Chapter 1 – Unleashing the Guitar Hero in You!


There is probably not one person who has not heard of the video game “Guitar Hero”. You could not walk through any electronics store or Best Buy without seeing customer’s young and old, standing in front of monitors with a plastic guitar strapped around them strumming to Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me with Your Best Shot.” I should know, I was one of those customers! The overwhelming popularity of this fun game is a testament to not only the fantasy we have about being the next great rock star but the popularity of the guitar.

The guitar is among the most popular musical instruments around. Because of how versatile the guitar is, it is a popular instrument to learn how to play. The guitar can play any kind of music that suits your interest whether it is rock, country or jazz or any other style of music. You may be interested in playing your favorite songs or maybe you are a budding songwriter and you would like to write your own songs. Either way, the guitar would be the perfect instrument to learn in these cases. Like all musical instruments, if you want to learn to play the guitar you will need plenty of practice, perseverance and patience. Learning to play the guitar will be a very rewarding experience if you stick with it and the guitar can give you many hours of enjoyment.

Before you start on your journey to become the next guitar hero, you will need a six string guitar and a guitar pick. You will also need to have patience and overall a desire to learn and a love of music. You will need a chair without arms as well.

You should also remember a few other tips before you begin learning to play the guitar. First, trim your fingernails so they are short. You will need to do this on a regular basis if you are learning how to play the guitar. Short fingernails will allow you to produce good sound and they assist you in holding down notes much easier.

Next, realize that your finger will hurt as you are learning to play the instrument. This is normal and your fingertips will eventually develop calluses as you practice and the pain will soon cease.

Finally, pause between each lesson and be sure that you have mastered that section of the lesson.
Each lesson should be practices a few minutes, and then you should move on to the next lesson.

Ready?  Alright!  Let’s get you started on your way to becoming the next real guitar hero.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chapter 2 – Guitar Basics

Image
The guitar is an instrument with ancient roots and is used in several different musical genres. Guitars usually have six strings but you can find guitars with seven, ten or even twelve strings. Guitars are typically the main instrument in music such as rock, blues, country, and forms of pop. Guitars may also be used as a solo instrument. Traditional guitars are made of wood and steel or nylon strings. Guitars may be played either acoustically or may need to rely on an amplifier. There are various types of guitars. First there is the acoustic guitar. In an acoustic guitar, the sound is created by vibrating strings that are echoed in the hollow body of the guitar. It does not depend on anything external to produce its sound. It depends on a wooden piece that is mounted on the front of the guitar. The acoustic guitar is typically quieter than the instruments you would find in an orchestra or band so it is usually externally amplified. There are a lot of acoustic guitars that hav...
Read more

Chapter 4 – Ways to Tune Your Guitar

The easiest way to tune your guitar is by relative tuning. Relative tuning is comparing the sound and pitch of adjacent strings. The string with the higher pitch is tuned to match the sound of the lower string. In this method, there is the assumption that the lower string is tuned properly. If you use this method, you will have to tune the sixth string with a tuning fork or piano. More details on this will be provided later. The process starts with the tuning of the sixth string. When the sixth string has been tuned, you need to press the sixth string at the fifth fret and pick the string. Next, tune the fifth string so that it matches that sound. The sound of the fifth string should match the sixth string’s, fifth fret. If you find that the sound does not match, turn the tuning peg for that fifth string and change the pitch. Don’t do anything to the sixth string. If the sound of the string is too low, tighten the string. If the sound of the string is too low, loosen the ...
Read more

Chapter 3 – Guitar Positioning and Tuning

Now that you have learned a little bit about the guitar, you are now about to learn about how to position a guitar and tune it. First you will learn about positioning a guitar. Begin by finding an armless chair that has good support for your back. You should sit comfortably with your back against the chair. Slouching is not good because you will develop bad guitar habits and a sore back. When sitting in an armless chair, be sure that there is a lot of room on both sides of you so you can hold your guitar properly and move your arms. Once you are seated in the chair, you should place the guitar on your lap and have the rear of the guitar facing your chest. The guitar body should be on the leg that is farthest from the headstock. If you are right handed, the guitar should lay on your right leg. The majority of acoustic guitars will have curved indentations that are great for playing the guitar on your leg. If you are holding the guitar properly than the sixth string should ...
Read more