easy guitar songs

Discipline when you are practicing the guitar is very important. Learning to play the guitar is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my life but it was also one of the hardest. The reason that I became proficient with my instrument is simple. I practiced, and I practiced a lot; every day in my bedroom from the age of 16 (I’m 25 now). I spent most of my time practicing the fundamentals: running up and down scales, changing chords and trying to improve my repertoire of songs.

Sometimes it was easy to make time to practice because I was in a good mood and I really wanted to play. At those times I could spend hours just listening to how cool it sounded when I changed from the chord D to the chord G. But on other days it was my discipline and desire to play and improve that made me practice and develop as a player.

There are two main factors when it comes to discipline in practice: practicing regularly and practicing well. Both of these are important to address.

Practicing regularly is the most obvious and easy to do. Basically you should play the guitar every day. These don’t need to be mammoth, three hour long sessions. 30 minutes will generally be fine if you are focused during that time. Doing regular, small amounts of practice is far better than going all out for hours once a week. I know that in a busy life it can be hard to make the time to practice but honestly 30 minutes a day is achievable for anyone. There is no set time that is best to practice but I prefer to do it in the evening simply because I find playing the guitar is a relaxing way to wind down after a stressful day.

Practicing badly is a more common and difficult to address problem. This is something that affects even the most experienced player. This problem has several causes and solutions.

• Playing the same thing over and over every time you play. I am a firm believer that you should play something perfectly before you move on. BUT, once you know how to play something you need to move on and keep challenging yourself.

• The opposite is also a problem: moving on too quickly. You should practice so that you play a piece well before you go on to the next thing. Playing perfectly and accurately is an excellent habit for any musicians to have.

• Not focusing on developing all parts of your musicianship when you are practicing. I like to split my playing into parts. For example I might spend 5 minutes practicing new scales or chords, 10 minutes working on writing new music for myself and maybe 15 minutes learning a new song or part of a song.

• Playing things too fast when you first try and learn them. This can cause you to become disillusioned with your playing when you are trying to learn a new song. Most guitarists, including myself try playing a song at a slow speed before trying it a fast pace.

Practicing properly and regularly is the best way to become good at anything including playing the guitar. This requires discipline. Not only discipline to practice regularly, but also discipline to stay focused and on track when you are practicing. If you stay disciplined with your playing you will develop in to an excellent player.

Learn Acoustic Guitar NOW With FREE ACOUSTIC LESSONS

michael
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/master-acoustic-guitar-with-these-beginner-acoustic-guitar-lessons-1259425.html

Are you one of those people that dream of playing the electric guitar in a band someday? Well, you are not alone, many people would love to live that dream. And it is possible, as long as you dedicate yourself to learning, and make enough time in your life to find a band to jam with. But the first thing that you need to do is to actually learn how to play that electric guitar.

1. The best thing to do is to learn on an acoustic guitar because you can hear the notes clearer which helps you learn more effectively. So assuming you have perfected the acoustic, its time to move on to the electric guitar. Here is where you are going to have to fork over some cash, so try to factor in that it is not just the guitar, it is also the amplifier, pedals, straps and a hard carrying case. When you are spending that kind of money, it is best to ask the salesperson as many questions as possible. Only when you are one hundred percent sure what you want, then make the purchase.

2. So you get home with all these new toys, you put everything together, but now what? Well, lets play some guitar! This is where all that practicing on your acoustic is going to pay off! So if you have put in a significant numbers of hours playing on the acoustic, then you will find it strangely easy to play the electric guitar.

3. Now just practice as much as possible! Start off by playing all the scales and chords until they are mistake free. After that, try to play some of your favorite songs, listen to segments of the songs, then try to replicate it. After you have perfected that, do your own thing! After all, playing the guitar is all about creativity! Try to create your own music, bit by bit, song by song, you may just find a hidden talent and become one of the greats. So there you have some tips to learn how to play the electric guitar. Keep practicing and trying new thing, and one day you just might be playing up on stage with a band, just like you have dreamed of for years.

John Amherst

Some teachers have a strict rule to how and what they teach and as a teacher this makes life much easier. Format to lessons are very important and you should always try to keep a written record of a student’s progress. This also helps if you have a large number of students and you need prompting on what was taught in previous lessons.

The 1st goal of every student is to play a song, as their teacher you should let the student know, it helps to play songs if you understand:

• notes and their timing
• the music staff or tablature and its symbols
• that you shouldn’t start playing until you know how to hold & place your finger on the instrument

These are three broad steps but it gives you an idea on what steps are involved when tutoring new students. I always explain to my beginner students that the first few lessons will be slow, even a little boring to some as we have to get the basics out of the way before we can move onto songs. After all this is why they have come to you for lessons, not to be bored but to learn the correct techniques. Having students understand the importance of learning the correct technique is a priority. I like to explain it like this; you can play the guitar with your thumb, one finger or even your nose if you want because most songs you’ll start off learning will be that easy. But once you’ve learnt the song you will then move on to a more difficult song. That song will probably require you to use two or three fingers, this means all that work you did learning with thumb, nose or one finger has gone to waste and now you have to relearn using two or three fingers (the correct technique). So in summary, if you learn using incorrect technique it will take you longer because you’ll have to keep on correcting your style as the styles and songs get harder.

I will always try to incorporate a student’s favorite songs into a lesson as soon as possible and base learning around that. If they’re more interested in what they’re learning then they will learn faster. It is a good idea to have at least 10 beginner songs for them to choose from if they can not think of one themselves. I find the hardest students to teach are lessons that like any form of heavy metal or screamer bands as these styles of music are usually,

• Fast
• Detuned
• Have odd or difficult timing
• Almost no easy (beginner) songs in these styles

Most of all, the people that like this style of music are usually in opposition to most other styles and this makes their learning scope narrow. For these types of students I will explain to them why they won’t be able to start on these styles and let them know that even some of their favorite guitarists started with simple songs first up. I also like to get a list of some of their favorite bands/guitarists and do a simple Google search on their influences. Usually you’ll find some easier songs & styles, then it relates to their favorite artist.

In other cases a student may not care about what he or she plays, this is good at first because it gives the teacher control over what to teach. I always encourage them to pick some of their favorite songs or styles to keep their interest level up in lessons.

As a teacher I would prefer to keep all lessons on finger exercises, playing technique, theory & scales for the first 6 months before even touching a song but then I wouldn’t have any students so it is a good idea to find a compromise between the two and don’t teach one more than the other.

More Lessons & Articles: www.guitartutoronline.com

Danny Poole

When we wonder what guitar tab we need to get to begin to make up our repertoire, we usually think only about songs we like. We know that our choice in music does not suck in the slightest but if we are going to be playing our guitar and singing for audiences we need to get used to the idea that our taste in music will not match what our listeners want to hear. We may even take a look at popular choices in songs and get the uncomfortable feeling that we might have to play songs that we do not like. One thing guitar players are famous for is standing on their principles and not compromising on what they are going to play. The other thing they are famous for is giving the audience what they want. So a mixture of these two attitudes is probably going to form in your psyche as you peruse your list of guitar tabs on the internet. While we are on the subject of lists of guitar tabs remember to pay a visit to your local music store or online merchant for ready-made collections of easy guitar tabs. You can find titles like “Popular Songs for Acoustic Guitar” or “CMT\’s 100 Greatest Songs of Country Music”.

One fact that has emerged from field tests conducted by buskers, night club performers and covers bands is that you should look for your repertoire in the songs of years gone by. Oldies are goodies. Another thing you should think about is whether or not you are an audience participation kind of performer. If you are still wondering about it one second after the thought enters your head, then you probably aren\’t. So stay away from songs that require you to yell, “Everybody now!!” or “Just the girls this time!”. Likewise if you play solo acoustic guitar and have a voice like Johnny Cash you might want to stay away from Led Zeppelin\’s “Whole Lotta Love”. But do not walk away from songs you enjoy just because they might not seem immediately doable.Remember Jose Feliciano\’s “Light My Fire” and Eric Clapton\’s unplugged “Layla”.

Of course what songs you choose is not going to matter much if you do not pay attention to how you sing and play the guitar. People pay to see performers who are better at something than they are. Which is where playing material that you like comes in. If you are playing a song that you consider to be a crowd pleaser but you personally think is a load of stomach chunks you give attention to the part the audience likes. You already know what that is. That is why you do not bellow, “Hello darkness my old friend” or shirk on the enthusiasm when you sing the line, “Welcome to the Hotel California”.

Okay so what we get out of all this is first, there are songs that crowds of people like and second, you can sing and play these songs in a way that highlights your particular talents. Now for a basic list of songs that have been known to please a crowd or two over a period of years:

Wild World by Cat Stevens

Imagine – by John Lennon

Stairway To Heaven by Led Zeppelin

Catch the Wind by Donovan

Can\’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley

Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks

Angie by the Rolling Stones

Everybody Hurts by REM

50 ways to leave your lover by Paul Simon

The 59th Street Bridge Song by Simon And Garfunkel

American Pie by Don Maclean

Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell

California Dreamin\’ by The Mamas and Papas

Knockin\’ on Heaven\’s Door by Bob Dylan

Mrs Robinson by Simon And Garfunkel

You\’re so vain by Carly Simon

Blowin\’ In The Wind by Bob Dylan

Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison

I Walk The Line by Johnny Cash

Tears In Heaven by Eric Clapton

Gloria by Van Morrison (or Them)

Hotel California by The Eagles

Behind Blue Eyes by The Who

White Room by Cream

Sex And Candy by Marcy Playground

Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers

What Its Like by Everlast

Alison by Elvis Costello

Life By The Drop by Stevie Ray Vaughn

Melissa by Allman Brothers

Dead Flowers by The Rolling Stones

Seagull by Bad Company

Mediterranean Sundance by Al DiMeola and Paco De Lucia

Classical Gas by Mason Williams

This list could be much, much longer, but you probably already see songs here that you would never play in a million years so all I can say now is I hope this guide to essential guitar tab has been helpful.

Solution Finders

How To Read Guitar Tablature

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If you are someone aspiring to be a musician, it is beneficial to learn to read music. While reading music is standardized with many other instruments, guitarists have developed their own method to ease the reading of music in tablature. Unique to guitarists all over, tablature though not perfect, is a simple method of effortlessly reading and sharing music with others, especially with other guitarists.  Below you will find a quick primer on how tablature works.

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<a href=”http://www.prestomusicstore.com/”>Basics of Tab</a>

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Guitar tablatures are available online. In the above diagram, six horizontal lines comprise the tab staff for the guitar. Each line symbolizes each string of the guitar. While the second line from the bottom denotes the A string, the bottom most line denotes the E. guitarists find this simplified tablature very easy to use and follow.

When you notice carefully, you will find there are numbers in the center of these lines which actually denote the strings. The fret has to be played by you according to these numbers. For example, if you look at the above diagram you will note that you have to play the third string and the seventh fret. Number zero in the tablature tells you that you have to play the open string.

Tablature is one of the most basic and easiest methods of reading music which can also be found online. Reading chords involves a more advanced method of reading notations in the tab.

Reading tabs does not take much time to learn. The most basic tab reading can be learned by almost anyone. As opposed to other instruments like the piano which requires intensive training for a prolonged period of time, most of the guitarists learn to play on their own after a set of basic lessons. Piano involves training in sight reading as well as rigorous coaching in theory lessons.

As a guitarist, if you are trying to learn songs on your own, you may find it difficult to read music. Sight reading is quite complicated, especially for beginners and self taught musicians often avoid doing this. By using online tablatures, you can learn various songs.

Reading guitar tablature online is also simple. If a series of numbers are displayed vertically by the tab, it means you are supposed to play all the notes simultaneously. According to the tab picture above, the notes in the E major chord has to be held down and all the six strings must be strummed simultaneously. To make things simple for the guitarists, the chord name is displayed in the tablature. This enables them to identify the chord easily.

Fundamental Flaws of Guitar Tab

There are however a lot of flaws in this tab system including the rhythmic notation. For example if you have no idea about the part where the guitar has to be played in a particular song, you will be at a loss to know how long to hold the key. Without rhythms it is next to impossible to determine this.

There are attempts to include rhythms in some guitar tabs. This is done by including stems on the numbers. This however is difficult for the guitarist to read, recognize and play fluently. Instead of doing this, it is easier to actually going in for the basic standard notation. Guitar tablatures can be read only by guitarists as opposed to the standard notation which can be read by every musician.

Presto
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/reading-guitar-tablature-a-beginners-guide-711922.html

It is very fun and mostly easy to play ukulele chords. Let’s take a look at some easy chord changes!

Before we delve to deeply into our ukulele chords let’s take a look at the tuning of your ukulele. The resulting names of the chords we play depends on how we tune the ukulele.

In this ukulele lesson I assume that you play a soprano ukulele and that you have tuned it in C.

What does C-tuning mean?

Let’s take a look at the piano keyboard to find out how to tune the ukulele.

C-tuning means that the third string on you ukulele is tuned to a C. If you use a piano when you tune your ukulele you will find these notes in the octave in the middle of the keyboard.

The notes in this most commonly used octave on the piano are called C4-B4. The number 4 indicate that the notes are on the fourth octave on an ordinary piano.

The first string on your ukulele will be tuned to an A4 as we call it. The next string will sound like the piano key E4. The third string will be the note C4. The fourth string will be the note G4.

Our first chord is C major. Let’s take a look at it:

C: 0/4 0/3 0/2 3/1

What type of notation is this?

This is a type of ukulele tab notation where we use numbers to indicate which fret to press down and on which string.

3/1 for example means: Press down fret 3 on string 1.

We will now proceed with the chord G major:

G: 0/4 2/3 3/2 2/1

As you can see this chord is the same chord as a D major on a guitar. A little bit confusing if you also play guitar but I guess you will get used to it.

The chord F major looks like this on your ukulele:

F: 2/4 0/3 1/2 0/1

Now we have three chords at our disposal and we can create our first ukulele chord progression:

C / / / G / / / F / / / G / / /

What does the slashes mean?

The most basic way to interpret this notation is:

Strum once on a chord name. Continue strumming on the same chord once for every slash!

Let’s add one more chord to make this progression a little bit more interesting. Here is G7:

G7: 0/4 2/3 1/2 2/1

Here is the progression:

C / / / G7 / / / F / / / G7 / / /

Before we end this ukulele lesson we will add just one more chord. Here is D minor:

Dm: 2/4 2/3 1/2 0/1

Here is the ukulele chord progression:

C / / / G7 / / / Dm / / / G7 / / /

To really learn to play chords on your ukulele it is important to play them together. The most difficult part is to change from one chord to another smoothly without slowing down the tempo.

Try practising playing two chords at a time. The actual training consists of changing between the chords.

This is a great way to rapidly learn to play the chords of any ukulele song!

Peter Edvinsson
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/ukulele-chords-learn-to-play-easy-chord-changes-122286.html

Many people want to learn to play the guitar but never get to actually commit to doing it. It’s a real shame because the guitar is one of the most popular musical instruments. It has a great sound and it can be used to play almost any type of song or melody, plus it’s relatively easy to carry around. With all these features a guitar has, it’s certainly not the lack of desire that keeps most people from learning how to play the guitar.

In fact, in most cases it has to do with time and money. Most of us simply don’t have the time to commute to guitar classes or afford to pay for a personal guitar instructor. Moreover, some schools are just not aimed at the average person who just wants to learn to play a few tunes, but rather focus on more advanced guitar courses.

The solution to all this would be teaching yourself how to play the guitar. But it does seem nearly impossible doesn’t it? Well, it used to be. I mean, how is it possible to learn to play music from a book or something, right? It’s not! But we’re not talking about books in the first place!

We’re talking about computer-based multimedia guitar courses that you can buy on the Internet. Think about it, a multimedia course will not only let you know how a tune is meant to be played, but will also allow you to record and compare your performance to the correct one. And as far as practice is concerned, you can see video instruction of basic guitar exercises and play it back as many times as necessary until you “get it”.

Furthermore, a PC-based guitar course will allow you to go at your own pace which may even be faster that the pace many schools or many instructors teach their students. Add to that the fact that you’ll be saving a huge amount of time and money and you have every reason in the world to try an online guitar course at a fraction of the cost.

John Roberts
http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/why-you-should-take-online-guitar-lessons-120228.html

The guitar is an incredibly appealing musical instrument. It is easy to understand the popularity it enjoys because irrespective of the music genre, the guitar usually plays a critical part in any song.

The lead singers in most bands also know how to play the guitar. So, if learning to play guitar is something that interests you, read on. Many thousands of people before you have learned to play the guitar, and most likely thousands more will want to learn as well. But learning to play guitar will require several things from you so think carefully, wanting to play the guitar will be hard going if you cannot handle the following facts, you will be wasting your time and money.

Learning to play guitar is far from easy; no short-cut exists to enable you to play like a professional, there are no magic spells or brain implants either. And yes, you will see guys on TV playing their 3 minute songs that make it look so easy, but what you need to remember is that they put thousands of practice hours into learning the guitar before they joined a band or even got to that point.

Learning to play guitar is going to take time and you should not expect to pick up a guitar and have it mastered within a week. You must expect to put the work into it and that means you have to practice. You must learn how to tune your guitar, learn simple chords, then learn how to play simple songs and improve from there.

Learning to play guitar, as with any musical instrument takes patience and you will make mistakes. You will experience days when you just want smash your guitar against the wall out of pure frustration. If you are the type of person who gives up at the first problem or difficulty, then learning to play the guitar will probably be hard work for you. Try to envisage your guitar hero quitting the first time they ran into adversity while learning. Would they be a star now, perhaps not?

If you possess realistic expectations about how difficult it can be learning to play guitar; the time commitment; the patience to overcome any trouble you may encounter while learning; then you are probably ready to learn to play the guitar. How you make up your mind to learn to play guitar will be up to you.

Learning to play guitar quickly and easily can be achieved by using online guitar courses and most of these sites offer everything that you need in one convenient place to learn how to play the guitar. Of course, the better quality sites will charge a fee for the material, however the relative cost is insignificant compared to the cost of lessons. And of course, you will be able to learn at a time that suits you from the comfort of your own home.

Bernice Eker
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/can-you-really-handle-learning-to-play-guitar-876163.html

In high school, did you ever dream about starting your own rock band? Want to duplicate the soothing sounds of folk tunes for family and friends? Does your favorite musician work magic with a Gibson ES 335? Is Jimi Hendrix your idol? It doesn’t matter the reason why you want to play the guitar – a seed has been planted and now it is time to nurture the desire.

Where to begin? Playing guitar (whether for fun or professionally) takes patience and determination. By following a few tips, you can harness your passion or interest for the instrument. You will also find that fueling your creativity and developing this new form of expression will take time. Great guitar players do not blossom overnight.

Purchasing a Guitar

Before you start learning the ropes of guitar playing, you’re going to need an instrument to carry out your lessons. The type of music you wish to play will determine the kind of guitar you require. For example, an acoustic guitar is used to generate the sounds of country, ragtime or folk. The body of the guitar is large and hollow, creating a sound that many deem “natural.” Rock music often utilizes an electric guitar, which offers a rather distinctive amplified sound. Additional guitars to look into include the steel, solid body, archtop, resonator, bass and twelve-string guitar.

With the purchase of a guitar, there are other necessary pieces of basic equipment. A guitar pick is required to help play the chords of your instrument. The size of guitar pick is quite small, prompting easy breakage and it can also be easily misplaced. This is why beginners should have a good number of guitar picks on hand. When purchasing picks, the medium gauge varieties are suggested because they are less apt to break. You should also invest in a comfortable chair.

Getting Lessons

While some guitar players are able to naturally experiment with chords by ear and strum along with less guidance, others require the assistance of structured lessons. There are numerous ways to learn how to play the guitar. If you are able to afford a private tutor, you can take advantage of one-on-one instruction, which may speed up the learning process. Sometimes, beginners benefit from group learning, which provides a wealth of constructive criticism. The Internet also offers a way for beginners to privately learn online. Some websites offer a computer keyboard lesson on learning scales, which some beginners find quite easy.

Whichever approach you take in learning to play guitar, you should know that setting goals for yourself makes the process more rewarding. Achieving personal milestones further motivates your desire to find a common ground with the instrument and who knows how far your lessons will take you.

Recognizing why you want to play guitar in the first place will also help you to better accomplish your goals. Some people want to learn to play for fun, peaking with a performance in front of family and friends. Others would like to share their talents with a slightly larger crowd, probably visiting a few coffee shops or open-mic nights. Then there are the masses of learners who have bigger dreams of taking to a stage in front of thousands. No matter what the goal is, you can’t get there without loads of practice.

What You Will Learn

Guitar lessons usually start with building a basic foundation, such as how to properly hold the guitar and establishing correct posture when playing. There is a wide range of techniques involved in playing the guitar and after a few lessons, you may start to find your niche.

One of the most important things to focus on when playing a guitar is understanding and mastering the chords. There are books and charts to help you along this important part of the process. There are many different chords to familiarize yourself with and taking them one at a time will lead to better results.

Additional areas of guitar instruction may include learning how to properly hold a pick, memorizing scales, tackling music theory and selecting a music style. Instrument maintenance, such as tuning and caring for your guitar is also of importance.

Sticking With It

Staying motivated is one of the best things you can do when learning to play the guitar. It is easy to become frustrated with a new project and abandon it before truly experiencing any benefits. On some days, you may have to dig deep to reclaim your passion and dedication. Other days, you could be composing the next pop hit. Give the process a chance and remember that it takes time to get the hang of this instrument. The best thing you can do is continue to practice and soon, you will reap the rewards of hard work and focus.

Kevin Sinclair
http://www.articlesbase.com/article-writing-articles/you-can-learn-to-play-the-guitar-76993.html