Article by Steve Casey

All acoustic guitars are exactly the same. Isn’t that what most people believe, particularly if they aren’t that conversant with the guitar world? But even if you are eager to pick up and figure out how to play an acoustic guitar on your own, things may not be as straightforward as you anticipate. There are as many variations in these guitars, whether due to construction or style of play, as there are for any other kind of musical instrument. And these variations may make all the difference in whether you can teach yourself to play or will require a teacher.

Playing a classical style, for example, will involve a complex type of acoustic lessons, which means you’ll be unlikely to succeed at teaching yourself. You would have to figure out how to read music, and the style requires learning an intricate technique for finger picking. There are even rules about the way to hold the guitar.

In contrast, when you use an acoustic guitar to play folk music, it means you can learn how to play it with less difficulty, learning the chords so you can accompany songs quite satisfactorily.

One of the bigger versions of acoustic guitars is the steel-string. It still features the hollow body and sound hole, but the reinforced neck is much stronger than that of a standard acoustic, which is why it is able to handle the heavier, tighter strings. Because of this, it has what guitarists call a “brighter” sound than guitars with nylon strings. How well you learn to play on a guitar like this doesn’t depend very much on how it’s constructed, but on the style of music you’re interested in. It can be a folk guitar, but is used in everything from jazz to country to blues.

You might have imagined that delving into the world of acoustic guitars would make it relatively easy to learn how to play, but things are somewhat more involved than that. To learn how to play the acoustic guitar, you first must answer the question, “Which style of acoustic?” Apart from the conventional six-string instruments all tuned the same way, you also have acoustic bass or even the Mexican fretless guitarron used in mariachi bands, that features uncommon tuning. Teaching yourself to play certain types of guitar might be easy, but other guitars and musical styles make self-teaching a more challenging proposition.

About the Author

A properly tuned guitar is essential and the best way to get that is with a guitar tuner. Click here to read guitar tuner reviews on the most popular brands and models, like the Korg TM-40 Large Display Digital Tuner and Metronome, and compare how well they perform.

Article by John Hughes

I have been teaching guitar for about three years now and it seems in the last couple of months I have been asked several times by potential students what is the advantage of taking lessons with me over taking them online. Honestly I didn’t really know what it was like to learn how to play the electric guitar online. When I was a boy I had taken traditional lessons from the local music store by my house. The whole learn how to play the electric guitar online thing was not very big in the early nineties so to answer this question I would have to do some research. This article will tell you the shocking truth to what we found.

To give an honest opinion of available learn how to play the electric guitar online courses I had to suck it up and buy a few of them. I thought this would be an expensive experiment, but I was shocked to find that for under 0 I was able to buy four different programs. While taking private lessons I used to pay dollars a week.

I began reading through the course books. Each guitar program seemed to have a secret learning technique or method that the author claimed would transform any player in a matter of weeks. The only logical step at this point was to test these methods out.

I began using each of the four courses on a different student of mine to see what kind of progress they would make. After a month 3 of my students hadn’t made any drastic improvements although a 2 of them did comment that they were enjoying the lessons a little more. However the 4th student made considerable progress, unlike any I have ever seen. He made remarkable improvements in the first week and is now learning things in a weeks time that is taking the others months to perfect. Some people might say he just has more talent, but I too have applied the techniques and have noticed an improvement in my own playing. Talent or not, this technique is worth its weight in gold.

I now show this technique to all my students and guard the secret that I really got the idea from the internet with my life. Students still ask from time to time if it would be better to learn how to play the electric guitar online, and when they do I quickly change the subject knowing that if they discovered my secrets I might have to seek a new profession.

For advice on finding an online lesson plan visit my blog here.

About the Author

John Hughes has been playing guitar for longer than he can remember and teaching for the last three years. His recent research has led him to radically alter his teaching techniques to maximize his students playing potential. Although he will never divulge the origin of his secret learning methods to his own students you can learn more by visiting Jamorama.com

The guitar has been around for a very long time and there are not many other instruments that can compare to the amazing sounds that you can create with a guitar. There are many wonderful techniques that can be used when playing any kind of guitar and the styles that have been created have made so many different unique sounds that come from the different types of guitars.

The guitar is an amazing instrument and if you have never attempted to play one, you should consider possibly learning how to play a guitar, the feeling you get with each strum of the strings, the sounds that you hear, is just breathtaking to say the least. There are many things about a guitar that makes it a fabulous instrument and I want to fill you in on just a little bit about the guitar, perhaps you will decide to pick one up and learn how to play, after reading this article.

Most guitars that you will find today are made up of a couple kinds of wood, some may be hollow wood and other times they are made of solid wood, the differences in the wood, means the difference in the sounds that can be created when playing the guitar. Some guitars are acoustic guitars and there are also electric guitars that are available for your enjoyment if you choose to venture into an instrument such as that one. Most of the strings on acoustic guitars are made from either nylon or some type of steel. Acoustic guitars normally only have either six or twelve strings on them, it just depends on which type you decide to purchase.

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Electric guitars are very different from the acoustic guitars, and there are many different types of techniques that are used when playing either one of these types of guitars. Electric guitars are very seldom made from only one kind of wood. Many times you will find that there are a few different types of wood being used to build an electric guitar, some may even have wood laminate. All of this means a huge difference in the types of sounds that can be created with the electric guitar.

With a little bit of practice and some time, anyone should have the ability to learn a few songs on any kind of guitar. It is important that you know how to hold your fingers when you are picking the strings, some techniques require you to slide up and down the strings while other styles may need you to hold some of the strings down while you pound on the other ones. Studying the many different ways of playing any guitar is the best advice I can give anyone. It all depends on your desire to play, your determination and which guitar feels most comfortable in your hand. You have to go with your heart when choosing which guitar to begin playing. Whatever feels the best, is the best, for you.