10/06/2007

Easy Guitar Playing Lessons

By: Ronald W. Firquain

If you have a six-string, a pick and a solid but comfortable armless chair, you are ready for some easy guitar lessons. Here are some of the basic things you should learn.

Know your instrument.
The topmost portion of your guitar is called the head or the headstock. This is where you well find the tuners, which are used to adjust the pitch of the six strings. The long part attached to the head is the neck.

Down the neck is the body of the guitar. If you are using a classical or acoustic guitar, you will find a sound hole in the middle. This serves to project and amplify the sound. Electric guitars, on the other hand, do not have holes. Instead, they have pickups, which intensify the sounds coming from your instrument. Of course, you have the strings that are attached to the tuners, run down over the neck, over the hole and attached to the bridge.

Hold your guitar properly.
The thickest guitar string should be the topmost when you hold the guitar and the neck should be parallel to the ground. The body should rest comfortably on one of your thighs.

Tune your guitar.
Before you can learn how to play the guitar, you will have to learn this skill first. You can refer to a book, an online source or a friend to learn how to tune. You can tune your guitar three ways: by ear, with a piano or a tuning flute.

Next, decide on your fret hand. This is the one that will be spending a lot of time on the neck of your guitar, pressing on the chord. If you are right handed, it is your left. If you are left handed, it's your right hand. Your pick hand is the other hand. This is the one that will hold the pick and strum the guitar.

When using your pick to strike the strings, make sure not to strike too hard or too soft. You are a beginner and need to hear how you sound like. Use only your wrist when you play and not your whole arm. Practice three different strokes on each string: downward, upward and alternate down and up. Once you get the hang of it, you will learn the best pressure to put on the string to produce the proper sound.

Learn the chords.
Get a chord book and begin practicing the chords. You can practice doing them one by one as shown on the book until your mind and fingers memorize them. Only problem is that this can get a little boring. There is just no sense playing a bunch of chords that do not sound like a real melody.

The better alternative would be to learn the most common chords first. These are: C major, D major and G major. Play one chord first until you memorize it and then move to the other. You can then practice moving from one chord to the next, keeping both the sound and the movement as fluid as possible. Practice on songs that play these chords until you have mastered them. When you do, move on to other songs using other chords.

Where to find your lessons online
There are plenty of resources you can turn to for easy guitar lessons books, magazines and online resources. If you want free lessons, here are some websites you can check out for help.

If you know the basics of playing the guitar, this site is a great resource for learning easy songs. Do not worry, because lessons are designed for beginners. A few sessions online and you should learn enough songs to surprise anyone in no time.

Not only does this site feature easy step by step lessons on guitar playing, there is also a link to a page featuring songs made popular in the 1960s. Bring back the groovy years with easy to follow instructions.

All the easy guitar playing secrets you have always wanted to learn are here, plus you get to learn how to play lead guitar. You can also order their instructional CD-ROM to learn easy guitar lessons at your own pace.

Article Source: http://www.superfeature.com

Music Video in Movies and TV SHows

By: John Smith

Modern music Video The Beatles was first major motion picture, A Hard Day's Night in 1964, directed by Richard Lester. This video set the basic visual vocabulary in today’s music videos influencing musicians, pop and rock group music videos. Following this Beatles filmed a short promotional films for their songs which were distributed for broadcast on television variety shows in U.S & other countries.

the hugely popular American TV series The Monkees was another important influence on the development of the music video genre The series ran from 1966 to 1968. In early 1967 "Strawberry Fields Forever" and " Penny Lane " by the Beatles took the genre to new heights.

Music Video Download, Rock Music Video, POP Music Video, Hip Hop Vieo, Film Clips, disco, funk, and R&B

Other pioneering music videos made during this time include the promotional films made by The Doors. The group had a strong interest in film, since both lead singer Jim Morrison and keyboard player Ray Manzarek had met while studying film at UCLA.

The animated film Yellow Submarine was an international sensation of 1968. Soon bands like The Byrds and The Beach Boys were also making promotional films, these "film clips" were often aired on pop music TV shows and there were considered as secondary.

The Midnight Special and Don Kirshner's Rock Concert mixing concert footage with clips incorporating camera tricks, special effects, and dramatizations of song lyrics such promotional clip continued to grow in importance, with television programs.

In 1966 in Australia promotional films by Australian pop performers were being made on a regular basis such as The Masters Apprentices and The Loved Ones.

Bruce Brown, George Greenough and Alby Falzon also made important contributions in their films with Surf film.

ABBA, the Swedish music group used promotional films throughout the 1970's to promote themselves in other countries when traveling or touring abroad.

Hip hop music is a style of popular music is made up of two main components: rapping (MCing) and DJing (audio mixing and scratching). Along with break dancing and graffiti (tagging), these compose the four elements of hip hop, a cultural movement that was initiated by inner-city youth, mostly African Americans and Latinos, in New York City in the early 1970s. The instrumentation of hip hop derives from disco, funk, and R&B.

Article Source:http://www.superfeature.com

A Short History of Guitar

By: Rocky

The guitar is an amazing musical instrument with ancient roots and used in a huge variety of musical styles today, it is also called as solo classical instrument. It is most well known as the primary instrument in blues, country, flamenco, rock music and many other forms of pop. The guitar normally has six strings, but four, seven, eight, ten, and even twelve string guitars are as well available. Guitars are actually made and repaired by lutheirs. Guitars could be played acoustically or they may also rely on an amplifier, which usually allows for electronic manipulation of tone. The electric guitar was established in the 20th century, and had a huge profound influence on popular culture.

In many of the history books, even some which are highly rated, you would come to know that guitar was invented by the classical-era Greeks. This is in fact due to a simple mistake. The Greeks had an instrument that they called as “Kithara”. As this was a stringed instrument and as the name also resembles very closely that of guitar, historians tend to assume that it was a guitar. The Kithara was actually a sort of Lyra or Harp, which has nothing to do with a guitar. Also, if you view at ancient Egyptian paintings, you would see many musical instruments that could be easily be mistaken for a guitar. Even by those who have been playing the instrument for twenty years.

Another fact is that quite often, in these ancient paintings, the instruments in question were used as spiritual objects and were not even played. Through rigorous study, it becomes obvious that the guitar is not actually an ancient musical instrument.

Closer to us in time, most of us would believe of the lute as a direct (straight) ancestor to the guitar. You can consider that as the “father” of the guitar. The lute, this instrument favored by troubadours of the dark ages and the revival, more closely resembles a contemporary bass than a guitar. Usually, it had four strings, which needs to be plucked; one could not strum a lute.

The body of the lute was oval and the back was rounded, kind of like an Ovation guitar. This results in that the lute was not actually a loud instrument. Hence, it could not be played in any type of band setting.

Article Source: http://www.superfeature.com

Guitar Videos - Fast Way To Learn Guitar

By: Henre Lobus

Early guitar players earn my great respect for they master their craft in a long and tedious way. They must have devoted most of their time learning techniques in trial-and-error basis. Guitar players like B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, and others are among the respected names where history testify their superior skill in playing guitar.

Not so long ago, if you want to learn to play guitar you need to buy instructional books with lots of images so you can see how a technique is done. Moreover, you need to watch concerts and see how your favorite guitar player do his riffs. I myself, with an experience of over 15 years in guitar playing, bought a lot of books and watched concerts to improve my skills.

Nowadays, the strong emergence of internet plays a vital role in exchanging knowledge fast that includes acquiring skills from other guitar players who have gone through the long process of learning. A brilliant medium to learn guitar as quick as possible is watching instructional videos which are widely available online. From beginner to a more advanced lessons. Availability comes also to a plethora of genres.

Nevertheless, you can still learn from books and images while reading guitar tabs but not as fast as watching videos. This is due to a fact that you see immediately where fingers should be on the fretboard and how the other hand strikes the strings in motion. Believe me many guitar players today attribute their success to instructional videos. Lessons in DVD and subscription are the choices for videos. If your pocket does not permit you to purchase one, might as well search the internet for free ones. But of course, you may have lots of videos at hand but if you do not practice and stretch your patients you have no where to go.

Article Source: http://www.superfeature.com

Different types of Guitar Amps



By: Rocky
Once you have selected your guitar, you require finding an amp to go with it. Today there are various options available depending on size, sound, amplifier technology and configuration. We are here to give you some useful and necessary information that would steer you through the maze.

Various types of Amplifiers

There are basically four types of guitar amplifiers: Solid-state (analog), Tube, Modeling (digital), and Hybrids.

Solid-state Amps - These guitar amps are recognized solid-state as they use transistors for their preamp and for power sections as an alternative of tubes. They are extremely trustworthy and hardly ever require repairs. They normally have a very fresh tone, even though many come with "distortion" channels also. These amps are all the rage with players looking for a strong, dependable touring amp.

Tube Amps - Tube amps are favored by many guitarists for their tepid, fat tone and as well for the "organic" distortion. Tube amps are generally sound louder than solid-state amps of the same wattage and have an exact "feel", which you do not acquire from solid-state amps. Most tube amps have different channels, which could be switched from clean to distorted tones instantly. Tube performance could also be deteriorating over time, so tubes require changing occasionally.

Modeling Amps (Digital Amps) - Modeling amp uses digital processors to reproduce the sound of traditional and contemporary tube technology. Using software that "models" the sound of tube amplifiers (and cabinets); these amps put the sound of various amps in one box. Modeling amps are programmable, and frequently have fitted digital effects like delay, chorus, etc. Some as well comprise of digital or even for analog outputs with orator simulation for going direct in to a recording border or P A system.

Hybrid Amps - Combining the best of each kind of guitar amp into one package, these amps use a real tube in combination with the solid state power part of their amps. Marshall Valve state amps use tubes in the preamp part and solid state circuitry in the power section to make a tube tone with no necessity the use of power tubes.

Article Source: http://www.superfeature.com

9/29/2007

Play Guitar By Ear...In Two Weeks From Today!!!



by Jeremy Glass
Being able to play guitar by ear must be the goal of every serious guitar player...Of course one needs to know theory and chords, but it is the ability to be able to improvise your favorite songs ...give them your own personal touch...That's what they call soul!

Two different guitar players can play the same song but it is what they add with their individuality that gives a song a unique interpretation! ( check out a guy called "Naudoprd" on YouTube, to see what I mean by soul).

So let's answer the question...How easy is it to learn to play guitar by ear?

Well, there is a hard way and the easy way...

What you have to do is start to recognize chords and melodies in the songs that you want to play...one way to do that is to record yourself playing various chords and after each chord speak aloud what the chord is...Now when you play back the recordings you have to guess what chord you have heard before you actually hear the answer..Get it?

TiP: Now it is probably best to record your chords on to your pc or mini-disk so that you can mix up and play the game at random, otherwise you might start noticing patterns etc...

And now...Here is an amazingly easy way to learn, and to be honest I only came across what I am about to tell you by accident.

If you are like me and you can't be bothered with all that...I have got some good news! There is a genius piece of software that plays the game for you...and shortly I will show you where you can pick it up for FREE! As a bonus! It was created by a guy called Ben Edwards, I'll let Ben explain it to you...

Read On...

"For along time I've heard from musicians and guitar teachers, just how important it is to train your ear in order to both transcribe songs and play better.

I know it's hard to believe... But within 2 weeks from today you could be transcribing songs from the radio with precision accuracy, just by playing "GuitEarIt!".

"GuitEarIt!" is a simple, but very powerful, multiple-choice listening game. It ranges from easy to hard.

Here's how it works: You will start off with the notes A, B, C, and D and are given various strums in which you must decide what was just strummed, using a multiple choice answer board. You get 10 points if you answer correctly first time, 6 points if it takes 2 guesses, 3 points if it takes 3 guesses, and 0 points if it takes 4 guesses. You can only progress from level to level if you score enough points. As you progress, the game gets gradually more difficult. You'll be amazed at how quickly, just by playing this game, you'll train your ear without much effort and eventually you'll be able to recognize all 36 major, minor and seventh chords.

Your friends will be saying that "you have a great ear for music". And you'll not only find it far easier to transcribe songs from the radio, you'll have a better ear for music and that will in turn pay you big, big dividends on your guitar playing progress. What an opportunity!"

Thanks Ben...Of course, you have to purchase Ben's Jamorama course to get your hands on Guitearit, but hey that's a No Brainer!...At the price !!! The software alone is worth much more than that...See the link in a moment for the Free 6 part guitar course and check for yourself the quality of the whole package!

http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=623682

Guitar Chords For Country Songs




by Mike Hayes
If you have just started playing guitar you probably want to know what are the guitar chords for country songs, how many chords should I learn, what happens if the chord shapes are difficult to play.

Acoustic guitars are great to take with you anywhere and are ideally suited to playing country songs. The guitar chords you use for country songs will depend on whether it's a two chord or three chord song.

The best guitar-friendly keys for your country songs are: G, D, A and E.

Two chord songs.

Guitar chords for country songs in keys G, D, A, and E.

Key of G = G and D7

Key of D = D and A7

Key of A = A and E7

Key of E = E and B7

Here is a short list of some country tunes using two chords.

Jambalaya

Tulsa Time

Achey Breaky Heart

Deep In The Heart Of Texas


Country artists don't sing songs, they tell stories.

Country songs are about real life--memories and reactions to real things that happen to everyone. It's about the story the singer is telling it has nothing to do with how many chords a song has, remember that many successful song have only three chords.

Country music evolved out of the tradition of working cowboys singing cowhand ballads such as 'Texas Cowboy' around the campfire or on the range and was later popularized in Hollywood by singers such as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. However, the image of the cowboy was enshrined in country music by Hank Williams.

Three chord songs.

Guitar chords for country songs in keys G, D, A, and E.

Key of G = G, C and D7

Key of D = D, G and A7

Key of A = A, D and E7

Key of E = E, A and B7

Here is a list of some country tunes using three chords.

Am I That Easy To Forget?

Blue Eyes Cryin' In The Rain

Bonapart's Retreat

Cold Cold Heart

Coward Of The County

Crazy Arms

Folsom Prison Blues

Green, Green Grass Of Home

I Fall To Pieces

I Walk The Line

Jealous Heart

King Of The Road

Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys

Okie From Muskogee

Please Release Me

Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms

Six Days On The Road

The Gambler

Truck Drivin' Man

Wabash Cannonball

When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again

You Are My Sunshine

And hundreds more ...


Songs like Your Cheatin' Heart, people still like that, it doesn't matter what year you sing it in or where you came from.

If you find that a song is in the wrong key or the chord shapes are difficult to play use a capo to make things easy.

Here's what happens when you put a capo on the first fret.

G chord now becomes G#/Ab

C chord now becomes C#/Db

D7 chord now becomes D#7/Eb7 ------------------------

D chord now becomes D#/Eb

G chord now becomes G#/Ab

A7 chord now becomes A#7/Bb7 ------------------------

A chord now becomes A#/Bb

D chord now becomes D#/Eb

E7 chord now becomes E#7/F7 ------------------------

E chord now becomes F

A chord now becomes A#/Bb

B7 chord now becomes C7

When you practice your guitar chords for country songs listen carefully and you will notice how so many country songs are strikingly similar.Many great country songs just use G, C, D or G, D, A or some combination thereof.

Thank :http://www.goarticles.com

Rock Music Information

by Robert Williams
Rock music is a well-liked music with a famous choral piece of music accompanied by guitar, drums, and basuri. Many styles of rock music also use keyboard instruments such as appendage, grand piano, or synthesizers. Rock music usually has a brawny back beat, and often revolves around guitar, either electric or auditory.

Rock music has its ancestry in 1957s- rock and roll and rockabilly. In the late 1967s, rock music was blended with folk music to create folk rock, blues to create blues rock and with tango, to create jazz-rock combination, and without a time autograph to create psychedelic astound. In the 1975s, rock integrated influences from psyche, temper, and Latin music. The guitar is a musical instrument with prehistoric pedigree that is used in a wide assortment of music styles. It typically has six strings, but four, seven, eight, ten, and twelve string guitars also exist.

Guitars are humdrum as one of the primary instruments in miserable, nation state, flamenco; flabbergast music, and many forms of pop. There is also a solitary conservative instrument. Guitars may also play acoustically, where the tenor is perverse by rhythm of the strings and modulated by the concave body, or they may rely on an amplifier that can electronically manipulate tone. Conventionally guitars have usually been constructed of combinations of an assortment of forest and strung with animal gut or more recently, with either nylon or fortify strings. Guitars are made and repaired by luthiers. An auditory guitar is one not reliant on an external device to be heard. The auditory guitar is quieter than other instruments universally found in bands and orchestras so when playing within such groups it is often superficially amplified. Many acoustic guitars available today feature a variety of pickups which enable the player to amplify and modify the raw guitar sound.


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