The internet is becoming a mainstream source for most every task that was once done manually. Each day, individuals use the video-sharing website, Youtube, to blog about their days and tell others how to do things. These videos are becoming increasingly popular, as the traditional way to learn about things and experience situations are becoming a thing of the past.

Tasks such as playing the guitar are now becoming web-based events. Using Youtube to play guitar is very rapidly becoming a favorite past time of many individuals for a few different reasons.

Using Youtube to Play Guitar Makes Learning Easier

For many individuals, the possibility of attending guitar lessons is just simply not possible for any number of reasons. Whether it’s living situation limitations, transportation issues, or finance troubles, guitar lessons can prove to be quite the investment

Using Youtube to play guitar enables users to access free and in-depth videos that provide essentially face to face interaction, without having to worry about travelling anywhere or having a set time that they are required to attend a lesson. Having the ability to use Youtube to play guitar has greatly changed things for those who are interested in trying their hand at a new hobby.

For the Advanced Player: Using Youtube to Play Guitar and Enhance your Skills

For a seasoned guitar player, it is understood that the key to becoming the best you can be is by constantly challenging yourself. The use of Youtube to play guitar helps these individuals to push themselves and experience different songs and tab combinations that they may not be able to otherwise attempt and in the long run, master.

Using Youtube to play guitar is a wonderful option for just about everyone. Whether you are just starting out and don’t even know any chords, or you are a master guitar player who is constantly looking for their next song to conquer, using the videos available on Youtube to play guitar can help to enhance your skills regardless of your level of expertise on the subject.

We have all been amazed by the talents of electric guitar players around the world. From Slash and Hendrix, to the UK band DragonForce. These gifted artists share a passion and art with the world that can make jaws drop and heads turn. If you want to learn to play electric guitar like the pros, there are a few simple steps that will help you on your way.

Skipping The Lessons: The First Step To Learn To Play Electric Guitar

Many people decide to use classes to learn to play electric guitar. While this is a good choice for some, other people feel it is best to learn to play electric guitar on their own. As you look at some of the professionals, it seems as though playing guitar is easy and will come to you over night. You couldn’t be more wrong. Professional guitar players spend years perfecting their talent, and are never completely done doing so. So the first step to learning to play electric guitar is patience.

Learn To Play Guitar On Your Own: Riffs

Once you understand what a long and difficult road it is to learn to play electric guitar, you are ready to begin the real work.

Riffs are the heartbeat of music in the guitar world, and learning them is your first step on becoming a real guitar player. You can purchase books at a music store, and even online some places they offer videos showing you just how to play many different riffs. Remember to experiment with different genres, the more you broaden your horizons the better.

Once you have begun to master the more simple riffs, challenge yourself! When you learn to play electric guitar it’s important to step outside of your comfort zone every once in a while and truly push yourself. Remember that no one gets anything on the first try, and everyone that you see up on stage performing today all had to practice until their fingers bled, just like you.

Graduating From The Smaller Stuff

After you have mastered riffs, it is time to move onto real songs. While it may seem intimidating at first, the most important, and final step while you learn to play electric guitar. Remember to push yourself, and that practice really does make perfect. Before you know it, you’ll feel like a professional!

So, you want to learn to play bass guitar but you don’t exactly know where to start. You may even think that this is a difficult instrument to play but, fortunately, this is not so. Your efforts to learn to play bass guitar will be rewarded so well that you may even feel a tinge of regret that you did not learn sooner.

Where can you start in your quest to learn to play bass guitar? A great place to begin is by getting to know the bass guitar’s parts. Think of it as knowing all the parts on a piano including individual keys and basic chords, before becoming a virtuoso.

Here are the three basic parts that you must first know before you can truly learn to play bass guitar.

Learn To Play Bass Guitar: Start with the Strings

Obviously, the bass guitar is a stringed instrument. The standard bass guitar has 4 strings that are tuned to different note values – one string for one note value, that is. These note values are, from thickest to thinnest,  E, A, D and G. However, you can find lessons provided for students who want to learn to play bass guitar also designate it as 1,2,3,4 primarily for convenience’s sake.

Learn To Play Bass Guitar: Move to the Frets

Then there are the frets. These are the small metal strips which divide the bass guitar’s neck into individual sections from top to bottom. Together with the strings, the frets make a grid pattern on the bass guitar’s entire neck. Your first step in how to learn to play bass guitar is often placing your finger on a single string in between 2 frets, thus, creating a note. The further up the neck towards the guitar body the frets are, the higher the notes will sound.

Learn To Play Bass Guitar: Amplify It

We suggest getting the right kind of amplifier when you want to learn to play bass guitar. This way, you can actually hear what it is you are playing and be able to play the right notes. Keep the sound to a minimum when you are still learning the intricacies of the instrument. The idea is for you to hear what you’re playing – not the whole neighborhood.

When you have become friends with these parts, so to speak, you will be able to learn to play bass guitar faster and better.

Playing guitar for beginners can seem like such a daunting task to some. Other may find it stifling to be held back to learning individual notes, rather than learning to play really cool song. One of the best ways to begin learning about playing guitar for beginners is to enroll in a class that allows you to progress at your own pace.

Of course, your success in playing guitar for beginners is largely dependent on your personal motivation. Your teacher can only do so much in motivating you to become successful at playing guitar for beginners’ exercises. The good news is that if you choose the right course that allows you to actually begin learning real songs to play rather than stick to boring exercises, you may well become the next Dimebag Darrell, Alexi Laiho or whoever your idol is when it comes to guitar virtuosity.

Tips for Playing Guitar for Beginners

Even before enrolling in a class with ‘playing guitar for beginners’ as the curriculum, you must set yourself a defined goal. It will serve as your guidepost in whether you are succeeding in your chosen endeavor and the ways that you can enhance your success. Keep in mind that a playing guitar for beginners class is just the first step in your journey so it helps to have a map.

When setting your goal in a playing guitar for beginners class, think of the SMART acronym. A SMART goal is one that is: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Bound. So, your goal for playing guitar for beginners can be stated as: “I will master the basic strings and notes of the guitar within a month of practice”.

Of course, your goal for the duration of the playing guitar for beginners program will change from one week to the next. Just keep at it and keep adjusting your goals, and you will find that your success becomes your best motivator.

Playing Guitar for Beginners Made Easier

Playing guitar for beginners isn’t always about learning those intricate riffs your idols play. In fact, many of the earlier lessons seem slow to some people. Don’t get impatient with exercises that have you picking strings over and over.

Instead, reward yourself for getting through the basics. It may be a new guitar CD or even a new guitar as reward. The most important thing is that focus on achieving specific goals to help you stay motivated while in the playing guitar for beginners program, but giving yourself a small reward for each milestone reached along the way will keep you going.

Simply amazing cover of the popular Toto song – Africa.

It’s not everyday you see talent like this…

Learning to tune you guitar is imperative to your guitar playing. It is the most important part of playing your guitar, because if the guitar is not in tune, then neither is your playing.

As a beginner, it can sometimes be a aspect of the guitar which is overlooked and can sometimes contribute to lack of wanting to pick up the guitar due to poor sound.

One of the best investments a beginner, or any level of guitar player can make, is purchasing a guitar tuner.

But using a guitar tuner is not the only way to tune your guitar.

There are some simple ways for tuning like the 5th fret technique, harmonics and a few others. Each of which should be practiced regularly to lay a good foundation for training ones ear and allowing you to tune your guitar in any combination you choose.

Below is an interactive tuner if you do not have a Guitar tuner. Simply turn up your speakers and fire away.

Now that you have played with standard guitar tuning, its time to take a look at some other popular tunings you may come across.

Drop D Tuning – DADGBE

Probably the most common tuning outside of the standard 6 string tuning is drop D. It is commonly used in alternative styles and is commonly used with bands such as Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Deftones and many more.

The reason it is so popular is it gives a nice grungy sound when distorted and allows the player to easily form a bar chord with the top 3 strings. It is easily achieved using the 5th fret tuning method, with the exceptiong of tuning the low E string down on the 7th fret instead of the 5th fret.

Drop C Tuning – CGCFAD

Tuning to Drop C tuning is practically the same as tuning to Drop D, other than the whole 6 strings of the guitar sit 2 semi tones down. This offers a heavier sound than Drop D.

Tuning to drop C can be easily achieved using the basis of the 5th fret method. Tuning the Low E down to D on the 7th fret as we did with the drop D tuning offers us a starting point to this form of tuning.

Once the guitar is in drop D, tune the other five stings down as you would normally do with the 5th fret method. You will now find that your guitar is now tuned 2 semi tones down.

All that you have to do now is drop the low string down again on the 7th fret to give you the drop c.

Open G Tuning – DGDGBD

Open C Tuning – CGCGCE

I thought I would pass on a few videos of both Mick Thomson and James Roots of the Grammy award winning band – Slipknot.

The videos below demonstrate Mick playing the song – Surfacing – and gives a description of the effects which he uses to get the sounds for the songs.

The other videos are some I found of both Mick and James fooling around on the guitar. I hope you enjoy…

Mick Thomson’s signature guitar – In this video Guitar World’s gear editor Paul Riario demonstrates the features of the Seymour Duncan Mick Thompson Blackout pickups.

Jim Roots and Mick Thomson talk to guitar world about the gear they use and their setups