Playing the guitar has its own set of rules and you need to follow them to become an expert player. Playing guitar is not hard and you will have to put some interest and learn it. While learning guitar you may feel that sensation of being a popular guitarist one day but you should remember that even the masters of guitar started with basics one day.

Before starting to play guitar you should know how the guitar is constructed. You should have the idea of various body parts of an average guitar. All of these parts of the guitar form to make a excellent device that help your create magical tunes. Chords, scales, fingering, etc. are the few terms that you will come across while learning the guitar. But first let’s see how Guitar is made:

Basically, guitar is a long wooden piece with a string attached to it. It follows a simple science by creating music when the chords are stretched in harmony. But a guitar is much more than a simple piece of wood.

A normal guitar’s body is made up of a large wooden piece. The thinned part of the guitar that is joined with the body is called the neck. A bridge is located on the body of the guitar where a hole is created. A single string of guitar is binded at the bridge and the pegs which is located at the head of the guitar. The head of the guitar is present at the end of the neck and is not connected with the body. Besides these, small pieces of metal are inscribed on the long neck on different intervals.

These metal pieces are called frets and when a player presses the strings into the frets, then the guitar creates different pitches and music at different places. All of the frets make a different pitch and sound differently. These frets are the most important part of the guitar as they are creating the whole music which made using a guitar.

The way you hold a guitar also depends on the type and melody of the song you choose. For a right handed person, you can hold your guitar on right hand making your right hand the strumming one. You have to hold the guitar in a way that your hand rests on the string above the hole. In this way, your left hand will be holding the neck of the guitar. But if you are a left handed then you should just reverse the order.

Holding the guitar and knowing its body parts are simply the basic. A guitar has much more things to be learned which you will find in following series. Learning guitar is not just a time pass or to matter of interest, it will make you relationship with this amazing device that creates harmonic music too.

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.

Tools Needed to for Changing Electric Guitar Strings

1. Small needle nose pliers to cut and bend the strings
2. A string winder to help wind the strings quickly

Procedure to Use for Changing Electric Guitar Strings

To replace your electric guitar strings, you’ll need to know how to remove your existing guitar strings, and then know how to fit your new strings. Finally, you’ll also have to discover how to tighten, tune and condition your new guitar strings. Here’s how to do all of that:

Removing Electric Guitar Strings

The first step is to remove the old strings on your electric guitar. You will need to change each guitar string one at a time to avoid warping the guitar neck, and you should always remove the 6th string first.

Remove the strings by using the string winder and the tuning peg. Turn the tuning peg until the string becomes very slack, and then cut off the twisted end of the old string so that it slips easily out of the electric guitar. Then wind the top section of your string out of the tuning peg, and remove the old string. Pay close attention to the way the old string comes off because you will be reversing the procedure when installing the new strings on your guitar.

Replacing Electric Guitar Strings

To replacing your electric guitar strings with new strings, feed the new guitar string through a hole in the body of the electric guitar, or the tail piece, and seat the ball end of the string.

Next, pull the string over the guitar’s bridge, over the nut of the guitar neck, and past the tuning peg. Ensure there is no slack. The new guitar string is longer than required, so you will have to cut some of the excess string off. However, do leave enough guitar string to wind around the tuning peg 2-3 times - about 2 inches above the peg should be enough.

Winding/Tightening Electric Guitar Strings

Now you will have to pull the string through the hole of the tuning peg and begin winding the guitar string. The string should have no slack, so place your fingers under the string to keep tension on it. With the guitar facing you, wind the tuning pegs on the left side of the guitar. You should turn them in a clockwise direction. Wind the tuning pegs on the right side of the guitar counterclockwise. To speed up the winding process, place your string winder over the tuning peg and wind until the string becomes tight. Then take off the string winder and use the tuning peg to tune the string.

And that’s all there is to replace an electric guitar string! Now that you’ve changed and tuned your 6th string, you can just repeat the process for all the other strings.

Conditioning Electric Guitar Strings

You’ll need some time to condition the newly installed guitar strings because the strings will stretch and go out of tune easily over time. However, you can accelerate the conditioning process by stretching the string yourself by giving each of the guitar strings a few gentle pulls and do some spirited strumming. Expect to retune the guitar several times after you have replaced the strings. After one or two days, the guitar strings should start to stay in tune, and changing electric guitar strings will have been well worth the effort.

Observe any musician dedicated to their art, and you’ll find that they’re always looking at how to improve their musical skills. Similarly, a good guitarist cares about the quality, feel, and sound of their guitars and should always know how to properly care for their guitar and gear.

Additionally, guitar players are always learning how to best care for their instruments and are on the everlasting quest for the perfect tone for their guitars. Tone is the timbre and quality of sound as it is played, and it is clear why any guitarist are continually concerned with tone - because it is how they sound when they’re playing their guitars.

Quality and Condition of Your Guitar Affects Tone

There are many factors to achieving the perfect tone. This applies for both the electric guitar and the acoustic guitar. Obviously the quality and condition of the actual guitar will directly affect tone. Things like the age of the guitar, the design and shape, as well as how the guitar has been treated over time will affect the tone it emits. To maintain or achieve the best tone for your guitar, you need to maintain and treat it well.

Guitar Accessories Produce Different Tones

In addition to the way the guitar is treated and maintained, its accessories such as guitar picks and strings will also affect its tone.

Changing your Guitar’s Tone with a Different Guitar Pick

The guitar pick that a guitar player chooses will affect tone. There is a wide variety of guitar picks, in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Generally, the thicker the guitar pick, the thicker the tone. If the guitar pick is thin, you’ll produce a tone which is brighter.

Changing your Guitar’s Tone with Different Guitar Strings

Strings have a similar affect on tone. Light-gauge strings will produce different tone effects than guitar strings with a heavy gauge. A guitarist may try hundreds of guitar picks and strings before he/she achieves the perfect tone.

Changing your Guitar’s Tone with a Different Guitar Amp

Besides guitar picks and strings, one other main guitar accessory that will affect the sound of your guitar is the guitar amplifier, or guitar amp. Guitar amplifiers directly affect the quality of the tone produced, depending on the age and type of speaker within it, as well as the age and design of the amplifier itself. Additionally, the connecting cables and how the amplifier is set will directly alter the tone too. Orange amps are some of the most versatile and popular guitar amplifiers around.

Have you thought about what kind of guitar player you want to be? A clear vision of what you want to become, and understanding what you really want, does help you to know what kind of guitar lessons you should focus on. Once you have figured that out, then you can come out with a solid plan on what to play and practice, and for how long.

The duration of your lesson or practice is important and does depend on your character. Some of my guitar playing friends stuck to an exercise, practicing it until they master it. But I know that there are others as well, who are more restless and practice a lot of exercises at the same time. So what’s the correct way to practise?

Well, the honest truth is that there is no one correct method. However, it does depend on your goal, and how much of a timeframe you give yourself. If you are short of time, it may be more advisable to prioritise some of the areas in order to give yourself more time and attention to commit the material to your long-term memory.

In any case, you should focus on the material that will be of use for you in the future and also be a foundation for further more advanced guitar exercises, because ultimately, your goal is to be a better guitar player.

Again, the key is to understand what you want to be, so that you can come up with a plan, and fill it up with the most appropriate and helpful guitar exercises. Once you have such a plan, I would even suggest that you develop a daily guitar practice routine that you can stick to and get used to and feel comfortable with that include guitar technique ingredients that you really need, and will bring you closer to your guitar-playing goal.

What type of things should be included in this daily practice routine?

What you practise daily depends on what you want to become. For example, if you want to become the fastest guitar shredder in the world, then you’ll put in more exercises that will improve your guitar shredding skills.

However, while you will definitely benefit from deciding this for yourself right now, you do need to know that this can change as you get new insight and experiences. So don’t be afraid to change your goals and exercises as you go along. This is of course comforting to know, as it does hint that you don’t need to know 100% what you want to accomplish before you produce your goal.

Don’t forget to incorporate some of your guitar practice time to warm up guitar exercises. These are easy guitar exercises - maybe you could use some chord progressions. You don’t need to create specific guitar exercises for doing this, you can create your very own routine and exercises, or model your routine from someone else’s. Just remember to play slowly and with complete accuracy. This is a time to warm up, relax, and get into the right frame of mind to start practicing your guitar skills!

Interested in finding out more about Frets on Fire? Read what I have to say about it here!

1. Download Audacity (it’s a free audio editing software!) at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
2. Load up Audacity, go to “Project” >> “Import Audio” and open your MP3 file
3. Export your song as Ogg Vorbis: Go to “File” >> “Export as Ogg Vorbis” with the filename your_song_name.ogg
4. Next, you’ll need a background track.
   

   An easy method to create your background track is to lower the gain of your song. From the picture, pull the slider to the left to decrease the gain (-18 db is good for me) and once again export as Ogg with the filename your_song_name_bg.ogg.

5. Put both of these files in their own folder under your Frets on Fire directory/data/.
6. Now load Frets on Fire, and go to “Song Editor” >> “Import New Song”. Type in your song name.
7. Next, select your_song_name.ogg as the instrument track and your_song_name_bg.ogg as the background track.
8. On the next screen, you’ll see the fret. Now press the “Escape” key to access the menu, where you can estimate the BPM, set the artist name, etc.
9. Setting the notes is just like playing the song in the actual game. Hold down the keys for the frets you want, and hit enter to strum. Hit “Spacebar” to start and stop the song. To manually input notes, press the “Enter” key while the song is not playing.
10. When you’re done, hit “Escape” to access the menu, and save your file. Now go into “Play Game”, and try out your creation!

Interested in finding out more about Frets on Fire? Read what I have to say about it here!

Frets on Fire - A Free Guitar Playing Game

I stumbled upon this great, fun and FREE guitar playing game called Frets on Fire the other day, and have been hooked on it! That’s right - you didn’t hear wrong…it’s really free! (Download Frets on Fire!)

For those of you who know the wildly popular PS2 game Guitar Hero, Frets on Fire is like the free version of it! In addition, unlike Guitar Hero, you can import your own songs into Frets on Fire, and its built-in editor lets you tab any song. Learn how to import songs into Frets on Fire.

You start by choosing a song, then begin the game. You’ll see a guitar bridge on the screen with 5 blocks of different colours at the bottom. Every block represents a different key, and you have to press the right fret keys at the right time, while pressing the pick key (enter) to play the sound.

The notes scroll down the screen pretty fast, and the challenge is to play the notes right. Played correctly, and it’ll be as if you were listening to the real song. However, if you play the wrong note, you’ll hear a mangled noise.

Frets on Fire is pretty user-friendly, but selecting songs can be awkward if you have a large playlist. I highly recommend this game - hearing your song being played correctly is pure satisfaction! (Download Frets on Fire!)

Features:

• Unique inverted keyboard gameplay style
• Support for guitar controllers and generic joysticks
• Includes a song editor for making your own tunes
• Compete with others on the World Charts
• Hundreds of songs composed by the community
• Supports importing Guitar Hero™ I and Guitar Hero™ II songs

Frets on Fire (guitar game) video

The great thing is that it’s multiplatform! Frets on Fire runs on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and FreeBSD.

For you techy, geeky, programmer cum guitar lovers out there, you’ll be pleased to know that Frets on Fire is a guitar game that is open source, with its full Python source code available.
]]> http://www.learnguitarfree.com/free-guitar-playing-game-frets-on-fire/feed/ http://www.learnguitarfree.com/guitar-cases/ http://www.learnguitarfree.com/guitar-cases/#comments Sat, 22 Mar 2008 12:51:15 +0000 admin http://www.learnguitarfree.com/?p=15

A guitar case

When you get your guitar, you’ll realise that you’ll need something else. A guitar case. The guitar case is necessary for anyone who loves his or her guitar. And needless to say, a good, reliable guitar case is a must for anyone who plans on travelling with a guitar.

You’ll most likely get a soft carrying bag free when you purchase your guitar, but that’s not going to protect your guitar. Think only the lines of solid, sturdy and reliable hard cases, specially made for your guitar model. That’s what’s going to protect your precious guitar when someone else’s 20kg duffel bag comes crashing down.

The good thing is that you don’t really have to break the bank to buy a high-quality guitar case. Unless you’re aiming for the best guitar case around, you can actually buy a good guitar case for less than $50. I got an Ovation case for my Ovation guitar, so I spent around $80. But generally, specialty music webstores like Musicians Friend offer great discounts, and unlike guitars, you don’t have to test out guitar cases. Check out Musicians Friend’s range of affordable guitar cases, you won’t be disappointed.

But still, occasionally I get down and lose some of that fire. That’s when these videos of cool guitarists playing their guitars really help in motivating me in re-starting my journey on learning how to play the guitar!

Top 3 Beginner Electric Guitars

Overall Rating: 9.21

Squier Black and Chrome Fat Strat Electric Guitar Black Rosewood Fretboard The Squier Black and Chrome Fat Strat Electric Guitar is the ultimate fashion accessory a sleek, gloss black and chrome Stratocaster that looks great under the lights. It’s also an electric guitar that screams, thanks to a hot bridge humbucker, while 2 single-coils cover the traditional Strat sounds. This is the best guitar ever. I have been playing for as long as I can remember, and this is the best guitar I have ever owned. The looks on this axe are the best, but it plays even better. I have not had one problem with this guitar, and I don’t think I will either. The quality of this guitar is outstanding. It definitly gives you the most bang for your buck. There is unlimited amount of tone varities also. If you are a beginner, or have been playing all your life, it dosn’t matter, this guitar is for you. - Active Musician from Eau Claire, WI

Overall Rating: 9.01

Epiphone G-310 SG Electric Guitar Vintage White The Epiphone G-310 SG Electric Guitar is an axe that delivers everything from warm distortion to all-out scream. Crafted with select hardwood body, bolt-on mahogany neck, and rosewood fingerboard with dot inlay. Also features tune-o-matic bridge, stopbar tailpiece, and chrome tuners. Limited lifetime warranty. I bought this guitar from Musician’s Friend around 9 months ago or so, and I can say that this is a brilliant buy. I bought it as my first decent solid body electric (I have a no-name thing from the late 60’s which cannot stay in tune), and it’s never let me down on anything major. The tone is good, it’s nice and loud even through my cheap amp, and it looks fantastic. Mine’s red, which looks marvelous. It was worth every penny. The only thing I can complain about is that my cable jack has fouled up a few times, but with a little soldering, the problem ceased to be. Its got that classic SG look, which is still amazing 40 years after it was designed. If you’re a little short on cash, and are interested in picking up the electric, YOU MUST BUY THIS GUITAR. - Sean the Über-Person from Katy, TX

Overall Rating: 8.51

Epiphone Les Paul Special II Electric Guitar Black What’s so special about the Epiphone Les Paul Special II Electric Guitar? The super-low price for starters and that’s not all. Made with a mahogany and rosewood neck, alder/maple body, smooth 22-fret rosewood fingerboard, dot inlays, and chrome hardware, this baby is every bit as handsome as its uptown cousins. (The wine red version has black hardware.) Features 2 humbucking pickups that deliver long, singing sustain and true Les Paul tones. Limited lifetime warranty. I was looking for my first electric guitar. I wanted it to be a good-looking, hard-rocking seller. It was. It was the most satisfying axe I tried out there. Still rocks even after 1/2 a year. Good sustain too. Although I recommend you change from the factory strings as soon as you buy it. The strings are so cheap it makes the guitar look(/sound) less than a quality Les Paul… Which is exactly what it is. - FretSurfingFreak87, Active Musician

Beginner Electric Guitars Value Packs

Overall Rating: 8.48

Epiphone Les Paul Special II Player Pack Ebony What’s so special about the Les Paul Special II Player Pack? The super-low price for starters, and that’s not all. The Epiphone Les Paul Special II is made with a mahogany and rosewood neck, alder/maple body, smooth 22-fret rosewood fingerboard, dot inlays, and chrome hardware. This baby is every bit as handsome as its uptown cousins. Features 2 humbucking pickups that deliver long, singing sustain and true LP tones, and a limited lifetime warranty.This package also includes an Epiphone Studio 10 amplifier; rugged gig bag; instructional video; super-accurate quartz tuner; plus a strap, cable, and picks to put it all together. Everything you need to get going! For any beginner this really is the ideal set up. When you’re just startin out you want to get decent equipment that will allow you to improve, but not spend a ton of cash. Epiphone did a great job with this pack. The guitar was surprisingly good for the money. By no means was it going to compete with other, more expensive, Pauls, but for a beginner it has alot of quality features to learn on. The amp was also surprising. It packs alot of punch for a little ten banger and has a decent little boost control for added distortion. Epiphone takes alot of pride in their gear, and this was no exception. The company goes to great lengths to make a repeat customer out of you, and this players pack will start you out on the right foot. As time goes by you will out grow this set up, but the gear is of good quality and it will be easy to find someone else who can put the gear to good use. The features are great, the quality was great for the price range, the value was second to done, and overall it was a good little warm up rig. Epiphone is a sister company to Gibson and they dont cheap out on any product, whether its a $2000 Les Paul or this pack. They want your business, and this was no exception. Highly recommended for any beginner. - Maverick from Midwest

Overall Rating: 7.99

Squier SE-100 Electric Pack The Squier SE-100 Electric Pack includes a black Squier Stratocaster guitar, gig bag, Squier SP-10 practice amp with switchable distortion, electronic tuner, strap, cable, picks, and The Fender Guitar Method book. This was my first guitar ever. i still play it. ive had it for about 3-4 years. i LOVE IT! the strap wasnt all that great so i did get a really nice one. the amp is awsome. i use it in church. the tuner is blah. i found a cheap tuner at a garage sale for 5 buks. over all i would buy this guitar again. its awsome for a begginning guitar player! - Jkub D. from Frankfort MI

Overall Rating: 8.46

Epiphone SG Special Electric Guitar Player’s Pack Ebony Chrome Hardware The Epiphone SG Special Electric Guitar Player’s Pack is everything you need to turn yourself into the hottest guitar star ever. Pack includes SG Special electric guitar, 10W mini-amp, strap, electronic tuner, cable, picks, and instructional video. I recently purchesed this guitar, and I absolutly love it. Yes, the strings that come with it are crap , but with new strings this is easaly the best starter guitar on the market. I deffinently intend on keeping this guitar for a long, long time. Also, if you’re not sure of the quality, remember, Gibson owns Epiphone, and Gibson does not put just anything in their guitars and slap their name on it, like *cough* some companys do. All in all, at its heart this is a Gibson for beginners, labeled as an Epiphone. - Rolamoto from Haslett, MI