Guitar Lessons For Beginners   Expert Beginner Guitar Lessons, Tips and Tricks

Recording your own music is good. It is the initial step into infiltrating the music scene. This is one way of promoting your band. But of course, when you have a recorded album, you also have to perform it live.

Performing live is not an easy task to do. This is where critics judge how good you are. What you are on recorded CD is different from what you are live that is why on live performances, bands give out all their best stuff. Here are tips on performing live:

-          Be sure that you could play what you have recorded or something close to that. It is very important that what you put on your CD can be performed live or else be the center of critical comments. If you can’t really duplicate what’s on your CD, at least perform something as close to it as possible. For overdubs, you could always have a backing track play along your live performance; just make sure you could keep up with the tempo.

-          Don’t just stand around and perform, give it your all. Make the crowd feel that you really meant what you are playing. This is a big factor concerning live performances. If it isn’t boring then you are certainly a good band.

Listen to Great Alternative Music on: Evilmickey Online Radio

The new heavy thing to hit the mainstream is the genre called MetalCore with techno. At first, you won’t get the whole point to this. But later on, after lost of hours of observation, you would then appreciate the beauty and ingenuity of the music. The techno synth perfectly placed on certain parts of the songs, creating a certain effect that makes the whole song better. Most musicians dismiss this, but I, for a fact, appreciate it. The chugging guitar, syncopated timing, synchronized breakdowns, it just all fits perfectly together. Take for instance, I See Stars, they are definitely good at what they do. They just know how to put some colors on their MetalCore image. The music itself is not bad at all. Great arrangement, great melodies.

Another band from the genre that I appreciate is Attack Attack. This band has been bombarded by insults from critics, saying that they invented crab core and that stance is ridiculous. Well, the stance and the synchronized moves are just perfect for them. They know how to project it properly. It works for them so why criticize it. Come on, admit it, they are your guilty pleasure. Lol. Anyway, it’s all about the music that they are making. Let’s just enjoy it or if we don’t like it, let’s ignore it.

This time, I want to talk about one of my all – time favorite Irish band, Ash. When I was still on primary education until secondary, I listened to their albums; Free All Angels and Nu-Clear Sounds and had been a fan of those melodic noisy sounds like the songs A Lifeless Ordinary, Burn Baby Burn and Candy. And I also admire their rudeness to that boy band called West life which is indeed a Disgrace to the Irish. (I’m just mimicking what they said, it’s pretty cool) anyway, Ash have recently pulled themselves together once more and went back to their successful concoction of guitar riffs that doesn’t seem to leave your heads and Tim Wheeler’s effortless melodies that just stuck in there. They have a series of warm up performances on UK (check their web for details) and had set up a series of headline performances on Reading and Leeds Festivals. Their recent A-Z series is also available now and I still don’t have it although I always see it on YouTube including that DIY never been released movie called Slashed which they created including Coldplay, Dave Grohl and Charlotte Hatherley. That was pretty cool, you should see it too.

Are you a self – taught guitar player who just started teaching yourself? Are you looking for ways to effectively teach yourself guitar? If you are, then you should listen to me. Knowing where to find the right resources could practically help you in your quest. You shouldn’t figure out things all by yourself because everything’s already been discovered, leave the research to the pro and as for you, you could follow these schedules for good and effective guitar practice.

1. First, warm and stretch your fingers.
2. Do some scales. If you don’t know any scale yet, learn one at a time. Start with the major pentatonic. Do it for 10 minutes.
3. Learn and practice a guitar lick every day. Do this for another 10 minute.
4. Learn and practice some great licks by the guitar gods. Do this for 20 minutes
5. Learn guitar solos. Get one from tabs. For 20 minutes
6. Improvisation. Learn first the theory behind it then practice and jam along jazz tracks. 30 minutes.
7. Listen to your favorite guitar track while holding your guitar, then jam along with it, do some improvisation. 30 minutes.
8. Learn theories and logics behind the music. Try and understand how they created the music. Like solving a math problem. 20 minutes.
9. Try and record your practice. Al of it. And re – evaluate. Check where did you went wrong.
10. Don’ waste time, practice, practice and practice.

I just saw something on the internet that made me smile. The popular singer named Jewel did a prank on people, a heart – warming one. So this was the set – up: Jewel would pretend that she’s an ordinary office girl named Karen, complete with prosthetics and stuff. It looks so real that you won’t know that it was her. So together with some actors, they hit a karaoke bar and hang – out. So her fake officemates started singing on the karaoke stage and after a while they urge her to sing. So she went up acting like she was shy and all, and the crowd bought it. The crowd was a warm friendly crowd, by the way. And when she started singing, the crowd’s jaws dropped on the floor because she sounded just like Jewel. Of course she would sound like Jewel. Lol. Anyway, after 2 songs, the crowd goes wild. She goes out, removes all the fake masks and hair and glasses and goes in as Jewel and the crowd went wild again. She sang a couple of songs, and people were like super blown away, sang along with her. Then later, the cameras revealed to the people that she was Jewel, lol. You should’ve seen the look on their faces.

A good song is based not always on technical stuff, on 10 minute guitar solos and crazy drumming. Some of the good songs that I know are hell of an easy thing to play but it’s the whole song that’s making it superb. The song “Champagne Supernova” by Oasis features an adlib too easy even a 12 year old could play it, but they insisted on putting it there. Sometimes, simple things are enough for a song. Imagine if they placed a Satriani – like guitar solo on the song, might have overkill it. That is why, in times and moments like that, simplicity is the better option.

When writing songs, don’t be so technical, not unless you’re into progressive metal or other technical stuff. Think about the essence of the song rather than the technicality of the song. Sometimes, the beauty of a song is on its ingredients. Sometimes it is better to place two notes rather than a flurry of notes and besides, it’s not the 80’s where you get slammed for not putting any guitar solo longer than 5 minutes. Look at John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He makes beautiful guitar solos with just a couple of notes and bends. You’ll never know the effect of simplicity not unless you learn how to master being simple.

After 5 years and releasing two albums, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus have decided to leave their label and go independent. The decision came when they have noticed that the label isn’t promoting them well that’s why they packed their bags and left the label. EMI wasn’t promoting them well; some fans don’t even know that they have released an album.

Anyway, there are lots of benefits of going indie. One is you have total freedom on your songs and everything; no one shall dictate you about what to do or what to sing. Another is the freedom of how you are going to promote your album. It’s up to you, do whatever you like, play wherever you want to play, no one would dictate you. That is the advantages of having no major label.

On the other hand, you won get the power of promotion that major labels have. And also you won’t have the finances that they are able to produce. Major Labels are just so huge they could buy anything for you but later on, ask you for it. Major Labels are profit – oriented. They don’t care about the music as long as it sells. They don’t care if you are a talentless little kid as long as millions of teenage girls love you.

Me? I’m Indie.

Here’s something that you could watch out for. The group is called Project Levi. It consists of Michael Pacalioga on Guitar and Vocals, Joseph Hugo on Bass, Ivan Dalid on drums and Karl Corbo on Vocals and Percussions. The four – piece group plays an infectious blend of almost everything popular; rock, alternative, pop, blues, reggae, and even nu metal. This was the result of mixed influences of each member and the different musical ventures that they are currently treading upon. We could expect something good from these boys since they are all accomplished musicians in their own right, been playing gigs for almost ten years now, started out on a young age.

These guys were from other bands, joined forces on a certain point of their career and planned to make something out of it. This was basically Pacalioga’s plan as he was really into releasing an album. As of now, I have listened to 5 demo tracks and I could see a bright future for these guys and we will keep you posted. Expect the songs to come around the internet anytime this year, and of course, we will be keeping you updated with this group’s progress.

Every once in a while, it’s great to listen to music that is unadulterated refreshing.

The technique was rocketed into popularity by no other than Eddie Van Halen in the 70’s and the whole guitar playing world went crazy. Tapping creates a unique sound that is very impressive to listen to but basically it is an easy technique to do. The term tapping is a bit misleading, but it is basically doing hammer ons and pull offs with both of your hands. Knowledge of scales is definitely a requirement in doing tapping. Plus, you can expect the term triads, legato and stuff.

Tips:

1. To do a pull – off with your right hand, do it in a downward motion.
2. You could also position your hands perpendicular to the neck, like playing piano.

First, you should try and experiment on this. Do triads first, on one string and both of your hands. Pick a scale and a group of note that would sound good then fire away. If you perfected this technique, you can combine it with the others to produce an epic guitar solo. If you may, you could listen to Van Halen’s earlier album, especially the song eruption, with its 10 minute guitar solo. It’s insanely awesome, man. Try and watch it. And also I suggest you take time to listen to Michael Jackson’s Beat It, the guitar solo there is awesome.

B.B. King is a legend when it comes to blues guitar playing and his old age. He has been touring around the world for years and he’s showing no signs of slowing down. King had been playing Gibson’s for like an eternity and it is only in 1982 that Gibson did actually joined forces with him to put his personal touch on the ES Lucille. Fine – Tuner tailpiece, semi – hollow body and the removal of the sound hole. King uses string with gauges .010, .013, .017, .032w, .045w, .054w.

If you really want to emulate the tone of his guitar, better get used to playing an ES – 355, it’s the closest thing to his Lucille and better be comfortable with overdrive because he uses a slightly overdriven tone on his guitar. When it comes to his guitar style, he usually plays a variety of pentatonic and blues scale or sometimes mixolydian scales. Mixing it all up to create sweet sounding blues guitar solos. He’s more on phrasing, not much on speed. Vibratos and slides are mostly the techniques that he uses and he puts great command on them. Pretty impressive. Most especially his signature vibrato where he shakes his wrist violently with only the fingertips touching the fretboard.

If you are one of them guitar players who would love to make a statement on and off stage by personalizing their guitar with a Hail of Stickers, then that’s cool. There’s nothing wrong with that, slapping your guitars with stickers give it a unique look and that’s rock and roll. Placing stickers are an easy task to do: you get your sticker, know where you want to place it and SLAP! You’re done, sticker on! Now you are ready go up stage and rock it out featuring your new statement sticker or whatever sticker you want to place on that.

But removing it on the other hand, is a very difficult thing to do. There are lot of things to consider. It might ruin the finish of your guitar, or scratch it or simply leave icky dirty marks on your guitar top. And that is pretty much ugly to look at.

The best way to clean this mess up is to use naphtha. It will work well on all finish types and would remove residue and stuff. You can buy it at any hardware store or even grocery stores but before you go bath your guitar with it, a word of caution, this is highly flammable, do not use it near anything hot or near fire. You might make things worse.

Why do we always put emphasis on learning how to read tabs? That’s simple it is simply because Tablatures is somewhat like your window to the world of guitar techniques, scales and others. Tabs are the easiest way to show a visual representation of techniques, scales and chords. Since it is easy to read, you won’t have the problem. You are lessening the hassle. The effort that you use to exert in reading sheet music can now be diverted to learning the technique itself.

For example, you want to learn how to do the C7 open chord. Thru tabbing it, a beginner can easily follow it since all you have to do is follow the numbers that represent frets. No complicated notes and staff, just numbers. Very important for beginners. But I don’t encourage you not to learn notations, that is also important but for aspiring guitars and beginners, this is a good place to start and a good tool for learning.

You can also learn a guitar solo easily once tabbed. You can determine exactly which note you would play on which fret and which string. Tabs are perfect for stringed instruments like guitar.

And I am currently listening to the song called NIGHTMARE by avenged sevenfold. foREVer.

If mastering the guitar is your goal, you have to work hard for it because guitar masters aren’t produced overnight. You need to have a wide knowledge of the different guitar techniques that are existing today. Training your hands as well as your minds into receiving and learning new techniques everyday is a must. You should also refrain from developing bad habits when training how to play the guitar.

Guitar techniques are both available for the right and the left hand and it is very important for you to know them all. Do not skip on a technique just because it is hard to do. Never go back, have the guts and push through. Have a well – planned practice schedule and make sure that it focuses on certain techniques with a gradual pace and a gradual level of difficulty. The best practice is to start slow and easy and then when you get used to it, pick up the pace, and raise the notch higher. It is not good to play things fast right away. This would only frustrate you and tempt you to quit. Learning the guitar is a very difficult thing to do that’s why make sure that you have what it takes to master it. These hardships cannot be compared to the rewards that you will reap when you accomplish this task.

What is a seven string guitar? It is of course a guitar with seven strings! (What a dumb question to start with) anyway, there is no exact challenge on the 7 guitar that would differ from the 6 strings except of the fact that you have a new low B string on top of your E string. To utilize this, you must have the need to play lower notes, or more specifically, notes lower than the Low E. one good thing about a seven string guitar is you won’t have to deal with the trouble of tuning your guitar down since you have basically all the low tunings you could get under E.(Low Eb, D, C#, C and B) except if you need those open strings on a low tuning, that would be a problem, but basically, a seven string would the low heavy jobs. Now the 7^th string is a bit thicker and should be played smartly. Plucking it too hard will make it ring so much and would produce unwanted noise, so you better know how to properly pluck or strum it. The barre chords that you will be using on 7 strings are pretty much the same movable chords on your faithful six string guitar. So after playing F Barre Chord, you can go to the seventh string to find the Low E root and do the Barre Chord shape and make your way down again just in case you need it.

Featured on the recently conclude Summer NAMM show at Nashville, it is one of the newest Electric guitar product on the show. The new guitar from VOX, VOX SSC/SDC – 55 Solid body Guitars are like the exact replicas of the Virage. The guitars are hand – made that gives us superior playability and high quality craftsmanship as well as the versatility to allow us to create our original tone.

Breakthrough methods in carving the guitar gives the 55 guitars with a contoured body that fits exactly to allow playing it natural and comfortable regardless if you play it while sitting or standing. The method is called 3D body contouring. The perfectly carved top gives another additional comfort while playing it and is also responsible for the unique and flashy look of the 55.

The bridge features an advanced MaxConnect aluminum bridge that features extended saddle travel that gives us flawless intonation. The 55 is powered by a CoAxe pickup that gives us tone that is sophisticated and unique.

There are two models of the 55, The SSC – 55 (single cutaway) and the SDC – 55 (double Cutaway) available in various different finishes including a gold top finish that makes it look like a Les Paul.

Born on March 30 1945, he is one of the most influential guitar players in the whole world.  Even though he varies his guitar playing style from time to time, his influences and guitar style always leans heavily on blues. Eric Clapton is the only person who was inducted to the rock and roll hall of fame, three times; as a solo act and also as the member of the rock bands Yardbirds and Cream. Rolling Stone magazine named Clapton as the 4^th Greatest Guitarists of All time, and that is out of 100.

Eric Clapton is an Englishman, throughout his career, has been varying his styles and has spawned hits with different types of genres like blues psychedelic, adult contemporary and reggae. He is also credited for the mainstream success of Bob Marley.

One of my most favorite Clapton tracks is “Tears in Heaven.” The song is an honest letter to his son who died after falling from the window of his home, several feet high. The song is sad both in lyrics and musical composition.  I also the love the classical guitar work on the whole song specially the mini guitar solo on the intro and the interludes. This is definitely one of Clapton’s Obra Maestro.

Clapton has influenced me a lot in terms of blues playing. The reason why I listen to John Mayer is because of Clapton. Although I’m not as good as them, everyday, I’m trying my best to work hard to be like them someday.

There is a small difference between economy picking and alternate picking. Even though both picking technique promotes speed and uses the up and down picking strokes, they differ slightly in some factors.

Alternate picking is fixed in a manner of speaking. It eternally follows an up and down picking stroke. A down stroke is always followed by an up stroke. Economy picking on the other hand follows the same rule except when changing strings. When you change strings, you start the adjacent string with the same stroke in which you finished the precious string. It is like your weep picking your way to the next adjacent string.

Alternate picking is easier when it comes to maintaining the consistency of your tempo compared to economy picking which takes a lot of practice. However, the advantage of economy picking over alternate picking is you could actually pick faster. Also, moving to a sweep picking riff is much easier when you use alternate picking since sweep picking is already incorporated with it every time you change strings.

Economy picking is best used with triples and other odd number notes (1, 3, 5, 7, 9 etc). If you are used to alternate picking you will find economy picking non – rhythmic but this is normal. You could put it in rhythm once you master it

Before we move on, make sure that you have learned the basic open chords and a little bit of power chords. The barre chords aren’t the advanced type of chords so don’t cry yet. The barre chords are flexible chord shapes that could be played in a fret, a movable chord shape. Say you have an F barre chord, to do a G barre chord, simply move it one whole step up. Learn one major barre chord and you can play all the major barre chords that exist. The same goes for minor barre chords. One reason why it is called a barre chord is because it requires you to barre your finger across 5 or six strings. Here’s a tip when doing barre chords: don’t use the flat surface of your finger but rather, use the left side of your finger. Try barring your finger across all 6 strings, and pick them individually. If you hear a muted sound, then you are doing it wrong. All stings must have a clear note even if it is barred. Do the tip that I told you, it would sound better. Barre chords are pretty similar with power chords but have more notes in it. All you have to do is move this chord shape to the required chord.

Almost all of the successful guitarists out there as well as the legendary names in guitar playing have one common denominator: GOALS. They have a set goal in their lives which they religiously strive to accomplish and most of the time they accomplish it. This is the best characteristics that a guitar player has, most especially the budding guitar artists of this generation. No matter how high they are placed right now in the guitar awesomeness and greatness meter, they still maintain the discipline and the persistency in their practice. This is a goal that they are setting every day, to practice with dedication. If you want to be like them, simply follow what they are doing. Most beginners fail in their guitar lessons and give up on it because they just could not achieve the results that they always wanted, in short, impatience. Becoming a great guitarist is not achieved overnight. It takes years of dedication, patience and the attitude to pursue a set goal in life that would trigger your persistency in learning the guitar. this alone helps you achieve that guitar greatness you’ve been longing for if you have these necessary traits, everything is possible. You can do every guitar trick and techniques if you practice hard enough, if you practice long enough.  in guitar playing, practice is all that matter. Practice will make you become  perfect.

Today, we have just released a single entitled, “A Period and a Broken Line.” It is the acoustic version of the track and it is a standalone single. Disco Waves is an Indie Rock band from the Philippines who is currently gaining grounds in the local music scene. They are currently on the process of creating their EP to be released anytime this year and would contain 6 original English tracks all recorded, mastered and produced by themselves. You can download the track free on their BandCamp site and the upcoming EP would also be available for purchase at BandCamp at a very low price. If you’re into Alternative Rock or Indie Rock, you would love Disco Waves.

Anyway, let me talk about the recording process. I used an ordinary brand less microphone for vocals and the acoustic guitar. Also, I used a Fender Acoustic Guitar for the song. We recorded it in our living room; it’s quite a wide open space. We only used a four channel mini mixer plugged directly into a computer and used Adobe Audition for recording it. The song is all about a person’s belief and goals in life which he thinks is unstoppable. I’m not saying that it is the best song in the whole world but it is worth listening so, check it out. I’ve placed the information and links of the band here, so I hope you would take time and check us out and download our track. Cheers!

Here’s the track. It’s free to download it!

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