What I want to discuss is the C-A-G-E-D guitar system, a method of learning the guitar for beginning students, based on five basic chord forms and scale shapes that teach students all of the note locations on the fingerboard. The fundamental concept is to first learn five basic guitar chords – chords that everyone inevitably ends … Read more
DADGAD “the other standard tuning” is very popular among acoustic fingerstyle guitarists. The name “DADGAD” spells out the tunings of the guitar’s six strings. In normal tuning, the guitar is tuned, EADGBE. To get to DADGAD, both E strings are tuned down a whole step to D, and the B string is tuned down a … Read more
DADGAD is becoming such a popular alternate tuning for acoustic guitarists that’s it’s called “the other standard tuning.” Mel Bay Presents Understanding DADGAD for Fingerstyle Guitar offers a clearly-explained introduction to playing fingerstyle DADGAD guitar. See the post, Guitar Players Who Have Tuned in DADGAD. The book starts out with the basics: how to get your guitar … Read more
One of the best ways to get started playing guitar is with guitar method books. Most guitar method books come in a series and book one is written for complete beginners, new to the guitar. Originally guitar method books were written for students studying with a teacher. Now, they often come with CDs and/or DVDs … Read more
What is a neck joint?The neck joint is the point on a guitar where the neck meets the body. The neck and the body on a solidbody electric guitar can be joined in a number of different ways, each making for different tonal and playing characteristics.Set NeckThe first solid body electric guitars featured set necks. … Read more
Mel Bay’s Guitar Method is a long-standing and popular method for learning guitar. The entire Mel Bay guitar method series is seven volumes and aims to build the theoretical and technical foundation needed to play guitar in any style. All seven volumes (or grades) of this method are written in standard notation to encourage better … Read more
Procrastination is the biggest enemy of many beginner guitarists. Typically, after someone has bought their first guitar and had their first few lessons, they will lock themselves in their room for hours and practice until their fingertips are too sore to keep playing. But after a couple of months, once the initial excitement has worn … Read more
A Modern Method for Guitar by William Leavitt is the basic text for the Berklee College of Music guitar program. This method series has stood the test of time and earned a vast and loyal following of dedicated guitar students and instructors. Volume 1 comes with a DVD-ROM, and volume 2 comes with an audio … Read more
There’s nothing better than getting kids involved in music. Ideally, you’ll be able to find a teacher who has experience with children. But if that’s not possible, you can get your kids started with these method books. Kids under 10 may find traditional guitar method books a bit too challenging. These three methods are designed … Read more
While it’s certainly possible to tune your guitar by ear, most guitarists will find having an electronic tuner to be convenient and helpful. Compared to tuning by ear, using an electronic tuner is a much simpler process. It won’t do anything to develop your ear, so you should still learn to tune without one, but in … Read more