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Guitar lesson: The E F G of Learning To Play Guitar Sheet Music

Author: Peter Edvinsson

Is it really possible to conquer the guitar fretboard? Do you find the notes you want to find? Is tabulature cheating? Let me invite you to the guitar fretboard!

I suggest that you right now start to take command over your guitar. Usually when you are playing your first guitar sheet music melodies you will have to learn the notes in the first position on the guitar. To have a good grasp of these notes on the guitar I suggest that you learn them slowly and with concentration.

I usually begin by teaching the notes on the first string like E on open string, F on fret 1 and G on fret 3. On string two you’ll find B on open string, C on fret 1 and D on fret 3. With these notes you can play the song Mary Had A Little Lamb.

Using the previous notes the melody can be played as follows:

E D C D E E E D D D E G G E D C D E E E E D D E D C

I hope you recognized the melody. This kind of music notation doesn’t give any hints as to how the rhythm is to be played but you already know the melody, right!

Is using tablature cheating? My father taught me some interesting things about learning to read guitar sheet music.

My dad was the only guitar tutor in the town where I lived and he taught mostly classical guitar pieces. His young students, I was one of them, learned those first guitar pieces very rapidly because he used a system similar to tablature showing the frets and strings to play, along with the sheet music. Tablature wasn’t common back then. I remember somebody remarking that his system prevented the children from learning to sight read sheet music.

His reply was that if somebody really wants to learn the notes they will anyway!

I agree with that and I have found that if a pupil is not motivated learning guitar sheet music they will not advance in this area whether they play with or without tablature.

Do you think your fingers has anything to do with guitar playing? I guess you’ll answer yes!

A more important question is if the fingers you choose to use can have a bearing upon your guitar playing. Left hand fingering means which finger you use when playing a specific note.

Usually when playing the first pieces on the guitar on the first frets one plays the notes on the first fret with the index finger, notes on the second fret with the middle finger, notes on the third fret with the ring finger and notes on the fourth fret with your little finger.

Why mess up everything with this fingering stuff? Isn’t it possible to play every melody with your left index finger and forget about fingerings?

Well, of course you can play melodies with your index finger but your progress will be very limited beyond just playing easy melodies.

Besides you’ll have to move your hand all the time as you change frets and, most importantly when reading sheet music, you’ll have to look at the guitar fretboard all the time instead of looking at the sheet music.

The important thing when learning to play the notes on the guitar is to make a conscious effort to learn the notes and not to work on too many notes at the same time.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/guitar-lesson-the-e-f-g-of-learning-to-play-guitar-sheet-music-10470.html

About the Author
Peter Edvinsson is a musician, composer and music teacher. Visit his site Capotasto Music and download your free sheet music and learn to play resources at http://www.capotastomusic.com

How To Play An Insane Guitar Solo

Author: Jason Parker

What’s the most insane guitar solo you’ve ever heard? One by Paul Gilbert? Yngwie? Eddie Van Halen?

If you’re going to play an insane solo like the guitar heroes, here’s what you need to start getting good at. These guys didn’t learn this stuff over night! Let’s get that straight up front. Shredding, especially shredding not just up and down scales, takes years to master. Not just that, but these guitar gurus are always pushing their own playing to the limit in their recordings. You can imagine the difficult road you have ahead of you.

32nd Note Legato Runs

At some point during the insane solo, most of our favorite guitarists will play abnormally fast, 32nd note legato runs. This will be the fastest, most impressive point to the “lay person.” We guitarists know shredding is much harder, although slower.

It’s important to develop legato techniques (all hammer-ons and pull-offs) along your 3-note-per-string scales and Pentatonic Scales. You’ll want to skip strings, do amazing finger stretches, and of course, full neck legato runs. Listen to Joe Satriani in particular and you’ll hear all kinds of crazy legato sequences.

Finger Tapping

For the most insane solo, add finger tapping, as pioneered by Eddie Van Halen, though brought to a whole new level today. There’s 2, 4, 6, and even 8-finger finger tapping. For the most dramatic effect, learn 8-finger finger tapping and not just on the upper register, more like the middle register and upper register combined. Be sure to tap arpeggios as well as be inventive in your note choice. The greatest taps are created with “worldly sound” in mind in my opinion.

Shredding

Get your metronome and start increasing your speed until you can play 16th notes at roughly 200 beats per second. The insane guitarists don’t only shred up and down scales at this speed, but also sweep arpeggios and Pentatonics at this speed. Get a book that teaches you all of the arpeggios, not just diad.

Tetrachords

Throw in tetrachord runs. Tetrachords require intense finger stretching. These are essentially 4-note-per-string diatonic scales. Type “tetrachords” into a Google search and there you’ll find what you’re looking for. Charles Gacsi at WholeNote has a great lesson on the theory behind tetrachords.

Guitar Face

As if it weren’t enough just to play an insane solo technically… You need to develop a guitar face worthy of the masters. No simple facial expression will do. You must practice this in the mirror, coming up with an original guitar face.

Tension and Release

Don’t be afraid to go outside your comfort zone and experiment. Even by hitting “the wrong notes” you’re doing something right. You’re creating tension. Use Chromatics to create tension or rip some notes off a bizarre scale for tension. Because it will be released to create a great feeling of contrast in your listener once you begin playing in key again. For the best release, only a simple melody will do. A simple melody repeated on and off within your insane solo will make it a memorable one.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/how-to-play-an-insane-guitar-solo-302374.html

About the Author
Jason Parker is a guitarist and teacher at Atomic Guitarist where free guitar lesson videos abound.

Learn Bass Guitar – Learn To Play Bass Guitar

Author: Sutikno Slamet

There are different types of guitars. You will often notice this when bands are playing. Have you ever tried playing a bass guitar? If you don’t know how to play one, then you can start to learn bass guitar playing.

Did you know that bass guitar playing is very easy? It is among the simplest musical instruments that even children can learn to play in a short time. Beginners are advised to learn the different notes one by one. This way, you will avoid being confused and some possible problems.

If this is your first time to play a bass guitar and you haven’t played any other instrument, make sure that you use the fretted guitar. This will make it easier for you to learn the notes and how to play them.

On the onset of your learning to play a bass guitar, you will not need the instrument. You will first have to concentrate on finger exercises. It doesn’t really matter which hand you use. Bass guitar can be played both by right handed and left handed individuals. Try to relax your fingers. Later on, lift your left or right hand making a ninety degrees angle with the floor. Lift your fingers one by one and make sure that you this in rapid succession.

After conducting the finger exercises, you can now use the bass guitar. Place the guitar on your thigh with the strings opposite your body. Most bass guitars have a sloped body but if yours is different, you can use your forearm to adjust the guitar’s position.

The neck of the guitar should be supported by your left or right hand. Place your thumb on the E string. This string is located midway of all the strings on the guitar. Your index and middle finger should be on string D. This is found two strings down the E. try to pluck each string in succession. Don’t expect to get this lesson right away. It may take awhile before you can master it. If you’re patient, you learn this much faster.

How are you going to learn these things? You can have several options. You can buy a DVD program that focuses mainly on bass guitar playing. Aside from that, you can also sign up for guitar lessons but this is a bit expensive. If you want to learn playing bass guitar inexpensively or even for free, start surfing the net and find some information regarding bass guitar playing.

If you’re really into bass guitars, it would be best learn at an early age. So if you have kids who are interested in bass guitars, give them lessons right away. However, it’s never too old to learn. If you want to give it a shot, you may do so. Just make sure that you are motivated enough, confident, and patient. You should also devote enough time to it so that you can master the lessons.

Playing guitar together with other people is a very fun activity. It can help you relax and you can meet a lot of people. If you know how to play a bass guitar, you can perform songs and make it more interesting especially when played with other guitarists, just like that of the bands. Learn bass guitar now; start with the basics and then try to learn the advanced notes as well.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/learn-bass-guitar-learn-to-play-bass-guitar-1629830.html

About the Author

Who else wants to learn to play guitar and play like The Eagles, Green Day, Pink Floyd, Guns’N Roses, Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, Eric Clapton, The Beatles and more ?

That’s right – you can learn how to play guitar using free lessons, step by step instructions, tutorials, jam tracks and famous songs, please visit : FREE Guitar Lessons

A Guide To Guitar Lessons On DVD

Author: Liam Gibson

If you didn’t already know it there is a vast amount of resources for those who want to learn the guitar.  Guitar courses come in all shapes and sizes to suit your every need.  There are a lot of tutorials available on the Internet for no cost at all.  There are course books which come with CDs or multimedia CDs which you use with your PC.  You can also learn guitar using a learn to play guitar DVD.  This is a method which is effective and virtually available to all with a DVD player.  

There are a lot of learn guitar DVDs out there to choose from but unfortunately not all of them are any good.  It is a good idea to read this article and do your research before you spend your money on something which doesn’t deliver results.  The biggest advantage to a play guitar DVD is that you can go at your own pace, if you didn’t understand something you can rewind it as many times as you need to.  Also, you become your own learning boss.  You can practice when it is best for you and you are not confined to time.  The tips below give advice on what to look for in guitar lessons on DVD.

?    The learn guitar DVD must be made by professionals.  Many excellent ones are produced by accomplished guitarists and experienced teachers, there is no reason why you should settle for less than this.  The DVD must be of good quality and clear to follow otherwise it is not a good buy.  If you are in doubt over which play guitar DVD to buy, look on the Internet or ask in your local guitar shop.

?    The next thing you need to consider is the level of the DVD.  If you are just starting to learn how to play the guitar then you need to make sure you get a beginner guitar DVD, getting a DVD which is too advanced will just destroy your confidence.  Everybody has to start somewhere.  The best guitarists started at the beginning so you should to.  A word of warning though, be sure that a beginner DVD starts from the beginning.  Many beginner DVDs claim to be but in reality they skip some of the basics.

?    You can pick a learn to play guitar DVD which is tailored to suit your reasons for wanting to play the guitar.  There are courses available in rock, blues, jazz guitar and many more depending on your tastes.  Learning this way will focus your guitar playing and your passion for a certain type of music could be a very useful motivational tool when learning the guitar.

?    Finally, you want a DVD which covers a variety of techniques.  It will need to include finger positioning, body position, tab music, strumming, plucking, chords, sliding and bending.  Just make sure that the techniques featured in the video are appropriate for your level of guitar proficiency.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/a-guide-to-guitar-lessons-on-dvd-1082127.html

About the Author

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 LearnGuitar-User-Reviews.

Guitar Sheet Music, Guitar Tablature – An Effective Way of Learning Guitar

Author: Bernice Eker

One of the best ways to practice the guitar is through the use of a guitar tablature or the guitar sheet music. Read the rest of this entry »