When I stumbled upon Jamorama one day, I was beginning to feel really frustrated, and quickly decided that I should spend some money to see if this program would get me anywhere. In the end, I was surprised that I felt rather impressed with everything. The price was really damn reasonable. It even came with an ear-training game!

That’s the picture of Ben Edwards – he’s the creator of Jamorama. Ben is a respected guitar teacher, with a Bachelor of Education. Ben was also the former lead guitarist for the popular down-under band “DegreesK”, and toured with them internationally.

After you made the purchase, you’ll be given immediate access to the Jamorama site, where you can download all their software, articles, tabs, and videos. As of now, membership is permanent, and any upgrades and new offers are provided free-of-charge to existing Jamorama members.

Who Will Benefit From Jamorama?

I started with Jamorama as an intermediate guitar player, but from the lessons, anyone who’s an absolute beginner to intermediate students will benefit. Because of the nature of the lessons, Jamorama will apply to, and help, both electric guitar learners and acoustic guitar learners (many of the videos and illustrations in Jamorama will show pictures of both types of guitars too). In fact, I have a visitor who emailed me saying that his 8 year old son who learned the electric guitar through Jamorama.

What’s In The Package

Jamorama Screenshots (Click to enlarge)

The main learning package consists of a few separate downloads. There are different installers (current supports Windows and Mac) for the eBooks, audio, and video. There are 3 books to read, namely: Beginner (95 pages), Intermediate (51 pages), and Advanced (29 pages).

For each lesson, there are audio and video files too. To check out the video for the pictured lesson, click here:

WMV (2.61 MB)
or
MOV (2.00 MB).

There are large, medium, and small videos for every lesson, in both Windows Media and Quicktime (the sample videos linked here are small). Fun random bits are also included in the pages, such as tips, encouragements, and trivia.

The pictures in the Jamorama eBooks are very clear and easy to understand. The Beginner lessons start with an explanation on the different types of guitars, how to hold them in different positions, and how to position your hands. Again, clear pictures are included to illustrate each of these topics.

Everything necessary for you to start learning how to play the guitar is included. The Beginner book has 15 lessons. Each lesson has audio and video files to help you along, and the lessons are very comprehensive. The book moves into chords and playing basic songs quite quickly, and give you enough instruction so that you are assured to do it well. The lessons are progressive and very well structured, so by the end of the Beginner lessons, you can be sure that you are well-prepared to take on the Intermediate lessons.

Unlike several other guitar courses, the video lessons that are found in Jamorama are all done in a very clear and easy-to-understand manner. The guitar lessons are also sequenced in a comfortable structure, and you can learn as fast as you want. If you’re very determined, it’s possible to finish 4 or 5 guitar lessons in a day. At that rate, you would probably be a pretty good guitar player after a month.

Ideally though, I found that the more time you spend on a specific lesson, the better. You should fully grasp and master whatever the lesson teaches, and make sure you burn it into muscle memory before you progress to the next lesson. I recommend going through a lesson and practicing what it teaches, for at least 2 days. When you become an experienced guitar player, you’ll be thankful for the solid foundation that you’ve built, because it’ll allow you to master the more advanced guitar techniques easier.

I started on this program as an intermediate player, so I had to skip through quite a bit of the beginner lessons, but otherwise I think this is a comprehensive and thorough guitar lesson package that gives you a lot of value for the money.

Jamorama also comes with “Jam Tracks”, which are sound files in MP3 format that help you learn to adjust to rhythms and play along. There are very clean beats in the background of each track, to make it easy to follow along with, and almost any style imaginable is available. They’re in the eBooks as part of the lessons, so you can read to follow along while you listen to them.

My Verdict

If you’re looking for the best way to learn the guitar, Jamorama is it. It’s a fast and easy way to learn how to play guitar. There are hundreds of other guitar lesson packages claiming to be the “Ultimate Guitar Lesson” package, but this is the best deal around because in terms of value, and getting you up to speed with the guitar, Jamorama is the best of the best.

Jamorama is professionally put together, and I was really impressed by how helpful the instructions were. I used to go to the search engines and try to find scattered bits of guitar lessons and guides, but ever since I tried out Jamorama, it saved me a load of time and effort. In addition to the excellent lessons, the Jamorama package also gives you access to bonus games, software, articles, and tablature.

Jamorama is perfect for you if you don’t want to spend $200 for an all-video guitar lesson course. Jamorama instead gives you an excellent ebook + video + mp3 training course that’s comprehensive, complete, and done in a very professional way. Essentially, it’s a full, but low-cost way to get started with learning how to play the guitar. For these reasons, I highly recommend the Jamorama guitar lesson package. Still hesitating? Don’t – Jamorama comes with an 8-week money-back guarantee (that’s 60 days!), so I’ll recommend you to just get the package, go through the lessons, and personally experience for yourself how fast you’ll be progressing with the guitar.

Rating: 9.6/10 Ease of understanding: Value for money: Visit Jamorama website

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!

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/ 2 http://www.learnguitarfree.com/guitar-cases/ http://www.learnguitarfree.com/guitar-cases/#comments Sat, 22 Mar 2008 12:51:15 +0000 Ben @ Learn To Play The Guitar Free 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.