Have you ever wanted to just sit down at the piano and play what you feel? Without worrying if it's good enough or if you have enough "talent?" You can when you learn how to play piano using the amazing open position piano chord!
This chord structure allows the complete beginner to create modern sounds at the piano
First, you must learn how to use it. The easiest way to do this is to simply learn the chords in the Key of C Major. We take the entire 6-note chord and move it up step by step. First we play C Major 7, then D minor 7, E minor 7, F Major 7, G 7, and A minor 7 and finally, B half-diminished. We play the chords first as solid chords (all tones together) then we break them up.
Once we've got this very large chord structure down in our hands, we can then use it to create music with. Improvisation simply means spontaneous expression - learning how to create in the moment. Improvising does not have to be hard! Once you get the chords down, you're left with the melody creation aspect and this is easy to because all you use are the notes from the C Major scale.
We use our chords much the same way a painter uses a palette of colors. We create using chords and the element of time.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Electric Guitar Tablature explain musical ideas
Tablature as a means of writing music down has been with us for hundreds of years, but many people today look down on tabs as a third rate method of musical communication.
In fact, tablature is not a dumbed down version of conventional musical notation, rather what we call sheet music grew from a need for more versatility in notation as music became more complex in medieval times. Electric Guitar Tabs have been a great help to the many people who have taken up the electric guitar and who wanted to get down to the business of playing as quickly as possible.
Conventional music notation has much more to communicate than tabs, but if you already know more or less how the song sounds, and are prepared to work at your own interpretation, then there is nothing wrong with using tablature.
Guitarists composing music using tabs and sharing the results of their work on the internet have brought a wide range of music within reach of amateur musicians who never learnt to read music. To some guitarists learning to read music is a waste of time that would be put to better use expressing their feelings through music. This attitude is at odds with the idea that the more
theoretical knowledge you have, the greater the pool of resources at your disposal for expressing your ideas.
Tablature, on the other hand, allows the guitarist to get to know the basic piece of music in his own way, and use his musical intuition and flair for improvisation to produce a musical work which will be as much his own work as the original composer's.
For that reason electric guitar tabs are a boon to the electric guitar player who does not want to just produce a copy of someone else's work.
You can find electric guitar tabs in music stores along with conventional written music, but the quickest and best place to look for electric guitar tabs is on the internet. Even though there's a
legal dogfight going on about tab publishers infringing the rights of the original composer, many tabs are still available for free.
However you need to exercise your discernment when making use of tablature produced by amateur guitarists. You might need to change things around a little if they don't sound right.
As for the electric guitar player who wants to broaden his musical knowledge, tablature also allows the guitarist to learn new chords, scales or modes very quickly.
Finally a reminder that using electric guitar tabs to learn new material is not a walk in the park - you need to supply some of the information which is otherwise written into sheet music. You need
to have some idea of the note values and a basic understanding of time signatures and tempo. What that boils down to is that you can hear the music in your head, and you just want to know
where to put your fingers on the fret board. That is what guitar tabs were originally made for.
In fact, tablature is not a dumbed down version of conventional musical notation, rather what we call sheet music grew from a need for more versatility in notation as music became more complex in medieval times. Electric Guitar Tabs have been a great help to the many people who have taken up the electric guitar and who wanted to get down to the business of playing as quickly as possible.
Conventional music notation has much more to communicate than tabs, but if you already know more or less how the song sounds, and are prepared to work at your own interpretation, then there is nothing wrong with using tablature.
Guitarists composing music using tabs and sharing the results of their work on the internet have brought a wide range of music within reach of amateur musicians who never learnt to read music. To some guitarists learning to read music is a waste of time that would be put to better use expressing their feelings through music. This attitude is at odds with the idea that the more
theoretical knowledge you have, the greater the pool of resources at your disposal for expressing your ideas.
Tablature, on the other hand, allows the guitarist to get to know the basic piece of music in his own way, and use his musical intuition and flair for improvisation to produce a musical work which will be as much his own work as the original composer's.
For that reason electric guitar tabs are a boon to the electric guitar player who does not want to just produce a copy of someone else's work.
You can find electric guitar tabs in music stores along with conventional written music, but the quickest and best place to look for electric guitar tabs is on the internet. Even though there's a
legal dogfight going on about tab publishers infringing the rights of the original composer, many tabs are still available for free.
However you need to exercise your discernment when making use of tablature produced by amateur guitarists. You might need to change things around a little if they don't sound right.
As for the electric guitar player who wants to broaden his musical knowledge, tablature also allows the guitarist to learn new chords, scales or modes very quickly.
Finally a reminder that using electric guitar tabs to learn new material is not a walk in the park - you need to supply some of the information which is otherwise written into sheet music. You need
to have some idea of the note values and a basic understanding of time signatures and tempo. What that boils down to is that you can hear the music in your head, and you just want to know
where to put your fingers on the fret board. That is what guitar tabs were originally made for.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
The Lure Of The Nylon String Guitar
As a fan of the electric guitar and an enthusiastic player of acoustic music, I would like to share some of the most fascinating aspects of the nylon string guitar to give you an idea of the beauty of this instrument as a stepping stone for beginner guitarists or as the subject of a lifelong devotion. Although a nylon string guitar fan can go on and on about the wonderful mellow sound and the potential for extracting new meaning from music, maybe we can focus on the more practical aspects of the nylon string acoustic like the different styles of music played on it and the advantages it can hold for an amateur or professional guitarist.
First let's talk about the types of guitars using nylon strings. Many experts say the flamenco guitar with its dry sound is more typical of what a guitar was like before the emergence of the sonorous and lyrical sound of the classical guitar which evolved in the first half of the twentieth century. The flamenco guitar has always been common in some areas of Spain, and it is simply the musical instrument used by a family or group of friends to play the local folk music. The classical guitar was developed to play the classical style compositions which became popular in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A descendent of the classical guitar is the basic nylon string acoustic guitar you see in music stores today.
The sound of the nylon string guitar is much more peaceful compared to the brighter sound of the steel string acoustic. Another major advantage of the nylon string guitar is that it provides musical accompaniment to songs without distracting attention from your vocals.
By the way - did you know that players of electric guitars or steel string acoustic instruments need to develop callouses on their left hand fingers? Nylon strings are generally a little kinder to your hands. You will find that your nylon string guitar is easy to tune and you can just pick your guitar up and play it at any time of day or night without disturbing anybody in the immediate environment. Also the wider fret board allows you to play chords and single notes without accidentally touching the wrong string.
Nylon string guitars are kinder to finger picking guitarists. Anybody can learn finger style guitar on nylon strings without running too much risk of breaking fingernails, plus you will be pleased at how your first finger picking efforts are rewarded by the more beginner-friendly tone of the nylon acoustic.
Now you have some idea of the attractive aspects of the nylon string acoustic guitar, I do hope you will find some time to devote to this beautiful and, in recent times, neglected instrument.
First let's talk about the types of guitars using nylon strings. Many experts say the flamenco guitar with its dry sound is more typical of what a guitar was like before the emergence of the sonorous and lyrical sound of the classical guitar which evolved in the first half of the twentieth century. The flamenco guitar has always been common in some areas of Spain, and it is simply the musical instrument used by a family or group of friends to play the local folk music. The classical guitar was developed to play the classical style compositions which became popular in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A descendent of the classical guitar is the basic nylon string acoustic guitar you see in music stores today.
The sound of the nylon string guitar is much more peaceful compared to the brighter sound of the steel string acoustic. Another major advantage of the nylon string guitar is that it provides musical accompaniment to songs without distracting attention from your vocals.
By the way - did you know that players of electric guitars or steel string acoustic instruments need to develop callouses on their left hand fingers? Nylon strings are generally a little kinder to your hands. You will find that your nylon string guitar is easy to tune and you can just pick your guitar up and play it at any time of day or night without disturbing anybody in the immediate environment. Also the wider fret board allows you to play chords and single notes without accidentally touching the wrong string.
Nylon string guitars are kinder to finger picking guitarists. Anybody can learn finger style guitar on nylon strings without running too much risk of breaking fingernails, plus you will be pleased at how your first finger picking efforts are rewarded by the more beginner-friendly tone of the nylon acoustic.
Now you have some idea of the attractive aspects of the nylon string acoustic guitar, I do hope you will find some time to devote to this beautiful and, in recent times, neglected instrument.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Learn To Play Guitar Fast
When you watch somebody play fast on the guitar do you always wonder if you could learn to do that? Let us look at what resources we need to increase our own guitar playing speed on a regular basis. The very first thing you are going toneed is a metronome. You can buy one from your local music store, steal one from a maiden aunt or download one for free on the internet. If you choose to steal one, then I am afraid you will not make much progress in your quest to play guitar fast because shortcuts just do not work. Most of us look for the quickest and most painless way to do things, and that is why most of us are not playing guitar at the speed of light.
Okay, you have your metronome and an attitude adjustment. You are ready to begin. The next thing you need is something to practice. It can be a solo passage from a song. It can be an exercise, like a series of arpeggios or a picking exercise. You need to choose your material carefully because you will need to know exactly how fast you want to play in terms of the settings on your metronome. You may or may not need to spend time learning your passage from scratch as some familiarity with the piece is necessary to start increasing how fast you play it. By familiarity I mean the muscles in your fingers, hands and arms need to beable to play your piece without hesitation. So that is the next thing you need. In order to play guitar fast you need to be able to play slowly.
The exercise you have chosen to play should not be too easy, but at the same time it should not have too many tricky bits. That is why you are using an exercise or an isolated passage rather than a song or long solo. Now you are starting to see the way ahead. If you have yourpractice passage ready, check it with your metronome. Make sure you know what your present speed is. The next thing is to take a metronome setting not too far above your present one and make that your goal.
Let us now talk about something you do not need. Muscular tension. You need to practice playing guitar fast without building a level of tension in the muscles that will work against your goal. In order to escape the possibility of too much tension you need to forget about time frames. You have your goal in the metronome setting. Leave the time open ended. The idea is not to actually PLAY guitar faster at sometime in the future, but to WORK A LITTLE BIT ON PLAYING FAST every day.
So if you choose a passage to practice in order to play fast, and playing speed will begin to increase. Once you have reached a level of skill on one exercise, choose another one with a couple more challenges. But remember to begin again from the beginning. Ascertain where you are now and decide on a realistic goal for your next step.
Okay, you have your metronome and an attitude adjustment. You are ready to begin. The next thing you need is something to practice. It can be a solo passage from a song. It can be an exercise, like a series of arpeggios or a picking exercise. You need to choose your material carefully because you will need to know exactly how fast you want to play in terms of the settings on your metronome. You may or may not need to spend time learning your passage from scratch as some familiarity with the piece is necessary to start increasing how fast you play it. By familiarity I mean the muscles in your fingers, hands and arms need to beable to play your piece without hesitation. So that is the next thing you need. In order to play guitar fast you need to be able to play slowly.
The exercise you have chosen to play should not be too easy, but at the same time it should not have too many tricky bits. That is why you are using an exercise or an isolated passage rather than a song or long solo. Now you are starting to see the way ahead. If you have yourpractice passage ready, check it with your metronome. Make sure you know what your present speed is. The next thing is to take a metronome setting not too far above your present one and make that your goal.
Let us now talk about something you do not need. Muscular tension. You need to practice playing guitar fast without building a level of tension in the muscles that will work against your goal. In order to escape the possibility of too much tension you need to forget about time frames. You have your goal in the metronome setting. Leave the time open ended. The idea is not to actually PLAY guitar faster at sometime in the future, but to WORK A LITTLE BIT ON PLAYING FAST every day.
So if you choose a passage to practice in order to play fast, and playing speed will begin to increase. Once you have reached a level of skill on one exercise, choose another one with a couple more challenges. But remember to begin again from the beginning. Ascertain where you are now and decide on a realistic goal for your next step.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
You Can Learn To Read Guitar Sheet Music
When you learn to read guitar sheet music it will be vital in expanding your guitar playing skills. Playing by ear will only get you so far and I am here to help take it to the next step.
I will show you some basic tips and tricks to help you learn to read guitar sheet music and hopefully that will make you a better and more versatile guitar player. I will now give you a list that will show you it is not hard to learn to read guitar sheet music.
Finding the right material
Finding the right material
Most guitar books will have some basic sheet music and songs in the front pages that are designed to help you learn to read guitar sheet music quickly. Once you have basic guitar knowledge it is relatively easy to learn to read guitar sheet music. Start in small sections, one chord at a time. Use your guitar and play the chord out loud until you know it sounds correct.
Setting your self up
Setting your self up
You will need to be in a small quite room where you will not be distracted by anything when you learn to read guitar sheet music. The only way to know when you get it right is if it sounds right and it can be difficult do that if you have screaming kids in the room with you or loud street noise outside. Concentration is key and this will make it easier to learn how to read guitar sheet music. If you are distracted you may find a whole day can bewasted trying to focus
Getting started
Remember what I said, be free from distraction! I cannot stress that enough. Now you're alone and it's quiet, find a music book with sheet music, try to pick something easy but also try to pick something you are familiar with. It makes it much easier to learn to read guitar sheet music if you are familiar with the tune. Make sure you are confident with one piece before you move on to the next.
Continue practicing
Continue to practice as much as you can, you will find that the better you get the more you will practice. When you enjoy something you will generally apply more time to it. Trying to learn to read guitar sheet music is easy as long as you practice! Once you have mastered reading sheet music then you can attempt towrite you own music and that is where the real fun begins! It is essential to make sure you are confident or you will only have to go back and learn to read guitar sheet music all over again.
Getting started
Remember what I said, be free from distraction! I cannot stress that enough. Now you're alone and it's quiet, find a music book with sheet music, try to pick something easy but also try to pick something you are familiar with. It makes it much easier to learn to read guitar sheet music if you are familiar with the tune. Make sure you are confident with one piece before you move on to the next.
Continue practicing
Continue to practice as much as you can, you will find that the better you get the more you will practice. When you enjoy something you will generally apply more time to it. Trying to learn to read guitar sheet music is easy as long as you practice! Once you have mastered reading sheet music then you can attempt towrite you own music and that is where the real fun begins! It is essential to make sure you are confident or you will only have to go back and learn to read guitar sheet music all over again.
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