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Buying a Guitar Instruction DVD

The population in the United States is hovering around 250 million. Of those, approximately 25 million play some type of instrument. For many people, playing an instrument as an adult started back in school days. Music is magical, the heart of the world, and the unspoken universal language. Two of the most popular instruments played are the piano and guitar although we see the number of people learning to play guitar on the rise due to convenience, affordability, and pleasure.

Because of the growing demand, many professional guitarists have created some type of guitar instruction DVD, bringing their skill directly into your home. Although you could learn to play guitar from books or even by being self-taught, the bottom line is that one of the most effective ways of learning guitar is with a high quality, guitar instruction DVD. Keep in mind that the two most important aspects of playing guitar include understanding the instrument itself associated with your body, and learning to play the right way from the very beginning.

The benefits of learning from a guitar lesson DVD are tremendous. You will have the opportunity to visually, see a professional in action, learning things such as holding the guitar the right way, finger positioning, chords, strumming, and much more. Whether you are a novice who has never picked up a guitar before, an intermediate player who wants to advance skills, or even a professional interested in learning new techniques, you can be sure there are many instruction DVDs on the market to help.

Another huge benefit of working with a guitar instruction DVD is the convenience. Instead of locating a private teacher and then paying the high cost to learn to play guitar, you can sit down in the comfort and privacy of your own home to learn at your own pace. Studies show that people who use a guitar instruction DVD actually learn quicker and retain information better due to the huge reduction of stress.

Keep in mind that in addition to different types of music such as acoustic, classical, or heavy metal, the instruction provided in each guitar instruction DVD will also vary somewhat. In other words, while the guitar is played virtually the same way, the techniques and styling would vary depending on the music being taught and the teacher him or herself. For this reason, if you know you want to learn classical guitar, we recommend you purchase a high quality guitar instruction DVD but also consider buying several from different artists so you have a broader range of teaching.

Make sure the guitar instruction software or DVD you choose fits your current skill level, as well as the level you want to reach. If you were a beginner, then you would need to know the basics such as positioning and guitar tuning. However, if you have played for years but want to learn some of the newer techniques of playing, then you need an intermediate DVD. Of course, many of the better products on the market today are bundled, meaning they provide hours of lessons for various levels of guitar playing. A good guitar instruction DVD would be packed with helpful information while providing easy-to-follow and fun instruction.

Jamplay Review Posted

If you’re an aspiring guitarist aiming to take your mastery of guitar playing techniques and styles to a whole new level, you’ve may have heard of Jamplay, one of the most popular online video lessons and courses these days. This post is about Jamplay Review to help you choose if this fits your needs

While it can be considered as an everyday guitar learning program aimed for all skill levels, Jamplay offers some serious benefits when you sign up for membership. Aside from giving you all-out access to its comprehensive scale, riff and lick libraries that will help you ace lessons at a much faster rate, you’re also in for the following bonuses:

  • Online metronome and tuner to give you a professional feel
  • Over 4oo hours of extensive lessons from 42 guitar experts
  • Music-themed educational games and exclusive artist interviews and concerts

Read our extensive Jamplay review for more info, or check out Jamplay for yourself here.

Free Guitar Software

There are *tons* of free guitar software programs available online.  For people who know me, I usually shun away from most free guitar software.

Why?

Well, viruses, spyware, malware, adware, computer crashes, computer slowdowns, and computer hijacking (just to name a few).

Now of course, there are some good free guitar programs available online.  In fact, you can get one from our site just by subscribing to our newletter (the sign up form is on the left).

Once you join our newsletter, you instantly get emailed a download link for the Advanced FretPro guitar software that our partner created.  This 100% free software is pretty darn cool, if I say so myself :)

What is it it exactly? Glad you asked.  Inside the software, you’ll find a massive chord and scale library showing you *exactly* how to play chords and scales on a real guitar neck instead of from a chord or scale diagram.  The notes are shown too, not just the positions.

The software allows you to learn the whole fretboard so that you can know how to play any chord, in any position, anywhere on the neck of the guitar. Knowing the whole fretboard also opens you up to better opportunities to jam with CDs and other musicians, since you’ll know where all the notes are.

Our free guitar software is a great supplement to guitar courses like Learn and Master Guitar or Jamplay.  Combining these programs together will allow you to learn the guitar at your own pace, and often at a better pace than if you were taking lessons with an expensive private instructor.

Here is what one user said:

This program does exactly what it says “on the tin” – it helps you learn the guitar fretboard by making it a game. Its free and I like it a lot. I use it every day for 10 minutes and my note knowledge has come a long way.
-taken from user carteblancheband at cnet.com

So why waste time? Sign up on the left today and get the software instantly!

How to Play a Great Lead Guitar Solo

Playing the lead guitar solo is a whole new experience and brings a new dimension to the guitar playing adventure.  It is a big change from playing rhythm to the more creative and expressive role of lead.

Many aspiring guitarists were motivated to their pursue their new art by the influence of a lead guitarist.  Once the beginner becomes familiar with playing rhythm, it is a natural progression to want to branch out.  After all, music is unique to every musician.  Playing lead guitar solo is the musician’s chance to express the music the unique way they hear and feel it.  Lead guitarists who do it their way are the most effective guitarists.

To play a great lead guitar solo, the guitarist must be in unison with the guitar and the music.  If you are used to playing rhythm, this will be a change but eventually it will click in and when it does, you will play those great lead guitar solos.

For the most part, learning to play lead guitar is about learning and becoming extremely familiar with the three pentatonic scales.  Pentatonic scales are like major and minor scales except that they omit some notes of each scale.  The result of these omitted notes is a very open sound.

Every lead guitarist develops an understanding of the major pentatonic, the minor pentatonic and the blues pentatonic scales.  Most lead guitarists begin by extensively practicing the pentatonic blues scale.  The most common way to learn the Blues scale is to play it forward and backwards and once familiar with the individual notes play each note twice before moving to another.

Gradually, guitarists learn to experiment and improvise.  However, most lead guitar solos are based on the Blues scale.  Once the guitarist is familiar with the pentatonic scales, it is only necessary to know the right key for the song.  Pentatonic scales are easy to solo because most notes sound fine no matter where they are played.

Lead guitarists do not solo randomly.  They play within a range of a learned template of the pentatonic scales.  Lead guitarists develop such expertise at these scales that it seems like they are playing randomly but when you listen closely you may be able to identify the notes.  Guitarists are often surprised when a dynamic lead solo can be played with just a few simple scales.

Study the technique of your favorite lead guitarists and emulate their style. Have fun and enjoy the learning experience.  Once your develop your distinct soloing habits, you are on the way.

Beginner Guitar DVD – Choosing the Best Program

Even if you have never picked up a guitar in your life, you can learn to play like a professional with practice, time, and of course, the right beginner guitar DVD. The key to success is choosing the best program, the beginner guitar DVD that will work with the way you learn. The good news is that you have quite a selection. With the interest in learning to play guitar on the rise, more and more quality programs have been developed.
While many beginner guitar DVD programs are excellent, some are simply not worth the price. Therefore, we wanted to provide you with some tips for choosing the best program. First, the DVD needs to be made professionally. This means choosing a program taught by someone with experience in teaching guitar but also a company that produces high quality resolution and sound. Otherwise, you could end up with a beginner guitar DVD that skis around, is blurry, and just poor quality, which can be frustrating for the person doing the viewing.
Second, make sure you choose a true beginner guitar DVD. Sometimes, you will find companies that sell products that say they are for the beginner but as soon as you begin watching, you realize many of the important basics have been passed over. Additionally, while choosing a DVD that combines lessons for the beginner and intermediate player is usually a cost-savings solution, the DVD needs to provide enough information for the beginner rather than just touching on a few of the basics and then moving into intermediate play.
We also suggest you choose a DVD course that teaches the type of music you want to play. Sure, you could choose something that covers a variety of music, which is nice in giving you a glimpse of other styles, but it may not be what you ultimately want. For this reason, if you want to learn classical guitar, choose a beginner guitar DVD that teaches classical guitar music or if you want to play heavy metal, a DVD that focuses on heavy metal music.
Although not necessary, a beginner guitar DVD that offers jam tracks is a huge benefit in that you have the chance to play along with a pro. Obviously, as you gain more and more experience, you can take the music taught and expound it to create your own style. Then, a beginner guitar DVD that has the capability for the guitar lead to be tuned out is also helpful. With this, you could play the lead yourself, backed by other musicians.
Our final tip for choosing the best beginner guitar DVD is to choose one that has a variety of lessons but at a beginner’s level. For instance, you want a DVD that covers finger positioning, body position, and holding the guitar properly, as well as chords, strumming, tablature, sliding, and bending. If you go with a DVD that has a variety of techniques that is great but just be sure that they match your current playing level.
(We recommend the Learn and Master Guitar DVD set for beginners as well as more advanced guitar players)