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Guitar Tuners

Author: Luciano Figallo

Tuners are vital for guitarists. Whether tuning by ear or using computer software or a pedal, tuning is necessary before one can maximize performance of his/her instrument and perform at his/her best. Normally, if you play your guitar only on a daily basis your strings will not get out of tone. But if your guitar is rarely used or is in a bad condition or your playing is extremely hard, then most likely you’ll need to tune your guitar always. Tip: TUNE your guitar EVERY TIME you pick it up. Read the rest of this entry »

4/4 Rhythm Strumming

Author: Ian Williamson

If you are learning how to play the guitar, the basic 4/4 strumming technique is one of the first guitar playing techniques that you must be able to master. This is usually used by beginners to hone their guitar skills and get the feel of the instrument.

In learning the basic 4/4 guitar strumming, you must be knowledgeable about the different basic requirements for guitar playing:

Strokes

Guitar strumming is basically composed of two different strokes: the downward stroke and the upward stroke.

The downward stroke is done by drawing the picking hand (usually, this is the right hand) from the uppermost string down to the other side. The upward stroke is the opposite of the downward stroke.

Finger placing

When reading guitar instructional materials, the fingers are usually assigned numbers. The left-hand fingers are numbered from 1 to 4: the index finger is numbered as 1, the middle finger is numbered as 2, the ring finger is number 3 and the little finger is 4. This numbering is important to remember because tablatures show a beginner how to form chords by placing the fingers properly on the fret board.

The fingers of the left hand are supposed to be placed near the succeeding fret bar to ensure that you get quality sounding vibration from the strings. You must remember not to stress your fingers when pressing the frets.

4/4

If are playing the guitar by reading notes, you can refer to the beat shown near the clef sign to determine if the song should be played with a 4/4 beat as this is what you call the time signature. The time signature looks like a fraction when written in musical notation, the upper number tells one how many beats there are in one measure and the bottom number indicates what kind of note will receive one beat.

D-A-G-A

In learning the basic 4/4 guitar strumming, one can use the different chord families when practicing. One of the most popular chord patterns used in practicing this particular technique is the D-A-G-A chord pattern. It’s very popular because the chord patterns are easy to remember and very easy to perform.

You must first memorize the placement of the fingers on the fret board to be able to do the chords. This can take some time and beginners must be patient. Learning the guitar takes time and dedication and cannot be done overnight.

When you are able to master the chords, you should practice doing the chords one after the other, and this is where the 4/4 strumming comes in. In strumming the guitar in a 4/4 rhythm, you should count 1-2-3-4 repeatedly for each chord and shift to the next chord as you repeat the count. You can use downward strokes for each chord when you begin and then practice strumming the chords upward and then downward-upward.

A beginner will almost always find that the left hand is left out when practicing strumming because the fact is that the fingers are still adjusting to doing the chords properly. It will take time and a lot of practice to do the 4/4 strumming technique but it will be worth it.

When the left hand is being left out, you must not stop the right hand and wait for the left hand to form the chord patterns. Be consistent in your counting and strumming to prevent the right hand from becoming slower and train the left hand to be faster in forming the chord patterns.

After you become comfortable doing the 4/4 strumming technique with the D-A-G-A chord pattern, then shift into doing other chord patterns such as C-E-F-G or G-C-F-G. Opt to learn the different chords and familiarize your fingers with forming them. Learning the chords and strumming should be done simultaneously which will allow you to be able to learn at a much faster rate and understand the mechanics behind playing the guitar.

You must remember that the guitar is an instrument of passion and you cannot be a guitar expert in one night. There are many things that you must learn about the guitar to truly appreciate the beauty of the instrument.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/44-rhythm-strumming-25012.html

About the Author
For More Information on Guitar Playing by Ian Williamson please visit http://guitar.you-can-learn.info

Guitar Tuning

Author: ogbete

The most common way of tuning a guitar, is to itself. To do this you tune all your strings from the bottom (thickest) string up to the top string (thinnest). To do this you press down on the fifth fret and try and tune the A string (second thickest) so that is sound perfectly in tune with the bottom string with the fifth fret pushed down.

Repeat this process to all the strings except for the B string (second thinnest) which you press down on the forth fret on the G string (third thinnest) to tune.

The electronic tuner is probably the easiest and most effective way of tuning your guitar to correct pitch. With an electronic tuner you can get a very accurate tuning because it actually measures the sound wave frequency of your strings. Take your tuner and pluck each string individually until each string is perfectly in tune. Remember a guitar is tuned from top to bottom eBGDAE.

You can try tuning your guitar to another guitar. For this method take the guitar that is in tune and try and tune each string on you guitar so that you can hear that each string vibrates in tune with the other.

Regardless of whether you set out to learn a few simple chords, or if you just want to be the next biggest thing to grace the music world. When you pick up an instrument you are going to have to practice if you are to have any hope of getting better.

Try all these methods to tune your guitar to see which one works best for you.

Tuning a 12 String

Even though it may look like a big challenge, ‘standard’ tuning a 12-string guitar is actually quite easy. For the bottom four strings (four thickest) you will tune each pair of strings to the same note but the thinner one will be tuned an octave higher. An octave is two notes that are the same but at a different pitch. The top two strings (two thinnest) have both strings tuned to the same not at the same pitch so they sound exactly the same.

Sounds simple? In theory it is, however when strings are tuned in octaves it is easy to hear slight mistunings. For this reason it is important to tune your strings perfectly when you are tuning a 12-string. Also sometimes you may have a problem keeping some of the strings in tune as the some of the smaller strings are tuned quite tightly. For this reason I think it can be a good idea to get the best quality strings you can when stringing up a 12-string. Ask your local dealer about strings, hopefully they can help you out.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/guitar-tuning-1415740.html

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for more information on how play your guitar check out my webpage

http://chickenpicking.blogspot.com/