Guitar Noise Archives

If you’re going to take up the ukulele, be sure to get an instrument and not a toy! Here are some tips on finding your first uke.

Learn how to harmonize the major scale and create diatonic chords in the final part of Jim Bowley’s trilogy, “The Only Theory Lesson You’ll Ever Need.”

To make money in the music business, you have to think about music as a business. Tom Hess provides you with insights on how to start making your musical monetary goals come true.

There’s a little bit of everything in this lesson, from easy arpeggios and strumming to some basic Travis style finger picking patterns. As always, David picks the song apart into small pieces that even many beginners can get with some concerted practice. Have fun learning this Harry Chapin classic!

Voice leading, a vital component of harmony and composing, should be part of every guitarist’s technique. Here’s a great introduction to this musical topic.

Here are some great tips for you to improve on your basic music notation reading skills in order to become better (and quicker!) at sight reading.

Tom Hess discusses how to improve your 7-string guitar playing by using the unique aspects of the instrument to guide you and to help improve your skills.

In Part 2 of Jim Bowley’s introduction to basic music theory, you’ll create the Major Scale, possibly the most important musical knowledge you can learn!

Nick Minnion discusses the three basic levels of playing and how being able to read notation affects one’s ability to become a better guitarist.

Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffet doesn’t take long to learn. We only need three chords and even a relative beginner will be able to impress their friends.

Dan Lasley shares a fun lesson with us. It’s a bass lesson to accompany our easy guitar song lesson on Van Morrison’s Moondance.

Recording your guitar parts in a studio can be both frustrating and costly. Tom Hess details how to be better prepared to play your best while recording.

Jim Bowley lays down the basics of music theory – in “Part 1″ you learn about notes and where they are on the fretboard of your guitar.

Van Morrison’s Moondance is an intriguing piece because it is very easy to play (chord-wise); but it takes a little extra thought to make it sound good.

Learn to play The Wallflowers’ “Three Marlenas” – picking up some easy and interesting chord changes and strumming tips along the way!

It’s an eternal debate as to whether or not a guitarist should learn to read music as opposed to tablature. Nick Minnion gives us his take on the topic.

Our lesson of A Horse With No Name continues with advice on how to spice up your strumming as well as a look at the solo from the original recording.

A Horse With No Name by America is one of the easiest songs for you to learn. We’re going to teach you how to play it while throwing in some music theory.

For this lesson on “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” we show how using two notes of a chord can create a beautiful chord melody arrangement.

To allow your musical feeling to emerge and give life to the notes you play, you must have the technique required to produce those notes in the first place.