Guitar Today

Kids Can Play Guitar - $11.99 DVD
This DVD for kids 8 and up explains the basics of guitar in a way that is fun and informative for kids. Mel Reeves covers the different types of guitars, teaches kids how to read music chord fingerings and diagrams. DVD instructional videos are an excellent way to get your kids excited about learning an instrument.

Rock Guitar for Kids Songbook- $6.99 paperback
Hal Leonard is a well known and respected authority on publishing guitar instructional books. This book is for any child who is ready to start learning about guitar on their own time. It is easier to have a book rather than hire a guitar teacher because your child can go back and re-read certain parts any time they are having trouble. You also don’t have to concern yourself with scheduling.

Kids’ Guitar Songbook
For any parent wishing to see their kids strumming away on their very own guitar. Kids’ Guitar SongBook will teach your child all the basics of playing the guitar. They will learn to tune the guitar on their own, proper way of holding the guitar and some basic notation. It also has many fun easy songs that kids can play on their own while they are beginning to learn to play the guitar.

Roxie of RecoveryRocks has explained how playing the guitar and playing music in general can be a unique form of therapy for recovering addicts. In an exclusive interview with Roxie, I gave some advice on getting started with the guitar. We covered everything from the intimidating process of buying your first guitar to where to find a guitar teacher. I even got a chance to share some fond childhood memories of when I was just starting out.

If you’re wondering why I would ever say something like:

-Not everybody has a barn and a Dad who cares enough to lock them in it.

Head over to RecoveryRocks to read the full interview .

Thanks Roxie!

It has pretty much been string week at Guitar Today ,  if you check out the ‘recent posts’ section on the site it is all guitar string related titles. In an effort to continue as if this were intentional, I am pleased to present you with the second installment of the Fretboard series: The notes on the 2nd (b) guitar string

Assuming that your first, open note for this string is an A, the first fret on your guitar will be A sharp (Ab). The second fret is B and the  third fret is C. There is no Bb. Maybe they kept it that way to avoid confusion when using a lowercase letter b to indicate a sharp?

Moving right along. Cb is safely where we expect it be on the fourth fret and the fifth fret is a D.

In the lesson on the 1st and 6th E strings I noted the fifth fret as the ‘tuning fret.  This is true with the A string as well. What I mean by this is that you can continue up the neck on this string longer, but the notes you are playing are all available on the next guitar string. So, once you hit a D note on the Db can come from the sixth fret of the A string or the 1st fret of the D string.

Exercise for string notes: Use a different finger to play each of the frets in order from the first, using your index, to the fourth using your pinky. Play it forwards and backwards and say the notes aloud when you play them (A,Ab,B,C,Cb,D, - D,Cb,C,ect.)

This builds your coordination as well as your finger dexterity and strength. Saying the notes helps you to memorize the fretboard and always know what note you are playing.

As always feel free to post any comments, questions, suggestions and/or corrections. If you enjoyed this post please take a minute to sign-up for free guitar tips  or make use of the ShareThis widget to Stumble Me.

The gauge of a guitar string determines not only the tension it will be under when tuned to a given note, but also the width of the tone they will generate. Blues guitar players will often use a larger gauge of strings to get a ‘fatter’ sound, as light gauge guitar strings tend to produce tinnier, thin tones (also favourable among certain musicians). Lighter gauge string (a .009 for the E string) will have less sustain than a heavy gauged one (i.e. .011 for e string). This is due to the string having less diameter and mass causing it to vibrate for shorter periods of time.

A novice guitar player may want to use light strings because they are typically less difficult to play as less pressure is required. Although learning to play on heavier guitar strings will increase finger dexterity and strength.

Style also comes into play when choosing the gauge of strings for an electric guitar. If you are looking to play crunchy, distorted music on a high gain setting, it doesn’t matter if you are using light gauge strings because the overdriven signal will provide plenty of extra sustain. If you were looking to play raw, bluesy guitar in the style of some one like Stevie Ray Vaughn, you would want to use a heavy gauge.

When choosing a brand of thing it all comes down to personal preference. Most strings sound great brand new. Higher end ones tend to keep that nice metallic, ringy sound for weeks or even months. Cheaper strings will start to sound dead more quickly but can be useful when you’re in a bind and need extra strings fast. My personal favorite brand of guitar strings for the electric guitar are Ernie Ball, they have excellent playability. But I also like GHS Boomers for their tone and the price is also righton most occasions. When I need a cheap set of strings fast I usually ask the music store owners to point me to their ‘budget strings’ or I ask for Alice guitar strings.

TIP: Change your guitar strings as often as once per month. Keep your old sets and use them as spares in case you run into any emergencies where you need a replacement guitar string and can’t afford a new one.

12 string guitars may seem like a mammoth of responsibility when it comes to keeping your strings tuned but its’ not as complicated as you may think. No deviations from standard tuning are required and alternate tunings become a snap once you have the basics down. You don’t need to learn new chords or fingerings to pick up a 12 string guitar. In fact, it is no different than playing a 6 string.

The key to understanding the 12 string guitar is to think of two strings as one. While the E, A and D strings are octaved, the G,B and high E strings are ‘chorused’ meaning they are identical notes. If you look at the strings on a 12 string guitar you may notice the strings go big, small, big, small. In this sequence the larger string is the lower form of a note and the smaller string is the higher (until you get to the doubled notes).

12 String Video Example

On many western style 12 strings, the common problem is that the high G string tends to break easily. This is because it is under an usual amount of tension. On a 6 string guitar, the highest amount of tension is on the high E string, since a high G is almost a full step above this note, breakage problems can result. To remedy this, consider using the lightest gauge of strings (.009) or tuning your 12 string a step down from standard tuning and using a capo to bring it up to standard.

Heres another 12 string guitar tuning lesson with photos and examples.

Yesterday while I was at work my girlfriend messaged me to ask me what a ‘pickup’ was. I explained it to her then asked her why she was asking. She told me it was because she had been reading Guitar Today and saw that word used a lot but didn’t know what it meant. This got me thinking that there are a lot of terms and names for different aspects of guitar playing that a beginner might not understand. So, rather then send you on a Google search or to your nearest paperback guitar reference, I thought I would introduce you to the anatomy of a guitar.

Tuning  Machines-Strings are fed through your tuning machines and turning them adjusts the tension and therefore the pitch of given string.

Headstock - This is the name for the area where the tuning machines are fastened. Many guitar manufacturer’s will place their logo here and usually they each have their own distinct headstock. i.e. This Squier headstock (in image) is on pretty much all Squier guitars, making it recognizable from far even if you can’t see the logo.

Nut-This is the (usually) plastic or bone peice that keeps the strings in place at the headstock end of the guitar. Tiny grooves are filed to hold each string in place.

Frets-Frets are on the fretboard on the face of the neck. They are separated by the tiny metal bars.

Fret Inlays-These are the ‘dots’ located on some of the frets. They mark the 3rd,5th, 7th, 9th, 12th (two dots), 15th, 17th, 19th and 21st frets.

Neck- The neck is where the fretboard is located. It is usually bolted onto the body and widens at the end to turn into the headstock.

Body/Chassis- The body, sometimes called a chassis, of the guitar is what makes the sound from the strings resonate. The shape of the body is what separates many different types of electric guitars. There are three distinct types of body. THe solid body (pictured above), a hollow body and a semi-hollow body.

Pickups-Pickups do what their name suggests. They pick up the sound of the strings. Most guitars have a bridge and neck pickup, some also have what is called a middle pickup. Though there are many types of pickups; Single coil, humbuckers, Rails, active pickups, ect. they all do the same job of picking up the sound of the strings and sending it through the circuit.

Pickup selector- They can be two way, three way or even five way selectors. They select different pickups or different combinations of the pickups on the guitar to provide different tones.

Bridge-A bridge holds your guitar strings with ’string saddles’. There are many types of bridges and some of them have a tremolo system.

Volume/Tone Knobs-Sometimes there are up to four or five different knobs. They control the guitars’ outputted volume or tone. If there is more than one of each it is safe to assume that they control different pickups.

Input/Jack-This is where the guitar patchcord plugs in.

Strap Button-These are found in different spots on different guitars. They allow you to attach a guitar strap.