Tablatures (more commonly referred to as tabs) are used for many stringed instruments, but most people immediately think of acoustic guitar tabs when they hear the term. This article provides the beginner with a basic understanding of tabs, and how they are used for playing the guitar.

Standard musical notation used when playing other instruments involves having to learn the complexities of sheet music, with note values, ledger lines, staffs, key signatures, time signatures and notes. Guitar players use a much less complicated kind of musical notation, called a tab. By using these tabs in your lessons, you can learn to play guitar without ever having to learn to read music in the traditional sense.

When you look at an acoustic guitar tab, you are actually looking at a diagram of the strings of the guitar. The lines represent the strings, with the first string at the top and the sixth string at the bottom. On the lines, you will see numbers, which represent which fret you are meant to play. A zero (0) indicates an open string. An X represents a muffled string. A good trick for beginners is to make your own tab cards that you can slide under the strings, then remove it again when you have positioned your fingers correctly.

If you are completely new to learning the guitar, you may have no idea what a fret is. The fret is the area between two metal bars on the neck, or fingerboard, of the guitar. Most guitars have between 21 and 24 frets. If your guitar has dots on the frets, they are just visual guides to help you know whereabouts you are on the guitar.

If you look at an acoustic guitar tab and there is a number on each of the lines and the numbers are stacked one on top of the other, it is telling you to play all of those notes at the same time, strumming all six strings.

When the tab is showing all of the numbers one after the other, all on one line, then the numbers indicate which fret to use on that string, and you pluck only that string. The numbers noted one after the other, indicates that you play one note at a time.

Once you get the hang of reading tabs, try doing a search for ’simple acoustic guitar tabs’ and pick out a very basic song that you already know spend a little time experimenting with it. Because it is a totally different way of interpreting music, reading and playing these tabs can take a little getting used to at first, but you might be surprised how quickly you can pick it up now that you know a bit more about tabs.

Being able to hear the song that you are learning to play always makes it easier to learn. Online and DVD guitar courses often combine playing the tune (or segments of it) with a visual representation of the tabs on screen. Even if you think you can remember how it goes, listening to it while practicing will help you with both rhythm and detail. Learning acoustic guitar tabs can be a lot of fun. In no time at all, you will have several tunes in your repertoire that you can play for your family and friends, or just for your own enjoyment.

By: Andy Turnbull

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Dean guitars are just flat out kick behind instruments. These are guitars that some of the most hard rocking heavy metal bands use to get their dynamite sound. On top of that, these guitars are just plain awesome to look at. Even a so-so musician is at least sure to look super cool with one of these instruments in his hand. Well, we’re going to take a look at just some of the many guitars that Dean manufactures.

Just the guitars that Dean makes that were new for this year alone could put some other guitar catalogues to shame. While we can’t possibly review all of them, we’re going to pick out some of the cooler models and give them the once over.

At the top of the list has to be the USA Razor Rebelback. The body of the guitar itself has a Hand Airbrushed Distressed Rebel Flag Finish that is just the coolest thing you’ve ever seen. Some people may be offended by it but you can’t argue with the artwork being truly awesome. The rest of the guitar comes with a Dimebucker Treble Pickup and Dimarzio Rhythm Pickup. It also has Grover Tuners and a Floyd Rose Tremolo.

Another Dean classic is the V White Gold guitar. This V shaped guitar has a pure white body with gold pickups. Turn out the lights and you’ll still see this thing. It’s features include 1 High-Output Gold Covered Humbucking Pickup and Grover Rotomatic Tuners. The sound of this guitar when cranked up is just flat out boss.

Of course you can’t go wrong with the Dean Dime From Hell Baby guitar. It is almost impossible to describe what this guitar looks like except to say that the body is mostly blue with what appears to be yellow streaks running through it that can be anything from rivers to lightening bolts. It is certainly very abstract looking. This guitar features 3/4 Size Basswood ML Body, Maple Neck Rosewood Fretboard, Custom Head and Body and Graphic Dual Humbuckers.

No review of Dean guitars would be complete without the Dean Lost 100. This is a limited edition guitar in which only 100 were produced. Want to talk about rare. The guitars were made with serial numbers starting from 77 000001 to 77 000100. These guitars were all built to exact specifications. Each one of the guitars was personally signed by Dean B. Zelinksy and came with a certificate of authenticity. These guitars were designed from the original guitars made in 1977. Each guitar comes with a flame maple top, ebony fingerboard, V profile neck, original Dimarzio super distortion pickups and a number of other features.

Aside from all the electric guitars that Dean makes, they also manufacture acoustic guitars and electric bass guitars. They even have a line of guitars for left handed players. But Dean’s electric guitars are the staple of their company.

If you’re a hard rocking, heavy metal or speed metal freak, then a Dean electric guitar is just the thing you need to bring your sound to the forefront.

By: Michael Russell

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If you already have an acoustic guitar and you do not know how to play it, you should start now. This is one of the easiest music instruments to play. In addition, guitar can be played with wide range of music notes. It can be played with almost every song. The best way to start is to learn to play guitar chords. This article gives you how to learn acoustic guitar by playing guitar chords.

1. Learn your playing position first.
You have to choose if you want to play by sitting or standing. If you want to stand, you will have to buy a guitar hanging strip. There are two sitting styles in playing guitar. You can cross your legs or you can choose not to. Learning the playing position is one of the basic when you acoustic guitar.

2. Use the hand right.
Are you left handed or right handed? Each one has different style. If you are right handed, your guitar body has to be on the right. Your guitar neck has to be on the left. You will have to use your left hand place the chords and right hand play the picking and stroke.

3. Now, study the chords.
Learn the first four easy chords. C, Am, F, G7 are the basic chords that are easy to place. Once you know how to place these four chords, you can play a song. Search on Google to find out the picture of the chords. Then place your figures on the guitar neck accordingly.

If you want to learn acoustic guitar, you can do it easily. This article is about how you can begin playing acoustic guitar by yourself.

By: Tom Founder

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Learning basic guitar is a matter of learning a few simple components to help you begin playing songs. The first thing you should learn is that your instrument has to be specially designed depending on whether you’re left handed or right handed. The second thing you should learn is all of the different parts of your instrument.

The third thing you should learn is some simple tablature to help you to learn the fingering on the fretboard and on the sound hole as you play. The fourth thing you should learn is how to listen to the rhythm of a song by playing the music slowly. And the fifth thing you should learn is practice, practice, practice to help you build calluses on your fingers to make them strong. These are the basics to learning guitar.

Depending upon whether you are left handed or right handed, you will need to find a basic guitar that you can hold comfortably and steady on your lap or against your stomach as you sit or stand with it. Your instrument should be comfortable to your hand and come with a shoulder strap. If you’re right handed, you will be playing the fretboard with your left hand and strumming the strings on the sound hole with your right hand.

If you’re left handed, the instrument will be facing the opposite direction, with your right hand on the fretboard and your left hand strumming the strings. Once you have found the perfect basic guitar you will be ready to learn all of its different parts.

Acoustic and electric instruments essentially have the same fundamental parts, and electrics have additional components to allow you to adjust sound, pitch, tone and volume. Both have a headstock, tuners and a nut for the strings to position themselves through. Both also have a fretboard, neck, body and bridge. Electric guitars have pickups, and acoustics have sound holes.

Electric instruments also have pickup switches, volume and tone knobs, and tremolo inputs. Getting started on an acoustic is easier to make sound on, and using nylon strings is much more comfortable for new fingers.

As you learn basic tablature, you will also learn how to position your fingers on the fretboard and the proper way to hold your instrument. Playing music on a CD player while you strum along to the music at a slow pace will help you to become familiar with the rhythm in the song as well. You can learn the other techniques from lessons online, and by signing up for one on one instruction.

By: Dan C Smith

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Many people start playing guitar back in high school but not many people start playing classical guitar until later in life. If you just so happen to be one of those people then you are in for a surprise because classical acoustic guitar is amazingly fun! Playing the classical acoustic guitar is considered by many to be a sort of art form and for good reasons, just do a search on the web and you will discover that the classical guitar has a history all its own.

The classical guitar and the acoustic guitar are two different instruments and played quite differently also. To play the classical guitar well the guitarist must learn how to focus his or her energy into the guitar and let it come out through the music. You will need to learn to listen and feel the music and put your own feeling and emotions into your playing. This is not something that just anyone can do without some years of practice but the more you practice the easier it will become.

Start out by relaxing and focusing on the music in front of you or in your mind, wherever it is coming from just focus on it. Get the feel for what the music is saying to you and your listeners and take that feeling and let it out through the guitar. Let the music consume you become a part of you, this is the secret to a great player! Do not be discouraged if you don’t think you can do all of this, it is really not as hard as it sounds and after a few days of practicing you will have it down pat.

Classical guitar will be a little difficult at first but don’t let this sway your decision to learn! Just keep practicing and you will soon become a seasoned player that many people will envy! Remember that patience and a lot of practicing are key components when learning classical guitar.

There are many places on the internet that you can go to find practice material for the classical acoustic guitar. If you want to spend a little money you find tons of guides and sheet music at your local music store. If you look hard enough though there are plenty of free resources on the internet to fulfill your needs.

By: Kevin E Brown

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In the small circle of friends that I have, who are musicians, one of their favorite acoustic guitars is the Larrivee D03. I say this because, I own one. Every time a guitar player, whether armature or professional plays it, they rave about how nice it is. Just last night, I was with a group of teenagers at a Christian youth gathering. Three of the young men who were there, on the worship team, said that my Larrivee was the best acoustic guitar they had ever played. Now please understand, our church is filled with musicians who own top of the line Martins and Taylor brand guitars. The Larrivee manufactures stand in a class of their own when it comes to producing an affordable instrument having its own unique sound. Although many six string players have never heard of this brand, it is gradually moving into top positions next to the Fenders, Martins and Taylor acoustic guitars. The music store giant Sam Ash is starting to cover their walls with the Larrivee brand as the demand for them steadily increases across the globe.

Can I get a Larrivee D03 with pickups?

The Standard model D03 that I purchased does not come equipped with electronics. Mine, however, has B-band 2 factory installed pickups in it. The basic model does not come equipped with built-in electronics. When I purchased mine, the guitar shop agreed to custom order it from the factory requesting they install the B-ban 2 system at no extra cost. The Larrivee manufacturing company agreed to do so and three weeks later, I was playing my new acoustic guitar fully equipped with everything I needed to plug into any sound system.

What type of wood is a Larrivee D03 made of?

Solid Mahogany back and sides.
Solid Spruce top
Ebony fingerboard

Some Unique Features

One of the unique features that many guitar players eyes are drawn to is the clear pick guard. Over ninety percent of the instrument’s body has a matte finish. The back of the neck is coated with high gloss. The term “bottom end” that many guitar enthusiasts use, when describing the sound of an instrument, refers to the lower base octave sounds. The bottom end sound is one of the outstanding features of this acoustic guitar. The D03 Larrivee seems to be holding its own next to the ever popular Martin brand name. It’s not uncommon for an accomplished acoustic guitar player to say: “man this sounds a lot like an expensive Martin guitar.” The strings are easy to depress due to the precise position of the neck in relation to the six strings. This makes it easy to hold chords and to play outstanding lead parts with ease.

So, if your looking for the best brand in acoustic guitars, my vote is for the Larrivee D03 model. This opinion has not been formed from occasionally playing one in a music store. I have the privilege of playing one every day. It’s by far the best acoustic guitar buy, which yields the highest quality sound that I have ever found. That’s saying a lot considering that, I have been playing acoustic guitars for over thirty years.

By: Jordy Christo

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The most basic maintenance that you must be able to perform on your guitar is to change the strings. Strings will break, or just get old and dead sounding. Changing electric guitar strings is really not that hard once you get the hang of it. The first time for some people is a little nerve racking. However, by the 2nd or 3rd time you change electric guitar strings you will be an old pro.

How often should strings be changed?

It depends. It depends on how much you play, whether you use cleaner to help the strings last longer, and on the chemistry of your sweat.

Strings should be changed at least every 2 or 3 months, but this can vary so much from player to player. Some professionals will change strings for every performance. Do not change only the strings that break. All of the strings on your guitar should be changed at the same time on a regular basis.

Gauges and Types of Strings

Electric Guitar

As a starting point for electric guitars try the brands GHS, Ernie Ball or D’Addario. For the gauges (thickness) of the strings start with .009 for the 1st string, and .042 for the 6th string. If you pick a set where the gauges are .009(1st) and .042(6th), usually the gauges for the other strings will be very close from brand to brand.

If the strings are breaking frequently or are just too thin for your tastes, move up to a .010 for the 1st string and a .046 for the 6th string. Every time you change gauges of strings, you might have to adjust the neck of your guitar and possibly reset the intonation.

Steel String Acoustic Guitar

For a steel string acoustic guitar use GHS or Martin brand strings as a starting point. If you are a beginner use an extra light gauge (.010 1st string, to .047 6th string). Although these strings will not have as good of a tone as a heavier strings, they will be easier to play. Once you have been playing for a while, you might try moving to a lighter gauge (.012 1st string, to .054 6th string). Remember, the heavier the string, the better the sound and the lighter the string, the easier it is to play. This trade off between the two will be your personal choice. Generally, do not use using medium gauge strings. They are too heavy for most people, and put a great deal more stress on the neck of the guitar.

Nylon String Acoustic Guitar – Classical

Changing the strings on a nylon string (classical) acoustic guitar is a little more difficult. The technique for tying the string at the bridge must be learned, although there are ball end strings made for classical guitars. However, the ball ends tend to break off and you may have to tie them anyway.

Classical strings are not sold in gauges like steel strings but are sold in various tensions. Start by using a normal tension and try GHS or D’Addario brands.

Steel strings should never be placed on a classical guitar and nylon strings should never by placed on a steel string acoustic guitar. Each guitar was designed specifically for a certain type of string and using the wrong type of string could cause damage to your guitar.

Changing Electric Guitar Strings

To make this job much easier, you will need a some needle nose pliers and a peg winder.

Perform the following steps for changing electric guitar strings:

1. Take off the 6th string. Using a peg winder will make the process much faster and easier. Note: Do not take off all of your strings at once take off one string at a time. When are turning the machine head (tuning peg) with the peg winder, make sure that the string is getting looser.

2. The end of the old string may need to be cut off so that it will slip easily out of the guitar.

3. Take the new string and feed the end through the back of the guitar.

4. Pull the string through the other side.

5. Line the hole of the post so that it is facing straight down towards the neck of the guitar then stick the end of the string through the hole. Pull the string tight so that there is not any slack in the string.

6. Feed approximately 1.5 inches (4 centimeters) of the string back through the hole.

7. Pull the string back through the hole about 1.5 inches (4 centimeters) so that you now have the slack that you need to wrap around the post. Make on loop around the post with that slack. Make the initial wrap clockwise for the tuning pegs that are on the left side, and counterclockwise for the tuning pegs that are on the right side if the guitar is facing you.

8. Cut off the excess string leaving about a approximately 2 inches (5 centimeters).

9. Place your right hand 2nd, 3rd and 4th fingers under the string. Wrap the rest of the loops underneath the initial loop using a peg winder. Either sit in a chair with the guitar on the floor facing you braced between your legs or place the guitar on a table.

10. Pull up so that the string is tight with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th fingers underneath the string. Make sure that there is not any slack. Guide the string with index finger. Use the peg winder to wrap the string progressively underneath the previous wraps. Turn the peg counterclockwise for the pegs that face up, and clockwise for the pegs that face down. For the pegs that face up wrap with your left hand, and hold the string with your right. Wrap with your right hand and hold the string with your left when stringing up the pegs that face down.

11. Clip off the excess string. Take your needle nose pliers and bend the excess string that is left down towards the guitar to avoid grabbing your guitar and puncturing your hand.

12. Give the new strings a slight stretch. Give the strings a tug up away from the neck of the guitar. New strings have a lot of give at first. If the strings are not stretched the guitar will not stay in tune.

By: Albert Peacock

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Left handed people can become guitar players but there are some adjustments you need to make to your guitar and your outlook. First if you think that you “should” be right handed because that is how guitars are designed, think again. If the hand that keeps telling you it wants to perform actions is your left hand, you are better off listening to it. This is your active hand, which makes your right hand passive. So in a way, your left hand tells your right hand what to do. Paul McCartney is one guitar player who tried to make his right hand do the picking and it did not work. He only started to get anywhere with playing the guitar after he changed the strings around and started picking with his left hand. There are lots of left handed guitar players who have mastered their instrument and gained fame and fortune. I have already mentioned Paul McCartney, and there are many others like Curt Cobain, Tony Iommi, Jimi Hendrix and Slim Whitman.

Dick Dale, “King Of The Surf Guitar” is one notable exception to this rule. The first guitar he learnt to play on was a normal right handed guitar. So he forced his hands to learn to play without changing the order of the strings on the guitar. Even after he was able to buy custom made left handed guitars, he still played with the strings in the right hand positions because that is what he was used to. Bobby Womack and Albert King also play like this.

So what changes need to be made to a guitar to make it suitable for playing left handed? Well, when you hold a guitar in playing position the sixth string – the E string which is the thickest guitar string needs to be on top of the guitar, that is closest to your shoulder. To achieve this the order of the strings needs to be reversed. If you hold a right handed guitar in front of you and look straight at it, the sixth string is on your right hand side. To string the guitar for left handed playing, the first string should be on the right hand side.

Also, the two parts of the guitar that actually hold the strings on – the bridge and the nut need to be changed around. If you look closely at these parts you will see that they have slots cut in them to hold the strings. Naturally the nut and bridge will need to be turned upside down to fit the strings in the reverse order.

Now for the question of buying left handed guitars. Many guitarists complain that left handed guitars cost around double the price of right handed guitars, so you will need to do some serious shopping. Tokai and Vintage make serviceable mid-range left handed guitars for a reasonable price,. Fender make all the ‘basic’ model Telecasters and Stratocasters for leftys, and Gibson make left handed versions of all their flagship guitars.

Now let us look at another challenge for left handed guitarists – chord charts. If you do a search on the web you will find a range of printed left handed chord charts and chord generators. A good on to start with is “Left Handed Guitar Chord Chart”, by Robert Tarchara. There are also books that are written especially for left handed guitar players:
Mel Bay Left-Handed Guitar Chords, by William Bay, 2005
Guitar Case Guide to Left-Handed Chords, by Rikky Rooksby, 2001
Guitar Case Guide to Left-handed Scales, by Rikky Rooksby, 2006

Fortunately there are many left handed guitar players who have been willing to share the knowledge and experience on line. Some can be found on forums, others have set up their own websites. Among other tips they can help with where and how to buy left handed guitars.

By: Ricky Sharples

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As manufacturers tend, for reasons of profit, to manufacture things that are geared to the majority, there are many things that are made for the “righties”, and the lefties are left with tools that are difficult for them to use, or with a much smaller choice of products.

One such area is the niche of musical instruments, or more specifically the niche of string instruments – or more specifically, guitars. Right handed people hold the guitar with their left hand and strum with their right. Left handed people feel more comfortable doing the opposite. But if they hold a regular guitar with their right hand, the strings will be in the wrong order, and for some guitars, the whole shape of the instrument will be wrong and uncomfortable.

The big guitar companies try to fix this situation by producing also left-versions of their most popular models. But unless you live in the USA or in other big cities, it is difficult to find these versions. Because the left-handed are a minority, not every retail shop will carry these models. For a small shop it is not worth the trouble to get them, as they will not be asked for them often.

The internet presents a handy solution for this: An online shop is not catering to a small region. It can send its product to far away places, to small towns where a left handed musician may live.

It appears many of the lefties do not take advantage of this solution. They resort to learn to play a “regular” guitar, in a manner that is not natural for them. Or they just reverse the strings in a regular guitar so that they can hold it in a “lefty” way, but if the nut is not made for this order it will rub the strings and tear them. It is also not a good solution for the more irregular shaped guitars – the cutaway will be positioned wrong, and the knobs will be in the way making it more difficult to strum.

That is really a shame. People should not be afraid to shop through the internet and find the right (or is it left?) instruments, build especially for them.

By: Debbie Barak

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In recent years, there has been a respectable surge in the popularity of “unplugged” performances. Such exhibitions, as one might assume from the name, feature artists in small venues performing acoustically for small audiences. One interesting aspect to these performances is that sometimes the artists perform on electric guitars without using amplifiers. The irony, of course, is that electric guitars were specifically designed to be able to use amplifiers so that the music could be heard.

We appear to have come full circle. An unplugged performance, I would hypothesize, is an attempt by both the artist and the audience to “get back to the music.” And there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. But the reason both the venue and the audience are small is that if they were not, no one would be able to hear anything. The fact remains that electric guitars are designed to be used with amplifiers. If they’re not, it is very difficult to hear what is being played because (most) electric guitar bodies are solid, rather than hollow like that of an acoustic instrument. So while unplugged performances may have artistic merit, they fail to make use of one of the electric guitar’s most potent and important assets: the amplifier.

A guitar amplifier is simply an electronic amplifier designed for use with an electric guitar. An electronic amplifier, in turn, is a device designed to increase the power and amplitude of a signal. In this case, that signal is received from the guitar. Guitar amplifiers have been around since the early 1930s. At that time and through the 1940s, Hawaiian music was all the rage and amplifiers were used primarily with the lap steel guitar Hawaiian guitar. Then in the mid-1950s, thanks to the rock and roll revolution, the electric guitar took off and so did its amplifiers. Old black and white American Bandstand episodes show artists performing on stages that are subtly edged with the amplifiers attached to the electric guitars. But it didn’t stop there. During the next decade, the artists began to experiment with distortion that could be caused by deliberately overloading their amplifiers. This eventually led to the incorporation of preamplifier distortion controls, which almost qualify guitar amplifiers as musical instruments in their own rights. Certainly it has become impossible to imagine modern music without the use of these devices.

Today, most guitar amps come in two general types. The first is the combination, or “combo,” amplifier, which contains the amplifier head and guitar speakers in a single unit. The amplifier head contains the electronic circuitry constituting the preamp, built-in effects processing and power amplifier. The other type of amplifier is comprised of two separate speakers joined by cables. In this form, the amplifier head is housed in one unit while the guitar speakers are in the other. The unit with the head is commonly placed on top of one or more guitar speakers.

Among the two general types of amps, there are a number of different subcategories favored by different genres and instruments. Traditional amps, known for their clean, warm sound, are often used by rock, blues, country, indie and alternative bands. Hard rock-style amps, as the name intimates, are used by hard rock, metal and punk artists and often include a number of distortion effects and preamp controls. Bass amps boast extended bass response and tone controls that optimize a bass’s sound. Finally acoustics amps, an apparent contradiction in terms, are designed to be used with acoustic instruments that have built-in pickups or microphones.

By: Victor Epand

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