Three Benefits To An Online Piano Teaching System

You are about to discover the benefits of online piano lessons and how you can begin learning how to play a piano today.

The question of the day is whether or not this kind of piano teaching system is as good as the more conventional type of lesson and whether or not you should invest the dough to give any of them a try. With most programs offering you a money back guarantee, what have you got to lose?

Below we will answer this question by giving you three benefits you will receive by taking piano lessons online.

Benefit #1 - Reading Music

The ability to study and learn on your laptop or desktop will not only save you time, but you'll quickly discover being able to develop the skill of reading music can happen rather quickly if you practice what you learn with the piano teaching system. Generally the foundation, or fundamentals of music theory, is what turns individuals away from studying an instrument. But online lessons are enjoyable and make this "chore" a lot simpler to tackle.

The numerous solutions accessible on the internet have lessons and tutorials as well as games that assist you to discover the theory of reading music. These programs make practicing more entertaining and you will be learning to read music in no time at all.

Benefit #2 - Playing by Ear

Unless you are born with the ability, learning how to play by ear is something most people won't take advantage of the opportunity to do. But if you do, it will have a huge impact very rapidly on your ability and enjoyment of playing the piano. Do not pass up this opportunity. It will open up a huge window for you.

If you've ever heard a song on the radio and wish you could sit down and play it, then these online programs will teach you some very easy methods to make playing piano by ear a breeze. Even if you've failed before, online piano lessons can teach you how to do it and for cheaper than going to a conventional teacher.

Benefit #3 - Improvisation

Regardless if you're just starting out or a seasoned pro, improvisation isn't something that has normally been taught on a normal basis. But now with these programs, even the more seasoned pro can discover some simple improvisation methods.

When you learn to improvise, you will discover lots of new insights about playing the piano and music in general. Plus, it's simple to take the fundamentals and apply them to all the various styles. Regardless of what style you like to play now, you'll easily have the ability to start improvising in any genre, including the blues, jazz, and even country music if that's your thing.

Online piano lessons can definitely teach you how you can read music, how you can play by ear and they will show you some simple methods to discover how you can start to improvise.

Utilizing downloadable lessons will not only save you time and cash, but most of the online piano teaching systems available are simple to follow and make learning how to play a piano and learn music theory enjoyable.

You Make The Difference

For more information about online piano courses, visit PlayPianoDude.com where you will find this and much more, including how to play a piano with 12 fingers.

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Introduction to Pitch for Guitar

Pitch is a fundamental aspect of music. One of the definitions of music is organised sounds over time. Thus it's important that we start with a solid explanation of what pitch is. When you hear a sound you are hearing three aspects - 1 Pitch (measured in Hz) 2 Loudness (measured in dB) 3 Timbre (the quality of the sound) for example the Electric guitar has a completely different sound than the bass drum or the piano.

Pitch is measured vibrations in the air detected by the ear.
- Measured by the frequency in Herz (Hz)
- Made by a plucked string, a hit of the drum, a note of the piano

Hertz is a system to measure frequency designed by scientist Heinrich Hertz. One Hertz = One vibration (cycle) per second. Hertz is the universal measure of pitch.

Have you ever seen a speaker when a song is being played that is low in pitch? The cone of the speaker "Flaps" this is because the sound is low in Hertz so you can 'see' the speaker cone vibrating, if the sound was higher in pitch the speaker vibration would be harder to spot.

It is a universal sight to see the speaker flapping about to symbolize low frequency music an example can be seen on this YouTube clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwoRlO8aVsQ

The speaker is flapping because the Hertz is at a low setting so the speaker is only vibrating a small amount of times a second.

Your ear is designed to detect sound in the air, stemming from the very beginning of life your ear would be there to help you detect prey or a predator.

When a note vibrates faster we call it higher, when a note vibrates slower we call it lower. A2 on the piano is 110.000 Hz A3 on the piano (one octave higher) is 220.000 Hz which is exactly double the frequency in Hz. It's the same note but higher in pitch.

In early discovery of musical instruments as we know it today (with our equal tempered scale) if you half the length of the string you double its pitch and you go up by what we call an octave, this discovery has shaped the majority of western music as we know it today with the chromatic scale which has twelve pitches.

If you go to your guitar now and play any note on the guitar with an open string (no frets being used) then fret the 12th fret and play the same string what you will get is the same note but an octave higher).

Octave means 8 tones, if you were playing the open A string then the octave would be an A as well.

A B C D E F G A
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
OPEN STRING OCTAVE

NB we are missing out semi tones for ease of reference.

The human ear can hear any frequency between (approx) 20Hz to 20,000 Hz which is part of the reason why most in earphones have this frequency response. As an adult this range diminishes with age.

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Look Out Pokemon - Here Comes Piano Pedagogy

I have been playing the piano for over 40 years now and I recently came across the term, pedagogy. Watching my kids collect Pokemon cards when they were little, I immediately assumed this must be one of Pikachu's arch enemies. I could imagine Piano Pedagogy as a Fire Pokemon battling to the death with Pikachu. As if they actually battled to the death.

Anyway, thought I would share some information on the subject. Hope you enjoy and are inspired to continue your musical journey.

What Is Piano Pedagogy?

Piano pedagogy is the study of the teaching of playing piano. The focus of piano pedagogy is more geared towards instruction as it relates to individual students as opposed to music education in general which focuses more on a group or educational environment. In other words, piano lessons, which usually involve a one on one coaching or semi-private instruction. Therefore, the nice lady that I used to call my piano teacher, would correctly be referred to as a 'piano pedagogue'.

The range of disparity between available teachers associated with piano is extremely large. Unfortunately, competent education is not always guaranteed simply by the amount of years a person has undertaken lessons. It takes more than tenure.

The factors which affect the ability of any piano educator consist of one's education and learning level, understanding of musical performance, knowledge of musical genres, history, and piano repertoire, and most importantly, the ability to customize one's teaching method to sync with different personalities as well as learning styles.

Learning how to play a piano includes the teaching of artistic, problem-solving, motor and intellectual skills. There are several areas of study involved including ear training, rhythm, notation, technique, improvisation, sight reading, and memorization.

Education

Piano pedagogy may be studied through academic programs which often culminate to the achievement of a bachelors, master, or even doctoral degree at music universities or conservatories. The undergraduate degree may call for several years of previous piano studies and prior instructing knowledge as prerequisites for application. At the graduate level, numerous universities require applicants to have some training experience and a minimum of a bachelor of music or comparable experience in piano performance and pedagogy.

Even though most piano pedagogy programs include a wide range of past performance experience, the curriculum for the pedagogy degree varies from school to school. And although most do not, students associated with the latter group have the choice to be able to get training exclusively within the 'teaching of piano' category itself.

Check out our featured online courses or make use of the major search engines to find the piano pedagogy courses that may be of interest to you today by visiting PlayPianoDude.com where you will find this and much more, including how to play a piano with 12 fingers!

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Top 10 Tips for Achieving Your Dream Blues Guitar Tone

Tip one:

Not all strings are created equal! Some strings are bright some are mellow some are coated some are wound some are flat wound! Find a brand that suits you and stick to them. Personally I use D'Addario gauge 11 for that full tone, be aware that they are harder to play but you won't be disappointed by the tone.

For a more mellow tone I recommend the flat wound strings which are smooth and sound vintage, A Hendrix signature series are available by a company called Dean Markley and reproduce the tone from Hendrix's early years.

Tip Two:

Pull back the gain, if you play on the overdrive channel of the amplifier or overdrive pedal. Dial the gain to a setting of between 4-6 for that snarly blues tone but without the saturation sound that is better suited for hard Rock and metal.

Tip Three:

Use the neck pick up for a warm bluesy tone. Every guitar is different and every pick up is different, if using a Les Paul style guitar use the rhythm selection on the pickup selection, if using a Strat style guitar flip the pick up selector over towards the neck for that neck pick up.

The string vibrates at its fastest towards the bridge and the nut of the guitar and at its slowest towards the centre, therefore the bridge pickup will pick up a very bright tone and the neck pickup will pick up a tone that is more mellow, full bodied and bluesy.

Tip Four:

Keep those strings clean! If your strings are dead, your tone is dead. Use specialist string cleaners after every practice session to prolong string life and keep those strings sounding great. If in doubt about the need of a string change pinch the 1st string and rub up and down does it feel smooth or rough? If it feels like rusty barbed wire then its time for a string change!

Tip Five:

Use a pinch of reverb usually between 1-3 should be fine, this will give your sound a feeling of space and depth. Beware though; reverb can be used just like distortion to substitute for poor technique. Make sure the reverb is not playing you! Keep it moderate and it will polish that sound nicely.

Tip Six:

Picks are all different so which one should I use? Typically a gauge 1.00mm-1.5mm should be good for a blues player who wants to get a full and powerful sound, typically if you are playing lead you will not want anything lighter as it will not carry the sound and give you a weaker tone. The harder the pick the louder your tone. 0.5mm-0.7mm picks are best for strumming, as they do not attack the strings as hard. Get a selection of picks and see which ones you like best. I like the Dunlop picks.

Tip Seven:

Wah Wahs are an essential pedal for any serious blues player. The wah exaggerates certain midrange frequencies, which you as the player can manipulate by the controller pedal. This is great for guitar solos as you can choose to bring out the top mid frequencies for an exciting tone of pull back for a mellow tone. Perhaps one of the most famous examples of the Wah Wah pedal is in the intro to Voodoo Chile. I have played a number of Wah pedals and as a blues player I like the Cry Baby.

Tip Eight:

Keep it organic sounding. Look back to the equipment that your Blues guitar hero had. Did they use a pedal board with 30 top of the range modulation pedals including flange, phaser digital delay pitch shifter and Bad Horsie Wah Pedal? - Probably not! I tend to keep my line up quite simple. I use the amplifier gain from a tube amp (Vox) and a crybaby and a pinch of reverb. This is not to say don't use an effects pedal. I have seen people using a boss pedal with great results because they select sounds which are relevant to the genre, for example an overdrive not a distortion, a traditional wah setting not a hybrid setting and a vintage chorus setting or univibe setting.

Tip Nine:

Learn all that you can about technique. There are countless ways to bend a string and every blues player has a unique way of bending strings. Study your favourite blues guitar player and listen to how they bend the stings, find out which notes of the scale they bend for that signature sound is she bending the minor 3rd? Is she doing a semi tone bend to bring that minor 3rd up to a major 3rd. Put the solo into a program like logic, cubase or even a free version of audacity and loop each phrase to learn from the masters themselves.

Tip Ten:

Learn your scales. You don't need to learn all of them! The scales to start with are the Minor pentatonic and the Blues scale.

The minor pentatonic is built from these intervals:

R - b3 - 4 - 5 - b7

In the key of C, that would give us:

C - Eb - F - G - Bb.

The "blues scale" is built from these intervals

R - b3 - 4 - b5 (dim) - 5 - b7

in the key of C, that would give us:

C-Eb- F- Gb- G- Bb

Learn these two scales and you will be well on your way

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Start With Easy Guitar Songs

With all the musical instruments we hear every day, one seems to stand out for the majority of people, and that is the guitar. This is one of the reasons why there are more and more people willing to learn to play the guitar. Some may have other reasons why they want to study the craft; they probably want to join a rock band or something. But whatever the reason is, the goal remains the same, and that is learning and improving their guitar playing skills. To be able to improve, you will need to put time and effort in practicing and to be able to do this you will need good guitar material and easy guitar songs to work with.

Performing solo performances for a live audience can be quite nerve wracking especially if you are still a beginner. But this is something that you really need to build your confidence. Once you hear the audience liking your music, it is a big motivator for you to improve on your skills and learn to play easy guitar songs. It is very important that you master playing your guitar alone first before you try joining a band. A solo performance is very different as every string you are playing is clearly heard by your audience, and as mentioned, you will build your confidence through playing solo. Unlike in a band, if you make a mistake it's not going to be too obvious.

So what should you do to be able to improve your solo guitar skills? The first thing is to get your basic skills locked down. You always need to start with the basics by studying and mastering the chords, strumming pattern and basic playing techniques. Don't quickly jump to playing easy guitar songs if you have not memorized your basic chords yet. Give time practicing finger position drills and switching chords, this way, you can get to memorize the chords and your finger will get use to the positions as they can be very stiff at first.

The next way to improve on your skills is to start practicing on easy guitar songs. With the help of easy guitar songs, your guitar skills will improve faster especially with your solo playing. With easy guitar songs, you will be able to practice switching chords, chord recognition and smooth progressions. You can now put everything that you've previously learned in application.

You can find hundreds of easy guitar songs in the Internet and you can choose something that is very familiar to you like an old classic. There are many websites out there that aims to help beginners get better in their solo playing guitar skills.

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7 Secrets for Beginners of Seagull S6

That Seagull S6 is just a beginner's guitar is a great understatement. Seagull, a Canadian guitar maker, has been crafting one of the world's best guitars since the 1980s. Of the various guitar models Seagull has made, Seagull S6 has succeeded in making a name of its own in the music industry by winning several awards. It is currently one of a few acoustic guitars which keep getting rave reviews from guitar users all over. Here are seven reasons why:

1. Tone. Seagull S6 produces a warm, melodious tone that sounds even better than those produced by some other prestigious and high-priced guitar brands. Its beautiful sound can be attributed to the careful crafting of this guitar. To be able to produce a rich sound, the makers of Seagull S6 use only the best wood for its body and materials for the accessories. From the nut and saddle up to the strings, the guitar is a display of excellent craftsmanship. The result is an unforgettable sound quality which beginners and professionals would find soothing to the ear.

2. Sturdiness. The secret to the quality of Seagull's guitars is the superiority of the wood used. Most guitars, especially the medium to low-end sides, use plain plywood for its tops. Seagull guitars are trademarked for its solid Cedar tops and black cherry colored-laminated back. Unlike those which use plywood as its base, the cedar in Seagull guitars gives it sturdiness that withstands the test of time.

3. Aging. The Seagull S6 only gets better as it ages. The secret behind it-the materials used. A guitar with solid top generally produces a better quality sound than a plywood top guitar. Solid tops improve over time and over use. This process is called aging. The more it is played, the more it improves and gives a rich sound.

4. Comfort in Handling. The typical Dreadnought design of the Seagull S6 allows for efficient handling. It has the right size and make which users find attractive. Even if the player is sitting down or standing up, its curvy and easy to clutch features let the user hold the guitar with ease.

5. Nut and Saddle. The nut and saddle of the guitar hold the strings firmly in place. Seagull S6 uses a hybrid plastic called Tusq for its nut and saddle. More and more manufacturers are currently turning to Tusq because it not only supports the strings but also enhances the guitar's tone.

6. High string action. Like other fine guitars, the makers of Seagull also tailored their strings to provide high performance. Guitar players would find it easy to tune the guitar easier.

7. Affordability. Who would resist the sheer affordability of a good sounding and sturdy guitar like the Seagull S6? For less than $500, anyone can own this guitar already. What is more, you get good value for every dollar you spent because you not only get a guitar, you get the best guitar.

So, if you are a beginner and you are looking for your first guitar, Seagull S6 is the guitar that will give you ease in playing, professional sound quality, and value for your money all at the same time for Seagull S6.

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Piano Lesson: Preparation for Recital

Performing in recitals can be stressful. Through the years, as a piano teacher I decided that my recitals would not be mandatory but rather optional. The same applies to memorizing. It's your choice with what you're comfortable with and to the degree of difficulty your advanced song might be.

I would set a date around mid May and let students know about the recital at the first part of September. That way, they would have a whole year to prepare their song, with my approval, of course. I used to have recitals two times a year. Christmas time was special for music and performance but then later on, everyone's calendar started filling up too quickly. So, I kept it yearly, conveniently after Mother's day and before Memorial Day. It seemed to work for everyone.

When it comes to the actual day of the recital, there will be so many musical details to remember. You will want to focus on the notes, dynamics, phrasing and expression of your special piece.

But also remember to have a good recital experience by focusing on the positive parts of performing. For example, think about how much fun your music is, how very much the people in the audience will enjoy hearing it (your teacher, friends and family) and how proud you will feel when you are done.

So, what if you do get nervous?

1. Remember to breathe because breathing relaxes your muscles and can lower your heart rate (pulse). It also brings oxygen to your brain, which is necessary for your brain to function properly. Take a few deep breaths, counting slowly to 4 as you inhale and then exhaling, counting to 4 also.

2. Visualize and imagine you are in a calm place, like a dream vacation spot. I always remind my students to "stay in the bubble." Think about all the calming things about that place and pretend you are transported there for a minute to relax.

3. Relax those muscles and lightly rub the back of your neck and your shoulders to help the muscles relax a bit. These spots seem to be where we carry the most tension. Make big circles with your arms, moving them slowly. Pull your shoulder blades close together, squeezing them gently, and then let them go back to their places just as slowly.

Overall, the piano recital should be and will be a positive experience, building the musician's self-esteem. In fact, I have changed the wording of "Recital" to "Family Gathering." That way, everyone realizes that no one is perfect and that mistakes are simply o.k.

I would like to add that if you have severe stage fright, then perhaps it's o.k. for you to give yourself permission to not perform and play live in front of a group. In time, you might just find yourself being comfortable playing the piano in front of other students in your teacher's studio.

So, for those of you that know your song well in advance, you've played your song at home in front of family and you've avoided drinking caffeine beverages before your recital, then you're ready to go. Don't forget to get some much-needed rest the night before and by all means, wear comfortable shoes. Just be your self.

If you make a mistake, don't worry. Just smile and keep a-going! The same applies to a talent show performance. Be sure and have fun! I hope this checklist has been beneficial to you. Happy practicing and preparing for "that day." It will be such great experience to play "live" for any audience. Just listen to the applause and the folks say, "Well done!"

Diana Rogers has been teaching piano for over fifteen years. She is the author of free monthly newsletters. For more information, visit http://ladydpiano.com/

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Learning Guitar: 7 Tips to Optimize Your Practice Time

Learning guitar is no different to learning how to play a sport, practice is a very important and essential part of the process. Whether you are learning guitar online or with a private instructor, the predominant factor and common denominator here that will determine your progress is practice. Regular daily practice of the material you learn from your lessons is the only sure and proven way to your ongoing progress and improvement.

How long you spend practicing.How long you practice each day is totally up to you, and this totally depends on how serious and committed you are... 1 hour? 30 minutes? 45 minutes? 2 hours? How busy is your daily schedule? How much time are you willing to make available for your practice? If you can fit 20 to 30 minutes of practice into your busy day, you will improve steadily and become the very proficient player you've always dreamed of being.

Make a commitment. You simply just have to make a commitment and stick to it. Even if it's only 15 minutes a day, you'll be amazed at the results you can achieve within only a few months of regular practice.

Choose the best time. Remember this is the time you're spending to reach your goal so it has to be your own private time. It has to be uninterrupted and focused. Pick the most suitable time of day for you, away from any distractions. Turn your mobile phone off, let people know what you're doing and ask to not be disturbed. It's the time for you to focus on learning guitar.

Plan your practice. For your practice to be effective it has to be well planned and structured. That means if you practice for 30 minutes every day, those 30 minutes have to be fully optimized with effective exercises to ensure a steady progress. An example would be to break your 30 minute practice into two 15 minute parts. Spend the first half doing scale exercises and the second half working on chords and learning a new song.

Stay focused. Don't cut corners and move to something new if you haven't completed something you've been working on. That's only going to slow down your progress and make your playing sloppy. You need to be patient and take it one step at a time. Just follow the lessons presented to you in the order they are structured and move on as you feel comfortable and ready for new ground. Move at your own pace, that's the convenience that comes with online guitar lessons.

Have fun. Enjoy your practice at all times. It will never feel like work if you have fun while you're practicing. Remember that you're learning how to express yourself on the guitar with music. How could you not enjoy that? It's all a joy and a blessing.

Take a look at the big picture. Every time you stumble into a road block and feel like you're not going anywhere, just look at the big picture. Visualize yourself being able to play that chord progression you've been struggling with or that scale run you're not getting. We all get these moments and the best way to move through them is by not focusing on the negative side of things. Relax, take a deep breath, visualize, break it down step by step and you'll play it right.

If you apply these tips and focus on your daily practice, you'll have big rewards coming your way. It will be hard for you to find the words to describe the feeling you get when you start to hear a song come together and when you see your fingers move into those shapes on the fretboard and play those beautiful sounds that can only be played on a guitar. This is only just a start of the shapes of things to come and the many rewards you're about to get on your journey to learning guitar. You'll change the world you live in by discovering a new way to express yourself.

And now I would like to invite you to get your free access to a ton of quality information on learning how to play guitar and a 6-part Guitar E-course. Get your free access at: http://www.learnhowtoplayguitarnow.com/

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The Most Common Chords a Pianist Will Use and Some Common Chord Patterns for You to Try at Home

As a beginner it is really important to learn popular chords that you will often come across when playing music on the piano.

Chords are very important when it comes to learning piano, as they are present in every song you will play. With piano you have two different clefs - one being the treble clef which is normally played with your right hand and are usually the higher notes above middle C.

Then you have the bass clef, which is normally played with your left hand and are notes below middle C.

Chords won't always be played as a single unit i.e. 3 notes struck together, but what you will very often find is they will be split up between the clefs, so you might have for example C Major Chord, but the E out of the chord is being played in the treble clef as the melody, and the C and G are being played lower in the bass clef.

This is why it is so important to learn all chords and become confident playing them as it will help your musical development if you understand where the music is developed from.

Chords consist of three individual notes but when struck together sound great. Chords are used in many ways. They are also present in most music you will play and perform and so learning piano chords will give you the opportunity to play many styles.

Learning chords is a way of opening up performing opportunities for you. It will allow you the freedom to accompany singers, or you may be a singer yourself, so it will give you the chance to accompany yourself.

You may also at some point wish to play together with other musicians in a band so chords will also come in handy for this.

The most popular types of chords you will come across are Major and Minor Chords. Major are often described as the happy sounding chords and Minor are described as the sad sounding chords. These common chords are found in most styles of music, but most commonly found in pop rock and classical music.

Below are two formulas to help you work out both Major and Minor Chords. It is a simple formula to follow, but will give you the information you need to work out any major or minor chords: -

To work out a major chord, you need to select a note in which you want the chord for. This is called your root note. Then moving up the piano you will climb four notes including white and black notes, and this will work out your middle note. From here you will climb a further three steps to reach your third note. You will then have formed a chord.

If we use C major as an example, your root note will be C, your Middle note will be E and your last note will be a G. So you have three notes C E & G which are then turned into C major chord.

Try working out some other chords yourself. Do them in patterns that fit, so try working out C Major, F Major and G Major. Then play these one after another and see how great they sound.

To work out minor chords, you select a your root note. Then you climb three steps and you will reach your middle note, and a further four steps to reach your last note for the chord. For example A minor Chord would have A as your root note, C as your middle note and E as your last note. So your three notes for A Minor chord are A C E.

Try working out some other minor chords yourself. Common minor pattern are D Minor a minor and E minor.

Use the information above to learn all your chords thoroughly, and write down the two easy formulas so you have them to hand should you need to work out another chord.

The correct fingering to play chords on piano in your right hand is 1 3 5. One is your thumb, and 5 will be your little finger.

The correct fingering to follow for your left hand with piano chords is 5 3 1. Five is your little finger and one is your thumb.

Resource Box for Piano Review Site.
There are some great free courses to teach anyone from complete beginners to advanced pianists to Learn How to Play Piano. A great way for beginners to learn is to start off with some really Easy Piano Songs which will get you started and help build that all important confidence.

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Electric Guitar History, Where The Electric Guitar Comes From And Other Interesting Facts

Electric guitar history shows that in the early 1920s the big bands of the time were getting bigger and the sound of the acoustic guitar was being overwhelmed by the sound of all the other instruments. The acoustic guitar needed to be amplified and this was when people started fitting crude microphones to the acoustic guitar. Using an amplifier, the acoustic guitar volume increased substantially.

Here are some interesting facts on electric guitar history:
1920s- Lester Polfus or "Les Paul" starts experimenting with amplified guitars. Blues and Jazz start becoming popular on the radio and acoustic guitars start going on sale to the public. Recorded music becomes a reality.
1930s- Various electric guitars are now being mass-produced. Gibson is the first manufacturer to sell an electric guitar with a built-in pick-up. The electric guitar moves from being an accompanying instrument to a lead instrument.
1940s- The first vinyl record to sell more than 100 000 copies is recorded and the famous "The Log" solid body guitar is built by Les Paul. Jimi Hendrix is born and the whammy bar is invented.
1950s: Electric guitar history shows us that Leo Fenders' mass production of the twin pick-up "Fender Telecaster" and "Precision" electric bass guitar would prove to be a massive success, a few years later the "Fender Stratocaster" is introduced. The first "Rock 'n Roll" record is recorded by Jackie Brenston and Elvis makes his first recording. The humbucker pick-up is invented by Gibson and the Vox amplifier is born.
1960s: The Gibson Les Paul changes names to Gibson SG after Les Paul parts ways with Gibson. The Ernie Ball "Slinky" guitar string is invented, this is a light gauge string for guitarists that "bend" the strings often. The first Marshall amplifier is introduced and the Maestro FZ-1 "Fuzz Tone" becomes the first commercial stomp box. Vox introduces the "Wah-Wah" pedal and various other sound effects modifiers are invented. 500 000 people attend Woodstock.
1970s and 1980s: Heavy Metal hits the scene as a result of heavy experimenting with guitar electronics, ( I`m sure experimenting with drugs was also a contributing factor!)

There is not much electric guitar history available after the 1980s, but today the rise of professional female lead electric guitarists like Bonnie Raitt, have earned an equal standing in what was traditionally a male-dominated scene. The electric guitar has become a natural member of most genres of music, even classical music.

About The Author

Jorge de Andrade is an author and his knowledge of the guitar is exemplary. His articles are a reliable source of information.
For more information on guitar history: electric guitar history or to do the FREE mini-course where you will get FREE guitar lessons and 8 FREE guitar tools go to http://www.funacousticguitarandelectricguitarlessons.com/.

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10 Tips to Help You Learn Guitar Chords

1. Keep persisting.

It is cliche, yet it is true-practice makes perfect, especially when you want to learn guitar chords. You won't get anywhere by giving up after a week or a month. The guitar is one of those instruments which requires utmost effort from its players; but that effort is surely rewarded in the end. Rest assured that it is perfectly normal not to get things right on the first try. One of the worst times to give up would be after learning the correct finger position and strumming a few times. Resist the temptation to throw in the towel and instead, keep practicing. It's only a matter of time before you finally see results.

2. Constantly visualize.

It is a well-known fact that the mind plays a decisive role in the failure or success of our actions. Don't underestimate the power of visualization. Before you even form a chord, visualize in your mind where each finger should be positioned even before you play it. One of the most effective ways to switch chords efficiently is to look at where your fingers are at the moment and thinking about where they need to be. Basic chords usually involve the most common notes so there will certainly be times when you won't need to move your fingers that often.

3. Take it slow.

Don't try to take on too much all at once. If you find yourself struggling with learning guitar chords, the problem may lie with the chord progressions you are choosing to work with. Start with simpler ones, and then move on from there. Take your time with changing chords and understand that putting too much pressure on yourself at the outset may backfire, discourage you, and ultimately, cause you to quit. Repetition is a useful tool for preparing yourself for more sophisticated chord changes.

4. Develop finger strength.

If you truly wish to become not just more adept at learning guitar chords, but guitar playing in general, you need to realize the importance of developing finger strength. The value of this exercise will reveal itself in time. Some of the best ways to do this would be to engage in finger exercises such as finger weights, doing finger press-ups, and even pressing down hard on guitar strings. Get creative and do what you think will help in making your fingers stronger and chord playing easier.

5. Avoid looking at your hands.

In the beginning, looking down at your hands as you learn guitar chords might seem second nature to you. However, this is an issue that needs to be corrected as finger positioning should be something that you become accustomed to without the need to look at your hands.

6. Practice several chords simultaneously.

While some of the foremost experts and sources on guitar playing might tell you that practicing one chord at a time is actually the best route to take, when you learn guitar chords on the contrary, this is actually not the best way to learn. In order to learn more quickly and more effectively, practice playing several chords all at once. In that way, you are more likely to retain the information in your head as opposed to just having one chord reverberating in your memory. This will also be useful when it comes to recalling finger positions and chord progressions.

7. Use your pinkie finger.

The pinkie finger is oftentimes the most neglected finger in learning guitar chords. While the tendency of most beginning guitar players might be to push the pinkie finger aside while not in use, this shouldn't be the case. It is essential that all fingers stay close to the fret board even when not in use. You will find that picking up this habit will prove useful as you learn higher-level chords in the future.

8. Get familiar with the root note.

When learning guitar chords, I cannot emphasize enough how critical it is to know what the root note of a chord is. In simple terms, a root note is the bass note of a chord. Basically, the root note tells you which string you should begin strumming from. For instance, a G major is formed by the three notes G, B and D. Therefore, the root note of the G major is the note G.

9. Pick the chord that needs to be picked.

As a beginning guitar player when you learn guitar chords, if you are hearing dull or flat notes within the chords you are playing, the problem is probably caused by a fingering issue. Don't waste endless hours playing a certain chord until it comes out right but instead, begin to pick the chord. This way you are able to identify the problem more accurately. From there, remedy the problem by applying more pressure on the particular string that needs it or adjusting your finger position to produce better-sounding notes.

10. Make use of all 5 senses.

This tip may seem irrelevant, but some of the world's greatest guitar players swear by it. To learn guitar chords effectively, it is useful to look at it from every possible angle. Use your eyes to look at a chord chart, watch someone play the chords, use your ears to hear the chord being played, and visualize yourself playing the chords yourself. Obviously, a keen sense of touch is vital to the art of guitar playing. Utilizing all 5 senses is sure to be helpful to learn guitar chords.

If you would like to learn guitar chords, then visit our site at http://www.guitarchordsforbeginnerstips.com/ to get more information, and learn guitar chords once and for all.

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How to Learn Guitar Fast Using These 7 Effective Strategies

Learning should be fun. Don't you think? Oh yes, it should be, especially when it comes to educating yourself on how to play guitar. You might also notice that there are many steps in learning to play guitar and most of the time they comprise a set of different topics and processes. So here, in a practical manner, are 7 effective strategies on how to learn guitar fast:

1. Set your GOAL/s and decide.

You should know what you want to learn when it comes to guitar playing. It may be guitar fundamentals that comprise musical theories, major and minor chords, scales, triads, tabs and the list just goes on and on. Or you simply want to know how to play popular songs on a guitar. In this way, you can avoid feeling bored as you go through the lessons. Your goals must cover your interest. So determine what exactly you want to happen as you take your course on how to learn guitar fast and easy. After setting your goals then you decide what kind of guitar instrument you want to use. Do you prefer acoustic, classical or electric guitar?

2. Have a BUDGET if it's necessary.

You cannot deny the fact that our world revolves around money and business. Of course, you will encounter FREEBIES and all those kinds of stuff. However, you should also consider the quality of service. Is it worth taking your time to watch? Is it worth listening to? So, if you think that it's not all worth it then you have to stop. You have to choose the best teaching services offered on how to learn guitar fast even if it comes with a fee. In this case, consider to choose a course within your budget so it won't take too much of your money.

3. Choose your professional TEACHER/s and make sure they are an EXPERT.

You have the right to choose your mentor. This applies to any case, whether you are paying for your lessons or it is given for free. You have to at least scrutinize if your instructor is really good or not. Is he an expert? What is his expertise? Is he a professional teacher or just an amateur with some experience?

4. Start with the EASY STUFF.

When you take online guitar lessons on your own, you get to choose where to start. So again, choose the easy ones that usually deal with the basic techniques and chords. From there, you will start learning to play tunes and automatically see your progress. That is one easy trick on how to learn guitar fast.

5. Be Open.

You have to seize the opportunity to learn! Be open to each new learning possibilities and techniques that your instructor gives you. You also have to be open to your instructor. Don't be ashamed of asking questions. Actively participate and interact with your instructor or your fellow students (if you have any).

6. Proper practice makes PERFECT.

They say that "practice makes perfect". But on the contrary, it is much acceptable if you say "proper practice makes perfect". You have to make sure that what you're doing is RIGHT. When you practice correctly, it'll be quick for you to learn your lesson and then proceed to the next. So learn the right technique and practice religiously.

7. Invite your friends.

You may have friends who are also interested in learning to play guitar. So ask your friends to take guitar lessons with you. In that way, it'll be fun and exciting. Together you can share insights as you all go through the lessons. Helping and motivating each other is one fast way of learning.

Ultimately, the objective for these strategies is to remind you on how to learn guitar fast and effectively. But never forget that the key to achieving your goal is the commitment you give to yourself as a student. Keep in mind that your success in learning is directly proportional to the hard work and dedication that you give.

But wait, there's more. If you want to find out how to learn guitar fast in a friendly environment then feel free to visit my blog (the link earlier in the sentence). There are some free gifts waiting for you.

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Discover 10 Popular Songs to Learn On the Piano As a Beginner

Here are 10 popular songs to learn on piano, especially for beginners

1. Pachelbel's Canon - This is a famous song, originally written on strings, but also very famous and popular to play on the piano. It comes in a variety of arrangements for beginners up to advanced players, so it is a great one to learn as a beginner then a lovely piece to come back to at a later stage when you are more advanced.

2. Imagine by John Lennon - This is one of those songs that most people know, and would go down well at a party, or a sing-song! It has a great chord accompaniment, and is a good one to improve your playing technique and to incorporate the use of chords in your playing.

3. Drunken Sailor - This classic folk song is a great piano song to put a smile on people's faces, and it only requires a simple bass line as the right hand is the leading section with two simple chord patterns.

4. Let it Be by The Beatles - This is another classic song, written and made famous by The Beatles. It is in a simple key signature, has a nice piano arrangement which will suit a beginner perfectly.

5. Annie's Song by John Denver - This is a popular song with a lovely melody in which its lyrics fit perfectly. It is in a simple key signature, has a beautiful melody to be able to play as a beginner and one song that you will continue to play through your piano years. As you become more advanced it allows you the freedom to bring more into it with a variety of arrangements produced for piano.

6. Fur Elise by Beethoven - This ever popular classical piece written by Beethoven, has a great sound and feeling to it. For a beginner listening to it, you could misjudge it and think it is difficult to play, but in fact it is the opposite. It is in a simple key signature, is repetitive with only a couple of different sections to master and is available in a variety of levels. It also sounds great too, so is a way to impress your audience.

7. Amazing Grace originally written by John Newton is a classic popular Gospel song. It has a lot of feeling and emotion to it which is portrayed well when played on the piano. It suits all levels of pianists but is particularly a good one to start with as a beginner, as it is in a simple key & time signature. You can even download this for free of some music websites on the internet.

8. Clocks by rock band Coldplay. This is a modern song made famous by international rock band Coldplay. It features lovely simple chords. These are played in the right hand to take a lead, with a simple but effective bass line, which complements this song well. This will put playing chords into practice, and show you how it is all linked into music.

9. Piano Man by Billy Joel - The title says it all with this song. It is a very popular song and written originally for the Piano. This is a great song to add to your repertoire as a beginner. It is in a simple key, and is in a waltz time signature, so it will develop your timing skills by introducing a waltz rhythm into your playing. It is also a song that most people will know, and sounds terrific when played on the piano.

10. Candle in the Wind by Elton John - This is one of Elton John's most famous hits, and arranged for Piano. It was originally written in the key of E Major, but there are some easy piano arrangements produced which are in a simpler key. This makes it a perfect song choice to learn as a beginner. It is a simple melody to pick up, but sounds fantastic.

There are some great free courses to teach anyone from complete beginners to advanced pianists to Learn How to Play Piano. A great way for beginners to learn is to start off with some really Easy Piano Songs which will get you started and help build that all important confidence.

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Unlock the Guitar

Hi, this is Mark and I have been playing the guitar for twenty years, when I first started to learn to play there were few places you could go however in today's world of technology you have all kinds of options. The first thing I can tell you is that if you want to learn fast be prepared to put in many hours of practice time.

The main reason people never don't get to where they want be is just that they don't want to put in the time. Here are a few tips for you to remember, first, don't get discouraged because just like anything else in life you get out what you put in so practice a little everyday. The next thing I recommend is that you find a friend to practice with as you will learn much faster this way.

Next is when you first start do yourself a huge favor by using all of your fingers i.e. start by making your E chord with your middle finger,ring finger,and little finger, this is a huge advantage for you right out of the gate. Here is why I say that, as you learn and progress you will want to be able to play the bar chord with is one of the most used chord structures on the instrument and used probably more than any other.

Here is something you never here anybody talk about, at first you will feel pain in your finger tips this is ok as your fingers must acclimate to this new pressure point on the tips of your fingers, as time goes on this will stop hurting as you build calluses on your finger tips. So what is the best way to learn? For you to get where you want to be know time must be put in everyday a little at first then more and more, in most cases you should see improvement within a month, don't rush it. Now as I said in today's world there are many ways to learn to play the guitar such as ebooks, software, videos and many other ways.

If I were starting out again I would go to have been able to learn in about half the time as it took me way back when, fortunately for you you have the internet, what a advantage. Just enjoy your learning experience, practice hard everyday and you will see progress.

Unlock the guitar's secrets is a great place to find some of these programs, check it out and enjoy.

Talk soon Mark.

http://unlock-the-guitar.com/ is the place to go to get easy paint by the numbers instruction and more.

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Techniques for the Advanced Acoustic Guitar Player

Learning all the notes and all the chords on the guitar is one thing. But there are certain techniques and tricks many people desire to do on the acoustic guitar other than just the basics. Some are simple, and some are far more difficult. Here are a few of them to practice before your next lesson.

Most people who play the acoustic guitar are familiar with the standard seven chords and can work their way around the neck of the guitar okay. But there are certain techniques and styles that are really difficult and take the knowledge of a skilled acoustic guitar instructor to learn.

The first one is called finger picking. Finger picking is a lot different than the standard strumming most people are used to. To strum, most people either use a pick or only use their thumb turned sideways. But with finger picking you are not just strumming all the strings, you are selectively plucking the string with multiple fingers on the strumming hand. This can be very difficult because the placement on your plucking hand has to be perfect, otherwise you will be plucking muted notes. It is a skill that takes a long time to master. But is one that can be learned quicker with a good acoustic guitar teacher.

Another technique that is cool with the acoustic guitar is the palm mute. A palm mute is traditionally used on the electric guitar. It is when the strumming hand rests on the bridge that is on the body of the guitar and mutes the strings. But the left hand can still hold down notes and chords. So when the strumming hand strums it makes this almost chunk sound. It is used a lot in the metal genre of music. But on the acoustic guitar it sounds equally as cool. Most people are familiar with the sound, whether they realize it or not, but few people have heard it on the acoustic guitar. So when you get comfortable doing it, you can bust out metal songs on the acoustic guitar and people will be blown away. It is a technique that any guitar teacher should be familiar with and should have no problem showing you. However it will take some time to get comfortable with. Most times beginners just mute the strings and allow no sound to come out. It is difficult to learn at first.

These are just a few techniques that any good acoustic guitar instructor should be able to show you. However they are not techniques that you will learn over night. They take a lot of time to master, but will sound amazing when that time comes. Happy strumming.

Benjamin J. Cloyd is a guitar instructor and has a website called best acoustic songs where you can find and print great songs for beginners to intermediate to advanced. He is also a guitar teacher in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

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Online Piano Courses - Chopsticks Bonus Included

Nowadays, most everyone knows that online piano courses exist and are plentiful. It's because most everyone, if given the opportunity, would want to learn to play piano, even if it's only the simplest version of chopsticks. There are those that want to discover how to play songs they hear on the radio for fun, while a smaller more select group of dreamers are looking to become the next Liberace. Regardless of your reasons, learning to play piano is easy and can be done from the comfort of your own home. It doesn't matter where you live or if you're rich or poor. Anyone has the opportunity to learn the basic fundamentals to more advanced methods of piano playing using the internet.

To Pay Or Not To Pay

As the internet has exploded, so has the quantity of online piano courses being offered. Some lessons are totally free and some are not. When searching on the internet for piano lessons, it would make sense to start with the free ones. This gives you a good foundation to determine the real value in the online piano courses that you can pay for. You may be able to find descent lessons on the free internet sites that work for you. Always remember... you get what you pay for. When you ultimately discover that free lessons are inadequate, it is time to compare and select from the paid online piano courses.

Rest assured, paying for lessons online is still a lot less expensive as compared to hiring an experienced piano teacher. Not that I have anything against piano teachers. That is how I started out 35 years ago. But with busy schedules these days and the simplicity and obvious convenience of staying at home finding piano lessons on the net can be a big advantage. And most of the courses you will find have been put together by experienced piano teachers and music educators anyway.

If you want to learn to play piano online, you will require a laptop or desktop computer and obviously a quick internet connection. The nicest thing about online piano lessons is that you simply can have them at any time of the day or night. And being at home you have your friends or loved ones join in on the fun.

Learn to Play Piano Today

Don't give up on your dream of learning to play the piano. You will soon discover that not all individuals have the ability and capacity to play this magnificent instrument. However, if you're determined to learn, and have a burning desire, then pursue your passion. Do not give up on the challenging lessons. Strive to be tough and above all, practice, practice, practice.

Learning to play the piano is rewarding for everyone. And as the old saying goes, "it is never too late to learn". Start now, and sooner than you can say, "why can't I play like that cute little girl on AGT", you will be playing beautifully. Check out our featured online courses or make use of the major search engines to find the online piano courses that are right for you today.

You Can Make A Difference

For more information about online piano courses, visit PlayPianoDude.com where you will find this and much more, including why the top reasons why I play piano are the same reasons that you do.

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Developing Your Piano Skills

In choosing what instrument you should learn to play, the piano is should certainly be foremost among those you are considering, as it is one of the most flexible of the musical instruments that we have today.

Playing the piano is widely acknowledged as one of the most popular and absorbing hobbies that you can really enjoy. Whatever your favorite genre of music is, once you learn and get serious about piano, you can surely apply your skills and enjoy playing music in that particular genre.

First Steps For Beginners

When you first take up piano, it can often be difficult to know where to start. The first thing that you must do is to actually choose the piano instrument that you'll use. Of course, buying a piano can often be a big commitment, especially if you're planning to buy it from new, so most people will usually begin with a second hand piano, or a keyboard.

The keyboard will usually be the best option if you're not sure about whether you will be entirely committed to the piano, since it is also significantly cheaper that other bigger and grander pianos.

The next step to start piano is to choose how you plan to learn. Majority of people will arrange a series of lessons with a tutor or an experienced piano player. But you will also find comprehensive online piano lessons which are recommended in such cases where scheduling lessons with tutors is likely to be difficult due to lifestyle or time constraints.

Lessons Online Or In Person?

There are benefits to both types of lessons, and ultimately both will end up with you playing piano. But how fast you learn, your lifestyle, and the amount of time you can dedicate to your lessons in piano are the factors that will determine how well you will learn playing piano, and which between those types of lessons will work better for you.

If you've decided to take lessons in person, you'll usually need to find a good tutor that will be able to guide you through the exercises and the playing styles which you will use to develop to an intermediate level of playing piano.

The other option of course, is to buy a course of piano lessons online. There are also a number of benefits when choosing this method to begin playing piano. Firstly, online lessons tend to be significantly cheaper than having a real-life teacher. Secondly, this method will really suit you if you cannot commit to regular appointments for your lessons, or you want to learn in your own time and pace.

Conclusion

Playing piano is indeed one of the best hobbies that you can start if you are looking for an interesting and satisfying hobby.

While at first, the playing piano can be quite frustrating, if you dedicate some time to complete the right exercises and practices, you will really have great fun and more importantly, a skill which will impress your friends and family.

Whether you choose to learn by yourself using a series of online lessons or hire a tutor to guide you through the early steps in playing piano, all your efforts will be repaid by the advances in your skills. Moreover, you can also start playing the music that you have wanted to play all along.

Frank is a freelance writer based in Atlanta, GA

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Learn Guitar Solo Without The Bad Habits

So you want to learn guitar solo? In the words of one fairly well known TV presenter with a penchant for fast cars and a complete lack of subtlety, 'how hard can it be? ' The truth is that playing a guitar is easy. Unfortunately the truth is that playing a guitar is also very difficult. Let me explain that somewhat contradictory introduction.

The thing is that learning a guitar can be fairly easy, if all you want to do is to churn out a few popular tunes with your friends at home. If you want to learn to play guitar then you only actually need to learn a few basic chords. In fact it's quite surprising to many people just how many popular, well known tunes and songs can be learned without having to know more than a half dozen or so main chords. If you can learn half a dozen chords you'll be up and running, (or up and strumming), and if you can learn a dozen chords then a whole wealth of songs will be within your grasp.

If you have what it takes to pick up eighteen chords then there really won't be many songs that you won't be able to have a crack at, which will be more than enough for many people. If you just want to have fun, strum a few popular tunes at home and keep your guitar playing at about that level, then this is fine. However, if you have dreams of playing in a band, or performing on stage, then you will need to learn guitar solo playing.

This will inevitably require you to learn more about playing guitar than just remembering a few popular chords. What will have to happen at some point is that you will need to learn guitar tabs, as well as learning better techniques for playing, more effective ways to achieve certain effects and better ways of changing chords, or managing difficult chord combinations. There are really two ways to accomplish this. Either you can hire a guitar teacher to teach you how to play guitar properly, or you could head online and have a look at the many thousands of guitar instruction videos available.

The problem with the first option is that this can become extremely expensive. Guitar lessons may well cost twenty pounds or more for a single lesson. This can easily add up to a hundred pounds or so every month, which for many people learning to play guitar is just not a viable option. There's a problem with the second option too though, because although there are many guitar instructional videos online, many of them have been produced by people with little or no professional experience of playing guitar. For those people learning to play guitar this can be difficult, because it's easy to pick up on bad habits or integrate poor advice into your playing. So what's the answer?

If you're serious about trying to learn guitar solo pieces and really want to take your guitar playing to a higher level then there is a good way to combine the advantage of having your own guitar teacher without the cost, as well as benefitting from online guitar instructional videos without the danger of picking up on bad advice or poor techniques. The answer is to visit a specialist guitar video repository, where you can find a wealth of guitar instructional videos produced by professional, experienced guitarists, helping you learn guitar solo pieces without having to pay a penny, and without worrying about the quality of the tuition.

If you're serious about trying to learn guitar solo pieces then visit Allaxess.com where you can find a huge library of professional guitar instructional videos for free.

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Using Guitar Lessons Online To Save You From Disappointment

One of the reasons why many people look for guitar lessons online is to get started with learning the first few chords. It is reasonably well known that all one really needs to get started with learning guitar is to pick up a few of the most popular chords. A bit of strumming when combined with these commonly used chords can easily allow many people to derive great enjoyment from casually playing with friends.

However, the other reason why many people look for guitar lessons online is when they realise that picking up a few chords isn't enough if you're serious about learning to play guitar and want to move on with your playing. Essentially there are three types of person who learn to play guitar. There's the kind who only really wants to be able to bash out a few of their favourite tunes, perhaps jamming with friends. This is perfectly fine, and suits many people. Bad habits may well be formed, but this isn't a problem if they're never going to move on from this simple playing technique.

The second type of person who approaches guitar playing is the kind who starts out with just a few chords but then wants to learn guitar tabs and to read guitar sheet music, and the third category is the type of person who has already become reasonably accomplished with playing another instrument, and who can already read standard notation. They may well approach playing guitar with a fair few assumptions about being able to translate their understanding of standard musical notation to guitar sheet music, and may either look to pick up a few basic chords first before moving on to learn to play guitar more correctly.

The trouble is that for these second two types of guitarist there is a real problem. Simply put, guitar sheet music is like no other sheet music ever seen for any other instrument. Guitars are unique (many would say guitarists are a unique breed of person too!) and this comes with a fair few problems. There is a huge number of guitarist who fall into the second two categories, and who tried to move on from playing just a few simple, basic chords to reading guitar sheet music properly. Perhaps they wanted to become solo performers, or play guitar in a band. But when they realised just how difficult learning guitar tabs can be when faced with nothing but a sheet of paper, some meaningless lines and a lot of numbers, many gave up.

Even those who are reasonably au fais with reading standard notation struggle, because they bring so many assumptions with them, that they can find it difficult to appreciate just how guitar tabs are written and how they should be played. The stave isn't a stave, but a graphical representation of the six strings on a guitar. There are no notes, but instead there are numbers, and the numbers refer to the frets on the guitar. There is no facility for indicating how long a note or a chord should be played, or the pace of the music.

In fact almost any aspect of standard notation is lost when translated to guitar sheet music. This can be very depressing and disappointing for players who wish to move on from basic playing to something a bit more special. But there is hope, because one of the best ways of being helped from the beginner levels of performance to something altogether more accomplished is to enlist the help of an experienced, professional guitarist. You don't even need to have an address book packed with guitarists either, as there are many guitar instructional videos online which help to show you how to improve your playing, and how to move on from basic strumming to picking up guitar tabs in the best way for you.

If you're looking for guitar lessons online then visit Allaxess.com where you can enjoy a growing library of guitar instructional videos for free.

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Great Guitar Chords For Beginners - The C Chord

Many people want to learn how to play guitar but might think that all of those strings and frets are just too much to tackle. Fear not, because with just a few easy guitar chords for beginners, you can be playing many of your favorite songs in a very short amount of time!

Today we're going to discuss the open C chord which is one of the standard guitar chords for any player. Just for review, if you are a beginner, here is the basic layout of the guitar.

Every standard guitar has six strings on it and they are tuned usually (or standard tuning) to the corresponding notes:

E, A, D, G, B, E

Along with normal music notation, you can also use a numbering system known as guitar tabs that will assist you in seeing the finger placements for your chords.

Each guitar string has a number associated with it beginning from the highest sounding string to lowest. The high E string is normally recognized as the #1 string. So the order of string numbers looks like this:

#1 = E (high), #2 = B, #3 = G, #4 = D, #5 = A, #6 - E (low)

Now that we've got our string numbers dialed in, let's start working on playing our open C chord. Here is the most common way to play this chord.

Step 1 - Place your first finger on string #2 (B) on the first fret.Step 2 - Place your middle finger on string #4 (D) on the second fret.Step 3 - Place your ring finger on string #5 (A) on the third fret.

With all three fingers in place, give your guitar a strum. Congratulations! You're playing an open C chord.

It may take a little bending from your fingers to make the curl around the neck of the guitar but keep working on it and you will find it getting easier and easier.

The open C chord is one of the great guitar chords for beginners because it has such a warm and rich sound. Many songs begin with this chord (i.e. Dust In The Wind) so if you continue to practice playing it, you will have a great starting point to launch into other chords that are right near by.

Here are some bonus tips on playing the C chord that will have you impressing all of your friends!

Tip #1 - Start by playing the C chord and then remove your ring finger from the 5th string. You are now playing an A minor 7 chord that makes the sound more haunting and moody. Go back to playing the full C chord and you will notice the sound becoming brighter again. It's a nice contrast.

Tip #2 - Start by playing the C chord and this time take your pinky finger and place in on string #4 (G) on the third fret right next to your ring finger. It makes the chord sound a bit higher as you have just played a C sus (suspended) chord. Now take your pinky finger off and you will be playing the C chord again.

Practicing those fingering moves from the C chord to the Am7 chord to the Csus chord will allow to begin to build a great foundation of chords to work with. As with any guitar chords for beginners, practice will make you a much stronger player. Good luck and enjoy playing!

Scott has been playing guitar for the past 30 years and enjoys sharing the love of playing the guitar with others. If you would like to learn how to sound great playing the guitar, enjoy these free guitar lessons.

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How to Drastically Improve Your Cognitive Skills With Singing Lessons

The study of the effect that taking singing lessons have on improving cognitive skills has been researched for many years. Singing success greatly improves most people's ability to learn. When young children are taught how to sing the alphabet song, they remember it for the rest of their lives. Older students in bands, orchestras, and choirs usually score higher than the national average on standardized tests when results are compared to the scores of students who have not had musical training.

The mastery of music requires multiple disciplines that involve most parts of the body. Singing lessons can be used to develop and enhance critical thinking, comprehension, language development and memorization. These things strengthen mental functions. Social skills are enhanced as learners focus on self-expression. Motor skills are also involved.

Several studies have concluded that vocal exercises increase performance in non-musical fields such as mathematics, comprehension and linguistics. Analyzing the time signature and number of counts per measure is directly related to mathematical concepts. If the time signature is 4/4, then each measure of the composition must be equal to but not greater than or less than four. The details may be studied and mastered without even mentioning the dreaded 'M' word (Math).

Vocal exercises also develop discipline and improve self-esteem. These are often stated as major concerns in today's society. A disciplined learner must show the dedication and concentration required to master all the concepts needed to successfully perform a musical composition. Many students who struggle to experience success in the academic field are able to feel confident in themselves after accomplishing this. Singing lessons engage the whole child.

Facilitating the singing success of children develops language and reasoning skills, introduces creativity and teaches them to solve problems by imagining various solutions. Singing lessons can certainly help children to score higher on standardized tests.

Many studies encourage some form of musical training in early childhood. However, research shows that even if singing lessons are not introduced until the later years, they still improve cognitive skills. Even though their exposure lasts a shorter time, the capacity for retention of positive influences is greater. The neural bridge that links the brain's hemispheres can be up to 15% larger in older children. An adult musician's brain has about 130% more gray matter in the auditory cortex than the brain of those who have not experienced singing success.

Cognitive skills can be improved by taking singing lessons. If you would like to learn more about the many options for everyone interested in this service, please visit us at http://www.singinglessonstoday.com.

Arnetta Thomas is a retired public school teacher with a degree in Performing Arts. While working in the classroom she has seen firsthand the positive effect music has on students. Cognitive skills can be improved by taking singing lessons. If you would like to learn more about the many options for everyone interested in this service, please visit us at http://www.singinglessonstoday.com/.

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Violin Lessons - The Best Way To Improve Your Child's Education?

Whether you would like your child to be the next Paganini, or are just looking for a way to give him or her the best possible start in life, taking violin lessons can be rewarding and fulfilling for both child and parent. Learning any musical instrument, and especially the violin, will give your child a head start in their learning skills. If you have heard of the Mozart Effect you will know that just listening to classical music, and Mozart in particular, produces astonishing results. So imagine the effect playing an instrument must have.

The first, and most important step is to find a good teacher. If you are considering violin lessons for a young child, I would recommend you try to find a qualified Suzuki teacher. Look on the internet for your nearest Suzuki organisation, which will be able to direct you to your nearest teacher.

Find out where the teacher gives their classes. Is it close enough for you to be able to make that journey, week in week out, for the next ten years? You are embarking on a big commitment, so practicalities count!

If you are lucky enough to find a trained Suzuki teacher, he or she will probably take very young children, starting at around the age of 3 or 4. Although progress is slow at the beginning, the Suzuki teacher will make it interesting and fun. These first years are fundamental to establishing a good technique. The self-discipline required for playing any musical instrument is also a crucial step towards achieving success in future life.

Suzuki teachers hold both individual classes and group lessons, so each child has the benefit of concentrated and technical attention in the private lesson, combined with the joy of sharing music with their friends and peers in the group lesson. It is so motivating seeing your friend doing something better than you, and realising that with a little more effort you could do it too!

The group lessons also teach important social skills - the children have to wait for their turn, to listen to each other with attention and respect, and to participate as a team effort when they play together in unison.

One of the important skills very young children acquire when they start to crawl is the cross-body co-ordination movement of opposite arm and leg - eg. right arm with left leg, etc. Playing the violin develops exactly the same connection as the right arm crosses in front of the body in the bowing movement. This has been proven to benefit right and left brain integration, and helps with concentration and emotional development.

Ideally, the teacher will allow you as the parent to be present in the lessons, in order that you can help with home practice, and to have an awareness of exactly what is being expected of your child. Once you realise how difficult it actually is, I am sure you will be patient and appreciative.

Another important part of parent participation is encouragement and praise. Even at the very early stages, try to arrange for your child to play to visitors, to relatives - in fact anyone who comes into the house should expect a little concert. This gives the child a great sense of achievement and gives value to the daily efforts in their practice.

It will also greatly lessen performance nerves when he or she has advanced enough to be participating in 'real' concerts.

It is difficult to imagine how learning to play the violin could be so beneficial to the growing child. Self-discipline and concentration, as well as the precise co-ordination skills acquired when learning to play any instrument, and especially the violin, have far-reaching benefits for later life. Learning to participate as a musician in an orchestra is a life skill in itself, and the journey to becoming a musician - amateur or professional - has hugely rich rewards.

Elizabeth Arnott

Elizabeth Arnott is English, and has lived in Mexico for the past ten years. Having spent most of her adult life as a violinist and Suzuki violin teacher in London, she now plays in the local professional orchestra in Merida, Yucatan, and gives a few lessons to individual students. Totally committed to the Suzuki method, she believes it is the best way to start beginners, be they young children, adolescents or adults, and to follow the Suzuki program using the repertoire which has been so thoroughly worked out as to provide the perfect foundation for violin technique.

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The Problem With Using Guitar Lessons Online

If you are learning to play the guitar, either for the first time or perhaps to extend your guitar playing expertise, then you may have considered taking advantage of the many guitar lessons online. A quick search on Google or any other search engine reveals millions of results for any search for guitar lessons online, and whilst at first this may seem good and very tempting, there's a danger.

The internet is chock full of information, how to videos, instructional videos, video tutorials and so on. Virtual libraries stacked full of information just a click away. Much of this information is free, but there's a downside to this wealth of information. Because the internet is open access.

You don't need qualifications to get on the internet, you don't need to prove your credentials to upload a tutorial and no one is going to throw you off the internet for posting stuff that's inaccurate or inadvisable. So whilst there may well be many thousands of really helpful, valuable and recommended guitar lessons online, there are also many more that should be avoided. You will find that many of the online video guitar lessons are actually posted by people who have only really just begun playing themselves.

There's nothing inherently wrong with this of course. If you were practising with a few friends then you'd probably learn from each other in much the same way. But somehow the fact that the video has been created and published online adds a little credence, and whilst many of us approach the content on the web with more than just a cynical bucket of salt, it's still easy to take on board ideas, tips and advice about playing the guitar which really are best avoiding.

If you have ever learnt to play guitar then in the early stages you probably found it quite difficult to hold the guitar, to get your fingers around the fret board and to play the right chords in a way that didn't sound too much as though you were mutilating a stray cat. It would have been tempting to try some shortcuts, to cheat a little, or to get sloppy and start accepting sub standard playing. If you watch some of the online video guitar lessons posted by people who themselves have only learnt guitar through the same sort of process then you could find that your assumptions, cheats and shortcuts are not questioned, not addressed or not challenged.

The quality of play may be little better than your own, but you may find yourself taking on board a few tips and applying them to your own playing. Bad habits are the worst kind of habit to have because they're the hardest habits to break. Once you've picked up a bad habit everything else starts to build on that method or approach, making it very much harder in the future to adapt your playing. It's important to learn right from the beginning what the best way of playing guitar is, and what you shouldn't be trying or accepting.

If you're looking for guitar lessons online then you need to be very much more cynical and more cautious about the quality and validity of the advice and training being offered. Whilst websites such as YouTube seem easy and tempting it's often better not to take advantage of such resources, at least not exclusively. Instead of looking for guitar videos online on sites such as YouTube it's usually best to look for sites dedicated to the subject exclusively, offering high quality online video guitar lessons as an exclusive topic, as you're more likely to find that someone who has created a full website of guitar videos is more likely to be offering a better quality type of tutorial, giving you a much better start.

If you're looking for high quality guitar lessons online then visit Allaxess.com where you can browse a free library of online video guitar lessons.

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How to Practice the Violin - Essential Steps for Adult Beginners

Every time you lovingly unpack your violin from its case - tighten up the bow, tune the strings - you are taking one more step towards your goal. Whether you are aiming to be the next Paganini, or just wanting to take it as far as you can, learning to play the violin is a journey filled with joy and despair, pain and pleasure.

Your mental attitude is most important. As an adult you are more aware of your inadequacies and limitations than a child, but try to see the long view, and know that each day you are progressing one tiny little step more.

The first important decision is to find a good teacher - one who is sympathetic to your goals. Ideally your teacher should also be a good musician, who can demonstrate instead of just explaining what you need to do.

Your teacher should be able to give you guidelines on how to practice. I should like to add a few thoughts to help you on your way.

First, you need to practice every day. Even if you only have a few minutes to spare, just do it! My teacher, Dr. Suzuki, said "You only need practice on the days that you eat," (I like the 'only'). Find a regular time in your day and schedule it in. Make it as much a routine as cleaning your teeth in the morning.

Second, you need to repeat. Repetition is the name of the game. If you repeat an exercise, a scale, a phrase, a piece a couple of times, you are not going to learn very much. However, if you repeat 10, 20, 100 times, you are really going to know how to do it. But be careful. Make sure you know exactly how you are supposed to do it. If you repeat a mistake 100 times, you are going to know very well how to do it - wrong!

Third, you need to copy. Copy your teacher, how she stands, holds her bow, her violin position, left hand position, where is her head?... Go to concerts, and carefully watch professional violinists, their positions, postures, etc. There are hundreds of videos of violinists on YouTube. Pick your favourite musician, and piece.

Fourth, you need to listen. Listen to your teacher, how she plays, her phrasing, tone quality, vibrato etc... Listen to CDs. Try to decide whether the phrase starts with an up bow or a down bow. Are they playing at the tip or the point, or in the middle of the bow? Can you guess what string they are playing on? Immerse yourself in the world of violin music.

My last recommendation is to have fun. To play a musical instrument is to be able to communicate in a universal language. There are no language barriers. Music is its own language. Try to find a friend who is at the same level as you, or better still, slightly more advanced, and play duets together.

To sum up: practice every day, repeat, copy, listen, enjoy.

The old adage is right. "Practice Makes Perfect"

Elizabeth Arnott is English, and has lived in Mexico for the past ten years. In London she was a Suzuki Violin Teacher for 25 years, and taught a range of students from age 3 to adult. She now lives in Merida, Yucatan, plays violin in the Orquesta Sinfonica de Yucatan, and has a few private students.

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Learn Electric Guitar Much Faster By Doing This

I found myself driving along the interstate the other day and "Breadfan" by Metallica came on the stereo. If you have ever heard that tune, you realize it has got a number of impressive riffs. Kirk Hammett really shreds it up once or twice in that song.

Plus it took me back to the moment I had been a youngster and eager to learn electric guitar. Metallica, together with Pantera, Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth plus a whole variety of other bands were actually the reason I desired to learn to play the electric guitar.

The actual music that they produce with the electric guitar truly is amazing and it's also a lot more awesome when you can play them yourself.

Back then I set out to find the fastest method I was able to learn how to play since I needed to get up and play tunes as fast as possible. I had taken various lessons, then memorized the chords and trained every single day until eventually I could move between the chords fluidly.

I became obsessed as well mainly because I trained morning, day and night (and my parents were not real happy!). But it worked because within a couple of months I was actually playing the Am I Evil riffs. In no way perfectly, however I could shift across the fretboard pretty fluidly.

Today you've got so many more choices to learn electric guitar actually faster than I was able to. Personal lessons are usually the approach to take simply because you have somebody that gives you continuous and immediate feedback. They will likewise keep you on track so if you never practice they will really get on to you.

The only problem with instruction such as this is they are very pricey. I have seen a few of them run as high as $100 an hour.

The other choice is to sign up for any type of those online guitar membership web sites, like Jamplay or even Guitartricks. These types of sites are pretty cool because you can pay month-to-month and they have practically thousands of lessons available given by 30-40 different instructors. They also have a ton of genre's you can concentrate on, such as metal, rock and roll, jazz, blues, fingerstyle or even classical.

One other awesome aspect is if you are a novice, there is a learning path which you can follow in order to focus on the absolute essentials, and progress as you get more and more advanced. It really is also not just for beginners. They include loads and loads of advanced training as well.

Studying a guitar using this method can get you playing your favorite songs even quicker than when I learned because it is on demand and you've got somebody sitting there in the video demonstrating to you just what direction to go.

So next time you listen to your favorite tune on the stereo and also you have that itch to learn electric guitar, take a look at Jamplay or Guitartricks if you want a firm foundation that will have you playing those tunes even faster.

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Find Guitar Lessons Online For Free - Now You Can Impress Your Friends With Your Guitar Skills

Let's face it, learning how to play the guitar is super cool.

Whether you want to learn how to play guitar online or from a book, video or website, there are many resources available to help the beginner, intermediate and novice excel in their guitar playing.

Some of these resources for learning how to play the guitar online are protected in members only websites, where you have to pay for a monthly subscription.

Other resources are available for free, but there is a limited amount of free quality content that shows one how to learn guitar online for free.

Some lack good technique and posture.

Here are some of your choices for learing how to play the guitar.

1. Buy a guitar book and become self taught
2. Buy a guitar lesson training DVD series and become self taught
3. Buy a series of guitar lessons from a studio professional live in person
4. Watch free Guitar training videos on YouTube
5. Watch videos online from a membership site taught by professionals

Let's break each one down for the positives and negatives.

1. Buy a Guitar book and become self taught

This is the method I personally took when I first got started playing the guitar. I learned the fingerings, positions and chords. I learned to read guitar tabs. But I did not have someone there to correct my errors and my fingering posture, which to this day is incorrect with the way I hold my guitar and pick.

2. Buy a guitar lesson training DVD series and become self taught

This method I personally used to learn how to play guitar in the style of Van Halen! Ya, I thought I was pretty cool, learning pinch harmonics, dives and squeals, and hammer ons. But I found most of the lessons went too fast and I could not keep up.

3. Buy a series of guitar lessons from a studio professional live in person

When I first bought a guitar, this is how I started. My mom paid the money for 12 weeks of lessons, and I hated every minute of it. My teacher really was critical and so I quit. He even called me names. If you go this route, make sure you find a good teacher.

4. Watch free Guitar training videos on YouTube

Watching free Guitar training videos on YouTube can have the same affect as watching a long haired stoner try to teach you how to play Van Halen songs from a DVD video. Youtube videos are tiny, and most of them are filmed in poor lighting and not high quality. They don't do close ups because they only use 1 camera. You can still find a few good videos there if you take the time to search through all the bad ones.

5. Watch videos online from a membership site taught by professionals

This has been one of best methods for online beginners. One can find guitar lessons online for free at certain professional video based training websites. Some offer 4 or less free training videos, where as others allow as many as 24 lessons. Finding guitar lessons online for free is easy, when you use the right keywords to find membership sites with free training. Make sure the video quality is good, and many will let you upgrade from the free membership to their paid area, where you get more advanced training with a variety of techniques.

Overall, soon you'll be impressing frieds, boyfriends or girlfriends with the fret work you'll possess by learning from these sites online. Just evaluate each website, before you spend any money with them if you decide to try online guitar training.

There is only one website I recommend you go to if you want to get guitar lessons online for free. Claim your free membership with 24 lessons from 12 super talented instructors today. Visit http://guitarlessonsonlineforfree.com/ and watch the free video now.

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Learn Guitar Solo Pieces Without Crying Over Guitar Tabs

If you're going to learn guitar solo pieces then there will inevitably come a time when you'll need to learn guitar tabs. Unfortunately this can be one of the most frustrating experiences in learning guitar, and is one that puts many people off.

If you've been playing guitar for a little while then the chances are you're self taught. This is one of the unusual aspects of playing guitar - most guitarist are self taught, either working it out themselves or with friends. By learning a few of the most common chords it is possible to have a fairly good repertoire of songs. In fact all you need to learn are about six chords and you can play a huge number of popular songs. Learn eighteen chords and you'll be able to get away with playing most songs.

But of course there's a problem, because this sort of guitar playing is not going to get you playing guitar solo performances in a band. In order to be a solo artist playing in a band or performing on stage you will need to be more accomplished than just being able to strum along to a few basic chords. In order to learn guitar solo performances you will need to learn guitar tabs, and whilst many people assume this is likely to be fairly straightforward, it is anything but.

Some people who have been learning to play the guitar on their own or with friends assume they'll be able to pick up guitar music notation fairly easily, simply because they can already play a number of popular chords. Other people may have learned to play guitar having already learned to play another instrument such as the piano or the trumpet. In these cases they assume that their knowledge and understanding of reading standard notation will simply be applied to guitar music in a fairly straightforward way.

Both of these assumptions are quite wrong however, since a guitar is about the only musical instrument which does not adhere to standard notation. At first glance it may look a little like standard notation, except that instead of the commonly used musical notes such as quavers and crotchets there are numbers instead. But this notation is a very long way from standard notation.

The first problem is that the horizontal bars which look like a standard stave have nothing to do with the notes, but instead are the strings on the guitar. The line at the top is the first string, and the line at the bottom represents the sixth string. So what you're looking at is effectively a graphical representation of the guitar strings themselves, rather than a virtual representation of the notes.

The next problem is that instead of the typical notes you have numbers, which each represent the fret which should be held down. On top of this problem there's also the challenge of pace or speed. There is no system at all within guitar sheet music for suggesting the pace, or to say how long a particular note or chord should be played. This means that unless you have heard the song being performed before, there is simply no way to tell how long each note or chord should be played for!

These are all problems which can flummox both newcomers to musical notation and those with a long and accomplished history of sight-reading music. As a result many people are put off the idea of trying to learn guitar solo performances, and muddle along with just a few chords and a bit of strumming.

This is a shame, because there are ways to help make the process easier, and having an accomplished guitarist show you how they manage can make a big difference. Of course not everyone has access to a catalogue of accomplished guitarists on tap, which is why a growing number of people are finding the process made a good deal easier by taking advantage of the many learn to play guitar video tutorials now available online.

If you'd like to learn guitar solo pieces but need help with learning guitar tabs or improving the standard of your playing visit Allaxess.com for a growing library of free learn to play guitar video tutorials.

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The Piano Lesson - Find The Right Course For You

Learning the piano is a challenging but rewarding activity. The piano is one of the most beautiful musical instruments, and many people daydream of becoming a concert pianist, playing to adoring crowds to great acclaim. However, before anyone ever gets to that stage, they have to take piano lessons. The piano lesson can be very challenging - there is often a lot of pressure on people, especially young children, to perform well. That is why it is important to have the right mental attitude when taking a piano lesson. So, what is the best mental attitude to have before sitting down for a piano lesson?

Some people might be frightened that if they make a mistake, then their piano teacher will be angry at them, or might even refuse to teach them any longer. This kind of stress and pressure is not very conductive to good piano playing, so it is important to put these kind of ideas of of your mind before the piano lesson. It is a myth that all piano teachers are harsh and strict - in reality they are very encouraging and just want you to do your best, and they are just there to offer advice and encouragement. So, take the pressure and stress off yourself before you begin your lesson. Remember that you do not need to be perfect - you are just learning the piano, after all.

Another thing to remember before your lesson is that playing the piano is not always fun. You should remember that it can be tedious, boring and repetitive, so be prepared for that, and don't get stressed out over the fact that you might not find it fun every second, or that it isn't coming easily to you all the time. These are the kinds of things that you have to expect before the lesson, so that you don't become frustrated.

It takes a long time to become a great piano player. That should not deter you from taking lessons, however. Some people might find lessons very frustrating because they are not picking up the skills as quickly as they think they ought to be. Just remember to tell yourself that you don't have to learn everything all at once, and that every lesson you are becoming a better player, one step at a time.

Lastly, before the piano lesson, you should get very focused, as this is an important mental space to be in. Focus on what you are there for, and concentrate on doing your best. Make sure that you are not to nervous, and don't stress out about not being perfect, or making mistakes. Also, be prepared for a tough lesson, so to avoid frustration.

You will find more FAQs on how to play the piano from scratch by going to The piano lesson web-site or you can watch the video at The piano lesson

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