Guitar Beginners

1) Should I buy an acoustic or an electric guitar?

Buy whichever guitar you think you will enjoy more. Electric and acoustic guitars are different instruments but, fundamentally, their technique is the same. Think about the music you like and your favorite guitar players. It is likely you will practice more if you are pleased with the look and sound of your instrument. Practicing more means achieving new sounds, progress and enjoyment of this great hobby. Many guitarists eventually own both an acoustic and an electric guitar.

2) Are there advantages to learning on an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar?

Learning on an acoustic guitar puts the focus on your technique and not on ’sound effects’ that can be gained with an electric guitar and amplifier. The slightly heavier strings of the acoustic encourages stronger technique.

An electric guitar has lighter strings and lower action, making an electric guitar easier to play than an acoustic. A drawback is the added cost of an amplifier, cables, etc. Sometimes the adjustment to acoustic guitar is uncomfortable for someone who has learned on an electric.

3) Should I learn on a hand-me-down guitar?

If it plays well. If you do get a used guitar to learn on, I suggest taking the guitar to a friend or music retailer and get some expert advice on its quality as a beginner’s instrument. I caution that I have seen many beginners get discouraged when the problem wasn’t with their technique but with the inferior guitar they are learning on. Sometimes these guitars have been in someone’s closet or attic for years, have problems with intonation or string height, and with strings that are older than the person trying to learn! My best suggestion is to purchase a new, name-brand guitar. They won’t slow you down and keep their value. Many manufactures bundle beginner guitar packages with guitar, tuner, strap, amplifier and cable (for electric guitars), guitar case or gig bag, picks and sometimes an instructional book or video. Usually at a great discount than if you bought everything separately.

4) What should I practice?

A good practice routine will include some core areas of study: Chords/Rhythm Guitar, Single Notes/Improvisation, Sight Reading, Ear Training, Repertoire. Avoid focusing exclusively on any one of these and you can become a well-rounded musician. And pay attention to that inner voice telling you what you real need to work on.

5) How much should I practice?

You should practice as much as you feel like, if you play every day. No amount of reading, watching or listening can substitute for time on the guitar. I recommend 90 minutes a week for a beginning student, more if you feel like it. Most importantly is play every day. Fifteen minutes every day will show far greater results then a 3 hour marathon practice session every Saturday. Finally, focus your practice on what you don’t already know. Playing favorite riffs for an hour doesn’t count as an hour of practice.

6) How long will it take to get good?

This is a hard question to answer. So much depend on factors such as already playing another instrument, better hand/finger coordination and flexibility, how young you start, and how much you practice time you put in.

There is no reason you can’t play the guitar. I don’t care if you think your hands are too big, too small, too wide, too narrow. If you started late in life. If your Mom raised you on Lawrence Welk records and now your a Ramones fan. Famous guitar players have been blind, missing fingers, learned on poor equipment, etc. The most important hurdle to get over is thinking that you can’t do it. Tell yourself you can do it and anything is possible. The journey to realizing your musical goals is covered in single steps. Enjoy every step of the way toward your goal and you will have fun. And you might reach your goal before you know it.

7) How young can you start playing the guitar?

My youngest student is 3 years old. However, playing guitar takes coordination of both hands to get the correct sounds. Usually children around 5-6 years old will have the motor skills and attention span to follow a lesson plan and begin on the guitar.

8. How old is too old to start playing the guitar?

You are never too old. Music is a hobby for life.

What are your guitar questions?

Now, I could us your help. I need your guitar questions in the comments section of this post. Beginner questions or advanced, rhythm or lead guitar, guitar gear, whatever. I need more questions for an upcoming report I am writing and could use your feedback!

I get questions, you get answers. A win-win situation right? So fire away!

-Storm Stenvold
-GuitarTeacher.com

The poll shows slightly more of our readers play electric guitar than acoustic guitar.

1. ‘I play mostly electric guitar and some acoustic‘ – 30% of the responses
2. ‘I play only electric guitar‘ was the next most popular – 25% of responses
3. ‘I play only acoustic guitar‘ – 18% of responses
4. ‘I evenly split my playing between electric and acoustic guitar‘ – 14%
5. ‘I play mostly acoustic guitar and some electric‘ – 11%

Personally, I figure my guitar time falls into the first category, more electric and some acoustic. Much of the content here on GuitarTeacher.com reflects that. Still, with the strong response of acoustic guitarists I will be sure to incorporate acoustic guitar styles in upcoming lessons features and products.

I appreciate every piece feedback we get here! Check the sidebar for a new poll (official post to come) that will continue helping me tailor GuitarTeacher.com content to fit you!

Exotic Guitar Scales

To help you experiment with the sound of each of these scales I wrote the following jam track. It consists of a simple A octave pattern so you have freedom to use all the scales shown. I recorded the sitar setting of my Line 6 Variax for this one. It just seemed appropriate.

Ethnic Jam Track – Key of A

Download Jam Track (Right click – Save As)

At one time I learned each of these scales shown note for note. After some time I began to hear these scales as containing characteristic notes of the Chromatic Scale (see the lesson on Chromatic Numbering for more on this approach) as well as signature interval combinations. I suggest those seriously studying this list of guitar scales employ each approach.

The guitar scales shown in this guitar lesson:

• Exotic Pentatonic (5 Note) Scales
  • Japanese (Kumoi)
  • Kokinjoshi
  • Iwato
  • Balinese Pelog
  • Hirajoshi
• Exotic Heptatonic (7 note) Scales
  • Double Harmonic (Gypsy Major)
  • Hungarian Minor
  • Hungarian Major
  • Enigmatic
  • Neopolitan Minor
  • Neopolitan Major
  • Persian

A PDF of the scales shown can be downloaded here: Free Exotic Scales Download

Have fun!

If you had to focus on one Guitar Style, which would that be?

Choosing a favorite guitar style is as difficult for me to pick as a favorite ice cream flavor. There are good licks (ha-ha!) and great players to be found in each and every one of them! I guess since I started out a rocker, oh-so-many years ago, that rock guitar still holds a fond place in my heart and my personal guitar style. But, having played in blues, rock, jazz, country, pop, and reggae bands (and some other styles I’m sure I am forgetting) it would be hard to stick to just one guitar style. In fact, many of my favorite guitarists and bands mix these styles,  creating hybrid styles. But, I digress…

If you had to choose one guitar style to focus on, what would that be? Choose below. The poll will also be available in the site’s sidebar.

Because of the number of different guitar styles, I listed only the top handful of styles I get lesson requests for. In a first for these polls, I am allowing your readers to write in your own response (in the ‘Other’ category) if you can’t find a suitable style within the ‘canned’ responses.

I would love to get some comments with your thoughts on learning guitar styles. Remember, these polls help me order and shape future guitar lessons here on GuitarTeacher.com.

I’m looking forward to seeing the results on this one!

The subject of modes can be confusing to guitarists. Simply put, a mode is a scale whose pattern is derived from another scale. The Dorian mode is created by treating the 2nd note of a major scale as the starting point a new scale. The new scale(mode) will share all the same notes as its ‘parent’ scale but a different tonality is created by emphasizing this new root.

In the following jam track we are treating the 2nd note of the G major scale as the root, giving us the A Dorian mode. By placing both chords in the jam track over a repeating A bass note, we continually get reinforcement that ‘A’ is the true root note for our improvising. Keep in mind that any patterns you know of the G major scale will work for your leads, but the A note will sound like ‘home’.

Or, just forget all of the above and jam out!!

Dorian Jam Track – Key of A

Download Jam Track (Right click – Save As)

Here are some scale patterns to experiment with:
And here are the two chords are used in the rhythm guitar:

Modes for guitar players will get a full explanation in an upcoming seminar on GuitarTeacher.com.

“hey thanks for the awesome post but do you know a program i can use for downloading and slowing down this video?”

As a matter-of-fact, I do know a easy and free solution to slow down guitar videos: Apple’s Quicktime Player. In the following video I quickly demonstrate how you can use Quicktime Player to loop and slow down guitar videos:

Now I have made the file used in the original lesson post available for download. Downloading videos off of YouTube to your own hard drive for use in Quicktime is a little more involved. I personally have used the Firefox plugin Download Helper (www.downloadhelper.net) to do this and found it works well. I am sure there are others solutions out there. Subscribers to my private guitar lessons on GuitarTeacher.com don’t have to jump through such hoops. All private lessons and videos you see on the site are available for download to members!

Quicktime will also open audio files. However, I have favored software that I use for audio transcription that I will feature in upcoming posts.

I am curious to hear from other readers what solutions they have used to slow down video and audio files for guitar practice. Until then, ~Daniel~, I hope this helps you with your guitar question!

The song is in the key of E and is really just a blues form. It does interestingly feature a bar of B7 that is in 6/4 time before returning to common time for the E minor pentatonic lick.

The chords used are E major, an open string D5 power chord over an A bass note, A major, and B7. The little lick in the tune is straight out of the open position of the E minor pentatonic scale. About as straight forward as it gets!

There is a guitar solo break built off an E major triad in the 12th position. Simply strum it really fast while sliding into the shape at the beginning of each of the first two measures. Then slide every two beats for a measure and then each beat for the final measure before returning to the open A chord.

This song is famous for being one of the first ever to feature distortion. The tone is very gritty. Link Wray famously used a pencil to punch holes in the speaker of his amplifier to get this raw sound. I might suggest not going to that extreme! But think raunchy. The song also features a tremolo pedal. Or if your amp has the tremolo built in, so much the better.

Check out the clip I referenced from the movie “It Might Get Loud” below along with links to the movie, music and transcriptions.

Wedgie Headstock Mount Pick Holder ($1.99)

This is my favorite accessory to keep guitar picks close at hand. The Wedgie Headstock Mount Pick Holder attaches to your guitar strings above the nut using a patented twist-lock system. Just place the holder in between the strings and rotate 90 degrees to lock it in place. Store your picks by inserting them into either of the holding slots. Wedgies fit all types of guitars and picks. No glues or adhesives. For additional storage, simply add more Wedgies!

Perri’s 2″ Nylon Guitar Strap with Leather Ends Black($2.99)

Having additional straps is a great idea. I have some more expensive straps that I would definitely favor but I sometimes forget them when I travel from home. Stashing an extra, inexpensive strap or two in my guitar cases or accessory bag ensures I will be able stand up and be heard when I arrive with my guitar. These 2″-wide guitar strap are constructed of rugged, flexible nylon. Fully adjustable to 56″. Ends are leather, for a snug fit around your strap buttons. Lots of colors to choose from. Maybe not my every day strap but, hey, only three bucks!

Dunlop Tortex Sharp Guitar Picks 1 Dozen 1.0Mm ($3.95)

When it comes to this item, guitarists are notoriously picky (insert bad-pun-related groan here). You really should look at what type of guitar pick your guitarist favors. Picks vary by brand as well as material used and thickness. In my case, I lose picks all the time so almost any pick laying around will get used sooner or later. Tortex picks are carefully designed and manufactured to give the characteristic maximum memory and minimum wear that made the original tortoiseshell famous. Dunlop’s Tortex guitar picks are available in a variety of shapes and gauges. By them by the dozen.

Kyser Pro/Am 6-String Guitar Capo ($3.99)

From experience, I know you can’t have too many capos. Showing up on a gig and trying to play a capo guitar song like Oasis’ “Wonderwall” without a capo quickly turns an easy strumming tune into a knuckle-brusing nightmare! Now, like guitar straps, I stash capos everywhere. In cases, accessory bags, at home, book bags, etc. The Kyser Pro/Am Capo is designed to help you change keys quickly onstage. For $3.99 you will never experience capo-deficient enduced anxiety again!

Planet Waves Ergonomic Peg Winder/Stretcher ($6.99)

The Planet Waves Ergonomic Peg Winder with built-in string stretcher is precision molded with a solid body and soft comfort grips. Its specially designed winder fits virtually all guitars, banjos, and mandolins. The handle has soft, Sanoprene sides for a comfortable, firm grip and is ergonomically designed to better fit your hand. Plus, the Planet Waves Ergonomic Peg Winder has a built-in string stretcher, which makes tuning your guitar easier than ever before! There are cheaper peg-winders but are they ergonomic? I don’t think so.

Korg GT-4 Guitar/Bass Compact Strobe Tuner ($9.99)

Good guitarists are in tune. This compact dedicated guitar and bass tuner supports seven-string guitars (7B through 1E) in Guitar mode, and six-string basses (Low-B through Hi-C) in Bass mode. Quinta-flat tuning mode is useful for dropped tunings, letting you calibrate the GT-4 from one to five semitones below standard pitch. Designed for easy operation with switches conveniently located when held in the palm of your hand. In Strobe mode, if approximately thirty seconds have elapsed without any audio input, the rotating red LED’s will go dark. If approximately ten minutes have elapsed with no audio input while powered-on, the GT-4 will automatically turn off to prevent unnecessary battery consumption. Korg makes good stuff.

ToneGear The String Cleaner Cleaning Tool ($9.99)

This is a very cool accessory that I plan on featuring in a separate post. It is a string cleaning device requires no cleaning solution. Microfiber pads sandwich your strings and clean them on all surfaces at once, even the bottom. The pads have thousands of little loops, each has a plastic section to dislodge the dirt and fabric to attract and hold it. Clamps lightly around all 6 strings, you slide it up and down the length. Easy to carry in your case and use after every playing session. Made to last — don’t throw it (or your money) away. Just wash it with water and a little soap every 2 months or so. Won a Best of Show Award for accessories at the 2008 NAMM show in California.

String Swing Wood Guitar Wall Hanger ($10.99)

This is my favorite way to hold and display my guitars. Even better than guitar stands that take up floor space and are then more vulnerable to kids and pets (of which I have many). Guitar hangars display your guitar like a work of art and it won’t accidentally get knocked over. This hanger will display wide or narrow body guitars. Also keeps the neck straight. Wooden base with mounting hardware. I have nine.

Dunlop Formula 65 Guitar Polish Kit ($12.99)

The Dunlop Formula 65 Guitar Polish Kit includes 4 oz. each of Formula No. 65 Guitar Polish & Cleaner, Bodygloss Cream of Carnauba, a 100% cotton polishing cloth, and care instructions. Formula 65 daily-use guitar polish leaves a no-residue shine and is chemically balanced to keep the finish in pristine shape. Body Gloss Cream of Carnauba is the highest grade carnauba wax, in a proprietary Dunlop formulation. Polishes and beautifies, while hiding and sealing small cracks. Leaves a moisture- and stain-resistant barrier.

Qwik Time QT-3 Quartz Metronome ($14.95)

I have used this metronome. It features a speaker that projects clear, wood-block clicks that cut through the music. More than 200 speed settings, A440 tuning tone, low-battery indicator, and an earphone jack. It can take awhile to scroll to a new tempo setting, a fact that I don’t care for. You might want to spend five dollars more and get Korg MA-30 Digital Metronome.

Here is a video of the four-bar intro:

The tablature for this part:

To see Stevie in action watch the video embed below. The playlist beneath the video has links to the tab songbook, the DVD of this performance and other Stevie Ray Vaughan products and reference material. Get to know him!

“It’s a 1-4-5 progression in G.”
“His solo uses the flat 6th.”
“Sing a 3rd above the melody note.”

This language sounds obscure and self-important at first but it is really very easy to understand. This fundamental theoretical approach is called CHROMATIC NUMBERING. Learning it holds many benefits to us as guitarists:

1. It simplifies communication with other musicians who “speak the language”, saving us time
2. It gives us a common point of reference for all our different note combinations (Chords, Scales, Arpeggios)
3. It relates extremely well to the way that patterns lay out and move around on the guitar neck

CHROMATIC NUMBERING (Foundation #1)
The approach begins by locating a single most important note and labeling it with the number “1″. You then label other notes you play with numbers that indicate how far away they are from the “1″.

This CHROMATIC RULER can be applied directly to the following example with the most important note at the 3rd fret of the sixth string, as demonstrated below:

You can see in the above diagram how the notes above our “1″, (which starts on the 3rd fret 6th string), now have specific numerical names based on the 3rd fret being labeled as number “1″.

MEMORIZE THE NUMERICAL SEQUENCE BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS and learn to use it on the fingerboard to label things that you play. This will interconnect the many things that you play and study to create a mutually supporting theory base between many different elements of music.

Example:  Play   1    2    3    4    5    6    7    1    =  The notes of the G major scale
Example:  Play   1    2    3    4    5    6  b7    1    =  The notes of the G mixolydian mode
Example:  Play   1          b3         5                        =  The notes of the G minor chord
Example:  Play   1          b3   4    5        b7    1    =  The notes of the G minor pentatonic

One example above, name the G major scale, is shown again below as it occurs in one neck area rather than just using a single string. (Players often use this pattern as a ‘map’ to quickly number neighboring notes that aren’t drawn). The more you apply the chromatic number system to patterns that you know and learn, the easier, quicker and more useful it becomes!

Being able to play number without a lot of neck motion (off any “1″) is a crucial skill. After players can easily find related numbers when ‘1′ placed on the sixth string, the next step is to learn to find numbers when to ‘1′ is on the 5th string, etc.