Guitar Noise

Numerous guitarists underachieve because they shirk regular practice. Gerald Klickstein describes how musicians can counter avoidance and keep their creativity rolling.

Whether you are a guitar teacher or a self-taught guitar player you are likely to come across problems related to playing in time and interpreting rhythm. In this series of articles TeachGuitar.com’s Nick Minnion looks at where these problems spring from and what can be done to address them.

As the tutorial resources you have at your beck and call get more and more sophisticated, it gets harder to remember that learning guitar is all about playing guitar. That means if you want to be able to play your instrument, you have to go through all the “grunt work” – that means practicing. And for many players the biggest aspect they need to work on is not using their eyes.

Is it better to practice a piece slowly at first or quickly? Teachers and players usually recommend slowly, but there are instances where fast might work. Jamie explores why both methods work, but more importantly details how to recognize and determine when one method is better than the other.

Practicing the electric guitar can be problematic in the best of situations, and downright hard when you have to worry about your volume levels. Mark Mills returns to the pages of Guitar Noise with a very cool solution that lets you practice at a more than reasonable volume while not disturbing either your family or your neighbors.

How many times have you done something absolutely fast in practice only to flub it in a “real” situation, like playing with your band or just jamming with your friends? Tom outlines and explains seven simple steps to help you work on developing your speed on the fretboard straight away and also to be able to keep that speed you perfect in practice when you perform.

If you’re traveling along the paths of learning guitar, you will eventually find yourself at a plateau in your learning. Longtime Guitar Noise Contributor, Jamie Andreas of Guitar Principles, explains why simply changing the way you look at being on a plateau, looking at it with the eye of a Guitar Master, can help you move forward in a short time.

Creating memorable live performances can help you get more gigs and can bring more people to those gigs. Here are some great tips from Tom Hess on how to rehearse for all the aspects of performing live.

Many guitarists consider practice and performance to be distinct activities. Gerald Klickstein, author of the new book The Musician’s Way, shows how they can be combined into an inclusive creative process.

First time contributor Dmitry details the work and thought process involved on taking one’s guitar along a trip, using his latest vacation as an example of how well things can work out!

Let’s offer a warm “welcome back” to Nick, who brings us a look at the interlocking relationship of three important creative aspects of musicianship – improvising, composing and transcribing – and how you can use them to move up from being someone who just dabbles with the guitar to a serious musician.

In his first of hopefully many pieces for Guitar Noise, Tom Mariotti looks at how to go about organizing your practice sessions in order to get the most out of the time you put into them.

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.

Everyone wants to get their playing tight and solid, rhythm-wise. Rob Gravelle returns to the pages of Guitar Noise with some great tips for working with your metronome instead of having a frustrating time with it.

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.

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.

Logan Gabriel reintroduces us to the metronome – friend and foe of all guitarists. Logan has some wonderful advice on how to make the most of using this essential piece of equipment and make the most of our practicing.

There’s much more to this piece than it’s title! Jon, who goes by his nickname Kido on the Forum pages, was kind enough to include a detailed explanation of the use of tetrachords and interval study that he uses in his practice routine. I think you’ll find a lot of good material in here no matter what your level of play!

Never use guitar tab as a crutch again. Follow Jimmy Hudson’s advice about proper practicing, along with a practice schedule that is used in most music schools.