Tag Archives: learn guitar

Tech Tip: Learn the parts of the guitar

Written by Cam Findlay on August 27, 2010 — 1 Comment

Question. Often when I am reading about guitars on the internet I hear about different parts of the guitar, can you give a brief description of the different parts of a guitar?

Answer. Here is a brief description of some of the more commonly misunderstood parts of the guitar.

Tech Tip: Learn the parts of the guitar

Headstock

The headstock is the part of a guitar at the end of the neck opposite to the body.

The headstock is generally used for supporting the tuning pegs used to wind the strings. There are many shapes that headstocks can come in depending on the type of guitar.

The headstock usually displays the brand of guitar.

Tech Tip: Learn the parts of the guitar

Machine Heads

The machine heads or tuning pegs are found at the headstock.

The machine heads tighten or loosen the strings so the string can be tuned.A basic gear mechanism is used to wind the strings.

Winding tools are available and can be used to rapidly unwind and wind strings for quick changing.

Tech Tip: Learn the parts of the guitar Frets

Are the bars or ridges (usually made of metal) that sit on the fingerboard or neck of a guitar; when the string is depressed by your fingers at the metal bar it will make a note of the desired pitch.

Frets are arranged on guitars to produce specific musical pitches. On the typical guitar or bass each fret represents one semitone or half step.

Fretless guitars do exist.

Tech Tip: Learn the parts of the guitar Bridge
The bridge is found down on the body. The function of the bridge, in addition to simply holding the strings in place, is to transmit their vibrations to the top of the guitar, to the instrument’s soundboard or pickups.

There are many different types of bridge and they can be made from a variety of materials depending upon the type of guitar. For example electric guitars usually have metal bridges and acoustic guitars usually have wooden ones.

Posted in buying guitars, Electric Guitars, gear, learning | Tagged

Tech Tip: Touching the strings

Written by Cam Findlay on June 24, 2010 — Leave a Comment

Question. When I play chords I always touch the strings that I should be playing open. How can I avoid this?

Answer. Touching the wrong strings when you play chords is a common problem that many beginners face when learning the guitar. Today we will look at some simple solutions.

1. Try and press your fingers straight down. Your finger should be at a 90 degree angle with the string. This means that only the tip of your finger should be connecting with string.

2. Are your fingernails short? If your fingernails are long, your fingertip will not be able to sit on the string and your fingers will touch the other strings on the guitar.

3. Place your thumb directly on the back of the neck of your guitar. This puts your hand in a good position to keep your fingers clear of the wrong strings.

4. Practice with chords you find easy. Look at how your hand sits when you play these chords. Try to use the technique that you use on easier chords with more difficult chords.

5. Using a capo at higher frets can make it easier on your fingers as the frets are closer together. However for people with big hands this can make it more difficult. So experiment with a capo to see if it helps you.

Each person has different size hands, finger shape and flexibility. For this reason there is no universal rule that will change your playing to avoid touching the wrong strings when playing. You should practice chords as much as you can until you feel confident and comfortable with them.

Good luck with your practice.

Posted in fingerpicking, guitar strings, learning | Tagged ,

GENERAL TIPS FOR BUYING A GUITAR

Written by Cam Findlay on June 17, 2010 — Leave a Comment

One of the most important things you’ll ever do in your music career is buy a guitar. We are often asked to give people advice about how to find a good guitar. The fact is that there is a LOT that goes into buying a guitar, way too much to put in one Newsletter, but here are some basic tips.

homework GENERAL TIPS FOR BUYING A GUITAR1) Do Your Homework
When you’re buying a guitar you have to do your homework. As a beginning guitar player it’s easy to get confused with all the information and advice that is available. There are a lot of places you can get information and you should check them all. Guitar magazines are a good place to find prices and reviews on different models of guitars. You can also get information at your local music store. Another great tool is the internet – you can get information on the manufacturers, search for other guitarist’s reviews and opinions and find the best prices online.

Remember that a lot of the information and opinions that you will find will be biased. A salesman in a music store wants you to buy the brand of guitar that HE SELLS, so make sure you read reviews and opinions from independent sources.

save GENERAL TIPS FOR BUYING A GUITAR2) Stick to Your Budget
Once you’ve got the background knowledge that you need, you should make a short list of guitars that you are interested in and set a budget for yourself. THEN STICK WITH YOUR BUDGET! Don’t let salespeople talk you into spending more money than you planned.

Research price differences on the internet with a trusted site like Ebay. You could buy new or used but again, it is worth finding out how much the same item generally costs.

try GENERAL TIPS FOR BUYING A GUITAR3) Play it BEFORE Your Buy It
Trying out the guitars you have short listed can be intimidating for beginners. It is important to remember that you are not in a guitar store to show everyone how good a guitar player you are – you are there to decide whether the guitar on your list is right for you.

One of the most important things about a guitar is how it “feels” when you play it. There are also mechanical things to check. Check the frets for buzzing by playing each one. Make sure that the neck is not warped by looking down it as if you were sighting a gun. Check that all of the volume and tone controls work.

borrow GENERAL TIPS FOR BUYING A GUITAR4) Borrow Someone Else’s Experience
It is also a good idea to take an experienced guitarist along with you when you are looking at guitars. Not only will they be able to offer helpful advice, they will be good moral support when it’s time to pick up the guitar and play it in public.

Good luck with buying a guitar!

Posted in acoustic guitars, buying guitars, learning | Tagged , , ,

Stringless guitar

Written by Jamorama on October 1, 2009 — 1 Comment

EZAG enlarged Stringless guitar

If you’re a parent and you`d like to try and inspire the young ones to develop an interest in the guitar then the Yamaha EZAG stringless guitar might be just what you need!

IF the kids are hyped out of their minds on sugar, guitar hero or rock band then the Yamaha EZAG guitar might be the next step upon the ladder towards beginning playing a real guitar. It’s not just for kids though this is a serious learning machine and at a the RIDICULOUS price of $220 U.S. it`s within reach of most of us!

I think we`ll be seeing alot more of this kind of guitar controller in the future perhaps?
After all flicking a switch ain’t strumming a string is it? I`d be jamming out on GUITAR HERO alot more if it was tailored more towards the real guitar experience.

guitar hero 3u 281x300 Stringless guitar

This futuristic self-teaching guitar with Guide Lights means no sore fingers, no tuning required and no broken strings – and you play along with the built-in band from the first day you pick it up! The EZ-AG is a new musical instrument that provides all the fun and excitement of a guitar without the sore fingers, broken strings, poor tuning and tedious exercises. Now, anyone, of any age, can learn chords and strumming by following lights.

It features 6 lighted frets that show beginners the actual hand positions for chords, plus six “strings” that emulate strumming or finger-picking.  The onboard selection of songs can be expanded via the Web – songs can be downloaded into the guitar’s Flash ROM and a quick connection to a computer.

You’re literally playing in minutes. And, as easy and fun as the EZ-AG is – you’re really learning to play and you can plug the EZ-AG into a standard guitar amplifier, or use the mini-headphone jack for private practice.

Cheers,

Jake Edwards

Posted in gaming guitar hero rockband, gear | Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Sell outs.

Written by Jamorama on February 11, 2009 — 3 Comments

egg Sell outs.

Another week surrounded by otters, exploding eggs and talent.
It`s been a critical week for “strategy”, design, “branding” and leveraging this or monetizing that…except we rarely resort to using rhetoric where frenetic gesticulations, nonsense, riddles and non sequiturs will do.

We`re all completely fizzed out from crazy concept meetings, mad games of all night table football (le babyfoot), hair metal poodles, and mark McKenzie`s hyper guitar licks. Plus trying to keep up design and content for this blog. Not only that it`s Friday the Thirteenth.
Lock us up.

One of the great things happening here at Rock Star Recipes for the last few days has been posed by two simple rhetorical questions that came up in a recent, highly animated conversation we had whilst rocking out in the kitchen to to the sounds of the exploding eggs in a microwaved ploughman`s lunch:

Are we corporate?

Are we even a business?

If you arent asking these sort of questions where you are then maybe its time to leave.

Posted in Jamorama team | Tagged , , , , ,
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