Sunday, March 30, 2008

Learn Electric Guitar Online With Easy to Use Online Guitar Lessons

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Matthew_T_Cook]Matthew T Cook

If you are interested in learning hoe to play the electric guitar there are some things you will need to learn to get started. By learning these basics will save you a lot of frustration.

You will need to practice often to become good at electric guitar. Learn to play along with one of your favorite electric guitar songs will motivate you to practice. Even if you are a complete beginner you will be amazed at how simple most electric guitar songs are to play.

Look online to see if they have a chord charts for your favorite songs. I suggest signing up for online electric guitar lessons to completely understand how to read the chord charts and the proper finger positioning. Start learning the basic chords for the song you hope to learn. You will feel great as you start to learn how to play along with one of your favorite songs.

You should also always make sure your electric guitar is tuned properly. Each chord and note will sound so much better if your acoustic guitar is properly tuned. It is very important not to just have your guitar tuned close either. Make sure each string is perfectly in tune with each other string. Because you will be judging you playing on how you sound, you want to have your electric guitar perfectly tuned.

There are many ways to tune your guitar. You can tune your guitar using pitch pipes, piano or with a guitar tuner. I suggest using a guitar tuner. This will allow you to make sure your electric guitar is perfectly tuned to pitch.

You will also want to take in consideration what type of guitar pick to use. This may sound strange but there are many different gauges (thickness) of electric guitar picks. The lighter gauges will give you a softer sound while the heavier gauges will make for a slightly harsher sound. This is something to experiment with after you are more advanced at acoustic guitar.

The last thing you are going to have to do is practice, a lot. You have to get into the mindset that the only way to become good at acoustic guitar is with practice. Take your learning slow and truly master the basics before you move on to anything more challenging.

I also recommend starting out the length of your practice sessions off rather short. Don't start off by saying to yourself that you will practice 2 hours a day. Start practicing maybe 15-20 minutes each day and then after you get into a routine you can slowly start to lengthen your practice time.

I hope these tips for learning electric guitar online will help you learn acoustic guitar fast.

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Saturday, March 22, 2008

How To Tune An Acoustic Guitar-Tune Your Acoustic Guitar To Perfection In 7 Quick Steps

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Steve_Laney]Steve Laney

In these days of electronic guitar tuners and other modern ways of tuning, knowing how to tune an acoustic guitar has never been more essential-imagine how redfaced you will be showing up to your first gig and not being able to play because the battery in your tuner gave out? Follow my simple guide to learn exactly how to tune an acoustic guitar.

How To Tune An Acoustic Guitar- Step 1

You’ll need a tuning fork or some pitch pipes-in order to tune the guitar properly you need at least one string to be perfectly in tune. A tuning fork or pitch pipes with a perfect E will be perfect for this.

How To Tune An Acoustic Guitar Step 2-
Play the tuning fork or the pitch pipe so you can hear the perfect E. Then you want to begin tightening the thickest string on the guitar (the low e) until it matches the pitch of the pipes or fork. Once you have this string as a perfect E, you can then use it to tune all the others.

How To Tune An Acoustic Guitar Step 3-
With the low e string tuned to E, hold the 5th fret and pluck the string. This note should be an A with the exact same pitch that we need from the next thickest string. Tune the fifth string until you can play it along with the 5th fret of the low E string and not hear any difference.

How To Tune An Acoustic Guitar Step 4-
Now that the 5th and 6th strings of the guitar are in tune, you want to repeat the process, only this time holding the 5th fret on the 5th string, which should produce a perfect D note. This is the note that you want to tune the 3rd string to.

How To Tune An Acoustic Guitar Step 5-

You should now have the three thickest strings in perfect standard tuning. All we need to do from there is continue the process. Hold the 5th fret on the d string and play it, and you should hear a perfect G. This is the note that you should tune the third string to.

How To Tune An Acoustic Guitar Step 6-

When you are tuning an acoustic guitar, or an electric one for that matter you will need to keep in the mind that the interval between the second and third strings is different from the others. When tuning the 2nd string, instead of holding the 5th fret on the 3rd string, you need to hold the 4th fret to get the perfect note, which is a B. Tune the 2nd string to this pitch.

How To Tune An Acoustic Guitar Step 7-
Back to normal for the thinnest string-we want to tune this one to another E and if you hold the 5th fret on the 2nd string and play it, you will hear the E we need. All you need to do is tune the 1st string so that it matches the pitch of the 5th fret on the 2nd string. All done!

And that’s how to tune an acoustic guitar. The above method will work with acoustics and electrics, and has been used by thousands of guitar players for many years. [http://www.dailyguitarlessons.com/onlineguitartuitionreviews.html]Click HERE to learn the secrets of the professionals and become a great guitar player in record time, including lots of electric guitar lessons! [http://www.dailyguitarlessons.com/onlineguitartuitionreviews.html]Is your guitar playing reaching it's full potential? Click here to find out how you can unlock your inner guitar genius!!

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Sunday, March 16, 2008

Learning The Basics Behind Guitar Tuning

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Andy_Jefferson]Andy Jefferson

Even top of the line guitars need a little care and maintenance in order to sound phenomenal. From minor maintenance, such as replacing worn strings, to more significant adjustments, such as neck realignment, taking care of your guitar ensures that it always sounds its best. One of the most minor steps in guitar care is guitar tuning. An untuned guitar can sound out of key, generate excessive "buzzing", and even be more difficult to play.

Guitar strings extend from the headstock, or the top of the guitar, to the bridge, where the strings are attached to the body. In order for a guitar to play properly, these strings must have the correct tension. If the strings are too tight, they will key higher and sharper, and the "action" (the space between the strings and the frets) will be greater. The greater the action, the more difficult it is to properly press the strings against the frets. When strings are too loose, the guitar will generate lower, flatter notes, and there is an increased possibility of "buzzing", which is caused by strings vibrating against the frets. However, a properly tuned guitar sounds crisp, clear, and on-key, and plays comfortably.

The process of guitar tuning is relatively simple. Novice guitar players may benefit from a few tools that make the process even easier, and more accurate. There are a variety of guitar tuners available. Some play a note in perfect pitch, allowing you to hear how your notes should sound. These are often very basic, and quite inexpensive. Some more sophisticated models can also detect a note as you play it, and indicate how far off-key (and in which direction) the string is. There are even online tools that help you tune your guitar properly by playing a note in perfect pitch, and are very often completely free. For actually adjusting the strings, a basic peg winder can make turning the tuning pegs easier (and come in especially handy when replacing strings). With experience, you may be able to tune your guitar by ear - very handy for those moments when your tuning supplies aren’t close at hand.

Actually tuning the guitar is also fairly simple. The simplest process is to first tune the low E string (when holding the guitar, this is the first string from top to bottom). Use a tuner to determine how the low E should sound. If your note sounds sharper than the tuner, loosen the tension on the string. Do this in gradual steps, checking the result after each adjustment. If it sounds flatter than the tuner, increase tension, until the note sounds perfectly in key. Once you've adjusted the first string, the tuner isn't necessary anymore, as you can tune the rest of your guitar according to each tuned string.

Once the low E string is tuned, you can move on to the next string. Hold down the fifth fret of the E string, and pluck it and the A string (unfretted) simultaneously. If the sound wavers or pulsates, the A string is out of tune. You can then pluck each string independently to determine how to adjust the A string. Once it is adjusted, you can move on to the next string. Now hold down the fifth fret of the A string, and pluck it and the D string. You can continue on in this way, fretting the newly-tuned string and its untuned neighbor:

(E String tuned with a tuner)

A String - Fifth Fret of E String, Open A String

D String - Fifth Fret of A String, Open D String

G String - Fifth Fret of D String, Open G String

B String - Fourth Fret of G String, Open B String

High E String - Fifth Fret of B String, Open E String

Once you've done it a few times, the process becomes second nature, and will only take a few moments. You'll also quickly learn how to tell when your guitar is out of tune. Enjoy the rewards of your effort by creating perfectly tuned, clear notes from your guitar.

TeachYourselfHowToPlayGuitar is an online portal with expert articles about essential guitar tips and guides. To learn more about how to effectively learn to play the guitar, visit http://www.teachyourselfhowtoplayguitar.com for free access.

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Saturday, March 8, 2008

Tuning Your Guitar The Right Way

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Mike_Selvon]Mike Selvon

Proper maintenance is important to any technical piece of equipment, all the way from vehicles down to instruments that you play. The guitar is no exception. One of the things that you must do on a regular basis is to tune the strings on your guitar.

Without doing this, they can stretch and the sound will be distorted. Tuning your guitar every so often will help prevent you from looking like an idiot in front of your friends whenever you are trying to impress them with your musical skills.

There is a standard, as there always seems to be, involved in 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 to 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 given on the electric tuner.

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.

If you're experienced enough, you can tune your guitar by using piano notes. This is quite difficult to do though, especially if you're not trained in tuning your guitar with this method. Experts and musicians who have been performing for years can also tune their instruments though harmonies and octaves, but this might only confuse the beginning guitar player.

If you're unsure about your tuning abilities, it is best to just stick with the other methods, such as an electric tuner, to make sure that your strings are tuned to just the right pitch.

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Sunday, March 2, 2008

How to Take Care of a Fender Guitar

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Hilde_Berge]Hilde Berge

Having a great item like a fender guitar will also mean that you are going to have to maintain them so that you can keep them looking and sounding great for a long time. There are a few things that are necessary to do when you are the owner of a guitar. It will not be hard to make sure that you take great care of your possession so that you can have it for a lifetime.

The first thing that you should do is lubrication. You will have to use a tiny bit of oil on the B string bridge where the strings are connected to the saddle. This is easy to do and it will not take a lot of effort or time at all.

You will have to tune your Fender guitar from time to time as well. You can start by tuning the B string pitch using a regular tuner. The thumb wheel tuner is located in the back of the cover plate. You should turn the thumb wheel towards the sharp to raise the pitch or towards the flat to lower the pitch of the note. You may find that you have to replace the guitar strings from time to time and those can be found where ever you buy your fender guitar accessories either online or at a land based store.

In order to check your fender guitar strings, you can run your finger underneath the string and feel for any dirt that may be under there. You can also feel for the rust or flat spots that sometimes occur. When you find any of these things, you should change your strings so that you are getting the proper sound from your guitar.

There are many tips to maintain your guitar and keeping it in good shape. You may get all of the tips and recommendations with your guitar when you buy it. You can also go online and find great ideas that will make your fender guitar sound better for you. This is a great way to allow your guitar to last for a longer time and keep it sounding great.

You can take your guitar to a fender dealer anytime you feel the need. When you are looking for some good lessons, you may also want to look into a fender dealer to help you with all of these needs. You are going to find a great way to learn the guitar and great tips on maintain your guitar so that you get the best possible sound from it and the most pleasure learning at the same time.

Article written by Hilde Berge, Norway. More information at: http://www.online-fenderguitar.com

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