The guitar has played a major role in shaping Western culture for more than 100 years. The emergence of the legendary ?bluesmen?, the singing cowboys, and later the early rock and roll stars of the 1950s all contributed music that helped shape the 20th and now 21st centuries.

That the guitar has played such a pivotal roll has meant that everyone has been influenced by that instrument in one way or another. The fact that it IS central has made it a cultural icon. As diverse as the music that can be made with a guitar, and that it looks so simple to play means that nearly everyone has at least TRIED to play a guitar at some point in their lives. In music anyway, it would seem to be an essential ingredient for success.

Learning to play the guitar is not at all a complicated process. Learning to play WELL, though, takes some dedication, and that brings us to point of this article.

100 years ago there were vastly fewer entertainment options. Even 50 years ago there were many fewer option ? television being new and just beginning to establish its place. Today, in the heyday of video games and music videos, the attention span of young people is comparatively short, and ?instant gratification? is king.

This being the case, a guitar ?course? must have several key elements, among them, short, well defined lessons that teach achievable and measurable skills, be tied to a computer, interactivity, have video content, and be fun with specialty games and exercises.

A good example of this is Ben Edwards? courses Jamorama and Jamorama Acoustic Guitar. These courses incorporate extensive video content, interactive computer games to offset the tedium of learning to recognize notes and musical staff and short, punchy lessons that let the student see measurable progress.

When you look at the Jamorama guitar courses it is easy to recognize the hand of the next generation of music teachers. This is obviously a guitar course that teaches solid basic skills including reading sheet music and guitar TAB in a way that?s enjoyable. While the lessons aren?t specifically aimed at young people, young people will enjoy them. For those that may have played the guitar at one time and are now coming back to it after some time away, this will be a whole new experience. Learning ISN?T what it used to be!

The only thing that isn?t included in these courses is persistence. While Ben has built in a good deal of motivation and reinforcement, the student will still need to practice. In the end, while the learning methods have improved, dedication and patience are still required. The progress you make, however, is well worth the effort.

John Peterson is a freelance writer on music and the media. For information on Jamorama and Jamorama Acoustic Guitar visit http://www.jamorama.com and http://www.jamoramaacoustic.com.

When I tell people I play the piano, the most common reply I hear is ?Oh I?ve always wanted to play but?? Here?s are the top-ten reasons that adults give for not becoming a musician- even though its their secret ambition. Read on for how to overcome these barriers and achieve your dream.

I?m just too busy

Most people assume that you will need hours of free time every week set aside for lengthy practicing to get any good. This idea is a complete fiction- in fact I would say about 5 minutes each day is fine at first (and if you don?t have 5 minutes per day to spare, I don?t believe you!). If you book lessons with a teacher, you will be committing some time at least each week to concentrate on learning, which may even be enough at first.. Don?t kid yourself you?ll be less busy in three months time because if you don?t start learning now you probably never will.

I work shifts/ long hours so I can?t fit time for lessons in

Many teachers will offer lessons in the daytime, evenings and weekends- so you should be able to find something that suits you- just call up some local teachers and ask when they have spaces in their schedule. There are also a good number of online courses for most instruments. Or you could buy a ?Teach Yourself Book? and take it from there.

Lessons are too expensive

Again, you could start off teaching yourself from a book- but not all lessons are as expensive as you might think. I teach in groups, which keeps the cost down for the individual, and also turns lessons into a social activity. Find out if there are any teachers in your area who do this.

I?m too old

Your definitely never too old to learn a musical instrument! In fact I?ve found adults of all ages learn much faster than young children initially. Learning new cognitive skills has even been found to have great health benefits.

?I won?t be able to learn?

Well, I?ve never met anyone incapable of learning to play yet! Obviously people have different standards and ?natural? abilities, they?ll learn at different rates. But everyone will be able to play to some degree. The best thing is to ask yourself what you want to achieve? and then just go for it.

?I?ll never be any good, so what?s the point in starting now?

This depends what you mean by good. OK, I admit if your 57 and never played a note in your life theirs no chance of you becoming a virtuoso after ten lessons. But is that really why you secretly want to learn your chosen instrument? How about learning just for the sheer achievement of acquiring a new skill. Or being able to pick out a few carols at Christmas. Or finally write down and record that song that?s been going round in your head your whole life. These are all achievable goals you could reach after learning an instrument for just a short time. And does it even matter if your any ?good? if you really enjoy playing?

?I?ve been told I?m tone-deaf and so I can?t learn?

The short answer to this is, your almost certainly not. Tone deafness is a very rare and specific condition, and music lessons should help improve your listening skills.

?I don?t think any teachers will be interested in taking on an older learner?

Most teachers I know (including myself) really enjoy teaching adults because they have made the decision to have lessons themselves and appreciate lessons so much more than children who are learning all the time. Maybe your children are having lessons, why not ask their teacher if they could teach you as well? I?m sure they would be pleased to, or at least recommend another teacher with vacancies.

?I?d love to learn again- but I hated my lessons when I was younger?

A lot of adults have horror stories about severe piano teachers rapping their knuckles with rulers for making mistakes, and punishing them for not practicing 30 minutes a day. Luckily, there aren?t many (any?) people like that around anymore. Please don?t let a bad experience from the past stop you from achieving what you want today. Find a teacher, let them know what you want to achieve and I?m sure they will be pleased to help. If you don?t enjoy their lessons, let them know why- music lessons should be enjoyable, and as an adult you will be the one in control, with your teacher there to help you.

?I?ve heard learning to read music is really hard??

Learning to read music is really very straightforward. And some teachers might be happy for you to play by ear. There?s a lot of advice on reading music, on the web which can get you started.

I hope none of these excuses are holding you back from becoming a musician! Good luck in learning to play your chosen instrument.

Polly Powell runs a keyboard and piano teaching studio in North Somerset, UK. Visit the website for further information on music lessons http://www.kweststudios.co.uk

The major pentatonic is similar to the minor pentatonic: The intervals for a major pentatonic are 1 2 3 5 6 1. The C major scale includes C D E G A C. The difference between the major and minor scale is the minor scale has a flatten 3rd interval. The following is the most common generic box shape for the pentatonic major scale:

e—-O—–o—-
B—-o—–o—-
G-o—–o——-
D-o——–O—-
A-o——–o—-
E—-O—–o—-

The major pentatonic sounds happier and are not used as extensively in rock and blues as the minor version of the scale. They sound good over major chords, and power chords. Sometimes the minor and major scales are used in the same song, with the major scale used for the chorus, and the minor for the verse.

There are no hard and fast rules when in comes to scales and soloing. It?s a matter of style and personal choice, as long as it sounds good, go for it. But you will find that if you use these simple scale forms in conjunction with an appropriate chord progression this will sound good more often.

A chord progression based on the A minor chord will sound good with A minor pentatonic and a C major chord will sound good with C major scale. For information on chord progressions please go to the section at our web site on chord progressions.

Bill McRea is the publisher of The Guitar Warehouse and Guitar Playing Techniques. Both sites offer free lesson and product sales.

The final stage in learning to play the guitar is learning to play the chords. This is the most satisfying part of learning the guitar because the beginner will already be playing music with the instrument. Playing a chord simply means striking simultaneously at least two or three strings on the guitar.

In order to play the chords, the beginner should first start with the three most common chords. They are the G major chord, C major chord and the D major chord. These are the easiest chords and they should be the ones practiced first.

When playing the G major chord, the guitar player should place the second finger on the sixth string of the third fret. Then he can place the first finger on the fifth string of the second fret. The third finger is then placed on the third fret of the first string. It is important to remember that the fingers should be curled and should not be touching any other strings that they are not supposed to touch. He can then strike all the six strings in one continuous strum. They should make the sound at the same time and not one at a time.

In playing the C major key, all he can do is place the third finger on the third fret of the fifth string. Then, the second finger may be placed on the second fret of the fourth string. He can finally place the first finger on the first fret of the second string. It is important to be careful and not hit the sixth string. Only the bottom five strings should be strummed when playing the C major key.

The D major key may be difficult for some beginners because all three fingers crowd into a very small area. After the technique id learned this should not be a problem to everyone. The beginner can put the first finger on the third string of the fourth fret. Then he can place the third finger on the second string of the third fret. Finally, he can put the second finger on the first string of the second fret. He can then strum the four bottom strings to play the D major key.

It is important to be familiar with these three basic chords before starting to learn the more complicated ones, as these are the chords that are commonly used to play many songs. He can start learning by choosing songs that only have these three chords for his practice and remember, it is by practicing that a person will be able to master playing chords with the guitar.

Bill McRea is the publisher of Guitar Warehouse the best place to Buy Guitar and learn Guitar Playing Techniques. Both sites offer free lesson and product sales.

I remember when I got my first guitar. My mother came strolling in to the house with a guitar case, smiled, and sat it down about 15 feet away from me. I instantly ran over to find my very first Washburn guitar. I quickly began to play my new baby…

Just for reference, my version of playing the guitar was laying the body flat on it’s back like a slide guitar so I could see what I was doing… Oh man those were the days!

My first adventure in to a song was Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here. I went to the search engine and had no idea what a tab was or even how to begin searching for one.

Finally I began to put two and two together and found a version of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were here from MXTabs.net way back before they got shut down =(

To make a long story short, I broke a sweat out of frustration in less than 5 minutes, put my guitar back in it’s case and went back to playing my video games. That was back then…

This is now…

Guitar tabs look like perfect english to me now, but at the time when I was starting out I couldn’t make sense of anything. It looked like another foreign language to me! My friends laughed when they watched my fingers try to play a song in the most ridiculous way imaginable. I was just trying to do what the tab told me to do, but the tab didn’t tell me what finger position to play in, or if there were any helpful tricks to make it easier on my hands! I was getting tired of this dead end approach to improve my skills.

Here is my point: Guitar tab sucked then and it sucks now. I’m still waiting for the pioneer that fixes this problem for the masses…

Dane Maxwell & Paul Johnson produce guitar video tabs for popular songs and artists. Developed out of a need to help their students, the idea is still in its infancy and has yet to prove itself as a viable solution to guitar players around the world.

Tabs Cause Confusion.

Eliminate the guess work, welcome to the revolution of guitar lessons on your time

Visit guitargrind.com for a free sample

In this guitar lesson we look at a great way to test your note knowledge of the guitar fretboard. But before we look at that, why even bother learning the notes?

Knowing the notes on your guitar fretboard is an essential skill. Here are a FEW of the benefits that you’ll gain if you have fantastic guitarfretboard knowledge

• You’ll learn how to apply music theory to the guitar much more quickly. In my opinion there’s no point learning music theory if you can’t PLAY it!

• Your creativity will increase. You’ll be able to think of new and unique ways of playing chords and scales. If you don’t know the notes on the guitar fretboard, you’ll be stuck playing the same chord and scale fingerings that everyone uses.

• You’ll become a better musician. Great musicians don’t just think in terms of chord shapes or scale fingerings. They think in terms of notes.

• You’ll save yourself hundreds (if not thousands!) of hours of frustration. By knowing the notes on the fretboard you’ll be able to understand, learn and memorize things faster.

  Pretty powerful benefits right?

  Sohow do we know if our note knowledge is good enough?

  Here’s a great way of finding out

  Note Knowledge Test:

  Step 1:
  Please turn on your metronome and set it to 120 beats-per-minute.

  Step 2:
  Decide on a note that you will work on.

  Step 3:
  Find that note on the thickest string in all possible locations. (One note location per click of the metronome).

  Step 4:
  Without pausing, repeat the process on all the other strings.

  Step 5:
  Repeat steps 2-4 for all the other notes.

  How did you go? Did you find it hard or easy?

  If you couldn’t do it easily, then you have some work to do. I would recommend setting aside 10 minutes a day to work on memorizing the notes of the fretboard. Within a few short weeks, you should have it nailed. Good luck!

  Craig Bassett (The Guitar Solutions Expert) is a professional guitarist, guitar tutor and author who lives in Auckland, New Zealand.

  To get a free high-quality lesson e-mailed to you once a month, please go to: http://www.Pentatonic-Guitar-Lessons.com

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Playing guitar requires a technique that is uniquely different from an instrument such as piano. Think about this for example, you can drop a roll of quarters on a piano and get a clean crisp sound out of the keys. The guitar requires a little more finesse with both hands in order to get notes to sound (other than the open strings). Most beginning guitar players focus most of their attention on the left hand (or fretting hand for you lefties), and rightly so. The left hand needs to learn the grid pattern of the fretboard ? where the notes are, where to hold your thumb, how much to squeeze down etc. For the most part, their right hand just holds a pick and swipes away at the strings with little regard to control.

A strong right hand is essential to becoming a complete guitarist. The right hand is the key factor in controlling dynamics, tempo, and clarity. If you want to increase your right hand control and accuracy, practice scales, arpeggios and chord rhythms with palm muting. By palm muting, you are ?training? your right hand to be where you want it to be at all times. Make sure each note comes out equal. Don?t go so fast that you can?t hear each note clearly, you may be over-muting or not muting enough. It may be tricky at first, but stick to it.

Here are some ideas to get you started. First, keep in mind that there are no rules in playing music or guitar. However, as my students know, I do create ?temporary rules? for the sake of developing certain techniques or theory knowledge. So, for now, let?s make alternate picking a temporary rule. Downbeats will get down-picks, and upbeats will get up-picks when playing eighth notes. When playing sixteenth notes, the first sixteenth gets a down-pick, two is up, three is down and four is up. Discover different rhythmic variations of eighths and sixteenths, use strict alternate picking and of course palm mute all of your notes. Palm muting should sound like the notes are muffled, not choked off.

This practice strategy is great for acoustic as well as electric players. Work palm muting into your daily practice schedule for at least 14 practice days. When done properly, you will start to notice a great improvement in your overall dexterity!

John Maurice Doyle is a top Elite Performance and Guitar Coach in Los Angeles, California. His clients have included A list Hollywood celebrities, international rock stars, and hundreds of pro artists. He is the owner of Green Monster Music and creator of the internationally acclaimed Monster Guitar Method interactive guitar instructional DVD series. Visit http://www.greenmonstermusic.com and download your free guitar lesson and listen to his Guitar Monster Podcasts (also available on iTunes).

http://www.greenmonstermusic.com

Minor pentatonic scales are used extensively in modern and classic rock. A strong understanding of how pentatonic scales work, and can be used for soloing and creating riffs, is extremely important. They are also the easiest and generally the first scales most people learn.

Minor Pentatonic Basics:

I assume you know how to read basic TAB format for this lesson. If you have not been exposed to TAB then you should review our lesson on reading guitar TAB before moving on.

The Minor Pentatonic scale consists of the following intervals: 1 b3 4 5 b7 1. In the key of A the intervals would be the notes of A C D E G A. There are 5 scale shapes in ?box? patterns for the pentatonic scales. For the A minor pentatonic the box shape follows:

E-5——–8—-
B-5——–8—-
G-5—–7——-
D-5—–7——-
A-5—–7——-
E-5——–8—-

The 5 is the fifth fret and is the root note, thus the name of the key and scale is A, the intervals determines the type Minor or Major. This scale shape above is the most scale and is used in rock, blues and most styles of music. If you move this entire shape up to positions on the guitar and play the same shape you will have a B minor pentatonic. Likewise if you slide the entire shape down two potions you have a G minor pentatonic. See Below:

E-3——–6—-
B-3——–6—-
G-3—–5——-
D-3—–5——-
A-3—–5——-
E-3——–6—-

Practice this scale shape several times a day, moving it into different positions or keys, for variety. Many of rocks most famous licks are derived form this shape. If you are going to play guitar learning this one basic shape is mandatory.

Next up ? The Major Pentatonic Scale.

Bill McRea is the publisher of The Guitar Warehouse and Guitar Playing Techniques. Both sites offer free lesson and product sales.

Learning how to play the guitar by participating in one of the many guitar courses available online is a great convenience. The Internet has become not only a vast marketplace, but it has also proven that it is an excellent learning environment. Just look at the number of colleges and universities and other institutions of learning that have made it possible to learn at home or anywhere for that matter. The most attractive feature of guitar courses that you can enroll into online is convenience. You can generally decide when you want to learn and your set. One thing you will discover when you research the available guitar courses that exist online is that you have choices. Settling on one particular course is a matter of deciding what works best for you.

About.com

Do you like structured learning with the ability to choose the lessons that you learn? About.com is a large network of information. You can find information on just about any topic by visiting this website. Guitar courses are only one of the many online courses you will find on this portal. The advantage of About.com is that you have options. You can read the lessons that make up the guitar courses that are available, or you can register for an e-mail course. When you sign up for this type of course, every day a lesson is delivered to you via e-mail. Either option allows you the flexibility to view the information when you want. In addition, professional guitarists write the guitar courses that are available on About.com, so you receive insight from someone who has played the guitar professionally. If you need information in addition to the guitar courses, About.com features a host of articles and resources that accompany each course.

Berkleemusic.com

Like the classroom environment, but don’t want to actually spend time in a classroom? Berkleemusic.com may work best for you. The online guitar courses featured through Berkleemusic.com are available on the same schedule as the Berkelee College of Music, the traditional classroom version of the school. Where the About.com guitar courses are free, you will pay upwards of $500 for these guitar courses. The courses that are available include learning the basics, using an amplifier, and recording. You have flexibility in what you want to learn, but the structure will vary according to the instructor for the course. If you’re not sure online learning is for you, Berkeleemusci.com offers a sample course for you to try.

ActiveBass.com

Have an interest in learning the bass guitar? ActiveBass.com is an online portal dedicated to teaching you everything you need to know about playing a bass guitar. You select the lessons you want to review and you’re off. This portal includes interactive learning so you feel like you are actually in a classroom setting. The interactive Ear Training lesson is especially interesting. Once you master a lesson, you may want to show off your skills. ActiveBass.com allows guitarists to submit an MP3 of featuring them playing their guitar.

For more more information about guitar courses online please visit http://www.guitar-directory.net

Music isnt just learning notes and playing them, you learn notes to play to the music of your soul Katie Greenwood.

Why are you learning music anyway? Is it to pick up chicks? Is it to fulfill a void in your mundane life? Is it an indescribable calling?

I always wanted to learn the drums. I dont know why, maybe its the aggressive nature of the things. You sit there and bash the crap out of them.

As fate would have it I shared a house with Dave, a guitar player, so I decided to learn the guitar as I had my very own teacher living in the next room. Or so I thought.

I went out and bought a nylon string classical guitar for $70. I didnt have a clue what I was doing but that never stopped me before.

So I went back home with my new guitar in its cardboard box. And with anything new, you want to play with it straight away, as soon as you get it home.

I also bought one of those guitar case chord dictionaries. You know the ones, they have a thousand chords in them and they are designed to confuse rather than actually help you.

So I waited for Dave to get home from work and as soon as he was in the door I was at him. I bought this new guitar and I was wondering if you could show me how to play it I said.

He just laughed at me but eventually agreed to show me which chords to learn first. He told me to learn the open chords A, D, E, G, and C. So I did. I spent every spare moment learning these chords.

Dave wouldnt show me any songs to play so I was forced to make up my own songs. This forced me to really explore every one of these chords as I thought at the time that I had to include them all in every song I wrote.

The songs I wrote were pretty strange to say the least. We were into punk music at that time so just imagine what a dying cat like vocals set to a nylon string out of tune guitar played as fast as a speeding train sounds like and you get the picture.

It sounded good to me at the time and I was very proud of my new found ability. It took about three months to get the hang of changing between the chords, and being able to write a song. (if you could call it that).

I didnt know it at the time but I had the one thing that was needed that would ensure I would become a good guitar player. That one thing was sheer bloody determination. And the more people told me how bad I sounded the more determined I became to improve.

So it doesnt matter how good or bad you are at the moment just play the music of your soul even if it sounds like a cat being tortured. You will improve as long as you keep trying. Here’s a mental exercise for you. Fast forward your mind to 4 years from now. How good a guitar player will you be? The time will pass regardless of what you do. Are you going to keep at it? or are you going to give up? It’s up to you. You will be four years older, but will you be four years wiser?

John Stockwell is a guitar player and the author of the acclaimed Mind Over Music for Guitar http://www.learn-to-play-guitar.net/mindovermusic/, a unique approach to learning to play the guitar by ear for beginners to advanced students.

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