palm muting. No matter whether its trash metal, death metal, speed metal or any other sub genre of modern heavy metal, palm muting is a technique that you will certainly have to master in order to have a good command of the genre. Don't hesitate to take advantage of all of the excellent metal guitar lesson opportunities available online these days!

Guitar Lesson - Do You Have To Set Goals?

Image : http://www.flickr.com

Do you have to take the right train to have success? It depends on what you want to accomplish. The same with your guitar playing. Let's see if you can play guitar without goals!

I would like to share some memories with you...

Way back in the late 80's I started to become very interested in computers. Well, not really in the computers but in the things I believed a computer could help me with.

I compose a lot of music and had used ink and paper so far. Mozart used this equipment so it surely is effective in the hands of the right person.

I used my pens and wrote my music sheets with concentrated efforts trying not to make mistakes. The problem was that it was difficult to change things in my compositions. I often changed things then and still do today.

It was quite difficult to use the notation programs back then. I used DOS on my computers and had to peruse the notation program manuals.

However, I had a goal in the back of my head.

To tame the computer to help me in my endeavors to create sheet music!

Let's stop for a second and go to your guitar playing. What about your goals? Do you have any? In many guitar articles you can read about the importance of setting goals as you try to progress as a guitar player.

Well, there are many advantages with setting goals. Let's take a look at some of them:

1. As you write down a long term goal you give yourself a chance to meditate upon why you are playing guitar. Is it to impress your friends? Is it because you like to play? Is it because you want to find a profession as a guitar player? Is your desire to play guitar so strong that you think it is worth to take the time and effort required?

In the goal setting process you will have time to think the whole thing over and maybe turn the whole thing off!

2. Writing down a long term goal and splitting it up in smaller manageable chunks is a good way to use your free agency instead of letting circumstances dictate what will happen with your guitar playing.

3. When you have clear goals and also smaller intermediate goals it is easier to measure your progress and feel the satisfaction that you are on your way and to the right place.

But what if you don't want to have goals? You just want to play!

Let's go back to the previous story..

Somehow things have turned out quite nice as far as my more or less subconscious goal is concerned. I do write my music with the help of computers nowadays and can change my music as much as I want. I can change keys, melodies, lyrics and feel good about it. I am where I wanted to be back in the 80's.

Was this a goal of mine?

Some people define goals as something you have written down on paper with clear deadlines and clearly defined and measureable intermediate goals along the way.

Before we discuss if we need goals or not we have to define what we mean. Is a wish a goal? Is a strong desire a goal?

Let's continue with the story..

There are people using computers the opposite way from what I do. I have friends who have been deeply interested in working with computers and have seemingly aimlessly installed computer programs, messed around with the Windows directory, changed OS, changed hardware, run into trouble, trying to solve the problems and so on.

My friends have sometimes been of great help when I myself have run into trouble with my computers because they have learned a lot about computers by the previosly mentioned activities and accompanying mistakes.

Did the have goals?

In a broad sense we could say that their goals were to have fun with computers. I guess they haven't expressed it that way but we could say that they reached their goal.

Let us take a look at you!

If you don't wish to have written down goals is of course completely up to you. You can have fun just sitting down strumming some chords on your guitar sometimes.

The important thing to think about is this:

Whatever you do with your guitar will lead you somewhere sooner or later. Whatever road you take will take you to a place if you don't change direction. Do you want to come to this place or not? If not, let me suggest that you change road!

Thirty years from now do you want to be a guitar player that is only able to play a few chords and that is not able to play a song on your guitar? We can say that this is the goal you will reach if you are an "occasional strummer".

If this is okay with you you can relax and continue playing this way. If you want to be another type of guitar player I guess you have to think about goal setting a little bit more consciously!

ST-508 Mr Jones, Counting Crowes (Guitar Lesson)

In thisguitar lesson you will learn Mr Jones by the Counting Crowes. Cool chords, great pushed rhythm. Awesome song. Taught by Justin Sandercoe. Full support at the web site where you will find hundreds of lessons on a wide range of subjects, and all the scales and chords that you will ever need! There is a great forum too to get help, no matter what the problem. And it is all totally free, no bull. No sample lessons, no memberships. Just tons of great lessons :) To get help with your lesson or song look up the number at the start of the video title (like ST-123 or whatever) on the Lesson Index page. www.justinguitar.com Good luck and take care, J .



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9KSVezkny4&hl=en

Learn Acoustic Guitar Lessons For Beginners

www.guitar-in-a-nutshell.com. THE absolute fastest way to learn to play Acoustic Guitar! Fast becoming the most popular method to learn guitar online.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LAaRXVUWxU&hl=en

ZZ Top Waitin' For The Bus Video Guitar Lesson

This is a portion of a guitar lesson I did for VANDERBILLY.COM The entire lesson is at that site note for note. There are 3 parts to it. The site is completely free, you can use it as a guest without signing up or giving your email. Lots of lessons on Led Zeppelin, Journey, Boston, ZZ Top, etc. Please visit and maybe do a lesson of your own.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rCUV4gFgRg&hl=en

Beginners Guitar Lesson - Guitar Heroes Take the Longest Route

Image : http://www.flickr.com

The most important lesson we learn from history is that we don't learn from the lessons of history.

Guitar playing can either be (a) a wonderfully satisfying pass time or (b) a frustrating, confusing, expensive waste of time.

If you have just started playing the guitar it's highly unlikely that you will be aware of the real issues behind the current problems facing new players, problems that will ultimately stop their musical progress.

The latest short cut for the masses is the Guitar Hero game.

Here's some background history for those who would prefer to learn the lessons of history.

Music instrument companies in their constant search to find new ways to sell their products have always been faced with the problem "how do we keep lowering the entrance requirements for
people wanting to get involved in music"?

Translated that means instead of people having to develop skills to raise themselves "up" to the art of playing music, let's keep bringing music "down" so everyone can be "in on the game".

Short term, of course this means more sales for the corporations. But how does this effect everyone long term?

Let's take a look at the bigger picture and how it impacts the serious guitarist.

Originally the recording industry employed professional musicians to back up their new 'star' performers. Around 1957, as more singer songwriters exploded on the scene, the obvious choice for the record company was to dispense with the services of the professional musician and let the new breed of singer/songwriter/guitarists do the whole production.

The first problem was this new age "musician" could not (a) tune their instrument or (b) play in 'time', (erratic rhythm issues). In fact, these two issues where the very things that had previously kept amateur players off the bandstand and out of the way of the professional musician.

Shortcut 1: With the advent of the electronic guitar tuner and the drum machine these two issues of not being able to tune their own instrument or play in time where overcome.

Long term issues: (a) today, only 5% of guitarists can tune their instrument 'by ear', i.e., without an electronic tuner.

(b) Most guitarist's never develop the most basic ingredient of music 'their groove', they learn lot's of 'stuff'... scales, chords, sweep picking etc., but miss the most basic ingredient.

With those problems solved the big companies moved on to the next issue ... "how do we overcome the problem of having to read music?"

Shortcut 2: Guitar TAB to the rescue! Now, everyone can play immediately ... the music corporation's sales graphs soared skyward, another success for big business and another blow for music.

Long term issue: a world full of musically illiterate players, on the surface players appear to be making rapid progress, however dig a little deeper and it a serious case of "monkey see, monkey do"!

Guitar TAB show the pitch of notes but fails to give you the rhythm dimension. Since players learning via Guitar TAB do not know even the names of the notes they are playing they miss the opportunity of trying alternative ways of playing songs (the guitar offers many choices for the literate guitarist).

Onwards and upwards to solve the next problem, learning scales.

Shortcut 3: the pentatonic scale ... one scale fits all.

Long term issue: boring music, one dimensional music where we can't tell player "A" from player "B".

The pentatonic scale is a very useful scale but like everything else it should be used in moderation.

Next problem ... how do we make chords so simple absolutely anyone could play ... ah, the "power chord" will fix it!

Shortcut 4: The power chord - a chord that only uses two fingers so anyone can play.

Long term issue: guitarists can't tell the difference in chord qualities i.e., the difference between major and minor chords etc.

By now the guys in the board room had developed a formula for record breaking instrument sales.

Here it is ...

Instant instrument sales success formula:

Guitar TAB + pentatonic scale + power chord = sales

But, they even wanted more!!!

Enter ... Guitar Hero

Shortcut 5: The ultimate shortcut "Guitar Hero" ... totally replace the physical instrument!

Brilliant, what a concept ... replace the instrument so people who wants to be 'cool' canappear to be able to play a guitar without ever having to learn anything about music... and they certainly won't get sore fingers.

Ultimately, if you want to play guitar, simply start playing guitar, it's that simple.

These isn't any short cuts to playing music ... that's the whole point it's a journey not a destination. The only short cuts are at the butcher shop.

The bottom line is ... big business have created many products for people looking for external, quick-fix solutions whereas the guitarist/musician understands the whole point of learning music is to improve their quality of life by developing special skills, skills that will last a lifetime ...and no one can't take that away from you.

Guitar Tab Lessons - Simple Things You Must Know to Start Easily Reading & Playing Guitar Tabs

Image : http://www.flickr.com

There is no doubt about it, the guitar is a very unique music instrument. The best part about playing the guitar is the fact that you don't need to be an expert to read guitar music.

To assist beginning guitarists read music, special notation has been created. However, although tabs are easy to read, some people find difficulty following them. Guitar tab is a graphic representation of the guitar neck that displays exactly where every note will be played, and it makes learning the guitar faster.

This is very different compared to showing the notes like in standard musical notation. At the end of the day, guitar tab lessons are important since it will allow you to progress faster on the guitar.

One of the best resources for your guitar tab lessons is the amount of tab you can find online, magazines, and tablature training books. One of the first things you'll notice is that guitar tab has six lines, and each line corresponds to a guitar string.

Your guitar tab lessons should focus on which line on the tab goes with which guitar string. The line on the bottom of your tab is the low-E string. After the low-E string, the other lines are the A, D, G, B, and high-E strings.

The best way to read the numbers on each line is to read from your left to right. These numbers represent which fret is played on which string. For example, you'll play 5 written on the bottom line by positioning your finger on the fifth fret of the low-E string.

If there is a number on multiple lines at the same point on the tab you should play a chord. If a line within a chord is blank without a number on it you should strum a string as an open string. Moreover, you should muffle a string if an X is displayed on the line.

Your guitar tab lessons should focus on learning to read rhythm last. This is due to the fact that there is no set rhythm notation in tab. If the numbers are close together then the rhythm is usual fast.

Use the online tab resources to help your guitar tab lessons. As you learn to play guitar tabs and continue to practice, you're going to progress at reading tabs and playing them properly.

BC-008 • Beginners Guitar Lesson - Tied Strumming Patterns

This is the old course for beginners! The new one was much much better than 100 lessons and it's all still 100% free:) use the link below: Lesson 8 www.justinguitar.com rhythm guitar patterns, relationships, to cover the natural sound. Part of a complete Video-beginners guitar course that has all notes available for free www.justinguitar.com. Just click on the tab on the left side and beginners learn guitar in progressive steps. Taught by Justin Sandercoe.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEgZNwsOsxk&hl=en

Jimi Hendrix - Little Wing guitar assignment allotment 1

Part 1, intro and first verse. From Andy Aledort's Axis: Bold as Love instuctional DVD. I highly recommend you buy it - it is well worth it.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN1RAgdF8ng&hl=en

JOHN PETRUCCI BCSL GUITAR LESSON BLACK CLOUDS AND SILVER LININGS (PART 1) HIGH QUALITY HD

NEW GUITAR WORLD MAGAZINE LESSON with Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci. John explains about the making of the latest Dream Theater album 'Black Clouds and Silver Linings', and demonstrates riffs and licks from songs such as 'The Count Of Tuscany', and 'The Best Of Times'. JOHN PETRUCCI BCSL GUITAR LESSON BLACK CLOUDS AND SILVER LININGS (PART 1) HIGH QUALITY HD



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSv-pJeh99E&hl=en