All About Classical Guitar

When did you start playing guitar? Or maybe you haven't started yet, either way something has led you here, to the the realm of the classical guitar. If you are new to playing the classical guitar then you are in for a world of excitement and pleasure. Considered an art form, the classical guitar has a vast history and many followers. If you want to know more about this history simply do a search on the internet, you will find more than enough information to keep you entertained.

If you have any experience playing the regular acoustic guitar you will soon find out that the classical acoustic guitar is played somewhat different. What I mean by this is that in order to play the classical guitar you must become in tune with the instrument. You must feel the instruments power and music in your soul and let it all come out through your playing. This is not an easy thing to accomplish but if you can master this art, you will have many years of joy ahead of you!

To start out, before you play any music just relax, sit there and hear the music in your mind and get a feeling for what is about to become. Get your mind and body into a relaxed state and start to play. Let the music flow from within you and you will soon be a great classical acoustic guitar player! this takes practice but give it a few weeks and you will start to increase your playing skills.

Classical acoustic guitar is an instrument that takes a lot of patience and time to understand and play. If you are thinking that you can just pick the guitar up and be able to whip out some of the most beautiful music you have ever heard, you are in for a big surprise! Take your time, learn the music, feel the music, and just practice every moment you get. This is the quickest way to amazing results!

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.

How to play the guitar

Playing the guitar is one of the most popular hobbies in America. Millions of Americans play the guitar as a leisure activity; and why not? It is one of the easiest musical instruments to learn and the most popular music of the day is played on the guitar. Many people do not realize how easy it is to really learn to play the guitar. Some people, who first begin learning to play the guitar, try to learn a very hard song from the start. Then they start thinking they will never be able to learn to play, that they just do not have that natural musical talent that some people have, when really they just picked a hard song. Some people try to play the guitar for only about a week and expect to pick it up that quickly. If they cannot do it in a week, then again they think they just do not have that musical talent. All of that is nonsense Not even an experienced musician would be able to pick up the guitar and learn it in a week. He or she would know how the music works and understand how the guitar is supposed to played, but it still takes a little time to develop the correct motor skills with your hands and fingers. Anybody can pick up the guitar and learn to play some of their favorite songs if they just stick with it for a little while and practice for only a short period of time each day. To begin playing the guitar, all you have to do is learn a few chords.

Most rock, country, or other popular genres or songs can be played with only a few easy chords on the guitar. They say with only three or four chords you can play most rock songs ever written. Most people I have taught to play the acoustic guitar or electric guitar, if they would just listen to me and try it for one week, they could get down three chords in that week or two weeks and then be able to play a song with those chords. I also teach them a strumming pattern to play the chords with. That is all you need and you are set with your new hobby of playing guitars.

I myself studied music for seven years or more before I tried to learn the guitar, so I did have a good grasp of music theory, but it still took me several months to learn to play well, because I had to develop the motor skills of moving my fingers on the strings and coordinating my fingering and strumming patterns. It also takes a little while to learn to sing on top of keeping the beat and playing the guitar. But it can be learned quickly as well, if you just stick with and give it a real try. I did not have anyone to teach me when I first began playing the guitar. I just bought an acoustic guitar and taught myself to play. Every now and then people would give me pointers or teach me how to play something. I have taught other people to play also, and noticed that with a teacher it is surprising how fast people can pick things up.

I wish I would have had a teacher when I was learning. There are little tricks and licks on the guitar that only an experienced guitar player would know. So if you are looking for a new hobby, one that you can do whenever you want, with friends or by yourself, then learn to play the guitar. It is like riding a bike. Once you learn it, you never forget. It will be something you can take with you for the rest of your life, entertaining crowds and parties and serenading that special someone. And, if you do not have a special someone, it will definitely help your chances of finding them.

Playing Better Guitar

In this article I hope to demonstrate a few tips that will, with any luck, put you on the correct approach to developing into a proficient guitar player. If you can take into account that to play well involves a lot of practice and dedication then these tips will give you a head start. It takes arduous work and perseverance to the learn guitar Amplifiers and there is no fast and easy way, but some procedures are much more adept than others, resulting in quicker advancement. The main chief tip, though, is no matter what you do don't admit defeat

Set Aside Your Own Space
Distractions can play havoc with your concentration and focus, making any practise session worthless. Learning to play the guitar is hard enough so make it easier by finding a space where you can be alone without any outside noise or interruptions.

Equipment
Ensuring that your Electronic guitar is tuned correctly is paramount at the beginning of any practise session. Preparation is essential to good guitar playing and it is imperative to make certain that your instrument is in good condition

Understand Your Instrument
Surprising, as it might seem, not all guitars are the same, every one has a different tone and sound. Learn to know and understand your guitar, what every part is called and its different function. Appreciate your instrument and, although it’s an inanimate object, learn to respect and care for it. Even though you might not appreciate it now it will make you a better and more experienced guitar player.

Recognise Your Level Of Expertise
Frustration can soon set in when, after a few weeks of practising and learning, you cant play the same tunes as Eric Clapton or Jimmy Page or any of your other guitar heroes. Realism has to kick in somewhere and the sooner the better. Learning to play the guitar is not an overnight thing. It takes time. Start with sensible goals, leave the advanced playing until later and progression will come with a growth in confidence. Show persistence at this point and you will reap the benefits later and it will be even more rewarding.

Pick Your Style
Being able to play a piece of music made famous by one of your favorite guitarists is an unbeatable sensation. When, and only when, you have completed the fundamentals and you are set to move on to something harder it’s time pick a style of music you like and can identify with. Most songs are generally accessible as sheet music from a variety of sources and it’s another level in your education. This is an exhilarating stage in your progress.


Set Goals
One of the best ways to focus you concentration on you progress is to set mini targets. Pick a time period for when you are going to play your first song in front of family and friends and let them know about it. This helps give a reason for your practise sessions and certainly grabs your attention the closer to the date of your debut performance. Once you have performed and enjoyed being in the spotlight it will give you a boost in confidence. It’s no surprise, but your playing will improve after.

Guitar Lessons Can Help

Picking up a guitar and expecting to instantly play like Jimi Hendrix isn't realistic. But, picking up a guitar, taking basic lessons and learning the ropes and building on them is.

The fact of the matter is a guitar isn't the easiest instrument in the world to learn, or there'd be thousands and thousands of Jimi Hendrix knock offs out there. However, good guitar lessons can really help anyone learn to play with a basic proficiency.

So, how do you determine a good guitar lesson from a bad one?

That's going to depend a lot on your proficiency going in. If you're just starting out, you'll want guitar lessons that teach you:

* The basics of the Music instrument. This means the different parts, what they are and how they work.

* Basic fingering techniques. Playing the guitar is all in the fingers. If you don't know where to put them or how hard to apply pressure and so on, you will never sound like Jimi!

* Basic cords, tabs and so on. You need the fundaments down to build on to become proficient in playing.

* Theory and music fundamentals. You don't need to be an expert in music theory, but good guitar lessons will give you a minor run down and will begin to expose you to reading music so you can move on by yourself in between lessons or once you complete them.

* Exercises. Going back to that fingering techniques statement, the only way to really get them down is to practice. Good exercises that help the mind, fingers and ears work together are always smart. Great guitar players instinctively know where their fingers need to go on the neck, and they learned by practicing and through exercises.

* Baby steps for learning. It's all fine and well to understand the notes, the fingering positions and build up speed and accuracy, but if you aren't learning at least very basic songs, you won't feel like your accomplishing anything. Good guitar lessons begin giving you "something to take home" as quickly as possible while still working to instill the basics.

* Repetition. It's not a word most people relish hearing, but when it comes to guitar lessons, repetition can be important. The more you practice, the better you'll get.

Recording Guitar Using A Compressor

Here are some features you may find on a compressor:

Threshold -

This is where you set the limits of the compressor, meaning at what level of dB do you want the compressor to start compressing. Using a setting near to zero would incorporate the compressor ever so slightly, if you want to add more compression set the levels to a more negative number.

Attack -

Attack basically refers to the speed at which you want the compressor to kick in. Do you want compressor instantly or would you prefer it to gradually phase in.

Release -

Once the compressor has kicked in, how fast or slow do you want the compressor to release and no longer compress the signal?

Ratio -

The ratio refers to how much the compressor is going to reduce the range of the signal.

Gate -

A gate is a device that will eliminate any room noise, making recording deadly silent. It works by turning off the audio when it drops below a defined level. When the gate is open it simply lets any sound you plug into the input of the box straight through to the output. A closed gate doesn't let anything through - you just get silence on the output.

When the sound at the input is below a certain level, known as the 'threshold' the gate remains shut. When the input goes above the threshold, the gate opens and the sound is carried through to the output. Then when it drops back down again, the gate closes behind it. It can be used for example, to filter and eliminate any unwanted background noise. When you stop playing, and the sound drops below the threshold it will cut the sound to silence.

A separate outboard compressor is a great tool to have as you can tame and level the sound source before it enters the computer. However there are of course drawbacks to this, once the sound is in the computer you will not be able to “uncompress” the sounds. Use the compressor moderately as too much compressor can drag the life out of your songs. Overuse can result in all notes sounding the same and take away the dynamics of lighter and heavier notes.

Electric Guitars

Live rock concerts were the rage in the 70's and they are still the rage. The essence of rock music does not just lie with the lyrics; it also lies with the electric guitar and the various sounds that it can produce. There are so many kids across the block who would give up anything to play like Ritchie Blackmore, Mark Knopfler, David Gilmour, John Petrucci, Steve Vai, Kirk hammett, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Carlos Santana, Jimmy Page etc. These men are not just some of the best guitarists of their times, they are legends.

Electric guitars are available in a lot of variety, colors, and designs with the aerodynamic designs being one of the most popular. Don’t go for the first electric guitar you see. You need to look around a bit and check out the prices and models before you buy one. In fact, one of the best ways to choose a guitar is by the brand or by the style. Here’s our take on the four important styles:

Stratocaster
This certainly is a show stealer and has a typical style. The most famous is the red and white color combination, which was extensively used by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits. The Stratocaster is from Fender and has a neck bolted to the guitar body. Apart from this, it has double cutaway sides, 22 frets accompanied by a tremolo system or the wammy bar and three single-coil pickups. Fender designed the first Stratocaster in the early 50’s.

Everything On Guitar Chords

Guitars, generally, have six strings. This means to play a large chord voicing there might be the need to omit one or more tones from the chord. This is normally the root or the fifth one.

The layout of the fretboard is made in such a manner that sometimes there is no tonal order in the notes of a chord. There is a chance of having it composed of notes that are of the same pitch. It is thus easily understood that a number of chords can be played with having identical notes in the fretboard.

People tune a guitar to their liking; hence there are variations in the tunes, similar to the number of strings found in a guitar. The usual number is six but sometimes they change. The order of tuning is normally, E-A-D-G-B-E. The internal intervals that are there among contiguous strings in the specified tuning can be written 4-4-4-3-4. The intervals are perfect in the fourth and there is one major third interval near the middle. So if one follows the above tuning example, the string that has the highest pitch, also the thinnest, is called the first string. Similarly, the sixth string has the lowest pitch.

To have at least an overall view on everything on guitar chords the need to learn the intervals is necessary. Guitar chords use the intervals between the strings that give the perfect fourths except in the interval between the B (second) and G (third) strings. This gives a major third. It is not uncommon in many forms of hard rock and metal to drop D tuning and use it to make it go above standard tuning. The player is then needed to change the low E string tuning to make it into that of a D note.

If all the strings of the guitar are tuned to play a chord without fretting then the guitar is called an open tuned guitar. Then the user gets a chance to bar every fret of the guitar and makes a chord. Open G (D-G-D-G-B-D) tuning: Here if the player strums all strings open then it would give the sound of the G chord. If the player bar the second fret then it would give the A chord