Does that sound like you? More an more men and women in their 40′s and 50′s are picking up a guitar and learning how to play guitar. Some are starting from scratch, others have put it down to pursure careers and families, and now have the itch to play again. Whether you’re 15 or 50, rank beginner or semi-skilled, you’ve probably looked around the internet to see what online guitar lessons are all about. Here are some things to look for.

There’s of course, no substitute for private lessons, but that can be expensive and inconvenient. Online materials are getting better and better. If you’re seriously looking to learn how to play the guitar, you should be able to find just what you need.

Griff has been a professional touring musician and guitar teacher for the last 20 years.You can sign up for free Guitar Tips at http://www.griffhamlin.com/Tips-List

The main difference between classical and regular acoustic guitar is the way that you play them. A classical guitar has to almost become a part of you. Your body needs to move with the guitar as you play. Let yourself feel the rhythms and the melody and be caught up in them. If you are willing to take this approach, the music you play will have much more passion and movement than if you sit straight up and strum stiffly on the guitar.

Playing classical guitar requires the musician to be relaxed, both in mind and in body, and to become part of the music. Any thoughts or ideas you have of playing acoustic guitar will probably not apply to classical guitar. Be open to changing any habits or ideas that you have; this will help you to learn more quickly and to become a classical guitar player that people love to listen to.

Although classical guitar will seem difficult, take the time to learn the basics. Practice them over and over. If you do this, you will have a strong beginning to build on when you want to learn more complicated tunes and techniques. Practice and patience are very important when you want to learn classical guitar.

There are different ways to learn to play classical guitar. You can buy a book, CD or video, or even find information on the Internet. The most successful way to learn is to find a classical guitarist to teach you. It is much easier to learn how to sit, how to hold your guitar, and how to play the music if you have someone right there to show you and to correct you if you make any mistakes. Contact your local music store or put an ad in the newspaper to find a teacher. Enjoy this new learning experience, and if you feel discouraged, listen to a CD of a professional classical guitarist and look forward to the day you will be able to play that well!

Learn more about playing classical guitar at http://guitar.activitiessite.com/.

Don?t spend under ?90 on a guitar
If you are buying your first electric guitar, I wouldn?t recommend spending under ?90. Most of these guitars are built with very cheap materials to bring the production costs down, hence the retail price. The guitar?s sound will be compromised with this lower quality and the finish will also look a bit rough. You will usually find that the guitar strings are the cheapest ones you can buy, they will sound twangy.

The other downside of these cheap electric guitars due to the low build quality is the durability. You will be lucky if you can play it for more than 1 year and not have a problem with the guitar parts. You will end up with a cheap electric guitar (cheap meaning the quality this time and not the price).

Spend ?90-?150 on a guitar
My advice is to spend between ?90 and ?150 on your first electric guitar. You will get some reasonable quality at the lower end and good quality at the upper end.

Electric guitar brands to look out for
Here is a list of guitar brands that offer beginner electric guitars within the above price range: Stagg, Crafter, Vintage, Encore, Cruiser by Crafter, Gould, Squier, Yamaha, Dean, Peavey, Epiphone, Carlsbro and Ibanez.

The Epiphone, Vintage and Yamaha are the most popular electric guitars from the above list, the Stagg offers the best value for money in my opinion.

Should I Buy My Guitar in a Music Shop or Online?
It is really up to you, but my advice would be to buy one of the recommended guitar brands above. You can do this easily online, and you won?t get a shop salesman trying to push what?s best for them rather than what?s best for you.

About the Author
Henry Genry is known as ?The Music Guru? and is the chief writer at Soundsmusical.com. Henry has spent his whole life in music. He has played various musical instruments to a very high standard and run several music and internet businesses. He loves to share with everyone his experiences and immense knowledge of music. Henry hopes that the above music article will help you save money and also make the best decisions for your life. If you have any questions you would like to ask please email: henrygenry@hotmail.co.uk.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is a popular English nursery rhyme with the French melody Ah! Vous dirais-je, Maman. You can play this song on the first three strings on the guitar.

The text is from a poem, The Star, by Jane Taylor. It was first published in 1806. Here you have the English lyrics:

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!

We will use guitar tablature so you will not need to read sheet music. You will only use the thinnest strings on the guitar. The string with the highest pitch is called the first string or E-string. Look at the following guitar tab:

1. 0-0-0-0—————–
2. ——–1-1-1-1———
3. —————-2-2-2-2-

This is a tablature staff and the four number 0 indicate that you play the first string four times without pressing down any finger on your right hand. This is called to play on an open string.

The four number 1 coming after is played on the second string pressing down your first finger on the first fret. Then you will play the third string four times pressing down the string on the second fret. This is what the previous guitar tablature notation is telling you.

Let’s play the first notes of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star with guitar tablature:

1. ————0–0————————–
2. ——3–3——-3—-1–1–0–0———-
3. 0–0—————————–2–2–0–

If you want to use your left hand in a professional way you can play the guitar tab notes on the first fret with your first finger, notes on the second fret with your middle finger and the notes on the third fret with your ring finger.

Now it’s only one guitar tablature part left:

1. 3–3–1–1–0–0—–
2. ——————3–
3. ———————

After having played this part twice, go back and play the first guitar tablature part and the melody is complete.

Now when you understand guitar tablature notation you can find many songs written this way on the internet. Search for guitar tab or guitar tablature. A complete guitar tablature staff has six lines representing the six strings.

If you have an ukulele hanging somewhere you can use the previous tablature too. The first three strings on an ukulele is tuned the same way as on the guitar.

Just one more thing for you to do. Play the song for your friends! Good luck!

Peter Edvinsson is a musician, composer and music teacher. Visit his site Capotasto Music and download your free printable sheet music, guitar tab and learn to play resources at http://www.capotastomusic.com

The guitar, like most instruments, is best mastered if the learner starts young. It can be quite an easy instrument if the budding musician just wants to learn a few songs to entertain friends and family, but it can also be mastered as a professional instrument, and a good guitarist can really make those strings talk. In fact, for a talented and dedicated player the guitar becomes and extension to their arms.

I?ve been teaching the guitar for many years now and one of my more recent students was a 57 year old coal minor with fingers like bananas. He told me that he and a few of his buddies wanted to form a band called the Coal Minors (what else!). I just cannot believe his progress. In just 6 month starting from scratch, he has mastered bar chords, scales, and even written a couple of impressive songs with the chords G, C, D, DM, and E. It just goes to show that if you are committed, anything is possible at any age. Reg, and the Coal Minors are due to perform at their next work?s function and I can?t wait to see them.

It?s also important to note that you do not need to be able to read music to play the guitar well. If I?ve read my music history right neither the Beatles, nor Jimmy Hendrix could read a note, yet their guitar playing did them proud.

Learning the guitar is like anything we achieve in life, and that is you will only succeed with patience and persistence. Out of 100 students, I would guess that only a very small percentage continues playing this wonderful instrument throughout their life.

I play guitar because it gives me great pleasure. You can never stop learning new skills and improving your playing techniques no matter who you are. It?s also a great instrument to take traveling with you. Anyone with a guitar slung over their back will have instant friends wherever they go. And finally, a beautiful guitar is very ornamental. Sit a guitar on an upright stand and place it strategically in any room, and it will do wonders for the d?cor.

Lee Kiley is a proficient writer and webmaster for InstructHow dot com where he writes on such issues as How to Talk to Girls in the 21 st Century! and How To Make Money Fast. He also has many other ?How to? related pieces on the site.

Brent’s reply to me was it’s not that we’re born with a magical ability to learn our instrument effortlessly. The Real Gift is that we have the motivation & drive to learn and study at all costs! Never to give up! We have a real burning desire to learn and play. If we let the instrument sit untouched too long, a piece of our being disappears. (Similar to feeling a loss of a good friend who has moved away)

So…

What is it that drives me to pick up the guitar and to begin learning to play?

How do you find that burning desire (the gift) to becoming a great guitarist?

The desire comes from discovering, seeing and listening to great professional guitarists. For me, it is guitarist such as David Gilmor (Pink Floyd), Joe Satriani, Steve Morse (Deep Purple), Joe Pass (Jazz), Django Rienhardt (Jazz), Tony Rice (country), Paco DeLucia (Flamenco), and my current guitar idol… Vicente Amigo. When I grow up, I’m going to be just like all of them! It’s so exciting, there’s so much to learn from these guys!

Every time I need a shot of desire to get me practicing and playing I would put on a cd or DVD of any of my favorite guitar heros!

Instantly! That feeling comes over me… I WANT TO BE JUST LIKE THEM

So… How do you become just like them?

Identify who you idolize and want to be like. Buy the book or instructional DVD on how to play like your guitar hero. If you have the book and are not working through it then it’s back to step 1. Listen again to your hero for the renewed desire and start playing.

If the instructional book or DVD is too difficult, find a good teacher. Not Just Any Teacher But a good teacher who can teach you specifically to learn to play like your hero. If you are not sure were to find such a teacher call the musicians association closest to you and ask for phone numbers to musicians who play the style of music your interested in. Get out and see them play for maybe a little more inspiration and well as to judge if they can play the music you most desire to learn. Most musicians do teach privately and really love teaching students interested in the same style they love to play.

If your guitar hero’s music is too difficult for you to play now. A good musician/teacher will be able to teach you the techniques necessary to grow into your heros music or will be able to water your hero’s music down so it’s playable at your current level.

The very first thing I do with my own students is make a list of their guitar hero’s and the music styles & songs they wish to learn. I then taylor my lessons so they can achieve there goals at their own pace.

HERE’S A FEW VERY IMPORTANT WORDS OF ADVISE!!!

After years & years of study and practicing I have discovered learning the instrument is a life long venture. You get out of it what you put in. Accept that it takes time and most importantly you have to learn to enjoy the process!

The track was then e-mailed to Luke in Los Angeles, then forwarded to Amsterdam with the strike sample. From there the strikes were added along with a very cool percussive guitar. Once completed in Amsterdam the track was sent back to L.A. for Santino to work his vocal magic!

Be sure to share what you are playing with others! Even if it’s just a family member or friend. Your hard work to learn a piece of music should be given to others as your gift to them.

The biggest payoff learning guitar has ever given me is the joy it gives to others. If you end up getting an opportunity to perform for a large audience and your performance is long enough to get past the nerves. The payoff is an amazing euphoria. You can’t buy drugs that give you the natural high and energy I feel when every thing is clicking and we’re in the performance zone!

If you are asked to play something and you are to nervous, try what one of my students does. He will tell everyone, I’m just going to sit and practice a few songs, your more than welcome to listen. It will be rough and I will make a few mistakes, I may even stop to work out a section or two. This approach is great because it allows you permission to relax and not worry about getting it right.

Another great way to begin performing is find another guitarist to practice and perform with. This approach will create some amazing results in accelerating your journey to becoming a great guitarist. Working with others will motivate you to practice more because you will not want to let your partner down when playing together. As a bonus, when you perform together, the focus is off you and you have each other to lean on to get you through the music.

Another bonus to working with a partner is that he or she may also introduce you to their guitar heros and share with you what he has learned. I’ve accelerated my learning greatly by performing and rehearsing with other great players.

ONE LAST WORD REGARDING PERFORMING…

One thing I’ve learned is no matter how bad I though my performance was, there are people listing that absolutely loved it, and some that I’ve moved to tears.

I guess that is really what the GIFT is all about.

So do what you love and try to share it with others!

Your performance, your gift, as simple or complex as the music is to learn and play could touch someone in a way you never counted one! How Wonderful Is That!

Best wishes to all you aspiring musicians & check the website for more lessons, music, videos, news & stories.

John Gilliat

John Gilliat is a professional guitarist and teacher living in Canada. He has and continues to perform for audiences around the world. Visit John at http://www.guitar-music.ca/ Discover Passionate & Fiery Guitar Music That Will Energize You, Soothe Your Soul, and Let Your Spirits Soar!

http://www.johngilliat.com/

(First it is important that you know the letter names of the white notes on the piano and the C scale – for more info see www.thepianobyear.com)

When you are picking out the melody to a song, choose something easy like Happy Birthday to You or Row, Row, Row, your Boat. This gives you some great practice without being too difficult. Here’s the thought process for picking out the melody to Row, Row, Row Your Boat.

1. Begin on the note Middle C with your right hand. (If you know where the C-Chord is, play it first so you can hear the full chord before beginning.)

2. Of course the first three pitches to the first 3 words is the same. Therefore, the melody (tune) note to the song will be the same fir the first three words…like this:

C C C
Row, row, row your boat…

Notice how that the melody note changes (it goes up only a little bit) for the words your boat…progressing up with each word. NOTE: I’m using the word up because it indicates the pitch has moved to a higher sound.

So, when looking at the higher notes after C…the next note could be D or E (depending on how much the melody note is raised). Well, when you listen to melody notes rise on the words your boat you’ll hear that the change is very little. Therefore, the melody note for your boat must be D then E…like this:

C C C D E
Row, row, row your boat…

3. Notice how the first part of the word gently is the same note as boat (ie., it doesn’t go higher or lower than the melody note for boat. The pitch for the last part of the word gently lowers back to the same pitch as your…like this:

C C C D E E D
Row, row, row your boat…gent-ly down the stream.

Notice how down the stream the pitch continues to rise. What are the next three melody notes? You try!

Did you get it? It should be:

C C C D E E D E F G
Row, row, row your boat…gent-ly down the stream.

Last of all, notice how the very next melody note for the word Merrily goes much higher than the melody note for stream. Guessing, where do you think the melody note will fall? Will it fall on A (the next note higher than G)? Probably not…because the melody not for Merrily is MUCH higher than the melody note for stream. Try C! That’s it! Try to finish the song…when you’re done, check it to see if you were right!

The melody to the rest of the song should appear like this:

C C C D E E D E F G
Row, row, row your boat…gent-ly down the stream.

C C C G G G E E E C C C G F E D C
Merrily merrily merrily merrily…life is but a dream.

For more information about playing by ear, check out the information on my website at www.thepianobyear.com!

Matthew Stephens has been teaching students to play piano by ear for over 17 years. Having grown up in a Pentecostal Church and being the pianist for the the services, playing the piano by ear was a very important talent to possess. For a full biography, visit http://www.thepianobyear.com

I remember listening to an interview with John Mayer not too long ago. He was talking about his love for the guitar and how motivated he had been to learn everything he could about the instrument as a teenager. The first thing John would do when he got home from school was take out his guitar and start playing. He wasn’t too concerned about sports or hangin out with his friends because he was so totally absorbed in his music. He loved the guitar and that was all he wanted to do! When he finished high school he enrolled in the Berklee School of Music to further his education and hone his craft. His dedication certainly payed off, giving music fans a wonderfully gifted guitar player and songwriter. I just love the energy and entusiasm John puts into his performances. He really inspires me.

What inspires you to learn how to play the guitar? Finding the answer to this question may be just the motivational boost you need to reach your goals and persevere through difficulties. Guitar teachers, programs and books can give you advice about correct technique and so forth, but personal motivation can only come from within you.

Here are some ideas to help you develop your passion for playing the guitar…

• Write down three things that you would like to achieve on the guitar. Be as specific as possible. An example might be something like: I want to be able to sing and play the guitar at the same time.

• Next to each of your three desires, write down how you will know when you have achieved them. For example: I will know I have reached this goal when I can . (fill in the blank.)

• Write down why you want to accomplish these things. Such as: it will give me a feeling of accomplishment.

• Consider what action steps you will need to take in order to reach your desired outcome. Write these steps down on a piece of paper and keep them with your guitar. Be sure to make a note of any helpful resources you might need to achieve your objectives (such as guitar lesson books, CDs, etc.)

• Put your three goals some place where you can read them every day. Then find an encouraging person who is willing to help you keep focused and stay the course. This person can be another musician, friend, sibling, parent or teacher; it doesn’t really matter. The important thing is that they help you to stick to the decisions you’ve made and check on you’re progress from time to time.

Identify your passion. What motivates you will be the key to your success!

FREE Reprint Rights – You may publish this article in your e-zine or on your web site as long as you include the following information:

Kathy Unruh is a singer/songwriter and webmaster of ABC Learn Guitar. She has been writing songs and providing guitar lessons to students of all ages for over 20 years. For free guitar lessons, plus tips and resources on songwriting, recording and creating a music career, please visit: abclearnguitar.com

The main difference between classical and regular acoustic guitar is the way that you play them. A classical guitar has to almost become a part of you. Your body needs to move with the guitar as you play. Let yourself feel the rhythms and the melody and be caught up in them. If you are willing to take this approach, the music you play will have much more passion and movement than if you sit straight up and strum stiffly on the guitar.

Playing classical guitar requires the musician to be relaxed, both in mind and in body, and to become part of the music. Any thoughts or ideas you have of playing acoustic guitar will probably not apply to classical guitar. Be open to changing any habits or ideas that you have; this will help you to learn more quickly and to become a classical guitar player that people love to listen to.

Although classical guitar will seem difficult, take the time to learn the basics. Practice them over and over. If you do this, you will have a strong beginning to build on when you want to learn more complicated tunes and techniques. Practice and patience are very important when you want to learn classical guitar.

There are different ways to learn to play classical guitar. You can buy a book, CD or video, or even find information on the Internet. The most successful way to learn is to find a classical guitarist to teach you. It is much easier to learn how to sit, how to hold your guitar, and how to play the music if you have someone right there to show you and to correct you if you make any mistakes. Contact your local music store or put an ad in the newspaper to find a teacher. Enjoy this new learning experience, and if you feel discouraged, listen to a CD of a professional classical guitarist and look forward to the day you will be able to play that well!

Learn more about playing classical guitar at http://guitar.activitiessite.com/.

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