Tag Archives: learning

Agile Partners Guitar Tool Kit 2.0

Written by admin on January 24, 2012 — Leave a Comment

If you haven’t already searched the slew of music apps available for the iPad, you won’t be surprised to learn that are some great guitar apps worth checking out. One such app is Agile Partners’ Guitar Tool Kit 2.0 featuring a number of essential tools any guitarist will benefit from.

For a very reasonable fee ($9.99), you can load your iPad, iPhone or Ipod Touch up with a tuner, metronome, chord, scale and arpeggio library. The tuner will give you accurate tunings not just for 6 string guitars, but also 7 and 12 as well. It also support 4, 5 and 6-string bass, banjo, mandolin and ukulele, with alternate tunings for each instrument. You can also dial in your own custom tunings.
newsletter25 review agilepartners Agile Partners Guitar Tool Kit 2.0
The metronome can be run in the background while you use other Guitartoolkit tools. It features a tempo tap pad, 25 sound effects and 22 time signatures meaning you’ll be keeping rock steady rhythms from now on.

The massive chord library gives you over 2 million chord diagrams, scales and appegios so you’ll never get stuck finding a chord and if you need to transpose a song, you can add in a capo and the chords will automatically adjust for the new key. For scales you can simply click on a note and a range of possible scales will be displayed. You just need to know how you use them.

There’s also an app upgrade ($4.99) that will give you the Advanced Metronome (for your iPad now and iPhone/Touch soon), giving you the ability to create your own drum beats with 32 instrument tracks and 75 distinct sounds to make your practice sessions all the more fun.

You’ll also be able to create your own interactive chord sheets and print or email them to a band member or friend. Click on any chord in the progression you’ve created and hear how it sounds.

And if that wasn’t enough, you will also have 60 instrument sounds at your fingertips to create custom instrument sounds for both acoustic and electric guitar through Agile Partners’ AmpKit tone engine.

For a quick video overview, check Agile Partners’ release video.

If you want essential guitar tools at your fingertips then Agile Partners’ Guitartoolkit 2.0 is well worth considering.

ab4e2097d32a3cfb2d407817c82c42dd Agile Partners Guitar Tool Kit 2.0

Posted by Dan Orr.

Posted in acoustic guitars, computing, Electric Guitars, gear, Guitar Tools | Tagged , , , ,

Keeping track of your progress

Written by admin on January 18, 2012 — Leave a Comment

In this post we look at an old but very relevant article by Ben Edwards from the early Jamorama days in which he discusses why it’s important to keep track of your progress.

An old piano teacher of mine used to record my playing at different times throughout the year. At the end of the term she would give me a tape that contained a selection of pieces that I had played running from work that I had completed early in the year to the things that I was working on at the end of the term. I would take this tape home and I would play it to my friends and family. People listening to the tape would say, “Man, you’re getting good”.

This did two things for me. First of all, it made me go back to my teacher for more lessons, so it was definitely a good move on her part. Secondly, it made me practice more because I could see the benefits of working on something over time. Basically, the progress that I could hear on the tape motivated me to get even better.

I strongly recommend you to start recording your practice sessions for future reference.You will be surprised of what you hear and how much you improve with the past of the time!

david Keeping track of your progress

Posted by David McKinnon.

Posted in gear, guitar zen, music | Tagged

Tips For Left Handed Guitarists

Written by admin on January 18, 2012 — Leave a Comment

Left handed guitarists are not very common. I have always said that every left handed guitarist I know, is a great player! I do not know why, but every left handed guitarist I have played with or heard, is freaking awesome!

newsletter25 articles lefties 240x300 Tips For Left Handed Guitarists

We receive tons of emails from left handed guitarists asking for advice on how to learn; which course is good for them; what do they need; is there anything special I need to do when it comes to playing the guitar? Do I need a left handed guitar? Does your Jamorama course cater to left handed players?

Many people feel that left-handers are at an advantage when it comes to learning guitar. First if you are learning the guitar around the left handed way then you will have your guitar the same way as anyone you’re playing with and also your guitar will be the same way round as traditional chord diagrams (this of course makes it easier to understand what the diagram shows). Also if you are left handed and play your guitar right handed then you will have your strongest hand (your left) fretting the strings which is one of the hardest things for beginners to master.

Please note that Jamorama doesn’t recommend learning to play the guitar around the “wrong way” as it can impede developing a good solid sense of rhythm. However playing round the wrong way can be beneficial for SOME players.

In terms of the actual guitar when it comes to classical guitars it is not problem just to reverse the strings. With electrics and other acoustics it can be better to invest in a left handed guitar. Some players have no problem stringing electrics upside down (Jimi Hendrix for one) so if you think that will suit you try it.

Check out these “tributes to left handed guitarists” by Youtube user hardandheavyvideos2 and toastedaudiolab:

Good luck to all the lefties in the world! You guys rock!!!

ab4e2097d32a3cfb2d407817c82c42dd Tips For Left Handed Guitarists

Posted by Dan Orr.

Posted in acoustic guitars, art, Artists, Electric Guitars, music | Tagged ,

Alternate Picking

Written by admin on January 18, 2012 — Leave a Comment

Let´s start, for those of you who do not know what Alternate Picking is…
It is a guitar playing technique that employs strictly alternating downward and upward picking strokes in a continuous run, it is just as simple as that. (Thanks Wikipedia!)

But now, playing this technique is a completely different thing. If you are having problems with it, this is what you can do:

The main problem with alternate picking comes when you are picking a note in the opposite direction of the next string that you’re going to play. For instance, if your last note was a down stroke on the G string, and your next note is an upstroke on the D string, then your pick has to travel a more complicated path than if you are picking up on G and down on D. What to do?

Some people just refuse to let their picking hand do the more difficult move, by trying to put a hammer on or a pull off to time the direction of the pick to a more favorable direction. Others might just be using the pick to start the string in motion, but are doing all hammer or pull offs other than the first note on a string.

But let’s concentrate on what to do if you are using the versatile alternate picking method. Since we don’t want to limit the note choices, or string choices, in any way, we have to just get good at dealing with the problem.

Practice going back and forth between two strings picking in the opposite direction. For example, play a C on the 3rd string (5th fret) with a downstroke followed by an E on the 4th string (2nd fret)with an upstroke. Repeat the C and E one more time.

Next, bring the C down to a B (1 fret) on the 3rd string with a downstroke, followed by the same E on the 4th with an upstroke. Repeat the B and E. Just to make a slightly musical pattern, do the same thing, but change the B down to an A, doing the same pattern. To make the pattern symmetrical, return the A back up to a B and play B,E,B,E, just like the second pattern.

It will take a lot less time to play this than to read about it, so try to muddle through this explanation to get to the actual notes, it’s not hard to play this as long as you don’t try to play it too fast.

As with all exercises, do it slowly and as accurately as possible at first. Doing this exercise addresses one of the most important points about practicing and improvements.

If you have some free time, check out this video which is an extract from Paul Gilbert´s instructional DVD “Get Out Of My Yard” – It is insane what you can do when getting this technique right! Check it out:

Good luck with your practice. See you next week!

Posted by Moses Robbins.

Posted in acoustic guitars, Artists, Electric Guitars, guitar strings, guitar zen, Uncategorized | Tagged ,

Which Guitar To Learn On?

Written by admin on October 17, 2011 — Leave a Comment

Because there are many types of guitars; being Classical, Acoustic and Electric the three main ones, I wanted to have a look at what guitar is the best one for you to learn on.

Chances are that if you have asked someone if you can use their guitar for a while, it would probably be an old classical acoustic guitar or maybe a steel string acoustic. These guitars are excellent to learn on because electric guitars require things like cables, amps, speakers and power. With acoustic guitars you only need a pick.

which guitar to learn on 300x133 Which Guitar To Learn On?The other great thing about acoustic guitars is that you can’t turn them up loud. When you are learning it is probably better to play on a guitar that isn’t going to be loud – only loud enough so your ears can hear your errors and your good performances.

If you don’t know which type of guitar you want to play on, ask yourself, ‘what kind of music do I want to play?’

Pick a song that you like for its guitar sound. Listen to the guitar sounds and only the guitar sounds. Are they clean, soft sounds? Or are they harsh, heavy or distorted? Generally, acoustic guitars are softer and cleaner. Distorted, heavy sounds come from electric guitars that are plugged into amplifiers and effects units. Can you hear individual notes being picked or are the strings being strummed hard? The harder you play, the thicker your strings need to be. You need to know what style you want to play.

OK you have found a style of music that you like. Try and find the video for that song and watch it. There will probably be a section in there where the band is playing. Look at the guitarist. Is he/she playing on an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar? What brand is it? What style? If you know the exact guitar from the video, you can ask to play it at your local guitar shop to see if it suits you.

People play guitar for many different reasons. You need to understand what it is that you want to get out of the guitar. To discover your tastes in guitar music, listening to different styles and genres. Ask musicians at music shops about what kind of guitars different bands use, or ask them what kind of amps/effects those artists use to get that sound. The answers don’t have to be exact because they will get you thinking about what you need to buy to achieve the sound you are after.

So, a lot of think to do and a lot of music to hear… That two things will help you finding out the best guitar for you! Hope this helps!

Posted by Moses Robins

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