Learn To Play Guitar

Learn Guitar - 7 Tips For Playing Barre Chords

2009-12-24T16:24:00.001-08:00

You must try to hold the strings down only enough to make them sound cleanly and no more.

By doing this the hardest part of your finger will be in contact with the string and you will not need to use so much force.

Purchase a grip master or buy a squeeze ball and use it for a few minutes each day. This will improve your finger strength dramatically.

Another tip is to buy a decent guitar. If you're trying to learn on a bad guitar you will probably find guitar barre chords very hard or even impossible When your guitar action is very high holding down the strings to play a barre chord will be very hard. On the other hand if the action is too low, you will struggle with the 'buzzes' and 'clicks'.

Another tip is to use lighter gauge guitar strings.Heavier guitar strings will make holding the barre tougher.

If you're just starting out it is a good idea to learn barre chords on lighter gauge strings first. If your guitar is rubbish this step is essential.

Most people begin by learning the dreaded F barre chord But you can be smarter then that. Try practicing barre chords by learning further up the neck and slowly moving downwards to the F chord position

Learning Guitar - The Easy Way To Play A Guitar Slide

2009-12-24T16:07:00.000-08:00

Lead guitarists use a popular technique to their playing called guitar slides. It should not be confused with slide guitar, which is an entirely different style of playing. Most players use guitar slides while playing solos or riffs. That said they can be used while playing chords also.

There are many songs where slides are played using chords by the rhythm player. Listen to the intro of Jeff Buckley's 'Last Goodbye' or Pink Floyd's 'Wish you were here' for some great examples of acoustic chord sliding.

You can master guitar slides fast because they are not that difficult.The idea of a guitar slide is to fret your chosen note , pick it and then slide to a second note quickly without letting the sound die. When you play the slide correctly the second note you just slided to will sound as clearly as the first.

It is crucial when you execute a slide that you hold the string with the right amount of pressure. Try to exert just enough pressure to keep the sound ringing.

If the string is pushed down too much the slide will not be smooth and flowing when you play it. Holding the string too lightly will allow it to buzz and click, or the sound will quickly fade and the slide won't work.

Learn Guitar - How To Buy The Right Guitar And Equipment

2009-12-24T15:40:00.001-08:00

When you first pick up your guitar it can be difficult to tell what separates a good guitar from a poor one. You won't have a clue what additional equipment you require either.

Tips For Buying Your First Electric Guitar

First of all, electric guitars tend to be more difficult to assess than acoustic guitars so we will begin by looking at them. First of all choosing an amp to work well with your guitar is as vital as choosing the guitar itself. A guitar will sound different if it is plugged into a higher end amp than if it is plugged into a cheap throwaway model. For this reason it is important to find an amp that works with your guitar.

You must also pay attention to how easy it is for your to play the guitar. When you don't feel comfortable with a guitar even the best sound is no help.

Tips And Tricks For Buying A Decent Acoustic Guitar For Yourself

Buying a good acoustic guitar is not too hard. The easiest way to find a good acoustic is to simply pick it up, play it and listen to see if you like the sound.

What Else Do You Need

Every guitarist also requires these two vital extras.

Beginners and performing guitarists will definitely need a good quality electronic guitar tuner. Playing in tune is critical. Tuning by ear requires you to have a starting referenced pitch. A good tuner will let you get one string in tune quickly and easily. You can then tune the rest by ear.

A metronome will also be extremely useful. This will help you keep beat and time will playing.

Alternate Guitar Tunings - 3 Top Alternate Tunings You Can Use Right Now

2009-12-24T01:44:00.001-08:00

Commonly, many folks that learn guitar solely learn to play in standard tuning (E-A-D-G-B-E).

However, there are a selection of alternative guitar tunings offered that can open up an enormous array of different options.

If a song is written for an alternate guitar tuning it can be difficult if not impossible to play in standard tuning.| A knowledge of common alternate tuning choices can be quite

DADGAD Tuning (D-A-D-G-A-D)

This tuning is very similar conceptually to the usage of Drop D acoustic guitar tuning (mentioned further on in this post) however taken to a rather a lot of extreme level.

This tuning allows acoustic guitarists to play an additional bass note they don't have in standard tuning.

Open Tunings (Open G: D-G-D-G-B-D)

These let the player take the role of both bassist and rhythm player at the same time. Open tunings allows guitarists to play mini riffs and solos while strumming simple chord progressions.

Dropped D Guitar Tuning (D-A-D-G-B-E)

You can tune your guitar to drop D by lowering the pitch of your Low E string to D. In standard tuning the bass note for D is very high pitched. Drop D solves this problem by lowering the D bass note by an octave.

Learn Guitar - How To Master Guitar Strumming

2009-12-24T00:37:00.001-08:00

When you learn guitar for the first time proper strumming technique is the last thing on your mind. When you play a guitar chord it either sounds or it doesn't. Strumming on the other hand is not as clear cut.

Dividing The Strings

Normally a good player will divide the strings into different groups. When a guitarists breaks the strings into two groups, the low E, A, and D strings are one group and the G, B, and high e are the other. Each strike is targeted at either one or both groups, but there is a specific target, even if it is a loosely set one. Sometimes beginners have a bit more trouble targeting this group, but it opens up an extra dynamic to playing.

The Dynamics Of Great Strumming

A lot of beginners will strum every single string of the chord with every stroke. Doing this for an entire song can become quite bland, particularly if the guitar is one of the focal instruments in the song.

Discovering how to control your strums to the point of hitting only a couple of strings each time and swapping between the bass and treble strings can be much more interesting to listen to in many cases. Saying that, it is important to realize hitting every string is not bad, but it is something to do sparingly. This creates a dynamic to the song that makes striking all the strings in the chord a very noticeable thing that draws the listeners attention, rather than base line of the song.