learn-guitar.org

Pentatonic scale passing tones have been a mystery to me. Actually, make that any kind of passing tones on the guitar. Like I have written before, so much of this music theory stuff goes right over my head. In any case, I have been working on some of the pentatonic scales for a long time. I think it is fun, and it is really pretty easy to pick up the guitar and work on these scales whenever I have a few minutes.

In any case, I figured these passing tones would remain another guitar mystery for me for a long time… hoping that one day it would all be clear. Well, I suppose that’s what happened… because in my guitar lesson last week I was screwing around playing some pentatonic leads while my instructor played rythm… and I screwed up and played a bad note. Or I thought I did… but my instructor Tom told me it was a passing tone. I guess I played one without even realizing what it was.

So this is the deal with passing tones (and this works for the pentatonic scale - but I bet it works for other scales as well.) If you play other notes that are in between the notes of the scale… but you play them quickly and don’t stop or dwell on them, then you are basically OK. I think there are specific notes that are good passing tones, and a bunch of these make up the “blues scale"… but Tom is pretty relaxed (if it sounds good, then it is good!)… and he said that you could probably throw in just about any note and it would be OK as a passing tone.

Another part of this is playing swing rythm… but that is all for another day.

File under: pentatonic scale, lead guitar, passing tone

After a year of learning, I figured it was time to revisit my Jamorama review. This is the deal… I started playing guitar a couple of Decembers ago when I bought myself a guitar for Christmas. I am 40 something and I have never played a guitar before… and any other musical instrument. So I figured that I am a pretty tough case study for any guitar training or learn guitar type of system. So I figured it was a good idea to do some type of a Jamorama review.

So let me begin this review of Jamorama with a description of what you get…

In Jamorama Book one there is these headings - beginners - intro to strumming - intro to chords - reading tabs - first string notes - easy chords - healthy learning - various dominant chords. This is a killer introduction, and the 52 included audio clips let you hear what the lessons are supposed to sound like. This is great stuff for a true beginner.

In Jamorama Book two there is a bunch more - this is more intermediate level material, including sight reading - bass note runs - major seventh chords - various strum patterns and chord progressions. You also get an intro to scales and lots of different chords. Pluse you get 61 audio clips… these help you figure out what you are supposed to sound like.

In Jamorama Book three you get more advanced - the advanced level stuff includes minor scales - barre chords - power chords - ninth chords - diminished chords - and augmented chords. This book also has 31 audio clips to go along with it. The audio clips are downloadable MP3 clips that you can play on your computer or anywhere else you can play an MP3.

One of the coolest things about Jamorama is that it is all downloadable, so you can get it quickly… actually immediately. I hate ordering a guitar book and having to wait to get it delivered. Of course, this means that you need to be sure to remember where you put it on your hard drive. What I like to do is print out the PDF file, and then I have a hard copy of the course.

File under: Jamorama, jamorama review, guitar

The Pentatonic scale is giving me lots to study right now. I started off working with the Am (that’s the A minor) scale on the fifth fret. That one seems to be the easiest of the five pentatonic box patterns.

I have that Pentatonic scale pattern pretty much down. I know it, and can play it pretty consistently… although I wouldn’t mind playing it a lot faster. And that same pentatonic pattern can be moved around the neck. For instance if you play it at the 12th fret (12th position), then you are playing it in E. And if you play it all the way down the neck at the open position, you are also playing it in E. That’s all I know for now… but I am sure you can play the same pattern in other places on the neck.

The other pattern I learned was the G major pattern at the 5th fret. This one is a little tougher, because you are actually playing it over a total of five frets (instead of four frets with that Am box I mentioned above.) That means you are going to be moving your fingers around a little more.

All in all, it seems like some very useful stuff… all of a sudden I am playing some leads. It’s sorta amazing to me (as a complete novice still) that without knowing more than a couple of simple pentatonic box patterns, I can be playing lead guitar. Now that doesn’t mean my leads sound all that great… but at least they technically belong.

So last week I was in Las Vegas and I visited the showroom of Ed Roman Guitars. What a cool store - they claim to be the biggest guitar store in the world, and I am not about to argue. My best guess is that the showroom is two or three times the size of a Guitar Center, and it is nothing but guitars. Well, they might have some mandolins and Ukes…

but there aren’t any drums or keyboards like at Guitar Center,Guitar Center. And it felt completely different than Guitar Center - which has always felt chaotic and overly crowded (and certainly it’s always been incredibly LOUD!)

In any case, my visit to Ed Roman Guitars was really pleasant. It can be a bit crazy getting around in Vegas, but the store was really close to the Vegas strip. The cab ride from the Venetian was less than $10. And it was close enough to the strip that we were able to get a return cab ride pretty easily as well.

We got a lot of patient help, and every time I wanted to try a guitar, the person helping us (Scott) pulled it down for us and made sure it was tuned before I started playing. That is a pleasant switch from pretty much any other guitar store I have been in.

Well my Stratocaster arrived yesterday via UPS. As I wrote in my “New Stratocaster” post, this was a bit of a spur of the moment purchase. I mean, I have been thinking about getting a guitar, and I have beenb leaning towards getting a Strat, but I wasn’t exactly planning on buying a guitar when I walked into the store…

At first it sounded like I was going to want to get an American Deluxe Stratocaster, since it had a humbucker pickup to go with the two single coil pickups. But I just liked the sound of the single coils better, so I started to lean more towards the American Standard Strat.

Then I tried out the Stevie Ray Vaughn Strat (with the “SRV") on the pick guard. I really liked the sound of that guitar, but the action was really high… and I am not much of a fan of high action on my guitars. I guess that Stevie Ray liked his action set up pretty high, so this guitar was true to the namesake, but that ain’t for me.

I suppose I could have had the action lowered, but I also really didn’t like that fancy pickguard… a little too fancy for someone like me who struggles to do ANYTHING on a guitar.

In any case, I ended up with the American Standard Strat, and it just showed up at my door - I didn’t want to carry it on the plane ride home, so I had them ship it for me. My Strat came all boxed up and bubble wrapped - and it was in its Fender hardshell case… everything was in perfect order when it showe up.

Stratocaster guitar,
electric guitar

Well I have a new Stratocaster! I am not normally one to make impulse purchases, but I sure enjoyed making this purchase… a new American Standard Strat. You see, I have been thinking of buying an electric guitar for a long time. Almost since I bought my first guitar a year ago. But I never really got serious about it until…

I visited the largest guitar shop in the world (they claim to have 400 Fenders in stock… I didn’t count them, but there sure were a lot of Stratocasters up on those walls.) Let me back up a bit - last week I was in Las Vegas, hooking up with a bunch of buddies. It was actually something of a working trip - we did a lot of brainstorming about our businesses, and we also went out and had a crazy time each night. In any case, Las Vegas just happens to be the home of Ed Roman Guitars… and they have a rather wild web site that I first came across months ago.

So the short story is that I took a cab over there, walked in, and bought a Fender American Standard Stratocaster. The longer story is that the store is really cool - it is just huge, about twice the size of Guitar Center… and nothing but guitars (as opposed to Guitar Center, which also has drums and keyboards). The walls were lined with hundreds and hundreds of guitars.

I ended up hooking up with the manager their - Scott - who was very helpful. At first I thought I might want a Strat with humbucker pickups… so I was looking at the American Deluxe Strat with two single coils and one humbucker. But just like when I bought my acoustic, I went with what I thought sounded best, and I liked the sound of the single coils… so I went with the American Standard Strat.

The toughest part was picking out a color. The one I was playing was the Sunbust Strat. But I tend to be a pretty understated guy, so I thought I would like black or white better. So I picked black… of course, the next day I changed my mind and called up Scott and told him to send me the Sunburst.

File Under: electric guitar,
guitar
Stratocaster

OK, I am just checking this one out, but I found some free guitar lessons that are available via Podcast. Since I just got an MP3 player for Christmas (and haven’t even set it up yet), I am not really all that up to speed on podcasts - but I bet you can use these free guitar lessons even if you don’t do the podcast thing yet.

In any case, here is the link to these free guitar lessons: link to lessons

Now these free guitar lessons start at a REALLY basic level, such as the parts of the guitar, how to hold the guitar, etc.. I guess now that I am one learn into learning guitar I am not so much into this stuff (even though I sometimes forget where the nut is and where the saddle is - actually, I more forget which is which.)

In any case, this looks like a really cool “learning guitar” resource for beginners. And it isn’t all ultra-beginner stuff… it gets into strum patterns, chord transitions, and all that kind of stuff… so I recommend you take a look.

File under: free guitar lessons, learn guitar

01. Green Day Guitar Tabs - Wake Me Up When September Ends tab
02. James Blunt Guitar Tabs - Youre Beautiful Chords
03. Led Zeppelin Guitar Tabs - Stairway To Heaven Tabs
04. Christmas Guitar Tabs - Jingle Bells Tabs
05. James Blunt Guitar Tabs - Youre Beautiful Tabs
06. Lynyrd Skynyrd Guitar Tabs - Sweet Home Alabama Tabs
07. Green Day Guitar Tabs - American Idiot Album Tabs
08. Eric Clapton Guitar Tabs - Tears In Heaven Tabs
09. Fall Out Boy Guitar Tabs - Sugar Were Going Down Tabs
10. Guns N Roses Guitar Tabs - Sweet Child O Mine Tabs
11. Christmas Guitar Tabs - Jingle Bells Rock Tabs
12. Eagles Guitar Tabs - Hotel California Tabs
13. Weezer Guitar Tabs - Perfect Situation Chords
14. System Of A Down Guitar Tabs - Hypnotize Tabs
15. Metallica Guitar Tabs - Nothing Else Matters Tabs
16. AC DC Guitar Tabs - Back In Black Tabs
17. Extreme Guitar Tabs - More Than Words Tabs
18. System Of A Down Guitar Tabs - Byob Tabs
19. Metallica Guitar Tabs - Fade To Black Tabs
20. Lifehouse Guitar Tabs - You And Me tabs

Those are the Top 20 most requested guitar tabs, according to Ultimate Guitar.

So I went looking for Guitar chord charts today. This was spurred by me not knowing the B7 chord - yesterday I was looking up Christmas songs (in particular, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen chords). Turned out it was a simple song, but it had the B7 chord… which I didn’t know. Now I don’t have a chord chart… so I went running off to look it up online, and I found my favorite guitar chord site (more on that later.) But that didn’t quite do it for me, I decided that I needed to have a…

Guitar chord chart - how cool would it be to have a nice wall chart in my practice room. Or even better, a nice laminated chord chart that folded up and went into my guitar case. Of course, I have actually seen guitar chord computers out there, but I was more interested in a chart - something I could hold and look at. So I went looking for something that fit along these lines… and a free guitar chord chart would be even better.

Here’s a series of free guitar chord charts at this link. However, it is spread out over a whole bunch of pages. A good start, but not exactly what I had in mind. Nevertheless, you could print this out and it should come out nice. Wouldn’t make much of a guitar chord poster though.

But take a look at this chord chart… this is starting to look a bit more like it.

That’s it for now… dinner time. But I will continue my search for the perfect guitar chord chart.

File under: guitar chord chart,
guitar chords

Looking for Christmast guitar chords - I got my guitar last Christmas, which means a lot of things… like I am coming up on my first year anniversary of playing guitar. It also means this is my first Christmas season with a guitar. So it has me thinking about playing some Christmas songs.

So I went looking for Christmas guitar chords just now. Of course, there are plenty of them out there… as I have mentioned before, I really don’t know how guitar players survived before the Internet. There are so many online sources of guitar tabs and chords, I still can’t believe it. However, this was a little different - I mean some of my favorite tab sites didn’t seem like they would be the perfect place to find Christmas tabs… so I searched around to find some other sources. And of course, I found them…

Here are a couple of interesting sites I found that are targetting Christmas guitar chords and tabs:

Tabworld’s Misc Christmast guitar chords

PJ’s Christmast songs

Wholenote Christmast guitar tabs

I am sure there are a bunch more… that is just a start. My daughter is working on “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” on piano - maybe I will be able to play along with here if I get working on the guitar chords.

File under: Christmas guitar chords,
Christmas guitar tabs

Blues scale guitar riff - I just found a cool resource. Personally, I sure struggle with getting a blues sound out of my guitar. Of course, a big part of that is that I am still a beginner. But for some reason I can read about blues scales and blues chords, but when I play stuff it just doesn’t sound like the blues. So I am sort of excited about this book I just found - it seems to do a good job of explaining how to get a good blues scale riff going on my guitar.

The thing with the typical blues guitar scale riff is that you can look at the notes and play the notes, but there is more to simply picking those notes to getting a blues sound out of your guitar. And I am not talking about electric guitar here and setting up everything right. I am talking about a basic acoustic guitar. In any case, this book does a good job of explaining why this is so. I don’t want to give a complete blues scale lesson here (in fact, I am completely unqualified to do anything like that.) But if you are interested in the blues scale or doing any blues riffing on your guitar, then check out this resource.

Here is the link for for the blues scale guitar riff book. Actually, the best thing is that you can download a big chunk of this book for free. Enough to decide if you want to buy it.

File under: blues guitar scale,
blues guitar riff

Working on this blues scale for my guitar and having fun! For the last eight months I have mostly been working on chords, but after I started playing with the pentatonic scale last week, well the blues scale is just a couple of notes away.

It’s sorta funny, I always thought that chords was the easy way to go to start playing. And I am pretty sure it still is - but I have to admit that this picking out the pentatonic scale and the blues scale is a whole lot of fun.

At this point I am using a pick… I guess what they call a flat pick. No fingerpicking here. Maybe another time. And these scales are pretty darn easy to pick out. Now I do have to give props to Guitar Principles… there right and left hand string shifting excercise has been great - and I think they are a big reason that I seem to be picking up these scales pretty quickly.

Reference:

guitar lessons,
guitar

So I am working on the pentatonic scale on my guitar now - and I am STILL having fun learning. I have been learning about the pentatonic scale in “The Everything Rock & Blues Guitar Book” by Marc Schonbrun. I will have to get a link up to the book at some point, but I am a little too busy right now. A lot of people complain about learning scales…

But so far I have been having fun with the pentatonic scale. Actually, the book quickly takes you beyond the basic scale and turns it into the blues scale by adding a couple of b flats in. And THAT really makes the scale sound a lot cooler.

Now so far I have only learned one “form” of the pentatonic scale - and there are five different forms… all in due time! None of this stuff with learning the guitar comes easy for me, I struggle with everything.

HOWEVER, I am spending some time with this - not the four hours a day some people seem to practice, but I am practicing my guitar three to five times a day, 15 to 20 minutes each time. I seem to have lots of little breaks when I can pick up my guitar, and doing it this way makes it fun.

So right now, I am working on the first form of the A minor pentatonic scale - that is the notes A, C, D, E, and G. You throw in the Em (E minor) and you end up with the blues scale. There is a bit of music theory mixed in with this book… which is OK with me. Hard to understand, but I can take it in small doses.

File under: guitar lessons,
learn guitar

Wow… I found some cool free guitar videos. This looks like great stuff for learning guitar. I haven’t been through all of it yet, but I wanted to put up a blog post - this way I know I won’t lose this link, I can always come back here to find the link to these videos.

It can be hard to focus on what you want to learn on your guitar, there are so many great resources.
Jamorama is still just about my favorite. And I also like the Principles. And Guitar From Scratch.

But it is really cool to find guitar videos like this… especially for free. The only problem is something seems to be really messed up when I try to play the videos. The audio part is all broken up… don’t know what is going wrong. I am going to assume that it is either my connection or my computer - I just wish I could see these videos OK.

They are quicktime videos… and I think I am setup OK for quicktime videos (I am running Windows XP Pro) - they load ok, and I can see them - this guy is shredding away on his guitar), and I can hear them… but the sound is way messed up.

File under: learn guitar,Jamorama
, guitar video

OK, I am back home now and playing my guitar. All should be happy and well, but I have a bit of a problem… some tendonitis is flaring up in my right wrist. And it seems to be aggravated by playing my guitar. Anyone out there having any wrist tendonitis due to playing guitar?

Now one thing I need to be clear on - the guitar playing is not the root cause of the tendonitis. That first showed up about three years ago on a river trip. You see, one of my big passions is whitewater kayaking. I was on a five day trip up in Dinosaur National Monument (on the Green River - doing the Lodore section for any river rats out there) and around the end of day two my wrist started hurting.

Being a red-blooded American male I did what came naturally - I ignored the pain. But it kept getting worse, and by the end of the third day it was excruciating. I had no experience with tendonitis before that, and didn’t know what was wrong… but my buddy Paul was on the trip, and he is a physical therapist. He was able to quickly diagnose the problem and prescribe the solution - rest.

This is getting long, and I want to get back to my guitar. Long story short, after the trip I rested up my wrist and it got better. No problems since. But about a month ago I was playing a lot of tennis, doing a lot of paddling, and playing a lot of guitar. And that tendonitis started to come back… just a little bit, but I knew where it would go if I ignored it.

So I stopped paddling and playing tennis for a few weeks, and it got better. At that point I hadn’t linked playing guitar to the tendonitis… so I didn’t think about it. After I got back from vacation, my wrist was feeling mostly fine. I played tennis once, didn’t do any paddling… but I have been playing guitar every day - and the tendonitis is starting to come back.

Lately I have been trying to rest my wrist… and wearing a brace when convenient. The tendonitis is mostly under control, but I notice that after I pracitice my guitar the tendonitis is always a little worse.

So my recent ukulele post talked all about my nephew and his ukulele. Actually, it was more about missing my guitar while I was on vacation, but my nephew got me thinking about ukuleles.

The thing that I forgot to mention about ukuleles… and I am really out of my element here because I have never strummed a ukulele a single time… is that there are different sizes. From looking at Musician’s Friend, there is a regular uke, a tenor uke, a concert uke, and a soprano uke. And from prior experience with musical instruments, there are probably some others that I don’t know about yet.

So this is the cool thing in terms of me missing my guitar… from what my nephew says, the tenor ukulele (which is a bit bigger than a regular uke) is sorta like playing the first four strings on a guitar. They are the same notes on a guitar. So if this is correct, I am wondering if the chord patterns are the same - as long as you only use chords from the first four strings (ie, such as the f chord or the d chord).

If that was the case (and I don’t know if it is, but it seems like the odds are pretty good), then I could have just run out and gotten a tenor ukulele at the beginning of me vacation, and it would have sorta been like playing the guitar. I know, a really messed up notion… but such is the mental state I am in.

My more serious guess is that getting that ukulele would have been an entirely different experience, and I would have found it valuable in its own right.

Could my guitar be replaced by a ukulele?

OK, so I am on vacation… and I am without my guitar. I already wrote about it in my last blog entry. So last week I visited a Guitar Center for the first time - and I was suitably impressed with more guitars in one place than I have ever seen.

But that was in Chicago… now I have moved on and I am sitting in a nice house on a beautiful lake in a very small town. No guitar center here. And that means I am not playing guitar at all. And it sure would be nice to have a guitar to play while I am sitting at the beach.

And then my nephew mentioned that he has been playing the ukulele for the last six months or so. Now I know almost nothing about the ukulele at all. In fact, the only thing I know about it is that one of my friends who was a role model for me learning to play guitar said that he originally started three years ago when he happened to pick up a cheap ukulele when he was on vacation in Hawaii. That led to getting a nicer ukulele, then he got a guitar.

So I got to thinking… maybe I could do the reverse evolution for a week or so - going from guitar to ukulele while I was on vacation. So I did a bit of poking around at musician’s friend, and you can get ukulele’s for REALLY cheap. I am talking about $29 to $49 - and the most expensive ones look like they are about $250 (of course, like any musical instrument, I am sure the sky is the limit).

So my question is, should I get a cheap ukulele to bang around on while I am on vacation?

I am away on vacation, and I am missing my guitar. I just figured it would be hard to bring a full size acoustic dreadnought guitar on a plane, so I left it home. I haven’t ever tried flying with a guitar, and I am sure it is possible… but it seemed like it would be a hassle. So I left my guitar at home, and now I am missing it.

I have been away from my guitar for over a week now. I did stop in a Guitar Center a few days ago, so I spent a little bit of time playing. That was my first time ever in a Guitar Center, and wow… that was really something. Talk about a huge quantity of guitars!! They had one huge room with nothing buy electric guitars and amps. Then another big room with nothing but acoustic guitars. Then a third room with drums and a fourth room with keyboards. Obviously, I didn’t spend my time in the third and fourth rooms… but I had fun with the acoustic guitars and the electric guitars.

The first thing I did was go in the acoustic room. I started off with the Taylor 314ce. That was sweet, and I am really liking the Grand Auditorium guitar shape. Then I just went up the Taylor line… all the way to the 814ce. NICE stuff.

I was also eyeing the Ibanez Day Tripper… which looks like it would make a fine travel guitar.

Guitar Center,
guitar

So where are all the barre chord fans out there? It seems like after I was playing for only a month or two on the open chords, I started to hear about
barre chords. I couldn’t figure out what the big deal was. Then a friend of mine spent a few minutes showing me how you can move a barre chord up and down the fret board, and I started to clue into why barre chords are cool.

The other thing about that basic intro to barre chords was that I started to understand just a little bit about the fret board and how you can figure out the various notes and chords. Now mind you I am not an expert… in fact, I am barely even a beginner. But just the slightest glimmer of understanding is starting to seep in.

It seems like the E shaped barre chord is one of the favorites… or at least one of the easiest barre chords. And it didn’t take too long for me to be able to form that E shaped barre chord and move it around. It didn’t always sound great (and it still doesn’t), but I am making progress. However, I still really stink when it comes to moving to it in any type of a timely fashion.

Then another friend pointed out that the good old F major chord is really a barre chord, since you are holding down the first two strings on the first fret. Well now, here is a barre chord that I can actually make with some degree of alacrity.

In my last post I asked if I could move this barre chord - the F major shape - around the fret board to make different chords. Logic seems to say yes, but I can’t find any references to it in any of my “learning guitar” books, or even any chord reference books.

Reference tags: guitar,
guitar chords

I am working on learning how to use my right hand on the guitar. For most folks, the right hand is the hand that you use to strum the guitar strings (while the left hand is the hand that you use on the fretboard to make notes and chords). As I mentioned in my last post, I have been working with the “Priniciples of Correct Practice for the Guitar” for the last week or two. This stuff definitely is NOT for everyone, but I think it is what I need right now in my path to learning to play the guitar.

In any case, I am working on my right hand right now. That is sorta wild, it means I am not even touching the fretboard of my guitar with my left hand. In fact… in some of these excercises I am not even making a sound with the guitar. How is THAT for a different way to learn guitar?

In any case, this right handing string shifting excercise is all about moving your pick (if you are playing pick style) or your fingers (if you are playing fingerstyle) to the various guitar strings in a very controlled manner. You do it painstakingly slow… and then you gradually get faster. But the real key is that as you move over the guitar strings with your right hand, you are alwasy focused on not having any tension in your body. That means in your fingers, your forearm, your bicep, your shoulders, your neck, your belly, your legs.

The key is you learn to play the guitar, and you learn to use your right hand on the guitar, without any undue tension in your body. That means your body will move more freely and easily as you play the guitar.

file under:
learn guitar,
guitar

links: Principles of Correct Guitar Practice

OK, here is a bit more on the Principles of Correct Practice for Guitar“. As I mentioned in my guitar chair blog entry… this is some intense guitar learning instruction. It isn’t for the faint of heart.

This course starts off with coaching you on how to sit with your guitar, and how to hold your guitar. After that, ” Guitar Principles” you get into the right hand string shifting excercise, where you just work on touching the six strings.

In other words, you are going to spend a lot of time with this course before you even make the first sound with your guitar. The key point is that you are becoming something of a guitar athlete… training your muscles to make the correct movements. And the principles course emphasizes that you REALLY have to focus as you are doing these very simple excercises. That is how you train your muscles. The theory is that later on, when you get around to actually playing your guitar, you will have trained your body in the exact way it needs to move.

That means that you will be able to take those basic movements and incorporate them in your playing… at a much faster and smoother pace.

So far, I haven’t even gotten into the left hand. This is all right hand stuff. I think it will get a little more interesting when I start putting the two hands together. But right now, it is all right hand. Then it will be all left hand. Then you put them together.

Oh, and by the way… you might be wondering about that guitar chair. It is all about having the correct posture. So I had to find a chair that supported that correct posture and position for playing my guitar.

file under: guitar, guitar practice

OK, I just bought a guitar chair - I think I have fallen hook, line, and sinker for the Principles. What am I talking about? Well the “The Principles of Correct Practice for Guitar“. Now I will admit… this is some pretty intense stuff, and it is definitely not for everyone.

Basically, ” Guitar Principles” is a course that teaches you how to practice guitar.

Now read that again… it isn’t about learning guitar, it is about practicing guitar. Of course, if you figure out how to practice effectively, and you follow through and do the practice… well then you will be learning how to play guitar. But this is a fundamentally different type of approach, and I have to warn you - it is pretty rigorous.

I bought the book first, and I was skeptical. But sometimes I am a glutton for punishment… so I decided to get the DVD. And did I tell that guitar principles was rigorous? I am 35 minutes into the first of the two DVDs, and I have basically learned how to hold the guitar properly and use my right hand to touch the strings. In fact, I was probably 30 minutes into the DVD before I actually made a sound with the guitar.

This is serious practicing, for the serious guitar student. Actually, I don’t know how serious of a student I am… but I am definitely hungry to learn. So far I have just scratched the surface with this guitar principles technique… and this blog post barely scratches the surface of what I have done so far. In fact, I haven’t even told you about my guitar chair and guitar mirror that I bought. Hopefully, I will find time to tell you more…

file under: guitar, learn guitar

I have really been happy learning guitar with Jamorama. Lately I just can’t seem to play enough guitar… I have definitely got the bug. If you have read any of my past entries, I just started getting into guitar a few months ago. And since I tend to be a “self-taught” kind of guy, I decided to try that route with learning guitar. So I bought a few books at the guitar shop when I bought my guitar. Unfortunately, they didn’t take me very far. So I started to search on the web…

That is when I found Jamorama - and I made a pretty quick decision to buy it. I was impressed with everything you get with (including an ear training game), and the price was super-reasonable. In fact, it cost quite a bit less than the quote I got for ONE music theory lesson from a teacher. And Jamorama isn’t about some dry music theory… it is all about starting to play fast.

Now don’t get me wrong, you aren’t going to be Jimi Hendrix in a week or anything. But the books and audios and all the bonuses you get in Jamorama set you up to learn quickly, and actually start PLAYING your guitar quickly. It has been tons of fun, and I my playing really sounds like music… and it wasn’t hard to get to that point.

Jamorama is HIGHLY recommended.

File under: Jamorama, learn guitar, guitar

OK, I am not the biggest country music fan… but Folsom Prison Blues is not your average country song. It is a really killer song, and I would love to learn to play it on my guitar“>. No problem… right? The guitar chords are super easy, even for a beginner like me.

The real problem is in the strum pattern, at least for me. However, I found a killer video online that shows a couple of different ways to do the strum pattern for Folsom Prison Blues.

This isn’t a professional video, it is just guy with a blog and a video camera. The video shows how to do the alternating bass picking strum style (also known as Carter picking). It is really cool, even though I am still struggling to really get the technique down.

In fact, there are really two videos… one that gives a pretty simple guitar strum pattern, and one that gives an even simpler pattern. Be sure to check it out.

OK, I just found another cool “learn guitar” resource… Guitar Lessons On Demand. What I really like about this one is that they have all kinds of video lessons for learning guitar. I like all the books and audios from the other sources I have been learning from, but I am running into a wall trying to get my strumming patterns down.

But the videos for Guitar Lessons On Demand clearly show the strumming patterns. Very cool. And one thing I really like is how they slow things down - in other words, they show the guitar lesson at normal speed, and then they slow it down so mere mortals can really see what is going on with the guitar.

Don’t take my word on it… go check out the free demo videos, they really show some great examples of how you can slow down the strum pattern and really see what is going on, both on the fretboard and with your right hand.

Another thing I really like with this guitar course is that it is really easy to join and quite inexpensive… and they give you lots of sample material and sample videos to check out before you buy. In fact, those sample videos have some great built in lessons even if you don’t buy the course.

File under: guitar lessons,
guitar

Let’s get back to Jamorama reviews… like I wrote a couple of days ago, I just purchased Acoustic Guitar Workshop - and I will be doing a full review of that soon. But right now I want to focus on my long time favorite Jamorama.

In terms of Jamorama reviews and key points, well… one of the things I really like about Jamorama is that it breaks everything down into digestible pieces… and it lets you download all the guitar music samples onto your computer. This means that you can work with it when you aren’t connected to the Internet. And when your connection is really slow, like mine often is, you aren’t sitting around waiting for a page or an audio file to download.

Another piece I wanted to cover in my Jamorama reviews is the Guitar Ear It software. This is some really cool “ear training” software. In my opinion, ear training is really crucial… the ability to recognize chords and notes gives you a huge advantage in your playing. A few people are gifted with this ability naturally, but the rest of us have to learn (or “train") our ears. The Guitar Ear It software that is included in Jamorama turns this training into a game.

More later in my Jamorama reviews (and really, all my “learn guitar” reviews)… but at this point I can say this: Jamorama is highly recommended.

File under: guitar lessons,
guitar, Jamorama reviews

So I put “Learn Guitar” into 43things.com and this is what I got:

learn guitar,

1. Learn to play the guitar 515 people
2. learn guitar 106 people
3. actually learn to play my guitar 40 people
4. learn to play bass guitar 22 people
5. learn to play acoustic guitar 8 people
6. Learn to play the guitar better 6 people
7. learn bass guitar 6 people
8. Learn to play guitar again 5 people
9. learn classical guitar 3 people
10. learn guitar again 3 people
11. learn to play eletric guitar 3 people
12. learn to play base guitar 2 people
13. learn Bossa Nova guitar 2 people
14. Learn to play the guitar I own 2 people
15. Learn acoustic guitar 2 people
16. learn to play guitare 2 people
17. learn guitar scales 2 people
18. learn to play flamenco guitar 2 people
19. Learn electric guitar 1 person
20. learn to play my guitars 1 person
21. learn scales on the guitar 1 person
22. learn the guitar and piano 1 person
23. Learn to improvise on the guitar 1 person
24. learn a guitar style 1 person
25. learn to play acoustic guitar, also get a guitar 1 person
26. re-learn to play guitar 2 people
27. Learn More Songs For Guitar 1 person
28. learn the piano, guitar, and congas 1 person
29. re-learn the bass guitar 1 person
30. learn 3-finger style guitar 1 person
31. learn to play electric guitar 1 person
32. learn playing flute and guitar 1 person
33. learn to play jazz guitar 1 person
34. Learn to play guitar/keyboards 1 person
35. learn a Zeppelin guitar solo. 1 person
36. learn to play a elec. guitar 1 person
37. learn to play the guitar for real 1 person
38. learn to play the guitar or keyboard 1 person
39. Learn To Play More On My Guitar 1 person
40. learn to play piano and guitar 1 person
41. Learn to read guitar tablature 1 person
42. learn a song on a the guitar or piano 1 person
43. learn to play classical guitar 1 person
44. Learn to play guitar WELL 1 person
45. Learn to play guitar and sing 1 person
46. learn more songs on the guitar 1 person
47. Learn to play a song on the guitar 1 person
48. learn to play piano or guitar 1 person
49. learn the hard chords on guitar 1 person
50. i want to learn to play the guitar 1 person

Learn to play guitar quickly… that is the whole key for everyone that gets a guitar. When I got my guitar, the first thing I wanted was to learn guitar well enough so it sounded like I was playing music. I just wanted to learn to play guitar well enough to have fun.

Well, the really cool thing about the guitar, is that you can learn guitar very quickly. It isn’t that hard to get to a somewhat competent level, even if you have no musical talent at all. And take it from me - I have no musical talent or aptitude for any instruments… and I was able to learn guitar in a matter of weeks.

Now I am not claiming to be a virtuoso… but I was able to play very simple songs and melodies within just a few weeks. In fact, in just a few days I had learned to play my guitar well enough to just noodle along and string enough chords together so that I was actually having fun playing my guitar. In other words, I wasn’t just PRACTICING my guitar… I was actually playing my guitar (at least as far as I was concerned).

So if a forty something guy with no musical talent (and who never played an instrument) could learn guitar in a few weeks… what is holding you back?

Get yourself a guitar, get yourself a good “how to play guitar system like Jamorama“, and then start having fun!

So I am about to buy the Acoustic Guitar Workshop - this looks like a really cool program. I am still working to learn to play my guitar and I am having a blast doing it.

And I still love my Jamorama program… I am continuing to work at it, and making some great progress. But I decided to add some spice to the mix and shake things up… so I am going to buy the Acoustic Guitar Workshop program.

The thing I like about this is that it isn’t a static program - it keeps expanding and adding more material. Right now, the Acoustic Guitar Workshop has all these components:

Fingerstyle Blues, Pentatonic To The Blues, Acoustic Blues Slide & Bottleneck Guitar, Beginning Fingerstyle, Beginners Guitar, and Jazz Blues Chord. It also includes a whole bunch of MP3’s, a whole slew of guitar tabs, software for guitarists. They also have lessons from some top guitarists.

This really looks like a cool program - as soon as I get home (I am traveling now) I am going to buy Acoustic Guitar Workshop… so look for a review soon.

Acoustic Guitar Workshop,
guitar,Jamorama

Guitar lessons are something that I have avoided so far - but I am beginning to wonder if it is time to take some lessons. I got my guitar from Santa Claus last December… so I have been learning to play my guitar for the last four and a half months.

Mostly, I have been using the Jamorama guitar learning system - you can see my Jamorama review here - and it has been a total BLAST. I am really enjoying playing my guitar… and last weekend I got a chance to play with other people for the first time.

(What was really cool is that the people I played with are the same folks who inspired me to get my guitar in the first place - we were all on a long river trip together in Grand Canyon, and they played pretty every night around the camp fire… I decided that I needed to learn to play guitar right then and there.)

In any case, even though I am making great progress… I am just starting to think about guitar lessons at some point. More out of a sense of looking for someone to push me and give me direction. I have to admit I feel some loyalty to Jamorama, but I am not going to be dogmatic about how I learn guitar or about guitar lessons.

guitar lessons,
guitar, learn guitar
Jamorama

Learning how to play acoustic guitar - some people say it is harder to play an acoustic than it is to play an electric guitar. They also say it is more fun to play an electric guitar. I suppose it is all about why you want to learn to play guitar.

I really want to learn how to play guitar so I can sit out on my back patio and play, and so I can take my guitar on camping trips and play while I am sitting around the campire. It is tough to do either of those with an electric guitar.

So one of the first things I did when I got my guitar (and one of the best things as well) was to get the online Jamorama course. It is packed with great guitar instuction that really walks you through all the steps to learning to play guitar.

Now don’t get me wrong… I fully plan on getting an electric guitar some day. And it will probably be this year (might make a nice Christmas present). However, right now I am going to stick with my acoustic guitar.

And for learning how to play, I am going to stick with Jamorama.

acoustic guitar,
guitar, learn guitar

Learning how to play acoustic guitar - some people say it is harder to play an acoustic than it is to play an electric guitar. They also say it is more fun to play an electric guitar. I suppose it is all about why you want to learn to play guitar.

I really want to learn how to play guitar so I can sit out on my back patio and play, and so I can take my guitar on camping trips and play while I am sitting around the campire. It is tough to do either of those with an electric guitar.

So one of the first things I did when I got my guitar (and one of the best things as well) was to get the online Jamorama course. It is packed with great guitar instuction that really walks you through all the steps to learning to play guitar.

Now don’t get me wrong… I fully plan on getting an electric guitar some day. And it will probably be this year (might make a nice Christmas present). However, right now I am going to stick with my acoustic guitar.

And for learning how to play, I am going to stick with Jamorama.

acoustic guitar,
guitar, learn guitar

Everyone is looking for guitar tabs (which is short for guitar tablature). I have found some of the best guitar tab resources on the internet. And by the way, I don’t know what guitarists did before the internet. All of a sudden a budding guitar player can find tabs for all kinds of songs… and you can find them almost instantly.

OK, let’s get back to guitar tabs. I really like going out and tabs for the songs I want to play. Some of the best web sites actually have multiple tabs for many songs. And if a song is performed by different artists, the tabs might be slightly different. And if you are looking for bass tabs, guitar tabs, or guitar chords… well you can often find them as well. So let’s get on with it… where do you find tabs?

Well, one of my favorites for guitar tabs is ultimate-guitar. This site has a nice search function, and the search results can be done by song title or artist. One nice feature is that the tabs are “rated” by the users… so when you get a whole bunch of search results (say you are looking for the tab for “Heart Of Gold") you can see which ones people really liked.

Another good place for guitar tabs is OLGA - the Online Guitar Archive. This site is amazing… you have to check it out for yourself.

guitar, guitar tabs, guitar chords

OK, I am getting obsessed with my guitar and guitars in general. A couple of days ago I got a chance to play guitar with some friends - and I got a chance to play a nice old Martin guitar. These just happened to be the same friends that inspired me to starting playing guitar about six months ago. I had so much fun watching them play guitar (and mandolin) around the campfire, I decided that I just had to get a guitar and learn how to play it.

In any case, that was last October… and for Christmas I bought myself a guitar. And I have been playing it almost every day ever since (except when I am traveling… it is hard to bring my guitar along on business trips).

In any case, I got a chance to get together with some of these folks this last weekend, and I brought along my guitar. This was really the first time I ventured out and tried to play my guitar with anyone. And these folks brought along their guitars and mandolins. One of them was a 12 string guitar, and one was a really nice old Martin guitar.

The 12 string was fun… really heavy, but that was a fun guitar and those 12 strings sure put out a lot of sound. And that Martin guitar sure was nice… but I like playing my Walden guitar better. Maybe (probably) it is just a matter of being familar… but I couldn’t wait to get my guitar back. I played the Martin for just long enough to not be rude.

guitar, Martin guitar, learn guitar

Learn guitar - this is all about learning how to play the guitar… I have been on this quest since I got my guitar for Christmas just four months ago. I went from struggling to play the most basic guitar chords to actually making early struggling attempts at barre chords.

Mind you, this learn guitar odyssey has been slow going for me - I am not a musical genius. In fact, I cannot play any other musical instrument. I am struggling to learn guitar - it does not come easy. However, I have learned how to play the basic chords - the ones that they call campfire chords, or open chords.

But this is the deal - while I learn guitar, I am having an awful lot of fun. I usually take 15 to 30 minutes out the day and just bang away at the chords… mostly just C, D, G (those are the basics that every needs to master when they are learning how to play guitar - if you know those three, there are an awful lot of songs you can play.) I also love the other easy guitar chords such as Em, Am, A, E, and F.

That F chord is one of the first real hurdles when you are learing guitar. I am now about 70% of the way there on the F chord.

learn guitar

I am pretty excited a