June 21, 2008

Acoustic guitar chords: easy step by step lesson

by Dom Artosa

Several notes played simultaneously is called an acoustic guitar chord. Even with many different acoustic guitar chords, if you learn just a few basic acoustic guitar chords, you will be able to play hundreds of songs, if not more. Major chords give out a cheerful sound while minor chords emit a sound that seems darker or sadder.

Acoustic guitar chords are expressed in print as chord diagrams. Chord diagrams for acoustic guitars look like guitar tabs for electric guitars but while guitar tabs are printed side-to-side (horizontally), acoustic guitar chord diagrams are vertical (top to bottom). The chord diagram appears as a series of crossed lines with vertical lines to mark each string, horizontal lines to mark each fret and dots to mark the spot where the string should be held down.

Numbers will be at the top or bottom of the acoustic guitar chord diagram. This diagram represents the finger that holds down each strong - 1 means the index finger, 2 means the middle finger, 3 the ring finger, and 4 the pinky. If you see a 0, that means to leave the string open when you play. On the other hand, an X means an string open that is not played. And occasionally you'll see T used. This means to use your thumb to play, but this does not occur too often.

The first acoustic guitar chord were going to tackle is the G-major chord. Your middle finger goes on the sixth string at the third fret, your index finger goes on the fifth string at the second fret and your ring finger goes on the first string on the third fret. Play each individual note, including the open strings one by one. Be careful you can plainly hear each note and make sure you dont hear any strange buzzing or rattling noises from the strings. If the sound isn't right, you can try pushing harder on the string so that it presses closer to the fingerboard. You can also bring your finger closer to the fret. Your fingers should not be touching one another, or any of the other strings. You can strum all of the notes in unison once the sound is good. You will then be playing a G-major acoustic guitar chord.

The chord E-minor is considered to have easier fingering than the others. Use your index finger to hold down the fifth string on the second fret and your middle finger to hold down the fourth string on the second fret. Both fingers need to have plenty of room on the fret and can not touch each other. Try the notes out and alter your fingering a bit until it sounds right to you. Finally, strum the E-minor chord. You will note right away the dark sound associated with this acoustic guitar chord. With a little practice, you will have this chord down in no time.

Acoustic guitar chords that comprise the basic ones to practice include C-major, D-major, A-minor, and A-major. Practice moving your fingers from one chord to another until it feels comfortable and familiar.

When first learnIng the acoustic guitar chords you will need to start off slow, and eventually, your fingers will get in place by themselves. With some practice, your fingers will be moving quickly across these acoustic guitar chords.

About the Author:

Filed under Music by Shane Fenham

Permalink Print

June 20, 2008

Which beginner acoustic guitar you should buy

by Patrick Bossini

The style of music you want to play should be kept in mind when shopping for a beginner acoustic guitar. A nylon-stringed guitar is best for those wishing to play Latin, classical, and certain types of folk or pop music. A steel-stringed guitar works better for rock, country, and other types of pop or folk music. For beginning guitar players, it's recommended to play the different types before making a final decision as to what sound you prefer.

Most teachers will recommend purchasing nylon guitar strings for the person just learning to play as they are a little easier on the fingers. However, this may not be a good idea if the student wants to learn to be a rock star or if they don't care for the classical style music as the nylon string will never sound just right.

If your goal is to learn to play steel-string music, you should definitely start by practicing on a steel string guitar. At first, your fingers will be sore, but with time you will develop protective calluses. If, however, you want to learn classical music, don't be enticed by a steel string guitar.

If you are shopping for a more classical nylon-string guitar, you should remember that these guitars are called classic for a reason - they all have the same relative dimensions. Their bodies are smaller and their fingerboads wider, which produces a distinctive classical sound. It is the feel and the tone to these classical guitars that varies. As is true when buying any guitar, you need to try out several of them before choosing the beginner acoustic guitar that you are going to buy. The steel-string model of beginner acoustic guitar that people usually start out with is the six-string dreadnought guitar. There is only a slight variation between dreadnought guitars and they provide a sound that novices are often seeking.

The tone of the beginner acoustic guitar is determined by the type of wood it is crafted out of. A spruce top is the most common for a beginner acoustic guitar. A solid top is better than a two-piece top, because it is more durable so be sure to keep an eye out for that. Mahogany, rosewood, or spruce are probably the options you will find for the back and sides. A mahogany back and sides will provide a lighter tone. So, if that's what you're looking for, mahogany is your best option. Rosewood provides a heavier tone when it is used for the back and sides.

When buying a beginner acoustic guitar, another thing you want is a fairly low action. The "action" is the term for the area between the neck and the strings. An action that is too high can slow your progress by shifting your focus and causing you to lose your concentration.

While youre out purchasing a beginner acoustic guitar, youll want to pick up a decent electronic tuner at the same time. You havent had enough experience yet to develop the ear of an expert. If you can spend less time in tuning your new guitar, youll have that much more time for practicing on it and actually playing.

About the Author:

Filed under Music by Patrick Bossini

Permalink Print

June 19, 2008

Rock Music - How to Buy Rock Music Safely and Legally For Pennies

by Davion W

You can now buy rock music easily. We are not referring to buying physical CDs of course. Anyone can now download and buy rock music from online services. Nowadays, the web has opened many doors for music fanatics to get all genres of music conveniently.

While many music traditionalists still encourage the consumers to get their CDs, the truth is more people now buy rock music online due to its convenience. Finding and searching for a song title beats checking out at the music stores. No queuing is ever required. You find what you like and click to download. It is totally hassle-free. The online music sales are already showing that this trend is set to grow. Another advantage to the consumer is that you can pick any song without being compelled to buy an entire album. Sounds familiar? This was what you and I have to do in the past when buying CDs.

It is not difficult to find websites offering such a service at all. In fact, you can just perform a search for these websites on any search engine, and you will surely find a plethora of websites for your listening pleasure.

If you have been buying music online for some time, you would know that paying $0.99 for a song is no longer cheap by today's standards. It used to be the norm to pay that price for a piece of MP3 and everyone would agree it is really cheap. Today, it is no longer as popular an option. Another better option in the form of paid membership sites has almost totally taken over the music scene.

Websites that offer a paid membership service now let you download as many pieces of rock music as you wish. But you have to pay a fee to enjoy the membership access. It can be a monthly subscription fee or simply a one-off payment. As long as you have internet access, you can download your music and songs anytime and anywhere. These are legal sites so you can do so without worrying about the law.

If you are looking for freebies and do not want to pay a fee, you may want to know that on top of the huge selection, you are protected from potential virus and spyware infiltration that is all so common with the free download sites. When you buy rock music from the paid services, at least you know that you get quality music in a safe and secured downloading environment for a reasonable price.

So, it does make more sense to purchase rock music from paid membership sites since it is reasonably affordable. It can only cost a one-time fee of about $30 - $40.

What's more, these paid membership sites are legally affiliated with major record labels all over the world. Thus, when you buy rock music from them, you are still giving the rock musicians the money that they deserve to get from you.

About the Author:

Filed under Music by Davion W

Permalink Print

June 18, 2008

How to Download 90's Rock Music Easily

by Davion W

Right before every rock fan are a few options to download 90's rock music today. Why the 1990s you may wonder? This is because this period is a colourful period in rock music history. A lot of bands like Nirvana, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Pearl Jam and Radio Head burst onto the music scene and redefined the meaning of rock.

There are actually a lot of reasons why the option to download 90's rock music from the Internet is becoming quite popular these days. For one thing, the Internet has long become one of the most turn-to resources for just about anything under the sun.

Many business people realized that music downloading is a huge trend and making money out of it is a great business opportunity. This paved the way for many smart businessmen to establish online stores to feed the needs of the music fans.

At the beginning, you would be familiar with those music stores that offer a song download for $0.90 to $0.99. While these music downloads were cheap 3 years ago, by today's standards, any living music fan will tell you that it is expensive these days. The iPods and Zunes now come with generous gigabytes that can carry thousands of songs. It is definitely not cheap to pack these gadgets with songs that cost $0.99 each.

Unfortunately, the frequent sharing of MP3 files over the web, via P2P or peer-to-peer sharing, has paved way to the implementation of music infringement policies. Thus, another method to download music, especially to download 90's rock music, was devised. Today, this service now pertains to websites offering paid membership services.

For the most part, these websites offer its visitors a chance to download music files to their heart's content. However, you still need to become a member of the site itself, and to become a member, you will have to pay a monthly fee. Once this payment has been made, you can then have unlimited access to all of their music files, and you can download all kinds of rock music already.

What's so great about these websites is that they offer all sorts of genre and subgenres! Aside from 90's rock music, you also have access to alternative, hip hop, R&B, and more! Also, you get protection from potential virus attacks all over the web today. You no longer have to worry about the possibility of your system contracting any virus when you download songs from these websites.

Looking at these services, it is little wonder why all rock fans are going there to download 90's rock music now.

About the Author:

Filed under Music by Davion W

Permalink Print

Terms Of Use