Guitar Werks.com: March 2007

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Guitar Chords Site To Relaunch Legal, Inferior Version

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Several websites have sprung up to help musicians share these notations, but as soon as they get encyclopedic enough to be really useful, they tend to get closed down. One of them -- MXTabs.com -- is being resurrected by MusicNotes as a legal service....

Perhaps, it's high time we learnt the art of transcribing music by ear. After all, sharing guitar tabs freely in the past used to hurt the artistes pockets. What do you think?

read more | digg story

Need a hand in tuning your guitar?

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Please feel free to use this free guitar tuner.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Passion

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I'm typing this entry from a cyber cafe now. (What a place to talk about guitars, with CounterStrike 1.6 and Dota blaring in the background haha!)

Well, i want to tell you that it has been 6 nice years of guitaring, and i'm still learning. It is a temptation for a person who has many years of experience under his belt, even outside the realm of guitars, to say that he has learnt enough. As was with the previous post, great guitar legends are not born from complacency, but with an imbuilt desire to keep advancing, and advancing, and advancing in knowledge, skills and competency. However, passion is the thing that drives them!

I remember in the first two years when i just starting improving in my skills, that i would faithfully spend at least 3 hours every 3-4 days in a week to practise my guitar. Back then, i owned a classical guitar, so that was where i begun training. In fact, in those two years, I nicknamed my guitar 'grandfather', because it knew me inside out (especially my armpit and fingers hah!).. As age wore on with time (polytechnic etc..), i found that i had less time to practise.

This was where passion really came in, and though my time spent practising the guitar wasn't as long as 2-3hrs a day, I still eeked out spare time to play it (like before going to bed, sometimes i even refused to bathe just to play it!), and i still maintain this pattern till now.

Therefore, passion will drive you far, even in the boring times where you pick up your guitar and feel like there's nothing new to play. Keep pressing on!

Signed out

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Monday, March 26, 2007

Learn from the experts..

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Another cool way of learning guitar fast is by learning from those who are much more skilled than yourself. If we ever want to improve, we must be willing to be humbled and to learn from better guitarists.

I remember sitting at the feet of my pals who were WAY better guitar players in the past, I benefitted from acquiring new tricks and styles from them. I'm a classical, contempo player with the acoustic, but as i was exposed to my friend Jeremiah's playing on the electric, i picked up palm muting technqiues from him which have carried me a looooong long way. (thanks dajie!)

Yup..it never hurts to learn more. The wise person is one who is ever willing to humble himself and learn more, while a fool would think that he knows everything.

Signed out

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Doyle Dykes -

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Ok fine..These previous posts were for aspiring beginner guitarists. I found this video of world reknowned maestro guitar player Doyle Dykes doing his stuff. Honestly, one of the best ways I learn the guitar very quickly is by getting tips and learning techniques from such pros in their videos. So sit back, relax, and be inspired by Doyle Dykes!

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Beginner Guitar Lessons- Tuning the Guitar (Part 9)

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One of the fundamentals of guitar, besides actually learning how to play, is learning how to tune the guitar. It is an inevitably challenging task at first, but like changing the strings on a guitar, it is something that becomes easier over time and is important—if your guitar isn’t tuned right, you won’t sound good no matter how well you play.

Fortunately for beginners, the current electronic tuners make tuning a breeze. It is still worth learning, however, to tune a guitar the good old fashioned way—using a piano or other reference. In this lesson, we’ll go over both methods of tuning.

Using an Electronic Tuner to Tune:

Electronic tuners, such as the excellent Korg CA-30, offer an extremely quick, easy and effective way of tuning the guitar. The instructions for using such a tuner are quite simple:

Turn the tuner on by pressing the “power” button.
Pick the low e string open. The tuner will show what note it is. If the tuner shows a D note, you’ll want to increase tension (tune up) by turning the tuning peg counterclockwise. If the tuner shows an F note, then you’ll want to decrease tension (tune down) by turning the tuning peg clockwise. Keep decreasing/increasing tension until the note shows up as an E.
Next, pick the A string open. The tuner will show what note the string is. If it’s a G#, tune up; if it’s a B or C, tune down. As with the low e string, repeat the process of decreasing/increasing until the note shows up as an A.
Repeat the above process with the last 4 strings until they show up as D, G, B, and E notes, respectively. You want to tune all six strings into standard tuning: E (6th string, closest to you) A D G B E (1st string, furthest from you).

Using a Piano/Keyboard to Tune:

If you want to develop your ear, or just don’t want to buy a tuner to tune the guitar, the alternative is to use a Piano or Keyboard as a reference. You’ll do the following to tune this way:

Find a piano and locate the E key. Look for the two white keys with no black key between them. The first white key is an E, the second an F.
Play the E key.
Next, play your low E string. Play the E key again and try to match the open low E string with the sound of the E key.
When the two sound identical, or almost the same, you can move on to tuning the rest of the strings.
Play the 5th fret of the low E string. Then play the open A string. If the two notes you have played sound practically the same, then the A string is in tune. If not, tune your A string to the sound of note on the 5th fret of the low E string.
Now, play the 5th fret of the A string and then the D string open. Tune your D string to the sound of the note on the 5th fret of the A string.
Play the 5th fret of the D string. Tune your G string to the sound of the note on the 5th fret of the D string.
Play the 4th fret of the G string. Tune your B string to the sound of that note. It is worth noting that this is the only string where you play the 4th fret, and not the 5th.
Finally, play the 5th fret of the G string and tune your high E (first string) to the sound of that note.

If you don’t have access to a piano or keyboard, you can always find a reference (perhaps an MP3 of the low e string) and tune the strings to that using the second method described.

Developing your ear to hear the individual notes will take time, so there probably will be some frustration with the above method of tuning. In spite of this, it is still an excellent idea to learn both methods of tuning, not just the first one.

At this point, you have completed a basic course in learning the guitar. For some further reading, some excellent online guitar learning material I feel are worth paying for are shown below:

1.Jared Crebs-The Beginner's Guide To Unlocking The Guitar

2. GuitarTutorPro

3.Guitar Burning Speed

Beginner Guitar Lessons- Strumming 4/4 beat (Part 8)

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If you are learning how to play the guitar, the basic 4/4 strumming technique is one of the first guitar playing techniques that you must be able to master. This is usually used by beginners to hone their guitar skills and get the feel of the instrument.

In learning the basic 4/4 guitar strumming, you must be knowledgeable about the different basic requirements for guitar playing:

Strokes

Guitar strumming is basically composed of two different strokes: the downward stroke and the upward stroke.

The downward stroke is done by drawing the picking hand (usually, this is the right hand) from the uppermost string down to the other side. The upward stroke is the opposite of the downward stroke.

Finger placing

When reading guitar instructional materials, the fingers are usually assigned numbers. The left-hand fingers are numbered from 1 to 4: the index finger is numbered as 1, the middle finger is numbered as 2, the ring finger is number 3 and the little finger is 4. This numbering is important to remember because tablatures show a beginner how to form chords by placing the fingers properly on the fret board.

The fingers of the left hand are supposed to be placed near the succeeding fret bar to ensure that you get quality sounding vibration from the strings. You must remember not to stress your fingers when pressing the frets.

4/4

If are playing the guitar by reading notes, you can refer to the beat shown near the clef sign to determine if the song should be played with a 4/4 beat as this is what you call the time signature. The time signature looks like a fraction when written in musical notation, the upper number tells one how many beats there are in one measure and the bottom number indicates what kind of note will receive one beat.

D-A-G-A

In learning the basic 4/4 guitar strumming, one can use the different chord families when practicing. One of the most popular chord patterns used in practicing this particular technique is the D-A-G-A chord pattern. It’s very popular because the chord patterns are easy to remember and very easy to perform.

You must first memorize the placement of the fingers on the fret board to be able to do the chords. This can take some time and beginners must be patient. Learning the guitar takes time and dedication and cannot be done overnight.

When you are able to master the chords, you should practice doing the chords one after the other, and this is where the 4/4 strumming comes in. In strumming the guitar in a 4/4 rhythm, you should count 1-2-3-4 repeatedly for each chord and shift to the next chord as you repeat the count. You can use downward strokes for each chord when you begin and then practice strumming the chords upward and then downward-upward.

A beginner will almost always find that the left hand is left out when practicing strumming because the fact is that the fingers are still adjusting to doing the chords properly. It will take time and a lot of practice to do the 4/4 strumming technique but it will be worth it.

When the left hand is being left out, you must not stop the right hand and wait for the left hand to form the chord patterns. Be consistent in your counting and strumming to prevent the right hand from becoming slower and train the left hand to be faster in forming the chord patterns.

After you become comfortable doing the 4/4 strumming technique with the D-A-G-A chord pattern, then shift into doing other chord patterns such as C-E-F-G or G-C-F-G. Opt to learn the different chords and familiarize your fingers with forming them. Learning the chords and strumming should be done simultaneously which will allow you to be able to learn at a much faster rate and understand the mechanics behind playing the guitar.

You must remember that the guitar is an instrument of passion and you cannot be a guitar expert in one night. There are many things that you must learn about the guitar to truly appreciate the beauty of the instrument.

Beginner Guitar Lessons-Learn to play chords in A (Part 6)

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With a guitar you have many easy nice sounding chords at your disposal. Let's play a few open guitar chords in the key of A.

Guitar tab

Guitar tab notation is a way of showing how to play melodies and chords on the guitar. It usually consists of six lines representing the six strings on the guitar and numbers that indicate the frets to play.

In this guitar lesson we will use a form of guitar tablature that uses numbers instead of a tablature staff. I have found that ordinary guitar tab staff notation sometimes will be displayed uncorrectly on article sites.

How to read this notation

I will use two numbers to show how to play the notes. The first number indicate the fret and the second the string to play. An example:

3/2

This tab notation tells you to play the third fret on the second string. It is the note D on your guitar. For clarification: The first string is the string with the highest pitch.

A turnaround in the key of A

What is a turnaround? It is a set of chords that can be played over and over again on your guitar as an intro to a song or between verses and so on.

We will start with an ordinary A major chord that with the guitar tab notation previously explained will look like this:

0/5 2/4 2/3 2/2 0/1

We will omit the sixth string to get a cleaner sound. Let's add an E chord. We will not use the ordinary E major och E7 chord. Instead we will use an easier chord that is called E major with A as bass note notated E/A.

The guitar chord looks like this:

0/5 2/4 1/3 0/2 0/1

We will finally add an Asus chord. The guitar tab notation looks as follows:

0/5 2/4 2/3 3/2 0/1

You can play the chords in the following manner:

A E/A Asus A

You can strum the chords with two or four downstrokes on each chord. As I mentioned before this chord progression works as a turnaround and can be played over and over again.

A turnaround in the key of A minor

We will start this turnaround with the plain and easy A minor chord. It looks like this with guitar tab:

0/5 2/4 2/3 1/2 0/1

If you release the finger pressure a bit and slide the chord up two frets you will get the following chord:

0/5 4/4 4/3 3/2 0/1

A nice sounding chord that can be named in different ways. We can call it B minor with A as bass note and an added E note. Abbreviated it will be Bm/A add 11.

By sliding the chord up one more fret and changing just one note (by pressing down your little finger) you will get the following guitar chord:

0/5 5/4 5/3 5/2 0/1

This will be an A minor seven chord. The short notation is Am7.

Played in the following order the chords will create a turnaround:

Am Bm/A add 11 Am7 Bm/A add 11

These two turnarounds are easy contributions to your guitar repertoire and can be changed and developed as you like.

Beginner Guitar Lessons-Learn to play chords in D (Part 5)

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A guitar is an amazing instrument. Sometimes hard to play but with easy nice sounding guitar chord secrets everywhere. Let's explore some easy but nice guitar chords.

Our first guitar chord will be Dmaj7. It is played in this way for example:

Dmaj: 0/4 2/3 2/2 2/1

An explanation of the notation. The first number indicates which fret to press down. The number after the slash which string. 2/3 means, press down the second fret on the third string.

If you lift up your fingers from this chord you will get a very easy guitar chord to play indeed! We can call it an Em7. It will look this way:

Em7: 0/4 0/3 0/2 0/1

This little chord progression makes a nice little intro to a song in D-major. If we write down a little guitar chord sequense it might look like this:

Dmaj7 / / / Em7 / / / Dmaj7 / / / Em7 / / /

We will now spice the second chord a bit by playing a Gm6. It looks like this:

Gm6: 0/4 3/3 3/2 0/1

We can use this guitar chord in an intro with the same function as the one above:

Dmaj7 / / / Gm6 / / / Dmaj7 / / / Gm6 / / /

Let's introduce a new guitar chord. We can call this chord D11:

D11: 0/4 5/3 5/2 5/1

As you maybe already have figured out you can slide the Dmaj7 chord up a few frets and you will get this chord. We will now create a progression with these three guitar chords:

Dmaj7 / / / D11 / / / Gm6 / / / Gm6 / / /

The next guitar chord is easy to play too. It is a G-minor chord. It is actually the same chord shape as the guitar chord Dmaj7 but on the third fret. It looks like this:

Gm: 0/0 3/3 3/2 3/1

Now we will create a guitar chord progression with these four chords together:

Dmaj7 / / / D11 / / / Gm / / / Gm6 / / /

The art of sliding chords to new frets is an exciting and easy way to find new guitar chords and sounds to use in your playing.

We will end this article on easy guitar chords in D by experimenting a bit with the D-major chord. Here is the most common D-major chord:

D: 0/4 2/3 3/2 2/1

By sliding this guitar chord up three frets up you will get the Dm7 chord or D-minor seventh. It looks like this:

Dm7: 0/4 5/3 6/2 5/1

Slide it up two frets from this position and you will get a G-major chord. It looks like this:

G: 0/4 7/3 8/2 7/1

The last guitar chord to explore will be A-major with D bass, notated A/D. Here it is:

A/D: 0/4 9/3 10/2 9/1

Let's make an impressive intro with these four chords but with the same chord shape by sliding the D-major chord up:

D / / / Dm7 / / / G / / / A/D / / /

The guitar really is an amazing instrument. Many more chords can be changed in similar ways to create new interesting sounds that will enrich your playing!

Beginner Guitar Lessons-How to read Chord Charts (Part 4)

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Diagrams of guitar chords are an essential tool for all guitar players, from beginner to advanced. They are a simple way to visualize exactly how to finger chords on the guitar fretboard.

Diagrams of guitar chords can be used as a tool to learn new chords, chord progressions, and the rhythm parts of songs. Groups of chord diagrams can be conveniently presented in the form of a chord chart.

The ability to understand and use chord diagrams does not require the ability to read musical notation. This greatly simplifies the process of learning to play the guitar, and is a big reason why the guitar is such a popular instrument.

In the spirit of the Guitar Player’s Toolbox focus on providing only practical , “how to” tools, the following info is provided below:

• Types of Guitar Chord Diagrams and How to Read Them
• Tips for Using and Finding Chord Diagrams
• Additional Resources for Chord Diagrams and Charts

NOTE: If you already know how to read and use diagrams of guitar chords , you may want to jump straight to Guitar Chord Charts

Types of Guitar Chord Diagrams and How to Read Them

A chord diagram visually illustrates how to form a chord, and can provide additional musical information. Diagrams of guitar chords come in various flavors. The most common type is a simple “chord box” (see Figure 1 below) that shows the fretboard in a vertical orientation, with the six strings running up and down. The low E (thickest) string is on the left, and the high E (thinnest) string is on the right. The horizontal lines are the frets. The thick solid line at the top of the box represents the nut of the guitar (end of the fretboard).

Figure 1. A basic chord diagram example

Another common way of showing diagrams of guitar chords is to have the strings run horizontally, usually with the low E (thickest) string on the bottom and the high E (thinnest) string on the top. The same B5 chord is shown in Figure 1 on the left.

These example diagrams of guitar chords show the use of some standard symbols that illustrate exactly how to finger a particular chord.

• The circles (or dots) show which strings to finger at which fret
• The numbers on the circle / dots indicates which finger to use on that string (1= index finger to 4 = little finger).
• A “O” symbol at the top of the box means the string is played open
• An “X” symbol at the top of the box means that the string is NOT played
• (Sometimes, the musical notes corresponding to each fretted string are also shown).

The next example below ( Figure 2) shows a Barre chord diagram, in this case a Bm7. These example illustrates another important point about reading chord diagrams.

Figure 2. Example of a Barre chord diagram

Do you see the arc shaped thing on top of the box, just above the 4 dots on the 1st fret? This arc shape indicates a Barre chord formation, with one finger laid across the fretboard to form multiple notes.

Note: Guitar chords can also be illustrated in the form of guitar tabulature. Guitar tabs are another essential tool to help learn chords, and more importantly to learn to play the rhythm parts of songs. Click here for more info about Guitar Tabulature and how to read it.

Beginner Guitar Lessons-Chord Charts (Part 3)

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Basic Guitar Chord Charts

A Great Tool for Learning the Basics

If you’re a beginning guitar player, basic guitar chord charts are an indispensible tool for learning chords. Chords form the backbone of most rock and pop music. You can play thousands of songs with just a dozen or so fairly easy chords!You should practice these basic chords repeatedly until you know them cold, and can transition from one to the next quickly.

What are basic guitar chords?

When you are first learning to play guitar, concentrate on learning basic chords to build a solid foundation. There are three basic groups of chords: major, minor, and dominant seventh (7th) . These three groups of chords make up much of the world's music.

The Basic Guitar Chord Chart below shows you how to play 15 chords. These are “open chords” played with one or more open strings and with all fingering near the end of the fretboard near the nut. Open chords are the easiest type to learn and play, and are the best place to start.

After you have mastered these fairly easy chords, you can always go on to Barre Chords, and other more complex chords later. Master the basics first! A good way to make practicing these basic chords more interesting is to play them in groups known as Chord Families. This will alow you to pretty quickly play some great chord progressions and songs.

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The Basic Guitar Chord Chart

The Basic Guitar Chord Chart below shows a good variety of some easy-to-play open chords. The chords are represented in the form of a guitar chord diagram or “box” that is much easier to read than standard musical notation.

(Disclaimer: The chord chart above is not mine. It belongs to Peter, from http://www.guitar-players-toolbox.com . )

Beginner Guitar Lessons-Basic Chords (Part 2)

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The basic guitar chords are very important for the aspiring guitar player. That’s because without the basic guitar chords actually playing your favorite songs would be impossible and making music with someone else wouldn’t be that easy either. So, the basic guitar chords are where you should start if you want to play music, especially your favorite songs. Did you know that the majority of rock and pop songs can be played by only knowing the basic guitar chords? That means you could learn the basics and still play some of the most popular songs!

Chords are not notes; instead they are combined of notes. A chord has at least three notes that are played together and sometimes more. A guitar can only have six notes in a chord because there are only six strings. The way to play a chord on the guitar is to strum three of the strings at the same time. The resulting sound is a chord. All chords can fit into one of three groups depending on what notes make up the chord. The groups include Major, Minor, and Seventh. The Major chords are the richest sounding chords while the minor chords are a little more solemn. Seventh chords do not provide a rich sound like the Major chords and actually sound like they may be missing something although these chords work well for certain types of music.

The problem with learning the basic guitar chords is that there is not an agreed upon list of what those chords are. There is, however, a list that includes up to 18 basic guitar chords that most everyone agrees upon. So, you should make it a goal to learn all 18 of these basic guitar chords. Doing so will ensure that you are able to play all the songs, almost, that you ever dreamed of and you will have more fun playing.

The approved “basic guitar chords” come from keys A, G, C, and D. These chords are played by pressing down on one string while strumming the others. These are easier to play than other chords that are complex. Some of the basic chords are A, Am (A minor), C, D, Dm, E, Em, F, and G. You can learn the chords anyway you want, but the recommended way is to learn them by the keys, or chord families, so that you can start playing a bit as you learn. The chord families include the keys of A, D, G, and C. A is made up of A, D, E; D is made up of D, Em, G, A; G is made up of G, Am, C, D, Em; and C is made up of C, Dm, Em, F, G.

Learning the basic guitar chords is not hard if you are dedicated to doing so. There are a couple of tricks, however, that might help you learn faster and start playing the songs you love. For instance, use a guitar chord chart as you are learning. This ensures you will learn proper finger placement from the start. Another tip is to master one chord family or key before moving on to the next. When you are an expert at one chord you can start “playing” already and learning the others will be a lot of fun! There are a lot of tips to learn to play the guitar, just follow the ones that seem most helpful to you and have fun!

Beginner Guitar Lessons (Part 1)

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Have you just bought a guitar or are you thinking of getting one, but you just do not have the first clue on how to strike a chord? If so, getting guitar lessons is definitely something you should consider.

It may be that you can even play a little bit already, but taking guitar lessons can still help to improve your playing abilities and your confidence.

The lessons that are available are categorized in nine different sections -

- The basics
- Technique
- Chords
- Scales
- Tuning
- Music Theory
- Music Styles
- Guitar Tech
- Forming a band

The categories are broken down into individual lessons, offering you the chance to start from the very basics and work your way up to even being part of a band.

What You Need to Know About The Basics

So what should you expect to learn from the first lesson? Well, as with everything, it is important to start with the very basics and work your way up. It is a good idea to know your way around a guitar and you should expect to know all of this after your first lesson. You should also learn how to look after your guitar, tune it and also how to use the pick.

Generally, once you know the basics on how to look after the guitar, it is good to start off learning the basic chords before trying anything else. Many people find that the best way to start is by learning the G chord and working your way from there.

Obviously, before you start, you will need the basic equipment. Basic equipment includes a guitar, a guitar pick to play the chords, a comfortable chair and it is also wise to have a great deal of patience. Make sure that you buy quite a few guitar picks as they are small and they can be easy to lose or break. It may be an idea too, to buy medium gauge ones to start with because they are not too hard or too flimsy and they are good for beginners.

Now you know all about the guitar, it is now time to learn how to hold it correctly before you start to play anything. So grab your guitar and sit comfortably in your chair with out slouching, as it will bring on bad habits while playing the guitar. Your instructor will talk you through each step and, before you know it, you will be putting together your first sequence of chords.

Overall, to play a guitar the only thing you really need is passion. If it is something that you feel you want to succeed in, having guitar lessons will help you immensely. The more advanced a person becomes, the more tricks they can perform with their guitar that will help to bring confidence to their playing. Remember it is a good idea to keep practicing and it will soon pay off.

The First Step and Most Important Thing in Learning Guitar

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Most of the guitar lovers playing guitar for few years but still unsatisfied with their progress. They feel like still stand at the starting point and can't enjoy their playing. This mainly caused by most of them don't build up a strong foundation at the begining. I found that some of the guitar learners even just playing guitar for one to two years but are more better than so many that playing for over five years. This is the foundation problems. Me myself was an example when I started playing guitar long time ago.

The secrets of learning guitar are mostly base on the foundation.To have a good foundation for future success,we need three important factors :-

1.Listening:

Ear training is a MUST basic training that every guitar learner should have. But most of them avoid this as quite a boring and time-consuming job. Without a good listening, we are unable to move to higher level. To overcome this problems, I suggest that guitar learners may choose one of the well known Ear Training software on internet. I found that there are few really good software that will improve your listening step by step and really FUN. You feel like playing game when you learn.

2.Daily practice: (Both fingers and ears)

Daily practice is another important thing we should do.(Ex.fingers exercises, practice for the basic scales) I suggest that beginners practice PENTATONIC SCALES at the starting point because this scales are the most simple scales that only have 5 tones. Try to practice 20 to 30 minutes daily. Remember that even just 20 minutes of RELAX and CONCERNTRATION DAILY practice is more effective than few hours of unconstant practice.

3.Look for a teacher:

You may find either private guitar teacher or guitar lessons on internet. For my opinions,learn guitar from internet maybe better because of the convinience of time and cheaper. There is just one question of learning from internet that what lessons to choose, what lessons are really work. Myself as a guitar lover have been playing guitar for 15 years.

I do the research on guitar lessons from internet over 5 years for myself and my groups. I've spent a lot of money for it. Recently I just built up my own little web page telling guitar lovers a few good guitar lessons that really work and would like to share with all of you.

The Different Types of Guitars

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There are different types of guitars. There are acoustic guitars, electric acoustic guitars, semi-hollow guitars, electric guitars, twelve string guitars, four string bass guitars, five string bass guitars, the list goes on.

I will take some time here to give a brief overview of some of the guitar types listed above...

Acoustic guitars: They are those guitars that produce big enough sound for a very small audience without any form of amplification. They are popularly used in country music and classical music. They come in different shapes and sizes. However, they all have the following in common: A hollow body, a sound hole, a bridge, a neck and a tuning machine.

Electric guitars: These do not produce loud volumes without amplification. In fact, you'll hardly hear it even with the slightest background noise. They usually have solid bodies, usually have longer necks than their acoustic counterparts and also have in-built pick ups for sound amplification. They are very popular in pop and rock music.

Electric acoustic guitars: These are basically acoustic guitars with special amplification. The amplification is such that you can't achieve with a regular acoustic guitar mic'ed without having feedback problems. This one comes with a special pick up that amplifies the sound without compromising the acoustic character of the guitar. The very good ones are usually very expensive.

Electric Bass guitars: These are special guitars that are built to produce those deep notes. They are specially built to handle the stress and strain of the pull by those big strings. They are mostly built with solid bodies. Although there are a few that have semi-hollow bodies.

They are usually the longest of all guitars (I mean their necks). The standard electric bass guitar is the four-string bass guitar. However, five string bass guitars are also becoming very popular. There are also six string bass guitars.

There are other types of guitars like I mentioned at the beginning. However, they are all variations of, or a blend of, the three I've described here.

Buying Your First Electric Guitar

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Buying your first guitar is a big step, and there are a lot of things to consider. Electric, rather than acoustic guitars are the most frequent choice for budding guitarists, as they are generally easier to play and, for many beginners, more fun as well. Knowing which equipment is a necessity and which is overkill, comparing prices and brand names, and sorting through a mountain of technical jargon and specifications can all make the process intimidating. This is particularly true for budding musicians or people trying to find that perfect gift for the musician in their lives.

But buying a guitar doesn't have to be hard. In fact, many professional musicians look back on buying and learning to play their first guitar as one of the most fun times in their lives. This article will sort out of a few of the most confusing aspects of guitars and accessories, and at the same time make the process of buying your first guitar as personal, easy and fun as possible. After all, you're not really interested in buying a guitar, you're interested in playing it!

By using the menu below, navigate through the rest of this article, including what you'll need to get started, as well as how to select the right guitar and amplifier.

Necessary Equipment

There are a few absolutely essential pieces of equipment that are needed to play the electric guitar. The bare minimum set of equipment includes:

A Guitar This one should be obvious, but read the section on choosing the right guitar for more information about which features to look for when buying your first guitar.
An Amplifier (Amp) Some guitar amplifiers come with built in speakers and some don't. Many have particular features which put them ahead of others in their class. Read the section on choosing the right amplifier for more information.
An Instrument Cable At least 6 ft. long, to connect the guitar and amp.
A Set of Guitar Strings
A Guitar Pick

The contents of this list may seem obvious to some, but overlooking any one of these items will require an inconvenient trip to the music store or your favorite music supply website before you can start playing. In addition, there are several other items that are not strictly essential, but many musicians would say they cannot live without:

Distortion and Effects A key element of a guitar's sound is the effects that are used to modify it. The most common, essential effect for rock music, jazz, blues, and most other forms of modern guitar is distortion. Some amplifiers come with built in distortion, some don't. Read the section on amplifiers for more information.
Guitar Carrying Case It's pretty hard to move your guitar around without damaging or detuning it, so a hard guitar case or soft "gig-bag" are an important piece of equipment.
Instruction Book If you're just starting out playing guitar, having an instruction book to guide you will definitely help. It's no substitute for taking professional lessons, but it's a start.

Since there are many pieces of equipment needed to play electric guitar, one attractive option is to purchase a single "kit" containing all the neccessary items and accessories. An example of a good quality, affordable guitar kit is the Vintager Guitar Pack.

Now that you know which equipment you'll need to start playing, read the sections below for more information about selecting the right equipment to meet your needs.

Choosing the Right Guitar

The most important and possibly most intimidating part of putting together your first electric guitar "kit" is selecting the guitar itself. Music stores have walls full of guitars with a wide range of quality, features and price tags. So how can a beginner sort through the ocean of terminology, brand names, and jargon without getting lost? The choice really comes down to three essential elements: body construction, electronics, and budget.

Body Construction

Although electric guitars derive a lot of their sound quality from their electronics, the construction of the guitar's body is even more important. The way sound resonates through the body of the guitar will determine whether it produces a warm, solid tone or a hollow one. As common sense might dictate, a solid-body electric guitar will produce a stronger more solid tone than a hollow-body guitar. Although some people do like the thinner sound that comes from a hollow body guitar, a solid body will be the most versatile, and most appropriate for beginners and veteran guitarists alike. In addition, a well constructed guitar should have the entire body, neck and fretboard made of wood, not of laminate or plastic materials.

A second consideration is the guitar's size. A "standard" electric guitar has 22 frets, meaning each string is capable of producing 22 different notes. However, many electric guitars, particularly those marketed to beginners are smaller in size. Except for small children who lack the wingspan to reach a full sized guitar, this is undesirable, as it limits the range of notes the guitar is capable of producing. Therefore, teenagers and adults looking to purchase their first guitar (and 10th guitar, for that matter) should look for full-sized, 22 fret guitars.

Finally, the last important feature of an electric guitar's construction is the bridge. The bridge is the part of the guitar where the strings attach to the guitar body. There are two types of bridges: fixed bridge and floating (vibrato) bridge. For most aspiring guitarists, the vibrato bridge will be the best choice. This allows the guitarist to "bend" notes as they are being played using the included "wammy-bar". This is a common technique in rock, blues and jazz music. Although the bridge won't have a large effect on other aspects of the guitar's sound like those listed above, a floating or vibrato bridge really makes guitar playing more fun and expressive.

Electronics

Another essential element of a guitar's sound is the system of electronics it contains. The most important element of an electric guitar's electronics is its pickup (or pickups). Pickups are like small microphones that sit just beneath the strings. The position and quality of the pickup(s) in the guitar will have a large impact on the guitar's sound. Pickups placed near the bridge produce a sharp "twangy" tone, while those placed near the fretboard produce a deeper more melodic tone.

The best option for a beginner (and many more advanced guitarists) is a guitar with multiple pickups. This allows the guitarist to choose the appropriate sound for the type of song being played, and greatly increases the guitar's versatility. A common setup is a guitar with three pickups and a switch that allows the guitarist to select which pickup(s) are being used. In this case, a 5-way switch allows for any pickup to be used, as well as combining multiple pickups to produce a unique sound.

Budget

Just as with any product, budget is an important factor to consider when buying an electric guitar. Guitars can range in price from about forty dollars to several thousand. And just like with most products, the top of the price range spectrum is occupied by "designer" guitars with celebrity endorsements that don't offer much more in the way of quality than those in the middle of the price range. In short, they are the equivalent of a designer handbag: inflated price without much real functional benefit.

The truth is that most of the name brand guitar manufacturers (Fender, Ibanez, Behringer, Jackson) produce an affordable beginner model, and most of these models are of perfectly good quality for a new musician, and will last for years. As long as you stick to the guidelines in this article for body design, electronics, amplifier design, etc., you can't go too wrong.

The next important task is selecting the right amplifier to go with your new guitar!

Choosing the Right Amplifier

Most people (but perhaps not all people) realize that the electric guitar does not produce any sound by itself (except an almost inaudible twang). The sound you here from an electric guitar actually comes from the amplifier, which is connected to the guitar by an instrument cable. Therefore, the quality of the amplifier is as important as the quality of the guitar itself in determining how the guitar will ultimately sound. Much like selecting the guitar itself, the process of selecting an amplifier can be intimidating, but can be boiled down to a few essential features.

Power

When reading about a guitar amplifier, the first thing that is always listed is the power rating. The power of a guitar amplifier is measured in watts (abbreviated W). The higher the wattage, the louder the sound it can produce. However, although this feature of an amplifier is important for stage performers, it is not the most important thing to a beginner guitarist.

Practice amps are available with as little as 5 watts of power, while amplifiers with hundreds or thousands of watts of power are typically used for stage performance. Realistically, a power rating of 10-15 watts is more than enough to wake the neighbors, and you'll rarely if ever max out the power of your practice amp. The more important aspects of an amplifier are its features and effects, as these will affect the sound quality.

Features

One important feature of an amplifier is the type of electronics it employs. There are basically two types of amplifiers: solid state and vacuum tube. While almost all modern electronics, including guitar amplifiers to some extent, have phased out vacuum tubes and replaced them with transistors, it is still widely accepted that vacuum tube amplifiers produce better tone, better distortion, and better all around sound quality. In fact, many if not most professional rock, blues and jazz musicians use vacuum tube amplifiers because of their superior sound quality. Most practice amps in the price range affordable by beginner guitarists do not include vacuum tubes, but there are a few companies that have made this option available. The Behringer AC108, included in the Vintager Guitar Pack, has a vacuum tube that can be turned on or off, allowing for increased versatility and sound quality, while still maintaining an affordable price.

Another desirable feature of guitar amplifiers, particularly for beginners, is a CD input. This allows the guitarist to plug a CD player, cassette or iPod into the back of the amplifier, and play along with his / her favorite tracks. If you've ever tried to learn to play guitar, you probably realize that this is something beginner guitarists do all the time during the learning process, and the convenience of a CD input makes this process much easier.

Effects

The last major element to consider when buying a guitar amplifier is the built in effects it includes. Effects such as distortion, reverb, and equalization (EQ) allow the sound produced by the amplifier to be customized, thereby increasing its versatility. The more effects that are built into the amplifier, the fewer effects you'll need to go out and buy separately to produce that perfect sound you're looking for.

The process of buying an electric guitar can be confusing, but it should be fun, too. Music isn't meant to be about instruction manuals and long spec sheets – it's about fun and inspiration. Hopefully, by providing some basic guidance on what you'll need to start your guitar career, this article will make that process easier and more fun.

Buying Your First Electric Guitar

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By using the menu below, navigate through the rest of this article, including what you'll need to get started, as well as how to select the right guitar and amplifier.

Necessary Equipment

There are a few absolutely essential pieces of equipment that are needed to play the electric guitar. The bare minimum set of equipment includes:

A Guitar This one should be obvious, but read the section on choosing the right guitar for more information about which features to look for when buying your first guitar.
An Amplifier (Amp) Some guitar amplifiers come with built in speakers and some don't. Many have particular features which put them ahead of others in their class. Read the section on choosing the right amplifier for more information.
An Instrument Cable At least 6 ft. long, to connect the guitar and amp.
A Set of Guitar Strings
A Guitar Pick

Distortion and Effects A key element of a guitar's sound is the effects that are used to modify it. The most common, essential effect for rock music, jazz, blues, and most other forms of modern guitar is distortion. Some amplifiers come with built in distortion, some don't. Read the section on amplifiers for more information.
Guitar Carrying Case It's pretty hard to move your guitar around without damaging or detuning it, so a hard guitar case or soft "gig-bag" are an important piece of equipment.
Instruction Book If you're just starting out playing guitar, having an instruction book to guide you will definitely help. It's no substitute for taking professional lessons, but it's a start.

Now that you know which equipment you'll need to start playing, read the sections below for more information about selecting the right equipment to meet your needs.

Choosing the Right Guitar

Body Construction

Electronics

Budget

The next important task is selecting the right amplifier to go with your new guitar!

Choosing the Right Amplifier

Power

Features

Effects

How to Choose and Buy an Acoustic Guitar

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Knowing how to choose the right guitar and how to identify a bad one will save you from countless headaches, not to mention finger aches. Also, choosing the right acoustic can be tough, especially these days, when there are so many styles to choose from.

Acoustic guitar bodies come in basically the same shape, with some variations, but they do vary in size, colour, wood-type, style, and extra features. You can even buy an acoustic guitar so small that fits into a hiking backpack.

The most common type of guitar in use today is the folk-style of guitar. This is the guitar you will see played around most campfires and parties, and is the one found in most music groups, church choirs, and in the corner of most homes.

Guitars come in a very wide range of prices, but when it comes to instruments, in general, you get what you pay for, especially when you buy new. There’s a difference between getting a bargain and buying cheap.

But whether you buy new or used may be determined by many personal factors, and each has their own pros and cons.

Buying new, gives you a warranty and, hopefully, a return period, if for some reason you’re not totally satisfied with your purchase, or something goes wrong.

Under ‘normal’ circumstances, a used guitar can usually be purchased cheaper and has already gone through its “break-in” period.

Commercially built guitars are usually mass manufactured. “Custom-made” guitars are exactly that. They are custom built and tailored to your specifications by a highly skilled guitar maker.

Prices for a custom-built guitar vary considerably, depending on the skill level of the craftsperson you contract the job to, but, as a rule, they are generally quite higher than a commercially built guitar of “similar” quality. Each custom built guitar is unique and therefore hard to compare in price to a commercially built guitar.

Understanding some of the parts of a guitar will definitely help you when it comes to the Pre-Purchase Checklist.

BODY: This is the part with the sound hole in the front. It is where the strumming is done, and it can vary in size. The actual size, shape, type of wood, coating, and general build of the body also affects how the guitar will “sound”, whether it’s a rich and warm sound, or a thin and ‘twangy’ sound. The body tends to be the part that also gets scratched, damaged, and generally banged-up the most.

NECK: This is the long piece extending from the body and ends at the ‘head’ of the guitar where the ‘Tuning Heads’ are, also known as ‘machine heads’. The strings travel from the ‘Bridge’ on the body, across the sound hole, along the ‘Fret Board’, which is attached to the front-side of the neck, and finally arriving at the tuning heads where they are wrapped around tuning posts. The tuning heads are then turned by hand, which then turns the posts, making the strings tighter or looser, thus affecting their ‘tuning’. Necks tend to warp and twist if not looked after, or if the guitar is left propped against a heat source.

BRIDGE: The Bridge is normally located on the front of the body, by the sound hole, and on the side of the hole opposite to the neck. The strings are usually fed through the bridge first before they cross the hole and travel up the neck to the tuning heads. The bridge is like an anchor-point for the strings. Metal bridges are best, but on most acoustics they are either hard plastic or wood. Bridges have a tendency to crack and split over a long period of time.

FRET BOARD: The fret board is glued to the front of the neck. This is the part you press the strings onto to make chords or play individual notes. Because it’s glued on separately, a fret board can be made of a wood that’s different from the neck.

The strings travel over the fret board and the distance they are above the fret board makes a difference to the playability of the guitar. If the strings are too far above the fret board, then they will be hard to press down, making the guitar hard to play.

When a beginner plays a guitar, initially his or her fingertips are very soft and need to be hardened. A guitar with the strings too far above the fret board, also known as having a ‘high action’, will cause the player’s fingers to hurt so much that they are likely to put the guitar away in discouragement and possibly stop playing altogether.

STRINGS: Acoustic guitar strings, come in a wide variety of ‘flavours’. They can be made out of nylon, brass, steel, or a combination. Nylon strings are usually only found on Classical guitars and Student guitars, because they’re easier on the fingertips. They have a rich, warm sound to them.

Strings sets come in different ‘weights’, or sizes. Strings that come from a package marked ‘Heavy’ are usually quite thick in size and sound “beefy”. Strings that are light, or extra light, are very thin and usually have a brighter sound to them, but are also quieter sounding than heavy strings.

String choices are purely personal taste. Light strings are easier to press than heavy strings but also sound quite different. The more often strings are played, the dirtier they get. If a cloth isn’t run over and under them, from time to time, the sound becomes very dull.

No matter where you buy your guitar, if you know what to look for, and spend a little extra effort in your search for that ‘perfect’ guitar, not only will your fingers thank you, but also your ears, and all those who will come to join you around the campfire, or even go to see you in concert. Who knows?

Electric or Acoustic Guitar - Which is Right for You?

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So you've chosen to take up the guitar. Good for you! Now comes the hard part: which guitar is the best to start playing on? Well, the answer to that question depends on many things. It depends on what kind of music you enjoy listening to, what kind of music you are looking to play, and what kind of level you wish to reach--amateur or professional.

Before we go over each topic, let us first discuss the differences between Electric and Acoustic guitars.

The main difference between an Electric and Acoustic guitar is the fact that the Electric must be plugged into an amplifier in order to be heard loudly, while the Acoustic can be played and heard without the use of an amp. This is because Acoustic guitars have sound holes, which produce the sound. Electric guitars, on the other hand, don't have a sound hole and are thus known as Hollow-body's. Electric hollow-body’s can be heard by the people playing them, but are inaudible to others without the use of an amp. Additionally, there are Electric guitars with the ability to be played both acoustically and electrically because they have little sound holes. These are known as semi-hollow bodies and are very versatile because they can sound one way unplugged and another way on an amp. Finally, there are some Acoustic guitars, known as Acoustic-Electric's, that can be played acoustically or on an amp. However, these are very different from semi-hollow bodies, because they sound pretty much the same unplugged or plugged--the only difference being that the Acoustic-Electric when plugged into the amp.

OK, now that we've briefly gone over the different types of Acoustic and Electric guitars, we can now move on to the criteria for choosing a guitar.

The Music You Enjoy Helps You Decide What Guitar to Buy: Let's start off with the first topic. Obviously, those who enjoy listening to a certain kind of music are most likely going to want to play it on guitar. That is why you must take this into consideration when looking for a guitar. Choosing the wrong type of guitar could lead to frustration and giving up the instrument all together. Do you enjoy rock music--metal, modern, alternative and otherwise? Then chances are a hollow-body electric guitar is a wise choice. If that is the case, you will also want to purchase an amp. But what if you like rock music that makes use of both acoustic and electric guitar? Then perhaps a semi-hollow body guitar is the best choice. Or maybe you don't like rock and instead enjoy country or mellow music. Acoustic or Acoustic-Electric guitar is then your best bet.

What Kind of Music Do You Want to Play?: Maybe you're a big rock fan, but would rather learn to play mellow, acoustic-based songs. That's perfectly fine, and if that's the genre you wish to play, you definitely want to pick up an Acoustic or Acoustic-Electric guitar. It's also possible that you're a big fan of acoustic-pop but want to start playing rock & roll. Do yourself a favor and pick up a semi-hollow or hollow body guitar.

What Level Do You Wish to Achieve?: Are you just taking up the guitar for recreational purposes and not looking to form a band or master the instrument? The Electric guitar is probably a good choice. This is because Electric guitars are much easier to start playing on than Acoustics are. Electrics have thinner strings (which are easier to start playing on) and, when plugged into an amp, allow room for error. Beginner mistakes can be easily covered up with Electric guitars. However, you cannot expect to make mistakes and be a pro. Acoustic guitars do not cover up your mistakes at all--if anything, they highlight them. You are forced to play songs correctly and master techniques the right way. The learning curve of an Acoustic is steeper, but you will reap the rewards if you master it. A transition from Acoustic to Electric guitar will be incredibly easy, whereas a transition from Electric to Acoustic guitar will be a bit harder. Thinking about what you want to accomplish on the guitar is a big factor in your decision.

Well, there you have it. After you think deeply about the above topics, you should be able to decide what type of guitar to get. Once you’ve made that decision, you’ll probably want to check out my articles on "Choosing the right Acoustic guitar" and "Choosing the right Electric guitar".

My history

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Here at GutiarWerks.com, I hope to be able to provide some guitar insights to any visitor. Just a brief history of myself....

I have been playing the guitar for about 6 years(since 2001), and I first started off with a Yamaha C70 Classical Guitar. Only about a year later did I progress to a F-510 acoustic folk guitar which is almost a vintage (29 years!..my dad bought it in his younger days). In 2004, I picked up the electric guitar, and played electric guitar for my church.

I decided to make the switch back to acoustic last year, because acoustic is where I am competent at. Therefore, it has always been one of my desires to help aspiring beginners to take their guitar skills to the next level. Please feel free to enjoy the articles here!

Thanks,
John