Practicing scales is one of the most important thing you can do to improve your overall playing. It helps build your finger dexterity, speed and also lays the ground work for playing solo passages later. One of the more popular scales is the minor guitar scale. It is commonly found in most rock and is the preferred scale in heavy metal. This article aims to familiarize you with the five different minor guitar scales employed by many of today's guitar greats.

Minor Guitar Scale #1: Pentatonic Minor

The pentatonic minor scale is a scale made up of just five notes and is by far the easiest to learn and play with. Many guitarists love this scale because it is hard to play a wrong note when using it for guitar solos. It also has a very unique sound due to the large intervals between each pitch.

Minor Guitar Scale #2: Aeolian Minor

The aeolian minor scale is often referred to as the natural minor scale. It is the sixth mode of the major scale. A mode is what you get by playing the major scale starting on the sixth note and ending on the sixth note. You do not need to understand this to play a minor scale though. Just know that a natural minor scale will work well with any minor chord.

Minor Guitar Scale #3: Harmonic Minor

A harmonic minor scale is a natural minor scale with a raised seventh. It has a very distinct sound and is popular among Neoclassical guitar players like Yngwie Malmsteen. The raised seventh provides a leading tone to the root note and sounds great when played over a V7 - i chord progression.

Minor Guitar Scale #4: Dorian Minor

Dorian Minor is the second mode of the major scale. It it very popular in jazz and many jam bands like the Allman brothers. To play a dorian scale simply think of a natural minor scale with a raised sixth. This scale lends it self well to any minor chord but is especially useful for minor seventh chords and minor ninth chords.

Minor Guitar Scale #5: Phyrigan Minor

Phyrigan minor is a popular one among Flamenco, Spanish and metal players. You can get a phyrigan scale by playing a natural minor with a flatted second. Use it over minor and minor seventh chords.

There is an almost endless number of licks you can use in a minor context once you learn and understand the five fundamental minor guitar scales. As you saw above they all work well over a minor chord. The only thing to watch out for is the more jazzy minor sevenths and ninths. The only way to fully master these is to practice them and try mixing them together for a truly unique sound that you can call your own.

John Hughes has been playing guitar for longer than he can remember. Aside from teaching guitar for the last three years he enjoys writing articles about playing lead guitar and other guitar related topics. If you are serious about mastering the use of different minor guitar scales you owe it to yourself to check out Guitar-Scale-Mastery.info

Many of us start playing guitar for various reasons. Some want to sing along and impress girls and others want to be rock stars and party all the time. No matter what the reason, we all discover that learning lead guitar is what separates the wanna be guitar players from those who actually can play. Learning lead guitar takes a lot of dedication and practice. Below is an overview of the three most important steps to learning lead guitar.

First step to Learning Lead Guitar:

Practice as many scales and arpeggios as you can. These are the building blocks for all solo guitar work. Strive to learn them in as many different ways as you can. It is also important to play scales and arpeggios in as many different keys as you can.

Second step to Learning Lead Guitar:

Once you have mastered some scales and arpeggios try jamming along with a favorite song. Another really good practice method is to record your self playing rhythm guitar and then try to solo over it. When improvising it is important not concentrate on the notes and how they sound. I know it is tempting to play as fast as you can, but a wiser guitarist than me once said accuracy before speed. And you know what he was right. The sooner you can recognize how a scale will sound over a certain chord the easier it will be to rip through it and find a good ending point to make it sound fluid.

Third step to Learning Lead Guitar:

It is especially important in the beginning to practice exercises that will build finger dexterity and help synchronize the fret hand with the pick hand. They are not always the most fun to practice, but the pay offs in speed and agility are well worth the boredom. In fact as you mature as a player you will probably find that these exercises are very useful in warming up before performances.

Learning lead guitar is a demanding yet highly rewarding experience. The feeling you get from wailing out a hot guitar lick is one of the most exhilarating feelings in the world. I urge you to apply the techniques mentioned above for learning lead guitar. Memorize as many scales and arpeggios as you can. Improvise them to your own rhythms or jam with a CD or even better find other people to jam with.

John Hughes has been playing guitar for longer than he can remember. Aside from teaching guitar for the last three years he enjoys writing articles about learning lead guitar and other guitar related topics. If you are serious about mastering the building blocks for lead guitar you owe it to yourself to check out Guitar-Scale-Mastery.info

I have been teaching guitar for about three years now and it seems in the last couple of months I have been asked several times by potential students what is the advantage of taking lessons with me over taking them online. Honestly I didn't really know what it was like to learn how to play the electric guitar online. When I was a boy I had taken traditional lessons from the local music store by my house. The whole learn how to play the electric guitar online thing was not very big in the early nineties so to answer this question I would have to do some research. This article will tell you the shocking truth to what we found.

To give an honest opinion of available learn how to play the electric guitar online courses I had to suck it up and buy a few of them. I thought this would be an expensive experiment, but I was shocked to find that for under $200 I was able to buy four different programs. While taking private lessons I used to pay $40 dollars a week.

I began reading through the course books. Each guitar program seemed to have a secret learning technique or method that the author claimed would transform any player in a matter of weeks. The only logical step at this point was to test these methods out.

I began using each of the four courses on a different student of mine to see what kind of progress they would make. After a month 3 of my students hadn't made any drastic improvements although a 2 of them did comment that they were enjoying the lessons a little more. However the 4th student made considerable progress, unlike any I have ever seen. He made remarkable improvements in the first week and is now learning things in a weeks time that is taking the others months to perfect. Some people might say he just has more talent, but I too have applied the techniques and have noticed an improvement in my own playing. Talent or not, this technique is worth its weight in gold.

I now show this technique to all my students and guard the secret that I really got the idea from the internet with my life. Students still ask from time to time if it would be better to learn how to play the electric guitar online, and when they do I quickly change the subject knowing that if they discovered my secrets I might have to seek a new profession.

For advice on finding an online lesson plan visit my lens on Squidoo here.

Also check out the Top Three Online Guitar Courses Below:

#1 JAMORAMA

#2 UNLOCK THE GUITAR

#3 GUITAR TUTOR PRO

Alright, so you know you want to play acoustic guitar but money is tight. You want a cheap acoustic guitar but it still has to sound good right. Do not fear. Locating a cheap acoustic guitar that will play well is not as difficult as you might think. In this article I aim to point you in the right direction for finding a cheap acoustic guitar.

When searching for a cheap acoustic guitar you will probably want to direct your focus on the bigger name brands like Takamine, Fender and Ibanez. I know your thinking that these are the more expensive models and they are, but these companies also make beginner models that are relatively cheap and still have good production quality. After all they have a reputation to keep and many times these companies hope that if you are satisfied you might become a life time customer. So stick to these top three if you wish to find a cheap acoustic guitar that will still sound great.

Since your going to be buying a cheap acoustic guitar you might as well buy it brand new. Buying a guitar from someone who once used it as their first guitar usually means that the guitar is not in good shape. Most beginners make the mistake of not properly taking care of their instruments. Not because they're lazy, but because they just haven't learned how to yet. My first guitar looks like hell. I know it can be tempting seeing cheap acoustic guitars on eBay for $20 or $30 dollars but believe me you will get what you pay for. Instead go to your local music store or shop online at ZZsounds, or Amazon. I would recommend budgeting between $150 and $300 for your first acoustic guitar.

I hope that this article helps you to choose a great cheap acoustic guitar to learn with. Remember to stick to the top three brands because they will have beginner series models that are cheap and constructed well. Also buy new. Resist the urge to buy a used guitar and I promise you will be much happier with your choice.

After you find your new guitar check out my lens on Squidoo for tips on learning how to play.

There are many scale that can be played on the guitar, but one of the most common ones and the first one I show all my students is the blues guitar scale. The reason I love this scale and teach it first even though the pentatonic is slightly easier and more widely used is because it sounds more musical and by learning is early on my students are already equipped with a scale that can transcend many styles of music. Below I will teach you the basics of the blues guitar scale and how to implement it into your playing.

First lets take a look at the structure of the blues scale. A blues guitar scale is simply a minor pentatonic scale with one extra note. The extra note is referred to as the blue note because of the unique sad quality it brings to the scale.

An E minor pentatonic scale would be made up of the notes:

E G A B D

To get the blues guitar scale you add a B-flat (Bb) into the scale:

E G A Bb B D

The blues scale was designed to play over all dominant seventh chords. A typical 12-bar blues in the key of E would use a I7 - IV7 - V7 chord progression. However it is not required to use seventh chords. You might also use regular major and minor chords and still the blues scale would sound great over them.

In modern times the blues scale can be found in many forms of music. Rock, metal, and country often rely heavily on it's use for riffs and lead guitar. It can also be found in Jazz although usually mixed in as a hybrid scale with some other modal based diatonic scale.

The blues guitar scale is arguable the grandfather of all guitar scales. it's unique sound and playability make it a great choice for many styles of music. I always encourage my students and any one interested in becoming a versatile guitar player to master this scale because it is easy to use in almost any application.

John Hughes has been playing guitar for longer than he can remember. Aside from teaching guitar for the last three years he enjoys writing articles about the importance of guitar scales and other guitar related topics. If you are serious about mastering the building blocks for playing lead guitar you owe it to yourself to check out Guitar-Scale-Mastery.info

There comes a time in almost every aspiring guitarists young life where simply learning your favorite rock 'n' roll songs isn't enough. You want to learn to play lead guitar so that you can sound just like all your favorite guitar heroes. Playing lead guitar will take a lot of dedication and practice on your part. This article will help you discover the three most important factors needed to learn to play lead guitar.

To learn to play lead guitar you will first need to learn some scales. There are tons of scales you can learn but for starters I suggest learning the pentatonic scale. It is the easiest and most widely used scale in any form of music. You should practice scales everyday for at lest 10 - 20 minutes until you can play then with out even thinking about them. Whenever you master one scale move on to the next.

Another important step if you want to learn to play lead guitar is to get a tablature book of your favorite guitar solos or try to pick hem out by ear. Learning how to play other guitarists solos will greatly improve your own playing. Take notice of what scales they are using and how they play them. You might also want to consider getting a book full of different lead guitar licks. The more licks and scales you can master the more unique and fluid your own solos will be.

The last thing you should practice is improvising. Take 10 - 20 minutes of your practice time to jam along with your favorite songs. If you have a way of recording your self you might even make up your own rhythm and try to solo over it. When improvising try to think of the notes in your head and then play then on the guitar. Improvisation is one of the hardest things to master, but it is by far the most spontaneous and fun thing you can do with any guitar.

If you spend 30 - 45 minutes a day doing the three things listed above you will learn to play lead guitar very quickly. Spend some time learning scales, other peoples solos, and finally try to put it all together in your own improvisational solos. It can be difficult to learn to play lead guitar, but whenever you get discouraged just remember that you are doing this because it is fun.

Learn the hidden secrets to playing killer lead guitar by visiting Guitar-Scale-Mastery.info.

Changing electric guitar strings is not a hard thing to do, but deciding which kinds of strings to buy can be more confusing than you might think. Over the years I have been asked by several students "what are the best electric guitar strings?" That can be a difficult question to answer because obviously different players have different preferences. Some just stick with what they have been playing with from the beginning and some might experiment until they find a string they like. Below I will tell you what I believe to be the best electric guitar strings and the reasons why I feel that way.

The best electric guitar strings in my opinion are GHS boomers. There is three major reasons that I have settled on them as my favorite. First of all they seem to stay in tune a lot longer than other strings I have tried. This is very important to me because many of my guitars have floating bridges. Many of the strings I have used in the past have gone out of tune on me when the whammy bar was being used heavily. No matter whether I drop tune, bend, stretch or dive the strings they rarely ever lose their pitch.

The second important factor that led me to name GHS the best electric guitar strings is their durability. Before I started using boomers I had primarily been using either Ernie Ball super slinky's and DR's. The problem was that I was breaking them all the time. Even the heavier strings would break occasionally. Maybe I was playing a little rough, but nevertheless I needed a string that could handle the abuse. The first time I used GHS I couldn't believe that I hadn't broken a string yet.

I usually change strings on a weekly or biweekly schedule depending on how much I have been playing. So I decided to leave them on for a full month to see if they would break. When they didn't break I knew they were going to be my new secret weapon.

The last thing I love about GHS boomers is they don't loose their bright new sound. If you have ever just changed one string and left the other old ones on you almost always notice how the new string just seems to sound a lot brighter then the others. All new strings have this quality no matter what brand, but some just keep their tone and sustain longer that others. The boomers definitely live up to this challenge. There's nothing like the sound of a new set of strings that you put on two weeks ago. : - )

So there you have it. The best electric guitar strings in my opinion and why I think they're so great. I encourage you to try them for yourself, but don't just settle on them because I like them. Experiment with other brands so then you'll know why they really are the best electric guitar strings.

Learn more great guitar playing tips by visiting Jam-o-rama.info

Electric guitar history begins in the 1920's and 1930's when two Los Angeles musicians George Beauchamp and John Dopyera began trying to find ways of creating louder guitars. They first created a resonator guitar using aluminum disks with a metal body that was three times louder than an acoustic guitar. The resonator guitar evolved into what me commonly refer to now as the dobro.

It wasn't until 1930 that Beauchamp and another man Paul Barth developed the first working pickup. They then contacted Harry Wilson who carved the neck and body of what would be the first electric guitar. They nick-named it the frying pan due to it's round body.

The first man to build and market an electric "Spanish" style guitar was Lloyd Loar. Loar created Vivi-Tone, a company dedicated to the production of spanish style electric guitars. However the design was poor and within a year Vivi-Tone failed.

In 1935 Gibson began work on developing a new guitar pickup. This pickup would become incorporated onto the standard f-hole arch-top guitar known as the ES-150. The Gibson ES-150 is considered the first modern electric guitar in history.

A milestone in electric guitar history, the ES-150 became an instant success. However their were still some undesirable characteristics. Because of the hollow body design there were often problems with feedback and distortion.

The answer to this problem was the solid body electric guitar. The solid body electric guitar can be accredited to two men. Les Paul and Leo Fender. Les Paul's idea was to take a 4x4 piece of pine and attach two magnetic pickups. He then glued two cutaway halves of the original hollow body design to the 4x4.

Leo Fender's model was slightly different. His solid body was made of oak and instead of gluing two halves of a hollow body to a solid middle Leo Fender had carved the entire body solid. In 1949 Fender released the first successful solid-body electric guitar called the "Esquire."

It wasn't until 1952 that Gibson decided to release Les Paul's version of the solid body electric guitar. Although Fender had been on the market for a short while Gibson's Les Paul quickly become the industry standard and to this day is considered the most sought after guitar in electric guitar history.

By the 1960's electric guitar history had hit its maturity. Gibson introduced the humbucking pickup which helped to reduce unwanted noise from the magnetic coils in pickups. Fender and Gibson came out with more futuristic designs like the SG and Stratocaster.

Since the 1960's There have been numerous electric guitar manufacturers to come on to the scene. Manufacturers like Ibanez, Jackson, Paul Reed Smith, Dean and B.C.Rich are just a few of the modern companies who are still continuing to make electric guitar history.

learn more great guitar playing tips by visiting Jam-o-rama.info

Learning how to change electric guitar strings is an inevitable task all aspiring guitarists will face sooner or later. It really is quite simple, but be aware there are a few things you should take into consideration before you just slap on any old guitar string. The aim of this article is to help you recognize which strings are best for your guitar and how to change electric guitar strings the proper way.

The most important thing you should do before you change strings is make sure you buy the right gauge string for your instrument. It is crucial to stick with the same gauge you are currently using because your guitar was set up to play with that gauge string. A heavier gauge would make your neck bow because of the increased tension it would take to tune the strings. This would also make the strings further away from the fret board and thus be much harder to play. The opposite is true for lighter gauge strings. The neck will bow backwards and the strings will be closer to the fret board. If the strings are to close they will lay on the fret board and mute themselves out. If you are unsure what gauge strings you have on your guitar right now just take it with you when you go to buy them and ask one of the assistants at the store what they think you have.

Now let's learn how to change electric guitar strings. It is good practice to change one string at a time. That way, you will avoid warping the guitar neck, and you will be able to quickly tune the new string to the other strings. Remove the string buy de-tuning it until it becomes very loose. You may then cut the string and unwind it.

The next step is to tie the string to the tuning peg. This is an important part of learning how to change electric guitar strings because a tightly wound string will not slip out of tune as easily.

Here is a simple five step process to make sure your strings will be tightly wound around each tuning peg.

1. Slip the string through the tuning peg at a right angle.

2. Bend the excess string upwards away from the body of the guitar.

3. Loop the excess string under itself.

4. Pull tightly and fold string over.

5. Wind string in a counter clockwise fashion until string is tight. Cut of any excess string.

To see pictures of how to tie your guitar strings visit learn-electric-guitar.com

Now you should have a complete guide to choosing the right gauge string and a working knowledge of how to change electric guitar strings. Remember to change them one at a time and make sure they are tightly wound. I hope you found this information on how to change electric guitar strings useful and I wish you the best of luck.

To learn more great guitar playing tips visit Jam-o-rama.info

Learning how to change the strings on your electric guitar is an inevitable part of every young guitarists life. In the beginning most of us never really realize the importance of changing electric guitar strings. We just play until one breaks and then replace it. The intent of this article is to discuss when and why you should be changing electric guitar strings.

Most guitar players prefer changing electric guitar strings before they have a chance to break. Doing so eliminates the embarrassment of what could happen if a string broke during a performance. It also ensures that their strings always give them a clean crisp tone and don't fall out of tune as easily.

So how do you know when is the right time for changing electric guitar strings?

The best advice I can give you is to change your strings routinely. For example, changing them once a month, or before every gig. Experiment with what works best for you. When I was playing guitar four hours a day I was changing strings every week.

Their are many factors to consider when deciding on a schedule for your own string changing:

• How much do you play? The more you play the faster the strings will wear out.
• What kind of strings do you use? Experiment with different brands until you find one you like.
• What size strings do you like to play? Light gauge strings are not as durable and are easier to break.

Strings on a guitar are like tires on a car. When you notice that a tire is worn and has very little tread left you replace it. Unless of course you want to risk having a blow out on the freeway at 70 mph and lose control. The same holds true when changing electric guitar strings. If you know the strings are old and worn replace them before you have a guitar blow out and butcher the love song you wrote for that cute girl you like so much. :o)

Truth be told; newer strings sound and play better. I hope that know you will not just wait for a string to break before replacing it.

learn more great guitar tips by visiting Jam-o-rama.info

There are many things involved in learning how to play an electric guitar, but knowing what to practice early on can have a big impact on how well you will be able to learn new things and progress as a player later on. The intent of this article is to highlight the three most important factors needed too successfully learn how to play an electric guitar.

How to Play an Electric Guitar Tip #1

Don't worry about playing the guitar just yet. Sit down with your instrument and study the fret-board. Get a diagram of the guitar at your local music store or online that has the names of each note on the guitar. Memorize the notes on the guitar. Spend 10 minutes every day just saying the notes as you play them. I know your excited to learn how to play an electric guitar, but believe if you can memorize all the notes on your guitar you have an advantage over 90% of all the guitar players out there.

How to Play an Electric Guitar Tip #2

Believe it or not the second step to learning electric guitar doesn't involve much playing either. What you need to do is develop your ear. Ear training is an essential part for anyone who wants to learn how to play an electric guitar. The best way to begin you rear training is to simple play a note and then sing it. As you get better try making it more challenging by trying to sing the note before you play it and seeing if you were on or not. To get good results you should put aside ten minutes a day for ear training.

How to Play an Electric Guitar Tip #3

Lastly, you can play exercises that develop your muscle memory. You can start by playing simple chromatic exercises up and down the neck, but you should also incorporate scales into your practicing. Muscle memory is very important for those who aspire to be great lead guitar players. Once again it id recommended that you spend 10 minutes a day practicing your muscle memory techniques.

It isn't difficult to learn how to play an electric guitar. In just 30 minutes a day you can quickly and easily develop the skills that will help you excel as a player. the techniques mentioned above may not be the most exciting, but believe me they will lay the foundation for accelerated learning later on. In a short time you will begin to see progress and that is a powerful motivator.

You can learn how to play an electric guitar using the same hidden secrets found here and many more by visiting Jam-o-rama.info

A student recently asked me if I thought it was better to learn electric guitar online. Feeling hurt that he would want to question my teaching I quickly shot down the idea and told him "most of that stuff is old washed out techniques". Honestly I didn't really know what it was like to learn electric guitar online. A few months later a fellow teacher had a student ask him the same question. Both of us decided to collaborate and do some research to see what we could find out. This article will tell you the shocking truth to what we found.

We both set out hoping to put the notion that our students could learn electric guitar online to bed. We began our research by each purchasing two of the internet's learn guitar programs. We were shocked at how little money we had to spend. The four programs combined were less than $200. I charge my students $25 an hour and I see most of them once a week. So it was definitely cheaper but we were both confident the material in each program couldn't be that great.

I began reading through my learn electric guitar online course books and my colleague did the same. We meet up the next week to compare notes. Each guitar program seemed to have a secret learning technique or method that the author claimed would transform any player in a matter of weeks. The only logical step at this point was to test these methods out.

We began trying them on our students. Every week for a month we meet to discuss our student's progress. After a month my students hadn't made any drastic improvements although a few did comment that they were enjoying the lessons a little more. Expecting my colleague to have a similar report I was floored when he played me a recording of one of his students lessons. The student whom he test drove this course on made remarkable improvements in the first week and is now learning things in a weeks time that is taking the others months to perfect. Since then we both have applied this technique and noticed an improvement in our playing.

So in conclusion our research showed us that it is not only possible to learn electric guitar online, but if you buy the right program you may actually improve your playing faster. Students still ask from time to time if it would be better to learn electric guitar online, and when they do I quickly change the subject knowing that if they discovered my secrets I might have to seek a new profession.

My recent research of learn electric guitar online courses has led him to radically alter my teaching techniques to maximize my students playing potential. Although I will never divulge the origin of these secret learning methods to my own students you can get in on the action for a fraction of the cost of traditional lessons by visiting Jam-o-rama.info

It is important in the development of any guitar player to build independent finger strength in the fret hand. This is especially true for the acoustic guitar since it is often times harder to play than the electric due to the thickness of the strings. To help speed things up here is an acoustic guitar lesson that will build finger strength and help synchronize your right and left hands.

Starting on the sixth string place your index finger on the first fret. Pick this note and then place your second finger on the second fret sounding it. Do the same with the third and fourth fingers on the third and fourth frets respectively. Then move up to the fifth string and repeat the pattern. Do this on every string and then back down in the same fashion. Once you have played the pattern on every string move your entire hand up to second position, that is where the index finger starts on the second fret. Now play the same exercise. Continue moving your hand up the neck until you can't play any longer. Don't hurt yourself though. If you feel your hand cramping up stop and give it a rest.

You should practice this acoustic guitar lesson everyday as a warm up for about ten minutes or so. Most people find that after about a month they can play the exercise up and down the neck at a moderate tempo without stopping. That brings us to the next important aspect of this acoustic guitar lesson. Tempo.

When you first start using this acoustic guitar lesson in your practice play it slowly and make sure you are playing each note cleanly. It is always important to develop accuracy before speed. That goes for any acoustic guitar lesson. If you have a metronome I strongly suggest you use it. If not just tap your foot for now, but go BUY A METRONOME ASAP!

This might just be the most boring acoustic guitar lesson you will ever have to play, but trust me it's rewards are plentiful. When you get tired of it be creative and start mixing things up. Use different finger patterns and ultimately start using scales to warm up.

To find out more visit Jamoramaacoustic.info.

Playing chords on your electric guitar is quite different from an acoustic, especially when using distortion. To get the best sound out of your distorted guitar it is best to substitute standard open electric guitar chords with bar chords, power chords and simple triads. The aim of this article is to discuss the different electric guitar chords that sound really cool with distortion.

The first electric guitar chords you should use with distortion are bar chords. A bar chord gets it name due to the fact that the first finger will lay across the fret board covering all of the strings. To make a simple bar chord first look at how you would play an open E major chord. Now move that same fingering for an E major chord up the neck one fret and use your index finger to bar all the strings on the first fret. The advantage of using bar chords is that you can easily move this same pattern up and down the neck. Bar chords sound great on an electric guitar because you can easily keep any unwanted strings from ringing and causing feedback.

Some more electric guitar chords you may find useful are power chords. Power chords are made up of just two notes. Usually the a root note and a fifth. If you are a fan of Metallica then you will love power chords. Almost all of their earlier songs are played using these electric guitar chords. An example of a power chord would be to play the 6th string 5th fret and the 5th string 7th fret together at the same time. These two notes make up an A5 power chord. This same pattern can be moved anywhere on the neck. Try it you'll see what I mean.

Lastly, you can play triads, or three note electric guitar chords. Triads can be made up of the root, third and fifth, however many guitar players like to omit the fifth and use the seventh chord tone because it generally gives a more unique sound. A good example of a band who utilizes a lot of triads in their electric guitar chords is Opeth.

All three of the electric guitar chords above sound great with heavy or light amounts of distortion. Bar chords help stifle unwanted feed back and noise while power chords and triads are simple chords shapes that have a clean crisp presence. The electric guitar can be a completely different monster than the acoustic so take advantage of the electric guitar chords mentioned above to make up your own brutal riffs.

You can learn more bone crushing electric guitar chords and other rockin' techniques by visiting Jam-o-rama.info

Students always ask me what I think is the most important part of learning to play the guitar. Usually when I tell them that it really has nothing to do with the guitar they don't believe me and I'm sure many of you reading this right now probably are thinking the same thing. That is why I have decided to post this free electric guitar lesson. I would normally charge one of my students $30 an hour to go over the material in this free electric guitar lesson so consider yourself lucky.

What I'm about to reveal to you is very simple. The most important part of learning to play guitar is your ear. Without it there would be no music and therefore no guitar. Use the techniques in this free electric guitar lesson to develop your ear and you will see a dramatic change in your ability to learn and play new things. There are three things you can do to help develop your ear.

Free Electric Guitar Lesson Part 1

Start by singing the notes of any scale, arpeggio or lick you are practicing. When you feel comfortable with a scale or lick try to sing it alone and then play the riff to see if you got it right. As begin to memorize the sounds of certain and riffs listen to the radio or your favorite recordings and see if you can recognize some of the licks and scales they are using.

Free Electric Guitar Lesson Part 2

Since scales aren't always played one note after another it is important to develop your relative pitch to help you identify notes that you are listening to. Relative pitch is the interval distance between two notes. For example, if I play the open sixth string which is an E on my guitar and then play a B on the seventh fret the distance between these two notes is a perfect fifth. Sing the two notes and memorize how they sound when played after one another. You can do this with any two notes.

Free Electric Guitar Lesson Part 3

As you become more and more familiar with the sounds of your instrument test your self by simply taking 10 or 20 minutes of each practice session and dedicating it to playing by ear. Turn on the radio or a favorite C.D. and see how much you can pick out and play along to just hearing it for the first time. You might be surprised how easy it becomes when your ear is in tune.

The methods discussed in this free electric guitar lesson are not a secret, but rather common sense techniques that most people simply just overlook. Many guitarists and even other musicians for that matter have been told this, but just don't put aside the time to practice it. Make the commitment. 10 to 20 minutes a day of solid ear training and I promise you will be ten times more confident with your instrument and your ability to learn new things than you are right now. I realize these exercises aren't always fun but they are an essential part of your development as a guitarist and a musician.

You can learn more hidden secrets to playing electric guitar by visiting Jam-o-rama.info

I have been teaching guitar for about three years now and it seems in the last couple of months I have been asked several times by potential students what is the advantage of taking lessons with me over taking them online. Online electric guitar lessons were not an option when I was budding guitarist so I couldn't really answer their questions. I decided to look into it thinking I would be able to punch holes in these lesson plans but what I found was a little scary, at least from a guitar instructors point of view. Below I will share with you what I found to be true about online electric guitar lessons.

The first thing I noticed about online electric guitar lessons is that it was rather nice to be able to sit at home and practice. I did not have to pack up my guitar and take it to the teachers house or studio and I could spend the time it takes to get there playing instead of driving.

Another advantage of being at home is you feel more comfortable. Their is no pressure from your instructor to play it right. After all we do expect you to practice what we tell teach you. With online electric guitar lessons I could see how it would make it easier for younger students to develop more confidence in their playing.

The online electric guitar lessons I reviewed surprised me. Although most of the topics were not new to me I did find a lot of innovative methods for teaching the material to students. In fact I have started using some of the techniques I found on my own students and I am some what ashamed to say that they are advancing faster using the methods from the online electric guitar lessons then my own.

Lastly, the real shocker to me was the amount of money a student would have to pay for one of these online electric guitar lessons. I currently charge my students $25 an hour and most of them visit me once a week. During my research I purchased 4 different online electric guitar lesson packages for under $200 dollars and each one was filled with enough information to keep the average student busy for 6 months to a year. I'm sure you can do the math on this one.

Online electric guitar lessons are definitely catching on and they have some major advantages. No lugging your equipment around, no pressure and solid learning material for a fraction of the cost are just the beginning of what I found. So for the students who asked me about online electric guitar lessons; well I hope they never read this because I'm sure as hell not going to tell the about it. At least not until I develop my own online program. He! He! A man's got to eat right?

Here is one of the best online electric guitar lessons you can get your hands on right now.

A friend recently asked me if I thought it was a worth while investment to take lessons online. When I was a boy I had taken traditional lessons from the local music store by my house. The whole learn to play electric guitar online thing was not very big in the early nineties so to answer his question I would have to do some research. The aim of this article is to both answer his question and give my opinion of whether it is better to take private lessons or learn to play electric guitar online.

To give an honest opinion of available learn to play electric guitar online courses I had to suck it up and buy a few of them. I thought this would be an expensive experiment, but I was shocked to find that for under $200 I was able to buy four different programs. While taking private lessons I used to pay $40 dollars a week. So far things were looking good, but I had my doubts as to whether the information contained in these online guitar courses was worth the cost.

I began using each of the four courses on a different student of mine to see what kind of progress they would make. The results where different for each, but ultimately each learn how to play electric guitar online program had something worth while to contribute to my students.

Their was one program however, that blew me away. This guy had developed a muscle memory technique that allowed students to build the strength and dexterity in there fingers much faster than the traditional methods I was taught and am teaching now. The student whom I test drove this course on made remarkable improvements in the first week and is now learning things in a weeks time that is taking the others months to perfect. Some people might say he just has more talent, but I too have applied the muscle memory techniques and have noticed an improvement in my own playing. Talent or not, this technique is worth its weight in gold.

I now show this technique to all my students and guard the secret that I really got the idea from the internet with my life. If all my students thought they could learn to play electric guitar online I would be out of a job.

For the friend who asked me if it was possible to learn to play electric guitar online I had to be honest. For the price you can't beat it. You don't have to lug your instrument back and forth to practice and you can go at your own pace.

For those who have solemnly pledged their souls to the electric guitar and wish to unlock the secrets of the great guitar gods visit http://unlocktheguitar.com

Whether you love playing scales or despise them the truth is that every aspiring lead guitar player needs to know them. It is not enough to just make a guitar scale lesson out of playing them straight out of a book. To truly understand scales and get an idea of how they can work in your lead playing you need to dissect the components and think outside the box. This article is no ordinary guitar scale lesson. Below are three easy things you can do to expand your knowledge of any scale.

Guitar Scale Lesson Part 1

Sing the scale- Singing a scale as you play it will do two things for you. One you are playing it so you are working on your muscle memory, and two by singing it you are helping develop your ear to recognize the sound of that particular scale. Just think how easy it will be to improvise when you can hear it in your head and instantly now that you can play the scale that is going to give you the same sound. truly a remarkable feet for any guitar player.

Guitar Scale Lesson Part 2

Use sequence patterns- A sequence pattern is a way of grouping notes in a scale together so that they have a distinct sequential sound when played. A popular sequence pattern is to play the notes of a scale in groups of four. For example starting on the root note play the first four notes in the scale. Then do the same thing but this time start on the second note of the scale. Repeat the sequence up the scale each time starting it on the next scale tone. You can do the same thing back down the scale. Now that you know what a sequence pattern is make up different guitar scale lessons use your own creative sequence patterns.

Guitar Scale Lesson Part 3

Play it on one string- Instead of just playing scales in the standard box positions most books and teachers show you try playing the scale up and down each and every string. This will not only speed up your understanding of the way the scale works but it will help you open up other ways of linking it to your favorite licks up and down the neck.

Use the tips in this guitar scale lesson and watch your lead playing take a whole new direction. You'll be able to quickly identify the scale you want to play, have a whole new arsenal of sequential licks at your finger tips and a strong foundation for how to connect them all up and down the neck. Don't let playing guitar scales be just another boring meaningless part of your practice time.

Discover how you can improvise solos with the fluidity, skill and musicality of the greats by visiting GuitarScaleMastery.com

For many guitarists, the most rewarding part of learning the instrument is the ability to play other people's songs. For most it's even more important to be able to play the best acoustic guitar songs there are. However, with so many great songs out there it is though to decide which ones really are the best of the best. This article aims to break down the criteria that often make up the best acoustic guitar songs.

Often times it seems that the best acoustic guitar songs have just two primary elements. An acoustic guitar and a singer. From the earliest folk songs to today's biggest rock ballads, to convey a song with just a voice and an acoustic guitar has always been a hallmark for some of the very best in song-writing. Songs of this nature often become immortalized as the best acoustic guitar songs because of there simplicity to learn and play. It is always a party favorite to have a sing-along when there is an acoustic guitar and someone capable of playing it.

This brings us to our next point. Most people would agree that to qualify as one of the best acoustic guitar songs there should be a certain amount of sing-ability to the song. As musicians we often times may find the best acoustic guitar songs to be the ones with less vocal content and more guitar work. I know I feel this way, but the truth is that there are more people out there that do not play guitar than those who do and most of them just want a catchy tune to sing along with. So when searching for the best acoustic guitar songs to learn and play consider what other's want to hear.

It is ultimately up to you which songs you want to play, but if you want to be the hit at parties and impress that special someone with their favorite song then listen to what they think are the best acoustic guitar songs. Focus on the solo acoustic guitar and singer songs and any that have that sing along quality that people love.

Learn all the best acoustic guitar songs here.

It seems that all to often beginning guitarists give up playing blaming lack of time to practice. If you want to learn how to play acoustic guitar but have limited time to practice then let me ask you this. Can you spare 30 minutes a day? If you can spend the time it takes to watch your favorite sitcom on T.V. then you can learn how to play acoustic guitar using these simple tricks. You can even watch T.V. while you do it.

One of the most important things you need to do if you want to learn how to play acoustic guitar doesn't involving playing at all. It might sound crazy but it's true. You need to learn the anatomy of the guitar. Learn the names of all the parts on your acoustic guitar, but most importantly learn the names of the notes and where they are on the guitar. You can find a diagram online or buy one at your local music store that will show you which notes are where on the fret-board. Study this during commercials of your favorite show. Doing this now will make it much easier to find chords and scales latter.

Another thing you can do while watching T.V. is practice chords and hand positions silently. Focus on just fretting the notes and building muscle memory. You may do the same with scales and arpeggios. Once you feel confident that you can finger a chord or play a scale without looking, try to play it in another position on the neck. This is when your knowledge of the notes on the fret-board will help you big time. You may need to turn the T.V. off for this one.

I know I said you could practice while watching T.V., but if you can easily play chords and scales then you should be enjoying learning how to play acoustic guitar enough to devote 30 minutes a day to practice. And this is where practice gets fun. Start playing along with your favorite tunes. Developing the ability to play what your hear will drastically improve your playing and make it a lot easier to play with other people. You may also use guitar tabs to help you learn how to play acoustic guitar songs.

It doesn't have to be difficult to learn how to play acoustic guitar. In just 30 minutes a day you can quickly and easily develop the skills that will help you excel as a player. In the beginning do the simple things while watching your favorite shows or listening to music. It won't even seem like practice, but believe me it will lay the foundation for accelerated learning later on. In a short time you will begin to see progress and that is a powerful motivator. The techniques here won't give you more time to practice, but they will help you learn how to play acoustic guitar in a timely manner.

You can learn more of the hidden secrets that will unlock your acoustic guitar playing abilities by visiting http://jamoramaacoustic.info

Tuning your acoustic guitar is a painless process since the invention of digital tuners. However some guitar instructors still prefer to teach their students how to tune an acoustic guitar using traditional methods, or rather by ear. It is important to be able to tune a guitar without the use of a tuner. For example, what if you were at a friends house and were asked to jam along on an old acoustic guitar that looked like it hadn't been played, let alone tuned, in a year or more and to make matters worse nobody has a tuner. The following method will show you how to tune an acoustic guitar quickly and easily so you can be confident that you are in tune.

Unlike digital tuners that usually only allow you to tune your guitar in standard tuning, learning how to tune an acoustic guitar by ear will let you effortlessly match lower tunings which sometimes are desired for a fuller, deeper acoustic sound. To begin you will need to first tune the sixth string to a note played by another guitar, a key on the piano, or the fourth string on a bass guitar. Once the first note is established the rest is a piece of cake.

As you may have guessed your second step is to tune the fifth and adjacent string. You can do so by playing the fifth fret on the sixth string and tuning the fifth string until both pitches sound the same. Do the same for the fourth, third, and first strings.

But wait a minute! You forgot... The second string I know. The reason I omitted it above is because in order to tune the second string you will need to play the forth fret on the third string and tune to that pitch.

Let's review how to tune an acoustic guitar. Get your starting pitch from another player, instrument, or favorite recording. Tune all other adjacent strings by matching the pitch at the fifth fret on the previously "in tune" string, except for the second string. Remember to use the fourth fret on the third string to get your second string pitch. That's it! Now you know how to tune an acoustic guitar the easy way. Let's jam!

You can learn the secrets of the acoustic guitar greats by visiting http://jamoramaacoustic.info

Playing the guitar has become a very popular hobby all over the world. Many people young and old have the desire to learn guitar but don't always have the financial means to take lessons or the discipline and direction to begin teaching themselves. A cheap an effective alternative that many forget about is to learn guitar online. In fact there are more resources for you to learn guitar online than any other place in the world. There are dozens off websites that can help you learn guitar online no matter what style you are interested in. Some do charge a small one time fee usually $50 or less, but compared to the $15 to $40 an hour some guitar instructors charge that it pennies on the dollar.

Buying A Learn Guitar Online Program:

The internet has thousands of choices for those who wish to learn guitar online. Do a search at google or yahoo for "learn guitar online" or "guitar lessons". Sift through all the search results and pick some of the ones that seem to fit into your desired playing style and level of experience. Read through each sites sales page carefully. A good learn guitar online program will have three things.

1. Diverse learning tools - To effectively learn guitar online you will want to find a program that offers a variety of learning tools. Look for things like audio clips, jam tracks, pictures, video clips and most of all an instructional book. The more the better.

2. Testimonials - If it is a successful and well laid out program the author will provide testimonials on the sales page to show that others have been successful at learning guitar online using his/her method. Don't stop there though. Join some of the popular learn guitar online forums and see what is being said about the program. Not everyone will agree on some things but an overall positive attitude towards the program is a good sign.

3. Who is the author - Lastly and most importantly look for an author bio page. You want to make sure the person who put together this learn guitar online program is credible and knows what he/she is talking about.

There are many learn guitar online instruction kits that have amazing results and more and more programs are coming out all the time claiming to have the best methods to learn guitar online fast. Just remember before you get too excited about a learn guitar online program to make sure it fulfills the three requirements listed above.

Visit one of the hottest learn guitar online programs.

The electric guitar is probably the most iconic instrument of the last 50 years. So it's no surprise so many people want to know how to learn electric guitar. Anyone can learn how to play the instrument but those who want to truly excel should have a strategy. The intent of this article is to highlight the three most important factors needed too successfully know how to learn electric guitar.

If you want to know how to learn electric guitar your best bet is to get a private instructor. However a good one will cost you anywhere from $30 to $40 an hour. That can be rather expensive if you go the recommended once a week. Another alternative is to buy an instructional package of some sort. The internet is a good place to start. There are several really good programs that can show you how to learn electric guitar that are priced under $100. Whatever your budget entails it is imperative you seek some instruction if you wish learn electric guitar.

While your searching for the right instructor or e-course on how to learn electric guitar there are some simple things you can start doing that will dramatically increase your chances of success. The first thing you can do is go to your local music store or search online for a diagram that has all the notes listed on the guitar neck. With your guitar in hand just put your fingers on the notes and say what they are. If you can memorize all the notes on the guitar you are already light years ahead of many who have been playing for several years.

Another thing you can do to prep yourself for learning guitar is to do some simple ear training. You can even do this while your learning the names of the notes. The best way is to play a note on your guitar and then sing it. Do this often until you can match it almost instantly. Then make things a little more challenging by trying to sing the note before you play it. It's tough, but half of what you'll play as a guitarist will be by ear so this is an important ability to possess.

The points illustrated above are just a few things you can start with that will prepare you for how to learn electric guitar. Can you learn guitar without doing these things? Yes, but if your goal is to master your instrument why not start off with the best possible foundation. Learning the notes and developing your ear are very important. Once mastered you will be able to learn things on the electric guitar at ten times the speed it would take someone without these skills to master.

You can learn more of the hidden secrets that will unlock your guitar playing abilities by visiting http://unlocktheguitar.com