Showing posts with label i. Show all posts
Showing posts with label i. Show all posts
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Cool Tracks With Guitars I Prog Rock
In this post I would like to present five cool songs that I found on Jamendo. They can be a really inspiring stuff for a guitarist. The playlist is based on progressive rock/metal vibes.
| Click to listen |
1. JT Bruce - Plunge Into Hyperreality
2. Andrea Puggioni - Notte Prog
3. Emerald Cave - Far From Any World
4. Progside - Inside My Robots Mind
5. PhaZer - Feat Itself
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Thursday, October 10, 2013
Should I Learn on an Acoustic or Electric Guitar
Dont fall for the old wives tale.
Back in the day, the usual advice was to start on the acoustic guitar and then move to the electric. The reason back then, in the 1950s and 60s, was that an electric guitar was considerably more expensive than an acoustic. Things have changed and the price difference is really small if it even exists. The good news for the consumer is that cheap guitars are getting better. Some of the well known manufacturers including Gibson, Fender and Martin have entered the lower priced market. As a result, the guitar you buy now is a lot better than the one you could have gotten 10 years ago for the same money. Since they cant really go any lower on price, theyre offering more features for the money. So the question of acoustic vs. electric is really more a matter of taste, and the decision should be based on what you like best. At some point most players end up having one of each, but in the beginning the best thing is to buy what you like.
Back in the day, the usual advice was to start on the acoustic guitar and then move to the electric. The reason back then, in the 1950s and 60s, was that an electric guitar was considerably more expensive than an acoustic. Things have changed and the price difference is really small if it even exists. The good news for the consumer is that cheap guitars are getting better. Some of the well known manufacturers including Gibson, Fender and Martin have entered the lower priced market. As a result, the guitar you buy now is a lot better than the one you could have gotten 10 years ago for the same money. Since they cant really go any lower on price, theyre offering more features for the money. So the question of acoustic vs. electric is really more a matter of taste, and the decision should be based on what you like best. At some point most players end up having one of each, but in the beginning the best thing is to buy what you like.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
How Do I Know if Im Still a Beginner
What makes a guitar student a beginner?
I was teaching the other day and a guitar student of mine, after having played for 6 months, told me he felt like he was still a beginner. My reply? You ARE still a beginner. One of the hardest things to accept about learning an instrument is that you cant speed the process up very much. Yes, you can practice more, take more lessons, do research on the internet and buy books, but your muscle memory has to catch up. So, what does indicate that youre a beginner? If your chords are still sloppy, you have trouble changing from one to the other, your fingers dont move very quickly and you can only play a couple songs all the way through, youre still in the beginning stage.
How do you make the jump?
First and foremost, take a deep breath, relax, and understand that everyone makes progress at a different rate. If youve never played guitar or any other instrument, havent had a musical background, your parents or siblings dont play, youll just have to go slow and learn at your own pace. With the wealth of information out there today, sometimes it does more harm than good. More and more lately I have students asking about theory and techniques that really arent going to be useful at this point. They want to learn songs that theyre not capable of playing, and that just makes it more frustrating. The ability to focus, go slow, and really learn a song, concept or technique is where the emphasis should be placed. Getting to the next level requires basic skills, at least an elementary understanding of the music youre trying to play and the ability to play it well.
Dont be tempted to multitask.
Having a clear goal in mind and concentrating on one thing at a time is the best way to make steady progress. Dont worry about trying to master chords, notes, scales, or intervals all at once. Your guitar teacher can help you decide what to learn first. How you start learning guitar depends on what kind of music you like, whether or not youre going to sing and how much of a musical background you have. So work with your teacher on finding what will help you get where you want to go with music.
I was teaching the other day and a guitar student of mine, after having played for 6 months, told me he felt like he was still a beginner. My reply? You ARE still a beginner. One of the hardest things to accept about learning an instrument is that you cant speed the process up very much. Yes, you can practice more, take more lessons, do research on the internet and buy books, but your muscle memory has to catch up. So, what does indicate that youre a beginner? If your chords are still sloppy, you have trouble changing from one to the other, your fingers dont move very quickly and you can only play a couple songs all the way through, youre still in the beginning stage.
How do you make the jump?
First and foremost, take a deep breath, relax, and understand that everyone makes progress at a different rate. If youve never played guitar or any other instrument, havent had a musical background, your parents or siblings dont play, youll just have to go slow and learn at your own pace. With the wealth of information out there today, sometimes it does more harm than good. More and more lately I have students asking about theory and techniques that really arent going to be useful at this point. They want to learn songs that theyre not capable of playing, and that just makes it more frustrating. The ability to focus, go slow, and really learn a song, concept or technique is where the emphasis should be placed. Getting to the next level requires basic skills, at least an elementary understanding of the music youre trying to play and the ability to play it well.
Dont be tempted to multitask.
Having a clear goal in mind and concentrating on one thing at a time is the best way to make steady progress. Dont worry about trying to master chords, notes, scales, or intervals all at once. Your guitar teacher can help you decide what to learn first. How you start learning guitar depends on what kind of music you like, whether or not youre going to sing and how much of a musical background you have. So work with your teacher on finding what will help you get where you want to go with music.
Friday, May 31, 2013
What Kind of Guitar Pick Should I Use
Whats the difference in picks?
There are tons of choices when it comes to guitar picks. Different thicknesses, shapes, materials, themes, and who knows what else. Ive seen picks made of metal, plastic, tortoise shell, wood, rock, and even had students use a piece of a milk carton or a coin! Well cover the important differences, then its up to you to decide. Since picks are extremely cheap, the best advice is to buy an assortment and see what you like.
Shapes and sizes. Triangles, teardrops and ovals. Those are the basic shapes and there are variations. A lot of people use a triangle shaped pick with rounded corners except for the point. The main thing is to not get one thats real big or real small. After youve experimented with different picks youll probably find one that you like more than the others.
Thicknesses.
There are almost as many thicknesses as there are shapes and sizes! They vary from simply light, medium and heavy, to thousandths of an inch. My personal favorites are Jim Dunlop nylon picks with a .073 or .088 thickness. They have little bumps on them to help you grip them which is great if you play outside when its hot and humid. Plastic picks tend to slip and become more pliable in the hot weather. Again, try various picks to see which ones you like best. My advice to my students is to not get one thats real thin or real thick to start with. The thin ones tend to make a slapping sound when you play and the real thick ones can cause your wrist to hurt.
Pictures, cartoon characters, famous people. There are lots of people who collect picks since theyre inexpensive and its fun to find something different. Weve had Star Wars, The Simpsons, South Park, Elvis and many other souvenir type picks. A personal favorite that I own is from Chuck Berry. It has a picture of Chuck on one side and "Roll Over", in honor of his song Roll Over Beethoven on the other side. Finger picks and thumb picks. If you play banjo or use your fingers to play, youll also need a couple or 3 finger picks and a thumb pick. Like their flat pick counterparts they also come in gauges and different materials. Again, theyre relatively cheap so see what you like best. Most people use a plastic pick on the thumb since metal on the thicker, wound strings tends to sound raspy. So take a trip to your local music store and let the experiment begin. If youre in doubt ask your guitar teacher or a guitar playing friend for advice, but be warned that youll get lots of different opinions.
There are tons of choices when it comes to guitar picks. Different thicknesses, shapes, materials, themes, and who knows what else. Ive seen picks made of metal, plastic, tortoise shell, wood, rock, and even had students use a piece of a milk carton or a coin! Well cover the important differences, then its up to you to decide. Since picks are extremely cheap, the best advice is to buy an assortment and see what you like.
Shapes and sizes. Triangles, teardrops and ovals. Those are the basic shapes and there are variations. A lot of people use a triangle shaped pick with rounded corners except for the point. The main thing is to not get one thats real big or real small. After youve experimented with different picks youll probably find one that you like more than the others.
Thicknesses.
There are almost as many thicknesses as there are shapes and sizes! They vary from simply light, medium and heavy, to thousandths of an inch. My personal favorites are Jim Dunlop nylon picks with a .073 or .088 thickness. They have little bumps on them to help you grip them which is great if you play outside when its hot and humid. Plastic picks tend to slip and become more pliable in the hot weather. Again, try various picks to see which ones you like best. My advice to my students is to not get one thats real thin or real thick to start with. The thin ones tend to make a slapping sound when you play and the real thick ones can cause your wrist to hurt.
Pictures, cartoon characters, famous people. There are lots of people who collect picks since theyre inexpensive and its fun to find something different. Weve had Star Wars, The Simpsons, South Park, Elvis and many other souvenir type picks. A personal favorite that I own is from Chuck Berry. It has a picture of Chuck on one side and "Roll Over", in honor of his song Roll Over Beethoven on the other side. Finger picks and thumb picks. If you play banjo or use your fingers to play, youll also need a couple or 3 finger picks and a thumb pick. Like their flat pick counterparts they also come in gauges and different materials. Again, theyre relatively cheap so see what you like best. Most people use a plastic pick on the thumb since metal on the thicker, wound strings tends to sound raspy. So take a trip to your local music store and let the experiment begin. If youre in doubt ask your guitar teacher or a guitar playing friend for advice, but be warned that youll get lots of different opinions.
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