Learn How to Play Guitar

So you've finally decided to take the plunge and learn how to play guitar.

Congratulations! Learning to play a musical instrument can be one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences of your life.

Most of us that take up the guitar share a common goal - to make music. But what we individually want to accomplish on the guitar, and how we ultimately get there, can be widely varied.

As a result, we all travel different paths to arrive at the same destination.

There are, however, a number of common steps we all must take before embarking on our journey.

It's very much like preparing to take a trip somewhere. You may be going to Europe. I might be traveling across the country. Someone else could be just going to another town in the same state. But we all have to plan out our trip and pack certain essential items before leaving.

Here are some things to consider before hitting the road to "guitar-ville":

1. What are your goals on the guitar?

Some people want to learn guitar simply for personal enjoyment or for family and friends.

Others have the desire to go to the next level and get good enough to play in a band locally or with a church group.

Some want to write songs and record their own music.

Still others want to shoot for the stars and work toward making music a career.

Having a clear vision of where you want to go on the guitar will define the route you take.

2. What type of guitar do you want to play?

Guitars come in all shapes and sizes and you should decide early what style of guitar interests you the most. Especially if budget is an issue.

Basically you have three broad choices. Acoustic guitar, electric guitar and classical guitar. Each one has it's own strengths and weaknesses, and are suitable to various genres of music.

3. Decide on a course of study.

There are numerous ways to learn how to play guitar. Private lessons, online courses, guitar books, videos, DVDs, and friends that can assist.

We all respond differently to various instruction programs, some are more suited for one method over another, so it is important to choose a course of study that is amenable to your particular temperament and learning ability.

Avoid frustration and confusion by choosing only one program and sticking to it. Many new guitar students give up early in the game after bouncing around between various programs and accomplishing nothing.

4. Practice

It's all well and good to read books and watch videos on playing guitar, but the only way to really play is to...play!

Dedicate some time every day or so to pick up the guitar and actually play it.

Your fingers and hands must be taught to do things they have never done before and you must put the time in to teach them. There will be some typical soreness in the fingers, and an overall feeling of awkwardness in the beginning, but these all will pass...with practice.

And you don't have to play for hours upon hours every day. You would be amazed at how much you can accomplish with ten or fifteen minutes of consistent daily practice.

5. Have Fun

I'm a really bad golfer. So bad that I laugh at myself after sending a ball into the woods or drowning it in a pond.

But I have been on the golf course with guys that get serious. Really serious. I've seen otherwise calm and reserved individuals turn into Godzilla, clubs flailing and cuss words sailing, over a bad bunker shot or a missed green.

And it always amazes me that something that is played for enjoyment, for the pure fun of it, can be such a huge source of frustration for these people.

Playing guitar should not be that way. Yes, there will be times of frustration and disappointment while working through the challenges of learning a new chord, riff or song - but ultimately creating music should bring joy and a sense of accomplishment to your life.

Try not to take it too seriously.

6. Just do it!

Yeah, another Nike commercial. But the truth is, many people spend so much time preparing, researching and thinking about playing guitar, that they never get around to actually playing it.

It's called "paralysis by analysis".

Sometimes the "ready - fire - aim" approach works best. Decide you're going to do it - then "just do it" - and work out the details later.

If you've been putting off learning guitar for a while, maybe even for years, why not get started today.

Go out, get a guitar, start some lessons and jump on in there. You won't regret a minute of it!

Over 40, 50, 60? For Free Video Guitar Lessons designed for Active Adults go to http://www.adultguitarlessons.com/amember/free_lessons-1225ez.php

Keith Dean is founder of http://www.AdultGuitarLessons.com and a 30 veteran of stage and studio. He toured extensively as a road musician throughout the US and Europe, was a former lead guitarist for Jason Aldean, and has shared stages with Little Big Town, Wild Rose, Winger, Confederate Railroad and more. He is a published songwriter, owned and operated a successful music store, and has instructed numerous students in guitar.

How to Play a Guitar Well - Discover How Playing Guitar Hero Will Make You a Better Guitar Player!

I'm the first one to admit that playing video games is an incredibly fun way to utilize any personal down time within a person's day. With the onset of video games such as guitar hero, many musician wannabes are actually incredibly close to learning how to play a real instrument.

If you play guitar, or you desire to purchase a guitar and learn how to play guitar good, playing music video games are a great way to help you become a better guitar player.

Let's take a look at three ways that playing a video game music system such as guitar hero will help you become a better guitar player.

1. The Guitar Controller:  By isolating the components of the guitar controller being utilized within the video game, we can compare the guitar controller to a real-life guitar neck.

The neck of the guitar has four basic components. The first component is the neck. The second component is what is called the fret board. The fret board is separated by what are called guitar frets. Thirdly, we have the guitar strings that go on top of the fret board, on top of the frets. Lastly, your fingers when placed on the fret board help produce sound on the guitar when your right hand plucks one of the guitar strings.

A video game controller such as a guitar controller is very similar to the guitar neck description just given above. The controller represents the neck of the guitar. The four buttons represent the fret board that you press your fingers on when you play a guitar note.  The only thing missing from the guitar controller is the string that goes on top of a guitar neck.

2.  Video Game Rhythm:  One great thing about music video games is that if you have never had any formal musical training, you can learn basic rhythm just by playing music video games. Most modern music video games utilize real-life songs that are currently being played on the radio. Instead of just passively listening to a song, you can now actively participate in the actual rhythm of the song. If you're off rhythm you'll not receive as high of a score as if you are on rhythm, and getting a super high score.

4.  Apply your video game time to practicing: If you are serious about learning guitar, you will want to go from video game controllers to the real thing. When you're ready to own your own guitar, and learn how to play guitar good, make sure that you are not just playing video games during your downtime. Take the amount of time that you play your music video games and divide that time in half. For example, if you play guitar hero on average for an hour every day, then the next step is to only play guitar hero for a half hour, and then practice your guitar for a half hour.

Interested in learning to play the guitar? Click here for: FREE GUITAR VIDEO LESSONS!

With a passion to teach guitar, Jeremiah La Follette helps beginner and intermediate guitar players unlock the secrets of learning guitar in a snap!

Learning to Play Guitar - Frets and Promises

Learning to play guitar could possibly be the wisest thing you ever decided to do. But it will not be easy. Whether you aim to be a professional guitarist or a campfire guitar strummer, there will be pitfalls to cross. This article will touch upon a few of the more common bumps on the guitar playing road with the hope that you will benefit from being warned about what lies ahead.

The reason Learning to play guitar can be one of life's disappointments is that many people do not know how to start. Spending a week or so stumbling through the first chords to "Blackbird" by the Beatles and laboriously picking out the "Iron Man" riff, then putting the guitar away in a cupboard is one of your classic urban tragedies.

If you are interested in just playing the guitar informally at parties or round the campfire, the best course of action is first, to learn what tabs are and how to read them, and second go online and pick tabs for songs that you know and like, and try to play them.

Usually I would not recommend lessons from your local guitar teacher because they are far more expensive than even the best courses on the internet, but if you are not going too deeply into guitar playing, a few lessons will eliminate some of the uncertainty from the first steps in Learning to play guitar.

One of the big issues for almost everybody who has started Learning to play guitar is which song to learn first. Your own preferences in music will help, of course but the best songs to start on are the ones that will impress other people at parties. "Smells Like Teen Spirit", or "Smoke On The Water". Something instantly recognizable. The thing with metal is the heavy use of power chords which only need three fingers to play. Twelve bar blues is good - you can learn different lyrics using the same chords.

Another simple solution is to think of albums that you like to play. Are there tracks that have stand-out guitar parts? Write down the names and hunt for the tabs on the internet. Failing that, just look for easy guitar songs. "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd or "Horse With No Name" by America are good ones to start with. Go to about.com for a list of easy songs.

Let us move onto a problem that strikes the learner guitarist who manages to set a practice routine and actually learns two or three chords. Learning to make the changes between chords is one of the loneliest ways in the world to spend your time. Every day you seem to make a little progress, and the next day you always seem to be back to square one. Without an experienced guitar player to guide you, this is the time you could easily lose all hope of learning to play guitar. This is the beginning of the uphill climb that confronts all people who learn a new skill. Swimming, driving, guitar playing, they all need regular practice. If you do not have a friend who can help you with your guitar playing, seek advice from guitar forums or places like Yahoo Answers.

Finally, let us talk about the physical discomfort that can befall new guitar players. One of the first things you should ask an experienced guitarist about is how to hold the guitar. If you do not get it right, you are only going to make Learning to play guitar painful. Then there is the matter of making your fingertips hard. For a week or two, every time you start playing the guitar your left hand fingertips will hurt. Usually just for the first few minutes. This is a process all guitar players go through. Do not try dipping your fingers in stuff that is supposed to make the pain go away, just let it go away by itself.

Do you want to learn to play the guitar? Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free is a constantly updated blog which contains all the resources you need for: learning to play solo guitar, how to learn guitar chords, how to learn to read and play easy acoustic guitar tabs, finding a free online guitar tuner, looking for free guitar lessons online, and how to learn guitar scales.

Make Money Playing Guitar - How to Play Guitar For Profit

Contrary to popular belief you do not have to be master guitar player to make good money from playing guitar. There are many more important factors that come into play than your guitar playing skill.

When I was 13 I begged my parents for a guitar for Christmas. They were reluctant to take that path; I assume because of the expected ensuing noise, but they went ahead anyway and bought me a guitar and amplifier from JC Penney. Two years later I was playing in bars almost every weekend and making more money in one or two nights than my friends were making all week working the night shift at Burger King.

So at 15 was I a guitar virtuoso? No I still basically sucked as did the band I was in. I mean we were horrible, yet sold out every night we played. Literally it was standing room only even on weeknights, and we played almost every bar in a 25 mile radius. It was 1980 when it began and this band still packs them in anytime they play even though they still basically suck.

What was the secret? The leader of this band was a genius at giving people what they wanted. He knew what they wanted and found a way to deliver it. People want to be entertained. If you can entertain people you can make money playing guitar. It is that simple.

At the time Oldies were a big thing, and this band happened to fill a local void by dressing the part, acting crazy on stage, and playing the songs that people wanted to hear. At 15 years old I was signing autographs, fending off advances from older women and making money playing guitar. My first experiences making money playing guitar came from simply giving the audience what they wanted.

A few years later the whole Urban Cowboy thing happened and, I happen to get into another band that was jumping on the country bandwagon. By this time I had spent a lot of time learning how to play guitar and my playing and vocal skills had come along way. I had also learned what it took to be valuable member of a band even though I still wasn't the best guitar player in the world. Another band followed that one and so on until I finally retired from playing live in on New Years Eve 2005.

In addition to all the bands I played in I also did some solo and dual work and never played in a group that wasn't working. During that time I learned the keys to making money playing guitar. The first key is filling the void for your audience. Most guitar players think they should go out there and play what they want to play. That doesn't work if you want to make money playing guitar. People want to hear the songs they like and they want to hear it like the recording, solo and all.

The second key is to only play material you do well. If that means only playing simple songs, then only play simple songs. The audience does not know if a song is difficult, only if it sounded right. You do not get extra credit for trying something that was hard to play. You only lose points for not doing it right. If you know the audience is going to request a particular song and you can't pull it off, find an alternative song by the same artist you can play instead.

The third key is that you must be willing to travel. You don't need to travel across the country to make money playing guitar but you will need to get out of your local town. Here's an interesting fact: most people will pay a band from out of town more money then they will a local band. There's some weird belief that a band can't be good if they're local. I don't get it but I used it to get paid.

Building a fan base is the fourth key and is more important in the beginning than getting more money. Connecting with your audience, talking with them between sets, having good stage banter with the crowd; all of these things lead to more money. You can act as cool as you want, but it doesn't pay as well as being friendly. And that goes double with the person that hired you. You need to make them a fan by showing up on time, turning down if they ask you to and always cleaning up when you're done. If they like you as a person they will have a higher impression of you as a performer and will pay you more. It is easy to raise your price once you build a fan base.

So now you know a little more about how to play guitar and make money doing it. I have done very well financially playing guitar in my lifetime even though most of the local music scene in my town never knew who I even was. It's because I followed these keys that I got paid good money for playing guitar while the local "celebrity" bands were sometimes paying out of their own pockets to play. Always remember that being the best guitar player in the world does not mean that you will know how to make money doing it.

Scott Olewiler is a long time musician who has played guitar bass and keyboards in many successful bands over his 25 year career. To get more great guitar playing tips visit his site

http://www.freeeasyguitar.com

How to Choose Guitar Classes For Children

Whether you are a parent or a guardian, at some stage you may decide that your child needs to learn to play an instrument. A guitar is a good choice and a popular one with kids. You should find out whether guitar classes for children are held close to where you reside. This is very important as in the busy schedule of a child's day, spending time travelling for guitar classes can be tiring and an unnecessary waste of time.

Sometimes housewives who have learnt to play the guitar will be willing to take classes in their spare time. If there is someone, who lives close to you, then it becomes more convenient. You would however, be well advised to check, how qualified the concerned person is, where they have qualified from, and whether they have the necessary training or experience in teaching children. In rare cases, you may find a qualified teacher willing to come home and take classes.

If you are unsatisfied with the above, then it would probably be better for you to use an institute or teaching centre closest to your residence. In such a case the child would be taught more professionally, as such institutes and teaching centres employ only adequately qualified people on their teaching staff. The added advantage of this may be that the child learns faster in a group, as the motivation and sense of competitiveness is higher.

A visit to the institute is essential, so that one can meet the teachers and discuss one's requirements. Many such institutes take in anyone who applies without considering their level of interest or motivation. This is fine for adults, but this may not be the ideal place for Guitar classes for children. You should see the temperament and dedication of the staff, and judge if they are equipped to teach children. It will also make sense to go over the content of the course and the methods of teaching. One should also ensure that separate classes are scheduled for children, where they are grouped according to their age.

Find Out More About Guitar Classes For Children? Get Professional Guitar Lessons Children Here.

All About How to Download Guitar Lessons

Do you have a guitar, or do you plan on getting a guitar any time soon? Do you know how to play guitar? Do you plan on learning? Whatever the case, there is always opportunity for improvement when it comes to playing the guitar, whether it is electric or acoustic. You should download guitar lessons.

If you would like to increase your guitar playing skills you should try online lessons.

Online guitar lessons can be streamed, downloaded or simply read. Let us first discuss lessons that you read. Lessons that you read are very simple. You can download them, view them on a site or you can even buy books for learning guitar. The possibilities are endless. These lessons generally tell you the basics. They tell you how to read simple music and tablature, as well as the parts of the guitar. From these you will learn the mechanics of the guitar, but not much about actual playing.

Streamed guitar lessons are usually free. While they are free, they are genuine and quality lessons. They are, however, very basic. Some will teach you some exercises to help strengthen your fingers, or to work on your alternate picking. Some will show you how to more easily learn a segment of a song.

There are a lot of these streamed video lessons that offer anywhere from several seconds to several minutes of lessons, in hopes that you will purchase the full lesson. There are, however, many subscription based streaming guitar lessons on the market. They are both free and pay, and both are equally useful. Some sites will allow you to choose which style of guitar you want to learn, whether it be jazz, rock, metal, classical or any number of other styles. When you choose your style, the site will send you emails as more and more basic lessons become available. You can then log into your account that is associated with the site and view these lessons.

Downloaded guitar lessons are, for the most part, paid lessons. These paid lessons are almost always high quality and will offer you the opportunity to greatly increase your abilities in every aspect of playing the instrument. These lessons will take you from the most basic to the most intricate of techniques on the guitar and are usually quick and easy to access. Of course, they are available at all times on your computers once you have downloaded them.

All in all, if you download guitar lessons you can learn to play the guitar more quickly than with other methods, even if you are simply improving your already impressive skills.

If you have the desire and determination to learn how to play a musical instrument, the guitar is a versatile and economical choice for beginners. You can download guitar lessons from the Internet at www.download-guitar-lessons.info today! Get all of the methods and techniques you will need to become a skilled and proficient guitarist easy and fast!

How to Play Guitar Solo

To become well-known and popular, some people take to playing the guitar. The guitar is not so straight-laced and classy, but rather flashy and eccentric. Many beginners have the incentive to impress people. Before one can do that, he'll need to learn to play a guitar solo in a variety of styles, especially his favorite style.

When considering what makes an average band so popular, most usually associate it with the lead singer. That seems to be the one that makes the most direct contact with the audience and hence, the most prominent among all band members. Those who play the instruments do not stand out so much.

Still, the guitarists take a significant presence that rivals the singers. Ladies like guitarists simply because the guitar is "hot". For guys, a guitarist is liked usually because they love listening to solo guitar. One can't deny that all guys have fantasies about busting out on stage and doing a five-minute solo. For any man, this is his finest moment in life. It's true that it's practically encrypted into a male's DNA. Still, the remaining members play along in the background of the remarkable, creative performance of the guitarist.

If you have a strong desire to learn how to play guitar solo let me put this to you plain and simple. A guitar solo is like a free style way of playing and thus lacks techniques. Therefore, this is not something I can teach you. The guitar solo resembles "improv" jazz and blues more than any other type of music.

Despite its lack of technique, there is still a lot of preparation necessary to learning how to play a guitar solo. To begin with, your overall guitar playing skills should be equal to that of an advanced or expert level. Unfortunately, this leaves out beginners. Simply solo are much too challenging and can't be learned in two weeks. Although they may not look so hard, they can't be played without complex bends, "hammer-ons", "pull-offs", or other advanced techniques. Though some of these techniques can be picked up quickly, I still recommend that you learn to play guitar chords and proper strumming techniques first. Doing this will make the advanced techniques even easier. If you still want to know more about playing guitar solo, you're free to inquire about "hammer-ons" and "pull-offs".

To play a guitar solo, a guitarist will use numerous high-end strings, many of which are located on the lower third of the guitar neck. Beginners are accustomed to playing on the top third section of the neck since that is where all the basic chords and power chords are played from. As for solo guitar, they'll concentrate on the lower third section.

Personally, I love playing on the lower third section of the neck, but keep in mind that sometimes it can be more difficult. This is because the frets in this section are closer together than those at the top. Those will long or thick fingers are more prone to accidentally bumping into the fret.

Playing guitar solo will absolutely pose as a speed test to your fingers. Only expert strummers who can shift through the strings on the guitar neck easily should seriously consider attempting to play a guitar solo. Masters of guitar solo have an ability to change from a slow, melodic solo to a fast and frantic pace. Apparently, the fast and frantic sections are the more difficult to learn so make sure you can keep up before considering to play.

Still, if you're like me, you'll want to learn how to play guitar solo too. Isn't that the reason you picked up the guitar in the first place? Keep in mind that guitar solo take time to learn and are not advised for beginners, unless they're extremely simple. Learning them can help you expand your horizons. Therefore, you'll need to learn more scales, become familiar with one or two keys, then learn a few solo you like to get started on.

Liam Gibson of LearnGuitar-User-Reviews.com, specializes in helping aspiring guitarists get the info that they need to make the right choices. Liam, a stage guitarist himself, leads his team of guitar experts to constantly review new courses and products in the market and make sure you get the best value products that work for you. Check out actual user reviews and feedback of the most popular guitar courses at Learn Guitar User Reviews.