Guitar Noise

The combined work of guitar playing songwriters like Bob Dylan, Neil Young and George Harrison over the past fifty years makes songwriting for beginners seem daunting. Still, songwriting can be incredibly accessible and fun even for beginners. Let’s take a closer look at some of the songwriting resources on our site.

Buying a guitar, or any musical instrument for that matter, can be an emotional ordeal. We’d like to share some helpful advice on what to think about before shopping for a new instrument. If you arm yourself with a little knowledge before heading to the store and you’ll likely enjoy your time there a lot more. We have tons of articles and advice on buying guitars and equipment. Many of the questions you may be thinking of asking might have already been answered here.

One of the most important things about learning guitar is to remember it’s supposed to be fun. Whether you are playing live in a band or just jamming with a few friends, it’s all about having a good time. This month we’re going to take a closer look at performing and playing live. You’ll find all sorts of tips and encouraging stories about “gigs and jams” on these pages.

This month the Guitar Noise Topic of the Month is Scales and Modes – we’re highlighting the many articles we have on this fascinating subject, ranging from our beginner’s explanatory lessons, like “Scales within Scales,” to a series like “Turning Scales into Solos,” which puts your knowledge to practical use. Take a look at some of these many fine articles on this topic, authored by a wide range of Guitar Noise contributing writers.

Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers. This month we’re going to take a look at Travis Picking and fingerstyle guitar. These techniques are used by guitarists as diverse as Ry Cooder, Robbie Krieger, Derek Trucks and Mark Knopfler.

A very common complaint among guitar players is not being able to find the time to practice their instrument. This month’s topic is all about maximizing and using your practice time. On these pages you’ll find links to some of the many wonderful articles and lessons we have here at Guitar Noise about practicing, written by a wide range of contributing authors. You’re bound to find a lot of interesting material that will help you better organize your time and ultimately achieve the results you’re after.

Since traditional Celtic music is way older than the guitar we’re going to have to get creative in order to achieve a Celtic guitar style. On this page you’ll find some great song lessons from Doug Sparling as well as an interesting Celtic arrangement of a Lynyrd Skynyrd song! We’re also going to include a few new song lessons featuring traditional tunes from the Emerald Isle in the upcoming weeks.

When you’re just starting out on guitar it can seem like your hands have a mind of their own. Maybe even two minds, since you have two hands. And beginners aren’t the only ones who sometimes have trouble figuring out strumming and rhythm patterns. These lessons and podcasts aim to simplify the whole issue surrounding strumming patterns. This is something that anyone can get good at with the right amount of practice and effort.

A lot of people pick up the guitar in order to play and sing songs with other people. Singing is something that anyone can learn to do. Much like learning guitar, it’s a physical activity that you can improve with the right practice. These lessons look at singing and playing guitar at the same time. Not only is this something you can do, but with proper practice, you can even learn to do it quite well.

Christmas only comes once a year, but you can learn how to play these holiday classics any time. These lessons and arrangements make learning Christmas carols fun and easy. With these songs in your repertoire you will have a greater sense of structure and melody that will help you learn many other songs and develop an ear for writing your own songs.

Since we’ve posted a number of chord melody lessons of late, it seemed like a good idea to make “Chord Melody” a “topic of the month.” As with most of our topics, Guitar Noise has lessons at almost all levels, from beginners just getting started to intermediate and advanced students who want to try out creating their own chord melodies. So take a closer look at all the lessons on this page. It will hopefully get you psyched to try out this style of playing.

This month we’re putting the spotlight on learning to play blues guitar. Beginners may want to start with the easy songs for beginners lessons that will swiftly bring you up to speed on the 12 bar blues, the shuffle and playing lead. We also have many blues lessons from other GN contributors, such as Paul Andrews, Alan Green, Darrin Koltow and others.

Have you ever wanted to teach guitar but then thought you might not be qualified? This month we will dispel a lot of the myths about what it takes to teach guitar. Be sure to look up the articles, both here and on our sister website, musiccareers.net, written by some great teachers who are also GN contributors, such as Darrin Koltow, Tom Hess, Tom Serb, Alan Green, Nick Torres and many more.

This month we’re featuring the many articles here at Guitar Noise that deal with “Soloing and Improvisation.” There are articles from many past GN contributors, such as Josh Urban and Gilbert Isbin and Randell Young and Mark Yodice as well as a wonderful piece from our favorite guitarist from the Netherlands, Arjen Schippers. Not to mention all eight parts of the current series, “Turning Scales into Solos.” You’re bound to learn something!

Over the past ten years many talented writers and teachers have supplied Guitar Noise with many great lessons on music theory. They range from basic introductory overviews, such as “The Musical Genome Theory” trilogy of lessons to articles on specific topics, such as extended and altered chords. Let’s approach music theory and how it relates to the guitar with a simple idea: music theory is actually simple and fun. It’s not rocket science.

What we guitarists consider “standard tuning” has been around pretty much since the fifth and sixth strings were added to the instrument in the late 1700’s. And, artists being artists, “non-standard” or “alternate” tunings have existed for just about as long. For the sake of our discussions, we will divide guitar tunings into three categories – standard, open, and alternate. On this page you’ll find some great articles and lessons on alternate and open tunings, including some wonderful song lessons and arrangements.