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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How To Play Piano - Taking the First Steps in Learning the Piano

Learning how to play piano is not an extremely difficult task that has stringent age requirements, contrary to what some people think. Although there are advantages to learning at a young age, the piano is an instrument that can be mastered by anyone with the guts to persevere. The first requirement to learning this instrument is owning or having access to a piano.

Because the piano is a large and expensive piece of equipment, having a smaller and less expensive keyboard is a decent substitute for beginners. The main difference between these two instruments is that the keyboard has 66 keys, while the piano has 88 keys. Another important difference is that the piano keys are larger and heavier, making it more difficult to play for beginners.

This is an instrument that has been around for several hundred years and has been the subject of much study over the years, out of which many different methods for learning and teaching this instrument have emerged. Several people adopt the "learn by ear" method, which is where they simply fiddle and learn by trial and error. This method is rather ineffective and several bad habits can be acquired by attempting such a task without a proper tutor or instructor. In order to learn how to play the piano properly, a tutor of some sort is required. This can take the form of online video tutorials, DVDs, books or an actual teacher.

Those who are quick learners and have a lot of motivation will find that videos and books are very effective instructors and will be able to learn many different chords and even a little musical theory. A private teacher is generally considered more effective, as the teacher can modify the syllabus to suit the pupil's strengths and interest. Attending a music school also affords one the opportunity to learn musical theory (sheet music) properly.

The act of reading sheet music is a complex task, which takes some study, a little instruction and a lot of practice. Learning how to read sheet music enables one to be able to play complex compositions almost instantly, rather than trying to figure them out by ear. That being said, "Ear training", or learning to recognize musical intervals and tonal changes is a very important skill which is also taught by professional teachers. Once a method for learning has been appropriated, the next and most important element is practice. Skill and proficiency at this instrument is not absorbed and can only be achieved by steady and faithful practice. Learning how to play piano is something that can be achieved by a person of any age. The important thing is to choose an appropriate learning method on how to play piano and dedicates enough time to practice regularly.

Discover the simplest way on playing the piano by looking at How to play piano on-line store. Alternatively, watch the YouTube video by clicking How to play piano

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Does Learning How To Read and Play Music Make You Smarter?

Music has strange, unexplainable powers. Think about it... Music has the power to make you feel like dancing, make you feel sad, make you feel good, make you feel afraid, conjure up feelings of the first time you fell in love, and so much more. But can music actually make you smarter?

The Mozart Effect. That's what scientists are calling it. The profound effect that music can have on a young mind. In the lab, it has been proven that rats and humans achieve better results in memory tests and learning after listening to Mozart. That's right, Standford University researchers released these remarkable findings, and that's just the effect of listening to music. What about learning to play it?

There can be no doubt that learning to play a musical instrument can be a lot of fun as well as entertaining, but it is also great for your brain! And the best part is you are never too late to start. Improved dexterity, activation of both hemispheres of the brain, more creativity and clarity are only a few of the benefits of musical education. Quite simply put, music affects our physiological state. Now that is powerful information!

Most people nowadays have a musical instrument in their possession, but few play it regularly. Why is that? Is it a question of busy lifestyles? Or maybe a question of passive versus engaged entertainment (or edutainment), ie. movies and video games versus practicing an instrument. In any case, the internet is making a huge difference in the flow of information these days and music is certainly no stranger to the digital world.

However, it is quite surprising that there is a distinct lack of free information regarding how to read music notation (or sheet music as it is sometimes called). It is a skill that most serious musicians have and is a great place for the novice to begin. This skill is not particularly difficult to master, but it does require specific information and some practice and patience. With video and audio over the internet becoming quite commonplace, it seems logical to have a convenient, centralized location where one could learn the technique of music sight reading, lesson by lesson, at one's own pace such as the website How To Read Music Notes.

In Don Campbell's book, "The Mozart Effect: How Music Makes You Smarter" research has shown that listening to classical music such as Mozart can increase efficiency, relieve stress and calm hyperactive children as well as adults. Imagine what learning how to play an instrument can do!

Dino Giancola is a McGill University music graduate who currently writes music for television, film, games, theatre and circus. He is a 2011 Gemeaux nominated composer for Best Music Score in a Documentary. He believes strongly in music education for the young and old alike. You can listen to his music at Dinosound.com.

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Learning Guitar - What's With The Pain In My Finger Tips?

Here's the question we hear so many times. "I just started learning to play guitar and the tips of my fingers on my fingering hand hurt. Why, and will it always hurt." No, the pain will stop. This is actually really good news. It shows progress. As you start to learn finger placement on the strings your finger tips will start to hurt. This is because your soft finger tip is pressing down onto a hard metal or nylon string. The more you do this the more you will build up callous on the tips of your fingers. The callous will build up naturally over time and protect your finger tips. If you practice finger technique for at least fifteen to twenty minutes daily it will take about three weeks to build your callous and for the pain to go away. Your fingers will get pretty sore at first but as you keep going and building callous the soreness will diminish. By the time you get three weeks into regular practice you will have built up enough callous on your finger tips to play without soreness in your finger tips.

Learning the basic chords which are, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, Em, and Am, is what you will be doing as you build the callous on your finger tips. These are the basic easy to learn chord positions. Take three chords at a time and move through that progression until you are comfortable with the changes. The first progression to start with is G, C and D. Play through the progression G, C, D, C, G, and do that over and over starting slowly and building speed as you go. Soon you will be able to play through this progression with ease.

With your strum hand you will be developing your sense of timing and technique. Vary your technique between strumming and picking. It will all seem clumsy at first. Start slowly and be persistent, you'll be surprised at how quickly you improve. You should get a soft pick, a medium pick and a hard pick and play with each one until you decide which you prefer.

So over these first three weeks you will be developing these foundational elements of playing guitar.

1. Build callous on your finger tips.
2. Learn basic chords.
3. Become comfortable playing through basic chord progressions.
4. Rhythm and timing.
5. strum and picking technique.

These five elements may seem like a lot to accomplish in three weeks but they're really not. You will be developing all five at the same time. So be patient with yourself and don't give up. By the time three weeks is up you'll be ready to start with some serious instruction. If you have that creative fire to play guitar, go for it.

Onward and Upward.

Anyone with true desire can learn how to play the guitar with Guitar Super Stars. Truly the best guitar training course available online today. Visit Guitar Super Stars, http://www.guitarsuperstars4u.info/.
Recommended by Bruce Stewart Nutting, at, http://guitarmusictoday.blog.com/.

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Importance Of Learning Terminologies Of Music Theory for Guitarists

All of us know that music theory is the language of music. Thus, the Terminologies of music theory are its vocabulary. That is how we communicate terms in music theory. That is how we can express an idea in our head and put it down on paper.

Say, Do you know whats a Triad? An Interval? How about an octave?. If you don't then you're not alone in this human race for learning to play the guitar and ignoring the theory behind it.

Most self-taught guitarists advance with learning to play the guitar without knowing 10 percent of the terminologies involved in learning to play the guitar. Most of my friends don't know more than the names of the basics chords of guitar. Sure they can play the D(seven), F(minor) and even F(sharp) and not know the name of that chord. That is because they learn from sources other than those that necessitate a degree in music, like from a friend who knows a piece of music and he just learns to play it by sound and observing him play.

The most rational reason for that is because they learn more by sound than theory. In theory, that sounds more favorable than picking up a book and going through pages and pages of music theory only to forget why you picked the book in the first place. Books on music theory can be misleading and could end up making you hate music theory or even theories in general.

Most tutored guitarist too advance with learning to play only by the rules. Well, that's a good thing since they're learning it the right way but they get too attached to playing by the rules that they forget or say deprive themselves of the exceptions. No theory is perfect. If it were, it would be a law or a rule. So, when theories are involved, exceptions are the inseparable other side of the coin. For all the theories in music there are hundreds of exceptions. These exceptions are the ones that make learning music so unique and wonderful.

I myself started of learning the guitar from observing my uncle play. But once I got the hang of the basic playing techniques, I wanted to know more about this language and I realized I didn't know anything about playing, technically. As I started learning the names of chords and everything around it, I realized that there were thousands of terms related to music theory. So, I picked only those which I wanted to learn to get through my guitar lessons. That way I'll have my head in the game and I wont drown in the sea of terminology of music.

Learning the terms is all about what you wanna know about music that you are trying to learn at the moment. There's no point in learning terms which you don't need at the moment or think that it might be useful for future use. It's always good to know more in advance but for that term to have a long-term effect on our memories its best to learn them with an example. For example, to learn a chord, say D(seven), you're not going to learn it simply by just mugging the finger placements.It might take hours of practice before it can blend into you till you play that chord without looking at the guitar fret.

The same is applicable for all the other terms in music. Learning music is not just about theory, it is about applying that music theory practically and practicing till it is on the tip of your finger. Don't be afraid to dig in a term of music next time there's a guitar in your hand and something in your head and you are left clueless. There's always a reason behind the term being named that way and there's always a theory involved around it.

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Learning How to Play the Guitar: Getting Started

As I was growing up, I watched a lot of MTV (back when they actually played music videos!). Watching great musicians like Slash, Kurt Cobain, And Eric Clapton tear it up on the guitar was the catalyst for my passion for playing the guitar! Have you ever thought to yourself, "Man, I wish I could play the guitar like that dude!", but you never really did anything about it? Well, its not too late to pick up a guitar and learn now! Here are some helpful bits of info to get you on your way:

Guitars

Obviously, the first step would be get yourself a guitar if you really want to learn how to play. Choosing the right guitar can be extremely difficult and intimidating for a true novice, so here are a few tips to bear in mind when searching for the perfect guitar.

Type of Wood - Be sure to pay close attention to the type of wood used for your guitar"s body and neck. Heavier woods, like mahogany, allow for more sustain than varieties like alder or ash. There is, however, a downside to playing a guitar made of such a heavy wood and that is the weight factor. Heavier woods indeed equal heavy guitars, and this can take a toll on your back in the long run.
Frets. - Also, make sure you pay close attention to the number of frets a prospective guitar has. Some come with either 21, 22 or 24 frets. Guitars with 21 frets are more stable than the guitars with 24 frets, but if you dream of soloing on your guitar then 24 frets are more useful.
Strings. Consider the kind of strings that you need to use on your new guitar. If you like to play in low or "dropped" tunings, then you'll have to use heavy gauge strings so that the strings don't become too loose. If you plan on soloing a lot, then you're going to need to use lighter gauge strings like "9's", so that string bending is a lot easier.

Songs

Now that you've picked out that perfect guitar, let's get started on picking out the perfect song for you to learn how to play on your guitar! You should choose a song that you are very familiar with and that you really love. And don't start off with something that has 10 different chords... Pick something easy with only 3-4 chords and ideally has a slower beat. This is very important when just starting to learn songs on the guitar, and it will help keep you motivated and inspired.

Instructional Materials

So let's recap: You've got your guitar in hand and you've picked out the perfect song. Now what? Well, you need to head down to your local music store and pick up what's called a "chord reference" book. Chords are simply a series of notes played in unison, and this "chord reference" book will show you the finger placements for all the chords you'll need to use while playing your song. There are also many videos on the internet that can show you how to position your fingers to play all the different chord variations. Practice

Ok, this is actually the hardest part of all of this. The old adage "practice makes perfect" is so true! You really need to be disciplined when it comes to this and make sure to set aside time to practice every week. You should be getting 30 minutes of practice at 3-5 days a week when just beginning. Practicing on a regular basis will ensure that your fingers stay in shape for playing the guitar, and it will also train your ears. Practice also builds muscle memory in your hands, and before you know it your hands will take over without you even thinking about it!

Hope you enjoyed this article on Learning How to Play the Guitar: Getting Started! If you would like more great tips and tricks check out my FREE GUITAR LESSONS blog!

Thanks,

JB

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The Self Taught Guitarist: Transitioning and Learning Songs

Today, when most people talk of being self taught, it rarely ever refers to someone who just picks up a guitar and is able to figure it all out on their own. At least when I speak of self taught it refers to someone who is learning to play the guitar without an instructor. Instead they use instruction manuals, the internet and possibly videos to help them to learn. It's self teaching because no one is showing them how to use all that information.

Now there's not a thing wrong with being taught by an instructor. It's probably the fastest way to learn because you have someone there who watches you play and can immediately assist you in doing it right. But for those of us who for whatever reasons have chosen to go at it alone, learning to play the guitar can become a long and arduous road where many give up before they are able to experience the joys of playing. What I hope to accomplish with this article is a pathway full of ideas and motivations that will hopefully help those who not only struggle with the physical aspect of learning to play but also the psychological side. In other words if you can't play very well, and you see no improvement, you will soon give up. Let me see if I can help.

Psychological things to help you succeed

1. Know that it is possible to become a good guitarist. Even a great one. Others have done it and so can you.
2. Some learn faster than others. The fact that it takes you longer to learn will mean absolutely nothing after you have successfully taught yourself the guitar. It'll just take you a little longer to get there.
3. Getting upset while trying to learn something new will be absolutely no help to you. Keep cool and keep working at it until you get it right.
4. To keep yourself motivated remember back to what first got you interested in playing the guitar. Listen to a piece of music or guitar solo that makes you say to yourself, "I've just got to learn to play that!".

Physical things to help you succeed

1. Very important. Your fingers do what your mind tells them to do. With your eyes you see how your finger(s) should move from one fret to another. And when you have that movement right you then record it to you your brain with thousands of repetitions until it is perfect.
2. And with all things go slow. If you can't do something slow then there is no way you can do it at tempo.
3. Develop a good technique. A technique is the manner in which you move up and down the fretboard, and the positioning of your hand and fingers while fretting notes and chords.
4. A metronome to help you to develop a perfect tempo
5. An organized, daily guitar practice routine that incorporates exercises that help in the development of a good technique. Practice scale patterns for the type of music you like to play. And a song book with your type of music to not only gauge your progress but to give some enjoyment to your exercise regimen.

The above are ideas that will help you with your self-teaching journey. Now lets focus next on some things that will help make your progress go a little smoother, possibly a little faster, and hopefully with a sense of accomplishment.

Problem: You encounter problems when transitioning from one position on the fretboard to another. Instead of the movement being smooth and flowing, you lose tempo along with taking a considerable amount of time getting it right.

Solution: First of all focus on the transition notes.That would be the last note you play in a certain position, and the first note of the new position. For instance you are playing on the first through fourth frets. Then from there you need to come down and play a couple of measures on the seventh and ninth frets. Make sure the first note you fret will be with the finger that will allow you to best play the notes within those measures. If the first note of that new position is the ninth fret third string, and the next note is on the seventh fret first string you would not want to use your first finger for the first note. Rather it would be more beneficial to use your third finger first which would then allow you to fret that second note with your first finger.

Daily Routine: Do dry runs to see which finger would be the best one to use for the first note of the transition. And to make for a smooth transition; look ahead! Be looking at the first note of the new position the same time you are picking the previous note. Your finger will automatically go to the fret you are looking at. Practice this very slowly until you can do it without error eventually working up to tempo.

Problem: You find yourself having trouble learning any songs. You can learn bits and pieces but you become tired of the song before you're able to play the entire piece even fairly well.

Solution: It's great to play the parts of the song that we know well, but the focus should be on the little parts that we can't play. First of all pick music that is within your skill level, but still has some level of difficulty that will help you to advance your playing skills. Focus primarily on the parts that are giving you the most problem while hardly giving a notice to the rest of the piece. By doing this you will not tire of the song so easily. Once you have become fairly competent over the difficult movements, then you can put it all together. Start off very slow, far below tempo which will allow you to perfect each movement. I recommend a guitar trainer to do this. This will slow the tempo down to a crawl while keeping the proper beat. You can also loop the difficult parts so you can continue to play it over and over again until you get it right.

Daily Routine: Incorporate practice exercises that coincide with the difficult parts of a song you are trying to learn. Take a very easy, simplistic song even if it's a single note version of "Mary Had A Little Lamb." And for a few minutes during your practice session each day play it over and over for weeks on end until it is as perfect as it can be played by anyone. This will help you develop an ear for what your version of perfect sounds like. With this awakening of your creative mind it will give you a goal to obtaining perfection for the music you really like to play.

These are a few basic ideas that should help you to not only improve your playing skills, but help you develop a library of completed songs in your mind that can be played at will any time you want. And with the ability to play other musicians music, to venture on to develop your own music.

Article By Jerry Lunsford The Self Taught Guitarist A website dedicated to the self-taught guitarist. With guitar tips, articles, helps, free lessons, and suggested gear to help you to succeed in teaching yourself to play the guitar. http://www.theselftaughtguitarist.com/ or to see my new "Guitar Practice Techniques" manual if you are looking for a practice routine that will help you develop a good technique. http://www.guitarpracticetechniques.com/

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Trying to Find a More Stimulating Way of Learning the Guitar?

These days the internet is a goldmine of resources to help you learn to play guitar, but you have to be disciplined in your approach. Self study goes with the territory when learning to play guitar of course, same as any other skill, and you can easily get frustrated and disillusioned. Getting a qualified teacher is still probably the best way of learning, but if you don't fancy that, or can't afford it, there are some great resources available online.

Let's start with the basics you'll need in order to get the most from your online learning.

Firstly you will need a guitar! There is no way you can learn to play without owning or borrowing a guitar. The type of guitar you choose is primarily a matter of personal taste. It could be electric, acoustic, folk, classical or jazz. The choice is up to you. You will also need a computer of a reasonable specification, good enough that you aren't distracted from learning to play by technical computer issues.

Most importantly, you also have to have the correct mental attitude. If you have decided to go it alone with your learning then you have to be disciplined with yourself. Have a plan in mind of what you want to achieve, and by when. But temper it with reality so you can celebrate when you do achieve your goals. Remember to take a break every half hour or so, even if it is only for a few minutes. This will help with the mental aspects of learning your new skills.

The next thing to do is some basic research into which are the best websites to help you learn. This is an important step in achieving your goal, so don't rush it. Choosing the wrong site at this stage could lead to frustrations later on.

When you have chosen your site, and paid your membership if appropriate, you can get down to the actual process of learning to play guitar. It is important that you follow through the lessons in the correct sequence and understand the learning points involved. You can't do too much practice when learning the guitar, but always try to push forwards with your learning.

To really feel like you are getting somewhere, one tip is to get the guitar tablature (tab) to your favourite song and learn to play that. Even if you do this in parallel to your online course it is a great way for you to personally measure your progress.

If you struggle with a particular chord change or fingering technique, try and practice it as slowly as possible. Because you are learning online there is no-one there to criticise you, so you can take it at your own pace. Just keep trying, slowly, and eventually you will succeed. This is how the brain learns best, and the more times you play it slow the easier it will be to crack it.

As you progress there will be frustrations, and your fingers will get sore, but that will pass. Keeping to your routine and your plan is the main thing. In a few weeks you will be amazed by how well you have picked up all the little tips and techniques.

After that the sky is definitely the limit!

Phil Marston is the editor of http://www.guitarextras.com/ - everything extra you need to help you play guitar. Phil hopes you've enjoyed this article on learning to play guitar. - Please feel free to contact him if you need more details.

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Learning To Play The Drums - A Beginners Guide To Getting Started On The Drums

Have you always wanted to play the drums but didn't know where to begin or where to start? I'm not going to lie to you, drums are not as easy to play as others would make out. But with the right direction and a little natural rhythm you can be playing along to your favourite songs in no time at all!

So what's first? Well, some might say that getting a drum kit is pretty important but this just isn't the case. I learnt to play drums on the side of chairs and on cushions before my Dad bought me my first drum kit. Also, you might not be able to afford a drum kit to start off with so what else can you do? Well, you could...

1. Try to become friends or get to know a drummer local to you. Do you have a friend that already plays the drums? It's always good to learn some stuff from somebody you already know and most musicians are more than happy to show a beginner a trick or two. Just ask!

2. If you're lucky enough to still be going to school then does your local school own a drum kit? If so then ask if you can have a play on it sometime, either in break time or after school. This could be a great chance for you to either practice some ideas if you don't have a drum kit at home or just to try out the drums for the first time. Also gives you a chance to experience the full volume of a real drum kit for the first time... BANGBANG!!

Of course, nothing beats (no pun intended) owning your own drum set but don't feel like you can't learn without one. Drums are different to other instruments in that you can learn to play by tapping on any surface. Sure, it's not the same and you will soon reach a wall in your playing but at least you get a chance to learn before making any financial commitment on a drum kit.

Once you've either got a drum kit or are satisfied with your practice equipment/chair situation then the next step has to be...

3. Play along to Music (CD/MP3's). Start with simple songs and just dive in. I'm completely self taught (originally) and just started off by listening carefully to my favourite songs and trying to copy the drum beats. Looking back I made loads or mistakes but I learned from every single one. Each time I made a mistake I would remember it for next time and slowly over time I improved and (to my surprise) became very good, considering I didn't have a teacher for the first 6 years of my playing! Just be brave and start playing, you'll be surprised how quickly you pick things up!

4. Get free drum lessons from online websites and YouTube. There are so many online sources of free education available out there that it would be silly not to take advantage of it.

5. Learn to play at least a few common beginner drum beats and learn to play them in your sleep! You will find that most songs contain just a few basic beats that drummers then chop and change (add and remove notes) to suit the song. One of the most common and basic drum beats can be seen and heard from the Beginner Video Drum Lesson link above (listed as Part 1 - Eighth Note Hi-Hat) This basic drum beat can be heard on countless recordings and is well worth learning... in fact, it's unavoidable if you want to play drums.

You now have a few options open to you depending on where you want to take your drumming.

6. You might like to learn how to read some basic notation. I talk about the benefits of this in one of my articles under the Free Drum Lessons/Article section of my website. This article explains all of the positives and negatives for learning to read music. I'm obviously biased but with good reason, I think learning to read and write music notation is one of the best things you can do for your playing. It's also no coincidence to find out that most other readers also think the same.

7. Get yourself a GOOD drum teacher! Yep, there's no denying that a drum teacher is going to have a huge affect on your playing. Finding a good drum teacher (and it's worth shopping around) will not only make you a better drummer but will improve you quicker and help you to avoid the little pitfalls and dead ends that most self taught drummers (including myself) suffered within those first few years of playing.

Also, it's worth mentioning that a teacher might not always know best. I try to be as humble as possible with my students as we all make mistakes. Sometimes what I think is best for the pupil might not be. I trust that my pupil will speak up when they feel that perhaps a better direction might be more suitable for them. Let your teacher know exactly what you want to learn. If you want to learn just Jazz then say so, it's your money!

This has been just a quick and brief introduction to getting started on the drums and you can find further drum articles relating to this subject on my website. Just take a look around the site and have fun learning!

Please feel free to email me if you wish to ask me any questions at all. I'll be happy to help you in any way I can.

Happy drumming to you!

Rob (Drummer and Self Confessed Drum-Nut)

Robert Litten is a Drummer and Teacher of 20 years experience who now spends his time building and running the webs premier online Video Drum Lesson & Sheet Music website http://www.drumstheword.com/.

Drums The Word - 100's of Free Video Drum Lessons, from Beginners to Advanced. Easily learn how to play drums to your favourite songs!

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Learning Piano Online or by DVD

For some people, the thought of piano lessons conjures up childhood memories of going to weekly lessons and endless hours of boredom practicing the basics. For other people who are considering enrolling their own children in piano lessons, the logistics of taking kids to lessons and the expense involved may seem overwhelming. Adults who have always wished they could play the piano might feel silly signing up with an instructor who mainly teaches children.

Thankfully, as times have changed, so have the ways in which piano lessons are taught. In addition to traditional piano lessons, there are online piano lessons and even piano lessons by ear on DVDs. For many people, learning to play piano by ear is an incredibly enriching and rewarding experience. Not only can they play piano for their own enjoyment, but they can also learn the chord progressions necessary to tackle jazz piano, gospel piano, and even contemporary music.

There are many advantages to buying a piano course on DVDs, the most obvious of which is that you can literally save thousands of dollars on piano lessons. Moreover, you don't have to carve out the time to go to an instructor every week, or deal with the logistical hassles of taking kids too and from piano lessons. With DVDs, you can take the lessons at your own pace and at whatever time is most convenient for you.

If you're considering buying a piano course on DVD, it's important to select the right one. You should, for example, choose a course that will provide you with a year's worth of piano lessons. Similarly, one of the factors you should consider is how accessible the lessons are to the novice. Music theory, for instance, should be explained in terms that are easy for both children and adults to understand. Terms that should be covered include the circle of 5ths, scale degrees, chord construction, chord families, chord inversions, chord alteration, harmonic direction, and ear-theory principles.

Of course, playing the piano is more than music theory. The DVD set you choose should feature an instructor who has years of experience both teaching and playing the piano. Because the process of learning to read music can be an obstacle to those who would otherwise enjoy learning to play the piano, the lessons you choose should teach you how to play by ear by using hundreds of chording techniques.

If you select the right DVD set, and practice for a half hour each day, by the end of three months you should be able to play chord progressions, master the major scales, and understand how most songs are arranged. You should also be able to play in a variety of musical styles, such as contemporary gospel, jazz, blues, country, pop, and ballads.

Learning to play the piano doesn't have to be a difficult process; indeed, it can be filled with enthusiasm and excitement. You just have to find the right piano lessons by ear on DVDs and let the music flow!

Mary Anne Lewis tells her own piano story at her website: Piano Online Free Info.com. You can visit her blog at this location.

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