Lessons

General Guitar Lessons

A Brief History of the Guitar By A-J Charron In many history books you will read that the guitar was invented by the classical-era Greeks. This is due to a simple mistake. If you look at ancient paintings you will see many musical instruments which could easily be mistaken for a guitar. Even by those of us who have been playing the instrument for twenty years.

A Brief history of Mine By Len Collins Len Collins, creator of the popular Guitar Breakthrough tutorial software, has been kind enough to offer to write a few articles for Guitar Noise. We start out with a bit of an introduction, a history of the guitarist behind the computer.

The Spirit of the Guitar By Chris Juergensen Our man in Tokyo reminds us that it's important to understand the history and the life's blood of the guitar in order to have a better appreciation of this beautiful instrument. Let yourself become part of the guitar by learning about where it came from.

Where Do You Go From Here? By Chris Juergensen Most people learn from their mistakes. Chris Juergensen, Guitar Noise's man in Tokyo, is kind enough to let you learn from his! Here are some really great tips on numerous topics, complete with a few life's lessons.

Musical Frustration By Tom Hess Tom returns with some very vital thoughts on how to cope with musical frustration. This is something that everyone experiences from time to time and Tom's advice on how to turn your frustration into a positive force is something we all can benefit from.

Do it Right By Len Collins Len has a way of explaining things that always makes me smile. His latest lesson, for lack of a better way to describe it, is an interactive parable. Come along and help Al and Stew in their musical journey through life.

Originality - (When and How) By Tom Hess By questioning the importance of innovation and then putting it into perspective, Tom Hess brings a new appreciation to an age-old topic.

Band Creation 101 By John Tucker John Tucker returns with some very sound advice about putting your band together and getting things off the ground. There's nothing like playing with other people, so take the time to make sure you get the right people for you.

An Introduction to www.guitarandbass.com.au By Brian Piggott Guitar and Bass is a website that has been created purely to help new guitarists and bassists start playing and learning immediately through a strictly hands on approach. We believe you should be holding your guitar or your bass when you start to learn and not a book.

Guitar History By Tom Serb Tom Serb, known as Noteboat in the forums sends us his first article. I think you'll find this a fun and fascinating little romp through the history of the guitar.

Why Aren't You a Better Guitarist? - (The twenty concepts you need......and the five things to forget!) By Tom Hess Everyone seems to ask oneself this question at some point. Tom Hess takes the time to list out twenty-five different answers that might help you move your playing in a more positive direction. Plus, as a bonus, he throws in five tips that you might want to think about avoiding!

Stress, Aggravation and the Guitar Player By Len Collins The guitar player in question is Len Collins, creator of Guitar Breakthrough and world-renowned teacher. The stress and aggravation, in this instance, comes from being asked to give a live radio interview the very next day. Oh, and did we add that Len will have to give a live, on-air lesson to a radio host who's never even held a guitar before? How did our hero make out? Read on and see...

Creativity and Expression - Part 1 By Tom Hess Even the most musically talented of guitarists may not necessarily be very creative. In this thoughtful article, Tom Hess explores some of the things that can hinder a person's creativity. While this piece deals specifically with the guitarist, you'll find that it can apply to many, if not most aspects of you life.

Humble Pie By Steve Schmieding Sometimes learning what you don't know can teach you an incredible wealth of things. Please welcome Guitar Noise reader Steve Schmeiding to our pages as he tells us of a point in his learning that I think many of us, if not all of us, can relate to.

Why Do We Perceive Playing or Performing As A Competition? By Graham Merry In the first of our series of discussions on this fascinating topic, Graham provides his thoughts on the ideas of positive and negative competitiveness. This is a thoughtful piece that I think will give everyone a few new insights into an old problem.

Creativity and Expression - Part 2 By Tom Hess Here Tom expands on the ideas he set out in his first article on creativity and expression. You'll find a concise five-step process that Tom walks you through as part of an exercise to create a piece of instrumental music.

Altered States - (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Partial Capoing) By Rick Endres This is a terrific piece for those of you interested in the subject of partial capos, which will educate and inspire you. And if you're not familiar with the subject, I suspect it will whet your appetite to learn more about it.

This is only an exhibition By Steve Schmieding It was a rough draft of a different article that Steve sent me that led to my coming up with this month's discussion of why musicians tend to look at things with such an eye toward competition. And he came up with this great piece in order to take part in the discussion!

Competition By John Tucker Here's another wonderfully personal and thoughtful take on the concept of competition among guitarists. My thanks go to John for taking the time out to share his ideas with all of us.

The Dinosaurs By Len Collins What happens when Jeff, Lizzie, Alan and Dave get together to form a band? What happens when their band gets a serious look from someone in the music industry? And why do they practice in the Black Lagoon? This first installment of a four-part serial from Len Collins sets the stage for some vital lessons on what it takes to become a band and to move toward getting your music out to the public.

The Dinosaurs part II By Len Collins The Dinosaurs spend a day of hard work putting together their first original song. Enjoy the second episode of Len Collins' serial on this fictional band.

Keeping Time By Tom Serb Tom, who goes by Noteboat on our forum pages, is already pretty well known and respected by our forum members or those who've bought and read his book on theory. He now contributes a terrific piece on how to practice keeping the beat. Staying in rhythm is probably one of the most important things a guitarist (or any musician) can do and Tom's article will help you to get better at this.

The Dinosaurs part III By Len Collins Work still continues on the Dinosaurs' first attempt at an original song. Will they come up with chords for their lyrics and melody? What kind of arrangement will the song have? Will they accidentally (or even on purpose?) manage to learn something about music while putting together their song? And what about some lunch? Enjoy the penultimate chapter of Len Collins' serial piece.

The Dinosaurs part IV By Len Collins The Dinosaurs move out of the Black Lagoon and into the studio to record their first attempt at an original song. What will happen? How will the engineer be able to help them? Who will bring lunch? Will the band dissolve during the mix-down session? Sit back and enjoy the final chapter of Len Collins' serial piece concerning this fictional band.

For Love Or Money By Tom Hess Tom Hess returns to Guitar Noise with a thoughtful look at the different ways you can go about getting your music played without compromising your artistic integrity. While this piece was in direct response to a specific email, I think that the questions and answers posed here will be a big help to anyone looking to get their music heard.

Making a Living as a Guitar Music Transcriber/Arranger By Dale Turner Whenever you pick up guitar magazine or look through a book at a music store, do you ever think about the fact that someone actually wrote out all that TAB? Dale Turner, who's written for Hal Leonard, Warner Brothers and many others, has been very kind in giving readers of Guitar Noise a little insight into how to go about pursuing this kind of work as a career.

7 Strings Good, 6 Strings Bad By Guy Pople Don't think this instrument is only for metal and grunge bands! Jazz players have been using them for ages and even many a classicist will tell you that they have a lot of unused potential. Here's a great introduction to the world of the seven-string guitar, brought to us by first-time contributor, Guy Pople. Guy offers a discussion of the pros and cons of the instrument as well as some tips for getting started.

Meticulous At Being Ridiculous - Recording Jingles for BBC Radio By Dave Sanderson Guitar Noise is pleased to introduce you to Dave Sanderson, songwriter, musician and jingle writer for the BBC. Dave is kind enough to share some of his experience and insight with us on the subject of writing a successful jingle for radio promotions.

Listening To Learn By David Wagle Listening to music is one of the easiest ways to learn about your guitar - and one of the easiest things to forget about! Guitar Noise is pleased to introduce the first of a series of articles from David Wagle, which are here to help you expand your listening library in the hopes of becoming better guitarists and musicians. We start out with a list of Top Ten Great Guitarists Who Never Make Top Ten Lists But Should!

Making Music - part three - Playing Well With Others (and other rules Mom gave you to live by) By Laura Lasley Sharing music is what Guitar Noise is all about and what better way to do so than to help give a little encouragement to someone? Here is a cool story and some advice from Laura Lasley, writer for Guitar Noise's The Other Side.

Internet Jams - Tips on how to create and be involved in an Online Music Collaboration By Scott Thomas Internet Jams and Online Collaborations are becoming quite popular as a way for guitarists (and musicians in general) to meet and play together, to work on songwriting or to enjoy jamming and creating music. Scott tells us about how to get started in all the fun.

A Tribute To Gary Moore By Todd Seely You've read his names on our Reviews Page many times, now find out a bit about this venerated guitarist, courtesy of Todd Seely, writer for The Fuze.

Rock On! By David Wagle The rock solo, is in some ways the quintessential guitar sound. The dream of playing one really great solo is more or less why we keep strapping up and plugging in. Since the number of really great guitarists is much greater than the length of time given to write an article, here's we'll focus on a few really fantastic players and then discuss how those players inspire us, and who else inspires us as well.

Can YOU Really Become a Great Guitar Player? By Tom Hess Inspiration and advice from Tom Hess, who's soon to be out on the road touring with Holyhell. With drive, persistence, determination, and the guiding of a good teacher, it is possible for anyone, even you, to become a great guitar player. As Tom points out, you've truly got to want to do so.

Forty-Something Guy Learns Guitar Via The Internet! By Allan Abbott It sounds like the headline from a tabloid, but more and more people are learning that they can learn how to play guitar. And while the Internet certainly can be of help, all the choices can also seem pretty overwhelming! First time contributor Alan Abbott has been kind enough to write of his experiences, in a well thought-out, step-by-step manner, and includes many websites that can help you start to realize your guitar dreams.

The Successful Failure By Len Collins It's always great to hear from Len Collins, who's not only a terrific teacher and motivator, but also the creator of the Guitar Breakthrough tutorial software. His latest piece explores the reasons so many people have for giving up the guitar. Using a mirror and four simple exercises, Len demonstrates how anyone can play.

The Failed Success By Len Collins Len decided that he's been away from Guitar Noise for so long that he needs two articles so that people will remember who he is! Here he offers some thoughts on musicians, bands, managers, songwriters, the music business in general and doors.

A Giant Guitarist To Note - A Brief Profile of Memphis Minnie By Colette Dumont There have been important women guitarists around for about as long as there have been guitars. Colette Dumont gives us a profile of Memphis Minnie, one of the first of the guitar greats at the turn of the century.

How The Pros Practice By Rob Gravelle There are a number of differences between professional and amateur musicians and Rob Gravelle gives us some tips from the pros about practicing. You'll find some great advice here no matter what level you currently play at.

Recording And Releasing Your Own CD By Chris Juergensen Chris returns to the pages of Guitar Noise with some great advice on recording your own CD and the various ways one can go about it. Whether you're planning on recording at home or going to a studio with your band, you'll find some great advice and information here.

Back To Basics By David Wagle If you think tracing back your family tree is fun, then think about musical genres. Who would be Pete Townsend's great-grandfather? And who would be the trunk of the tree of country guitarists? The answers may surprise you and, as is always the case with David's articles, you'll learn a lot about some guitarists that you may never have heard of. Hopefully you'll learn enough to get out and listen to them!

Building Your Own Songbook By Simone Perandini Guitar Noise welcomes Simone Perandini to our pages. Simone is a guitar teacher in Italy and he shares with us some ideas of creating and maintaining a songbook - the essential item for any successful jam!

Paul Kossoff - Shadowed By Greatness (Part 1) By Will Tobin Guitar Noise reader Will Tobin offers us a look at the band Free and its guitarist Paul Kossoff. Part one details the forming of the band in the late sixties and follows them to their breakup a few years later.

Making Guitars - An Interview with Alan Garcia-Torre By A-J Charron Alan Garcia-Torre is a manufacturer of affordable classical concert guitars in France. With 40 years experience playing the instrument, Alan knows what he's talking about when he talks about guitars. A Guitar Noise first - this interview is in both French and English!

Summer NAMM By A-J Charron A-J made the trip from Montreal to Indianapolis last weekend to visit the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) summer show, a brave thing considering the heat! Here is his report on the event.

Rocking The Rest Home By Chad Andrews If you're looking for an appreciative audience or looking for a way to give back to the community or even just looking for a way to fine-tune your performance, chances are you can do all this very close to home. Here Chad Andrews tells of his experiences and advice concerning this easy way to make a lot of people happy!

Building A Relationship With Your Guitar By Chris Standring Having musical knowledge in your mind is important, but so is having it in your hands and fingers. And sometimes, quite often, in fact, it takes more time for that to happen than it does to get it into your head. Chris talks about how vital it is to get the feel of your instrument so that it can truly sing.

Are You Totally Out Of Balance? By Tom Hess Everyone has strong points and weak points as a guitarist. Great guitarists learn how to balance those skills and, most importantly, how to not let the weak points errode the strong ones. Let Tom Hess tell you how.

Standard Notation By Tom Serb Even people who don't read standard notation will tell you that it's a good idea to learn to do so. And it's easier to learn than people think. Tom's latest piece is a great place to start to pick up this skill that will last you a lifetime.

A Prairie Wind Blows Through Nashville By Karen Barry Schwarz Earlier this year, Neil Young played two concerts at Nashville's famed Ryman Auditorium. The shows, mostly focusing on his upcoming album, Prairie Wind, were filmed by Jonathon Demme, director of the Talking Heads concert film, Stop Making Sense. Karen Barry Schwarz was fortunate enough to be at these shows and we are incredibly fortunate that she wanted to share that experience with us!

Plans Are NOT Goals By Tom Hess Knowing the difference between plans and goals can help you to focus your attention on important matters, and to not waste your time that might be otherwise put to good use. Tom Hess explains the importance of making this distinction and shows how focusing on our goals will make us plan better!

Top Secrets of Common Sense Part 1 By Tom Hess No matter what level of musical skill you have, there are going to be many significant challenges ahead of you. Your attitude towards these challenges can be single greatest factor in determining how much you will achieve as a musician. Tom Hess looks at the importance of having an attitude of positive thinking.

Standard Notation (part 2) By Tom Serb In the second installment of Tom's series on reading notation, you'll learn about ledger lines, repeat signs and other musical traffic signals, as well as delve into accidentals and key signatures. Plus you get an arrangement of Jingle Bells to get you going for the holidays!

Express Yourself By Tom Hess In becoming a guitarist, one is, in essence, becoming an artist, learning to express oneself musically. Tom looks at the challenges of artistic expression and offers some valuable songwriting pointers in his latest article.

Playing With Conviction By Chris Standring As instrumentalists we have to try that much harder to communicate with the listener because there is no vocalist to do that for us. We have to make sure our instrumental voice carries.

Fire and Inspiration By Tom Hess Sometimes we need to stoke up our inner fires and get inspired to play and create music. Tom walks us through a number of ideas to help you get your personal inspiration going at full burn once again.

Improving Your Chord Changes By Graham Merry Getting better at making chord changes is an early goal for every guitarist. Graham discusses how using the art of visualization can help you develop smooth chord changes, both in learning new chords and in practicing the ones you already know.

The Pain that is RSI By Paul Andrews RSI, or Repetitive Strain Injury, commonly affects musicians owing to the repetitive nature of playing music. The wrist and neck areas are especially at risk to the guitarist and beginners (especially those learning on their own) are particularly susceptible to these injuries. Paul gives us some tips as well as exercises to help properly warm up and to hopefully avoid RSI problems.

The 80/20 Law - Maximum Results With Minimum Time By Tom Hess Have you ever noticed how some players, who practice less, seem to make more progress than others who practice more? In his latest article, Tom tells how Pareto's Principle, also known as The 80/20 Rule applies to guitar players and how you can use it to get better in a short time.

Legendary House - Some Notes on The House of the Rising Sun By Colette Dumont Colette Dumont makes her long awaited return to Guitar Noise, bringing a bit of historical background to light on this well known song.

Take The Test By Tom Hess Knowing your goals, knowing yourself is one of the smartest ways of pursuing your desired path in life, whether it's a music career or simply being a better friend or family member. Take a few minutes and let Tom help you find your way.

How to Become a Professional Guitarist & Musician - Facts and Myths By Tom Hess It's a big question, no? Tom Hess looks at the traditional answers (or, as he calls them, myths) and goes beyond those for a hard look at the real answers.

Are You Unique? By Kole Kole (Kyle Hicks) is a first time contributor to Guitar Noise as well as a student of Tom Hess, who's certainly no stranger to these pages. In this article, Kole examines how one develops a unique sound, looking at ways that may help you create music that is different from other musicians.

How To Develop Your Own Style - Part 1 - It's All About You By Tom Hess Developing your own style starts with a bit of introspection, which leads to knowledge and then application. In his latest article, Tom Hess takes you throught the initial steps needed to help you on your way.

Songwriter Or Craftsman? By Robert Walker In his first article for Guitar Noise, German guitarist Robert Walker discusses some of the finer differences between being a songwriter and a craftsman and offers songwriters some tips on how to move to the next level of instrumental songwriting.

Maximizing Practice Efficiency By Mike Philippov First time contributor Mike Philippov, another student of GN mainstay, Tom Hess, brings us a very detailed look into the nature of practicing. You will find a lot of insight, inspiration and practical advice here.

Begin at the End By Tom Hess If you're having troubles achieving your goals, it may be that you're going about things backwards! Tom Hess talks with us about the importance of starting at your goal and working your way back in order to truly achieve it.

Bassist Victor Bailey on Making Good Music By Helena Bouchez Guitar Noise welcomes writer / bassist Helena Bouchez to our pages with the first of a series of discussions with prominent bass players. Here, renowned bassist Victor Bailey (Weather Report) muses on how to go about making good music.

Living The Dream, Part 1 - Crunching Numbers By David Hodge Just as there are all sorts of ways to make a living in music, there are more ways why people decide not to follow their dreams. More often than not, the simple task of being prepared to ask oneself questions (and to answer honestly) can get you living the life you dream about.

Judy Collins - Biography of a Child Prodigy By Colette Dumont Colette Dumont brings us one of her well-researched musical biographies to start out the New Year. Read about Judy Collins and get a lot of links to more about her and her music.

Bassist Doug Wimbish on Playing Well with Others By Helena Bouchez Helena caught up with Living Colour's bass player, Doug Wimbish, last fall in Chicago. Here, he shares his thoughts about the bassist's role in a band and how to approach playing with different drummers and other musicians.

How to Become a Professional Guitarist and Musician - Part 3 - Acquire an Accurate Map By Tom Hess Knowing the difference between plans and goals, being able to distinguish between the hows and whys of the music business can help you create an accurate map, which in turn can help you achieve your goal. Tom Hess expounds on the importance of finding your way through the intricacies of the music world.

Jean Baptiste Django Reinhardt: Gypsy Genius By Colette Dumont When the lists of world's greatest guitarists are compiled by magazines, they tend to forget that there were some incredible players long before guitars became electric. Django Reinhardt was certainly one of them and Colette Dumont has been kind enough to whet one's appetite for gypsy jazz by giving us a brief biography of this incredible musician.

The Pursuit of Artistic Greatness By Tom Hess Do you have it in yourself to find Artistic Greatness? Is it something you're born with, or something you can learn and develop? Tom Hess takes a long look at this fascinating topic.

Bassist Al Caldwell on Being Yourself By Helena Bouchez When people learn an instrument, it's easy to get caught up in copying the riffs and styles of one's idols. Fortunately, Al Caldwell took some advice from Anthony Jackson to heart and learned to be himself, finding his own voice as both bass player and musician.

Are You a Bad Student? - I was! - Part 1 By Tom Hess Sometimes we think we know what we need to do, as guitar students. And sometimes we're dead wrong! Tom Hess relates some of his history as a guitar student and shares his thoughts as how one can improve quickly in spite of one's best intentions!

How to Develop Your Own Style - Part 2 - Always simple - not always easy By Tom Hess Merely asking yourself, What do I want to hear next? can be key to creating your own style, one that is in harmony with your own originality. Tom Hess walks us through this fascinating procedure.

How to Avoid Musical Burn Out By Tom Hess Sometimes it happens - you just don't feel like picking up the guitar. Usually it's a temporary thing, but there are times when it turns into more, into burn out. Tom Hess explores the reasons behind these feelings and offers advice on how to beat it.

Going Back To Our Roots By Josh Urban Way, way, way back when, mankind had only two instruments. And by examining how these two are still used today, we can improve our timing, phrasing and many other aspects of our guitar playing. Josh Urban takes us on this interesting tour from early to electric man.

How to Become a Professional Guitarist and Musician - Part 4 - Making it By Tom Hess Everyone knows the extreme ends of the bell curve - either you're a multimillionaire rock god (or goddess) playing for hundreds of thousands of people at a time or you're playing at the local bus depot hoping to get enough spare change to buy your next meal. But there's a huge number of musicians making a living, a comfortable living, playing music. Tom Hess takes a look at this Silent Majority and helps you to see how you might find your niche, doing what you love.

Principles of Good Practice Hygiene - Guitar Injury: Cause, Prevention, and Treatment By Ysrafel Guitar Noise welcomes first-time contributor, Ysrafel, who brings us an article about the various aches and pains you might suffer as a guitarist, their possible causes and things you can do to relieve the pain as well as prevention tips.

From Junky to Funky - Part 1 - My DIY Low-Budget Bass Makeover By Mitch Schlesinger Mitch has most graciously taken the time to give us a fairly detailed account of one of his latest DIY projects - a Johnson manufactured bass guitar! Follow as he transforms this $80 eBay bass into an instrument worthy of gigging.

Take A Breath, Listen To The Spaces By Chris Standring Guitar Noise welcomes the long-awaited return of Chris Standring to this website. And, with this short piece, he remind us of the importance of breathing when it comes to guitar solos. Not your breathing, but the solo's!

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