Coming right up  

Posted by Guitar Player in

A little tutorial on beginner metal guitar will be posted in a few days. Be sure to check the blog daily so you don't miss it.

Improvising tips (requested lesson)  

Posted by Guitar Player in , ,

Kronos asked here for a lesson on improvising.

Here it is:

Improvising - Tips & Tricks
---------------------------

Improvising is very fun to do, but it takes some time and practice to be able to do it right. When you improvise, you basically play something over a chord progression. You can play licks, single notes, riffs, etc.

The first thing you need to know is that, in order to improvise, you need to know scales. There are alot of scales out there, and some are better than others over certain chord progressions, but when you start out you'll wanna learn the Pentatonic Scale. It's very used in rock 'n roll, blues, etc.

The Pentatonic Scale has 5 positions, but to get started, you only need to know one of them. It's extremely used, and it does have that rock 'n roll edge to it. Here's a tab:

E----------------------5-8--
B------------------5-8------
G--------------5-7----------
D----------5-7--------------
A------5-7------------------
E--5-8----------------------

That is the 1st position of the A minor pentatonic scale. It's in A because it starts on the 5th fret of the E string. There you'll find the note A.

It will be very hard for you if you don't memorize the notes on the lower E string. If you know them, you'll know where the scale starts.

Tip: If you want to play A Major pentatonic, just move the entire scale, 3 frets down. So for A minor you start at the 5th fret, for A major you'll start at the 2nd fret.

In order to practice, search the web for "free guitar backtracks". You'll find some easy. They also have the key of the song included in the name.

Example: Slow Blues in Em (E minor)


Bonus tips & tricks:
-------------------

1) Don't try to play for the entire duration of the backtrack. Make some pauses. Like, play a phrase, then pause for a second or two. Listen to the music. When you feel it's right, get back in the song.
2) Record yourself. It makes you even better
3) Use alot of hammer-ons and pull-offs, slides, bends and sometimes even muting. It makes your improvisation sound richer.
4) This one is a little bit tricky. Some people say it's good, some say it's bad. As always, I say it's something in between. Here it is. Have a library of memorised licks. It's good to use licks you already know, but when you play them, just include them in tho song how you see fit. Do a hammer-on there, a slide there, a bonus bend, whatever. Just don't make it sound like canned material. From time to time, I'll post some standard licks you can learn and derive from.

Bonus2:
--------

A standard lick :D

E--------------------
B--------------------
G--------------------
D-------5--5-7------
A---5h7--7----------
E--------------------

I hope you enjoyed the lesson :)

Cleaning your guitar strings  

Posted by Guitar Player

Honestly, I don't do it. I'm just too lazy. But it is recommender. After you stop playing, just drag a piece of cloth or something up and down your guitar strings a few times. If you don't do that, they get rusty.

That happens because when you play, moisture from your fingers gets on the strings.

My newest blog  

Posted by Guitar Player

I've made a new blog. It contains videos from youtube with the best songs ever written (in my opinion). If you want to hear some songs, take a look at the blog.

One Music List (click this)

Request Lessons  

Posted by Guitar Player in , , ,

Hey there. I'm interested in the things YOU want to learn. I can post chords or tips or whatever but usually they don't match YOUR needs. So let's do it like this. Do you have a question? You want to see an article written about what you want to learn? Leave a comment and I'll be sure to write a lesson. I'll even include your name and a link to your website or blog ;) Just so people know who requested the article. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

Thank you  

Posted by Guitar Player in , , ,

Thank you guys and gals. Mostly gals :D

This is the 50th post and our website counter has exceeded 21k+ hits. This wouldn't of been possible without you. Thank you :)

Strumming  

Posted by Guitar Player in , , ,

The thing when you strum is that you need to have your hand loose. The pick should be also flexible. It gives you a cool sound. Always have your hands relaxed. If you pick, use rigid picks. If you strum, use flexible picks.

From rehearsal  

Posted by Guitar Player in ,

It's really interesting. It's one of those momens when you really feel like a band. Alex, the rythm guitar player came in and laid down a riff. We started puttin pieces together, Claudiu came with some cool drum parts, I put the solo, and in 2-3 hours we had the song pretty much done.

The next day, I came with a metal riff, we started working on some parts and half of the song was done in like under 30 minutes. I guess it's really that simple when your band mates are good frends of yours. We connect and the creative juices flow.

I'll keep you updated on our band and as soon as we have a myspace account with some demos, I'll juice ya' up.

Hey.  

Posted by Guitar Player in ,

How's it going with you all? I hope It's good.

It's been going great for me and the band. We tried to get a gig at a bar in our home town (very little town) but we didn't manage to. Even so, we did meet some people and in 1-2 weeks we are going to meet a bar owner in a bigger city, next to ours. Some gigs there would rock :D

I'll be busy for some time now. We're working on our show-list but I'll make time to post on the blog too. Until then, cya.

Tip of the day # 8  

Posted by Guitar Player in , ,

So, you think you sound great? Well, you just might =) But just to be sure, record yourself.
I once heard a quote that went like this: "Recording is life's way of telling you that you suck." :P

So when you want to improve your playing, record yourself. If you are a beginner, you might have some unpleasant surprises but you'll improve. Strum some chords with some hand patterns. If you are more advanced and you already mastered some chords, try improvising on a backtrack. Then you'll hear how you sound.

Tip of the day # 7  

Posted by Guitar Player in , ,

Take breaks.

You're with the band, practicing. You work and work and then you get tired. If you're like me, you think "Dude, we gotta keep practicing! Go Go!". This is ok, but the problem is that after a while, you get tired.

If you see the band is getting tired, stop for a few minutes, have a drink, watch a movie or have a drink. What we do is, when he are having a break, we just lie down on the floor of the rehearsal room, between all the cigarette buds and the empty vodka bottles and we watch an episode of " South Park" or whatever. We start telling jokes 'n stuff. Then after like a half an hour, we get up and continue practicing.

That's the spirit!

Tip of the day # 6  

Posted by Guitar Player in , , ,

Experiment with different effects. Go to your local store or visit some online ones and check out some pedals or some multi-effect processors.

Tip of the day # 5  

Posted by Guitar Player in , , , , ,

Practice clean and loud. That's right. At least in the beginning, when you need to learn how each notes sound like (don't worry, you won't actually have to learn em. they'll stick after some time). By practicing with a clean sound (no distortion, wah-wah, etc), you develop your ear. That way you'll become a better musician. Start adding effects later on.

If you wanna do a practice jam, of course you can use effects but if you practice scales and chords, use clean.

Play it loud. Because if you practice hard enough, odds are you'll be in a band and you're gonna play live. That means loud music. Get your ears accomodated with loud music (if it's not already after all those years of listening to music :P)

Hope I'll hear from you guys. Some comments would be nice :)

Impressions on the new theme  

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What do you guys think about this new theme? :D

The blog will suffer some changes  

Posted by Guitar Player in ,

I've changed the blog's look several times today and I'm still not happy. So I'm trying this new one, wich should hit the spot :)

Tip of the day # 4  

Posted by Guitar Player in , ,

Clean your strings after you are done playing. Just take a dry napkin or something and run it over the strings. When you play, moisture gets on the string, from your skin. That make the strings go rusty faster and will shorten their life. And usually when a string breaks, you are playing live :) Try to avoid that.

Tip of the day # 3  

Posted by Guitar Player in , ,

Always have your guitar in tune. No matter if you are practicing in your living room, with a band, or whatever, always have a tuner at hand. Especially when you are learning guitar. It's important that you memorise the sounds properly.

Keep a tuner with you, when you feel that your guitar is out of tune, check it. You just might be right. Even so, check it every 10 mins or so. Especially if you do alot of bends.

Tip of the day # 2  

Posted by Guitar Player

Forcing it.

What do I mean by that. Well, some people, like me, when they are angry or frustrated, they play guitar. The sound of the guitar just cools me off.

On the other hand, some people, if they are mad and they pick-up the guitar, they can't play well since their mind is on other things. That makes them very frustrated and they stop playing after a minute or two.

Waht I'm trying to say here is: don't force it. If you really don't feel like playing guitar, then, don't. I know people that play like robots. They have an exact schedule when they play. Wich is not bad. But sometimes they play when they really don't want to. And that could be fine too. But then they get mad. They start punishing the guitar. They hit the strings hard, stuff like that.

Next time when you are mad or frustrated, try playing the guitar. If it chills you out, it's good. If it doesn't, just take a break and play when you calm down

Think about it.
Peace.

Today's Recommendation #1  

Posted by Guitar Player

This is what i recommend today:

Have a peek on the left  

Posted by Guitar Player

As I said in the earlier post, I started posting items from Amazon.com related to music. I have posted a link to Slash's biography "Slash by Slash", a link to Guns n' Roses' first album "Appetite for Destruction" and 2 links to 2 different T-Shirts. You might of guesses by now that I'm a GnR fan :)

I will update the bar onthe left form time to time and I will post links to posts from now on. I'll try to make the links post-relevant. Meaning that the items that will be shown will be related to the article.

If you like my blog, support what I'm doing here and get some of the items.
Peace!

Amazon  

Posted by Guitar Player

From now on, I will start posting links to certain items on Amazon.com
I will recommend you books, CDs, albums, guitars, accesories, etc.

Support the blog by buying from my links.
I hope you'll like it :)

Tip of the day # 1  

Posted by Guitar Player

While playing guitar, keep your elbows close to your body. The closer they are to your body, the more you can extend your fingers. The more space you can leave between them. Try it. Keep your elbow close, then get it a bit further. See what happens :)

Back to main page (I have added this "Back to main page" since I've joined TrafficSwarm. By doing this, it makes the people coming from that webisite have an easier time browsing through my blog).

Highschool  

Posted by Guitar Player

Some people asked me to do a post on this one :)

Here's a populat highschool myth: If you play guitar, chicks will digg you.
... this can be true in most cases =)
It can bring you some unwated attention tho ;)

Here's a common problem. You're unpopular. Wich is totally fine. Some people say that, in order to be successful in life, you need to be unpopular in highschool... And I tend to agree. How does that work... well.

If you are popular, you tend to stick to some rules. Don't do this and don't to that in order not to appear "uncool". Slash said that in highschool, he was viewed as the "always new and weird kid"
He was considered uncool because he sticked with what he believed in. He didn't switch clothing styles, he didnt change his way of thinking, of acting, of talking. He did what he felt what's right.

So what am i saying basically:

1) Stick to what YOU believe is true
2) Never follow trends / fads
3) Never humiliate yourself in order to please the popular students (NEVER)
4) Never listen to what other people think about you. They might say you are weird, that they can't understand why you dress a certain way, or act a certain way. If they don't like who you are, it's their problem.
5) Never start playing guitar for a girl

Related to point 5 , never start paying guitar for a girl. Beacuse this can go multiple ways. You could get the girl, then you'll stop playing guitar, because you got her. You could not get her, and you could stop playing guitar because you get frustrated. Either way, it goes bad.

Play guitar because you like the sound of it,because you love the magic. Girls are just a bonus.

6) Never show off

If someone sais "dude, you can't play guitar" don't try to prove him wrong. He could play guitar better than you. Even if he has no idea how to play guitar, you still get off as the guy who got played easily.

7) If you want a social circle, go out with people that share the same interests. They can be popular, unpopular, who cares. All it matters is that you have a great time!

That should be about it. If you have questions, any ideas, or anything, just leave a comment and I'll make a new post, just for you :)

Let's talk about sound  

Posted by Guitar Player

Yeah!

Some people say "Dude, the gitah' is just a piece of wood." No, it's not. The sound of a piece of music can differ from one situation to another. I'll give you an example.

Imagine this:

You have 2 identical studios. Same equipment, same room size, the amps and mics are put in the exact same spots, measured by the millimeter. The same guitarist plays the same piece of music, the exact same way, in the same amp. You would say "hey, the piece of music should sound the same."

Well, you just might be wrong. There are some factors that could contribute to the piece of music sounding different. It's the room temperature and the air humidity. Yep, it can influence the sound.

Here's a real life example. Slash, in his biography "Slash by Slash" said that, when he recorded his guitar parts for Appetite he spawned through several rented amps. He tried them until he found one that had a perfect tone. It was a modified amp. He recorded his parts, and reported the amp stolen, so he could keep it. A roadie found it and returned it to the firm.

Alot of people (including Slash) tried to get that sound again. As far as I know, they didn't manage to. The conditions in the room were unique. The room had an unique size, a ecrtain air humidity, a certain temperature, the amp and mic were placed in a certain spot, etc. That's how important it is.

Think about it.

Importance of being relaxed  

Posted by Guitar Player

... while playing of course. I was jamming with the band earlier today, and we were working on a song. We were having problems. We were over-concentrated. Trying to find certain parts and certain riffs for the song. Suddenly, the lead singer started cracking some jokes, then after a while, we all relaxed, started saying jokes and laughing. Suddenly, our hands started "running" on the fretboards and we started getting some ideas. At the end of the day, we found an intro for the song, a bridge and vocals over the bridge. Plus a second bridge.

I sat down and remembered that this happened a few times in the past also. Just think about it.

I still remember you :P  

Posted by Guitar Player

I have not forgot about you guys :P I am working on some personal projects at the moment and don't have time to post on the blog. But I'll have soon. Cya then ;)

While working  

Posted by Guitar Player

While I'm working at the new material I'll give you a few tips. These are related to music overall. No matter how simple this sounds, try it. Always listen to new music. I know it's nice to keep listening over and over to those favorite songs, but that way you'll never learn anything new. Keep getting new music, new bands, new albums.

You'll see that after some time, you start hearing music differently. At the beginning, you saw it as ... well, music. After some time, you start to break it down while listening. You start to hear each instrument individually. You start to feel the notes, where they fit in, etc. You start guessing where the chord progessions go, etc.

If you are a beginner, you don't understand what I'm saying. And it's comlpetely normal. If you are playing music for some time you know what I mean.

Check out iTunes for new songs, check out your local music shop, etc. While listening to new music you add to your library of favorite songs, and you hear new ways of doing certain chords, you find new ways of doing a solo.

To put it simply, you learn so much!

The truth is that while you lern guitar, or any other instrument, in the beginning, it may be a little frustrating. And that's normal. You hear all those great solos and you have abosolutely no idea how to do them. If you visit this blog on a regular basis, good for you! You're a step ahead of everyone else. I might post stuff here faster or slower than you progress, but don't worry. You can always check out the archives.

Before I close the post, I want to say one more thing.

I encourage you to post your progress on comments. If you learn to do a chord that I posted, go ahead and say it!

You have a problem with a chord? Maybe a scale? Put a comment and me or other people visiting will do our best to answer your questions.

Pattern of the day #2  

Posted by Guitar Player in

Here's another pattern.

Look Change  

Posted by Guitar Player in

I have changed the blog template. How do you like it? :D

Pattern of the day #1  

Posted by Guitar Player in

Here's a patter for you to try ;)



It's a "finger twister" i guess :P


Don't know anything about guitar? Scrool down to the first post and start reading. :D

1st Surprise  

Posted by Guitar Player in



;)

What's coming up  

Posted by Guitar Player in

I have some surprises for you. I got some feedback on the "Speed" post. People kept asking for more patterns to work on. Here's what I'll do.

I'll provide you with more patterns to exercise on. From time to time. Like the "Chord of the day". It will be the "Pattern of the day". I'll fit this patterns into pentatonic scales. Some might be in the form of tabs. Finger twisters :D

How will this help you? Well, being used to running around in pentatonic scales will help you when you'll need to improvise on guitar or do a solo.

Summary:

This patterns will help you:

1) Play faster
2) Be more creative and play with ease
3) Warm up (yeah, you can even use them as warm-ups)

What do you think about this?

Speed  

Posted by Guitar Player in

There's always alot of talk about building speed. The bad news is that all the articles in the world won't do the work neccesary in your place. The good news is that with practice everyday, you'll slowly but surely build speed. That's one oppinion of course. Personally, I didn't do daily exercises dedicated to speed.

I just played guitar everyday. For some time. I did chords, scales, on the tempo that felt confortable for me. Then it kinda sped up with time.

Do you have toughts like:

- "My fingers are too bulky" ?
- "I'm too slow" ?
- "Stupid fingers" ?
- "I can't imagine my fingers going faster than this. It's just not possible." ?

I know I did. Here's some good news: If you look yourself in the mirror while playing, you actually look like you play faster. I don't know it's just an illusion or we just think we play slower than we really do. It works when u get filmed also. Even more great news is that EVERY GUITARIST had this problem. The answer is just keep persevering, keep trying, in a month or 2, you'll get it.

If you really want some exercises, I'll give you an example. You can derive hundreds of exercises out of this one:



I hope it's pretty simple to understand. You just do a "chromatic scale". Every four notes on all strings starting from the 6th string (thickest one) and landing on the first one. Do it at different tempos. After you can do this like a piece of pie, just start playing with the notes. Mix them up, "dance", everything that can cross your mind. Even try to learn a guitar solo if you think you are up to it.

Do so and start noticing that each and every one of those solos fit into certain patterns called scales. We'll talk about them in some future posts.

Get to work now.

PS: When you get bored, imagine yourself playing Wembley. That might help.

Brb in a few days  

Posted by Guitar Player in ,

I didn't have a chance to record those chords. I'm getting all the stuff ready and going on the road for a few days. I'll be back monday ;) Cya then.

Problems with my guitar  

Posted by Guitar Player in

I'm having some problems with my guitar, and I can't record those chords. It should be done until Monday night tho. I'll upload some then.

Another problem is that Tuesday I'll go on a trip, and it will take around 6 days. Monday night I'll try to upload material wich u can work with a whole week.

Shoutbox  

Posted by Guitar Player in

Let us know what you think about the blog. See the little shoutbox on the right of the screen? Write in your name, your website (if any) and tell us what you like/don't like about the blog. We will thank you for the feedback and try to work on the bad parts of the blog :D

Coming soon...  

Posted by Guitar Player in

I'll do some upgrades to the blog content. What do I mean by that. Well, for each chord I posted and will post, I will add a sample. Me playing the chord. So you can hear what it actually sounds like played correctly.. I will also start posting some chord progressions. How you can use them in your songs, and how you can make them.

Chord of the day #8  

Posted by Guitar Player in

As you can see, there has been a change in the chord chart's look :) This chord is D Minor. As I said before, Minor chords are sad chords. Mixed with proper Major chords, they sound great. Soon, I will start recommending chord changes. Have fun.



Click here to see the first chord i posted and to see how a chord chart is read.

Jam  

Posted by Guitar Player in

Jamming is the best thing ever. Find a drummer and start jamming for fun. As Paul Gilbert once said: "Your ears will start going a bit, but it will make you a better musician". You already know some chords, so start playing some acoustic songs. You can sing on em too, or you can find a singer. It's up to you. Once you start going into the habit, you can never go back. It's that great. And the best part is that, time spent playing an instrument is not lost time. Have fun!

A few words on practicing  

Posted by Guitar Player in

When practicing, I prefer to have a more balanced view. Some people say, practice what you're good at. Other say, practice what you can't do very well. I tried both. I tried practicing what I was good at. Then I got this false impression that I was very good. I rocked on some sides, but was a disaster on other sides. Then I tried just practicing all the things I couldn't do very well. I got a sense of frustration, like I had no idea how to play. The best approach in my view is to combine them. Here's a little example on what to practice:

1) Stretching and warming up
2) Practice some simple chords
3) Play a little riff that you like
3) Practice some scales (the ones you use most often)
4) Practice some more adavanced chords
5) Try to work on your song (I sugges you do work on some songs, to work out your creativity)
6) Practice some songs you like, some more riffs, even solos if possible
7) Practice even more scales, chords, etc

This is an example. If you plan to play guitar just as a hobby, 15-30 mins of practice / day could suffice. If you play in a band, or plan to play at a professional level, 3-5 hours/ day (including band practice) can do the trick.

If you have any suggestions, leave a comment. Cya next time!


Chord of the day #7  

Posted by Guitar Player in

A very nice bluesy sounding chord: D7




Chord of the day #6  

Posted by Guitar Player in

The chord of the day is the D Major chord. A very popular and very used chord. Very interesting sounding tho.




Back from the concert  

Posted by Guitar Player in

I'm back from the concert. It rocked. Sadly, in the time frame that the concert ended, Michael Jackson passed away. Me and a friend were chatting about one of his videos. I found out the other day. I don' really know what to say about his death. I think Brian May said that Michael is now with his good friend, Freddie Mercury.


I'll be away for a few days  

Posted by Guitar Player in

I'm going to a rock concert in another city, and I'll be away for 2 - 3 days. :)


Chord of the day # 5  

Posted by Guitar Player in

This is a very very very very ... (after a few hours) very very popular chord! It's used in alot of very well known songs. It's Am (A minor). It's a bit sad sounding, but works good with alot of other chords. Here it is:



Enjoy!


Chord of the day # 4  

Posted by Guitar Player in

The chord of the day is A7. It's a very bluesy sounding chord. It's easy to do also. Just play around with the chords I already gave you.

The secret to learning and mastering chords is playing them while doing something else. Watch TV or surf the net while mindlessly strumming chords. That way you'll be able to play them without thinking. You'll be surprised on how good you get in a short amount of time.

Tip: So you can measure the extent of your improvement, record yourself now playing some chords. Even if it sounds awful, do it. And be sure to check them after some time. A month, or two. You'll laugh in amusement.



Have fun with this one :D


Chord of the day # 3  

Posted by Guitar Player in

Hey guys. Sorry that I didn't do any new posts for a few days but i had some problems with my modem. Here's the chord for the day:



A tricky chord at first. Avoid plucking the E, the thickest string. It sounds great tho.


The Pose  

Posted by Guitar Player in

You may be wondering right now why a I talking about your pose when you only learned like 3 chords. It's simple. Building your pose takes time. And it really helps you with your overall look. Let me give you 2 examples. Who would you rather look like?:

Some guy:




OR

Slash:




??

I would choose Slash. I'm not saying imitate him completely. I'm just saying take something from everyone. Look on a list of famous guitarists and check out how they stand, how they walk on stage, how low do they keep their guitar? It's easy to play your guitar if you keep it on your chest, but it sure doesn't look cool. Keep your guitar as low as possible. Some around the area under the belly-button. I'm not saying lower it until the point you can't play. Just lower it enough to look cool. Check yourself in the mirror while you do certain moves with the guitar while playing, check your facial expressions, etc.

What about facial expressions? Well, what about em. When you do bends for example, when doing a very long and soulful one, do what B.B. King does :P

I hope you learned something from this post. Good luck and cya next time!


Chord of the day #2  

Posted by Guitar Player in

Today's chord is an E7 chord. It's a very bluesy sounding chord. In blues, 7 chords are often used.
Here's how it's chart looks:



If you do not know how to read this chart, here is an explanation, along with the first chord i ever posted here: click here


Chord of the day #1  

Posted by Guitar Player in

The chord of the day is a minor chord. Basically, minor chords sound sad and major chords sound happy.

This is Em (E minor):



How to read the chord diagram:

Imagine you are holding the guitar from the neck, and the body is 90 degrees from the ground. The body is down. Look at the guitar that way and you will see it. The black dots are where to pur your fingers. The numbers under the chart represent the finger number (1,2,3,4 since the thumb is excluded) and the "0" symbol means that that certain string needs to vibrate so you don't have to touch it. When you see a "x" symbol, it means that the string needs to be muted. Gently put your finger on it, without pressin it to the fretboard so it's muted.

Have fun with this one (or cry, in this case). More chords to come.


Stretching  

Posted by Guitar Player in

Soon, you will learn your first chord. Before we do so, we need to learn how to do a few stretches. It only takes about 5 minutes, good to do borefore you have a gig, before you play with your friends or before you want to do your daily exercise routine (wich can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours, depending on what skill level you want to reach). It's important to do a stretch in order to avoid any accidents that could happen during your play. Chill. It only takes a few mins and it will make you a better player also.

It's simple basically. Start streching your arms, your wrists, upper body, shoulders, just do circular motions, unwind your fingers (don't snap them. they will get weakened with time), etc. This will get more blood in those areas of the body. After you do this, get your guitar and start doing some fingering exercises. Do 1-2-3-4 on every string, etc. Even do some scales or chords if you know any.

Do this and you'll be ready to rock in no time!



The Parts Of The Guitar  

Posted by Guitar Player in

I will give you an overview of the parts of the guitar. I will explain what every part does.
I will be giving as an example Electric Guitar parts, since it's more complex and has all the parts that the acoustic has anyway.

1) The headstock:



2) The guitar nut:



It's the white slim piece of white plastic at the beginning of the headstock.

3) The Machine Heads:




Used to tune the strings to their right pitch.

4) The Frets:



The frets are these little metalic pieces that help make out the fretboard.

5) The Neck & Fretboard:

It's the same picture that you can see a few lines up from here. The fretboard basically contains the notes that you play. The fretboard is placed on the neck of the guitar.

6) The Body:

I think this is self explanatory but here's a picture:




This is an unfinished guitar body.

7) The guitar pickups:



Here's how they work: When you pluck a string, the vibration is picked up by these pickups. They are basically magents. The signal from the pickup is sent through the guitar and into your amp. An acoustic guitar does not have pickups.

8) The electronics:



Those 4 little buttons. 2 control the volume and 2 control the tone. Some guitars only have 2 of them. One for volume and one for tone. If you are wondering how the tone ones need to be, just keep them maxed all the way to 10.

9) The pickguard:

What it basically does it this: Prevents your pick from scratching the surface of the guitar. Some guitars have one, some do not.

That's basically all you need to know about the guitar parts.

Related posts to this one:

The First Steps



The First Steps  

Posted by Guitar Player in

Ok here are the things that you will need in order to start playing guitar:

1) An acoustic guitar or and electric guitar. I will explain the differences between the 2 in a later post. Here's how they would look:


2) A pick. If you play acoustic guitar, a pick could not be so important, since you would be doing some finger-style picking (I will explain this also in a later post).
You can buy a pick from your local music store for under 1$ and they look something like this:



3) Once you have your guitar and your pick, it's time to look for a tuner. You can find free virtual tuners on the internet, or you can buy one for around 10-20 $ at your local music shop. It looks something like this:



The way it works: If you look closely at a guitar, you will notice that it has 6 strings. They are called: E A D G B E from the thickest to the slimest. Sometimes, these strings go out of tune. This is where the tuner comes in. It tells you if a string is sharp (also referred to as "#") or flat (also referred to as "b"). You use the tuning knobs to adjust the string, until the tuner indicates that it is in tune.

4) A strap. A strap is usually a piece of leather that help you play the guitar while standing. It looks something like this:


5) Visiting this blog regularly. I will post here every few. I will start with the basics, the guitar parts, what styles can be played on a certain type of guitar, chords, I will teach you how to play popular songs, I will teach you advanced techniques so you can master the guitar as fast as humanly possible. From time to time I will throw in short tips, scales and little secrets.

Cya in the next post, where we will talk in depth about the parts of the guitar, how to position your hands when playing, how to hold the guitar and I will teach you your very first chord.




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