Are you suffering from TMI? (Too Much Information)
There are literally thousands of resources for learning to play guitar. Beginning guitar players are being bombarded with information, opinions, learning methods, DVDs, you name it. There's really way too much to choose from, so your progress stops because you don't know who to listen to.
What should you learn first?
Some guitar teachers advise you to learn notes, some think it's chords, other think it's songs, and still others think it's technique. Here's how I approach teaching a beginning guitar student. Keep in mind that I don't engage in "cookie cutter" lessons where I teach the same way whether you're 8 years old or pushing 80.
There are things you should think about.
Even though you're just starting out, you should give some thought to what you're trying to do. For example, if you goal is to play and sing, you should probably start out by practicing chords. As soon as my students can play 4 or 5 chords I get them working on a song. It's a lot more fun to practice chords when they end up sounding like something. Don't buy a chord book with the intention of just memorizing all the chords. Unless you have a use for a give chord you're not likely to remember it.
Note reading, tabs, and chord charts.
While it's easy to find tablature, or tabs, for songs, it's still a good idea to learn at least a little about standard notation. Reading music is not as difficult as most people think it is, and there are lots of times when it's more useful. Tabs are not standardized, so most of them don't indicate rhythm. To use a guitar tab you'll need to have a recording of the song and preferably a way to slow it down. The program we use to slow songs down is: RiffMaster Pro. (Affiliate link.) The advantage to tab is that it's a number system so it's easier to read sometimes. Most songbooks come with the chords listed at the top of the 1st page and placed over the correct words.
Find yourself a teacher, at least in the beginning.
A professional, experienced teacher can help you sort through the choices available as well as answer questions. One of the problems with teaching yourself to play guitar is that it can take a long time to learn what a teacher could show you in a few minutes.
The main thing is to get started doing something!
After reading this post, I'm hoping you're ready to get started. Another negative from too much information is not knowing where to start, and putting off learning the guitar completely. Once you're on your way to playing you can make educated decisions about what to learn and in what order.
Any questions or comments? Post them below this article and I'll be happy to reply to them.
Showing posts with label chord progressions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chord progressions. Show all posts
Monday, September 12, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Finding a Guitar Teacher
How to find the right guitar teacher for you.
Are you tired of struggling with online lessons? Not having much luck teaching yourself? Is your friend or relative losing patience with you? Sounds like it's time to find a guitar teacher. Beginning guitar students have lots of choices these days, but that's not necessarily a good thing! There are resources all around, some of them great, some good and some pretty bad.
Don't believe the hype!
Regardless of what you read, you WILL NOT learn guitar in a week, a weekend, 21 days, or whatever they promise. Yes, you can improve, play a few simple songs, or learn a some technique, but the time frame is just not going to happen. I've played and taught guitar for over 40 years, and I can tell you with absolute certainty it ain't gonna happen. Guitar mastery is about muscle memory, repetition and good old "paying your dues."
Logical progression.
One of the things I've found with DVDs, CDs, tab books and online lessons is the lack of clarity. Yes, you need to learn a basic set of skills, but not necessarily in the order that a particular book, method or teacher is introducing them. I have students that want to know when they're going to learn chords, or when they'll be a able to play a favorite song, and the answer is usually something along the line of when you're ready. Music is made of melody, harmony and rhythm, and it's very difficult to try to learn all of those elements at once. So, what should you learn first? Decide what you like, whether or not you're going to sing, and take into consideration any prior experience you've had on guitar or other instruments. No experience? Probably at least a basic understanding of note reading, rhythm and eventually, chords. Want to play and sing? Chords first. Remember that everyone's different and there isn't a "one size fits all" way to learn guitar. This is where finding a teacher is helpful.
So, how do you find a good teacher?
Are you tired of struggling with online lessons? Not having much luck teaching yourself? Is your friend or relative losing patience with you? Sounds like it's time to find a guitar teacher. Beginning guitar students have lots of choices these days, but that's not necessarily a good thing! There are resources all around, some of them great, some good and some pretty bad.
Don't believe the hype!
Regardless of what you read, you WILL NOT learn guitar in a week, a weekend, 21 days, or whatever they promise. Yes, you can improve, play a few simple songs, or learn a some technique, but the time frame is just not going to happen. I've played and taught guitar for over 40 years, and I can tell you with absolute certainty it ain't gonna happen. Guitar mastery is about muscle memory, repetition and good old "paying your dues."
Logical progression.
One of the things I've found with DVDs, CDs, tab books and online lessons is the lack of clarity. Yes, you need to learn a basic set of skills, but not necessarily in the order that a particular book, method or teacher is introducing them. I have students that want to know when they're going to learn chords, or when they'll be a able to play a favorite song, and the answer is usually something along the line of when you're ready. Music is made of melody, harmony and rhythm, and it's very difficult to try to learn all of those elements at once. So, what should you learn first? Decide what you like, whether or not you're going to sing, and take into consideration any prior experience you've had on guitar or other instruments. No experience? Probably at least a basic understanding of note reading, rhythm and eventually, chords. Want to play and sing? Chords first. Remember that everyone's different and there isn't a "one size fits all" way to learn guitar. This is where finding a teacher is helpful.
So, how do you find a good teacher?
- Ask around. Have any friends, relatives or business associates that play guitar? Sometimes a referral is the best way.
- Call local music stores. Most music stores offer lessons and have a variety of teachers who teach many different styles. The guitar is a very versatile instrument, so if you can find someone that plays and likes the music that you like, that will be helpful.
- Bulletin boards, Craig's List, local newspapers. Our town has a local newspaper that has classifieds and there are usually ads for music instruction. The internet can also be a good place to find someone, especially if they have a website with lots of information.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Are You a "Google Beginning Guitar Student"
Save money, teach yourself, it's FREE!
We have lots of new students who sign up for private lessons after becoming frustrated with trying to teach themselves guitar. There are all kinds of sites available, from free beginning guitar lessons to a course that contains videos and CDs, to membership sites that promise to teach you something new each month. Are they all worthless? Absolutely not. However, the number one thing a beginning guitar student needs is guidance. A roadmap to help you negotiate the tricky steps of learning to play in some logical order. They teach you chords, note reading, how to read tab and much more, but if you're not at least a little experienced you can be completely overwhelmed.
What should you learn first?
Getting started on guitar can be confusing because there are lots of ways to get started. You can learn notes, tabs, chords, or some combination of those. Let's look at the different ways and see how each approach would be used.
Note reading
The traditional way of getting started on guitar is to get your trusty Mel Bay, Hal Leonard or Alfred's book one and just start working through it. While reading music for guitar isn't as prevalent as it used to be, it's still useful. We recommend that our beginning guitar students with no prior music experience at least get through book one as a foundation. Most of the method books have a logical way of getting started, so if you've never played before that's a good way to get a feel for playing guitar.
Chords
When you hear someone playing and singing, most of the time they're accompanying themselves with chords, so if you're thinking about that as your reason for taking up guitar, chords are a good place to start.
Tabs or tablature; the negatives
Tab is a number system that enables you to play songs without having to be able to read music. While it's got many advantages, there are drawbacks as well. The biggest problem with tab is that no one has standardized it, so there are many markings that mean the same thing. On the surface it seems easy, but like reading music, there's still a learning curve. The other main problem is that most tabs don't notate rhythm, so if you don't have a recording of the song you're not likely to be able to get the tab to sound like it.
Tabs or tablature; the positives
The biggest positive is that it's easier to read for a lot of people. When you read notes, the symbols represent sounds, so the higher or lower the note is in the staff indicates how it will sound. In tab, the lines represent the strings and the numbers are the frets, so it does away with having to identify the names of the notes. The other positive is that it takes some of the guessing out of playing. On the guitar you can play the same note in several locations on the fingerboard, so you could possibly figure out a solo by ear and be playing it in a different place than the original artist played it.
Take your choice
Now that you know the main ways to get started on beginning guitar, just do it! Teacher, videos, member sites, or a combination can all work if you're willing to put in the time and become a true student of the guitar.
We have lots of new students who sign up for private lessons after becoming frustrated with trying to teach themselves guitar. There are all kinds of sites available, from free beginning guitar lessons to a course that contains videos and CDs, to membership sites that promise to teach you something new each month. Are they all worthless? Absolutely not. However, the number one thing a beginning guitar student needs is guidance. A roadmap to help you negotiate the tricky steps of learning to play in some logical order. They teach you chords, note reading, how to read tab and much more, but if you're not at least a little experienced you can be completely overwhelmed.
What should you learn first?
Getting started on guitar can be confusing because there are lots of ways to get started. You can learn notes, tabs, chords, or some combination of those. Let's look at the different ways and see how each approach would be used.
Note reading
The traditional way of getting started on guitar is to get your trusty Mel Bay, Hal Leonard or Alfred's book one and just start working through it. While reading music for guitar isn't as prevalent as it used to be, it's still useful. We recommend that our beginning guitar students with no prior music experience at least get through book one as a foundation. Most of the method books have a logical way of getting started, so if you've never played before that's a good way to get a feel for playing guitar.
Chords
When you hear someone playing and singing, most of the time they're accompanying themselves with chords, so if you're thinking about that as your reason for taking up guitar, chords are a good place to start.
Tabs or tablature; the negatives
Tab is a number system that enables you to play songs without having to be able to read music. While it's got many advantages, there are drawbacks as well. The biggest problem with tab is that no one has standardized it, so there are many markings that mean the same thing. On the surface it seems easy, but like reading music, there's still a learning curve. The other main problem is that most tabs don't notate rhythm, so if you don't have a recording of the song you're not likely to be able to get the tab to sound like it.
Tabs or tablature; the positives
The biggest positive is that it's easier to read for a lot of people. When you read notes, the symbols represent sounds, so the higher or lower the note is in the staff indicates how it will sound. In tab, the lines represent the strings and the numbers are the frets, so it does away with having to identify the names of the notes. The other positive is that it takes some of the guessing out of playing. On the guitar you can play the same note in several locations on the fingerboard, so you could possibly figure out a solo by ear and be playing it in a different place than the original artist played it.
Take your choice
Now that you know the main ways to get started on beginning guitar, just do it! Teacher, videos, member sites, or a combination can all work if you're willing to put in the time and become a true student of the guitar.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
What's one thing you can do TODAY to improve your guitar playing?
Focusing on one thing at a time.
Sometimes learning to play guitar is really overwhelming. There are chords, notes, scales, arpeggios, theory, the circle of fifths, and the list goes on. A common beginner problem is trying to do too many different things and once and becoming overloaded with information. I've got students who surf the internet for info, then wonder how they're going to learn all that stuff. Playing guitar is a time art, it's not something that you learn in a short period of time. Finding a guitar teacher to help you sort things out is a good first step.
Finding the one thing to focus on.
Be honest with yourself, and assess your skills so far. There's no need to learn barre chords if you can't play simple open position chords, there's no sense in learning theory until you have a basic understanding of music, you get the idea. Deciding what type of music you want to play will be the easiest indicator of what you should focus on first. If you want to play the guitar and sing, practice chords. Don't buy a chord book and try to memorize 100 different chords, get a song with 3 or 4 chords and learn to play it at the correct speed, with no time lost between chord changes. Too many times a beginning guitar student will proclaim a song finished when it still needs lots of work. Do you want to play lead guitar? Start out with one basic scale pattern and explore it. Play a simple pentatonic scale and try out different note combinations. Once you know where the notes are, try to play something that sounds musical.
The main thing is to be advancing your playing and moving forward.
Sometimes learning to play guitar is really overwhelming. There are chords, notes, scales, arpeggios, theory, the circle of fifths, and the list goes on. A common beginner problem is trying to do too many different things and once and becoming overloaded with information. I've got students who surf the internet for info, then wonder how they're going to learn all that stuff. Playing guitar is a time art, it's not something that you learn in a short period of time. Finding a guitar teacher to help you sort things out is a good first step.
Finding the one thing to focus on.
Be honest with yourself, and assess your skills so far. There's no need to learn barre chords if you can't play simple open position chords, there's no sense in learning theory until you have a basic understanding of music, you get the idea. Deciding what type of music you want to play will be the easiest indicator of what you should focus on first. If you want to play the guitar and sing, practice chords. Don't buy a chord book and try to memorize 100 different chords, get a song with 3 or 4 chords and learn to play it at the correct speed, with no time lost between chord changes. Too many times a beginning guitar student will proclaim a song finished when it still needs lots of work. Do you want to play lead guitar? Start out with one basic scale pattern and explore it. Play a simple pentatonic scale and try out different note combinations. Once you know where the notes are, try to play something that sounds musical.
The main thing is to be advancing your playing and moving forward.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
How NOT to Practice
Does this sound like you when you practice?
I practice while the TV is on. I've had students tell me that they practice while watching television or "have music playing softly in the background." Are you kidding me??? There's a difference between practicing guitar and just noodling around. What do you think you'll accomplish by not devoting full attention to guitar playing?
I try to concentrate but I keep getting text messages, emails or phone calls. Turn off the electronics, set up a practice room and buy yourself a cheap kitchen timer. Make it clear to the family that you're not to be disturbed until you come out of the room. Setting the timer for 30 to 45 minutes, deciding what needs work, and setting practice goals will improve your playing. Beginning guitar players may not be able to practice for 45 minutes at first, but it's a good target to reach.
I practice but don't seem to get anywhere. Are you really practicing or just going through the motions? There's a big difference between practice and playing the guitar for a while. Concentration is huge factor in making significant progress. Find a method that works for you and stick to it. Some guitar students play through a song over and over, some practice one or two small phrases at a time, and some have no idea of what works for them.
Don't practice mistakes. If you make the same mistake in the same place, fix it! Slow down, play each note so slowly that you can't play it wrong, and do that until your fingers go where you want them to. After you can play the trouble spot correctly several times, get out the metronome and very slowly pick up the pace. Trying to play faster without the metronome is much more difficult because it's hard to play a tiny bit faster. With the metronome you can adjust the tempo so you're only adding a few beats per minute.
Don't lose sight of the fun factor. Having said all of the above, there should still be time to play for fun. Depending on your level, spend some time trying new things, playing faster, and experimenting with different sounds. Play closer to the fingerboard then the bridge and listen to the change it makes, play louder, then softer, slide into strings, bend notes and see what you come up with. Try to make up a solo using a pentatonic scale, play some chords and see what they sound like together and pretty soon you'll have a very clear idea of all the ways you can play a guitar.
I practice while the TV is on. I've had students tell me that they practice while watching television or "have music playing softly in the background." Are you kidding me??? There's a difference between practicing guitar and just noodling around. What do you think you'll accomplish by not devoting full attention to guitar playing?
I try to concentrate but I keep getting text messages, emails or phone calls. Turn off the electronics, set up a practice room and buy yourself a cheap kitchen timer. Make it clear to the family that you're not to be disturbed until you come out of the room. Setting the timer for 30 to 45 minutes, deciding what needs work, and setting practice goals will improve your playing. Beginning guitar players may not be able to practice for 45 minutes at first, but it's a good target to reach.
I practice but don't seem to get anywhere. Are you really practicing or just going through the motions? There's a big difference between practice and playing the guitar for a while. Concentration is huge factor in making significant progress. Find a method that works for you and stick to it. Some guitar students play through a song over and over, some practice one or two small phrases at a time, and some have no idea of what works for them.
Don't practice mistakes. If you make the same mistake in the same place, fix it! Slow down, play each note so slowly that you can't play it wrong, and do that until your fingers go where you want them to. After you can play the trouble spot correctly several times, get out the metronome and very slowly pick up the pace. Trying to play faster without the metronome is much more difficult because it's hard to play a tiny bit faster. With the metronome you can adjust the tempo so you're only adding a few beats per minute.
Don't lose sight of the fun factor. Having said all of the above, there should still be time to play for fun. Depending on your level, spend some time trying new things, playing faster, and experimenting with different sounds. Play closer to the fingerboard then the bridge and listen to the change it makes, play louder, then softer, slide into strings, bend notes and see what you come up with. Try to make up a solo using a pentatonic scale, play some chords and see what they sound like together and pretty soon you'll have a very clear idea of all the ways you can play a guitar.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
How Many Chords Are There?
Guitar chords posters and wall charts.
In the studio I have a guitar chords poster and am frequently asked if that's all the chords. When I say no, they ask how many chords are there? 1000s! Then they ask how many I know.....1000s. How often do I use that many? Never. Once you have an understanding of music theory and how it relates to the guitar fingerboard, you can not only play lots of chords you can even make up your own. The number of chords you learn isn't nearly as important as knowing what to do with them.
The number of chords you use depends on the style of music you play.
A lot of beginning guitar students as well as more advanced players really only use a relatively small number of chords. For instance, if you play and sing, your chord playing will be somewhat limited by your vocal range. If you like Americana, Folk, Bluegrass or Irish music you'll be able to play using a handful of chords most of the time. Jazz, ragtime, classical and some rock music styles require more chords. I have students who play in jazz band in high school and they are usually pretty much shocked by how many different chords they have to know.
How many chords should you learn then?
Everyone should learn the basic, open position chords. There are many places to find them and that's really the first step. Being able to play major, minor and seventh chords is a good place to start. Buy yourself a chord book and experiment. Just because a particular style uses more of one type of chord it doesn't mean other styles won't use them sometimes as well. There are jazz chords that fit well in different types of music, so you just might want to play a few of them and see what you think.
In the studio I have a guitar chords poster and am frequently asked if that's all the chords. When I say no, they ask how many chords are there? 1000s! Then they ask how many I know.....1000s. How often do I use that many? Never. Once you have an understanding of music theory and how it relates to the guitar fingerboard, you can not only play lots of chords you can even make up your own. The number of chords you learn isn't nearly as important as knowing what to do with them.
The number of chords you use depends on the style of music you play.
A lot of beginning guitar students as well as more advanced players really only use a relatively small number of chords. For instance, if you play and sing, your chord playing will be somewhat limited by your vocal range. If you like Americana, Folk, Bluegrass or Irish music you'll be able to play using a handful of chords most of the time. Jazz, ragtime, classical and some rock music styles require more chords. I have students who play in jazz band in high school and they are usually pretty much shocked by how many different chords they have to know.
How many chords should you learn then?
Everyone should learn the basic, open position chords. There are many places to find them and that's really the first step. Being able to play major, minor and seventh chords is a good place to start. Buy yourself a chord book and experiment. Just because a particular style uses more of one type of chord it doesn't mean other styles won't use them sometimes as well. There are jazz chords that fit well in different types of music, so you just might want to play a few of them and see what you think.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Music Theory, Part 2, The Circle of Fifths and Scales
The circle of fifths. What is it, why would I use it.
As you travel on your musical journey you'll certainly read or hear about the circle of fifths. It's a learning tool that helps you remember several important concepts. There are many examples on the internet, just Google circle of fifths. The circle teaches you key signatures, how many sharps or flats are in each key, which chords go together, and the relative minor chords. Going clockwise around the circle you learn the sharp # keys, going counterclockwise you learn the flat b keys. This helps you learn how to play in different scales. The letters around the top can also help you remember what the 3 main chords are in each scale. Pick a letter, then go clockwise 1 and counterclockwise 1 to get the 3 chords that are most common.
Relative Minors.
No, they're not your young children. Every scale has 2 letters that use the name number of sharps or flats. So C Major and A Minor have the same number, in this case zero, of sharps or flats. To play either one you just start on the first letter and then go through the 7 letters we use in music until it comes back around. For example: C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C is the C Major Scale while A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A is the relative minor.
How is this useful?
By knowing which chords go with which scales you can learn songs more quickly. The other advantage is that it will help you follow along when practicing or jamming with other musicians. This is just a brief explanation, so if you'd like to explore the circle further, do some research or have your guitar teacher go over it with you. It can definitely make figuring songs out a lot easier.
As you travel on your musical journey you'll certainly read or hear about the circle of fifths. It's a learning tool that helps you remember several important concepts. There are many examples on the internet, just Google circle of fifths. The circle teaches you key signatures, how many sharps or flats are in each key, which chords go together, and the relative minor chords. Going clockwise around the circle you learn the sharp # keys, going counterclockwise you learn the flat b keys. This helps you learn how to play in different scales. The letters around the top can also help you remember what the 3 main chords are in each scale. Pick a letter, then go clockwise 1 and counterclockwise 1 to get the 3 chords that are most common.
Relative Minors.
No, they're not your young children. Every scale has 2 letters that use the name number of sharps or flats. So C Major and A Minor have the same number, in this case zero, of sharps or flats. To play either one you just start on the first letter and then go through the 7 letters we use in music until it comes back around. For example: C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C is the C Major Scale while A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A is the relative minor.
How is this useful?
By knowing which chords go with which scales you can learn songs more quickly. The other advantage is that it will help you follow along when practicing or jamming with other musicians. This is just a brief explanation, so if you'd like to explore the circle further, do some research or have your guitar teacher go over it with you. It can definitely make figuring songs out a lot easier.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
