How To Pick Blues Guitar Using Bare Fingers Or Finger Picks - What's The Difference?

There are literally thousands, possibly millions of acoustic guitarists in the world. It's the most popular musical instrument by far, because it is easy to carry and it's relatively easy to produce a simple tune in a short time. I write 'acoustic guitar' as this is my instrument and I want to discuss finger picking styles.

Normally, electric guitarists use a plectrum of some kind to pluck the strings in an up down motion. Mind you, there are exceptions to the rule, such as Mark Knoppfler, who prefers bare fingers for both electric and acoustic guitars. His self-taught techniques caused Chet Atkins to comment "I don't know how he's doing it, but he can sure do it! "

You don't have to follow the herd - we can always make new rules. Nevertheless, we have to start somewhere. This starting point is generally focussed on previous master players. In the genre of acoustic blues guitar, this means people like Robert Johnson, Lightnin' Hopkins, Doc Watson, Reverend Gary Davis and many others.

There are many variations in style, but players who play in the finger style can be broadly divided into two categories - those who wear finger picks and those who like to use their bare fingers. Let's not take into account how many picking fingers they use for now. What are the differences in sound and what effect does a finger pick finger pick have on style? I've watched ragtime blues artists play competently with up to three finger picks for the right hand, not including the thumb! At the other end of the spectrum, some master pickers only use just one finger, either steel or plastic.

Bare Thumb Or Finger Pick

Broadly speaking, the pick gives a sharper, harder sound and is a natural amplifier. Some striking actions are simpler to perform with a pick, like 'throwing' the thumb onto a bass string to get a percussive sound. A significant advantage is that it saves the thumb becoming sore. Bare finger players must practice very regularly in order to develop a thick callous so that they can play in comfort. Generally, picks are easier to get between the strings, so are very efficient for picking individual strings in quick succession.

Several later stylists, like Chet Atkins, strengthened their finger nails. I doubt that many older blues guitarists used this technique, but who can say? Many Texas players favored a plastic thumb pick and bare fingers, often just using one finger of the right hand with incredible dexterity. Blind Blake, the King of Ragtime, seemed to have played with bare fingers and some older bluesmen recalled that he had a hole in his right thumb, where it was rubbed down by the bass strings of his guitar.

The enigmatic Willie Walker, who only recorded two sides in the 20s, was a true master of the ragtime style. His songs feature extremely fast single string runs which seem difficult if using the thumb and index finger one after the other. He probably used a plectrum held between his thumb and finger, using this to
alternate the bass line while picking with one or two fingers.

Finger picks.

I prefer a steel pick, as they can be bent over so that the tip of the pick approximates with the contact point of a bare finger when it hits a string. This means that there's no need to make adjustments for the angle of attack. The plastic variety are generally thicker and protrude a little more, so an adjustment in picking style is required. This is important when playing some songs needing picks, and some that don't, let's say.

Use those bare fingers.

A bare thumb can hook behind a string, pull it away from the body of the guitar and let it snap back, making an accented beat common with some blues techniques. Bare fingers are very accurate and help to produce a bouncy style when playing ragtime music, either Joplin type piano rags or ragtime blues in the style of Blind Blake. The thumb rolls and triplets heard in Blake's music are very difficult to achieve when using finger picks.

There are many, many guitar finger picking techniques and we can use the example of the great guitar masters to help us to develop our own technique.

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How To Pick A Guitar

When you play a guitar, you will have to know how to pick a guitar and these are some of them.

There is the standard style of picking a guitar. The standard style is holding the pick between the flat of the thumb and the side of the index finger with your fingers either anchored on or draped across the pick guard.

This style does have some disadvantages. You will find that pressing the thumb against the side of the finger to be an uncomfortable position. You will also find that if you don’t press hard enough, the pick will become unsteady when you pick the string. You will find that the pick will catch on the strings.

There is a variation of the standard style where the remaining fingers are in a loose or tight fist. There should be no contact between the hand and the guitar except through the pick. The advantage of this standard style variation is that you should have less baggage to swing around. This is because the mass of the fingers are closer to the axis of the wrist.

The main disadvantage of this variation is that even in the greatest of players, they were inconsistent in the accuracy of their playing. They kept on losing on losing their point of reference of fingers that were touching the pick guard.

Another variation of the standard style is that the palm rests flat on the bridge, either behind or in front, depending whether the strings need muting or not. You can have other fingers open or closed.

This standard style variation is perfect for electric guitar players who usually deal with feedback that they don’t want.

The problem with this variation is that you have to play with a side to side motion rather than at the wrist. This will eventually lead to having a locked wrist and you will not be able to play faster.

There is another variation of standard style. When you play using this variation, you have the thumb side of your palm raised with the opposite side of your palm resting on the bridge. The only difference between this variation and the regular standard style is the hand location.

Another variation of the standard style is called circle picking. You hold the pick the same way as the standard style. You move by flexing the first joint of the thumb, with the index finger extending at its second joint. You slide the pick along the string before crossing it, turning counterclockwise on down strokes and clockwise on upstrokes. This essentially means that you are making a circular motion to play the strings and the reason that it is called circle picking.

The main advantage is that you can play several strings with no arm or wrist motion at all. The tones sound nice when using this style. It is a fun way to play if you don’t mind looking weird.

The main problem with this picking style is that your feel will suffer. You will constantly have to will yourself to control your timing. It is hard to do large strokes like strumming. You will find eventually that the extra motion of the thumb and index finger are inefficient and limit speed.

George Benson has a unique picking style. When you want to use the pick like George Benson, you put the pick between the tip of the thumb and the flat of the index finger. The middle finger should rest against the index finger. The first joint of the thumb should be locked in a fully open position. You should the first and second joints of the index finger arched and locked. You should find that the pick is 90 degrees counterclockwise from the standard style.

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Essential Guitar Skills You Need to Develop

Just like in any other hobby, you need a certain amount of skill to properly play a guitar. Guitar picking and strumming are two essential guitar skills in which you should build upon your playing ability. As you go along, develop a style of your own by learning about different techniques from your guitar heroes.

Picking

This skill requires you to learn the two types of guitar picking: with your finger and with a plectrum. Finger picking involves more dexterity and strength from your hands. There are so many ways on how to finger pick a guitar. One of the most common ways is to play the 6th, 5th and 4th strings with your thumb with a down-ward (strumming) motion. Your index, middle and ring fingers will pluck the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st strings. You have to "rake" your finger up when playing the higher toned strings. It is easier to play arpeggios, strums and rasgueados with finger picking. Also, you can easily play non adjacent strings together let's say the 5 and 2. Plectrum is a picking device made from metal, plastic and other exotic materials-like turtle shells. For plectrum picking, you need to hold it between your index finger and your thumb; with supplemental support coming from your free fingers. The motion for plectrum picking all comes from the wrist. Swaying your arm is a very bad practice because it will cause great stress. Angle the pick slightly to the strings for better control. With plectrum picking, you can expect better clarity and better control. There is also the issue of leverage. Plectrum picking send more energy to the strings, producing a great volume of sound especially on your acoustic guitar. Playing faster rhythms on using plectrum picking is possible without the loss of consistent tone.

Tuning

In order to play good, you need to sound good. Practice different tuning techniques for certain types of situations. The standard guitar tuning of an open chord are E-A-D-G-B-E. There are many kinds of tuning techniques ranging from the 5th fret technique, Dropped Tunings, Lower tunings and Modal tunings. The most common method which is the 5th string technique requires you to find a "reference pitch" for your lower E-string. This will be the standard tune that the rest of the strings will follow. A piano, tuning fork or another guitar will make you find that reference pitch. This is the easiest tuning technique. Fret the lower E string on the 5th fret while plucking the open A-string. Their pitch should match. Adjust the tuning peg of your A-string up or down until the pitch matches that of the fretted E-string. Play the next string (5th) on the fifth fret and the open fourth string until they sound the same. Play the 3rd string on the fourth fret and the open second string. Adjust the second string until they sound the same. Lastly, play your second string on the fifth fret and the open first string (highest E) while adjusting the tone until they sound the same.

These are the two basic skills you need to develop. Practice them each day while learning more tuning and picking techniques as you go along. Try the aforementioned tuning techniques to produce different variation of sounds. Picking techniques like the flamenco, sweep picking, flat-picking and Travis picking can add spice to your guitar playing experience.

Guitar Accessories: More Than Just Icing

Accessories, as any good fashionista will tell you, can either make or break an outfit. Now I'm not suggesting that a guitar played with last year's guitar pick simply isn't worth the effort, or that red guitar straps are the new black. However, guitar accessories do have one thing in common with their fashion counterparts-each is designed to help the user get the most out of his or her instrument or outfit, as the case may be.

There is actually a rather long list of guitar accessories available to the discerning guitar player. These range from various types of guitar supports to amplifiers to nail kits. Yes, nail kits. Hey, all that plucking and strumming can be murder on your cuticles. Suffice it to say, there are enough guitar accessory options to ensure that anyone, be they novice or master, can at least look like they know what they're doing with their guitar.

Some accessories allow the artists to increase the variety of sounds that can be created by the guitar. For instance the capotasto, or "capo," as it is more commonly called, is used to alter the pitch of the strings. This accessory is clipped to the fret board through either spring or elastic tension, and the use of one allows the artist to play in different keys without having to change the chord formations. Because of the ease with which they allow guitar players to change keys, these little gizmos are sometimes referred to as "cheaters."

A plectrum, commonly referred to as a guitar pick, is a small piece of hard material used to "pick" a guitar's strings. While most classical players prefer to use their finger nails (hence the nail kits), the guitar pick is commonly used amongst electric and sometimes acoustic guitar players. It is usually held between the thumb and first finger of the picking hand and is generally made of plastic, although bone, wood, steel and tortoise shell picks can also be purchased. The guitar pick comes in many shapes, sizes and thicknesses and varies depending on the application. Jazz picks are usually small and agile, whereas those intended for base guitars are generally larger.

A guitar accessory does not even need to be specifically designed for the guitar; it can be anything the artist uses to alter the instrument's sound. The term "slide" in guitar lingo can refer to the neck of a bottle, a knife blade or a round metal bar that is used to create a glissando, or a gliding transition from one pitch to another. Such accessories are commonly used in blues and country music and sometimes in rock. Some guitars are even played exclusively with a slide, and these instruments are referred to as steel guitars.

Then there are those accessories designed to help with the logistics of playing the guitar. Guitar supports, for example, are an alternative to the commonly use footstool. This device lifts the guitar from the player's knee, allowing the artist to keep both feet on the ground. Guitar armrests are designed to support the picking arm as it drapes over the guitar's body. And the traditional guitar strap, of course, simply helps the guitarist by supporting the instrument when he or she is in a standing position.

About the Author

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for guitars, drums, keyboards, sheet music, guitar tab, and home theater audio. You can find the best marketplace at these sites for guitars, guitar accessories, plectrum, pick, capo, slide, sheet music, guitar tabs, and home theater audio.

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Learn How To Play Guitar - 4 Tips To Improve Your Guitar Playing

Playing guitar as a hobby or professionally can be very fulfilling. It is a great outlet for one's creativity and passion, and is the perfect expression of one's self. Whether you are a beginner guitar player or not, you could use the following tips and instructions to improve your guitar playing.

1) Good posture is Truly Underrated

While you can play guitar in almost any position, good position is integral to getting the most out of your guitar. Without good posture you could put yourself in greater risk for straining muscles – not to mention that wrong posture is truly awkward and uncomfortable to the player. You could even acquire or exacerbate back pain playing in the wrong position.

In a sitting position, sit up straight and cradle the guitar with your legs. Armless chairs are better for this sort of playing. If you are a classical player you might want to purchase a foot rest to elevate your left leg (if you are right-handed).

While standing, make sure you have good footing, with feet properly spaced. Keep the guitar high on your chest. If you have a guitar strap then you could avoid getting fatigued while playing your guitar.

2) Hold Your Pick the Right Way

If you are a pick player, one common mistake you can avoid is to hold your pick the right way. The proper way to hold a pick is to grip is firmly but not too tightly.

If you hold your pick to firmly, you could get your arm tired real easily. If you hold it too loose you could easily lose your pick during a very vigorous strumming session. The best place to hold your pick is somewhere in its middle.

Choosing the right pick is also another important choice you will have to make. If you are a beginner, you may want to use soft picks for strumming. They are also easier on the arms and do not need to be gripped too tightly. However, most flabby picks do not perform well when used to pluck individual strings, bass strings, or when flat picking.

3) Practice your arpeggios

After giving strumming a thorough work out, try working on arpeggios as they could seriously improve you playing style and will open you up to new guitar skills. Some players start with arpeggios before jumping into serious lead playing or complicated playing.

It also gives your playing much more variety than would be available if you stuck to simpler chord playing. And as mentioned, arpeggios are the gateway to higher level playing skills.

4) D Chord Secrets Revealed

The D-sus chord is a beautiful flourish when used to lead back to the D-chord. It is easily done by adding your pinkie finger to the chord at the third fret. Practice how this chord is used and you will find that it easily integrates into most contemporary songs.

You could also use this with other chords. You may refer to most chord charts to find out how these chords are done.

Conclusion

In the end practice is still the best way to get better at guitar playing. However, you can avoid wasting your time during practice by learning to practice smarter instead of just more. The tips mentioned above will help you get started on this road.

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Nylon String Jazz Guitar

Jazz has been played on many different types of guitars-from acoustic steel string (Eddie Lang, Django Reinhardt) to amplified steel string (Charlie Christian being one of the first) to solid body (John McLaughlin, for example). Charlie Byrd was an early proponent of using a classical nylon string guitar to play jazz, and McLaughlin, Earl Klugh and many others have since used that kind of guitar in at least some of their work. The influence of Brazilian players such as Luis Bonfa has probably helped make this type of sound more popular. Modern guitar makers have produced instruments with lower string action and cutaways to facilitate playing jazz.

When playing nylon string guitars with a pick, there is an adjustment to be made in right-hand technique as the pick tends to bounce off the strings a little more than with steel. The fretboard is also a little wider than a typical steel string instrument. And of course, the pickups are different-since these are acoustic instruments, an amplification setup that preserves as much as possible of the acoustic tone is the goal. Still, the beautiful sound of a good nylon string guitar makes solving these problems worthwhile.

Some players, including the author sometimes, use a hybrid right hand technique in which the pick is held as usual between thumb and forefinger, and used to sound bass notes, but the other three fingers are used to pluck chords. This is particularly effective on bossa-nova music, where the softer sound of plucking with fingers is helpful, but can be used for other styles also. The advantage of this technique for a pick-style player is that you can get a finger-style chord sound without putting down the pick (or putting it in your mouth as I have seen some players such as the late Emily Remler do).

Gear: The author uses a custom nylon nylon string cutaway made by luthier John Mello in Kensington, CA, with Thomastik nylon over rope core trebles (sound a bit like steel but very much lower tension) and normal tension nylon bass strings. I use a very heavy pick - Dugain picks made of bone and animal horn. A Fishman matrix under-the-saddle piezo pickup goes through Monster cables to a Boss AD-5 Acoustic instrument processor, a Fishman Aura, a RNC compressor, and into a Roland jazz Chorus amp. All to make it sound like an acoustic guitar! There is, of course still a limit to how loud you can be and still keep an acoustic tone-no pickup will give you an acoustic sound when the amp is cranked to 11.

How And Why You Should Tune Your Guitar

Wouldn't it be nice if you were able to buy something, use it at your own leisure, and then just be able to put it away without having to worry about it. Well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but things just don't work that way. Lets say you buy a vehicle. You're going to have to maintain it to some degree whether it be oil changes, tune ups,or whatever. If you purchase a dog, it will need to be fed and housebroken, and when you own a guitar, there are things that need to be done so that you don't look like a fool when your jamming your favorite riffs. You will soon realize that you must tune your guitar on a regular basis. As much as we would like to skip this step, my professional opinion would be not to.

There is a standard, as there always seems to be, involved in a guitar tuning and it is conveniently labeled the standard guitar tuning method. The standard involves tuning the strings from the thickest to the thinnest. The order should be E, A, D, G, B, E. This method is the easiest methods because it is the easiest for tuning the most amounts of scales and chords. The way to start this method is with the E string. The E string is the thickest, and the least likely to fall short of tuning. The A string is the next string that you should tune. The way to adjust the A string is to place your finger on the fret, pick the fifth and sixth strings while adjusting the fifth string tuning peg until the two notes sound the same. The D string comes next in line. The way to find the proper D string note is to find the A string that is located just behind the fifth fret. You then turn the fourth string to that note. Tune your G string to the note that rings when you put the first finger on your left hand just behind the fifth fret. The B string should sound like when your first finger of your left hand is placed behind the forth fret. You should recognize that the tuning of the B string is the only one in the method that uses the fourth fret and not the fifth. Last is the E string which is where you place the first finger of, you guessed it, your left hand behind the fifth fret on the B string.

There are other ways you can tune your guitar, but they can get more complicated. You can use an online guitar tuner. You can customize these tuners or you can use the standard method in order to hear how the note is supposed to sound. There are many sites that you can visit in order to find an online tuner, but when you find a site that you like, you should bookmark it in your favorites so that you can easily find it the next time.

If you don't have a keen ear attuned to different pitches, you might want to invest in an electric tuner. With this device you can look at a tuning monitor to see how off-tune each string on your guitar is. Then, by following the needle on the display, you can tune each string on your guitar according to the reading being given. Even if you do have a trained ear, electric tuners can come in handy if you're trying to tune your equipment just before a gig. Noises and other distractions can keep your ear from creating just the right sound on your guitar strings.

Other methods for tuning a guitar aren't as easy as the ones already described. Piano tones can be used to tune the strings on your guitar. However, if your ear is not trained to tuning this way, it probably won't help much, plus you need access to a piano. You can also tune your guitar by using octaves or harmonies, but these methods are typically for musicians who have been tuning their strings for many, many years. If you're just a beginner, it is best to go with the easier methods that do not require as much skill and

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Country Guitar Lessons - Guitars and Guitarists

Country guitar lessons in these days of the world wide web are now popular all over the world. If you are wondering what the fuss is about I will just mention some aspects of country guitar playing that excite the interest of music fans and guitar enthusiasts alike. This article will focus on a couple of the more individualistic guitar styles in country music and also talk a little about the Telecaster - the country musician's guitar.

First let us look at a guitar style that has entered the country genre through blues and rock. The slide guitar, also known as the bottleneck guitar is a lyrical way of expressing feelings through guitar music. It was developed in the early twentieth century by the early blues players, and popularized by young white rock and blues players in the nineteen sixties. Now there are many country guitar players who see the musical possibilities in this style of playing. The key to this technique is sliding an object along the guitar strings to make a whining or wailing sound. This presents the guitar player with many opportunities to play notes that fall between the frets of the guitar as well as imitating the sound of a singing voice.

The term "bottleneck" refers to the practice of many slide guitar performers of producing the sliding sound by fitting the neck of a bottle to their first or second finger. Popular wisdom has it that other players used the blade of a knife. Modern slide guitar players usually go to a music shop and buy a slide. You can play slide guitar with the guitar held in the normal playing position or with the guitar in your lap. A player can use an ordinary steel string acoustic guitar tuned in the standard way or to an open chord, or a resonator guitar which has a distinctive metallic sound well suited to slide playing.

Another guitar style used by country guitar players is chicken pickin', developed to high art by Waylon Jennings. It is used in lead guitar solos and involves the guitar player pulling on the string with his right hand fingers and at the same time damping the string with his left hand. Most country guitar players use a plectrum or thumbpick to play bass notes in conjunction with chicken pickin' on the treble strings.

Chet Atkins is a country guitar player who was adept at the chicken pickin' technique but he was most well known for his adaptation of the Travis picking technique. Merle Travis developed an impressive solo playing technique using his thumb to pick bass notes and his index finger to play melody or filler notes. Chet Atkins was so impressed with Travis' solos that he assumed that Travis was using his second and ring fingers in addition to his index finger. This mistaken assumption led to a whole new generation of country guitar players inspired by the Chet Atkins style.

If you want to take country guitar lessons you should learn about the typical sound that is associated with country guitar music. While rock and roll has as many sounds as there are guitar players, country guitar has its own sound. This is due to most country players opting to stay with the clean, unadorned sound of the Fender Telecaster. The "Tele" had a sound that made aspiring guitar players sit up and take notice combined with a design that made it a dream to play. It is a solid body electric guitar with two pickups, and was the first electric guitar to be successfully produced and sold on a large scale.

In the early days of the electric guitar both rock and country guitar players wanted to be heard by the audience without feedback interfering with the sound of the guitar. The Telecaster filled the bill when it came out in 1950 and has remained a popular choice for solo guitarist ever since. Country guitarists noted for being enthusiastic Telecaster players include Buck Owens, Waylon Jennings, James Burton and Merle Haggard.

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.

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How To Play Country Lead Guitar

In the late nineteen thirties a cowboy musician called Bob Willis introduced the electric guitar to his audiences. Nobody knows whether they noticed this historic innovation but ten years later a whole generation sat up and took notice when Arthur Smith released his recording of "Guitar Boogie". This hit instrumental established the electric guitar as a musical force to be reckoned with. While the world of rock and roll moved to the music of Stratocasters it took a while for country musicians to move from the more restrained tones of the Gretsch archtop to the more "biting" Fender sound.

Many guitarists play their country solos on the Fender Telecaster with a Fender tube "Twin", Super Reverb or Deluxe Reverb amplifier. On the other hand, if they are on a tight budget they have been known to settle for a Peavey tube amp. One piece of equipment you will not need is the whammy bar. It is not used in playing country music.

In contrast to other musical genres that use the electric guitar, country music does not employ a wide variety of electronic effects in guitar solos. Alot of country guitar players use a strictly clean sound, maybe sprucing the music up with a little reverberation. The only effect consistently utilized by country guitar soloists is compression which enforces limits on the sound waves produced by the guitar. This effect enhances the volume of the softer notes, and slightly mutes the louder notes. This makes the overall volume seem more even.

When it comes to technique you can start off as a flatpicker but many country guitar players will use a thumbpick in combination with the index and ring finger. This naturally increases your level of versatility more than somewhat. There is a technique called "chicken pickin" which involves popping the guitar strings with your fingers. It is a little hard to describe in writing but you can see plenty of examples on YouTube, but to get the general idea, try this experiment: hold your right hand over the guitar strings, then mute your E (sixth) string by resting your index finger on it down towards the bridge. Next, pluck the string with your thumb. This will give you a "thuck" sound. To complete the chicken pickin move, pluck the open string with the nail of your index finger. This move is repeated until it comes naturally.

Country solo playing can easily begin in the first position on the guitar. When you begin to play country guitar solos just play over the chords. Do not go looking for a "country scale", although the blues scale is quite handy in country guitar playing. The trick is to practice with whatever chord shapes you have at your stage of playing and see what kind of riffs, licks and tricks you can get out of each of them. It is a very interesting way to learn because every chord has its unique character. Start with your basic chords like C, D, E, G, and A.

So if you want to learn to play country guitar solos which guitar players do you listen to? Listening to Chet Atkins will teach alot to a guitarist in any genre. He is largely responsible for the smooth Nashville sound which is so attractive to many music lovers. Chet owes his style to Merle Travis, using his thumb to pick bass notes and other fingers to play the melody and fills. And do not forget to look for music recorded by Merle Travis himself. Another guitar great is Jerry Reed. A guitarist with boundless energy and enthusiasm, he played on the Elvis Presley single of his own compositions "Guitar Man" and "US Male". This list could go on and on, so let us finish by mentioning Albert Lee, a British guitar player admired by many other famous guitarists.

By: Ricky Sharples

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Know Your Free Guitar Chords

With the continuing craze about guitar playing, from rhythm and blues to rock – there is a huge demand for free guitar chords. A guitar chord represents the collection of tones that is sounded when the strings of a guitar are played simultaneously. Cool guitarists have a way with guitar chords – they play it with style and ease.

Free Guitar Chords, Anyone?

Free guitar chords are illustrated in the customary musical notation and tablature, also known as tabs. With more self-taught guitarists on the rise, free guitar chords are also depicted in chord diagrams for easier reading. However, different people have different interpretations of guitar chords. Some coaches use their own versions which often lead to confusion.

Understanding guitar chord symbols

Free guitar chords often include symbols in the chord diagram layout. The vertical lines are the guitar strings, the horizontal lines are the frets. An x above the vertical line indicates that a string is free or is not played, while an O designates an open string or a string that is not played on the fret. A filled circle means the string has to be fretted.

If you look closely at the neck of your guitar, you will see thin strips running the full width of the neck. These metal strips divide the neck into musical intervals. A fret has its cluster tone where an octave is segmented into twelve semitones. When there is an instruction in the free guitar chords to fret, you simply press down the string on the strip.

Other illustrations on a free guitar chords diagram are the curved line to indicate a barre. When a barre is signaled, you use a single finger to hold down several strings all at once. If there are numbers beneath some strings, you are asked to use the indicated finger number on the note. For left handed players, the diagrams are simply reversed.

Getting those free guitar chords

There are guitar sites online offering free guitar chords, from classics to the latest pop songs. You can choose from a drop down menu the artists or the songs, often arranged alphabetically. These guitar chords are also marked according to their difficulty level. Other sites simply cluster the free guitar chords according to the following ranks – beginner, advanced, and pro.

To make the learning process easier, there are sites that have video demonstrations explaining the function of each guitar part, the guitar chords, and techniques. The video demo makes it easier for self-taught players to understand the complexities of the guitar chords.

To make the most of your free guitar chords, get a guitar dictionary. This contains 63 basic chords, and when you pick a note, you will hear the sound of the guitar chord. This will require a Flash player, though, so be ready to get one when needed. Yet another tool you can use is a CD of guitar chords that may supplement the free guitar chords you have downloaded from websites. This CD is easy to use because it does not require extra tools to set up.

Also, surf the net for free guitar chords of your favorite songs and artists. There is no end in sight for guitar chords, tips, and even free guitar newsletters. You can also sign up for guitar forums to get more ideas from other guitar players. From there you can start you budding guitar career.

About the Author

Visit aboutplayingguitar.com for free guitar chords. In the mood for the blues? Visit this site now for blues guitar chords and free guitar sheet music.

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Playing The Guitar - Acoustic Stylings

The acoustic guitar is an instrument which produces sound via the vibration of the strings through the hollow body, sound board and sound hole. String vibration can be achieved by using a flatpick, usually made of plastic, or by simply strumming the strings with the thumb. One can pick individual notes or strike a combination of strings at once to produce a chord.

A more intricate method is fingerpicking, a technique which uses the thumb and tips of the fingers to strike individual strings. Fingertips, fingernails (which are usually grown longer for this specific purpose), fingerpicks which are attached to the thumb and fingers can all be used for fingerpick guitar playing.

The acoustic guitar is a very portable instrument. Lightweight and easily transportable it makes the perfect musical companion. The lowest tone string, the string you would strike first in a chord with a downward pick motion, is called the sixth string and each subsequent string is the fifth, fourth, third, second and first, respectively. Standard tuning is as follows:

Sixth string - low E
Fifth string - A
Fourth string - D
Third string - G
Second string - B
First string - E

The neck of an acoustic guitar is made up of the fretboard, frets, tuners and headstock. The neck also contains a truss rod which is a metal rod that runs through the inside of the neck. This rod works to keep the neck from succumbing to the tremendous tension created by the strings. The fretboard (fingerboard), with spacing created by frets, is where a guitarist depresses strings to create notes and chords.

The strings used on acoustic guitars are made of steel, nickel or bronze alloys. One end is ball shaped. This end is dropped into the appropriate hole at the bridge and generally a bridge pin is pushed into the hole to keep the ball end in place. The string is then run up the fretboard and attached to the appropriate machine tuner. The machine tuner is turned to wind the string around the tuner post until all slack is taken up and the proper tone achieved. There's a neat little plastic winder tool you can buy which makes turning the machine heads a lot quicker and easier.

The tone from a new set of strings is beautifully bright. Depending on how much you play and how much finger oil and sweat are transferred to the strings oxidation will inevitably set in and the strings will lose that brightness of tone. When that happens just put on a new set of strings.

Keep in mind that when you first start playing an acoustic steel string guitar your fingers will hurt. You must practice on a regular basis to toughen up your fingertips. There's no shortcut unfortunately. So there you have it, a little bit of information on the steel string acoustic guitar.

By: Ignatius Gluck

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Learn How To Play A Guitar At Any Age

If you have decided to learn how to play a guitar, you have made an excellent choice! If you have passion and dedication there’s nothing that can stop you. Some people are under the impression that you have to be a certain age to learn this instrument, but there is no truth in that. It doesn’t matter what age you are, as long as you have a sincere desire to learn you will be able to absorb the lessons. It is going to be very important to hold on to your patience throughout the learning process, and realize beforehand that it does take some time to become a skilled guitar player.

Singing is really helpful for guitar players, and if you aren’t able to carry a tune you will have a harder time learning guitar. It will be necessary for you to have the ability to recognize certain tones and sounds on your guitar. It will really set you back if you are unable to get your guitar in tune before playing. This is what makes it so essential for you to be able to hear and recognize the various notes. It is possible to get your ears trained so that they are able to hear certain tones and know what they are. You can get better at this by practicing singing. It also helps you to develop your sense of rhythm and improves the way you strum the guitar. While you are in the process of learning how to play a guitar, try to also practice your singing each day until it becomes easy for you to hold a tune. You don’t have to be the best singer ever, you really only need to be able to hold your voice in tune.

The ability to read a guitar chord is vital, but once you have surpassed this you can go ahead and move on to strumming. Focus on the up and down motion of your strokes, as this is what makes the sound. You may not be able to master this for awhile, but don’t become discouraged. This is just a normal part of the learning process that all guitar players go through. No one starts out an expert; they all have to begin in exactly the same place you are right now.

When you are first learning how to strum the guitar, do it with a pick. Your fingernails have to be trimmed down too, or at least the hand that plays on the fret board. By using a pick to strum your guitar you will create a more powerful sound than if you were just finger picking.

When you are just beginning, do not attempt to sing along. Keep your focus on just the music for now. After you have spent enough time practicing you will start to see that you are getting much better, and this will give you satisfaction. Not only is learning how to play a guitar highly satisfying, but it is also something that you can really take pride in!

Guitar Tips: Where To Start

The Quick And Easy Way To Learn To Play Guitar Without Getting Ripped Off By Money Hungry Guitar Teachers.

So you want to play guitar? What if I told you that it is easy to learn the guitar? You will either have the mindset that I am telling the truth and you will want to find out more. Or you will be skeptical and think that I am telling lies.

Decide right now which way you think, as this will determine your level of success. If you think that learning the guitar is hard, and will cost you a lot of time and money taking lessons then that is exactly what will happen.

Your success in any endeavor, be it guitar or sports or even tying your shoelaces all begins in your belief system. If you believe you can do something then you will do it.

Everyone starts out equally. No one was born with the ability to play the guitar. Everyone starts as a rank amateur. Every guitar player, whatever their ability now, was at one time a beginner. In other words, at some stage their guitar playing sucked.

The first thing you need to play the guitar is determination. You have to want it bad. You need to make up your mind that this is what you really want. Don't just have some romantic notion that it would be a cool thing to do. You either want it or you don't. Be committed, not half committed.

The next thing you need is a time frame. How long do you expect it to take before you can play guitar good enough to play a few songs? I'll tell you how long, three months. You should be able to go from the outhouse to the penthouse in three months.

So now you have determination. You are 100% sure you will become a good guitar player. You also have a time frame. You are 100% sure you will become a good guitar player in three months time. At this point you haven't even touched a guitar but you have set the wheels in motion.

What do you do next? You need to learn some chords. The good thing is that 90% of songs use the same chords. Also 90% of popular songs use only three chords. There is a formula called 1,4,5. Don't worry about it too much at this stage as you need to learn the chords and their names first.

Start by learning the open chords. A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Just do a search on the net and you will find these chords. When it comes to playing the B chord play it as an A shaped bar chord. And play the F as an E shaped bar chord.

Start playing them in the following order.

A / D / E / A //: then repeat it over four times
D / G / A / D //: then repeat it over four times
G / C / D / G //: then repeat it over four times
C / F / G / C //: then repeat it over four times
E / A / B / E //: then repeat it over four times

By doing this you are playing 1,4,5,1's in the key's of A, D, G, C, and E. Again just take this for granted and don't worry about it too much. The idea is to practice changing between the chords. You'll probably recognize a few songs in these exercises as well. Music is very repetitive. You will often find different songs having the same musical backing with only the lyrics being different.

Next play the following.

A / D / E / D //: then repeat it over four times
D / G / A / G //: then repeat it over four times
G / C / D / C //: then repeat it over four times
C / F / G / F //: then repeat it over four times
E / A / B / A //: then repeat it over four times

By doing this you are playing 1,4,5,4's in the key's of A, D, G, C, and E.

Next play the following.

A / E / D / A //: then repeat it over four times
D / A / G / D //: then repeat it over four times
G / D / C / G //: then repeat it over four times
C / G / F / C //: then repeat it over four times
E / B / A / E //: then repeat it over four times

By doing this you are playing 1,5,4,1's in the key's of A, D, G, C, and E.

Next play the following.

A / E / D / E //: then repeat it over four times
D / A / G / A //: then repeat it over four times
G / D / C / D //: then repeat it over four times
C / G / F / G //: then repeat it over four times
E / B / A / B //: then repeat it over four times

By doing this you are playing 1,5,4,5's in the key's of A, D, G, C, and E.

Next play the following.

A / D / A / E //: then repeat it over four times
D / G / D / A //: then repeat it over four times
G / C / G / D //: then repeat it over four times
C / F / C / G //: then repeat it over four times
E / A / E / B //: then repeat it over four times

By doing this you are playing 1,4,1,5's in the key's of A, D, G, C, and E.

Next play the following.

A / E / A / D //: then repeat it over four times
D / A / D / G //: then repeat it over four times
G / D / G / C //: then repeat it over four times
C / G / C / F //: then repeat it over four times
E / B / E / A //: then repeat it over four times

By doing this you are playing 1,5,1,4's in the key's of A, D, G, C, and E. Notice how you are playing the same three chords in each example, but in a different order.

This is how people write songs. They pick a group of chords that sound good together and they arrange them in a particular order. A group of songs that sound good together is called a key.

There are only twelve keys in music and we have used five so far. The reason I chose the keys of A, D, G, C, and E is because they cover the seven basic chords you have learned so far.

Keys consist of seven chords arranged in logical sequence. For example the key of C goes like this. C, D minor, E minor, F, G, A minor, B diminished.

Don't worry about the minor chords and the diminished chord at this point. You are only concerned with the major chords. Can you see that if you start counting from C you get C = 1. F = 4 and G = 5. This is how we get the 1,4,5 formula.

It is the same with the other keys as well. 1,4 and 5 will always be major. But you can learn more about this later on down the track. For now focus on playing the chords in the above exercises.

What you are doing is building finger memory on your left hand. You don't even need to strum the guitar while you are doing this. Just get used to changing between the chords. Once you know how to hold each chord you can practice without your guitar. Sounds a bit crazy but you you should do this exercise if you want to learn fast.

Just picture yourself in your mind playing the chords and changing between them. You will notice the fingers on your left hand will begin to move while you are doing this. This is a good thing.

What you are doing is working the same mental pathways that operate while you are physically playing your guitar. As a beginner this is a very significant and important step. You need to be able to see a chord and know where to put your fingers in a split second. So lets break it down into small steps.

1. Learn the seven chords. A, B, C, D, E, F and G. You don't have to be good at playing them, you just need to know what they look like and how to finger them. Once you can do this you will be able to picture them in your mind, and you can start to practice them without your guitar. The hands always follow the head. So get them into your head first.

2. Now that you know the names of the chords and what they look like, you need to start moving between the chords. Changing from one chord to the next. Start with the 1,4,5's as these combinations appear in almost every song. This is not just a boring exercise, you will actually play all of the 1,4,5's as you begin to learn songs.

By doing it now you are getting a head start on other beginners as you are actually learning some music theory. You are learning to transpose. It will all become crystal clear later on. Think of it this way. You learnt how to talk as a child before you learned what the English language was about. You know, nouns and verbs and all that sort of stuff.

So at the moment you are learning the practical side of guitar playing in the shortest possible time. You are also setting yourself up to understand the language of music. By following this method you will progress faster than other beginners. You don't need to be able to read music to play the guitar. You do need to understand a bit of theory.

3. Once you can move between the chords. Then start learning the songs that you like, or start writing your own songs. When you start learning guitar you will usually have in mind the songs of your favorite artists.

It is good to start with songs that you are familiar with. Keep in mind that song books can be wrong. Especially the way they show the chords. If you see a B chord for example. There may be three or four ways to play that chord. Just play the one you know. You don't have to play the songs exactly as they are written in order for them to sound good.

Playing the guitar is a long journey. It takes a lifetime, even then you still won't be able to play all the styles.

So just stick with what you like, it's supposed to be fun after all, that's why it's called "playing" guitar. When you play, you have fun. Use the method's that I've told you about. Especially the mental rehearsal techniques.

You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain by applying these techniques, so dive in and give them a go. Make sure you at least know the chords A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Do this before you go to a guitar teacher. These chords are the bare minimum you will need. Don't waste your time and money taking lessons until you can freely move between these chords.

When you go to a teacher, you should feel comfortable with them. They should make the learning process easy and fun. If they don't, go and find another teacher. Don't be afraid to walk away.

You can also order some courses over the net, but nothing compares to a real live person if they are a good teacher. Also one teacher will not be able to teach you everything, shop around a bit.

I hope you have enjoyed this article.

P.S. Guitar playing is a journey. You will feel frustration, and also immense joy. Don't worry if you don't get it at first, by simply doing things over and over, you will improve.

Just picture yourself a year from now. How good a player will you be? You should be able to play in a band easily in that time. Every guitar player started out from the same position. And only those who persevered became great players.

The time will pass, that is for certain. It's what you do with that time that will make massive difference. Always start with the end in mind and don't forget to enjoy the ride.

Published At: www.Isnare.com
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You Might Be In Danger Playing Guitar

Imagine this…

You pick up the guitar one day. Start playing your favourite song, and all of a sudden you feel this pain in your wrist. It's a sort of pain that distracts you from your playing. You think to yourself "I'll toughen it out it'll probably go away tomorrow", and continue to play some more. You continue to play like this day to day, and then you notice that the pain keeps getting worse. You wonder to yourself "Will this pain ever go away? I hope so." The problem is, this might not be just a pain that will go away. It might be a pain that will cause serious injuries such as tendonitis.

Tendonitis is a serious injury that causes inflammation of a tendon. When you over stretch your tendons it begins to tear which leads to swelling. This is very dangerous because tendons are hard to heal, and will unlikely heal to the original strength. A lot of times this pain is caused by not stretching before you play. Stretching plays a big role in guitar playing. When you stretch your hands, fingers, wrists, and arms you widen the range of motion of your joints. Which will also enable you to play more effortlessly, and faster. When you play without stretching you have limited joint movement. Which means that your hands and wrists won't be as flexible as if you were to stretch before playing.

Here are a few stretches that you can do before you play:

* Place the palm of your left hand to the inside of your fingers on your right hand. Push with your left hand so your fingers are going towards your forearms until you feel a burn in the wrist. Hold for 10-15 seconds. Now do the other hand. You can also do each finger individually.

* Extend your left arm fully across your chest, and with your other arm pull your left arm towards your chest. Hold for 10-15 seconds.

* With your left palm push the inside of your thumb towards your forearm, hold for 10 seconds.

* Extend your arm behind your shoulder by holding your elbow with your other hand. Pull until you feel a burn. Hold for 10-15 seconds for each arm.

* Thoroughly massage your hands and fingers individually. This is a crucial step. This will really relax your hands.

Not only should you stretch just before you play the guitar, but also any other time you get the chance. Guitar is not the only place that you can get an injury such as tendonitis. You can get it from exercise or physical work. Always stretch before doing a lot of movement that's involved in working and exercising. If you start to feel pain, STOP PLAYING. This is a danger sign to a minor or serious injury. Just give it a rest, and if the pain continues consult a doctor. Remember, it's all about having fun.

About the Author

Mike Morin is the writer of the Awesome Guitar Lessons Newsletter. Awesome Guitar Lessons provides free guitar lessons to new and experienced guitarists. Also, up to date information on guitarists around the world. Click Here ==> http://www.awesomeguitarlessons.com

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What You Should Know About Beginner Guitar Chords

One of the biggest mistakes a new guitarist can make at the start of their musical career, whether for profit or pleasure is to go out and look for or buy a compendium book of six thousand chord shapes and all the variations and permutations that are involved.

You will instantly be overwhelmed with way too much information and thoughts of dread at the amount of time and effort involved in what you want to achieve. Learning all those shapes and fingerings is a massive undertaking and you will never finish it anyway.

Most musicians seem to make the assumption that they have to know all the music before they can create any for themselves. Nothing could be further from the truth, you do not have to learn all of those chords before you can start to play the guitar or any other instrument for that matter.

You must have heard about songwriters who have created songs with only three chords, the Beatles for instance. Thousands of songs have been written with 3 chords, so for the time being, three chords is all you are going to need to concentrate on. You will make much better progress by learning familiar 3 chord progressions and familiarising yourself with the structure of how the chords work together than trying to learn hundreds of chord shapes that don’t have any relevance to one another or that you can’t relate to.

Here are a few areas that you may not have thought about but will advance your playing a lot quicker than just knowing a bunch of fancy chords.

1. Pick a few easy chords that you know you could and would like to play. Lets take a C Major chord as our example as this is almost a standard army issue chord that everyone uses or will come across at one time or another throughout the coarse of their playing.

2. Focus your time on learning how to get your fingers from that chord shape to the next shape, i.e. C Major to G Major. Speed is not what matters here – just a smooth action or change over.

3. Use a drum machine or metronome at around 80 – 90 beats per minute and strum all the strings of one chord and then move to the next. What you want here is to just listen to the sound you are creating. This will be satisfying to begin with for you to know that it is possible for you to make some music. Also you will be gaining finger strength and building muscle memory. The next time you come to play these chords you will find it gets easier and easier to play. If you keep learning new chords all the time to begin with you won’t make any significant improvement.

4. If it is possible, you need to record what you are doing into your computer or tape player. Listening back to your playing the next day will benefit you tremendously. I must admit that you might cringe a little bit at your own playing at first, but if you take the plunge you will make the decision consciously or unconsciously to want to get better, quicker. In a very short time frame, you will get use to hearing what you sound like, that is when you will start to have some real fun. You will start to generate your own ideas.

5. Stay relaxed while you play and don’t force yourself to do anything. Ten minutes of focused practise at a time will yield far more results than mincing about for a few hours with no focus.

If you are one of those people who will do what is discussed above, you will instantly be in front of the pack. Go to any music shop and listen to the new guitarists sitting their showing off. Most of them are playing a bit from here, a snippet from there, there is not much that is refined or practised. This habit can be with them for the rest of their natural playing life.

If you start out gradually and focus on building slowly on what you have previously learnt, chord by chord, your playing will be much more confident, natural and above all, worth listening to.

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The Bass Guitar and Why it Rocks

This post will introduce you to the bass guitar, touch on its history, its evolution and mention some of the amazing bass players that have graced the instrument. Read on to learn more about the bass guitar.

Welcome to the world of the bass guitar; if you’re reading this then you’ve taken an interest in the electric bass and have decided to pursue it further. Maybe this post will reaffirms your decision to play bass guitar, or perhaps it will be the final argument for you to start playing the bass yourself.

The bass guitar is a pretty cool instrument. It may not be as flashy as a drum kit, or command as much attention as a pimped out electric guitar, but it has a subdued, laid-back vibe all its own. A standard bass guitar has four strings and is tuned E-A-D-G; an octave below the lowest strings on a guitar to provide a sonic foundation for the melody to build upon.

While you may give up the fame and glory of the spotlight when you choose to become a bass player, you gain full control of the key of the music, and full dominion over the bass frequencies.

Bass Guitar Frequencies Move People

This is almost a mystical power that most people won’t even realize that you have. Many won’t even realize that it is the bass player and the way he chooses to play certain notes, leave others out, and the space and rhythms in between these that are hypnotizing them into dancing. It is a great responsibility that you take on – called the groove – without it; any music you play will be lame.

So besides this, why take on the bass guitar? What is it about the bass guitar that is cool, or should be attractive to someone just starting out that just wants to play SOMETHING? Well, getting up and running with a bass guitar is much easier than most other instruments. You don’t have to have four-way independence as with drums, you don’t have to memorize all the chord fingering patterns like you would with a guitar, and you don’t have to spend years to get a sound that doesn’t sound like a cat being tortured as you would with a violin. You can pick up a bass guitar and start playing bass lines almost immediately – the good news is that the easier it is to play an instrument along to music you like when you’re starting out, the more likely you’ll stay with the instrument for good.

Another great reason why the bass guitar is cool is that EVERYONE needs a bass player. You make the other band members sound good, and there are many styles of music out there that use the bass guitar. That means that if you’re a good bass player, you’re willing to work hard, learn and you have a great attitude –you’re going to have many more job opportunities than many other musicians would have.

Being a bassist is as much a state of mind as it is a position in the band. You need to put the song and the other musicians before yourself. You are the glue between the rhythm and the melody – you straddle the line between the drummer and the guitarist, giving the music that third dimension that makes music so exciting. If you’re willing to put your ego on the back burner, you can become a truly great bassist that is in demand.

Is playing the bass guitar easier? Yes it is. But to master any instrument is virtually impossible. Playing bass guitar is initially much easier than guitar; you can outline chords one finger at a time as opposed to learning the fingerings for each chord. You also have fewer strings to change than the guitarist, but keep in mind that bass guitar strings are thicker – so in some ways, playing the bass guitar is more difficult because you need to play just as fast as the guitarists but with thicker strings. This means that you’re moving more mass in the same amount of time or energy.

What you may not know about the bass guitar is:

There is something to be said for a simple bass line that does what it’s supposed to do, get some asses out of the chairs at the bar.

Bass guitars can be beautiful and expensive, they can break your heart and if you get used to playing them – playing bass guitar can indeed be habit forming!

The electric bass guitar was responsible for making rock n’ roll music come to life in the fifties – the bass could now be heard (as well as felt!) and helped to drive the new-fangled rock n roll bands mercilessly into the spotlight.

The electric bass guitar started out with 4 strings and remained that way for several decades, before evolving to 5, 6, 8 and even 12 stringed versions beginning in the mid-70s. These multi-stringed basses owe a large debt of thanks to Anthony Jackson who helped open the door to more than 4 string basses by commissioning the first six string bass guitar to be built in the 1970s!

Some famous bass guitarists include Paul McCartney, Sting, Geddy Lee, Jaco Pastorius, James Jamerson, Flea, Les Claypool, Victor Wooten, Billy Sheehan, Stanley Clarke and John Entwistle.

You can get started with a bass guitar kit that includes a bass guitar, a bass guitar amp, a guitar strap, an bass guitar instrument cable and a tuner for around $250 or you can even rent a bass guitar from many major music instrument retailers. Even if you don’t know of any teachers in your town, you can surf Youtube and find plenty of lessons for free that can get you started. There’s no good reason to sit on the fence anymore, playing bass guitar can be an affordable hobby that can actually make you some extra money if you choose to play out in bands.

Choosing to play the bass guitar has given me plenty of opportunity to learn and grow as a human being. It’s allowed me to experience the thrill of performing in front of large audiences while sharing the stage with some amazing bands and meet terrific people. Playing bass guitar is a great way to be creative, relieve stress and have fun!

So what are you waiting for? Get out there, find a bass guitar and start playing today!

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4 Simple Steps For Mastering Guitar Chords

The guitar is a relatively easy musical instrument to play but it's also not something anyone can just pick up and learn overnight. This six string instrument is one of the oldest musical instruments to retain its basic function and it is played mainly by coaxing the melodies out through the use of guitar chords. Use these easy tips for mastering guitar chords and you'll be playing the guitar confidently in no time.

Use the right chord guide.

A chord guide may be written by a guitar genius but if you don't understand what it's trying to show you, it simply won't work. When mastering guitar chords, make sure you have the proper understanding of the guitar tab staff. This is the series of horizontal lines representing the 6 strings of the guitar. In a guitar tablature, finger positioning is marked by dots or numbers to indicate which strings and which fret the fingers must be placed on to play a chord. It's also a good idea to learn the different types of symbols that are commonly used in a guitar tab.

Develop muscle memory.

Mastering guitar chords is as much an exercise of your muscles as it is of your eye and mind. By learning the difference between an E major and an E minor, for example, you will develop the ability to play the right chords regardless of the song. Once you've committed the chords to memory, it will be effortless to change from one chord to the next. It will also help prevent any confusion in how a specific guitar chord is played, particularly if there is only a very slight variation.

Learn 3 chords each time.

When learning chords, it helps to work hard. As in all things, learning the guitar is only difficult in the beginning, so don't be afraid to challenge yourself. If you play the guitar for an hour each day, try to master 3 chords each time. Start with the easy ones such as A, E, D or G. As you master each of them, gradually add new ones until you've memorized them all.

Try simple changes.

When you're still in the beginning stages of learning chords, try gradual changes from one chord to the next. This will help "shape" each chord in your head and help you burn it into your muscle memory. Try transitioning from a G to a C to an A to an E and then back again. Once you've developed the hang of it, do the chords at random or add a 7 (such as a G7 and a C7), a sharp minor or major. You'll be surprised at how easy it will be for you to play these chords effortlessly within a short period of time.

Buying Your First Guitar - How to Choose the Right Guitar to Give You the Best Value For Money

INTRODUCTION
Buying the right guitar to start learning on is an important step that should not be rushed. You need to consider a range of factors. I will go into detail on each factor I believe you should consider when buying your first guitar.
For many people, starting a new hobby is like trying out a new car before buying it. They aren't sure if they will like it two, three, ten years down the track and it is hard to guess if you will like it. Many people who start to learn the guitar will give it up after a short time for different reasons. For this reason, a lot of people don't want to spend too much money that they aren't sure will go to good use. One option you could take is if one of your friends or relatives owns a guitar. You could ask if you could borrow it for a short time to get an idea of whether you like the idea of playing it or not. If after a while you feel that this is the right hobby for you, come back here and read this article to give you assistance in buying the right guitar for you.

BUDGET
This is the most important issue to consider for most people. Guitars can range all the way from cheap $20 acoustics found in garage sales all the way to prestige guitars costing thousands upon thousands. You should think about how much you want to spend and stick with it. Salespeople will give you plenty of reasons to pay more than you want to, but understand that you can get a good guitar for even low prices. Consider the following points and how they will sit within your budget.

STYLE OF MUSIC
If you have in mind what musical direction you want to take, it will influence the type of guitar you buy. If you really want to play heavy metal or similar styles you wouldn't buy a nylon string acoustic because it won't help you reach that goal. Likewise if you want to play soft ballad type songs that you can sing along while playing, an electric guitar may not be the right choice for you. If you have a certain style in mind, find out what type of guitars musicians of that style play. Have a search for your favorite artist's gear to see the type of guitar they play, don't look at the model or brand of the guitar (because famous artists normally buy the top of the range products that are extremely expensive).
If on the other hand you are not sure what direction you will be taking or want to play a range of styles, the type of guitar you buy won't be as important to your decision in regards to style. Instead, focus on the below points to find out which guitar will be best for you.
Remember: you can always buy another guitar later on, so don't worry if you change directions after you buy your first guitar.

PLAYABILITY

STEEL STRING VS NYLON STRING ACOUSTICS
For a beginner, how easy it is to play the guitar will make a big impact on the rate you improve and the skills you develop. If you start off with a steel string acoustic for example, you will quickly notice that is hard to push the strings down and may hurt your fingers. Many females (and some males) will have a lot of trouble starting on a steel string guitar because it takes a lot of finger strength to play. If you are worried that this will be a problem for you, maybe you should consider a nylon string acoustic instead. Nylon string acoustics are much less of a strain on your fingers when pushing the strings down. For this reason, most teachers will recommend students start on nylon strings so their first month or more won't be too painful.

ACOUSTIC VS ELECTRIC
There is a big difference between starting on an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar. Many teachers don't recommend starting on an electric guitar for the following reason. Electric guitars are easier than acoustics to play. For many people this is a good thing. The problem with electric guitars being easy to play is that you will get comfortable playing the electric so much that when you pick up an acoustic and try to play the same music, it will most likely be a major strain. Many guitarists who only play electric guitar struggle to play acoustic. It is very hard to swap from playing electric to acoustic. Likewise, it is very easy to swap from acoustic (especially steel string) to electric. This is because of the strength acoustic guitars build up in your fingers. Once you switch to electric guitars, you will find your fingers can play with ease. So have a think about this issue and if you want to play both electric and acoustic, start off on acoustic. If you want to only play electric guitar, then the choice is simple. Later down the track if you decide you want to play acoustic as well, you may find it difficult at first, but with practice playing an acoustic can improve your playing.

QUALITY
There is a great range in the quality of guitar available today. It is similar to the car industry: you can buy a super high quality Ferarri, you can buy a rundown second hand Toyota and everything in between. What you should aim for is to buy the best quality guitar within your budget. But don't be fooled into thinking that only high price guitars are high quality. You will be surprised at the quality of guitars available at low prices. Your best choice is to bring a friend or relative (who are competent players) in with you to test out the guitar you are thinking about. As I explain below, you shouldn't rely solely on the music store salesperson's advice. Remember to stick to your budget.

BRAND
Many guitarists suffer from 'brand loyalty'. This is when they are so devoted to a particular brand that they will never buy or play a guitar with a different brand name. Don't be one of those people. It is okay to prefer a certain brand because you like the style of their guitars, but don't get sucked into thinking that one brand is better than all the rest. Every brand has their advantages and disadvantages.
Just like in supermarkets where you can choose between 'brand name' products and 'home brand' products, guitars will have well known 'brand name' guitars and unknown 'home brand' guitars. Sometimes the only difference between the guitars is the name that is printed on the guitar headstock. People pay big dollars for guitars that have the names fender, Gibson, Ibanez, PRS, Martin printed on the headstock. Although buying a brand name guitar will most likely give you a very high quality guitar, it can be a very expensive choice. My suggestion is to find a guitar that you like regardless of the brand name. If it is good quality and within your budget: go for it. Don't buy a guitar solely because it has fender written on it. If on the other hand you prefer the security of buying a quality guitar from a reputable brand, it's okay to buy one for that reason.

SALESPEOPLE TRICKS
This section is to warn you of potential issues when dealing with music store salespeople. This isn't to scare you off or to insult salespeople, it is to protect you from the people looking to make a high commission rather than give you what you want. Hopefully you will deal with an honest salesperson who genuinely wants to help you. Just be aware that they aren't all honest.
My first point you need to consider is that the people working in the store are normally excellent guitar players. So good that they can make every guitar sound good no matter how poor quality it is. In a future lesson I will explain how you can make any guitar sound great. Just be aware that a salesperson can make the dodgiest guitar in the store sound better than the $2,000 fender in the glass case. This is why I recommend that you have a go playing the guitar if you can play at least something simple and even better bring a friend or relative who can play. If they know what they are doing they should be able to tell you the problems with the guitar.
It is well known that audio salespeople use a trick to make a stereo systems sound higher quality by turning the volume up slightly louder than another one. Salespeople may use a similar trick when comparing two guitars. By plugging the guitar they want to sell to you into a high quality amp and playing it loud, it can make it sound fantastic. Some people may try this to get you to spend just a little bit extra. Don't think a great sounding guitar will automatically make you sound great. It takes a lot of work to be a competent player. Great players can make any guitar sound great and bad players can make any guitar sound bad.

My experience with buying a first guitar:
I was unaware of many of these issues when I bought my first guitar. Luckily the salesperson we dealt with genuinely wanted to help us out and made sure we got a great guitar at a good price. I had been playing my dad's old beat up acoustic guitar for a couple years and my parents bought me an electric guitar. It is a good quality guitar and I still use it today for recording and performing. So if you make a good decision, the first guitar you buy will be useful for a lifetime.
Because I started off on an acoustic guitar, the transition to electric was incredibly simple. Consider buying an acoustic even if you want to play electric guitar down the track.

SUMMARY
I have pointed out a few important issues for you to consider when buying a first guitar. There are many more factors you should consider but these I believe are the most important issues. If you take your time to find out what your best option is and then shop around for the best deal, you will save money and hopefully end up with a great instrument that can last you a lifetime.

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