Options On Practicing Quietly

Countless times I’ve been told to "KEEP THAT RACKET DOWN". Unfortunately some people may not appreciate your need to express your musical ideas and abilities on the guitar as much as others. It’s also sometimes important to keep the relationship with these people reasonably healthy, whether it’s your neighbors, flat mates, your wife, parents or whoever. There are several ways to keep your practice for your ears only.

It also largely depends on what kind of gear you’re using and where your practicing. If you’re playing electric guitar with an amp, it depends on what kind of amp you have and what settings you put your amp on. A lot of amps come with the option of plugging in headphones. This is probably your best bet for practicing without upsetting anyone else. You have to be careful with headphones and the volume at which you play. This is because the sound is now traveling straight down into your eardrums whereas when you just play normally the sound travels out the amp and has a chance to bounce around the room and dissipate slightly. So be careful. Try and invest in some headphones that allow for the protection of your ears.

Another thing about amps is that they allow you to adjust the volume of your playing. So depending on how loud you need to have your amp while you practice, you can also just turn your amp down, but then you can lose the effect a little if you’re trying to "rock out".

You can also just have you guitar unplugged and practice that way. On most electric guitars you will get a little bit of sound just from the strings un-amplified. It’s not much but it does mean you’re sure to not upset anybody.

If you’re using an acoustic this problem may not apply to you. If people are complaining about your practice, try and find an area where you won’t disturb them. Usually if you just play in your room with the door closed you shouldn’t upset too many people with the volume. If this is still a problem you can stuff your acoustic with small pillows and this will deaden the sound quite a bit.

Another option is you find somewhere where you can play at whatever volume you want where you aren’t going to upset anyone. This could be space in a commercial area so no-one gets upset if you play loud. Practice rooms are available for hire at many music centers but this can be a problem because of transporting gear and also you have to pay every time.

There is a more extreme option in dealing with the volume of your practicing. What you can do is find some cheap foam mattresses and sound proof your room or your current practice space. The best way is to cover the windows first and then your door. If you have enough, cover your walls as well. Old carpet and large rugs are also quite good for dampening sound. You want to try and keep your room useable as well so try not to go too overboard. If you can store the mattresses in a cupboard or somewhere out of sight, that’s probably going to help.

Hints for Buying a Second Hand Guitar

Publisher note: I found this good article on buying a second hand guitar. It is important to note that buying a second hand guitar is tricky and you should have an experienced guitar "person" look at the guitar before you purchase it.

Often cheaper than a new guitar and just as ready to rock out, a secondhand guitar could be the perfect addition to your collection or the perfect thing to start you off, but how do you know that your potential purchase isn’t a potential dud?

The truth is that some fantastic guitars, while expensive when new, are relatively cheap secondhand. Sometimes you can find a custom or a limited edition guitar that someone is selling quickly for the cash and you can often get a real bargain if you know what you are looking for. It really pays to do the research before thinking about buying a second hand guitar as some sellers will push their price up to cash in, especially if they know they are selling to a beginner who may not know much about guitars.

So, as a beginner who may not know much about guitars, what should you look for when inspecting a secondhand guitar?

Let’s just say that you have found a secondhand guitar in the musical instrument section of the weekly classifieds and you are quite keen to go and take a look at it. Below is a list of hints that will help you when inspecting the guitar and talking to the seller:

When talking to the seller, ask them the following:

* The make and model of the guitar - It is best if you can do some research on the guitar model to find out the asking price elsewhere, both new and used, and whether or not other people are experiencing problems with it. You can find reviews for almost any guitar submitted at www.harmony-central.com/Guitar or you can go and ask at your local music store.
* About the condition of the guitar - If they are honest, the seller may tell you about any damage that is undetectable upon rough inspection.
* How long they have had the guitar - If they have had it for a long time, they should have a good knowledge of its history of use, repairs and maintenance etc. If they are not forthcoming with that sort of information, they may be trying to pull one over you.

When inspecting the guitar, check the following:

The overall condition - Look the guitar over and make note of any obvious damage - guitars often take a bit of wear and tear and if it's just small scrapes and scratches then the guitar will probably be fine. Look for rust also, not on the strings, but on the hardware holding the strings and the pickups. If there is any rust in these places- run! It’s not worth it. What good is a guitar that may fall apart on you in the near future? Trust me - leave it alone.The neck of the guitar - the neck is really important. Here are some areas to look at:

* Make sure that the neck is not warped or out of shape in any way.
* Check the area where the neck joins to the body of the guitar - look for cracks where it may have been broken in the past.
* In the same fashion, check the area where the neck joins the head of the guitar.
* Check the action:

Action is a word that describes how close the strings are to the fret board starting at the head of the guitar all the way down to the bridge. It is preferable to have the strings very close to the fret board as to make it easier to press them down (not so close that they are touching of course). If the strings are nice and close to the fret board all the way along, you would say that the guitar has a good action. Pictured right is a guitar with poor action. Notice that the strings sit quite far off the fret board. Guitars with poor action are harder to play and don’t sound very good. You can fix the action on your guitar by taking it to a guitar technician, but it will cost you between $20 and $50.

* The Intonation of the strings - Intonation is a word that describes the accuracy of each individual note that the guitar can produce on any string. If the intonation is correct, every note on the guitar will be the correct pitch - If it is out, the guitar will be impossible to tune and it will sound horrible. To roughly check the intonation, play the E shape barre chord on each fret of the guitar. As you move towards the bridge of the guitar, you should hear the chord keeping its pitch - if not, the intonation is out and you will need to get a guitar technician to work on the problem.

If the guitar you are looking at is an electric, you must plug it in and see how it sounds through an amp. Ask the seller if you can play it through your amp and if you don’t have one, ask someone if you can borrow theirs. Try the following when testing an electric guitar through an amp:

* Turn the amp up to a fair volume level and then play with the volume and tone controls by turning them to full and then back to zero. Test the pickup selector by flicking its switch back and forth. Carefully listen to any sounds that are being made while doing these things. You are looking for scratchy sounds or clicks that might indicate old or worn electrics.
* Strum a single chord and while the chord is ringing start playing with the controls like before, still listening for scratches or clicks or any other nasty sounds. Guitar technicians can fix these problems and most guitars need to be done about once every 5 - 10 years. Just be aware of this fact or you could find yourself spending more money than you first intended.
* Check the sound of the guitar - Before you buy, you want to know that the guitar sounds like it should? Once you have tested the guitar sound, go to a music store and ask to play on a new model of that guitar. If at all possible, use a similar amplifier to the one that you tested the second hand guitar on, and see if you notice any BIG differences. There is a simple rule that I like to follow: If you’re not happy with the guitar sound- Don’t buy it!

The most important thing to remember when shopping for any guitar is... Don’t shop impulsively. A guitar is a major purchase and you want to get the right one. Leave yourself time to go away and think about the purchase. If you have doubts when checking out a guitar, you are probably better to leave it and hold out for something that better suits you.

If you are new to the guitar and a little worried about testing guitar in public - don’t worry. It is important to remember that you are not there to showcase your playing ability - you are there to discern whether your proposed buy is a good deal or not so just go for it.

If you are still worried, take an experienced guitarist along with you when you are looking at a possible purchase. See if you can persuade a teacher or a friend - most musicians love to help newbies. Not only will they be able to offer helpful advice - they will be good moral support when it’s time to pick up the guitar and test it out in public.

Hints for Buying a New Guitar

Whether you're buying your first guitar, upgrading or simply adding to your collection, your first priority is to do your homework. There are many different resources available and you should endeavor to use them all. Guitar magazines are a good place to find out prices and specifications on different models of guitar. You can get similar knowledge from browsing at your local instrument shop. Another great tool is the internet - you can check for the most competitive prices, get some information on the manufacturers and search for other guitarist's reviews and opinions.

You really need to arm yourself well before you try haggling with your local guitar salesman.

Often you can find online auctions where guitars sell for incredibly low prices; however, I wouldn't advise you to take this option. As a rule you should always play before you buy so that you get a chance to gauge performance.

Once you've got the background knowledge that you need on the guitar of your choice the next task is to set yourself a budget and stick to it. Don't let salespeople talk you into spending more money than you anticipated.

Testing out new guitars in the shop can be an intimidating task for beginners. It is important to remember that you are not there to showcase your playing ability - you are there to discern whether your proposed buy is a good deal or not. Check the frets for buzzing by playing each one. Make sure that the neck is not warped by looking down it as if you were sighting a gun. Check that all of the volume and tone switches etc. are in good working condition.

It is a great idea to take an experienced guitarist along with you when you are looking at a possible purchase, so see if you can persuade a teacher of friend. Not only will they be able to offer helpful advice - they will be good moral support when it's time to pick up the guitar and test it out in public.

Cleaning Your Guitar

If you could play your guitar without touching it you wouldn't have to clean it. Just take some time to clean your guitar each time you play it. This will extend the its life and can prevent any number of problems in the future.


First make sure you use a soft cloth, preferably cotton. There are flannel cloths at most music store that work great and can be used on any instrument. One idea is to use an old clean T-shirt. Make sure when using a T-shirt that you are not cleaning with the printed area facing the guitar this can scratch the guitar. Don't use paper towels they can also scratch the guitar finish. Disposable shop towels work great as well but they are a little on the expensive side for a through away.

Wiping down your guitar after you play will keep your guitar looking new. For hard to reach areas such as under the strings, use a ruler and wrap with a soft cloth. In regards to the guitar strings, you can increase the tuning life if you clean them
aggressively each time you play. Just wrap the cloth around each string and wipe down the length of the string.

Keep the fingerboard clean by just wiping the whole board down strings included.

After cleaning the guitar you notice areas that just didn't clean well like smudges, etc. Just add a little moisture and a mild detergent. Add this to a cloth and do not add directly to the guitar. You want to use as little moisture as possible to keep from getting moisture in the areas that could cause damage.

After cleaning just buff the guitar down again with a dry cloth to remove any additional streaks caused by the moisture process.

Now that was easy wasn't it?

For more information on electric guitars, log on to their website at www.elecguitars.com

About the Author: Robert Shawn is a writer and marketer for a number of information resource directories.

Guitar Practicing or Guitar Playing? Part 2

Don’t turn your amp up to 11 and play every solo you know. This is playing the guitar not practicing the guitar. It might be fun and a great way to blow off some steam, but it won’t improve your skills.

Don’t let practice get stale. You need a variety of things to keep your mind from wondering. Practice your scales for an hour then work on chords or music theory. Mix it up. Just be sure not to over do any one area because you’ll get bored and at that point your practice won’t be as effective.

Don’t just go through the motions. Part of a good practice session is finding problems and figuring out solutions. If you’re having trouble fingering a particular chord, then analyze the problem and try to find a solution. You might think that your fingers are to small or weak, when the reality is that you only need to improve your technique. When I first learned to make barre chords I had a rough time making all six strings sound clear. Now I can make them all sound clear with very little effort. I would also add that I don’t believe my hand strength has much to do with it at all.

Use a metronome when practicing. This will help you improve your timing and make everything sound better.

Learn the basics first. If your beginning guitar you should know and understand the basic relationship between chords and scales. This will help you to better understand the logic of the chord patterns when you learn songs and what scale you should use to solo over top of that particular chord pattern. Check out my lesson “Guitar Scales and Chord Triads” at “www.guitarmetal.com” for a visual reference that might help.

Pick a time of day to practice when you feel most alert. If you’re groggy or unfocused, your practice efforts will be compromised. You might work better if you break up your practice session into several times throughout the day. For example, maybe practice an hour in the morning and a couple hours in the evening. You know when you feel the most alert so take advantage of those times.

Be prepared with things to work on. Don’t just sit down and noodle around for a couple of hours. Before you sit down you should already know what you’re going to work on. This will help maximize your time.

Beginning Guitar Lessons

Edward D Cupler is the owner of guitar lessons website guitarmetal.com Offering free guitar lessons to beginners and advanced students.

Guitar Practicing or Guitar Playing? Part 1

Just because you’re holding your guitar doesn’t mean that you’re playing it, and just because you’re playing your guitar doesn’t mean that you’re practicing. There is a real difference and it needs to be acknowledged if you want to improve your level of playing skill. Some people say they have spent the entire day practicing their guitar when in reality, all they’ve done was sit in front of the TV all day eating cheesy poofs. The sad thing is that they really do believe it was practicing since they had their guitar on their lap next to their cheesy poofs all day. Most of us know someone who does this and we may even be guilty ourselves.

In order to truly improve your skills you really need to avoid any distractions, no TV, no food, no friends and no phone. Just you, a guitar, an amp and maybe some reference materials. Speaking of amps, keep the distortion turned down. Remember, this is practice, not playing. The distortion will only hide your mistakes. You need to hear your mistakes clearly so you can correct them.

If you’re a beginner you might want to practice basic guitar scales or guitar chords. Make sure you have the necessary reference material handy so you don’t spend your time doing things wrong. Keep in mind that what you practice is reinforced so if you’re practicing your scales wrong, then you’ve not only wasted your time; you’ve also reinforced your mistakes.

So what should you practice? Since I’ve never heard you play I can’t tell you what you need to improve on, but I can make suggestions to make your practice more effective.

Edward D Cupler is the owner of guitar lessons website guitarmetal.com Offering free guitar lessons to beginners and advanced students.

Buying the Right Guitar

Buying the right guitar can be a lot more difficult than it seems. That's because there are a lot of them to choose from; electric, acoustic, classical, folk, hollow body, semi-hollow body, solid body, 12-string, and 7 string just to name the more common ones. Which one is right for you?

First, it will be important for you to know the type of music you are interested in playing. If you are only interested in screaming solos, you could probably just focus on an electric guitar. If you like playing folk music, a steel string acoustic would be an excellent choice. What about Classical and finger picking? A Classical guitar is definitely what you need. In any case, know the music you want to play and that will also help you choose the right guitar.

When choosing your guitar, there are several factors to consider:
·Price
·Playability
·Sound
·Looks.
Which is the most important? They are ALL important in their own way!
Play Guitar in 7 Days Guaranteed. Go to www.guitars-on-line.com to learn more!
In no particular order of merit, here are the reasons:
1. If you are on a budget, then obviously the price you intend to pay is important! Most of us have wallets with limits! This is self-explanatory.
2. The playability of a guitar (how EASY it is to play) is important. Are the strings close to the fret board? Is the neck a comfortable fit for your hand size? Is the body shape comfortable to hold? This will also make a big impact on your progress as a guitar player. Anything that hinders your progress can be disheartening and should be eliminated.

3. Sound; Do the notes ring out on the guitar and sustain (last long before dying out)? Does the guitar sound fat and full, or bright and thin? What sort of tone do you want? For example - Rock and Metal players often favor fat, full sounding guitars.

4. Are looks important? You bet! You want to look at your guitar and think it's cool. Playing something that looks like a dog will not inspire you! Also, the look of a guitar can be important for the image associated with a certain type of music. Like we mentioned earlier, Telecaster shaped guitars are often associated with traditional blues and country playing - Les Paul-shaped guitars are often associated with classic rock, Flying V guitars are usually associated with heavy metal.

With that said the first place to start is whether to buy new or used. There are advantages and disadvantages to each, but generally the primary difference would be your budget. Stay flexible here and be on the lookout for good deals. It is important to note however, that guitars do tend to hold their value over time as long as they are well cared for and have no significant dings, dents or other damage.

You can check out some excellent guitars at my website www.guitars-on-line.com. There is also a section for auctions, so go take a look.
Nonetheless, you can usually expect to pay slightly less for a used guitar versus a new and comparable guitar. The downside to buying used is that there will undoubtedly be wear on necks, frets, fingerboards, and pick guards, and there could also be hidden or less noticeable damage.

You can find multitudes of places on the Internet as well as in newspapers, and magazines for used guitars. However, one often overlooked place where great deals can be found is at pawnshops, flea markets, and swap meets. Keep this in mind when you begin your shopping. I have found some of the very best deals at the local pawnshop.

There are many affordable new guitars on the market today as well, and these should not be overlooked. Despite the slightly higher price, buying new is usually less risky when it comes to quality. But that is not to say all new guitars are good. One advantage to buying new is you will get a warranty. So it's worth comparing the new guitars in your price range to the used ones.
You can often get a decent new acoustic guitar worthy of a beginner for right around $100 and no more than $150. I would expect to pay about 10-20% less for a comparable used instrument. Check out some excellent guitars at my website www.guitars-on-line.com and you may also consider some of the package deals for an extra value.

Always buy a case! There are two types: Hard-Shell and Soft-Shell. You should opt for hard-shell. New cases can run between $50 and $75, and sometimes you can get them thrown in the deal, it’s always worth asking the salesman. If you do not buy a case you can rest assured that you will get dings and scratches, and it is also more difficult to safely move your guitar from place to place.

Choose a guitar that has the strings close to the fretboard or playing will be difficult. However, if they are too close then they will produce a buzz and affect the tone produced. Be sure that it produces a clear sound, with no buzzes at any of the frets, and that the guitar is constructed of high quality wood, so the neck doesn't "warp”.

Woods to look for include hardwoods such as Ash, Mahogany, Cherry, Maple, Rosewood, and Birch. These are some of the more common, and the key is looking for hardwoods. Not only does this help to resist dings, it also improves tone.

Generally, my recommendation to beginning guitar players is first learn on a nylon string acoustic guitar. These are also called Classical Guitars. The reasons I recommend nylon acoustics are first, Classical guitars use nylon strings, and nylon strings are easier on the fingertips than steel strings. After you've played an hour straight you'll know what I'm talking about. Imagine a thin piece of wire being pressed against your tender skin and then moved back and forth like a saw. Ouch! Now imagine a soft nylon string and you can easily see why I recommend nylon.

Don't get me wrong, your fingertips will hurt regardless, and that's ok. All guitar players need calluses on the fingertips. And you will very quickly develop them if you persist in your playing. But nylon strings will make a significant difference in how painful it can be, and it will ultimately let you practice a little longer before you can't take anymore.

Second, the neck is wider on classical style guitars. Although this may seem to make playing more difficult initially, it actually helps with finger placement and the always troublesome issue of fingers touching other strings and muting them. This is especially true on electric guitars which have a much narrower neck. By having more space between strings you have less chance of this occurring. In addition, wider necks will help build dexterity in your fingers quicker too.

Finally, when you start with a nylon acoustic guitar you don't need to buy an amplifier or any other accessories to go with it. You can play it anywhere and hear it loud and clear, thus saving you money, allowing for more mobility, and producing clear sounds to hear your true playing style and progress. All these add up to my recommendation that beginner guitar players start with a classical style guitar.

If you must buy an electric guitar first time out, and you have no interest in an acoustic, you will be faced with many choices of guitars, amplifiers, and hordes of other pieces of equipment. While much of the gadgetry is fun, the SINGLE most important part of your setup is still the guitar itself.

Regardless of how much money you have to spend, try to get the best guitar you can - even if it means not being able to afford an amplifier to begin with! Unless you are playing in a band, you don't really need an amp to start off with, and the better your guitar is, the easier and more enjoyable your learning experience will be!

Remember how it is in most cases - you generally get what you pay for! However, with these few key points in mind, you can have confidence that the right guitar with the right price and right quality can be found.

Michael Setz: Founder of Guitars-on-line.com and author of the eBook "Play Guitar in 7 Days". Award winning guitar player and professional musician for over 20 years.