5 Ways To Regain Your Guitar Playing Inspiration

5 Inspiration tips to get you going again!

There have been so many times, that I've just wanted to take my guitar, put it on the tracks and watch a train run over it. Then there are the times that I'm so upset I wouldn't have the energy to put it on the tracks because I lost all my inspiration. Here are some tips to get you back on the fretboard.

1. Jam to a song you know how to play.

Seek And Destroy by Metallica is my life savor. Everytime I was at a loss of inspiration, I'd play it, and my inspiration meter overloaded and the top blew off! When you play a song you know how to play, you get that vibe of energy, and you're reminded of the reason you picked up guitar.

2. Try adding fills to songs you already know.

I remember I'd use to play Beat It by Michael Jackson a lot, trying to nail the solo. When I failed miserably, I would try and fill the ending with a solo until it faded. After a while, you'll find exactly where to play and how to make it flow with the song. That's always a good feeling.

3. Try playing some basic arpeggios

This may not sound like a lot, but basic arpeggios can sound absolutely beautiful, even if you play random notes in them. No matter how many different ways you play them, they're always right.

4. Try doing some fun stuff with your guitar!

There are a lot of techniques which can be used in weird goofy ways to give you a laugh. Weird effects on your amp, WAH WAH bashing. Have fun with it! That's one of the best parts of playing guitar, you can have so much fun with it! If you have an amp with a rack of effects, mess with them. Be like Tom Morello and invent your own crazy effects!

5. Watch other famous guitarists live, or a documentary of your favorite band.

I can't even begin to tell you how inspiring Metallica is to me. All of them just give off such a vibe of inspiration that makes you want to play until your hands fall off! Guitarists like Steve Vai, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, Kirk Hammett, and Joe Satriani (just to name a few). All have HQ videos of them playing live. Watching live videos is one huge inspiration boost for me. Because, when you think about it, that could be you one day. That idea in itself is such an inspiration for me it's crazy. Metallica's Some Kind Of Monster and A Year And A Half In The Life Of Metallica is a huge inspirational documentary for me. It shows you how a real band is just like a family. Families stick together no matter what That's what Metallica did. They're just a group of people who started playing and got lucky. Look where they are now? One of the most well known bands in the WORLD. It could be you, never doubt yourself.

Tag : guitar,playing,regain,inspiration

Tips on Finding the Right Guitar Rack

If you are the proud owner of a beautiful guitar, then you´ll want to ensure that you protect it while at the same time still enjoy using it regularly. This is where a guitar rack is considered to be a great investment.

Many musicians will admit that playing their guitar has a lot to do with seeing it regularly and packing it away in it´s case is not the best way to ensure that you play it more regularly, but if your home has children or pets, you want to make sure that your instrument doesn´t fall foul to their sticky fingers and paws.

Onstage Guitar Racks.

For ease of use, the onstage guitar rack has a few key features that you will want to make sure of. When onstage, you want your rack to be able to hold as many guitars as you will need, but more importantly, you want to ensure that you can pick up and put down your guitars quickly without having to worry about weight distribution.

The best designs come with a wide base that accommodate guitars all along the foot of the racks. You also want to be able to ensure that they do not damage your guitar, so some padding is often required at the base to protect the body of the guitar and in the neck supports.

Home Guitar Racks.

For those with adequate room at home, investing in a guitar accessories such as a rack or guitar stand is important. The standard racks generally consist of one, two or more brackets for as many guitars and for those with multiple different guitars you can buy stands that are specific to either electric or acoustic guitars, or just buy one that can accommodate both.

Many people will want to display their guitars at home, so although racks and stands are a great investment, if you are short of floor space, then mounting them against the wall on guitar hangers might be a worthwhile alternative while letting up more space on the floor.

Our research team have scoured the net to find the more relevant information on the topic of guitar rack.

Tag; guitar,guitar rack,guitar chords,acoustic guitar,guitar picks

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hugh_Peters

Wouldn't it be Great to be Able to Buy a Guitar That Felt Gig Ready Right Out of the Box?

Guitar purchase “off the rack” can be a mine field, consider "custom" versus "pre-fab" electric guitars.

I love guitars, and there's nothing like a new electric guitar with a proper set up! I like the tone, the way it feels in my hands, and the way that I can make a guitar sound "right" for any kind of music that I play. Whether it's jazz, blues, country, hard rock, R&B leads, guitar chords, or just working on guitar tabs, all it takes is a flip of a switch, some prep, a couple twists of the knobs, neck alignment and I'm right where I need to be. I've bought a lot of guitars over the years, and discovered that taking that beautiful new Strat or Tele guitar out of the box was always just the first step in finding the guitar that fit in my hands the way that I imagined that it would when it first caught my eye. After a close inspection I found that my new guitar wouldn't be quite gig ready until I did all of the little subtle tweaks, repairs and modifications that would make it play just the way I wanted it to when I got it out onto the gig. I'd dress the frets, get the intonation just right, tweak the pick-ups, customize the configuration a bit, and before you know it, I'd be playing a guitar that felt like it was made to be in my hands. Playing music is always fun, but when I'm on the gig with a guitar that feels just right ... it's just pure guitar joy.

After a while I thought; “Wouldn't it be great to be able to buy a guitar that felt gig ready right out of the box?" As wonderful as that idea may seem, in reality it’s almost impossible to pick up a guitar in a music store “off the rack” and have it play right. It just doesn’t happen. There are many things that need to be done to “prep” the guitar before it’s ready to play. At Haywire Custom Guitars (http://www.HaywireCustomGuitars.com) we recommend and perform all of the following in prep for a guitar purchase before it leaves the bench at the workshop. For our purposes here I will focus only on electric instruments for now. First, let me pose a question to the beginning through the advanced guitarist. What Is Guitar Intonation and why is it important? Do you know?

Intonation is the accuracy in which an electric guitar or bass can produce a fretted note and the most important issue with any instrument. Setting the intonation on a guitar is the act of adjusting the length of the strings (by moving the bridge saddles) to compensate for the thickness of the string and the stretching of a string due to pushing it down to the fret board to produce a note. To adjust the intonation of your guitar or bass guitar, you move the bridge saddles toward or away from the fret board until the 12th fret note and its harmonic are equal in pitch to the same open-string note, which are exactly one octave apart. Accurate intonation is critical to pitch quality. Pitch quality is essential to "in tune" playing. Poor pitch quality="out of tune" notes which in turn = poor musical presentation. Wouldn't you or the salesman want to present your musical talents in the best way possible? Of course, you do.

Now, it is not necessary for a guitar player to know this at all. It is essential however that the guitar possess this quality and maintain as close to perfect intonation as possible. Buying on looks alone can be very disappointing. If however, you like an instrument for the looks but realize that you will need to have it worked on to get it playable then that is a savvy notion. It's best to speak to a luthier or guitar builder previous to any purchase. It's akin to asking a mechanic which car he would recommend-before you walk into the show room. In this way you can benefit from his first hand knowledge and experience and not have to go it alone. After all he sees the ones that breakdown more often than you or the salesman do.

Below, I have outlined the essential adjustments to be performed prior to purchasing and playing a guitar under optimal circumstances.

1. 4-axis Alignment of the guitar neck. The guitar neck is checked and adjusted to insure that it is true and straight to insure proper alignment on all axis. This step insures proper action and allows for more accurate and easier guitar tuning, playing and set-up in the following steps.

2. Inspect and Lube the guitar tuning gears

Each tuning gear is adjusted so that there is no play in the mechanism. They are then lubricated to insure smooth and even movement to make your guitar tune accurately.

3. Potting the guitar pickups. Dip the pickups in hot wax to reduce squeal and unwanted guitar feedback.

4. Prep the guitar body. Upon installing the guitar electronic components, great care is taken to insure that all wires are properly routed, spaced, and grounded to insure years of trouble free service with your guitar.

5. Level and polish the frets. This insures that all of the guitar frets are level, eliminating any possibility of fret buzz due to unevenness.

6. Radius the guitar strings. Most guitar necks have a contour over the top of the neck called the "radius". Adjust the strings to make sure the height of each string follows the contour of the guitar neck.

7. Adjusting the overall guitar string height and the action. Once the string contour and radius of the guitar strings is set, it’s time to adjust the overall height or "action" or distance of the strings from the top of the frets to the bottom of the guitar strings.

8. Set the guitar intonation. This step should be done twice. The intonation is normally set two times with a 24 hour period in between to allow the new guitar adjustments to properly re-seat.

If these steps are performed before playing your new guitar then, you won't be disappointed. Your focus can then be on the music and not the problems of the instrument. If it is "set up" properly a player will not have to "get used to" it. Everything on it will feel natural and fall right into place and the music can flow.

In summary, Guitar purchase “off the rack” can be a real disappointment. A thoughtful purchase should include consideration in buying a "custom" or "Gig-Ready" electric guitar versus a "pre-fab" instrument built on a production line. Custom guitars are individually built for a specific customer and will have all of the above necessary operations performed. All the guitarist needs to do is-Play! Sincerely, Rick Mariner http://www.HaywireCustomGuitars.com

Rick Mariner - Owner and founder of Haywire Value Priced Custom Guitars (http://www.HaywireCustomGuitars.com) and a member of The Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans (A.S.I.A.) as well as a guitar player. Rick holds a bachelors degree from University of Maryland and a Masters degree from George Washington University.

Rick developed an 8 - Point “Gig- Ready” guitar process that allows for Haywire Custom Guitars that are "GIG-READY".

With many years of development and guitar set-up experience, we pride ourselves in helping to build you the “Just Right” Haywire guitar at prices well below market and "set up" to playing perfection.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Mariner

Rick Mariner

http://www.HaywireCustomGuitars.com

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/wouldnt-it-be-great-to-be-able-to-buy-a-guitar-that-felt-gig-ready-right-out-of-the-box-176947.html

Guitar Tuners

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.

For professional tuning, you MUST use electronic guitar tuners. These devices allow tuning with the use of pedals, little boxes, or rack mounted units. There are a number of manufacturers who specialize in these sophisticated gadgets

ELECTRONIC GUITAR TUNERS

• Boss, a division of the Roland Corporation (big japanese company), employs its proven technology in musical equipment and accessories to develop sophisticated tuners - known for their accuracy and superb functionality. One of its renowned inventions is the TU - Series tuners technology, which incorporates tuning accuracy in an ultra convenient tompbox design...ideal to take them into the guitar case everywhere.

• Korg. This world's favorite tuner started introducing excellent tuners in 1999. It came out with the DT-7 GUITAR/BASS chromatic tuner, the first guitar tuner to feature the legendary Buzz Feiten Tuning System. The critically acclaimed DT-7 could be one of the most accurate tuners in the market ever, featuring an ultra - wide tuning range. Later on, Korg introduced the extremely flexible GT-12 GUITAR & BASS chromatic tuner and the OT-12 designed for Orchestra.

Other models that came out were Korg GA30 Guitar & Bass Tuner which features a pitch reference tone and quinta-flat tuning while maintaining functionality and convenient tuning functions in Ultra - Compact bodies.

The Korg CA30 Chromatic Tuner and the Korg TM40 Chromatic Tuner/Metronome; Tuner with Metronome which can function simultaneously or independently, its large LCD-type needle delivers both the accuracy of an LCD and the excellent visibility of a needle indicator. It also has LED indicators that show pitch deviation or blink to indicate the tempo, thus, making the TM-40 a highly visual tool. The superb functionality and the highest accuracy have made Korg tuners a worldwide favorite.

• String Master, is another respected manufacturer. String Master produced the world's first motorized guitar tuner featured in the Guitar One and Guitar Player Magazines. This guitar tuner is very innovative, convenient and could be the friendliest tuner ever invented

• The Qwik Tune QT-11 is the next generation's automatic guitar tuner. Featuring an electronic pitch pipe with an internal speaker it plays E, A, D, G, B, and E tones for tuning reference. It also includes an Off-Meter tuning mode, which detects the string which the user is trying to tune (even if the guitar is severely out of tune). This portable battery operated Guitar or Bass tuner features an 'electric pitch pipe' that plays the note for the user. The user can tune each individual string while the display tells her/him which string is being tuning and whether the note is sharp or flat. The highly sensitive built-in microphone & spèed metering allow easy tuning.

________________________________________

TUNING WITH COMPUTER SOFTWARE

Tuning via use of software abounds. Free or for a fee you can find various guitar tuners in the internet. These softwares eliminate the need to tune a guitar with an instrument or the conventional tuning by ear. All you have to do is to listen to the sound from the software, play it on your guitar and adjust the tuning machines tension until your guitar produces the same note as the tuner software.Keep in mind that the basic requirement in tuning is to get the same note as the tuner, not the sound because the difference in thickness of strings may cause varying frequencies and sound...just listen to the pitch.

Listen to the tuner and tune your guitar until you hear almost the same sound, though, it might be deeper. This is specially true when you get new strings and tune your guitar immediately after putting them on. Your stings have to adjust to the pressure applied to them so initially your guitar will not make the right tuning, it will sound detuned. But after exposure to a certain limit of stretch, they will hold on to a certain tone. Tip: Tune your guitar and leave it alone for a few hours then tune again and...that's it. After each playing session the strings tend to mantain the pitch with better accuracy and stability.

One of the common (and free) tuners available in the internet is the DGT or digital guitar tuner. DGT is windows software, which allows you to accurately tune your guitar using direct input or microphone. Another free software is AP Tuner3 which supports an improved detection algorithm for low notes for bass and piano. It has a helpful Harmonics Graph window to see the harmonic content of any note. PitchPerfect can also be downloaded for free. It also provides a highly accurate professional tuner with a very simple to use interface. There is more flexibility in the PitchPerfect software because it automatically detects the note you're playing and therefore, you're not limited by standard tunings.

Apart from free downloads on your personal computer,you can also download tuners on your pocket PC or on your ipod. An example of this is the 4Pockets Guitar Tuner. Because it can be downloaded on your pocket PC, you can take the 4Pockets Guitar Tuner with you on your gigs . A high precision real - time guitar tuner,this Guitar Tuner can accurately determine the frequency,musical note and octave for each of your strings. The ability to estimate the note and octave makes this a very useful tool in musical notation and musical learning.

The iRocker is another convenient set of tools for guitarists which you can load on your iPod. iRocker is produced by Talking Panda,the makers of iBar.A great help for beginners, the iRocker includes not only a virtual book with 200 chords and fingerings but likewise a guide to scales. It also provides 5 different chord progressions/riffs that you can play along. Moreover, it contains a set of guitar tuning recordings with a variety of tunings and a basic 10 - speed metronome.

________________________________________

WICH TUNER IS RIGHT FOR ME?

Your choice of tuner would depend on your needs – amateur or professional use. You might use a tuner for practicing at home or gigs with friends or you might need the tuner for a larger audience - like performing in a big concert. Regardless of your need, convenience and accuracy, tuners are of foremost importance...you can avail of a wide range of guitar tuners, free or for a fee.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/guitar-tuners-136041.html