How To Play The Guitar For Beginners

Beginner Video Guitar Lessons – Are They Worth It?

Posted on October 26, 2009
Filed Under Acoustic Guitar Lessons, Online Guitar For Beginners, Video Electric Guitar Lessons | Leave a Comment

If you do a little searching online, you will find tons and tons of links to beginner video guitar lessons.  You’ll find everything from free videos on YouTube to expensive subscription showing you how to do everything under the sun.

The problem with the internet and with beginner video guitar lessons in particular is that there can be too many choices.  If you are just starting to learn the guitar, whether you are an absolute beginner or you’ve learned a few chords, the last thing you want is hundreds of choices.  After all, you are a beginner.  How can you be expected to know what to learn and what to practice?  If you go the independent route, chances are you will soon become overwhelmed and just stop.

For beginners in particular, I would recommend starting with an online training program.  These programs typically aren’t free, but usually they are very affordable.  In my experience, most will cost less than a single session with a private guitar tutor.  Once you select an online guitar program, you’ll have access to tons of beginner video guitar lessons, interactive tutorials, guitar training software, music, and tabs.

Lately I’ve been working through one of these online guitar for beginners programs.  To give you an idea of how the system works, each lesson will typically have something to read first.  There will usually be some information on new chords, strumming patterns, guitar theory, and some audio to play along with.

But what I really like is the beginner video guitar lessons that go along with each lesson.  It helps to see as well as hear exactly how to play the guitar.  You see exactly how to position your fingers on the frets and how to move between chords.  It is also good to hear how it is supposed to sound as I am usually way off.

Finally, the lessons conclude with jamming practice, in which you listen to and play along with a band using audio files.  This enables you to learn “in context” and to really get a feel of the music.

Not all beginner video guitar lessons and tutorials will be set up this same way, but try to look for features similar to these.  I am really getting a lot out of it and I am sure you will too.

For more information on beginner video guitar lessons, be sure to visit my review page.

Reading Tab Guitar | Tabs For Guitar – How To Play Any Song

Posted on October 26, 2009
Filed Under How To A Guitar, Reading Tab Guitar, Tabs For Guitar | Leave a Comment

If they master the skill of reading tab guitar players can easily learn to play just about any song.  It is a pretty simple skill but it also can be rather intimidating to beginners just starting out with guitar.   As I was researching the article, I found this already quite thorough article on reading tabs for guitar that I thought you would enjoy.   I think it does a great job at explaining the various aspects of reading tabs for guitar.  Guitar players, especially beginners, should find this overview very helpful.

Syndicated from EzineArticles,com:

Beginner Guitar Tabs Made Easy
By B O’Brien

The guitar is a very versatile instrument. It can also be challenging at times to learn new songs on the guitar, because there are as many as six different places on the neck where the same note can be sounded. This makes traditional sheet music less useful for the guitar than for some other instruments. That’s why it’s important to learn guitar tab right away.

From easy beginner guitar tabs to the sophisticated tabs found in modern guitar magazines, tablature makes learning the guitar easier and faster than ever before.

What is guitar tab? It’s a graphic representation of the guitar neck that shows where each note is to be played, rather than showing the actual notes as in standard musical notation. It can range from very simple beginner guitar tab with only the basic parts of the song to very complex transcriptions, but the basic concepts are the same throughout. No matter your level of musical knowledge, once you learn guitar tab you will progress on the instrument much more quickly.

One issue to be aware of is the difference between most of the tab you’ll find online versus the tab you’ll see in magazines, tablature books, and other printed materials. Online tab is typically created with dashes to represent the strings and various letters and other symbols to indicate different techniques. Rhythms are typically not as precisely indicated in online tab, and in general printed tab is more exact and accurate than online tab. Still, online tab is an invaluable resource that makes it easy to learn guitar with help of our beginner guitar lessons.

Let’s take a look at the basics.

The Staff and Tuning

Traditional musical notation uses either four or five lines. Guitar tab uses six, to represent the six strings. Online, it often looks like this:

fig 1

E ———————

B ———————

G ———————

D ———————

A ———————

E ———————

The letters to the left show the tuning of each string. You’ll notice that this shows standard tuning, and that the high E is at the top and the low E is at the bottom. Some tabs might leave out the tuning. If it does, you can assume the song is in standard tuning. You might also see tab with a different tuning indicated:

fig 2

D ——————–

B ——————–

G ——————–

D ——————–

G ——————–

D ——————–

This example shows an open-G tuning; to follow the tab properly you’ll need to tune your guitar as indicated.

Reading Notes and Chords

As mentioned earlier, notes and chords are indicated in tab by placing numbers, to indicate the fret to be played, on the appropriate line (string). Open notes are indicated with a ’0′. So, an E major chord would look like this:

fig 3

E —-0—-

B —-0—-

G —-1—-

D —-2—-

A —-2—-

E —-0—-

This tab shows that you should fret the A and D strings at the second fret and the G string at the first fret, and the rest of the strings should be open. Stacking the numbers on top of each other indicates that the notes should be played at the same time, although in this case it doesn’t indicate how long the chord should be held. You’ll also sometimes see chord names listed below the tab:

fig 4

E —-0—-

B —-0—-

G —-1—-

D —-2—-

A —-2—-

E —-0—-

E Maj

Especially online, this practice varies widely, but you will usually see it in more professional tablature. As you learn guitar tabs and become more proficient, you’ll be able to recognize many chords even without the labels.

In all tabs, from beginner guitar tabs to the most insanely complex tabs, single notes are indicated like this:

fig 5

E —————-

B —————-

G —————-

D —————-

A ——–0—2–

E 0—3———-

This tab shows the first four notes of the E pentatonic scale. To play this tab, pick the open low E string, then fret at the third fret and pick again. Move to the A string and pick the open string, then fret at the second fret and pick. Notice that you can’t tell exactly how long to play each note, or the exact rhythm of the notes. Printed tab, even easy beginner guitar tabs, is much more precise. The same phrase in a magazine would look like this:

fig 6

———————–

———————–

-T——————–

-A————|-|——

-B—–|-|—0-2——

——-0-3————-

Notice the line above each note: these are quarter notes, which means there are four of them per measure. Here are the most common notes you’ll see in tablature:

(image of E major scale, starting with whole note, two halves, four quarters, eight eighths, and sixteenths)

Let’s look at these notes. The first note is called a whole note. It’s worth four beats, which means you hold the note for four full beats. The next two notes are half notes because they are worth half a measure (in 4/4), or two full beats. The quarter notes are next, and they are worth (you guessed it) a quarter of a measure, or one beat.

Eighth notes are next, worth half a beat each for eight in a measure. You count these as ’1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and.’ The numbers are the down beats and the ‘and’s are the up beats. The phrase finishes up with sixteenth notes, which are a quarter of a beat each. To count these, divide each beat up into four smaller pieces: ’1 ee and a.’ The ‘ee’ and ‘a’ come between the ‘and’, which was the second half of the beat in the eighth notes. So, sixteenth notes are twice as fast as eighth notes.

This can be confusing at first, but as you continue to learn guitar tabs you’ll become more comfortable with this system. It’s also very important to use your ear: read the tablature to a song you like as you listen to the song, paying particular attention to the note rhythms and how those are notated. And as you learn guitar tab songs, make sure to listen to the song often; as you progress, also try playing along with the song — it’s a valuable learning experience and a lot of fun, as well.

Also, be aware that a lot of the tab you’ll find online might not have very precise rhythmic notation. For example, if you see this:

fig 7

E -15-12-14-12————————————————–

B —————–15-13-12-13———————————-

G ———————————-14-12-14-12—————–

D ————————————————–15-14-13-12-

A ——————————————————————-

E ——————————————————————-

it might be very difficult to determine the exact timing of the notes. You might guess that they’re supposed to be sixteenth notes, but you can’t tell for sure. The solution? Listen to the song in question over and over until you can at least approximate the rhythm and determine roughly what values each note carries. Again, this is an area where published tab has a large advantage over online tab, although even the roughest of online tab will help make it easy to learn guitar parts if you work at it a bit.

Expressive Guitar Playing and Tabs

One of the guitar’s greatest strengths is the expressiveness you can achieve with the instrument. Techniques such as string bending, hammer-ons, and pull-offs extend the emotional power of the instrument and give you a powerful arsenal of tools. And, luckily, guitar tab has conventions for showing when these tools are used. You might not run into them very often in beginner guitar tabs, but you’ll definitely encounter them sooner or later, and they’re excellent techniques to practice from the beginning.

String bending involves fretting a given note and then bending the string, causing the pitch to rise to a higher note. For example, you might fret a D note on the G string at the seventh fret:

fig 8

E —————

B —————

G ——7——-

D —————

A —————

E —————

You would then bend the note up to E, two steps above the D. This is indicated in tab with a ‘b’ symbol:

fig 9

E —————–

B —————–

G —–7b9——-

D —————–

A —————–

E —————–

Note that this doesn’t mean you should fret the note at the ninth fret; your finger stays on the seventh fret. It’s only the pitch that rises.

Hammer-ons and pull-offs allow you to play legato (smooth, flowing) passages where you don’t pick every note. To execute a hammer-on, fret a note and pick it. Then, without picking again, sharply fret a higher note on the same string with another finger, ‘hammering’ the string with that finger. This can take time to learn to execute properly, but it’s an absolutely essential skill for every guitarist regardless of musical style. Practice until the second note is the same volume as the first. The tab looks like this:

fig 10

E —————–

B —————–

G —–7h9——-

D —————–

A —————–

E —————–

Once again we’re moving from D to E, but this time with a hammer-on. You should have your index finger on the seventh fret and use the third finger for the ninth fret. Alternate between the bend and the hammer-on and pay attention to how different they sound. You can then also pull off your third finger, pulling down toward the floor a little bit to make sure the D note sounds:

fig 11

E —————–

B —————–

G ——9p7——

D —————–

A —————–

E —————–

Again, strive to make the second note sound as loud as the first note. Also be careful not to hit the surrounding strings as you pull your finger away.

A final technique you’ll often come across, even in beginner guitar tab, is tapping. Tapping refers to the practice of fretting a note with a finger (usually either the pointer or index finger) of the picking hand. Fret a note with your left hand, pick it, and then hammer down on the same string at a higher fret with your pick hand. This is an advanced technique that can take a lot of time to learn, but you should at least know what the tab looks like:

fig 12

E ——————

B —5–t9———

G ——————

D ——————

A ——————

E ——————

In online tab the tapped note is indicated with a ‘t’, while tab in magazines usually circles the tapped note. You’ll often see long lines that combine bends, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and tapping:

fig 13

E ————————————————————————————————————————–

B ————————————————————————————————————————–

G  –2-h4-b5-4-2-4-5-4-5-h7-p-5-h7-t9-7-t10-7-t12-7-t14-12-10-12-17-14——————————–

D ————————————————————————————————————————–

A ————————————————————————————————————————–

E ————————————————————————————————————————–

As mentioned before, this type of passage can be difficult to decode in online tab, particularly in terms of the rhythm. If it were an actual song, you would need to rely on your ears to determine the proper phrasing. As you learn guitar tab and practice, practice, practice, you’ll get better at reading this type of passage and at playing it properly.

In addition to our lessons, there are a number of resources available to help you learn guitar tab including a number of excellent guitar magazines. Be sure to check them out as well, especially since they usually feature tabs of popular songs. There are also thousands of books with tabs of popular bands and artists.

For Video Guitar Lessons for Beginners That Makes Learning Beginner Guitar Easy Visit:
http://www.myguitarlessons.net

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=B_O’Brien

So that is the basic gist when it comes to reading tabs for guitar.  Most guitarists find that guitar tabs are the fastest way to learn to play the guitar.  Many guitarists never get around to learning to read traditional sheet music.  Guitar tabs are much easier.  You lose a little detail in terms of information about timing and rhythm.  But if you listen to and play along with your favorite songs, you will quickly learn how the notes are supposed to be played.

For detailed information on reading tab guitar notation, and thorough training on all aspects of playing the guitar, be sure to check out our recommended programs on our review page.

Beginner’s How To – A Guitar Learner’s Guide

Posted on October 26, 2009
Filed Under How To A Guitar, Online Guitar For Beginners | Leave a Comment

Are you looking for a really good guitar how-to?  A guitar guide created to help you to learn as fast as you can?  Are you looking to get beyond the tedious beginner stages as fast as possible and get to the stage where you can play recognizable songs?  How would you like to really impress your friends and learn how to get a room full of people cheering for more?

Search no further.  Today is arguably the most advantageous time in recent memory to start playing the guitar.  If you need a quality how-to, a guitar training guide, the internet is the key.  The internet certainly is an amazing learning source for guitar learners.  If you tried to learn the guitar in the past, you used to have to buy a collection of tedious guitar training manuals or spend your hard earned money for time consuming training sessions.

Now, taking advantage of the internet, you can gain instant access to hundreds and hundreds of songs and receive training from the best of the best.  The tricky part is locating a carefully designed online how-to.  A guitar player can find a huge collection of beginner videos on the web, but most often these will turn out to be incomplete, poorly produced, or be advertisements for other courses and products.

For those who are considering learning really learning the guitar or are becoming impatient with your current skills and abilities, what you really want is a well thought out learning method that will take you hand-in-hand through fundamentals, tricks, and techniques to help you get to the your favorite tunes as soon as possible.

For our recommendations on choosing the best how-to, a guitar tutorial for learning how to play recognizable songs as quickly as possible, please visit our how to a guitar resource page for advice and recommendations.

A Guitar How To – A Guitar Player’s Guide To Mastering The Guitar Online

Posted on October 24, 2009
Filed Under How To A Guitar, Online Guitar For Beginners | Leave a Comment

Are you a new guitar player? Perhaps you have been learning for a while but are unsatisfied with your skills or maybe you feel as though you are stuck in a rut?

If so, chances are you have been searching around for a good guitar how to a guitar instruction program that will effortlessly develop your playing skills and turn you into an expert player.

While it may not happen overnight, the good news is that there are many excellent online guitar programs to choose from. However, deciding on an online program can be tricky. There are plenty of very effective programs but there are also plenty of bad ones. Before you spend your money, it helps to know what to look for.

When evaluating an online beginning guitar how to, a guitar player should look for three key features.

First, does the training package offer a comprehensive set of video tutorials? While it would be preferable to have private lessons from a live teacher, most of us can neither afford the time nor the cost. The more preferable option is to find for yourself a comprehensive video training program. In addition to having access to a video tutor whenever you want, you will also be able to slow down and/or rewind the videos until you become adept with the skill. Also important, with web-based video instruction, you can ideally switch at will between different teachers and musical styles.

Next, do you pay for everything at once or do you have to sign up for some monthly subscription as you get better and better? In the old days, you were forced to buy several introductory-level books, advance through the levels, and then buy several more increasingly advanced books. If you select a good comprehensive online program, you will usually only have to pay once and you’ll gain access to all the material, from beginner to advanced. Before you know it people will be asking, “How did you suddenly learn to play so good?”

Thirdly, does the program focus on getting you playing? As a beginner, you don’t want to spend hours and hours playing repetitive drills and scales over and over again just to progress to more boring exercises. We want to learn to play the guitar because we want to actually play the guitar. Although drills and scales have their place, the best and most satisfying way to learn is to learn through playing your favorite songs.

Even after selecting the best guitar how-to, a guitar player should be prepared to practice. Learning how to play the guitar takes a a lot of effort, discipline, and practice. But there are definitely ways to progress faster and have a more enjoyable time along the way.

The most important step is selecting the right guitar how-to. A guitar program should take you all the way from the beginner level to the advanced and utilize the most effective training curriculum, video tutorials, and multimedia support.

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