2014 Scott Steven 1

Transcription

1 2014 Scott Steven 1

2 Important Notes Your Rights: You have personal user rights only. This is NOT a free book and you cannot modify it in any way, nor can you sell it or give it away to others. Permissions: This publication is Venture Technology Ltd 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the author/publisher. Unauthorized duplication or distribution of this material in any form is strictly prohibited. Violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Legal Disclaimer: The author, publisher, and distributor of this publication assume no responsibility for the use or misuse of this publication, or for any injury, damage and/or financial loss sustained to persons or property as a result of using this publication. The information provided in this publication is offered for informational purposes only. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not of any individual, company, or service that may be mentioned. This publication makes no claims that you will receive the same results discussed. The internet is ever changing and your results will vary based on current market conditions, your skill level, and your overall commitment. While every effort has been made to ensure reliability of the information within, the liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use, misuse or abuse of the operation of any methods, strategies, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein is the sole responsibility of the reader. The reader is encouraged to seek competent legal and accounting advice before engaging in any business activity Scott Steven 2

3 Contents Important Notes...2 Contents...3 Volume 1: Learn to Play Guitar How long does it take to learn guitar?...4 Is anyone capable of playing guitar? Are you too old to start guitar?...5 How easy is it to play guitar?...6 Where to start if you are new to the guitar and want to develop good skills...7 Choosing the right type of guitar; acoustic, acoustic-electric, or electric...8 About the author Scott Steven 3

4 Learning to play the guitar should be great fun! You should be bounding with enthusiasm at the very thought of picking up your instrument and playing with it. Note that all-important word in the last sentence: Playing! You play music. You play an instrument. You play guitar. You play. It is crucial that you remember this when you start to play guitar so that you enjoy every moment of it. I am here to make sure that you go about things the right way from the very start and enjoy the wonderful adventure that is learning to play the guitar. The are huge mistakes to avoid. That's why I have put these series of books together for you. They have been extremely well researched so that you will have answers to all those questions on your mind about how to start playing guitar in the most efficient way possible and to gain the most pleasure whilst doing so. I have laid out all of the answers to the most common and pressing questions that face anyone who is starting to learn to play the guitar. This will save you hours of searching the Internet because I have done all of that for you and presented you with handiest guide to starting to learn the guitar that you can find anywhere, I believe. So, read on to start your lifetime journey of enjoyable guitar playing How long does it take to learn guitar? This will vary upon you, your circumstances, what your guitar playing goals and ambitions are and how often you practice together with the methods you employ to learn your instrument. Many people have found that you can continue to learn guitar playing through your whole life. Things will be faster if you have natural musical ability (for instance, if you are able to whistle a tune to a song accurately) but you can still learn even if you don't have quite so much musical talent Scott Steven 4

5 Let's say that you practice half an hour every day (regular daily practice is the key) and work through your lessons. You should be able to play the chords (c-a-g-e-d) and be able to strum and accompaniment to many songs. You can play a wide variety of songs having learnt only a relatively small number of chords. All you need the lyrics with the chords written out above them and you should be able to strum along to them at this stage. Now, that might be all that you wish to achieve. You will actually be playing the guitar and there are thousands of people who simply learn a few chords and a happy to use these to perform at live audiences, such as in schools or churches, or to accompany them self whilst singing. You may want to carry on learning the guitar to a higher standard, if you are really interested and motivated to do so. Carry on studying and learning for a year or so and you should have a strong musical framework that includes notes, scales, degrees, I - III - V, 7th (for blues) and more. You're never going to stop learning because everybody wants to learn something new on the guitar and most of us want to get to be a better guitarist. You'll be able to play guitar in just a few months if your idea of guitar playing is being able to sit around a campfire and strum along to some songs that people are singing. You will be working at it for years and possibly the whole of your life if you are aiming at complete mastery of the instrument in every way. Summing up, you should be able to play open chords and strum along to popular songs in a few weeks or couple of months and have a good solid foundation laid with all the basics learnt if you keep at it on a regular basis for about a year or so. Is anyone capable of playing guitar? Are you too old to start guitar? I should pre-empt this by saying that there may be a physical reason why someone cannot play the guitar, and there may even be people who lack 2014 Scott Steven 5

6 sufficient rhythm or coordination, to be able to play the guitar to a reasonable standard. The thinking amongst most guitar teachers, though, is that just about anybody is capable of learning to play the guitar. Like all instruments, it just takes plenty of time, regular practice and patience. Put those three elements together and most teachers would say that just about anybody is perfectly capable of learning any instrument they put their mind to. How about age? You too old to learn the guitar at 30? At 50? Again, I have come across teachers who will say that age is no barrier whatsoever. So long as you have the physical ability and the motivation then this is an instrument that you can learn to play. In fact, there is an argument that someone who is 55 will have more self-discipline and will practice regularly every single day and will therefore accomplish more on the instrument the younger person who is tempted to play computer games or go out to social events rather than practice their guitar. Some of the largest barriers to learning to play the guitar are the physical aspects. You are going to be asking your body to make movements that it may have never made before, and getting them to do so smoothly, accurately and quickly. You are asking your fingers, hands, and arms and even your back if you are sitting down, to learn new things. You're engaging yourself in muscle memory as well as brain memory. This aspect may be more difficult for the slightly older generation but, apart from that, age should not be a barrier. How easy is it to play guitar? There is no denying that a certain amount of patience is required in order to learn to play the guitar nicely. The first few months and, in particular, the first week or month or so, can be quite a challenge. Your fingers may become a little bit sore but they soon toughen up and this becomes no issue after a while. The trick is to keep practising on a daily basis and your fingers will stay nice and hard which makes playing a lot more enjoyable. Keep your nails short on your left hand because it is virtually impossible to 2014 Scott Steven 6

7 hold a string down cleanly otherwise. Some people can pick up playing guitar really easily whilst others have to practice a little bit harder. One thing to bear in mind is that some songs are really easy to play whilst others can be very demanding. So start off with the easy songs! The same goes for soloing there are some easy lead guitar solos you can play very quickly and that sound very effective so you need to know which ones they are. This is the quote to remember from the man himself: We have time, there s no big rush - Jimi Hendrix Where to start if you are new to the guitar and want to develop good skills. The great news is that you are in the right place already! I've written these volumes so that you can get answers to all your questions quickly and easily. Hopefully, I will be able to guide you in the right direction so that you can develop your guitar skills in the fastest and most efficient and enjoyable way possible. Having one-to-one tuition with an experienced local guitar tutor is handsdown the best way to learn to play the guitar. It is the fastest, most efficient and most beneficial way of learning to play the instrument. Your only challenge is finding the right teacher to suit you. There are a variety of different playing styles and you need to choose which one you want and find a teacher which excels in that style and with whom you can form a great relationship so that your learning experience is motivational, enjoyable and worthwhile. Now, this approach will not be suitable for everybody for a wide variety of reasons. It costs money and there may be a need to travel to the guitar teacher. These can both be barriers for many people. Thankfully, there are a wealth of resources available to you which can help you learn to play the guitar without one-to-one tuition. You can learn to play guitar from books (have you thought of popping into your local library?), online videos, DVDs, CDs and physical courses which combine a mixture of all these elements. Learning to play using an online video course of some sort has become the popular choice for many people 2014 Scott Steven 7

8 because they can practice when they want and the cost is greatly reduced compared to one-to-one tuition. A word of warning though about using free online videos. It is very tempting to hop onto the Internet and look for free guitar tuition videos. Yes, you can learn a great deal from these and people have done so quite happily. The downside is that you tend to hop from one thing to another and you end up not following a methodical learning process. This leaves you with big gaps in your knowledge and also means that you're not building things one step at a time which can slow down your overall learning. It is far better to pay at least a little for a good quality online course which will give you a proper structured approach so that your guitar learning proceeds in the direction you want and more quickly. You may also find this more enjoyable, too, as you will see the fruits of your labours blossom faster. Choosing the right type of guitar; acoustic, acoustic-electric, or electric 2014 Scott Steven 8

9 The most popular types of guitar I divided into three main categories. These are: Electric Acoustic Classical Acoustic They all have great similarities that great differences, too. The electric guitars have a wide variety of sounds but you probably know one if you hear it and you almost undoubtedly know what the sound of electric guitar is. Acoustic and Classical Acoustic are a little bit more difficult to appreciate at first. An Acoustic guitar is very often used as an accompaniment to a song. This is very often the type of guitar used by street performers or buskers. They generally use steel strings which gives them a slightly trebly sound. Conversely, the Classical Acoustic guitar uses nylon strings for a softer and more mellow sound, comparatively speaking. Think of a guitarist performing a classical piece of music or a Spanish guitar player and you will appreciate the type of sound that they make. The nylon strings on the Classical Acoustic guitar are easier on the hands than the steel strings of Electric and Acoustic guitars. Having said all that, there are a wide variety of guitar is found within each main category as shown above. The best thing to do is to go down to your local guitar shop and ask them to show you the different types of guitar. You will quickly pick up the idea of which is which. Many people start play on an acoustic guitar. This is because they are cheaper than the electric guitars (which also need an amplifier) and not too loud. You can only achieve a certain amount of volume when you are not using any amplification The key thing, though, is to know what your musical goals are. Think about what musical style you wish to play, which bands you wish to emulate, how and where you are going to perform, if you are going to play live or just for your own pleasure at home, if you're going to play surely as an accompaniment to a singer or as a guitarist in a rock band. Is your goal to perform searing lead guitar? There's no point in buying an acoustic guitar if 2014 Scott Steven 9

10 you want to be a rock lead guitar legend in a rock 'n' roll band because it just won't give you the sound that you desire. So, consider what you are trying to achieve and the sound that you want to have and you will be well on the way to choosing the correct type of guitar to suit your needs. The reality is that many of us own more than one guitar and that we use them on different occasions in different situations to achieve different things. Guitarists tend to build up a number of guitars over many years and enjoy playing them all. It's great to have variety in all things in life and especially when it comes to music. The next part of the process is to learn more about the basics of how to learn to play the guitar. This includes such things as learning how to practice, getting the most out of your practice sessions, choosing between music and tablature and much more. Get Volume Two Free You have demonstrated an ability and motivation to move your guitar playing forward by reading this far in this book. You, therefore, have qualified yourself for the next volume of this series of learning to play the guitar books. You can get instant access to Learn to Play Guitar Volume Two. Simply click this link now to claim your free copy You have done well so far by covering the above questions. Please be sure to continue learning more about playing the guitar by reading through all of the information in Volume Two. It will help advance your playing as quickly as possible. Enjoy your guitar playing! Scott Steven About the Author Scott started to play guitar at the age of 10 when his parents bought him a Spanish guitar after he declared an interest in learning to play one. Lifelong love of playing the instrument began Like many people of the era, he went 2014 Scott Steven 10

11 on to play electric guitar and bass guitar in a local band with friends from school and elsewhere. And, again like many people of the era, rock 'n' roll superstardom gave way to homeownership and family life. He now spends time running a guitar related website where he enjoys helping people start out on their own personal guitar playing journey as well as giving help for the more experienced guitarist, too. It is well worth checking out his website His enthusiasm for all things musical remains today. Please go and take a look now at Scott is based in the UK with his wife and two young children and welcomes comments, suggestions and feedback from his customers, clients and Guitar Gang Members. You may contact him on; ; contact@scottsteven.com 2014 Scott Steven 11