Typical Maintenance for an Acoustic Guitar

An acoustic guitar is not just a box of wood with some strings. It should be a very important thing to you. It is not meant to just be placed in the corner and left to collect dust. Here are a few tips and tricks to keep your guitar playing and sounding the best it can.

The first thing you should do is buy a proper guitar stand for your six string companion. Leaning in the corner is not an ideal way to store your guitar, there are way too many ways for it to fall or get damaged. Head to your local guitar shop or browse online and drop some money on a decent guitar stand. These range from just standard floor stands to really nice ones that allow you to hang your guitar on the wall and display it proudly. This way you can make sure that your guitar is as safe as it can be while being out in the open.

Second you should buy a case for your guitar if you need to transport it. Again, your guitar is an expensive instrument and you don't want it to get damaged. You can either buy a fairly inexpensive gig case, which is basically like a duffel bag for your guitar, or you can spend a little bit more money and get a hard shell case. A hard shell is preferred over a gig case because it is more solid, thus better for the guitar. Talk to your guitar instructor to see if he or she has any advice on the matter.

Third, I think it is important to keep your guitar looking nice all the time, so buy some acoustic guitar polish. I opted to go with wall hanging stands for my guitars and I display them in my home. So because of that I always make sure they are polished and clean.

Fourth, make sure you replace your stings often. I try to replace mine about ever month. It is not that expensive and the guitar just sounds better with fresh strings. A good acoustic guitar instructor will show you how to replace your strings. It is not hard, however, for the novice it can be a little time-consuming.

Lastly, and I think most importantly, name your guitar. I have owned several guitars in my life and they all hold a special place in my heart. Thus they all deserve a name. My favorite guitar is a blue acoustic/electric named Bessa. It makes your relationship with your guitar more personal and your guitar becomes more than just an instrument.

Follow these few tips to make sure the life of your acoustic guitar is a happy one. A lot of times a guitar becomes almost an extension of the player, so take of if it like you would yourself. 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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The Easiest Way To Learn To Play The Guitar

Why would you want to learn to play the guitar? Because you love the sound, because you love the feel of the guitar, maybe your hero in your favourite band is the lead guitar player. Whatever your reasons, you have decided to learn and are looking for a quick route to stardom.

Contrary to popular belief, learning to play the guitar is relatively easy. Like anything in life you need to be shown the basics and then it is just a case of practice makes perfect.

Although some people are naturally talented when it comes to musical instruments I have yet to see a student who picks up a guitar and immediately blasts out a classic. To play guitar to a good level takes a lot of dedication and practice.

Although all this dedication and practice sounds like hard work it really isn't, if you have decided to go this far the chances are that you will actually enjoy the endless twanging that is needed to become competent.

Where to start?

Your starting point is your equipment. We always recommend you start with an electric guitar. They are far more forgiving and easier to play than an acoustic. At the very least you will need a guitar and an amp. Just because you are a beginner it doesn't mean you can buy any old rubbish. Anything with Fender written on it will generally be good quality gear. The Fender Frontman range of amplifiers is a great starting point and is available all over the Internet.

Ok, ok I have my guitar set up

You have your guitar, your amp and a plectrum and you are ready to begin. First you need to tune your guitar. There are various methods to do this ranging from simply tuning by ear to some ridiculously complex methods. By far the easiest way is to use a guitar tuner. These are cheaply available on the internet or from your local music store and are really easy to use. There are even apps for most smart phones as well as web sites that have guitar tuners.

There really is no excuse for not tuning and it is essential that you your guitar is tuned, if you can't get hold of a tuner for some reason just pop into your local musical instrument store and they will be happy to tune it for you.

Which string is which?

The guitar strings can be identified by their thickness. On a standard 6 string guitar the strings are as follows:

E - Thickest
A - 5th
D - 4th
G - 3rd
B - 2nd
E - Thinnest

This will help you replace them when they snap. And they do snap!

Chords

Chords are the basis of the guitar sound. Whenever you hear a big chorus in a song, these are chords. Chords are generated by playing 2 or more notes at a time. This sounds difficult but it just entails holding down 2 or more strings at a time whilst strumming the guitar. You should start with the C chord as this is the easiest to play and can be used endlessly. You play the C chord as follows:

• Index finger just behind the first fret on the second string (B).
• Middle finger, just behind the 2nd fret on the forth string (D).
• Ring finger behind the third fret on the 5th string (A).
• The first and third string are played open, whereas the 6th string is not played at all.

There are many more chords to practice and practice makes perfect. Practice swapping between chords as this is where most people fall down and can make the difference between sounding mediocre and sounding great.

Practice makes perfect but the right equipment can help tremendously!

There is a slight theme forming here. Practice makes perfect, the more you practice the better you will get but if your equipment is letting you down then all the practice in the world will make no difference.

The Fender Frontman is simply the best amplifier on the market for beginners and pro's alike.

Click here now to see more information about guitars and Fender range.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Guitar Chords For Beginners - The Awesome D Chord!

Did you ever want to learn how to play the guitar? If your answer is yes then you're in luck as learning guitar chords for beginners is not that difficult.

I've been playing guitar for the past 30 years and although technology has made it easy to watch online guitar lessons, it's up to you to put in the time to learn the chords as well as the music theory behind the chords if you wish.

For this article, we will be focusing on the D chord as well as some other guitar chords for beginners that will help form the foundation of many of the songs that you will end up playing.

Your guitar has 6 strings on it and is normally tuned to the following notes:

E, A, D, G, B, E

There are also guitar tabs that can help you learn to play beginner chords. For reference they number the strings as well as show you where your fingers should be placed to form the chord.

The guitar strings are normally numbered from highest to lowest meaning the last string on your guitar (the high E string) is know as the #1 string. So the numbering orders is as follows:

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

So without going into too much detail regarding music theory for now, some of the most common guitar chords for beginners are known as "open chords" because of their fingering style. When it comes to playing the D chord, the most common way to play it is as follows:

Step 1 - Place your first finger on string #3 (G) on the second fret.
Step 2 - Place your middle finger on string #1 (E high) on the second fret.
Step 3 - Place your ring finger on string #2 (B) on the third fret.

Congratulations! You just played an open D chord. You may want to work on bending your fingers, especially your ring finger, so that the tips of all of your fingers press firmly down onto the fret board to make the chord sound clean when you strum it. When it comes to guitar chords for beginners, if you practice and have some patience, you will see results come very quickly!

The D chord has a really nice and bright sound to it. Learn to play this chord well and you will be on your way to many well known songs that start off with this chord (i.e. Sweet Home Alabama).

Here's a few extra tips on the D chord that will have you sounding like a pro in no time.

Tip #1 - Play the D chord and while strumming or picking, place your little finger (pinky) on string #1 (E) on the third fret and then take it off again. Sounds cool doesn't it! You are playing what is called a D Sus (Sus = suspended) chord when you add your little finger to the mix.

Tip #2 - Play the D chord and this time remove your middle finger from string #1 (E) on the second fret and strum a few times and then put it back on again. When you remove your finger you are now playing what is known as a D5 chord. I love this chord as it has a darker feel compared the the open D chord itself.

So work on playing the open D chord as well as the D Sus and the D5 and you will begin to see lots of opportunities to make some great melodies happen!

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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Why You Should Start Teaching Guitar Lessons

There are tons of good guitar players in the world today, but not very many good guitar teachers. Maybe that's because being a good teacher requires a different set of skills. It takes more than just expertise on the guitar... being a good teacher also requires patience, courage and a little knowledge about psychology to help someone truly learn to play well.

If you're like think most guitar players, maybe you would love to teach other people how to play, but you tried it once and it didn't go so well. Or maybe you're afraid of the pressure, afraid of disappointing people or afraid of failing. Please don't let your fear or past experiences stand in the way...you can be a great guitar teacher, make a good living and avoid all the trouble often associated with teaching music if you approach it the smart way.

One reason you should consider teaching the guitar is that you can spend your time doing something you love. Everyone else in the world works at a job all day so they can have the money to do what they really want to do... what they're passionate about. Wouldn't it be awesome to spend your time playing the guitar with people instead? This will also improve your playing skills, since you'll be explaining and demonstrating various music concepts on your guitar. Doing that will really reinforce them for you and help you better integrate them into your own guitar playing.

Another huge benefit to teaching guitar is that you can totally replace your day job. If you've ever wanted to be a full-time musician, teaching is the fastest way to do it. You can also make more money, set your own hours and be your own boss. You would be respected as an expert and a small business owner in your local community. If you're also a gigging musician, you can schedule your lessons around your performances and design the kind of life you want to live. You can even do tax write-offs for your music equipment.

Probably the biggest reason you should look into teaching guitar is the significance and fulfillment it would bring into your life. Believe it or not, the world needs you and what you have to give. There are a bunch of good people out there who would love to learn how to play the guitar, but many of them try to teach themselves and they give up. Many of them reach out for help and hire a teacher, but there are not many good teachers. One of the biggest things you can do to help music, and the guitar in general, is to become a teacher who knows how to help your students get results. You would be bringing joy and meaning into the lives of your students that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

So consider teaching guitar, even if you only do it part time an hour or two each week. It could be exactly what you've been looking for.

If you would like more information about becoming a guitar teacher, please check out Start Teaching Guitar at http://www.startteachingguitar.com/ for free resources, lesson plans and help to get you started on the right track.

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