Archive for: February 2008

So you have decided the acoustic guitar is the instrument for you. What are the first steps to take to get your guitar playing off to a flying start? How about we cover the really basic stuff here, like what kind of music will I be playing? Am I aiming to be a professional guitarist? What type of amplifier do acoustic guitar players use, and what strings are best for which genre of music?
After we have covered these topics you will have a clear idea of the way ahead in your guitar playing career.
Right, so what is your acoustic guitar repertoire going to consist of? Which music attracted you to the acoustic guitar should really be your guide here. The most obvious acoustic genre for many people is folk music. This genre really took off as a form of popular music in the 1960’s and now there’s a tremendous volume of material for you to choose from. A lot of musicians who are interested in singing ballads go for the acoustic guitar because it’s so easy to pick up the instrument and go ahead and sing. Providing your guitar is in tune of course. But in general the acoustic guitar is a great companion for the ballad singer because it won’t compete with your vocals.
While we are on the subject of repertoire, don’t forget the acoustic guitar is ideal for singing your own simple arrangements of popular songs from many styles of music. Two examples of rock and roll songs that were hits all over again as acoustic ballads are “Layla” by Eric Clapton and “Light My Fire” originally recorded by The Doors, and reworked by Jose Feliciano.
The question of which amp to use is a matter for experimentation and talking it over with more experienced guitarists. Generally speaking you wouldn’t need any kind of effects for acoustic guitar music; it just needs to have the volume to reach your audience in a restaurant or hall. So just bear in mind you are looking for a nice clear sound from your amp to help carry your vocals rather than set up shop in competition with them.
The choice of strings for the beginner acoustic guitarist is a no-brainer. Learn on nylon strings till your fingers are toughened up. You will form callouses on the tips of your fingers during the first few weeks of playing, after that you can start on a steel string guitar if you wish without slicing your fingers. Regarding the sound of the different kinds of strings, nylon will give you a mellow, unobtrusive sound, and steel strings have a sharper sound which demands attention from the audience. This can augment your vocals and enable you to do solos if you want to.
Now you have got the basic topics covered all that’s left for you to do is enjoy your journey as an acoustic guitar player.

Technorati Tags: acoustic guitar, acoustic guitar players, acoustic guitar repertoire, folk music

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A simple question asked by a lot of learner guitarists. Here’s a response from Paul Hackett at Guitar Noise
“A lot of music books start you off with some simple strumming patterns on some rather old songs. Well, Guitar Noise has a section entitled Easy Songs for Beginners that takes a few easy and well known songs and presents them in the form of a lesson. Not only do you learn to play the song so you can impress other people, you also learn a bit of theory and technique that will come in useful later. The series begins with some very basic two chord songs so you don’t have to learn a lot of chords first. Some of our easy songs for beginners include Riders On the Storm, I Shot the Sheriff, Before You Accuse Me, House of the Rising Sun and more. When you have mastered all the songs in this section you may be ready to graduate up to our Songs for Intermediates page. These lessons are great examples, not only because they get you playing recognizable songs right away, but because they teach you all sorts of techniques you can apply to other songs you learn by yourself.”

Technorati Tags: simple strumming patterns, easy songs for beginners

Everything2 is a collection of user-submitted writings. Below is part of an essay on muscle memory which should be useful to any guitar student.
“I was playing guitar, and just reached the end of a tune, when I was distracted. I noticed I’d played a couple of notes after the end of the tune. I remembered that I’d often previously played another tune after this one, but realised I had totally forgotten the other tune - I had no idea how to play it, and I couldn’t even remember what the melody sounded like. Over the next two hours, through a tedious but strangely amusing process of repeatedly playing over what I could remember, starting with those two notes, and many (mostly useless) attempts at self-distraction, I reconstructed the entire tune.
Indeed, learning a tune is for me a process of repeatedly playing it until I don’t have to think at all about what note comes next. I (slowly) decrypt, rather than read sheet music or tablature, and so those aren’t useful memory aids for me when I want to play a piece. I just have to play it over and over until it’s safely stored in my muscle memory.
Other examples: touch typing without being able to name the positions of keys on a keyboard; knowing how to say ‘d’, ‘t’ and ‘th’ without being able to say how the movement of your toungue differs between them. In these cases, you can imagine arriving at the answer by mentally rehearsing the movements involved, though I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t have helped me with my tune.”
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Muscle%20memory

Technorati Tags: muscle memory