Guitar Noise

Buying a new or used guitar can be an emotional ordeal. Over the...

Thu, 02 May 2013 08:56:07 -0400

Buying a new or used guitar can be an emotional ordeal. Over the years we’ve published quite a few articles on buying guitars, amps and all sorts of equipment. Are you ready to take some of the mystery out of buying a musical instrument?

http://www.guitarnoise.com/topics/buying-a-guitar/

What are some easy songs to play on guitar? Here’s a list...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 03:21:17 -0400

What are some easy songs to play on guitar?

Here’s a list of ten relatively simple songs for beginners to learn on guitar. Find complete lessons with chords, tabs, step-by-step instruction, and audio examples on the site here:

http://www.guitarnoise.com/blog/first-songs-to-learn-on-guitar/

Horse With No Name, For What It’s Worth, House of the Rising Sun, Scarborough Fair, Where Did You Sleep Last Night, Three Marlenas, Margaritaville, Friend of the Devil, You Are My Sunshine, Silent Night

Practice Tips for Guitar A very common complaint among guitar...

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 01:00:30 -0400

Practice Tips for Guitar
A very common complaint among guitar players is not being able to find the time to practice their instrument. Guitar Noise wants to help you find ways to maximize your time and productivity. Here’s a month’s worth of great articles full of guitar practice tips. http://www.guitarnoise.com/topics/practice-tips/

A very common complaint among guitar players is not being able...

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 23:07:58 -0400

A very common complaint among guitar players is not being able to find the time to practice their instrument. Guitar Noise wants to help you find ways to maximize your time and productivity. Here’s a month’s worth of great articles full of guitar practice tips.

http://www.guitarnoise.com/topics/practice-tips/

The Dead Guitarists Society returns with Jimi Hendrix, who has...

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 07:30:15 -0500

The Dead Guitarists Society returns with Jimi Hendrix, who has had three times as many albums released since his death than when he was alive. The people controlling his catalog have no difficulty finding and releasing new recordings that without question are of superior sound quality. “People, Hell & Angels” is no scratchy-sounding unofficial release. It’s in the same vein as 2010’s “Valleys of Neptune,” taken from studio sessions between early 1968 and late 1969. Hendrix died in September of 1970. But let’s face it, when you see the track list here you’re going to recognize half the tracks as ones you already own more than once. The album is not without moments of greatness - the blues jam on this electric version of “Hear My Train A Comin’” is perhaps the best released (so far anyway!). New to most listeners is the song “Somewhere” with Stephen Stills on bass. It only whets your appetite for more of that collaboration, but this collection makes more room for the Hendrix pals Buddy Miles and Billy Cox. There is jazzy noodling and more of an R&B feel to some of these sessions, especially on “Let Me Move You” which features saxophonist Lonnie Youngblood. With every new Hendrix release your status as a die-hard fan is tested. This is not as essential listening as the aforementioned “Valleys of Neptune.” But since you’re a serious fan you’ll probably need them both anyway.

This month comes in like a lion with two noteworthy releases...

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 22:13:49 -0500

This month comes in like a lion with two noteworthy releases from the Dead Guitarists Society. The first of these is “House on Fire: The Jeff Healey Band Demos and Rarities,” which unleashes eleven previously unreleased Jeff Healey Band originals and covers. Die hard fans and eighties movie aficionados waiting for more songs from the Roadhouse movie soundtrack will have to continue holding their breath. These songs are from the 1992-1998 period when Healey was working on “Feel This” and “Cover to Cover.” It’s no Roadhouse rehash. From the opening track, “House on Fire” listeners will be wondering why this music hasn’t seen the light of day sooner. It’s not leftover album filler either. The one-two-three punch of the opening songs: “House on Fire,” “Who’s Been Sleepin’ in My Bed” and “You Go Your Way, I’ll Go Mine” will have you wishing all blues rock releases were this good. The albums biggest problem is the songs get weaker as the album goes on. The songs seem to be sequenced so the best material comes first.

The good news is The Healey Family Estate is promising more releases from Jeff’s extensive archive.

St. Paddy’s Day is this month. Guitar Noise has several...

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 22:00:00 -0500

St. Paddy’s Day is this month. Guitar Noise has several lessons to help you build up your Celtic guitar chops before then.

t’s been a tradition here at Guitar Noise to celebrate New Year...

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 08:11:00 -0500

t’s been a tradition here at Guitar Noise to celebrate New Year pretty much whenever possible! And today marks the end of the Year of the Dragon and the start of the Year of the Snake. If you are turning 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72 or 84 between now and next January 30 – it’s your year!

http://www.guitarnoise.com/blog/happy-new-year-of-the-snake/

How To Learn The Guitar Fretboard And Become A More Creative Musician

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 20:53:57 -0500

How To Learn The Guitar Fretboard And Become A More Creative Musician:

A common challenge that many musicians face is a lack of ability to be expressive and creative in their guitar playing. To make the problem even more painful, you have no doubt also heard the common prediction that it is impossible to improve your level of musical creativity beyond what your natural talent enables you to do. On the surface, the chances of overcoming this problem may seem very low and I recall myself being very frustrated with my lack of progress in this area years ago.

The good news is that musical creativity is a goal that can be achieved by anyone. If you doubt your own potential to become a creative musician and fear that you “lack musical talent,” think about how only people who are not musicians (or at least are not “great” musicians) make such ignorant claims, and nobody among the world’s top guitar players believes in this myth.

Hello to all! And welcome to our first Guitar Noise Podcast for...

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 10:27:57 -0500

Hello to all!

And welcome to our first Guitar Noise Podcast for 2013.

This year, we’ll occasionally use our podcasts to supplement our song lessons. This one explores ways of strumming Green Day’s ”Good Riddance (Time of Your Life),” using combinations of straight strumming and single note picking and also creates a bit of a bass line.

We hope you enjoy the return of our podcasts and, as always, we welcome your thoughts, questions and suggestions.

Peace

You can download the episode here: mp3

Arthel Lane Watson was born in March, 1923 in Deep Gap, North...

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 22:00:50 -0500

Arthel Lane Watson was born in March, 1923 in Deep Gap, North Carolina, a small unincorporated community in Watauga County. This same county, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, was also the birthplace of Albert Green Hopkins, considered by many to be one of the pioneers of hillbilly and country music. Before his first birthday, Watson lost his eyesight. His parents taught him to be able to care for himself and he worked hard to do so.

His parents also brought the joy of music to him. His mother sang, as did his father, who also played banjo. Watson himself would be playing the banjo and harmonica by the time he was five years old.

How to Maximize Your Income from Guitar Teaching

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 22:43:21 -0500

How to Maximize Your Income from Guitar Teaching:

If you are like most guitar teachers, you are struggling to earn enough money in your guitar teaching business. This can cause a lot of frustration because you will often feel as if you are putting out a lot of effort, only to receive very little in return.

This situation often discourages most guitar teachers from doing more to grow their business and they become very pessimistic toward making a lot of money teaching guitar lessons. Fact is, making a great living (over $100k annually) with guitar teaching is a very obtainable goal.

The majority of guitar teachers do not reach this level of success; however everyone, including you, has the potential to do so if you know the right steps to take to expand your own guitar teaching business.

In order to help you get started, I want to show you why most guitar teachers have a hard time making money with guitar lessons. After reading the list below, you will be able to avoid the costly mistakes that other people make while teaching guitar. By knowing what not to do as a guitar teacher, you can make much faster progress toward making a lot more money with guitar lessons.

Taste, Tone, and Technique – Open for Discussion

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 19:41:40 -0500

Taste, Tone, and Technique – Open for Discussion:

You never know what kind of questions and discussions are going to pop up on the Guitar Noise Forum pages. This one was posted over the past weekend.

Making the Least of Resolutions

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 09:00:49 -0500

Making the Least of Resolutions:

So, how are your New Year’s resolutions for 2013 coming along?

Since today is just January 2, hopefully the answer will be “great so far!” or “haven’t started yet because yesterday was a holiday!” Depending on which answer is yours, you have either managed to get through one day while keeping your resolution or are about to start the first day of a “new” you.

A good guitarist varies his or her picking style to fit the...

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 10:16:38 -0500

A good guitarist varies his or her picking style to fit the music at hand. This simple and fun arrangement of “Time of Your Life (Good Riddance)” will help demonstrate the concept of “convenience picking” and give you a lot of practice improving your flatpicking skills.

http://www.guitarnoise.com/lessons/good-riddance/

27 (or so) for 2013

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 08:35:49 -0500

27 (or so) for 2013:

When Paul suggested I might write up some kind of retrospective look at the various articles, lessons, interviews and reviews that have been done on Guitar Noise, I honestly didn’t think all that much about it until I began to realize how much of my life is here. And about how much this website has reached into my everyday life. So as I look back to pick out some lessons that I think may be worth your while, I’m also finding myself revisiting times and places and people who made each article possible, whether through their questions or their inspirations and stories. - David Hodge

We Wish You a Merry Christmas - Chord Melody Arrangement Playing...

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 10:22:12 -0500

We Wish You a Merry Christmas - Chord Melody Arrangement

Playing chord melody-style arrangements is easiest when you work with basic chords you know. This simple arrangement of the traditional English carol “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” is one you’ll be playing in practically no time at all.

http://www.guitarnoise.com/lessons/we-wish-you-a-merry-christmas/

Get all the Guitar Noise Podcasts for free

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:51:53 -0500

We have a little Christmas gift for everybody. Somebody asked us if there was an easy way to download every single podcast on our site. The answer is yes. If you sign up for the free service Dropbox here http://db.tt/t8g5ahb you can get all the files from our shared folder. If you already use Dropbox here is the link to the folder https://www.dropbox.com/sh/futao7znzccisgm/xmK2aUn5MN

We hope you enjoy the podcasts and have yourselves a Merry Christmas.

P.S. We are going to add some brand new podcasts in the new year. Woohooo!

How To Improve Your Upstroke Picking

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 10:09:56 -0500

How To Improve Your Upstroke Picking:

Beginning guitar players often start out picking all notes using only a downstroke picking motion. This lesson will help you develop the other half of the picking equation – upstrokes – and show you the best way to get a better sound, increase your speed and improve your timing.

Sometimes, the simplest guitar riffs result in the most...

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 08:09:53 -0500

Sometimes, the simplest guitar riffs result in the most memorable arrangements. This lesson of “Friend Of The Devil,” a song originally by the Grateful Dead and covered by so many artists (Lyle Lovett and Counting Crows come immediately to mind) that it’s hard to list, will demonstrate how to create a simple, yet cool arrangement using a very easy guitar line.