Seven guitar tips

Guitar - 7 Tips to Help Improve Your Technique
By Joss Schuyler

In order for you learn how to play lead guitar you need to know that it not only takes some natural talent but you need to understand the theory and technique as well. There are plenty of people already playing lead guitar who wish to be the best that they can be. But for some people this is easier said than done. Below we offer a few tips that could help improve your playing lead guitar in the future.

Tip 1 - If you really want to become a great lead guitarist then you need to learn the basics of playing the instrument first. Although you may think that it is worth skipping the stuff that you consider to be boring then when it comes to playing the instrument will prove even more of a challenge.

Tip 2 - Although you may want to start playing the guitar stood up and jumping around it isn't the best way to learn this instrument. It is far easier if you practice your playing whilst sat in a comfortable chair. Along with you being more relaxed so retaining what you learn becomes easier but also you won't tire so quickly when practicing.

Tip 3 - You need to make sure that you discipline yourself to practice when you should. Therefore if you say you are going to spend 45 minutes each day on practice then don't decide to finish it 10 or 20 minutes before you should.

Tip 4 - It is a good idea to learn alternate picking rather than economy picking otherwise when it comes to learning more complex techniques or playing faster pieces will become more difficult. When we talk about alternate picking we are talking about you alternating when picking between the up and down strokes. Learning this not only becomes an automatic reflex but you find that you then are able to pick the strings a lot more quickly.

Tip 5 - Dedicate time to learning the various techniques for playing the lead guitar which means learning how to play bends, slides, vibratos, hammer ons, pull offs and the other tricks lead guitarist use. As well as making your guitar playing a lot more colorful they will help to make it more expressive.

Tip 6 - Whenever you want to learn how to play certain guitar solos the first thing you will need to learn is the scales that you will have to play repeatedly. The most popular scales that guitarists will learn are the E Blues and the pentatonic ones. Both of which can act as a framework to your playing and assist you in creating your own solo pieces of music as well.

Tip 7 - This final tip for playing lead guitar is the most important and is the one that says practice, practice, practice. The more you practice a piece then the more you will remember it and so over time it becomes much easier to play. It is best to start of learning each piece slowly and then to build up your speeds use a metronome.

To get a free guitar course, plus lots of tips for playing lead guitar like the legends and ideas for starting your own band, visit Lead Guitar Guide.

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

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Exposing the Secrets of Guitar Playing!

An Overview On Why Guitar Experts Selfishly Hide The Truth
By Melvin Fang

* The million dollar question: Is guitar expertise an inborn ability or acquired skill?

Well the answer can be derived if I ask you another question. Is walking an inborn ability or acquired skill? How did you think you learnt to walk when you were young? Its clear cut: Anybody can play the guitar! Given this simple but startling revelation, we still find players who think they are not cut out to play the 6-stringed ax. It certainly doesn't help that many experienced guitar players desperately try to distort the truths by saying things like," It's in the fingers!" "I don't know why, but I just go by feeling" "Practice, practice, practice!" Do you think these statements help at all for the learning and aspiring guitar player? Not at all. They merely dampen the spirits and make the poor guitarist feel untalented and unmotivated. Uninspired. This practice indeed, is an unfortunate situation for the poor chap who deserve a much better chance to join the league of guitar heroes, if only he knows what's going on.

Read in between the line. The answer to guitar playing expertise lies in the crux of this existing problem. Many guitar players are merely "illusionists" conjuring an image of great talent, when the truth is they have fumbled, stumbled and sweated pails of blood before they come to the land of glory. If you truly aspire to master the guitar, then let me reveal the 3 simple secrets of guitar playing to you.

* The Right Mindset That Playing Guitar Is An Acquired Skill & Not In-born Talent.

Just like learning to drive, to read, to talk. If you start with the wrong mindset, you'd never master the guitar. Do not allow yourself to be influenced otherwise about this. Especially from the "selfish" experts who desperately hope that you will forever remain inferior.

* Finding Your Success Role Model(s) To Replicate

There are many styles of guitar playing. Rock, heavy metal, jazz, blues. Which do you feel more inspired to learn? From here, find your ideal role model to emulate and replicate. Say if you like rock-blues, you can learn by listening frequency to Gary Moore, or if you prefer abstract virtuoso rock, you can go for Steve Vai. You need to be motivated by your role model(s) in order to trigger a response to do something about your playing.

* Knowledge Sharing Is The "Leveraged" Way To Improve

Try carrying a boulder rock by yourself. You will collapsed in a heap. Now, try lifting this boulder with a crane and you control the crane. Instantly you lift the boulder effortlessly. This is leverage. The only way to improve is by sharing with a group of players who think like you. You will improve together at a much faster and accelerated pace than you trying alone.

With these 3 simple tips to guitar playing, you will find that playing the guitar is indeed not as intimidating as what the selfish "experts" made them up to be. In life, never allow yourself to be bullied or intimidated by others. Prove to them that they are nothing if you seriously want to master the guitar! The next time they tell you to "practice harder", think this statement in your head "Just wait and see!!"

Melvin Fang is a professional guitar player with 10 years of playing experience and a professional performer who plays for gigs and teaches guitar. He is a firm believer that anybody can play the guitar if they know exactly how to do it. He is also an author of guitar playing instruction and technique guides. Log on to http://www.guitartradesecrets.com to receive a free Audio CD on how to be a guitar guru and a free guitar chord chart.

Gary Moore via last.fm

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

Hot fixes for your guitar playing

Simple guitar playing tips can be the difference between a guitarist who improves everyday due to efficient practicing or someone who rarely gets better because they practice the wrong things or the right things the wrong way. Learning to play guitar can be a mine field so I have compiled a list of simple tips to help you while learning to play guitar.

Guitar playing tip 1:

Decide what kinds of things you want to be able to play. Many people never give this a thought, and so they kind of bumble through and learn the odd song/lick here and there, and after a few years they can play some guitar but they aren’t exactly the musician they imagined they would be. You can prevent this disappointment by having a clear objective beforehand.

Guitar playing tip 2:

Develop a regular practice schedule-even it’s practicing changing from a D chord to a G chord for ten minutes each day while you watch the evening news. If you can maintain some form of practice at the same time everyday it will be much easier to keep to it, and you will improve much faster than if you just practice when you can fit it in.

Guitar Playing Tip 3:

Get a metronome. Just about everything you ever play on guitar will sound a lot better if you work it with a metronome whilst you learn it. A metronome not only helps you learn to keep time, but it will also highlight any irregularities in your playing. Notes that are too short or too long or chord changes that aren’t perfect will stand out very clearly.

Guitar Playing Tip 4:

Play with other musicians. This will make you improve perhaps more than anything else. Something about the adrenaline coupled with the fact that you have to seriously concentrate on what other people are playing makes you improve like you won’t believe until you try it. It doesn’t have to be a full on band either, it could be just a buddy with and acoustic or even a harmonica!

Guitar Playing Tip 5:

Get to know your guitar. Do you know exactly what your guitar will sound like if you hit the strings very softly using just the middle pickup with the guitar volume at about 2.7? Well you should. Knowing stuff like this is one of the keys to being an excellent all round guitar player. There are few things as cool as seeing a guitarist switching from sound to sound for different licks using only the guitar and no pedals/footswitch.

There are so many different sides of guitar playing that these guitar playing tips could have easily numbered in the thousands, but obviously there isn’t space for that here so hopefully these five will do for now!

Click HERE to learn the secrets of the professionals and become a great guitar player in record time, including lots of guitar playing tips!
Is your guitar playing reaching it's full potential? Click here to find out how you can unlock your inner guitar genius!!

Steve Laney is the webmaster at http://www.dailyguitarlessons.com

Image by detbuzzsaw via Flickr

Thanks Steve for the article

What about motivation?

what about motivation?

What can you do to stay motivated as you practice on your guitar? How can you increase and maintain the joy of playing? Here are some tips on how to keep that joy that made you start playing the guitar in the first place!

What can you do before setting goals?

The reason why we don't keep our guitar playing goals might be that we haven't been honest with ourselves before the goal setting process.

Before actually setting goals you have to decide why you want to play guitar or want to be a better player. Make an honest survey of your assets and wishes in the area of guitar playing.

Your inner wishes will probably conquer your goals if they are not the same.

How to set goals

In order to set goals that you will actually work towards you might ask yourself:

Do I really want to accomplish these goals?

Will I really feel good when I reach my goals?

I guess you will agree with me that the only goals that are really meaningful are the ones that will take you in that direction that leads to a place you want to be at!

I think that a part of your guitar playing goals should be focused practicing melodies you want to play in front of other people.

One common reason for starting to play the guitar is to be able to play the pieces of music you like.

This means that as you learn to play guitar, a goal might be to learn a number of songs or melodies by heart so you can play them in any setting.

These songs or melodies are to be learned so well that you don't have to worry if you are asked to play.

One reason for having a repertoire with guitar pieces thoroughly rehearsed is that you can feel that you perform at the top of your ability when asked to play.

Remember, it should be guitar pieces you like to play.

If you do not like what you play you run the risk of memorizing these feelings together with the material you play.

When you practice a guitar piece you will memorize much more than the melody. At least these things will be memorized:

1. Hopefully the melody

2. Your attitude

3. Your level of body tension as you play

4. Your posture

5. The pressure you apply when pressing down the strings or holding your pick

If you like what you practice this joy will probably be transmitted to the audience when you perform.

In order to keep your motivation to practice on top and be able to stick with your guitar playing goals I suggest that you consider the following tips:

1. Ask yourself these questions to evaluate your future ability to stick with your goals:

Why do I want to be a better guitar player?

Is it because I like to play guitar?

Is it because I am "forced to"?

Is it because I want to impress my friends?

What things do I like to play on the guitar?

2. Set goals that take into consideration what motivated you to play in the first place. If you like strumming chords and sing your favorite songs your goals should probably be in that area.

3. Learn pieces that you feel good about and let other people listen to them and feel good too.

Peter Edvinsson at Capotasto Music invites you to download your free sheet music, guitar tabs, ebooks, music lessons and read his music blog at

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http://www.capotastomusic.com

How much should you practice?

Do you remember when you bought or got your first guitar? I'm guessing it wasn't uncommon to find you somewhere practicing for all hours of the day and night, and yet, depending on how long you have been learning to play your six string there's a chance that your instrument may be lying somewhere gathering dust.

What happened?

I find many guitar players either do not have set practice times, or are unsure of when to practice their guitar.

When a consistent practice schedule is not maintained it's easy to procrastinate and forget to practice your guitar. Next thing you know, you've entirely lost your musical momentum and wake up one morning realizing that you have not even played for weeks on end.

When practicing your guitar; a great time to learn is when you are either the most alert or the most creative. Self analyze your personal body rhythms so that you can get the most out of your practice times.

Alert Practicing Times

If you find that you are the most alert in the morning then set aside your practice times based on a morning schedule. I.e. chances are that Saturday mornings will work great for you especially if you are working early mornings during the week.

If you find that you are most alert in the evening then set aside your practice times based on an evening schedule. Just be aware of the time you practice in the evening so that you do not end up realizing that it's 3 a.m. in the morning and you have to be up at work in 3 hours.

During your alert time you can really concentrate on the super technical aspects of the guitar like improving your scale and chord speed.

Creative Practicing Times

Begin to recognize your most creative times when playing the guitar. For me, it's generally around the 9pm to 11:00 pm time. Effectively utilize your creative practice time for learning new songs, improvisation, song writing, guitar riffs, alternate tunings, and the list goes on.

In time, by consistently making time to practice; you're creative and alert practice times will propel you into another level of learning your guitar in a snap.

Do you want to learn more about how to play the guitar? I have just completed my free brand new report entitled "The 10 Myths of Learning Guitar." Download it free here: http://guitarinasnap.com

Jeremiah La Follette has been helping beginner guitar players to learn how to play guitar in a snap for over 15 years. With a passion to teach guitar, Jeremiah has helped beginner guitar players unlock the secrets of the guitar.

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

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Thanks to Jeremiah for the use of his article

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