The Christmas season, my favorite season of the entire year, is ALMOST here. I have the PERFECT gift idea that YOU or one of your relatives would LOVE to see under the tree (...or better yet, on top of their piano :)
I know about his brand new 3 H-O-U-R Christmas course, Christmas Keys Vol.1 - "Conquering Christmas Classics," which has just been released.
"Christmas Keys vol.1" is LOADED with tons of powerful tips, easy-to-do tricks, and techniques that will allow you to be playing like an expert by this Christmas season - GUARANTEED!
In this course, you'll...
Learn several variations of each song so you can play these Christmas classics a different way every time!
*Discover the power of "inversions" and how changing one note in your chord can totally alter the way a progression sounds!
*Beginners: How to play an entire song with only three-fingered major chords (...also known as "major triads").
*How to add fuel to your bass by understanding how "power" chords work in holiday music...
*How to play "Go Tell It On The Mountain" in a churchy praise style! I'm talking about bass lines, runs, fill-ins, and more (...similar to GospelKeysTM 300 and GospelKeysTM 500)!
*From beginning to end: How to play every song, step-by-step, with no guessing (whatsoever) or any information left out!
By the end of this course, you'll have what it takes to fully play all of these Christmas songs by ear - That's a PROMISE! Read more ....>>>
Due to the high demand and moderate supply, this incredible offer for Christmas Keys will only be around for a short time. So......Don't waste time!
Place your order TODAY!
Not only are there different brands of strings -- but there are also different gauges / thickness too!
Depending on what gauge / thickness you use determines the sound of your guitar playing!
Just remember...
The higher the gauge number -- the thicker the string
The lower the gauge number -- the thinner the string
Thicker strings last longer and have a chunkier sound. Thinner strings don't last as long and have a much brighter sound.
As a side note: if you find your strings vibrating a lot or aren't ringing out properly - this is usually because they are slightly touching the frets on your guitar.
If you have this problem -- go for a thinner gauge string and they will offer your fingers more room to move on the fretboard!
If you want -- check out: as they specialize in selling guitar strings and as well as offer free shipping on some orders!
Here's a rough guide to string gauge and thickness...
ULTRA LIGHT STRINGS
E-------------.008
B-------------.010
G-------------.014
G-------------.022
A-------------.030
E-------------.038
EXTRA LIGHT STRINGS
E-------------.010
B-------------.014
G-------------.020
G-------------.028
A-------------.040
E-------------.050
LIGHT STRINGS
E-------------.011
B-------------.015
G-------------.022
G-------------.030
A-------------.042
E-------------.052
MEDIUM STRINGS
E-------------.013
B-------------.017
G-------------.026
G-------------.034
A-------------.046
E-------------.056
HEAVY STRINGS
E-------------.014
B-------------.018
G-------------.028
G-------------.040
A-------------.050
E-------------.060
[ source ]
How about a Ipod Mini Patent Leather Case Mac White + June Sky's Blue to go along?
Sing it like you mean it at The Singing Station!
Let's get into effects!
This is one of my favorite areas of guitar playing as I religiously plug my effects pedal in whenever I play my guitar!
Now for those of you who don't know -- effects pedals manipulate the sound of your guitar (in a good way!)
So for example if you place the effect "REVERB" on your guitar it will make it sound like you are playing in a large concert huge hall.
If you place the effect of "DELAY" on your guitar, it will constantly repeat what you play over and over.
If you place the effect of "DISTORTION" on your guitar, it will distort the sound of your guitar and make it sound either crunchy, wheezy, hard metal sounding or just rough as nails!
Now there's a million effects pedals out there, but let's cut straight to the bone here...
Firstly if you want to hear some examples of effects, check out my site over at:
http://www.guitartips.com.au/subpages/guitarlessons-cooleffects.htm
....where I sat down and recorded a few main effects for you. Please don't ask me which pedal I used to record those sounds as I go through hundreds each year!
Now if you want to get into effects pedals, there are 2 types you can go for.
Ibanez TS7 Tubescreamer Effects Pedal
The first is a SINGLE effect pedal. They contain only 1 effect and cost usually around $50 - $150 per pedal to buy. Here's what a single effects pedal looks like...
Very simple and straight forward with 4 knobs to adjust the effect, and an input and output jack. To turn the effect ON -- use your feet to press down.
To turn the effect OFF -- do the same thing! The only trouble is if you want 5 or 10 pedals, you'll need to by 5 or 10 of these things and it can get expensive, not to mention connecting all these up in a line when you go to play on stage!
The second is a MULTI - EFFECTS Pedal. Zoom 606 Guitar Multi Effects PedalIt's exactly what is sounds....'multi' meaning many effects in one unit.. They offer a lot more options and effect settings. Many allow you to create / combine your own effects also!
These are recommended for advanced players as they can get a bit complex to operate.
They also allow you to program different effects in and save them to each pedal. So during songs you can switch from one effect to another. Very hot tool.
There are slightly smaller ones that are still multi effects pedals but instead of having 4 pedals, they have 2. They are about half the size of the above image and slight cheaper also.
more on effect pedals .....>>> read more.
Bottom line -- get into effects pedals. They add spice to your playing and make you sound like a rock star -- even if you're only in your bedroom!
It is one of the most important chords you'll need in your guitar playing.
The beauty of this chord is that once you can hold it, you'll be able to move it anywhere on the fretboard and it becomes a different note.
To kick off -- this is a barre chord. Don't worry which fret to play it on for now. Just learn how to hold it. I've also included the tabs below to make it easier...
TABS:
E--1--
B--1--
G--2--
D--3--
A--3--
E--1--
This is an example of a Barre Chord. Pace your index finger across ALL 6 strings, followed by your middle finger on fret 2, and finally the rest of your fingers on string the 3rd fret of strings 5 & 6.
Admitted -- it is hard to hold at first, but in time you will get it. The more it hurts the more your fingers need to be stretched. Keep at it each day and I guarantee you'll be able to hold it.
Before I carry on, barre chords are always measured by your index finger. So if I say play a barre chord on fret 4, you place your index finger across ALL strings on fret 4, followed by the rest of your fingers. So always measure a barre chord by your index finger.
Now -- once you can hold a barre chord, you are then able to move it to different locations on the fretboard and play different notes!
So for example...if you hold a barre chord on the 1st fret (top string) you are playing an F chord!
If you move it to the 3rd fret (top string) you are now playing a G chord.
If you move it to the 5th fret (top string) you are now playing an A chord and so on.
Here's a guide of what I'm talking about...
Bottom line -- learn a barre chord as it is one of the most important chords you will need to play the guitar. It will not be easy the first time -- but keep practicing and never give up!
WRITTEN BY GUITAR TIPS
If you've always wanted to learn to play the guitar but never had the chance, give me 17 minutes a day for 90 days and I'll show you how to play virtually any song you want! Visit http://www.guitartips.com.au
I've written about this before -- but I'm going to cover it again to make sure we're all singing from the same song book!
I'll also include a few advanced symbols and meanings as it's important you know what they mean in case you get stuck!
Now -- tabs are not proper music notation. They are an easy way to learn your favourite songs.
If proper music notation is what you want -- check out: http://datadragon.com/education/reading/
...as they provide a great tutorial. But if all you want to do is learn your favourite song quickly and easily -- tabs are the way to go!
Here's how they work....(you'll pick this up in 2 seconds!)
Tablature is a way of indicating the positioning of notes and fingering on the guitar fretboard.
There are 6 tab lines representing 6 strings on the guitar. (The 1st string is the thinnest, and the 6th string is the thickest) They are as follows:
E----------------------------- String 1
B----------------------------- String 2
G----------------------------- String 3
D----------------------------- String 4
A----------------------------- String 5
E----------------------------- String 6
When a number is placed on one of the lines, it indicates the fret location of note for example,
E----------------------------- String 1
B------4---------------------- String 2
G----------------------------- String 3
D----------------------------- String 4
A----------------------------- String 5
E----------------------------- String 6
This means to play the 4th Fret on the 2nd string
E----------------------------- String 1
B----------------------------- String 2
G----------------------------- String 3
D----------------------------- String 4
A------0---------------------- String 5
E----------------------------- String 6
This indicates an open 5th string
E---1------------------------- String 1
B-----------8----------------- String 2
G-------7--------------------- String 3
D---------------2------------- String 4
A----------------------------- String 5
E------------------------12--- String 6
This indicates:
1st Fret, 1st string then
7th Fret, 3rd string, then
8th Fret, 2nd string, then
2nd Fret, 4th string, then
12th Fret, 6th string.
Further Points To Remember...
h - hammer on
p - pull off
b - bend string up
r - release bend
/ - slide up
\ - slide down
v - vibrato (sometimes written as ~)
t - right hand tap
x - play 'note' with heavy damping
When you see all numbers in a line one after another
E---3------------------------- String 1
B---3------------------------- String 2
G---4------------------------- String 3
D---5------------------------- String 4
A---5------------------------- String 5
E---3------------------------- String 6
...it means you play the entire chord using all strings
When you see tabs that have "h"
E--------------------------------String 1
B--------------------------------String 2
G--------------------------------String 3
D--------------------------------String 4
A---------7h9-----------10h12----String 5
E---0--0----------0--0-----------String 6
....it means to do a "Hammer On" from the 7th fret to the 9th fret and again for the 10th fret to the 12th fret
When you see other tabs that have "p"
E--------------------------------String 1
B--------------------------------String 2
G--------------------------------String 3
D--------------------------------String 4
A---------9p7-----------12p10----String 5
E---0--0----------0--0-----------String 6
....it means to do a "Pull Off" from the 9th fret to the 7th fret and again for the 12th fret to the 10th fret
When you see other tabs that have "b"
E--------------------------------String 1
B--------------------------------String 2
G--------------------------------String 3
D--------------------------------String 4
A---------7b9-----------10b12----String 5
E--------------------------------String 6
...it means strike the string 5 on the 7th fret, then bend the note up so that it sounds the same as the note played on the 9th fret.
Here's a quick tablature legend to keep on file...
h - hammer-on
p - pull-off
b - bend
pb - pre-bend
r - bend release (release immediately if no number after r)
/\ - slide into or out of (from/to "nowhere")
s - legato slide
S - shift slide
[n] - artificial harmonic
n(n) - tapped harmonic
~ - vibrato
tr - trill
T - tap
TP - trem. picking
PM - palm muting
\n/ - tremolo bar dip; n = amount to dip
\n - tremolo bar down
n/ - tremolo bar up
/n\ - tremolo bar inverted dip
= - hold bend; also acts as connecting device for hammers/pulls
<> - volume swell (louder/softer)
x - on rhythm slash represents muted slash
o - on rhythm slash represents single note slash
WRITTEN BY GUITAR TIPS If you've always wanted to learn to play the guitar but never had the chance, give me 17 minutes a day for 90 days and I'll show you how to play virtually any song you want! Visit http://www.guitartips.com.au
When you re-string your guitar, most people simply thread the string through the tuning peg and start to tighten!
This is great -- if you want to HALVE the life of your strings!
The trick is all in the threading! When you simply place your string through the tuning peg hold and tighten, you have just created the highest tension, eliminated any form of slack and doubled your chances of snapping the string when you go to break it in.
Give this a go...
The trick is not to thread the string through the tuning peg on the first thread. What you do is gently wrap the string around the tuning peg 3 or 4 times over -- THEN thread the string through the hole.
By doing this you allow more slack in your string, reduce tension and literally double the life of your strings.
It provides your guitar with a heavier grip on the string which also prevents your strings going out of tune easily.
Here's what I mean...
...see how the string is wrapped several times around the peg before threading it through the hole. This is how you make your strings last longer!
Pretty simple trick -- but give that a go next time you re-string your guitar and I guarantee it will last!
WRITTEN BY GUITAR TIPS
If you've always wanted to learn to play the guitar but never had the chance, give me 17 minutes a day for 90 days and I'll show you how to play virtually any song you want! Visit http://www.guitartips.com.au
If you don't know what feedback is -- it's that terrible high pitched sound that comes from speakers.
It usually happens when you place your microphone too close to the speaker or play your guitar directly in front of the amplifier.
Not only does this damage your ears, but it puts your audience off when they come to hear you play!
Now I'm not an expert on the dynamics of feedback. But I have performed on stage many times and have learnt a few tricks to avoid feedback from occurring...
The first step is to turn down your treble on your amplifier. Too much treble invites feedback so don't have too much treble in your amplifier settings.
The second step is to turn the volume on your guitar up only 3/4. Don't turn your volume up full as this is invites huge feedback! Always leave a little room on your volume, so don't turn it up all the way. Only 3/4 and I guarantee you will reduce feedback at least 80% with this trick.
One other trick is to turn down the gain or distortion on your amp. When you play softly, you can turn your gain or distortion full. But when you start playing with some serious volume, turn your gain only 50%.
You will still get the same sound and distortion, but this is the trick to avoiding feedback from occurring when you play loudly.
Finally, if you're using an effects pedal, only turn it up 3/4 the way. Like your guitar -- always leave a bit of leeway as it offers more control over the sound and keeps your playing tight!
Remember this -- if you keep control of your volumes, you reduce the level of feedback and have a much tighter sound as an over all band. If you turn everything up full and try to rule the world -- you'll sound a mess and out of control.