Ultimate Guitar Tab - A Guide to Finding Great Tablature Online

Learning how to play the guitar can be a intimidating experience for the beginning guitar student. Even though the guitar is a rather easy instrument to play with proficiency, you are faced with such decision-making challenges of which sort of a guitar do you play, what type of music will you play, and will you play chords or lead, or both, among other decisions.

Short of taking expensive formal guitar lessons, is there any other alternative for the novice guitarist? Well, let me acquaint you to guitar tablature.

Tablature Can Help You Out: TAB is short for the label tablature. It is a ideology of transcription, or a system of documenting guitar music to sheet music without requiring any theory or ability to read Standard Notation. Tablature is an shorthand interface that gives the guitar player graphical input as to the string number to play, fret number and some tablature even has ornamental indications, and proper left and right fingering.

How Do You Read TAB? After looking at the TAB staff, you may think it looks very similar to the standard notation staff. While they appear somewhat similar, there are major differences between the two. TAB's composition consists of 6 horizontal line in the staff, while standard notation has 5 horizontal lines. Each of the 6 lines represents one string of the guitar, with the top line representing the 1st string and the bottom line the 6th string.

Also, unlike standard notation, standard note indications are not shown on the TAB staff. Standard Notation indicates standard notes on the staff while TAB is a succession of numbers, with each being placed on the string line. While the string number is representative of the string to be played, the number is indicative of the fret number that is to be played on the string.

TAB Will Be Simple For You To Learn: Beginning guitar students will have no trouble comprehending TAB, thus opening an unbelievable number of guitar transcriptions to them. So without a impressive deal of musical understanding, or music theory, a guitarist can interpret TAB and play many songs right away. This opens up a wide range of compositions to the guitar player not concerned in learning either standard notation or musical theory.

TAB Drawbacks: Yes, there are many. A number of of them are:

Rarely will you see TAB that indicates the note timing within the TAB staff itself. To further clarify this, due to the graphical nature of the TAB staff, there is no indication of timing associated with the numbers that represent the fret numbers. (You will encounter the occasional TAB that does designate the timing on the TAB staff).

How do you then get the timing material? Look for TAB that includes both the TAB staff and the standard notation staff within the same composition. Usually with this sort of transcription, you will encounter the 2 staffs hooked together with the TAB staff being the bottom staff, and the standard notation being the top staff. It is easy to spot Tablature staff in that it usually has the vertical letters TAB at the beginning of each line of staff.

Discovering The Best Source For Your TAB's? Search for tablature that meets as many of the criteria outlined above and you will reap a wealth of incredible information and study material. There are several good sources available and you will discover many sites that offer this quality tab.

Tag : guitar,ultimate guitar,guitar tabs,guitar lesson

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

Acoustic Guitar Manufacturers Ratings

Epiphone: Owned by Gibson, Epiphone makes one of the best quality acoustic guitars. They are most noted for their products in the $150 range, though high-end guitars are their forte. Especially the PR4E, EJ200 or DR100 models. All have great materials and features.

Fender: Fender is a privately held guitar manufacturer in Arizona. Known for remaining privately held and holding to craftsmanship, Fender is an American guitar maker for American guitarists.

Gibson: Gibson operates out of Nashville, Tennessee and encompasses several brands like Epiphone, Steinberger and Kalamazoo, to name a few. Also privately owned, Gibson is extremely well-known for high quality guitars like the Songwriter and the J160E. The average price range is around $1800, so these are pretty much professional instruments for serious artists.

Ibanez: Ibanez is privately owned and operated in Japan. They were the first company to produce seven string models on a large-scale. Ibanez prides itself on creating guitars that anybody can afford. That results in a diverse selection ranging in price from $199 to $499.

Martin: The C.F. Martin Guitar Company has been owned and operated by the Martin family since 1833. Largely renowned for extremely high quality instruments, Martin has a reputation for high-end prices as well. The do, however, have a level of guitars at under $400 for the beginner. Their backpacker series is outstanding in design and sound quality.

Seagull: This Canadian guitar maker is a sub brand of Godin and they make acoustic guitars exclusively. All their instruments are hand crafted and are of the highest quality and workmanship. As far as price, Seagull targets the working musician. Seagull does have a few entries for the casual player, with the S6 and the Q1.

Takamine: Takamine is a Japanese guitar manufacturer. Known for very high quality and sound, yet affordable for the masses, Takamine is really the one for beginners everywhere, although they do make some higher-end models.

Taylor: Taylor Guitars has only been around since 1974, but they have made their mark on the industry in that short time. The company is privately held and owned by Bob Taylor. The quality in every guitar is unrivalled by any American luthier.

Yamaha: The same folks who bring us those fast little dirt bikes and crotch rockets also gives us a sweeter sound; the sound of guitar music. For about $189, a Yamaha acoustic guitar can grace your lap. Models like the CGS104A and F345 are among the more popular ones. Based in Japan, Yamaha Corporation excels in the areas of electronics and musical instrumentation.

If I were forced to choose between these guitar companies, I have to go with the one that caters to the beginner with a limited budget; Takamine. They have a plethora of affordable models and more advanced models when I improve my playing. For around $1000, I could have the sound of a Martin at the price of a low-end Gibson. That's value you cannot deny. Happy strumming!

Tag : guitar,acoustic guitar,guitar hero,guitar chords

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

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.

Tag : guitar,guitar chords,guitar lesson,guitar pick

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

Coffee Colored Guitars for Kids - A Great Way to Start Learning

Do you see your children possessing a great potential towards music? Begin indulging them with coffee-colored guitar for kids. History proves that most of our great musicians started early so initiate enhancing your children's talent at an early age. It does not only improve their cognitive skills in playing the instrument it also sharpens memory.

Parents always desire the best for their children either in academic or in extra-curricular activities. To advance your kids innate talent is to enroll them to a guitar lesson with beginner's curriculum. Doing so is extremely beneficial to them, the first one is it will accelerate the learning process and master the particular instrument more quickly and efficiently than those starting to learn at an older age.

Further studies also prove that exposing them to music at an early age may boost and polish their desire and joy to musical instruments hence, making them better in that field. In fact, children learn to appreciate the whole process of learning the guitar.

It is not amicable to wait for your children to grow older, by that time they may have established a different interests. It's good if they are involved in healthy activities or other field in music, but the problem may arise if they already have developed unhealthy habits and interests. Having a routine activity may lessen their gratification and pleasure for new activity. Asking or convincing your child to do so will only indicate as a burden and may even hate their parents for it.

Kids involved early in music may build broader and larger expansion of their interest and several levels in guitar lessons or other instruments with regards to music. Children are much easier to teach, versatile, more perceptive, more enthusiastic, and willing to learn than adult. Therefore, you can expect better results in teaching young ones.

So start introducing your children to coffee-colored guitar for kids to stimulate their interest and at the same time molding them to be dexterous in that area. Do not introduce it to them abruptly unless they asked for it. Make a gradual and a discreet presentation of the guitar in order to arouse its desire without demanding from them. This is a prolific way of convincing your kids without forcing them to do so.

Get their first guitar online. Let them browse and choose for the design and color. Letting them feel they are in charge is a good tactic of motivation. Shopping is a favorite activity of children therefore, instilling in their mind that you are going on a shopping spree will encourage them all the more.

Tag : guitar,guitar hero,acoustic guitar,learn guitar

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

How Do You Play the Guitar - Learn Guitar Basics Online

Finding guitar for beginners courses can be quite tricky, especially online. So many websites offer various worksheets that can be downloaded that claim to help you master the guitar in a mere few days-but here's the truth: when you try to learn guitar basics, it typically takes more than a few days to master even the fundamentals. And it is generally the same for most instruments-it takes time to hone yourself with the basics, and rightly so since it forms your foundation for playing the instrument with ease. However, there is a way to learn to play guitar easy without going through shortcuts.

First and foremost, it is important to get a good guitar for beginners course that will offer you all the fundamental guitar basic skills you need to be able to play songs. It is important that when you attempt to learn guitar basics, you get a workbook or an educational learning tool that offers you all the most important skills and techniques first before even teaching you how to just play today's most popular hits. And the best thing is, you can learn to play guitar easy if you get a good course that offers you exactly this.

Your guitar for beginners course should also teach you how to position your fingers properly on the guitar. So many individuals who try to learn guitar basics on their own often struggle with or complain about certain chords that are difficult to reach with the fingers-and more often than not, this is just usually a case of wrong positioning, or not knowing how to play a chord properly. You can learn to play guitar easy if you know how to position your fingers with ease, allowing you to go seamlessly from one chord to another.

If you have decided to undergo a guitar for beginners course, then good for you! You are about to embark on an exciting journey where you will learn guitar basics and use these to the best of you're ability to play all your favorite songs-and even sing along with them when you're skilled enough. It is indeed possible to learn to play guitar easy even when you are at a level where everything is new to you-it all really boils down to getting a great course that you can really learn from. Good luck and enjoy playing with your guitar!

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

Tonewood Selection for Guitar Tops

The designation tonewood, in the guitar making trade, is used to describe wood with acoustic qualities. The expression mainly refers to the wood that is used for the top plate of the guitar. The thinking for this is that the resulting tone from a guitar is produced principally by the character and caliber of wood used in the guitar top plate.

The Back Plate and Sides Are Secondary Tone Generators: The main aim of the back plate and sides of the acoustic instrument is the support and amplification of the tone and volume that the guitar top exhibits. I don't really want to understate the importance of the back and side wood choice, but this theory was proven by celebrated luthier Antonio De Torres.

He constructed a guitar from a back and sides of paper mache, along with his experimental top, and top bracing methods, demonstrating the importance of the guitar top. It is witnessed that this guitar had fantastic sound and volume qualities and proved without a doubt the importance that the tonewood and top bracing exhibit.

Since the principal vehicle for sound production for any acoustic instrument is the top, the top tonewood plays a very significant role of importance. Other factors that ultimately shape the acoustic properties of a fine instrument include the volume of air in the body, the shape of the body, the moisture content in the woods and the ultimate mass of the wood.

Additional Factors That Affect Tone: The type and color of tone and volume of the guitar top tonewood is governed primarily by the wood species used, and the character of that wood. As mentioned above, the moisture content in tonewood greatly affects its tone production quality. When selecting tonewood for a guitar, consider the moisture content of the wood, since moisture has an adverse affect on the ultimate tone output. Look for tonewood with a moisture content of approximately 6% for acoustic instruments.

If the tonewood in appropriately dried in heat and humidity controlled wood storage facilities, the proper moisture content is often attained. Kiln drying is often used as a method of achieving desirable moisture content. Typical lumber yard wood normally will not meet your moisture content target and has to be acclimated in the controlled environment of your shop for a minimum of several months, to a couple of years.

Be Sure to Continue to Age Your Wood After Purchase: Even if the tonewood was kiln dried, the wood will continue to age and dry even more over time. This is especially true if you stack it in the approved manner in the climate controlled atmosphere of your shop. You will often see tonewood advertised as being aged a minimum of 2 years, and up to, and exceeding 10 years.

You would be well advised to stock up on tonewood if you have aspirations of building several guitars as this is a very respectable investment. If you store it properly, you can draw from this stock of aged tonewood for many years. I obtained quality tonewood 30 years ago and I'm still drawing from that quality 'aged' stock.

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

11 Damaging Mistakes Guitar Players Make and How to Avoid Them

Do you know how some guitar players practice most days of the week, work hard, and are passionate about their guitar playing, but they always struggle to be able to play guitar the way they want? They are frustrated because they don't improve fast enough, begin doubting their guitar playing potential, or even feel discouraged or angry with themselves when thinking about how long it is taking them to become a better guitar player.

Can you relate to that? I sure can, I just described myself 15 years ago.

There are specific reasons why guitar players go through such frustration and disappointment. Here are 11 key mistakes guitar players make and repeat over and over again that you should definitely avoid.

1. Teaching Yourself To Play Guitar. Many people attempt to teach themselves how to play guitar. Yes, it's true that some well known players were 'somewhat' self taught, but I do not suggest following that strategy even if your favorite player was self taught. If you are 100% sure that you can build powerfully effective learning and training systems on your own, that's great. However, if you are like most of us, doing it alone is the hardest, most time-consuming, stressful, and frustrating way to learn anything. This is a mistake that you should avoid. Some guitar players think it will impress others if they say, "I am a self taught guitar player". That statement might impress a few inexperienced people, but being self taught is not a 'badge of honor'. Would you rather impress others with your guitar playing or with an unimportant statement about your guitar playing? I'm not criticizing self taught guitar players, I'm only saying that there is no advantage to being self taught... and no, it is not true that being 'self taught' makes us more 'original'. In fact, the opposite is usually true.

2. Taking Guitar Lessons From Ineffective Guitar Teachers. Unfortunately, most electric guitar teachers receive ZERO training on how to teach guitar. What is worse is that the vast majority of teachers do little or nothing to improve their guitar teaching skills. Want some proof? Use google's keyword tool . Type in this keyword phrase: 'improve guitar teaching skills', 'guitar teaching skills', or 'guitar teaching training' and you will find that less than 10 searches per month are done for these topics at google! Of course there are some highly effective electric guitar teachers around, but there are a whole lot more ineffective teachers.

3. Seeking New Guitar Information (tricks, tips, tab) Without A Proven Strategy To Reach Your Specific Musical Goals. We need information, advice, help and music to play, but without a proven strategic learning and training process that is specific to you, your skill level, your musical style and what you want to be able to do as a guitar player, information won't get you where you want to go. It is better to first seek help in developing a customized strategy for you to become a better guitar player. After that strategy is in place, then it is time to deal with learning the right information.

4. Not Knowing Specifically What You Want To Be Able To Play. Most guitar players are not specific enough when they think about (or tell others about) what they want to be able to do with their guitar. To say, "I want to play whatever I wish to play" is too vague. How can you (or your guitar teacher) develop a specific and effective guitar training strategy unless the goals you have are specific? It's like saying you want to be a great athlete, how can you effectively train with such a vague goal? Sure there are things you can do to become faster, stronger, more flexible or whatever, but it's much easier if you first get specific such as, I want to train to be a gymnast, or a long distance runner, or a body builder. Yes you can still improve without a strategy, but it will take a lot longer and be much more frustrating. You can always change your goal later if you discover you want to do something else instead.

5. Not Enough Focus On Things That Matter Most To Making You A Better Guitar Player. Have you fallen into the trap of practicing guitar without focusing on the specific things that can quickly begin to improve your guitar playing? Many people really do not understand and apply this concept in enough detail.... for example, I have a student named Mark who used to take lessons from another teacher in the past. Mark was studying sweep picking arpeggios with his previous teacher, and was making some progress. However Mark did not understand what 'specific' things he needed to focus on first before attempting to master the sweep picking arpeggios he was practicing. This was holding him back and making him feel very frustrated. Mark's previous teacher only knew how to 'teach' arpeggios and general sweep picking concepts. He did not really know how to "train" Mark with the specific things to focus on and how to overcome the challenges Mark was having.

6. Too Much Focus On Things That Are Not Core To Your Goals. In addition to not focusing on specific things, many guitar players focus on the 'wrong things'. Some enthusiastic guitar players become temporarily obsessed with things which are distractions from other things that could be helping their guitar playing much more. Here is an example: I used to get so frustrated and angry when I could not play something perfectly, I'd lock myself in my guitar practice room and say, "I'm not coming out of this room until I master this damn lick if it takes me the next 19 hours! No breaks! No food! No human contact! I'm gonna nail this!" And I did master it. On the surface, it might seem like I was on the right track and practicing in a good way.... But in reality, I was spending my time only to stop being angry and frustrated. I was not investing my guitar practice time wisely by focusing on the things that mattered most to making a better guitar player. In other words, my perseverance was commendable, but my strategy to master important long-term goals was weak. I allowed myself to be distracted. I don't make this same mistake anymore, and I urge you to also avoid it! Focus on the things that really matter for your guitar playing right now. If you are not sure how to do this, seek out a proven guitar teacher today.

7. Focusing On The Right Things, But in The Wrong Order. This is a common mistake that even many advanced guitar players make which causes a lot of wasted time and frustration. Imagine you want to improve your ability to create your own cool guitar solos. Let's assume that you are advanced enough to truly understand all the primary and secondary elements of composing guitar solos (or you have a guitar teacher to help you). Each of the many elements need to be learned and/or practiced in order to easily create awesome solos that you like. Where should you begin? What should you focus on first, second, third? Which of these things should you practice simultaneously? There is always a specific order in which musical skills should be learned and mastered in order to EXPLODE your musical skills. Unfortunately, that order is totally different for every person, style of music, musical goal, skill set and knowledge, so giving an example here would be pointless. My advice, find the best teacher you can and study with him/her in order to be able to do what you want to do with your guitar much faster and easier.

8. Not Isolating Problem Areas. Few guitar players are aware of the small things that hold them back in big ways. Because these little imperfections seem insignificant to us, we often ignore them. The truth is, small hinges open big doors. In the video mentioned above I explained how allowing your guitar pick to lose its momentum when you are 'not picking' a note on the guitar makes your playing slow and sloppy.... which will make you feel very frustrated. This is why I was sure to make a special point to help you avoid that mistake.

9. Learning And Practicing Guitar In A Step By Step Linear Process. Does following a linear step by step approach to learning, practicing and mastering guitar seem like common sense good to you? Yes it does... And that is why guitar players who follow such a path are NOT great guitar players. I'm going to let you in an insider's secret... The truth is, following a linear approach to learning guitar, practicing guitar, and mastering guitar is the NUMBER ONE REASON WHY "GOOD GUITAR PLAYERS" STRUGGLE TO BECOME "GREAT GUITAR PLAYERS"...

10. Practicing Guitar In The Same Way Your Favorite Guitar Players Practice Guitar. Have you ever read about how your favorite guitar players practice guitar and then tried to repeat the same practice routine? Yes, I've made this mistake too! It seems natural to use a similar guitar practice schedule that our favorite guitar players are using. This is a mistake, because your current guitar skill level and knowledge of music is probably very different from your favorite player. His/her challenges and needs are likely not the same as yours.

Professional guitar players practice for different reasons than most amateur players do. For example, before recording a new album I will practice very differently compared to the period before going on tour. Once I'm actually on tour my practice routine changes drastically again. The rest of the year my practicing schedule changes yet again. This happens because in each case my challenges and goals are totally different. When my guitar students ask me, "Tom, how do you practice guitar?" I'm careful not to let my students assume that they should practice the same way that I do. Your practice schedule and strategy needs to be built around YOU and you only! If you need help building your own practice schedule, email me directly.

11. Learning From Too Many Different Sources Of Information. There will always be many learning opportunities and various paths to take, but it is critical that you do not get distracted into following a piece of advice from one person, then another piece of advice from another person and then follow more resources from somewhere else and so on and so on... while different people may have some good ideas to offer, the fact is, distraction is a big reason why many guitar players who are actively learning, don't really move forward quickly... these people are always busy following totally different resources, teachers, philosophies, instructional videos, free online guitar lessons, but all of this leads them to take one step forward, then 2 steps to the right, then one step forward, then 3 steps to the left, then one step backward, then two to the right, then 1 step forward and then another step to the left...

Once you have an effective strategy to become the guitar player you want to be, ALWAYS stay focused on it (unless your goals radically change)!! The very best way to do this is to have ONE primary guitar teacher who helps you to become the musician you really want to be.

This doesn't mean that you shouldn't take advice from other people too, but you should have one 'primary' source of information, training and coaching, and see the other advice as an additional resource, but do not become distracted by it.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=T._Hess

Empower Girls With Daisy Rock Guitars

Daisy Rock Guitars has made guitars with girls in mind. Up until now, guitars may seem cumbersome and awkward for girls go play. This may cause feelings in the girl that they are not capable of learning to play guitar. Thanks to this guitar line, things are different now.

The Daisy Rock guitars are made with sleeker necks and slimmer bodies which make playing easier for girls. They are lighter weight, but still made with high quality.

Being a mother of 2 daughters and a musician, I am happy there are guitars made to inspire my girls to play guitar and to learn music. Music helps develop the brain for math and sciences. It is related to critical thinking and problem solving. And, of course, makes a wonderful creative outlet so they can express emotions in a positive way.

These guitars were inspired by female musician, rocker and music lover, Tish Ciravolo. She combined her love of music with a desire to "level the playing field" for girls who want to learn to play guitar as well as dedicated female musicians. Tish began the Daisy Rock Guitars in 2000 with a dream that "every girl who wants to play guitar is welcomed and inspired to do so."

These instruments are not only for the beginner guitarist or young girl, they are used by professional musicians as well, both male and female. Some names you might recognize that use them are Joan Jett, Ann and Nancy Wilson from Heart, The Go-Go's Jane Wiedlin and Kathy Valentine and Vicki Peterson from the Bangles.

You will also find some men who use the Daisy Rock Guitars because of their uniqueness. Some musicians include Robert Smith of the Cure, Chris Stein from Blondie, The New York Dolls Sylvain Sylvainand and guitar player for Norah Jones, Adam Levy.

If you decide to check out the Daisy Rock guitars, keep in mind there are two lines; the Debutante line by Daisy Rock and the Daisy Rock line by Daisy Rock. Both high quality, but for two different players in mind.

The Debutante line is set at a smaller price scale and geared toward the younger and beginner female player. The guitars are smaller and you can even find a "short scale" guitar for even smaller bodies. These guitars come in both electric and acoustic guitars with beautiful designs to inspire the younger girl to want to play while maintaining quality.

The Daisy Rock line is geared toward the more seasoned player and musician. This line comes in a variety of electric guitars, acoustic guitars, bass guitars and even electric/acoustic.

Both lines come with the slimmer and narrow neckline easier for smaller hands to play. You will find humbucker pickups for multiple tones, pick-up selector switch, and master tone control and most have set-neck construction for durability.

If you are looking for a gift, check out the guitar packs. The acoustic guitar pack is called the Daisy Rock Debutante Junior Miss Acoustic. You get a smaller and more lightweight guitar with a slim neck, a tuner, guitar picks and guitar strap. The colors vary from Bubble Gum Pink, Cotton Candy Blue and Popsicle Purple.

The electric pack comes with the guitar, gig bag, electronic tuner, strap, picks, string winder, and polishing cloth. The guitars come is a variety with the most popular being the pink electric guitar called the Daisy Rock Debutante Rock Candy Princess in Atomic Pink. But you can also find this pack with the Heartbreaker Short Scale guitar (shaped like a heart) and the Debutante Butterfly Short Scale Guitar.

If you want to inspire your girls to learn music and play guitar, start with a guitar from this line that will inspire them to play. I know my daughters love their guitars and one of them walks around with the guitar strapped to her whether she is practicing or not. As a mom, this makes me happy and I know my girls will have an easier time sticking to their practice schedules. A big thank you from me, to Daisy Rock Guitars.

By: CJ Papp

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Learn Guitar - 3 Deadly Guitar Practice Mistakes and What to Do Instead Learn Guitar - 3 Deadly Guitar Practice Mistakes and What to Do Instead

How do you get better on guitar, just keep practicing right? Wrong! If you want to improve your guitar playing you have to do more than just practice you must know WHAT to practice and HOW to practice.

There a lot of 'old wives' tales and myths floating around about practicing music that basically goes like this "if you lock yourself away for a couple of hours a day you will become an accomplished player!"

The real world version goes more like this "if you lock yourself away for a couple of hours every day without a definite practice strategy and clearly defined goal(s) there's a good chance your guitar playing could be going around and around in circles, you may loose your enthusiasm and motivation and possibility give up guitar and music altogether". It's true and unfortunately it's already happened to thousands of players.

I don't agree 100% with the "practice makes perfect" phrase, rather...

"perfect practice makes perfect!"

Mistake 1: To just keep on practicing - You know the old saying "if you find yourself in a hole the best thing to do is stop digging!" Good advice but something that is not often applied to guitar practice. If you find your guitar playing going nowhere I recommend you stopped doing that and take the time to get
your playing back on track.

Solution: STOP! whatever you are going on guitar and take out a blank piece of paper draw a line down the middle of the page, on the left hand side of the page make a heading "things to work on" then on the right hand side of the page make a heading titled "why".

When you have finished your page should look like this:

Things To Work On | Why

The idea is for you to (a) identify the areas of your guitar playing that need work and (b) have a reason for working on these problems.

Once your brain has something definite to work on your whole body will take on a different attitude to practicing and playing the guitar and you will find yourself moving towards your goals rapidly.

The trick is to write things down on paper so you can look at the problem without the guitar in your hands; otherwise there's a good chance you will send a lot of time working on aspects of your playing that actually don't need work, so essentially a lot of practice time is literally thrown out the window, it's wasted time, once you get a laser beam fix on your targeted 'problem' areas you will soon overcome your guitar playing obstacles.

Mistake 2: practicing too fast - everyone does this but only the best players learn how to control and discipline themselves to overcome this hazard.

Solution: Understand that "speed comes as a by-product of accuracy" not the other way around. It's not an achievement to say that you are a "fast and sloppy player" there's no great skill involved there, in fact anyone could do that... you could give your guitar to the postman and he could run his fingers up
and down the strings as fast as he could but you wouldn't call that a memorable musical experience would you... of course not!

Write that down in BIG letters and carry it with you in your guitar case "Speed is a by-product of accuracy". Learn to practice everything in s-l-o-w motion in the same manner as people practice the martial arts.

Mistake 3: not making the distinction between data and motor skill practice.

Solution: Before you begin a practice session be clear which type of practice session is required to achieve your current musical goals. Basically there's two types of guitar practice:

Data memory training - this is where you are learning something new; these sessions must be kept short 2-5 minutes maximum.

Motor skills training - this is where you are practicing something you already know; practice sessions are typically 20-30mins in duration

It's possible to learn something wrong and practice it until the mistake becomes ingrained and very difficult to re-learn, often the player lacks the sheer determination to overcome the musical 'banana-peel' and the mistake becomes a fatal one.

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

Chord Inversions

When you actually get to look at the succession of chords in a song, it can be pretty intimidating when you see the inversions come up. Chord inversions are something that seems to be really intimidating for most beginner guitar players. And there are a lot of guitar players who just shrug off the learning of chord inversions just because they think that it is difficult to learn and that they will be able to become really successful guitar players without even learning these inversions. What you might not know is that the chord inversions could be something that you really need to learn for you to be able to get the exact chord that would fit the song.

Chord inversions are chords made in the same bass chord. The lowest note of the chord is the tonic. When you execute the chord, you will maintain that lowest chord. Every time you execute a chord in the root or the tonic, this means the chord is an inversion. In the case of a C chord for example, any chord executed with C as the bass is an inversion of the C chord.

Most of the time, chords are played with about three or four notes fingered on the guitar. This means that you might be fingering two or three notes on the bass position. In a C chord for example, you need to finger C, E and G. On a Cmaj7, you have a C, E, G, B.

There are three types of chord inversions. They are respectively and aptly called first, second and third inversions. The first inversion calls for the 3rd of the chord on the bass note. This gives the term for it. The first inversion of the chord requires the 3rd of the chord be the first note after the root. The second inversion, now, has the 5th of the chord on a bass position. The terminology is derived from the idea of the 5th of the chord being the second tone after the tonic or the bass. And as you may have realized by now, the third inversion requires having its 7th as the bass. You get the drift, don't you?

Let's take for example a Cmaj7. The chord is played with a C, E, G and B. On the first inversion, you will be getting an E, G, B and C. Of course that would be too difficult to perform in the exact order. So you would have to rearrange the notes in such a ways that your fingers will be able to accommodate the notes. This process is known as the drop-two voicing. The new arrangement will be E, B, C and G.

When you actually think about it, it's not really that difficult. Here is a list of the steps you need to take in order to create the inversions:

1. Take note of all the notes used in the chord according to the root positions.
2. Take the first note and place it in the last position or at the back of the line of chords.
3. The second note follows suit, taking the last place.
4. Finger the new chord out on the fret board.
5. Repeat the steps this time using the notes from the first inversion.

It's not too difficult after all, isn't it?

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