Archive for December, 2011

Learning Drop ‘D’ Tuning or Open ‘D’ Tuning

drop-d-tuningOur Christmas jam was such a blast. I was invited to a guitar jam at my friend Jason’s place. He was having a few guitar friends over for a little jam and lots of food and booze. He had his place all decked out with Christmas ornaments everywhere.

Ho Ho Ho Jason and thanks for the invite.

I don’t think we could have crammed many more people in his entertainment room in his basement. So much fun.

It wasn’t long before people were making requests. Someone asked us if we could play Copperhead Road by Steve Earle. And immediately we all started to play it but Jason stopped us and said. “If we’re going to do it let’s try something new and tune to to Drop ‘D’ tuning.


I never get tired of Copperhead Road by Steve Earle.

I really like that song and have always played it in standard E tuning, which is how I play everything. Now I understand why I couldn’t play some songs while listening to the song playing.

Standard ‘E’ tuning looks like the following: 6-E, 5-A, 4-D, 3-G, 2-B, 1-E

Drop ‘D’ tuning looks like the following: 6-D, 5-A, 4-D, 3-G, 2-B, 1-E, with just the low E string being dropped to a D.

In just a couple of minutes we all had it set to go and started playing Copperhead Road and what a difference in the song. It sounded so much richer in Drop D tuning.

Jason say how impressed I was with that so later while we were taking a break he told me about Open D tuning and showed me that. I made sure I wrote this one down as it was more than one string being changed.

Open ‘D’ tuning looks like the following: 6-D, 5-A, 4-D, 3-F#, 2-A, 1-D

Now that was pretty cool and fun. He then played a bunch of great stuff using just one finger to barre the frets for such a cool sound.

Jason did his tuning in seconds, by ear and just made me jealous because I have to use a tuner to get the job done.

While I was writing this little post I checked Youtube to find a good video on Drop D tuning and found a lot of them so my suggestion is to head over to Youtube and search for ‘drop d tuning’ as well as open d tuning. Then find some some songs that are played in Drop ‘D’ tuning.

Songs I am learning in Drop ‘D’ tuning.

  1. Steve Earle’s Copperhead Road
  2. John Denver’s Rocky Mountain High

Well that was fun. I love Youtube as there are so many lessons available for free. If you prefer to get straight to learning without the Youtube videos they take a look at two great guitar lesson sites. Jamorama is the first in my books and then JamPlay comes in at a close second but which every you choose you will learn all this cools stuff.

A Quick Review Of The Yamaha APX500

This review of the Yamaha APX500 is designed to let you see if this really is the acoustic guitar for you. With there being so many out there on the market it is always wise to read up what others think before you go and part with any of your cash.

To begin with the price is very fair indeed as there are certainly many other makes on the market that are going to cost you a lot more if you want an electro acoustic guitar. Do not however think that because it is not as expensive as others that it will be missing something as that really is not the case at all.

You will be very surprised at the tone you get from this model as it really is perfect and it will also be very comfortable for you to hold as well as play. It should be able to suit various styles of music and can be used by experienced people as well as those looking to just switch to this form of guitar.

The frets and tuning plugs are nice and tight and you really can just lift it out of the box and start playing it. It may not be the fanciest guitar out there on the market but this is mainly due to them focusing on getting the basics right in order to get that perfect sound.

Its versatility is what makes it suitable for a range of people and it is fair to say that within this genre of guitars it really is one of the best out there. The only problem you may encounter is if you are continually playing low notes as due to the thinner body it could struggle at times.

Overall though it should be fair to say that the Yamaha APX500 electro acoustic guitar is certainly one you should consider purchasing no matter what level of playing you are at. You will be able to do some amazing things with it even when it is fresh out the box.

If you’re currently looking for acoustic guitar reviews, or also a black acoustic guitar, please visit our website.

The Yamaha C40 acoustic guitar is usually assembled in Indonesia by Luther’s of Yamaha motor marketing Japan company Ltd  under the careful guidelines, specifications and instructions from Yamaha.

The guitar falls within the C series, crafted to give amazing superb tonalities at affordable rates.

Yamaha Guitar Type

This guitar is classified in the “Classical guitar” category, owing to its nylon strings and other strong  features of classical guitar.

Other features are the lack of a pick guard as principally classical guitars are played by finger plucking. Its fingerboard is also bigger (just like other classical guitars) as compared to the common acoustic guitars-

Yamaha C40 Quality And Features

Its has been widely agreed by accomplished  and armature guitar players that the luthiers did a  pretty good job on the design and finish of this guitar.

The  Yamaha C40,acoustic guitar has been carefully crafted into 19 neatly arranged frets resting on a smoothly finished, rose wood, fingerboard. The fingerboard stretches to two and a half (2.5) inches at the nut. It allows strings of of up-to 650 mm in length

The guitar has well finished tops, sides and back tops . It owes it’s smooth, glossy and shiny tops to the spruce wood, while the back and its sides have mahogany finish.

Its tuning pegs are plastic made and are white in color. The color makes them easily noticeable as the body is of brown color. The tuning pegs are open in nature, carefully fitted and with easy to tune gears.

The neck to the Yamaha C40 acoustic guitar is of non-solid nature and made from Nato wood, finely and softly finished

Affordability of The Yamaha C40

While prices may vary from one place to another depending on a different factors the guitar has managed to remain quite affordable. Its is however advisable to buy the instrument from Yamaha accredited shops or any other widely recognized music instrument store in your area.

The C40’s Ease of Play Tor Beginners

Many find the guitar to be quite friendly when it comes to its playing. The neck is usually softly crafted to allow ease of sliding of the thumb finger to allow change of chords.

However, its neck might be a little be wider compared to the acoustic steel guitars, making it difficult for a new player to it to adapt. Above all, it becomes easy and comfortable to a player who keeps at at it with patience.

The Yamaha C40 Tonality

The nylon strings and the resonator combine to give a crisp clean tonality that one may not expect from this affordable guitar.

The guitar gives easily recognizable Spanish guitar tonality making it to be easily usable in several styles and genres of music like Latin music, Salsa, Rhumba, classical guitar and finger style guitar, and soft rock strumming where needed.

Shortcomings of The Yamaha C40

Albeit, the strengths to this amazingly crafted instrument, a number of shortcomings are attached to it. Top on the list that many have experienced is the seemingly weak body. The may appear to be strong and beautiful by sight but this has proved not to be the case.

It also has the disadvantage of lacking a guitar strap button. This means that one can only enjoy playing the instrument while playing the instrument sited unless one improvises and adds one. This will definitely affect the clear finish of the guitar.

It’s top finish is also made of cheap material that result to ease of dents and scratches from almost any falls
The neck has also proved to be weak and subject to breaks from average falls

The guitar was made keeping in mind the acute need of affordable and quality guitars. It best works for guitar beginners learning the classical guitar, finger-style guitar and other forms of guitar playing.

If you are therefore considering to buy an affordable guitar but still get good quality on a guitar you should give a thought to the Yamaha C40 acoustic guitar. This Yamaha C series will most definitely not disappoint you.

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What You Need To Know Before Buying Jamorama

Best places to buy Jamorama online.

When it comes to trying to learn how to play the guitar, it looks like most people will settle with just looking for actual lessons but you can actually learn online if you buy Jamorama guitar lessons. There are actually plenty of online internet sites that will teach you how to play the guitar no matter what your skill level is.

One of the most famous web sites to be known for providing great quality guitar lessons would be Jamorama simply because of how they deal with their consumers and the high quality of the videos lessons they have. If you are serious about learning how to play the guitar, you should really think about  trying Jamorama.

Where Can I Buy Jamorama Guitar Lessons?

Though this is a great way for many beginners to get the basics of playing the guitar, it is not exactly the real thing. Having a personal instructor is a great way to really learn but this is really a pretty good alternative and it’s also very reasonably priced. Paying $50 an hour just for a personal teacher to teach you the guitar basics is merely not sensible and that is the reason why Jamorama is so well known.

The best place to purchase the program is online, but you need to search well and find a location that has studied the product as they may well have discounts or promos.

If you feel like you are not completely sure about the program, you should go on the internet to read several reviews about the product and to understand what the program can offer. If you are serious about wanting to learn the basics of playing the guitar, you should really think about learning the basic guitar skills with Jamorama. If you buy Jamorama, you are sure to be on the right path to learning how to play the guitar.

Learning Acoustic Guitar Songs

learn how to play acoustic guitarIt’s been about 10 years since I finally bought an acoustic guitar and began to learn how to play my new guitar. Well new to me that is. Nothing says one needs a brand new acoustic guitar to enjoy playing guitar.

I started by learning a few simple chords which only took a few minutes to learn. Immediately I was able to learn hundreds of songs that use those particular chords.

The first chords I learned were A, C, D, E, F. Here’s a image of what those chord shapes are as well as where you’re fingers are placed to make that chord.

basic acoustic guitar chords
These Chords Took Just Minutes To Learn

two more chordsI quickly learned that by adding just two extra chords, minor chords, that I had a whole new world of songs opened up to me.

I have learned a lot of chords since I started playing acoustic guitar but those first two minor chords I learned made a huge difference in the number of songs I was learning.

Looking For Great Online Guitar Lessons

jamorama-125x125jamplay guitar lessonsTwo of my favourite sites for learning how to play acoustic guitar are Jamorama and JamPlay.

Both sites have quality lessons that are worth checking out, whether you’re new to playing guitar or just want to become more advanced.

I take a long time if I try to learn a song on my acoustic guitar by just listening to a song. Sometimes I get a few chords but tend to get frustrated. I should add that the longer I play the better I get at recognizing chords and notes by ear.

Use Youtube To Learn Songs

finding songs on youtubeI have say that we are certainly blessed today as we have Youtube. Pretty much every song I like I can find on Youtube but even better most of the songs I can find someone playing it on an acoustic guitar.

When I am looking for songs to learn on Youtube I usually search the name of the song and then add something like the word lesson or cover. It works great most of the time and in seconds I am listening, watching and learning how to play acoustic guitar. What a great hobby.

Jamming Acoustic Guitar With Friends

I was so happy to finally be learning how to play guitar. Of course I couldn’t stop talking about it at work and soon found a few others that played guitar and before long we had a guitar jam planned.

That little guitar jam was awesome and turned into a weekly jam, sometimes two a week. One would be a practice so we could learn new songs and the other was to for jamming with what we’d learned.

Playing The Guitar The Easy Way

There are numerous ways in which you can study ways to become a good guitar strummer. But first, the essentials.

First and most important, you’ve got to have your own guitar. How can you gain the knowledge of the proper way to play without the proper instrument to hand? You have got to create first what sort of guitar you would like to play. Borrowing a guitar would be acceptable, but what if you cannot borrow it on a constant basis? Your coaching and practice will be impeded.

Then choose a particular song that you like, something that often sets you in a good vibe mood. Better yet , something inspiring. Inspiring enough to inspire you to try and play the chords time after time again and a song that you never tire of. Preferrably you need to pick easy songs to learn on the guitar as a newb, then move on to something more complicated, after you’ve the easy ones mastered.

When you’ve decided on which particular song gets you going and yet you don’t have any idea on how to put on a tune, ask somebody who’s got the knowledge of how to play a guitar to help you to work it out. Let them read the tabs. If you don’t know how, let somebody interpret it for you. Here, teamwork is vital. The same individual may be able to be of help for you in deciding which finger goes where to achieve the right sound.

It is excellent advice to begin learning by listening with the heart. The great sound of a song, doesn’t just rely on the chords themselves being played but on the musician. A great musician creates a master piece out of a chunk of music just by listening to every twang of his guitar and putting his own feel to it.

Statistics indicate that almost 90% of those individuals who plays the guitar admit they learned it the awkward way. In reality playing the guitar is, too many much harder than it appears. It is by far easier to listen and hear, than to comprehend and know how it is done. Learning without some background or even some assistance from someone in the club, is extremely tough for most newbies, unless they have a natural ear and capability.

If you can’t afford a personal instructor, there are plenty of options, you may look at acquiring a book about the do’s and don’ts of learning a guitar. Apart from that, it might also be challenging on your side to guess where to put the most significant finger on the most significant string. Attempt to get a step by
step guide on acquiring the basic and most critical chords that commonly appear in a lot of songs.

Then you ask, do you continue to need a guide. It generally is required. You really do need somebody to listen to and critque you. He must establish if your fingers are positioned in their right places. Reference material or an online class will certainly be of big help nonetheless it will not be able to hear if you are out of
tune or if you’re really playing the precise track. So you may really find it useful to call out for lending hand and somebody to watch your progress.

Big hint for beginners is to first off focus yourself on the basic chords and leave the hard ones to conquer a little bit later on after you have a good understanding on chords like A, A minor, E, E minor, D, G which are easier to work on. There are types of songs which contain only these chords. Getting a handle on your fingers to
adjust strings each change of tempo enables an amateur to progress a quicker pace.

Take it slow, a large amount of exalted guitar players acquired the talent only after an extended period. Don’t apply to much stress on yourself, relax and bide your time when you’re not getting it right. The key in learning is to generate an optimistic way of thinking and to enjoy what you do.

When you have mastered 1 or 2 songs, you will be so pleased with yourself and really enjoy the cool it time to just sit and play your guitar, and then you can experiment with the more challenging sides of learning the guitar.

Learn how to play a guitar in days loads of easy guitar songs to learn here you will be playing guitar like a rock star in virtually no time.

Ibanez Talman
The Ibanez Talman model TCY10E has some the the features higher end guitars possess. At first look it is a double cutaway hollow body, that doubles as an electric. Constructed with the musician in mind who yearns for electric like playability, and the sweet sound of acoustic guitars. Featuring a on board tuner, piezo pickups and two band equalizer all as standard equipment.

It also has a spruce top and a mahogany body. Unplugged this gives it a warm though somewhat soft tone. It is when it is plugged in that its tone really wakes up. Also possessing a mahogany neck and a rosewood fret board and bridge adds to it’s sustain and playability.

Surprisingly for an entry level it has advantage bridge pins as well as die cast tuners. The nut and saddle are made from ivorex. The string action comes from the factory set a little high. For those that want to lower it, simply shaving the saddle a little bit does the trick.

Rounding it out is the electronics package. This consists of an Ibanez AEQ200T preamp and 2 band equalizer. The piezo pickup lacks the raw power and depth of a humbucker, but makes up for it with a soft clear tone when plugged in. Unplugged its sound is typical of a smaller hollow body.

Because the body is a double cutaway it is playable from the sound hole to the nut. The strings have a tight but comfortable feeling. They also come from the factory with a glossy finish that makes you stand out even in dim lighting.

Overall it is a fine design for electric guitar players who are wanting a little acoustic action without changing their playing technique. It handles about like an electric and sounds like and acoustic. Having a bass and treble on the equalizer, and a solid volume control, with an Ibanez Talman the possibilities are endless.

For more information on acoustic guitar prices, or if you’re also shopping for a Washburn D10S we invite you to go to our site for additional help.

Playing Acoustic Guitar Beginner Songs

An acoustic guitar is very popular these days. It’s my favourite because of its versatility so I can easily bring it with me to guitar jams with friends.

An acoustic guitar is the type of guitar which doesn’t use amplifiers and produces sounds using its strings. It is quite complicated to learn an acoustic guitar. First you have to be familiarized with the chords and also you have to be taught on how to strum.

Pick The Right Songs

For a beginner, choosing the right beginner song is important. Through this, it will help a beginner to learn the basic in playing an acoustic guitar, at the same time it will motivate the beginner to yearn for more.

Finding acoustic guitar beginner songs is not that complicated as what other thinks. You just have to search the net and voila, you have the lists of acoustic guitar beginner songs. Some of the songs that you will see from the list were from the oldies, like songs of Elvis Presley, and Greenday’s songs that are very popular nowadays. In choosing the best acoustic guitar song, the beginner should remember that the chords should be simple and does not have a lot of fingerings.

A simple way in finding beginner songs is by just asking a friend of yours who also has a passion in playing guitars. They have been in your stage when they were a beginner also, and for sure they have kept a list of beginner songs to help them in learning an acoustic guitar. Practiced guitarist also made a list of beginners songs to help those who want to learn an acoustic guitar. Some of these were from Goo Goo Dolls and Plain White T’s. You may noticed that most of the songs suggested for a beginner are from slow and laid back genre. This may be true but you have to remember that there are certain songs from this genre that has a lot of fingerings and are not suggested to be played by a beginner.

Being optimistic and patient will help a beginner in learning the acoustic guitar. Practicing acoustic guitar beginner songs are just some things that a beginner has to consider in their learning stage. Remember that passion is what makes a person motivated. If a beginner is really passionate in learning the acoustic guitar, they will learn to play in a pleasurable way.

Click here for more information: How to Play Guitar Tabs and Guitar Superstars Guide