Archive for 'How To Buy A Guitar'
THE BEST Budget Acoustic Guitar – Highly Recommended!
Posted on 02. Sep, 2008 by Ben @ Learn To Play The Guitar Free in How To Buy A Guitar
I always get my music gear from Musician’s Friend, especially since they offer free shipping when you hit $99 (which isn’t that hard – just throw in some spare parts and stuff that you always wanted…they even have apparel!). Well, I was looking around Musician’s Friend
when I discovered that they actually had the Rogue Starter Acoustic Guitar
on a further discount!
It was going for $39 – I couldn’t help it! I threw in a couple of strings and a pair of sneakers, and got myself free shipping. My order came pretty fast too, within 3 days. And it was beautiful! Here are some pictures:
This was the box that the Rogue Acoustic Guitar came in. Pretty well-packed! The guitar arrived in pristine condition.
The actual Rogue Acoustic Guitar – I chose black, and the colour and finish was absolutely amazing for this price point.
The extra strings that I bought – steel and nylon. Just in case 
If you’re interested in learning how to play the guitar but always found buying your first guitar daunting, then this is your chance because this guitar is an amazing bargain. Get the Rogue Starter Acoustic Guitar now, before the price increases!
Learn About The Classical Guitar
Posted on 23. Mar, 2008 by Ben @ Learn To Play The Guitar Free in How To Buy A Guitar
 A classical guitar |
Learning how to play the guitar is just like learning how to drive. With driving, there’s always automatic and manual driving. If you have learnt how to drive manually, then automatics just come naturally to you. Similarly, with guitars, there are many types of guitars, but if you learn the classical guitar well, then it’s very easy to switch to other types of guitars.
The classical guitar is also known as the Spanish guitar. The classical guitar is undoubtedbly a bit harder to learn how to play, but once you’ve mastered the classical guitar, you’ll be able to play other types of guitars, such as acoustic or electric guitars with ease.
Unlike acoustic guitars, you don’t use a pick to strum a classical guitar – you use your fingernails and the tip of your fingers to strum instead – that is why the classical guitar is made with wider gaps in between its strings, and has a wider fingerboard. Using your fingers allows for different patterns of strumming, and unlike an acoustic guitar, the weight of the classical guitar can be relieved by balancing the guitar on your left leg, which is usually raised and supported by a small wooden footstool. By doing this you give your right arm and hands greater space with which to strum fast and freely.
The classical guitar also uses nylon or similar strings, and not steel strings. Nylon strings do not require as much tension as steel strings, and gives out a nice sound without sounding “hollow”. In addition, steel strings produce tension that must be counter-acted against with by an inner steel rod, which can sometimes be found in acoustic and electric guitars. This inner steel rod increases the weight of the guitar, and also takes away from the overall sound quality produced.
On top of the string material, classical guitars also come with six strings or more. More strings allow the player to reach other tones, but the more strings there are, the more difficult it is to play the guitar because there will be different chords, and the fret positions will vary.
Best Beginner Electric Guitars
Posted on 22. Mar, 2008 by Ben @ Learn To Play The Guitar Free in How To Buy A Guitar
Choosing your first guitar is probably the most daunting task you’ll face in your journey of learning how to play the guitar. You need to buy a good guitar to facilitate your learning, as well as ensure that you really maximise your money’s worth. Listed below are a few recommendations of good electric guitars and value packages that you can consider.
Top 3 Beginner Electric Guitars
Beginner Electric Guitars Value Packs
Best Beginner Acoustic Guitars
Posted on 22. Mar, 2008 by Ben @ Learn To Play The Guitar Free in How To Buy A Guitar
Choosing your first guitar is probably the most daunting task you’ll face in your journey of learning how to play the guitar. You need to buy a good guitar to facilitate your learning, as well as ensure that you really maximise your money’s worth. Listed below are a few recommendations of good acoustic guitars and value packages that you can consider.
Top Beginner Acoustic Guitars
I love these two acoustic guitars because they’re solid beginner guitars. Easy to play, smooth sounds, great bass — and definitely value for money. The Jasmine guitar costs only $99.99 SHIPPED! You can’t go wrong with that price. If you’re looking for a complete package, then I have a few recommendations for guitar starter kits too, just below this section.
Beginner Acoustic Guitars Value Packs
These value packs are like starter kits. They come with everything you could possibly need to start learning and playing the guitar. That means the guitar comes included too! I get a lot of emails asking me which is better — well, for a beginner, personally I like either the Ibanez or the Epiphone — if you have the extra cash, then definitely go for the Epiphone, but if not, the Ibanez is a pretty solid choice too! You can’t go wrong with these two choices with that kind of price tag.
How To Choose A Guitar
Posted on 22. Mar, 2008 by Ben @ Learn To Play The Guitar Free in How To Buy A Guitar
The big step that you need to take! Anyone serious about learning how to play a guitar, should have a guitar. You just can’t learn effectively if you have to keep borrowing a guitar just to practice. And you need lots of practice!
Parts Of A Guitar
Steel-string Acoustic Guitar
Classical Guitar
Looks
Cutaway
Top Type
Guitar Shops
Buying A Guitar Online
Second-hand Guitars
The guitar is made up of a few parts, namely:
Body: Hollow, with a big hole in it
Sound hole: Normally round and centered, it is where the sound comes out from.
Soundboard: The most important piece of the body. This is the wooden piece mounted on the front of the guitar’s body, and it amplifies the guitar’s sound.
Strings: These are what you pluck to make music. Normally 6, but there are 12-string guitars.
Bridge: This is attached to the soundboard, and acts as the anchor for the strings.
Neck: The long thing sticking out of the body, where the strings run on. This part holds the frets as well.
Head: The top of the neck, which houses the six tuning pegs used to tune the strings.
Right, now that you’re a little familiarised with the guitar, you will have to make your first major decision of choosing a steel-string acoustic guitar or a classical guitar.
The more common guitar, a steel-string acoustic guitar have steel strings, which gives you a very nice and rich sound.
If you are a beginner, be aware that steel strings hurt! You will need to stick in there long enough for your fingertips to get calloused enough to stop the pain.
The more beginner-friendly guitar with nylon strings that don’t hurt as much. You will notice that nylon strings die more quickly than their steel cousins when plucked. The sound also isn’t as loud, and you might have a problem with the wider neck if you have small hands. It is more portable however, because of its smaller body.
Once you’ve made your choice, go look for a guitar that’s within your budget and that you like! After all, it’s your hard-earned cash and long-term hobby right? So make sure you find a guitar which has good looks! In your excitement, do remember to also check the guitar for discolorations, dents or scratches.
Some guitars have this part of the body cut away to allow your fingers access to the frets near the sound hole of the guitar. This is called the cutaway, and it makes reaching those high frets a lot easier, which is good if you are planning on doing a lot of solo-ing.
Generally, beginners should not worry too much about the cutaway. In any case, the cutaway affects the loudness and sound of a guitar because there is less space in which the air can resonate.
The top, or face, of the guitar where the sound hole is, acts like a speaker when you play your guitar, so you need to choose a good material for your guitar top. The top of the body is generally built in two different styles:
Laminated veneer top: Built similar to plywood, where thin sheets of wood are glued together. A laminated veneer top is not the the best top for your guitar, but is cheaper.
Solid top: This kind of style is basically a solid piece of wood. It resonates much better than a laminated veneer top, and thus, the overall sound of the guitar is louder, clearer, and better. Of course, you can expect to pay much more for a solid top than a laminated veneer top. You need to decide if sound quality is worth that much to you. Again, if you are a beginner, you can get a nice laminated veneer top first, and then upgrade in the future when you get better.
Solid top and veneer sides: The overall sound quality of a solid top and veneer side constructed guitar is better than that of a pure laminated veneer top guitar. You can consider this if you want to get better sound quality than a pure laminated veneer top guitar, but don’t have the cash for a purely solid top guitar.
For the beginner and the absolutely lost, going to a music store or a guitar shop and having someone explain stuff and show you guitar may be the best option. However, this is also probably the most expensive option as well. Good guitar shops give you good service, a warranty for your guitar, and definitely let you test out guitars before buying them.
Buying a guitar online is not recommended for someone just starting out with the guitar, mainly because you don’t know what you’re buying, and can’t try out the guitar. Buying a guitar online does have its perks though – it’s usually a fair bit cheaper! What you can do if you really want the discount is to go to your local guitar shop, find a good guitar model that you like, and then go online to buy it from a reputable merchant. Sneaky stuff. Musician’s Friend is one online retailer that I frequent.
Alternatively, you can also consider getting a second-hand guitar, which is usually a cheaper option. Try asking around. Your friends or relatives may have a good guitar that they can sell to you cheap. Or visit a pawnshop or second-hand shop. You can usually find guitars there, but do check the guitar thoroughly before purchasing them.
So that’s that. And after you get your guitar, you can play like Slash in no time! Well, maybe a little longer than “no time”. Do pop by my free guitar lessons page where I showcase some of the better free guitar lessons sites on the Internet!
If you’re looking for something better and faster, check out my review on Jamorama, that program helped me a lot on my guitar learning journey!