Learnin' To Play Guitar » learn electric guitar

01 Learn Electric Guitar “How To Read Tab” – Rock Guitar Lesson

Rob — Mon, 16 May 2011 06:33:39 +0000

www.leadguitarzero2hero.com This video will show you how To Read Tab. It’s the first of a range of videos that teaches you how to play the electric guitar. To learn acoustic guitar visit www.rhythmguitarzero2hero.com

Learn Electric Guitar Lessons – How to play Paradise City – Easy Guitar Riffs

Rob — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:32:38 +0000

Check out THE COOLEST ELECTRIC GUITAR LESSONS on the web! More FREE VIDS at www.famousriffs.com

Learn Electric Guitar Lessons – How to play Sweet Home Alabama – Easy Guitar Riffs

Rob — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:32:37 +0000

Check out THE COOLEST ELECTRIC GUITAR LESSONS on the web! More FREE VIDS at www.famousriffs.com

Learn electric guitar

Rob — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 20:57:03 +0000

Learn electric guitar

Playing your first chords

When you first pick up the electric guitar and are unsure exactly what to do with it, one of the first things you will generally learn are some simple chords.

So, just what is a chord, anyway?

Technically, a chord is a set of harmonically related notes, played simultaneously. To be less academic about it, a chord is what happens when you strum several strings together to create a pleasing sound.

The first chords you will learn here are known as Open Chords. These chords take advantage of the open strings.

There is another type of chord known as a Barre Chord. These chords involve pressing one or more fingers down across several strings. Because barre chords involve no open strings, the same shapes can be moved up and down the neck to create a chord in any key. In theory they are not any more complex to play than an open chord. However, they do require more strength in the fingering hand, which can make them frustrating for very new guitarists. This is only a problem for beginner guitarists, after a brief time learning electric guitar you will quickly have enough strength not to be bothered by having to barre a chord.

Chords are named after their root note. The root note is just what musicians the note around which the chord is built. They come in two basic varieties, major and minor. A major chord can be said to have a “strong”, “bright” and “happy” sound, while a minor chord has a comparitively “darker” or more “melancholy” sound.

To start with here, for your first chords, we will play 3 different major open chords. For help reading the chord charts, see my post on how to read chord charts. And now, without any further ado, here are the chords:

To play an Open E, place your index finger on the G string at the first fret, place your middle finger on the A string at the second fret, and place your ring finger on the D string at the second fret. Then play every string and let the chord ring out. You’ve just played an open E!

To play an Open A, place your middle finger on the D string at the second fret, place your ring finger on the G string at the second fret, and place your pinky on B string at the second fret. Then play every string except for the low E.

To play an Open D, place your index finger on the G string at the second fret, place your middle finger on the high E string at the second fret, and place your ring finger on the B string at the third fret. Then sound the 4 high strings, leaving the low E and the A strings unplayed.

That’s it, you now know three chords on the electric guitar! If they feel a bit awkward at first, that’s okay. Keep playing through them so that they feel a bit more natural, and stay tuned for more posts on how to use these three chords to play a song.

Gibson’s Top 50 guitarists of all time – 50 to 41

The Gibson guitar company is compiling a list of the top 50 guitarists of all time. They’ve got their list from some fairly inscrutable process involving votes from their website’s readers, and from their own team of judges. They are releasing their results ten at a time, so here are guitarists #50 to #41- I’ve included a little bit of information about each guitarist.

49. (tie) Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple, Rainbow, Blackmore’s night)

One of the most influential guitarists of all time, who managed to combine raucous blues-rock riffing with european classical inspired phrases in a way that nobody had attempted before. His raw panache, affinity for the harmonic minor scale and love for the Fender Stratocaster inspired many guitarists throughout the years, including a young Yngwie Malmsteen. A truly prolific and prodigious performer, he is probably most widely known for writing the instantly recognisable riff to Smoke on the Water, as well as for his much-publicised disputes with his bandmates.

49. (tie) Kurt Cobain (Nirvana)

Though not a master technician by any stretch, and an extremely unlikely guitar hero, for a brief time in the early 1990s this guy probably did more to prompt young kids to learn guitar than anybody else on the planet. His band Nirvana was the flagship band of the grunge movement, which combined punk and alternative attitude with much of the riffmanship of hard rock and early heavy metal. He was known for playing heavily modified, discontinued Fender guitars, and an ever changing variety of amps and effects.

47. (tie) Robert Fripp (King Crimson, solo)

Robert Fripp is not the pioneer of progressive rock guitar, but over the years he has probably become it’s principal exponent. A left-hander who plays right-handed guitars, he is notable for being one of the few famous guitarists to emerge from the late 60s and early 70s without a significant blues influence in his playing. His crossing of avant-garde jazz and european classical ideas with rock instrumentation became a key part of progressive rock and jazz fusion.

47. (tie) Andrés Segovia

A spanish classical guitarist born in the nineteenth century, he influenced classical guitar both as a performer and as a transcriptionist, teacher and arranger. The video recording of him playing live at the Alhambra are an excellent introduction to his work.

42. (tie) Hubert Sumlin (Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters)

A blues guitarist and singer from Arkansas, whose work with Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters managed to influence Jimmy Page, Robbie Robertson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards and Joe Perry. At 78 years old, and despite health complications, he is still touring.

42. (tie) Clarence White (Nashville West, Muleskinner, The Kentucky Colonels, The Byrds)

Clarence White was a bluegrass guitarist who moved to Los Angeles to find work as a session player. By joining The Byrds he became one of the key influences in marrying country music to rock.

42. (tie) Rory Gallagher (Taste, solo)

An Irish blues-rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, who formed the band Taste in the 1960s and performed solo for decades after. Along with Van Morrison and Phil Lynott, he was among the first Irish musicians to become famous by performing blues-based rock. Such was his influence on the genre that David Coverdale invited him to replace Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple, although he chose instead to pursue his solo career.

42. (tie) John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

After replacing Hilel Slovak as the guitarist for funk-rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, he found himself launched into mainstream celebrity after their breakthrough album Blood Sugar Sex Magic. Drug problems saw him replaced for some years by Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro, though he has since returned to the band.

42. (tie) Richard Thompson

An electric folk player from the 60s who still performs today. A performer in his own right, he has also written songs for artists as diverse as Dave Gilmour, Bonnie Raitt and The Corrs.
41. David Gilmour (Pink Floyd, solo)

A progressive rock guitarist who has influenced players for decades ever since joining Pink Floyd in the early days of the band when led by fellow guitarist Syd Barrett. While he is often cited for his innovative use of effects and adventurous song ideas, the lead guitar playing which he is most noted for is deeply rooted in the blues.

So why learn to play guitar?

For many of us, our decision to learn guitar is not something we ever thought about too hard. It was almost as though it was made for us.. we just knew that it was something we had to do. For other people though, it’s something they will need to find some logical reasons to do it. Here are some of the best reasons why you would want to learn to play electric guitar.

It will make you smarter

Studies have shown that kids who learn musical instruments do better in school. An interview with over 1000 CEOs and congressmen found that over 90% said that playing a musical instrument helped them “develop character and leadership skills”. It’s not to see why.. learning a musical instrument will improve your concentration, your hand eye coordination, and makes you think for yourself.

It’s a good way to connect with other people

Playing guitar can seem like it might be a solitary activity.. and when you just feel like chilling out on your own, it can be. But it also provides so many chances to meet new people, and make friends that last a lifetime! Playing in a band, jamming at jam sessions, having a bash at an open mic night all get you out of the house, socialising and having fun. Even when you leave the guitar at home, simply being a guitar player will give you something in common with other guitarists, and players of other instruments besides. I don’t know of a single guitarist who doesn’t owe some of their strongest friendships to the instrument.

A guitar is an excellent songwriting tool

If you want to write your own music, you will find it much easier to do if you have the grasp of an instrument. And the best instruments for this are guitar, and piano/keyboards. Both instruments allow you to play both chords, riffs, and single note melodies. They also let you easily sing over the top of what you are playing.

It’s a great way to blow off steam

Playing guitar can relax you – in those times when you are too tense or angry to relax, it can also be extremely cathartic. Way back in the 17th century (some 250 years before Leo Fender built his first guitar amplifier) the poet/playwright William Congreve knew this already, writing that “Musick has charms to soothe a savage Breast, To soften rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.”

Learning Electric Guitar will help you play acoustic and bass guitar

The electric guitar and acoustic guitar are basically the same instrument. There are differences, of course. Acoustic guitars tend to have heavier strings, and less upper fret access. They also don’t really get the same sweet singing tone of an electric guitar plugged into an overdriven amp. However, you can play the same notes and chords on the same strings and frets, provided they’re both tuned the same. A bass guitar is also similar to an electric guitar. Basically, if you take the bottom 4 strings of an electric guitar, tune them an octave down, and put them on a much longer neck, then you will have a bass guitar. The left hand technique is much the same. Bass guitarists often use fingers instead of a pick, however knowing the guitar will make the bass easy to approach.

It will challenge you

Playing guitar is difficult. Even when you become good, there is always something new to tackle. Learning to play guitar involves finger strength, wrist strength, a great deal of coordination, a good ear, a little bit of reading, and a head for what you’re playing. And somehow you have to combine all of those things to create something that communicates a thought or a feeling, and that speaks to people. Every new chord, every new song, every new piece of theory and every new approach to constructing melodies and phrases that you master is a real and substantial achievement. This is part of what makes playing guitar such a deeply rewarding pursuit – the satisfaction that you feel when the work you put in turns into results.

It will give you a creative outlet

Playing guitar lets you express creative energy and emotion. It gives you a way to share it with an audience – or not, if you’d rather not. Either way, it’s a wonderful tool for self expression, and for creative experimentation and for pursuing musical ideas.

A guitar is easy to transport

You can carry a guitar with one hand. An electric guitar fits easily in even a small car, in either the back seat, the passenger seat or the boot, with plenty of room to spare. It can be packed in a case with all the cables and accesories you need packed in there as well. You can walk down the street with it, or catch public transport with one. There are even guys who strap them to their back and ride a motorcycle with one. Try that with your piano or your drumkit!

It’s so much fun!

A friend of mine likes to remark that playing guitar “is the most fun you can have with your clothes on” – although, I guess, that’s not always strictly necessary. It’s hard to explain just what it is about playing guitar that can make you feel so damn great. But it’s a great activity that you can enjoy throughout your life, and that will comfort you in the bad times and keep you happy in the good. There’s something about it that just puts a smile on your face. Give it a try!

Buying a gift for a guitarist

Birthdays, anniversaries, christmas time – these are all times when you might need or want to buy a gift for someone. What better thing to get a guitarist than a guitar related gift? It’s a good idea, but there’s just so much out there you could choose from. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Picks and strings: These make a great gift idea, for a number of reasons. Firstly, because they’re fairly affordable. And secondly, because guitarists can always use more of them! Even the guitarist who has everything will wear out his picks and strings and need to replace them periodically. Make sure you get the right type though! Strings need to be replaced by strings of the same gauge, otherwise the guitar will need a new setup for a new string gauge. Picks will also need to be a similar material and thickness to what the guitarist is used to. If you don’t want to ruin the surprise of the gift by asking what they use currently, you can always ask their partner or somebody who lives with the guitarist to see if they can have a look at the packaging of the strings or set of picks that they last bought

Tuning a Guitar – What should you tune to?

An electric guitar really does sound a lot better when it’s in tune. Even the nicest, priciest, most gorgeous fourteen thousand dollar special edition Les Paul will sound terrible if the tuning is out. If you’re not sure exactly what you should tune to, here’s a guide.

Standard tuning on a guitar is – going from the lowest pitch strings to the highest – E, A, D, G, B, E. This is the “normal” way to tune a guitar, and if you see a song written with no guide for what to tune to, this is what you should assume you tune to. Refer to the picture on the left for a guide.

You will often hear of tunings referred to as “C standard”, “E flat standard” etc. This means that every string has been lowered from standard tuning by the same number of steps, so that the low string is set to the note in the name of the tuning. Because each string has been lowered by the same amount, the guitar can be played exactly the same as a standard tuning guitar, it will just sound at a lower pitch.

Open tunings are tunings that will play a chord when you simply strike all the open strings. They are popular with slide players, because you can get a new chord just by moving.

Drop tunings are guitars tuned to standard tuning, with the lowest string “dropped” an extra whole step. “Drop D” is a standard tuning except with the lowest string tuned down to D. Drop C is a standard tuning with every string lowered a whole step, except for the lowest string which is lowered two whole steps to C, etc. Drop tunings are popular with a lot of guitarists, who like how they allow you to play a power chord by playing the bottom three strings all on the same fret.

Tuning to Concert Pitch

Until a little over a century ago, there was no standard in western music for the correct pitch for each note. Different instruments could be perfectly in tune with themselves, and then be woefully out of tune when played together. To allow instruments to play together, some standards of pitch were introduced over the centuries, however these could vary wildly between region to region, and even in the same city.

In 1939, an international conference set a standard that the A above Middle C should be set at 440 Hz, and this is now known as Concert Pitch.

So what does this mean for you as a guitarist? Well, if you’re just going to be playing alone, not a lot actually; it will be enough that your guitar is in tune with itself. But if you are going to be playing along with a band, or with a recording, then you will want your guitar to be in tune not just with itself, but with everyone else too. If you are using an electronic tuner then you can pretty much rely on it to tune you to concert pitch. If you are tuning by ear to another instrument, be aware that it might not be in concert pitch! Some pianos are tuned slightly flat, not being able to be take the strain of being tuned all the way to concert pitch, due to age or design. If you tune to one of these, and then try to jam with some dudes who have tuned using an electronic tuner then things might sound a little sour. You have to be just as careful if you are tuning by ear to a recording. Many recordings are not in concert pitch too – bands like Pantera often tuned slightly flat of the notes on purpose because they liked the sound – many older bands often didn’t have an electronic tuner available, and just tuned to a note from an electronic organ or from the bass guitar. Some even had the pitch of the recording changed by altering the speed of the magnetic tape they recorded to, sometimes by accident, and sometimes on purpose. Chuck Berry was famously sped up a great deal, because the record company wanted to “make him sound younger”.

So does this mean you will always want to tune to concert pitch? Most of the time you will probably want to. But when you are going to be playing along to recordings or with instruments that are tuned to a different pitch, then you will want to be in tune with them. Some electronic tuners can be set to a pitch sharp or flat from concert pitch.. otherwise you can tune by ear to a note from the recording, or to one of the other instruments. If there is a fixed-tune instrument in the band, such as a piano or keyboard, then tune to a note from that.

Charvel Guitars

I’m a big fan of Charvel and Jackson guitars myself. I first became interested in them when finding out that a lot of my favourite players, such as Eddie Van Halen, Warren Demartini, Randy Rhoads, Vinnie Vincent, Richie Sambora, George Lynch, Jake E. Lee and even Billy Gibbons were, and often still are, players of the brand.

Charvel are one of the most important and influential innovators in the history of guitar making. Starting off as a repair, parts and customisation shop, Wayne Charvel was one of the first luthiers to provide exotic and adventurous finishes for guitarists not satisfied with the plain sunbursts and solid colours offered by the major manufacturers at the time. Wayne Charvel was a hotrod enthusiast, and brought the hotrod flames over to guitars, customising some of ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons’ fender guitars with a hotrod flame finish. The original charvel shop also sold high quality parts, at a time when the big makers had definitely let their standards drop.

But it’s as the originators of the “superstrat” that Charvel really had their biggest impact on the electric guitar. A young Eddie Van Halen bought a stratocaster style neck and body from the Charvel guitar shop, and put a humbucker in the bridge, using a nail to fix it to the body, and painting it white with black stripes. When, under Grover Jackson, Charvel started making their own guitars, this guitar was the template that they took for their superstrat. This guitar had a similar body shape to a Fender Stratocaster, but had a humbucker in the bridge, and very soon were made with Kahler and Floyd Rose tremolo systems, allowing for excellent tuning stability. The necks were made especially well, allowing fast playing and excellent access to the upper frets. They also featured rear routed electronics cavities, instead of the pickguards contained on the traditional stratocaster, making for a better tone with no plastic right underneath the strings, not to mention a more tasteful and streamlined appearance.

Charvel also introduced the compound radius neck. This is a neck that with a lower radius near the headstock than near the body.. meaning that the neck felt rouder at the nut, making chord work and riffs much easier to play. Up high though, the neck was flat and wide, making it easier to play leads and to bend notes.

The original Charvels are known as “San Dimas” Charvels, named for the neck plates which contained the words San Dimas, though only the companies PO Box was in San Dimas, while the actual production was in Glendora, California. The first runs of japanese Charvels were also exceptional quality instruments.. these being known as the “model” series guitars because they were named Charvel Model 1, Charvel Model 5 etc. These are some of the most original and innovative guitars made, offering superb tone and breathtaking styling, along with extremely high quality parts and manufacture.

Unfortunately, while the original non-american guitars were as good as the San Dimas Charvels, the company started cutting costs aggressively and making some absolutely abysmal instruments. By the end of the eighties, Charvel had gone from being a custom luthiery workshop into an extremely well recognised brand, with their guitars featured on the album covers and in the music videos of many of the defining bands of the era. As happens way too often, once a guitar brand becomes well known and sought after, it becomes possible for them to produce substandard instruments and sell them purely on the strength of the name on the headstock. This certainly happened with Charvel.. by the time the grunge revolution hit music and superstrats were no longer fashionable, the brand no longer had its reputation for quality to rely on. Charvel guitars are now owned by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, and are produced in the USA again, with many of the original Charvel employees working on them. The original 80s instruments are also still available on the second hand market, and more than 20 years later remain excellent instruments.

If you want to know more about this articles, You can go and them at

Learn electric guitar

Article from articlesbase.com

Pentatonic Guitar Scale – The Best Scale On the Guitar By Far!

Eric Ford — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 13:00:30 +0000

When it comes to playing guitar there’s a few things you absolutely can’t live without. The Pentatonic Scale is clearly among those things. The most used scale on the guitar by far. In fact pros and guitar gods alike have been using this scale for years to play many of the incredible solos we all love.

The pentatonic scale is ideal for a handful of reasons as well as sounds awesome. You can literally play any style using that scale from Blues to Rock to Funk to Jazz and everything in between. Seriously this scale may possibly be the most effective scale you can ever learn. It is relatively simple and straightforward to use and will definitely keep you contented for many years to come.

Of course you’ll would like to learn other things like arpeggios and other scales but using the pentatonic as a foundation will serve anyone very well. Also don’t forget to learn which notes you can bend mainly because that will add a whole new realm to the scale.

The pentatonic scale can be extremely easy to play as the notes are organized into boxes that fit easily beneath the fingers. Make sure you become familiar with all of the boxes so its possible to move easily between them. But be careful of falling into the trap of attempting to learn all of them before you are able to apply a minimum of 1 or 2 boxes.

Another great consideration about the Minor Pentatonic scale is the fact that it is especially hard to play an incorrect note. If you learn how to wield it’s power well you can make each and every single note sound good. So , who doesn’t want that? Just be sure you know which notes you’ll be able to bend from and into. That is something players are likely to overlook. Get this right and you’ll be rocking in no time.

Another great thing about this scale is it has a real wide and open sound to it. Given that it only has 5 notes it sounds a lot more open than the counterpart 7 note scales, which has a far more dense sound. You should also learn the classic lines whether it’s a rock lick or a blues lick, make sure you get the basic vocabulary down after which you can go and experiment and enjoy yourself.

If you’re looking for electric guitar lessons or if you would like to learn electric guitar.

Understand Electric Guitar Packages And A History Of The Electric Guitar

Stephen Bass — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:37:37 +0000

Learn Electric Guitar

The main electric guitar hasn’t been around for nearly as long as the actual Acoustic and Conventional guitars. Actually, the Electric guitar was invented just about 70 years ago, in the thirties, by Adolph Rickenbacker. Ever since then, the Electric guitar has substantially developed over time to the point at which you’ll find it at present. In this article, I will examine a brief history of the Electric guitar.

The Historical Past

Guitars, and comparable instruments, have been popular for hundreds of years. The actual electric guitar was produced in the actual nineteen thirties by Rickenbacker. Initial Electric guitars used tungsten pick-ups. Pickups basically transfer the vibration from the guitar strings directly into electrical current, which can be subsequently passed directly into the amp to generate the actual music.

In addition the original Electric guitars came with more compact soundholes within the body. These kinds of guitars are classified as semi-hollow Electric guitars and are still relatively in demand these days, simply because of the fact that they are versatile guitars.

Nonetheless, through making use of pick-ups, it was practical to create guitars without the need for soundholes (like those that Acoustic and Traditional guitars possess) which still had the ability to end up being heard, after being connected to amps. These types of guitars are called solid body guitars.

The actual Electric guitar’s interest started to escalate in the Big Band years of the ’30s and 40s. As a result of the loudness within the brass sections throughout jazz like orchestras, it was essential to include guitars that could be detected over the other sections. Electric guitars, which could be be attached to amps, filled this kind of emptiness.

The Electric guitar thats most prevalent today is the solid body Electric guitar. The solid body guitar was invented by music performer and designer Les Paul in 1941. It is a guitar constructed from solid wood with zero soundholes. The first solid body guitar created by Paul was fairly plain-it was really a simple rectangle-shaped block of real wood attached to a guitar’s neck with 6 metallic strings. Les Paul’s innovative solid body guitar style has, naturally, changed out of the primary rectangular shape to the circular outline Les Paul guitars have today.

All through the 1950s,Guitar maker Gibson presented Les Paul’s invention to everyone. The actual Gibson Les Paul, as it was and still is named, rapidly developed into a best selling Electric guitar. It’s always been the most famous guitar for 50 years.

Along the identical time period, a further inventor known as Leo Fender created a solid body Electric guitar of his own. In the later part of the forties, Fender released the Fender Broadcaster Electric guitar. The Broadcaster, that had been renamed the Stratocaster, ended up being formally presented to the general public in 1954. The Strat, as it is now known, was a distinctive guitar in comparison to the Les Paul. It was built with a distinctive appearance, different hardware and was significantly lighter. Fender’s Stratocaster Electric guitar is the 2nd most popular guitar anywhere, second to only the Les Paul.

Over the years, others, such as Ibanez, ESP along with Yamaha and Paul Reed Smith, have all manufactured solid body Electric guitars of their very own. Nonetheless, virtually all Electric guitars continue to feature the well known shape of a Les Paul or Strat guitar.

Before you decide to do anything else visit Steve Bass’s site where you can obtainguitar tutorials for beginners plus all the latest and easy to understand, in depth information. You will also obtainmore free powerful tips on how to teach yourself guitar as well as free guitar lessons.

Guitar Lessons : How to Learn Electric Guitar for Kids

Rob — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 17:21:06 +0000

When kids are learning to play electric guitar, it’s important that they take the time to become comfortable with the instrument. Learn how to get a kid’s fingers to match up with his mental learning of the guitar with help from a professional musician in this free video on electric guitar for kids. Expert: Lucian Williams Contact: www.LucianWilliams.com Bio: Lucian Williams is a professional musician who is also a solo entertainer with an unusually wide-ranging repertoire because of his versatility on guitar, piano, and vocals. Filmmaker: Paul Muller

How To Play The Electric Guitar – You Can Play Like A Rockstar Wtith This Method

Rob — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:41:18 +0000

So you want to know how to play the electric guitar and how to be a great lead player. Follow these 3 simple steps and you will be on your way.

1. Learn pentatonic scales. Pentatonic scales are the foundation to many improvised solos in most music styles. This will also help your fingers learn to move across strings, which will help you develop a more sophisticated style.

2. Start slow. Begin with something that you can play accurately and then increase the speed or the difficulty. Focus on how every note sounds. This is counter intuitive, but to play fast, you need to play slow. You need to show your fingers where and how to move to produce great sounds out of your electric instrument. This is commonly known as vertical growth.

3. Focus on vertical growth. It is better to learn one song from beginning to end rather than learning the first few bars of 10 songs. That way, learning more pieces of repertoire will become easier and faster. The focus needs to be on quality, rather than quantity.

4. Practice. This sounds boring but you will not be able to play electric guitar without spending time with your instrument. Always use a metronome. This will teach you to develop a good and reliable sense of rhythm. The more you have a guitar on your hands, the better you will get at it.

How to play the electric guitar is very simple if you apply good principles to every single practice session. You can find good lessons online or find a teacher that you feel comfortable with. Take it slow, and youll be playing great music in no time.

How To Play The Electric Guitar – Learn To Play Like Clapton Or Hendrix Fast

Dave Durham

How long does it take to learn the electric guitar?

Rob — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 05:52:18 +0000

So i’m a 14 year old boy teenager who is looking to buy an electric guitar(going to learn threw videos and books) i was wondering how long would it take to get the hang of it?

The written music for electric and acoustic is the same. The big difference is the playing technique. Learning to read music is difficult if you don’t have a music background. And that will make learning how to play a guitar a bit difficult too. But, you can learn to play without learning how to read music. It’s called, ‘playing by ear’. Many people do it. It’s fun. but not professional. And if you want to play just as a passtime and for fun, I would advise you to buy a cheap, used, electric guitar. Nothing too fancy. Learn on it and then decide if you want to go further. It would be a shame to spend big $ on an instrument and then give it up after a couple of weeks.

4 Tips to Make Electric Guitar Shredding Easier

Rob — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:24:02 +0000

Teachig yourself how to play electric guitar is very difficult for most people. Making it to the next level and shredding on your guitar is a goal that many striving guitarists fall short of. It doesn’t have to be this way though. There are a few simple tips that can help anyone master the art of shredding.

Repetition – Tip # 1

The single best way to increase your speed is to use a metronome or drum machine. Start by playing the lead, solo or lick slow and cleanly. Little by little, increase the tempo using your metronome or drum machine. Remember to be patient. This process will take days or even weeks to learn and play the piece of music perfectly at tempo. Remember, this is repetition and it could take hundreds or possibly thousands of times for you to master it at full speed and still play it cleanly.

Fingering – Tip # 2

No matter what speed you play guitar, your fret hand fingering is important. But, it becomes absolutely crucial when you are shredding. A guitarist can usually get by with sloppy or even bizarre fingering positions when playing slowly. If you try to increase the speed of the song using that same sloppy or bizarre fingering, you will no doubt run into problems. You will always reach the limit of your speed very quickly.

Now it is time to study your fret hand fingering choices and make some adjustments. To shred, you must be efficient with your frethand fingering decisions. You will probably have to relearn the lick or phrase applying these new options, because it changes how your subconscious mind performs the lick.

Picking Technique – Tip # 3

If you really want to shred, the music you are learning will have to be analyzed for the most effecient way to pick the notes. This can include alternate picking, hammers and pulls, sweep arpeggios along with many other techniques. The main thing is effeciency. Minimize the movement of the pick as much as you possibly can.

Definitely do not flick the pick when attempting to shred. Shredding requires an extremely effecient motion, almost machine like in nature. When you are shredding, the emotion is conveyed through the choice of notes, not the way you play the notes. It is very different from playing the blues or jazz which requires more subtle nuances.

Teaching the Subconscious – Tip # 4

This is going to be a very important part of you learning to shred. You have to be capable of playing a lick, lead or phrase without consciously thinking about the choice of notes. A great way to accomplish this is to distract your conscious mind by viewing TV or something else while repeating the lick over and over with a metronome or drum machine. An even better test is if you can read a book or magazine, and comprehend what you’re reading while playing along to a metronome. This will no doubt be difficult at first. But, once you get the lick firmly embedded in your subconscious, the dividends you reap will be well worth the time and effort.

Try implimenting all of these techniques and you will be amazed how quickly you will progress as a guitarist and shredder.

Auggie Hill