Practicing The Guitar

Practicing the guitar is no different than doing anything else to improve other aspects of you life. For example, if you're an athlete do you improve your endurance by driving you car? No, you do it by running or some other form of exercise that builds muscle and cardio vascular endurance.

So it is with the guitar. Be sure that when you sit down to practice that you practice. Avoid the temptation to kid yourself by saying that you were practicing by just holding your guitar of by just playing some familiar tune or chord.

If you really want to improve your level of skill, play some new, challenging selections. Or, use your time to work on some exercises your instructor has given you, even if its working on basic guitar scales and chords. This will truly build your skill when it's time to learn a new tune.

When practicing, avoid distractions such as TV, phone, food and friends. Select a place and time to practice when you won't be disturbed. Ask your family or friends to respect this time and to not disturb you until you have finished.

Be sure that what you are working on is correct. If you have an instructor, ask him or her to critique your practice techniques. If you don't use an instructor, be sure to read any reference materials you have to be sure that what you are practicing is being done right. Practice may make perfect, but perfect practice definitely makes perfect.

Before each practice session, spend a few minutes to decide what you want and need to work on. If you have a plan and work your plan, you stand a much better chance of improving your skills quickly. Just sitting down and making some sounds because you're not sure what to do is just a waste of time.

Remember, you want to learn to play the guitar. So, work on the things that will get you to that point quickly. And, even if you are an accomplished guitar player, you can still improve. That improvement can only come by using good practicing techniques.

Guitar Lessons - Review

Guitar Lessons can be fun and easy. The most important thing is the approach and additude that you have and use when you begin. If you are just starting, you can master the the art of playing the guitar.
So you have finally decided to learn guitar. You have come to the right place. I will be offering advice and give reviews on good places were you can get guitar lessons. Learning guitar can be fun and easy. You can even learn how to play guitar right in the comfort of your own home. There are so many different programs that help you learn guitar. One site you can check out for now.
Some people learn how to play guitar on their own, however the majority of people are not able to learn guitar on their own without any help. At the top of this site I have posted a link that will take you step by step in learning the guitar. I have found many of my students say the guitar lessons really excelled them in their ability to learn guitar.
In the beginning it is good to have patience. Start out learning a few cords and then practice them. Weather you want to play country or rock knowing simple cords is the key to getting started.
Once you have mastered a few cords keep learning more and more. Then you can begin to use variations of these cords to play songs you know or write new ones. This is some of the steps in learning how to play guitar.
I have had my students try different course programs that help them to learn guitar. One good thing about the courses you can take from home is that you decide when you want to take you guitar lessons. You can also decide how many times you want to repeat a guitar lessons.
This gives you flexibility and now time is on your side and learning guitar fits into any schedule. Most of my new students learn guitar basics and are already playing songs by the end of a weekend. Learning guitar is always easer than the person thinks. People of all ages can achieve many different levels when they decide to learn how to play guitar.
You can learn electric and acoustic guitar with this course. I am will reviewing another course for those people who really want to get the most out of their guitar lessons. For now I have found at least one very good course.
So remember you can learn guitar and knowing how to play guitar is easy. Just work on those guitar lessons a few times a week to improve on your skills.
Please feel free to come back and check for new reviews and tips. I will be adding new posts as I discover new ways to learn guitar.

How Do You Write Songs?

There was an interesting post today on a message board that I go to. It was about a guy that just started a new band and he wanted to know if anyone could give him some songwriting tips.
First off, there isn't a wrong way to write songs. But after you've done it for a while, you'll find out that some ways to go about it are easier than others.
This is how I do it.
1. Music and Melody Come First
I ever fit a melody to pre-existing lyrics. It’s forced and it doesn’t sound good to me. When you write the words before the melody, you’re trying to force the melody to fit your lyrics. The result is it doesn’t sound natural.
A lot of songwriters start with an idea. It's just easier for me to know what angle I'm coming from. Usually how it happens with me is the music comes first and the melody comes right after that.
Why do I write the melody first before my lyrics?
If I don't know how many notes are in the melody, how do I know how many syllables need to be in my lines? I don’t.
If there’s 8 notes in the first part of the melody and 6 notes in the second part , you’ll have to have 8 syllables in the first line and 6 in the second.
Let’s say you want to put 4 lines in each of your verses, You’ll have 8 syllables in the first and third lines and six in the second and fourth.
Here’s an example:
In the song "I want you to want me" the lead singer for Cheap Trick wrote a four line melody that had six notes in the first three lines and seven in the last line. He knew that there had to be six syllables in the first three lines and seven syllables in the fourth.
I Want You To Want Me
I want you to want me =six syllables
I need you to need me =six syllables
I’d love you to love me =six syllables
I’m begging’ you to beg me =seven syllables
2. Figure Out An Idea To Work From
Ideas are everywhere. You can write about what a friend of yours is going through. You can write about what you're going through.
I keep a journal just for this and make daily installments. I write down everything that I can think of that happened that day. And after a few months of that, I'll go through the journal harvest my ideas.
I treat my journal like the garden it is. Most every song I write comes directly from my journals.
3. Put the idea into one to two sentences
The best way to show you this is to give you an example. Keeping with "I Want You To Want Me", here’s the basic idea:
"I want you to want me as bad as I want you."
You only want one idea for each song. If you have any more, your song is going to last too long. And you're listeners won't be able to keep up.
Believe me, nobody but you will understand them. I know from very bad experience.
4. Write The Lyrics To Fit The Melody
Once you have the idea, you start to explain the idea in the verses with the number of syllables you have in the melody. The chorus is just the overall idea in a summed up fashion.
That’s how I write songs. Music and melody come first. The idea comes after that. Write the idea in a statement form. And then, write the lyrics to fit the melody.