Beginners Guitar Lessons

Posted by on February 22, 2011 No comments

This is my review of Jamorama a Guitar tutoring system to teach you to play guitar.

Without doubt the easiest way to learn to play guitar or any musical instrument is by taking lessons.

This review is of Jamorama which is an online course of lessons designed for the beginner to intermediate level. So the promise is good. A single system to take you a long way into your playing expectations. How does it really shape up? To start you off a series of free lessons are available. This allows you to try before you buy although a money back guarantee exists so you have little to lose. You get 60 days to change your mind – No questions asked. I never buy from  a supplier who does not offer a money back guarantee. If the supplier doesn’t back his product, why should I take the risk?

The free 6 lessons promise to have you playing by lesson five. My experience of the free lessons confirmed that  this is possible.

The course is downloaded to your computer and is always available to you.  Lessons can be printed if you don’t want to look at the screen. You also get access to the members area where everything is available for download.

Audio and video files are playable through the lessons rather than from within folders. (This is the latest version) The members area includes access to lifetime updates of the program.

Almost 150 mini video lessons are included. The resolution may not be the finest but is adequate for the purpose of teaching. The sound is more important in a music course.

Should I be starting my guitar playing career again I think this guitar program would be on my top list of courses, especially with the number of bonus products provided to help with learning. Including a metronome, a guitar tuner, a chord program, a note training module and others. Even a reasonable player could benefit from this course up to intermediate level at least.

Teachers are solid experienced guitarists who have learned their playing over many years. Lessons start at the very beginning. How to hold a guitar being the first lesson.

A FAQ is provided and the ability to ask questions that are answered within a few hours or less.

In my previous post I mentioned the possibility of using the 60 day money back guarantee as a means of trying out two courses. This is a very good way of comparing.

Buy this course and try it for 30 days, try another course for the next 28 days or so. Then whichever course that  you prefer keep, and get your money back from the course you did not like.

Good luck with your playing whichever route you choose to learn by. Here’s a link to the official Jamorama site. Have a look, it costs nothing to check it out.

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Scales on Guitar

Posted by on February 27, 2012 No comments

Recently I decided to try learning to play the piano. During the learning process (ongoing) I found that the piano is a lot easier to learn than the guitar is. Of course the guitar does have the advantage of being portable which a piano is certainly not.
As I am taking lessons I have had to learn the dreaded scales. To my surprise I found that not only are scales quiet easy to learn but are quiet advantageous. Within reason whenever I come across a piece of music I roughly know which notes will form part of the piece. This makes life so easy compared to how I learned to play guitar.

The point is; had I learned to play scales on guitar my learning curve would have been quicker and I would have learned to play much better.

My advice now to everyone is to ensure that whatever instrument you play. Learn to play scales, maybe not all of them but at least the most popular ones. It will transform your playing. It really will.

Guitar And Piano

Posted by on December 12, 2011 No comments

When deciding on an instrument to learn to play

For many, the choice is guitar or piano. Generally females and older people tend to choose piano whilst young men choose guitar or keyboard.

The choice of guitar for young man seems to be not so much one of male alpha male dominance, but that of ease of learning to play. The guitar obviously does have a macho image that tends to drive young men toward it.

The guitar does have a number of advantages over the piano. Strings can be bent to provide a range of sounds not possible with a fixed string instrument such as the piano. (some keyboards can bend notes) Hammer ons and hammer offs also provide a range of sounds that the piano cannot reach.

A number of disadvantages exist with guitar. When starting to play sore fingers are a common issue until a callous grows on each finger. The sound of each string is dependent upon how well the fingers press the string against each fret. This is particularly difficult to achieve when playing chords although this is overcome in time.

In contrast the piano does not require a callous to be grown on each finger. A key is pressed and providing the piano is in tune a single note is produced that is perfect, no need to press a finger in a perfect position. Press the key and the note comes out. Press a number of notes and a chord is sounded that is perfect each time.

The piano is learned with both hands at the same time. From a very early stage of learning both bass and melody are played at the same time providing a rich full sound. The guitar takes more time to produce the bass notes by using the thumb and the other four fingers being used for the melody. These are the main differences between guitar and piano when choosing between the two instruments.

There is one other difference between guitar and piano and that is size and cost. guitars can cost as much as a piano. However a first piano will usually be more expensive than a first guitar and will always be a larger instrument than the guitar. This could be the deciding factor.

Best Way To Learn Guitar.

Posted by on November 12, 2011 No comments

As you are looking here to find out the best way to play guitar, you have probably decided to learn guitar online.

If you were intending to take private lessons, then you would learn to play guitar well regardless of which tutor you chose the only issue might be how you get on with them. The choice of tutor is a personal one. you may change a few times before finding the one that you like.

Online lessons are very much the same. It doesn’t matter which course you choose you will probably learn to play guitar as well with one course as with an alternative course.

The difference in courses will be style of presentation, type of support etc. So how do you choose? Look at review sites like this is a good idea and then make your own mind up.

What I would do is choose a course buy it and use it for a month. then if not sure buy an alternate course and use that for a month. If you prefer the second course then ask for a refund on the first course. You have a 60 day money back guarantee with most courses. If you prefer the original course ask for your money back on the second course. If you don’t like either then ask for your money back on both courses and look again at courses.

One thing to be careful with. The second course may seem better but is it because of the teaching of the first course. If you get it wrong when you choose you can always buy the first course again. In any event you will only ever pay for one course. And you will have received quiet a few free lessons.

What you do have to do is buy a course. every day you don’t have one to learn with is a day that you are not learning to play guitar. In truth there probably isn’t a best way to play guitar. But there are many ways to choose from.

Guitar Tuning

Posted by on February 22, 2011 No comments

 

The guitar has been bought together with the accessories you feel you can’t live without. Where do you go next next?

Tuning is the next step. A good guitar shop will have tuned the guitar for you in the shop, however tuning changes especially with a new guitar or with new strings and it is necessary for you to check the tuning each time you play. This is a simple thing to do; just a few moments are needed.

The strings are numbered from 1 to 6 starting at the thinnest string. That’s the one nearest the floor when you are holding the guitar. Each string is tuned to a note. From the thickest string to the thinnest string.

  • 6 = E
  • 5 = A
  • 4 = D
  • 3 = G
  • 2 = B
  • 1 = E

An easy way to remember the string names is Every Afternoon Dogs Get Back Early

Tuning can be carried out by using a piano, a keyboard an electric tuner or a tuner on the internet. Or the 6th string E can be tuned and then the other strings tuned against it. Once the 6th string is tuned place your finger on the 5th fret of the 6th string and pluck the 6th string followed by the 5th string they should sound the same. Adjust the 5th string by use of its tuning knob until it sounds the same.

Repeat this with the 5th and 4th string and the 4th and 3rd string. The 3rd and 2nd string are slightly different.

For this string you place your finger on the 4th fret of the 3rd string and pluck the 3rd and 2nd string adjusting the 2nd string until it sounds the same as the 3rd string. The 1st string is done in the same maner as the 6th, 5th, 4th and 3rd strings by use of the 5th fret on the 2nd string. You are now ready to start learning to play the guitar.

At first the sounds are awful. Nothing makes sense. This is a period where bad habits can form especially if you try to run before you learn to walk. At this stage a good teacher or teaching system is a very good idea. This is the point at which you build your foundations. It is also the point that many people fail to learn and put the new guitar away to gather dust or be sold later at a knock down price. A simple trick is to choose a string. Anyone will do, think of simple tunes and pluck a string with your finger on say the 5th fret. Find the next note of the tune by sliding your finger up and down the neck until you find the note you need. Then find the next. Then repeat up and down the string until you can play the whole tune. you will be working hard but at least you are making music and will grow in confidence. You will also be finding your way around the guitar.