Is Your Guitar Practice Working?

To succeed at learning guitar, regular practice is essential. But even if you are diligent enough to make sure you practice regularly, you may not be getting as much out of your sessions as you could. Many guitar students find that in spite of spending hours practicing they don't seem to make much progress. What can be done to change this?
Before you start your guitar practice session, you should carry out a warm up. This can be just simply opening and closing your hands repeatedly. Then simply play a sequence of notes up and down the fret. Spend about 5 to 10 minutes on this. This will help you get your playing position and holding of the guitar comfortable and warm up your muscles before the serious stuff begins. As your learning advances, you can improve your warm up session by playing scales and arpeggios.
Make a plan or routine for your guitar practice sessions. An example plan might be to start with practicing a scale, followed by learning one or two new chords. Finally you could finish off by learning part of a song that you want to be able to play. Using a plan for your practice sessions allows you to get on with practicing rather than waste time wondering what to do next in your practice session.
Try to build into the session plan a goal such as learning two new chords. If you are being taught by a guitar teacher, they may set goals for your next lesson. If you are teaching yourself, it is even more important for you to set goals. Failure to set goals will allow you to drift in your practice session, and this will affect your progress. The goals could be for that session or could be for completion in three or four sessions depending on the difficulty of the goal. Try to be realistic when setting goals so that you don't undermine your confidence. Having a goal gives you a target, a challenge, and this helps to motivate you during the practice session.
When you are learning something new, a scale or chord sequence for example, make sure that you practice slowly. If you practice too fast you will make mistakes. As you repeat these mistakes in the practice session, you are simply learning to make mistakes. It is the accuracy of what you are playing that is important, not the speed. Once you can play what you have been learning easily and accurately, then you can try speeding it up. Practicing guitar too fast is a common mistake that beginners make. Try using a metronome to control the speed at which you play.
If what you are practicing is proving too difficult, don't keep trying and trying and end up frustrated and tired. Take a break and come back to it later. Be kind to yourself and practice something less demanding. You will often find that when you return, even in a later practice session, to what was giving you difficulty, it will play a bit easier. Slogging away endlessly at something you find difficult is a big motivation killer. Don't do it!
If you feel any pain aching or soreness while practicing, you should stop your guitar practice session. If you have warmed up and your posture and hand position on the neck are correct, you shouldn't suffer any pain during a normal practice session. The only exception may be if you are a beginner guitarist, when your muscles will have to adapt to the new prolonged positions that they hold and work in.
Try to stick to your practice schedule. There may be days when you simply can't complete a session, but this should be the exception. If you really want to make progress your guitar practice should be regular. Even if you only manage 15 minutes a day this will be better than one hour then no practice for a week. If finding the time is difficult try splitting your session into two parts. Do whatever it takes to keep your practice regular. Make sure you are giving your practice your full attention. Don't practice somewhere where there are lots of distractions. If you spend 30 minutes practicing, but your mind is wandering towards what's going on in the other room, your practice won't be worth much. Never practice guitar in front of the TV!
To make your guitar practice more successful, try to include music that you really enjoy in your practice session. Practicing a tune you hate is not going to get you very far. Sometimes you will have to learn a piece of music from your lessons that you just don't like. You will have to learn this, as there will be something about the piece, technique, chords etc. that it is important for you to try in the context of a song. When this happens add a piece that you enjoy to the session as well to compensate and lift you up again.
Finally, at the end of the session, just play around with your guitar and have some fun. This will help you finish in a good mood and will set you up in the right frame of mind for your next session. If you end a practice session tired and frustrated, you will not be looking forward to your next session and that is bad news. Aim to make your guitar practice fun and see just how much progress you can make!
By Ken Radwell
(published at http://www.goarticles.com)

Preparing for Your First Beginner Guitar Lessons

The first essential requisite to taking a beginner guitar lesson is to possess your own guitar. How many guitarists do you think started learning the instrument by borrowing others' guitars? None, practically! The logic to this is simple - practice is an important part of the learning process, and having your own guitar makes practice an easy task. You do not necessarily have to buy yourself an expensive instrument; you can even buy a second hand one and graduate to a better guitar once you are familiar with how to play it. Once you have bought yourself a guitar, you can actually start taking beginner lessons. Beginner lessons are guitar classes taught to newcomers so they are familiar with the basics of the guitar and how to play it. The first thing you will be taught is not how to play the instrument, but what the different parts of the guitar are. All websites providing online beginner guitar lessons start their teachings from this point. This makes sense because it is not a good idea to learn a musical instrument without first knowing its various parts. Along with knowing each part of the guitar, you also have to learn the functions of each individual part. Knowing the different parts of the guitar and their functions familiarizes you with the instrument.

Basic Steps to Beginner Guitar Lessons
After teaching you the different parts of the guitar and their functions, the next thing beginner guitar lessons teach you are the names of the different strings on the guitar. The strings create the sounds on a guitar when you strike them. After you have learnt about the strings, the next step in a guitar tutorial for beginners is to learn the different ways you can play the guitar - standing, sitting, etc. - and the postures involved. While learning about the postures, you will also learn how to hold the guitar, and the correct positioning and grip for both your hands. Once you are through with these basics, the next thing that you can learn in beginner guitar lessons is actually how to use the guitar - how to form the different chords, how to hit the strings so you get the proper sound, etc.

Beginner Guitar Lessons - Guitar Theory is not a Prerequisite!
There is one school of thought that emphasizes the need to know guitar theory while taking beginner guitar lessons. The logic for this is simple: once you know the basic theory, it becomes easier to learn the chords. However, this is not a mandatory practice; in fact, many online guitar tutorials do away with the need for knowledge of guitar theory as a prerequisite for learning the chords and other complex things about the guitar. Basically, the need for guitar theory knowledge depends primarily on your level of interest in the instrument. If you are planning to take up playing the guitar full-time, it makes sense to know the theoretical aspects as well. However, if you are taking it up as just something you want to learn so you can play some of your favorite numbers, then it makes sense to just go ahead with the online tutorials alone and learn the different chords.
Now that you have a solid game plan, it's time for you to get out there and start taking your own beginner guitar lessons!
By Kirk Downing
(published at http://www.articlecity.com)

Simple Steps to Better Guitar Tone

Great guitar tone is something that every guitarist wants. The quest for tone is one of the biggest reasons guitar players drop so much money on amplifiers and effects. If you've found yourself spending a lot of money lately on various 'sound tweaking' gadgets, take note: the solution to your sound problems just might be closer (and cheaper) than you think! Whether you want killer distortion or country-twang, the secret of great tone begins with a pure, clean signal. In other words, no matter how many effects you intend to use, you've got to make sure the basic, unadulterated “dry signal” coming through your amp sounds just as good as anything else. The reason for this is simple: every effect you add to that signal brings in a little bit of noise. So, you need to start with as clean a signal as possible so that the cumulative impact of noise and signal degradation from your effects is kept to a minimum. The first step here is as easy as proper maintenance of your guitar. Not only do you need to keep your strings fresh, and your neck in alignment, you also need to eliminate any sources of buzz or hum coming from faulty cords or poor electrical wiring in your pickups or input jack. The second step is to run the same maintenance check on your amplifier. Now, the fact is, some amps are just noisier than others. If you can find nothing physically wrong with your amp, it may just be that you need to do upgrades for better tone. For example, your amp's factory-installed speakers are probably not top-of-the-line. In the case of tube amps, especially, this can make a HUGE difference. Along similar lines, you might also consider upgrading your tubes and/or the transistors used in the pre-amp stage. Why? Because your amp's sound is greatly influenced by the way each of these components responds to the guitar signal. Cheap parts have a slower dynamic response, and can also add unwanted coloration to the signal. This is one reason why some amps will sound great at a lower volume, but start to break up and distort as soon as you turn things up. Last, but not least, take a look at the effects pedals you currently have in your arsenal. Maybe you've purchased 2 or 3 different distortion pedals, for example, in an elusive quest for that perfect 'crunch'? There's nothing wrong with owning multiple pedals for the same type of effect; but, if you still aren't getting the sound you desire, it could be that you need to add something very basic into the mix, like an EQ pedal. A good EQ pedal will allow you to shape which frequencies are emphasized. You can, for example, cut the mid-range for a heavier tone, or boost the highs so that your treble notes punch through. Try mixing and matching EQ and Volume pedals in different places along your effects chain in order to boost or limit the characteristics of other effects. You'll be amazed how many different sounds you can create with a little experimentation!
By Beth Miller
(published at http://www.articlecity.com)

Music Fundamentals - Intervals

Intervals are the fundamental building blocks of music allowing us to read and write music, and most importantly, to help us construct chords and harmonies. However words like major, minor, augmented, diminished, enharmonic and compound leave many people a bit confused, hopefully this article will throw some light on the subject.
The ‘distance’ between two notes is known as an interval. This is the difference in pitch between two notes. The size or amount of distance is measured numerically.
If we consider the C scale there are 8 notes; C D E F G A B C numbered from 1 through to 8. As an example the interval from C to G is a 5th as G is 5 notes above C. The interval from C to F is a 4th as F is 4 notes above C.
All intervals are measured from the first note of the scale. These intervals are given a name as well as a numeric value and in order of progression they are: C-D is a major 2nd, C-E is a major 3rd, C-F is a perfect 4th, C-G is a perfect 5th, C-A major 6th, C-B major 7 and finally C-C is a perfect octave.
The intervals that are perfect are so called because they have a certain purity about them that comes from the overtones and upper-partials that are contained within them (these will be explained in another article)
Intervals can be raised or lowered by a half-step/semitone. If a major interval is chromatically reduced by a half-step it becomes a minor interval e.g. C-E is a major 3rd, if it is lowered by a half-step (from C-Eb) the interval becomes a minor 3rd.
If a perfect interval is chromatically reduced by a half-step it becomes a diminished interval i.e. a perfect 4th lowered by a half-step becomes a diminished 4th.
If major or perfect intervals are raised by a half-step then they become an augmented interval i.e. a perfect 5th would become an augmented 5th.
Compound intervals are those that extend into the 2nd octave. C to D (in the next octave) is called either a major 9th or a compound major 2nd. C to F (next octave) is a perfect 11th or a compound perfect 4th.
Enharmonic intervals are those that differ in name but not pitch, for example C-G# is an augmented 5th and C-Ab is a minor 6th.
When intervals are inverted they reverse the relative position of the notes. C-G (perfect 5th) becomes G-C which is a perfect 4th, a 3rd would become a 6th. Perfect intervals when inverted remain perfect e.g. C-G being a perfect 5th would become a perfect 4th when inverted, a major becomes minor, minor becomes major, diminished becomes augmented and augmented becomes diminished.
These rules apply to all scales.
By Nigel Rowles
(published at http://www.articlecity.com/)

Acoustic or Electric Guitar

Having played the guitar for a number of years, I am often asked this question by eager learners - "Should I start learning with the acoustic or electric guitar?" In this article, I'll talk a bit about both so you can come to an informed decision.
First of all, let me get something straight. The actual notes and fretboards work the same for both, so if you start with either one, its always interchangeable, although the playing techniques might differ.
Most younger players would gravitate towards the electric guitar thanks to MTV and the "cool factor". The acoustic guitar seems to have a more "folksy" image to it. Both sound very different, with the acoustic relying purely on natural acoustic principles to generate the sound, using the body of the guitar as an "amplifier". The electric guitar on the other hand needs an electric amplifier to generate sound. There are of course hybrids, but that is not relevent in this article. So, which is better for the beginner? I'll cover 3 aspects below - cost, convenience and playability.
Cost
Both are about the same, you can get really expensive custom built electric of acoustic guitars. However, the electric can start to get more expensive simply because of the tempting options and accessories like amplifiers, pre-amps, effects pedals, volume pedals, etc. The acoustic on the other hand might be simpler to start with. It plays right out of the box!
Convenience
Again the acoustic wins as you can take it almost everywhere without worrying about a power socket. There are personal practice gadgets available for the electric guitar which allows you to practice with headphones.
Playability
My personal preference here is the electric guitar. I find it easier to play, with the strings being softer and thus less effort to play.
Either way, they both should be respected and used for what they are and any good guitarist should be adept at both. For the beginner, I would prefer the acoustic as it helps a lot in ear training as you get accustomed to the vibrations of the body making the tuning of the strings are easier to detect.
My final piece of advice is to don't get too obsessed with your instrument while you're learning but focus on the music instead. Once you start to get better at it you'll know instinctively what sort of 'ax' you'll need. I've met my fair share of musicians who are so into the gear but have not improved in their skill much and on the other hand, have heard some amazing, soul-stirring music from blues masters that have played the same guitar all their life!
By Al Tan
(published at http://www.articlecity.com)