learn-guitar.org

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

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

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

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 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

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

Learn to play guitar - what is the best and quickest way to learn to play the guitar? That is the driving question that so many folks want the answer to. Should you buy a book, take some lessons, get a “learn guitar DVD", or what? This question is something that lots of beginning guitar players struggle with…

I have been working on this thing -learn to play guitar - since I got my guitar last Christmas. I definitely wanted to get that guitar, and I wanted to learn to play the guitar quite badly. I have been working with Jamorama, and I have been really happy with this course.

In my struggle to learn to play my guitar I have also been buying up lots of other books. I even have one on music theory, and another course on ear training. I guess this learning guitar thing has gotten to be something of a passion.

And that is what it pretty much needs to be if I am going to learn how to play guitar with any real skill… because the bottom line is that making music does NOT come easy to me at all. Nevertheless, I am having lots of fun… and feel no pressure. My expectations for my guitar playing is pretty low.

However, now I have a little pressure… I am going on a bike trip soon - basically a week long camping trip with a bunch of other folks. One of those going is bringing a guitar and encouraging others to bring any instruments they might have. Hmmmm. I can hardly play, and haven’t never played with anyone else, or in front of anyone else. Should my guitar stay or should it go?

Time to start really cranking on my practicing and learn how to play the guitar!

learn to play guitar,
guitar,
Jamorama

Well, I just bought this course recently, so I thought I would give a quick Jamorama review…

First off, you get a bunch of stuff when you buy Jamorama, so you have to download all kinds of stuff. That isn’t a real problem at all… but just make sure you stay organized so you get everything. And so you don’t lose it somewhere on your hard drive once you download it.

What you get with Jamorama:

Jamorama Book one - beginners, intro to strumming, intro to chords, reading tabs, first string notes, easy chords, healthy learning, various dominant chords, and a whole lot more. 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.

Jamorama Book two - intermediate, including sight reading, bass note runs, major seventh chords, various strum patterns and chord progressions. And intro to scales, and lots of different chords. You also get 61 audio clips that let you actually hear what things are supposed to sound like.

Jamorama Book three - advanced, including 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.

In addition to the three books and all those audio clips, you get a whole bunch more… including an ear training game and guitar tuning software. This course is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED… you can check it out by clicking here.

File under: Jamorama Review

guitar, jamorama guitar course, learn guitar chords