How to Tune Your Guitar Perfectly (or Damn Near Close to It)

If you’ve ever tuned a guitar using the traditional method of tuning, you’ve probably noticed that the guitar never really gets completely in tune.

For example, it’s very common to get to the end of the tuning process and find that the two e-strings top and bottom don’t agree, or you may find that your g-string never seems to get in tune with the other strings. This can be a problem for both beginner and advanced guitar players.
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Great Fingerstyle Guitarists: 1-Hour Guided YouTube Tour

What you’re about to hear and see is some of the finest finger picking in the world. There are clips here that go back decades to the earliest black and white footage and extend up to 2006. A few of these tracks are performed by skilled YouTubers themselves when a video performance by the actual artist wasn’t available. I’ve noted those as such. All the links below are setup to open in new windows. Ready? More on Great Fingerstyle Guitarists: 1-Hour Guided YouTube Tour

5 Totally Non-Boring Picking Exercises for Guitar Players

Let’s face it. Picking exercises are necessary to build picking speed and dexterity, however they’re usually not much fun, or sound too boring to practice for any useful length of time. If you’re an advanced player, you know what I’m talking about. So, why can’t picking exercises be more interesting? I think they can. Here are 5 exercises that I find will get under your skin and stick with you like a Britney Spears chorus: “I’m a slave 4 you…” Plus, you’ll sound good while you’re playing them, so they’ll be easier on the ears of those around you. More on 5 Totally Non-Boring Picking Exercises for Guitar Players

Guitar Players, Can You Spot the Difference Between Fingerstyle Guitar and Classical Guitar?

So how is classical guitar playing different than fingerstyle? The simple answer is that there is great similarity, for example you play with all of your fingers plucking strings on your right hand, and most of the time the songs aren’t improvised.

However, there are a few key differences which certainly separate the two. It’s kind of like asking what’s the difference between a Ferrari and a Honda. Well, yeah they are both cars, but the difference is in the details. The three key differences are in the material played, the instrument, and the delivery. More on Guitar Players, Can You Spot the Difference Between Fingerstyle Guitar and Classical Guitar?

What is Fingerstyle Guitar, and is It Good for a Beginner?

Have you ever heard one guitar player on an acoustic guitar sound like they were playing 2 or 3 guitars at once? You may have heard a bass line playing and above that a melody and maybe a harmony. It may have seemed impossible the first time you saw it or heard it. Or, you may have heard music like this and never realized it was one guitarists.

Fingerstyle guitar employs some of the techniques of classical guitar (please don’t think that classical is too technical, there are many easy pieces for a beginner), and banjo playing (though stylistically sounding very different). We’ll talk more about what Fingerstyle guitar is in a moment, but first here’s what it’s not. More on What is Fingerstyle Guitar, and is It Good for a Beginner?

Metallica Guitar Amp Settings for Beginner Guitar Players

What You Need

To help duplicate Metallica’s amp settings, make sure your amp has low, high, and mid-range EQ knobs, or you may have just low and high settings, this will work too. You may have these settings on your distortion pedal or effects unit instead, and that okay, you can use these. More on Metallica Guitar Amp Settings for Beginner Guitar Players

Four Skills a Beginner Guitarist Must Learn First

If you’re just starting out playing the guitar, or you’ve been thinking about picking up a guitar you’re probably overwhelmed by the vast magnitudes of guitar tabs, lessons, books, videos, and tools here on the Net. As a beginner it’s pretty hard to know where to start and what to focus on. For some of us who consider ourselves slow learners when it comes to learning a musical instrument it can seem like an impossible task. So…
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How to Make Video of Yourself Playing Guitar

Lately I’ve been working at creating video based lessons on guitar. I like to teach everything from classical, to heavy metal. While I have experience both with recording composed music, and with recording and producing video, I’ve never really put them together before until lately. If you’re looking to record yourself playing guitar at home and publishing it on the YouTubes and Google Videos of the world here’s some helpful tips to make things go smoothly: More on How to Make Video of Yourself Playing Guitar

Guitar Players, Here’s the Secret to That Metallica Sound

Okay, so maybe you’re here because you want to know the secret to getting that heavy “Metallica” guitar sound. There is a secret, actually there’s a few secrets. More on Guitar Players, Here’s the Secrets to That Metallica Sound

Developing Guitar Lessons for Online Learning

Have you ever thought about producing your own guitar lessons. I’ve had the opportunity lately and it was fun. I’ve developed video of the lesson, along with backing tracks, tab and even Guitar PRO scores. However, creating your own lessons is for for the advanced guitarists. If your just beginner guitar player starting for the first time or picking up the guitar after a long while and need a refresher you’ll need lessons yourself. I highly recommend Louise Slavic’s Guitar Made Easy ebook. You will literally learn to play in 2 hours. You can read my review here.