Discover the Best Way to Learn Guitar - Fast!

Before you rush out to your local music shop's guitar sale and buy the first cheap electric guitar you find, take a moment to read this lens. People often ask me what type of guitar they should buy. Should they go for an electric or an acoustic? Should they buy that cheap electric guitar they've seen in the local store or save up for a super duper acoustic that their favorite guitarist used for their recent "unplugged" set on MTV? Here's what I tell them.

1. Buy the type of guitar that best suits the music you want to play. If you are a flamenco buff, buy an acoustic. If you are a metal mentalist then you'll need to buy electric guitars, and while you're at it you should buy a loud amp and perhaps a serious "distortion" guitar pedal.

2. Don't listen to people who say you should start off learning with an acoustic and then progress to an electric (or vice versa). There's no advantage in doing this and you'll have a lot more fun, a lot more quickly, if you have a guitar that you love to play.

3. Try lots of guitars out! Go to a good music shop, ideally one that specializes in guitars. Pick one up, play it! How does it feel? Does it feel comfortable in your hands? Is it the right size and shape? Does it feel right? Try lots of them and pick the one you like the most within your price range.

So whether you end up with a cheap electric guitar, an expensive semi acoustic, or whatever, really depends on what type of music you're going to play and which make and model feels "right" in your hands. You can find even more detailed information on buying a guitar on the Guitar Instructions Website (just click on the link), which also includes a series of beginners guitar lessons, so it's well worth a visit. There's also a detailed review of Jamorama's Beginner to Advanced Guitar Course if you're looking for further learning resources.

Read on for more advice on what to do when you get your shiny new guitar home.

Tuning a guitar is one of the most important things you need to learn as a beginner. If you've got your new guitar home and taken it out of the box and sat it on your lap, the next thing you have to do is a spot of guitar tuning. Otherwise you'll sound terrible - and that will just make your guitar sad.

Like most things, guitar tuning is something that you get better at with practice. Unless you are already a musician, it may take you a while to train your "ear". It takes many people a while to be able to consistently tell whether a note was too low (flat) or too high (sharp).

So how do you go about tuning a guitar?

Basically, to tune the guitar relative to itself, you start by playing the 5th fret of the 6th (thickest and lowest) string and adjusting the open 5th string until both strings are at the same pitch. Then adjust the open 4th string until it's in tune with the 5th fret of the 5th string and so on across the neck. It is always the 5th fret of the lower string and the next open string, with one exception - when tuning the 2nd string, you must tune it to the 4th fret of the 3rd string.

But how do you make sure the big ole 6th string is in tune to begin with?

There are several ways.

1. Pitch pipe or tuning fork. This gives you a single note that you can tune to.
2. Electronic tuner. These clever little gizmos are great for guitar tuning. They have a visual indicator (e.g. a needle on a dial or LCD display) that shows you whether you need to tighten a particular string or loosen it off. You simply play an open string and adjust the tension until the indicator shows you are in tune and then move on to the next string, and the next. This is the easiest way of tuning a guitar (even a drummer could manage it!) but it might make your ear lazy so don't rely on it too heavily all the time.
3. Tune to other guitarists in the band. If you are playing in a band then you absolutely have to do this anyway. Even if you are perfectly in "true" tune but the rest of the band are slightly out, the combined result will sound awful.

So there you have it. You should now feel confident in tuning a guitar.

For more tips and training you could check out the Guitar Tuning Guide within the Jamorama Guitar Course.

Happy jamming!

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So why should learning these blues guitar chords be high up on your priority list? Well, most experienced musicians (even less experienced musicians) are familiar with the 12 bar blues, so it's a great way to break the ice at a jam session. One of the best guitar practice tips that anyone ever gave me was to learn the 12 bar blues. This piece of advice has stood me in good stead ever since.

Why? I'll tell you...

1. The 12 bar blues is really easy to learn.
2. Everyone knows them so they're ideal for jamming.
3. 12 bar blues guitar chords make a great rhythm backing for improvising lead guitar over.
4. There are many variations that you can play. Quite apart from playing in different keys, or adding twiddly flourishes here and there, you can play a simple riff and move up and down the neck - following the 12 bar blues progression - and you'll sound great.

I could go on, but you get the idea, right?

So now I've convinced you that you need to know how to play them, you'll be desperate to know how you actually play these blues guitar chords. Well, the progression is 12 bars long (yeah, no kidding!) and there are 3 chords involved (yep, just 3!).

When I was first learning how to play guitar I started off with three very simple chords: E, A and B. In fact, I started really simple; I used only two strings for each chord in what is known as a "power chord". The notes in each of these power chords are five notes apart on the scale. In fact they are referred to as E5, A5 and B5. Because they only involve 2 strings, they are really easy to play, which is ideal for a beginner. The chords are played as follows:

E5 - With your left hand, hold down the second fret of the 5th string (that's the 5th string from the bottom, or the second thickest string). Keep holding it down and play the 6th and 5th strings together.

A5 - Hold down the 2nd fret of the 4th string and pick the 5th and 4th strings together.

B5 - This is the tricky one. Well, maybe not that tricky, but you have to use more than one finger! Hold down the 2nd fret of the 5th string with your index finger and the 4th fret of the 4th string with your ring finger and play the 5th and 4th strings together.

E5 8 times, A5 4 times, E5 4 times, B5 twice, A5 twice, E5 4 times. Then repeat.

It really does make an excellent backing for lead guitar improvisation and you can try all sorts of variations, or even play a few cool blues guitar riffs following the same progression instead of just the power chords to keep it interesting.

All you need to do now is practice. And remember... practice doesn't make perfect - perfect practice makes perfect!

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