Guitar Class

I found a great guitar-learning site the other day at Jamorama. This one is good, and it gets good reviews too. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many testimonials on one site, so the people getting the course must be happy.

You get a ton of stuff: 84 step-by-step guitar lessons, three high quality books, 54 video lessons, 400 sound files, hundreds of lines of guitar tabulature, and several software games to speed your guitar learning.

And then there’s the bonuses, four of them with an extra one if you get the package through the Internet. Graham Charleston, a satisfied customer, reckoned, “Jamorama was worth buying just for the bonus package alone!” Jason Petries from the UK says, “...your video lessons and jam tracks are excellent! This is just what I have been searching for, for a long time now - great stuff guys.” And they’re not alone.

Ben Edwards who runs the site seems to know his stuff. He played in a band that toured internationally as the lead guitarist. He’s been there and done it, and that’s the kind of teacher you want to have.

I like their 60-day money back guarantee. That puts the risk firmly on Jamorama, though I doubt if you’d need it. All in all a good site with a good solid product. The only possible downside is information overload – you get a LOT from them! But that’s not really a bad thing.

I’d advise trying their free 6-day ecourse. You’ll get a guitar lesson or tip every day for six days, and it won’t cost a thing, or oblige you to do anything. Great value, and typical of a real quality site. Take a look for yourself, here.

Playing Guitar

Playing Guitar

There’s a certain kind of magic about playing guitar. This is especially so for young people who see their musical idols wielding screaming instruments during power-packed stage performances. But real life is different. Playing guitar is not easy and fingers get sore. But a little determination, and these few tips should help.

1. When tuning each guitar string, you should always start low and tune up to pitch. If you start with the string tuned higher than the desired note and tune down, the string is much more likely to go flat and you will find yourself playing guitar in a very discordant world.

2. Tuning for playing guitar usually requires a keyboard or pitch pipe as a reference. But if you have neither, then use your land line telephone dial tone, which is an F. Place your index finger of your left hand on the first fret of the first (thinnest) string, and tune it to the telephone dial tone. Now you can get on with playing guitar as soon as you tune the other five strings to that string.

3. When changing strings, it’s usually best if you can change them all. Change the strings one at a time, starting with the thickest. This keeps tension on the guitar and will make it easier to get it back in tune for playing guitar, as the instrument doesn’t have to re-stabilize itself.

4. Bridge pins can get stuck and be difficult to remove when changing strings. To help prevent damage to the bridge, keep a short piece of strong, smooth twine handy. Wrap it around the visible part of the pin and pull gently out of the guitar.

5. You may find that your plectrum, or pick, is too smooth, and prone to slipping from your fingers as you are playing guitar. Super glue a small piece of shaped fine grade sandpaper to both sides of the upper part of the pick, where you grip it, to create a solid textured grip. A good alternative is to use skateboard grip tape instead.

One thing you will experience in early playing guitar is sore fingers. It takes time to build up calluses, and there really is no shortcut. But with time you will develop hard tips to your fingers, and those hours of left-hand finger agony will be but a distant memory as everyone admires the fine music you play.

Playing guitar.

Playing Guitar

Welcome to this blog on playing guitar. When you master the art of playing guitar, you will find yourself more popular at parties. People will give you that little extra respect, and you will feel good inside, knowing that the guitar class was worth it, and now through playing guitar, you have added pleasure to someone's life.