Learning Guitar Behind the Scenes Jack Grimwood

We've seen some really good guitarists go by and they all have different backgrounds, they all started somewhere and in this this you'll see some

key steps and techniques for learning Guitar such as the tips on practicing as practice is key, they have all done it, Jimi Hendrix, Pete

Townsend, Jimmy Page ,Paul Weller,Eric Clapton, and even David Gilmore.

So you do you want to go down

in musical history ?

To Be a Guitarist you need to keep the two main rules stuck in your head !

No matter what be determined, enjoyment is crucial. If you don't enjoy your learning of the instrument you fill find it very

difficult to understand the steps of becoming the Guitar Legend.

Be confident and thick skinned. Don't let someone tell you, you aren't good or laugh at you however people will give you advise on the way and taking it can make a big difference.

Below are the 6 strings of the guitar.Guitars are tuned with pegs on the headstock off the guitar.When the guitar is in Standard Tuning the strings are tuned to Low -E A D G B E- High An Easy way to remember is Eddie Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddie

Drop D is the same as Standard but with

the low E dropped to D.

Below are annotated images of an acoustic

guitar and an electric guitar.

The Acoustic Guitar has a sound hole which when the strings are played the sound resonates in the body and back out the sound hole. Some acoustic guitars will be sound louder than others, big body will have a louder sound. Acoustic guitars can also have a pick up fitted on the guitar inside the sound hole behind the strings, this allows the guitarist to play their guitar through a Jack to Jack connection to give access to Amps, Pedals and DI recording.

The Electric Guitar has series of pick ups that will pick the sound up when the strings resonates above them. The pick ups allows the guitarist to play through a Jack to Jack connection into to Amps and DI recording. The Amp will give a strong powerful electric sound. Some Electric guitars will be brighter than others, wood choice is crucial for both Acoustic and Electric guitars., Pedals and DI recording.

Guitar Pedals when used allow an overlay of an effect, such as Overdrive, Distortion, Wah Pedals and Fuzz. Their are many different effects that you can use to spice up your guitar sound and general tone.

Warm Up Techniques.

Warming up when playing guitar includes your wrists, up arm,

fingers and even your mind. You can easily warm up it takes 5

mins.

First move your hands in circular motions focus on one hand

at a time do this for 30 secs on each hand.

Then pick up your guitar and play the 1st 2nd 3rd and 4th fret

in the order

1 2 3 4 4 3 2 1. Do this on every string till you have done this

twice.

Finally Begin playing, but start slow and gradually play your

song to the set tempo.

After a while have a short break to stretch and drink water,

keep hydrated.

Strumming Techniques.

When learning guitar the rhythm is essential in order for

you to learn to strum in different tempos. For different

Genres the tempo style varies e.g. as rock and jazz are

very different to one and other. The direction you strum

effects the style of sound as if you strum upwards

towards your face it stats on the higher pitched string

and gradually going lower. But strumming down makes

it low then high.

Plucking and other

techniques.

Plucking can be used with

a plectrum or with all

fingers. You can mute

when plucking to give a

more stunned note. This is

used in rock when a guitar

has distortion on it.

Hammer On

This is when you move to

another fret but using the

vibration from the last

note played to make the

next sound ( no need to

use your strumming/

plucking hand ) . So right

handed players don't use

the right hand and left

hand players don't use the

left.

The Theory.

When certain notes are in a scale together the notes make chords. Chords are played

when the guitarist pushes their fingers down on the correct note position.

So like a piano if a string is tuned to A every fret up will change the notes.

So Fret 1 would be B, then fret 2 is B Sharp,

then fret 3 is C, 4 is D Flat, 5 is D, 6 is D Sharp,

7 is E, 8 is F, 9 is F Sharp, 10 is G, 11 is G Sharp and goes back into A at 12. Below are some chords that can be played in standard tuning.

Stage Fright ! ! Believe it or not stage fright is very common in musicians. It will be scary

playing an instrument in front of hundreds or thousands of people. Cause you know you have to impress who is watching. But if you practice so you do not have to worry about knowing what chord or note comes next. You can relax

more on stage helping your confidence grow. This will help you improve a lot as you will have to think about playing in a different environment other than the studio can be extremely challenging for some guitarist and other musicians. It is important that no matter what you

keep pushing to get better if you dwell on the same genres you will limit yourself for chances for session musicians where the genre choice isn't up to

you. Overall if you stick to the key learning tips ,songs can start to develop and playing for long time will give you your own image and a chance to find your

guitarist style.

Singing whilst playing guitar.

You may wonder how you could possibly multitask with an instrument. It is possible but does take some practice. Start by knowing every chord in the song make sure your mind can be blank while you play. Try talking to people while playing and then begin to read

lyrics or even learn the lyrics yourself and put them together. Also listen to the song more than 5 times and focus on just the guitar then play it again and do the same. Then twice again but this time just the vocals. Finally listen to the song and listen to them all

together.