Tips to Be a Good Guitarist

To be a good guitarist is an easy task if you have the passion to be one. Being a good guitarist may not even require you to get lessons from a professional, but it will certainly require abundance of time, profuse concentration, dedication and devotion. The biggest encumbrance in becoming, from trainee to good guitarist is lack of confidence and frustration. Below are some tips to become a congenial guitarist:

Tip 1: Get Past through Finger Hurting Phase

Well, this tip comprises of two parts. The first one tells you to practice so much that your fingers start to hurt and the second one tells you to continue practicing until the pain vanishes again. Practice is the greatest factor affecting your expertise as a guitarist, you will know playing guitar better only if you practice more.

Usually people give up when skin on their fingers start to get hardened and cracking, and the pain in finger joints shows up. Actually, this is when the fun begins; the pain in your fingers is common. Every good guitarist goes through this phase and this is more of paranoia than pain. This is the first time you are bracing the pain. As a good guitarist you will face it most of the time whenever you change a guitar.

Tip 2: Learn Tablature

A tablature is easier to learn but it comes with some impediments: it is not as detailed as musical notations or sheets and it does not show time period between each note. As a beginner it will work, just buy a book and learn to read tablatures. Also make use of a good music forum to for tips and read music discussions.

Tip 3: Start With Short Pieces of Most Familiar Songs

Starting with a harder task will do nothing but reprieve your first success. A delayed success de-motivates the beginner and dilutes the passion to become a good guitarist. This also helps your fingers remember formations or notes that might be used in other songs.

Tip 4: Be Conscious About Miniscule Details

Practicing to much doesn't mean you should keep the guitar in your hands and thrash its strings like a maniac. Always stay discerned about each and every chord and its minute details while listening or playing a song. The ability to learn quickly and being a keen observer will help you to learn playing guitar very quickly.

Tip 5: Be in a Company of Polished Guitarists

Your company directly affects your abilities, being with talented guitarists will increase your talent. You will learn their expert ways and ideas for playing guitar and you will rectify your mistakes expeditiously. If you are unable to find any, simply find a good music forum and read music discussions recurrently.

Steve Augeri's Different Journey

Ten years ago, some friends and I at music school got free tickets to see Journey way out in San Bernadino, CA. We were prepared to be underwhelmed by 'the new guy' at the mic, and since we were more interested in guitars, we thought seeing Neal Schon (and Peter Frampton, opening the show) would make it all worth while.

As the show opened with a roaring 'Any Way You Want It', we became transfixed with this new singer who confidently commanded the whole show with incredible vocals and an easy swagger that Steve Perry's prima donna persona never seemed to quite capture. What we saw was a guy who genuinely looked like he liked being in Journey, and was totally confident leading one of rock's most successful acts. As he led Journey throughout the early 2000's, he didn't just do Steve Perry impersonations at the mic every night, he brought a brand new warmth and confidence to the live shows, the songwriting and the recorded work all at once. Songs like 'All The Way' and 'Higher Place' propelled a revitalized Journey into an arena-rock powerhouse once again.

All these years later, Steve Augeri has found his way back to the mic after a battle with paralyzed vocal chords, only this time, the sound is all his own. Free of Journey and Steve Perry comparisons, Augeri's first single: 'Riverside', is a soulful mid-tempo rocker that has about as memorable a hook as you are likely to find. The well-crafted, organic feel of 'Home Again' is a stellar showcase for Augeri's soaring vocals and expansive songwriting.

Surrounded by a stellar group of musicians, Augeri's singing and songwriting is absolutely world-class. While the sound of Augeri's gritty tenor might bring to mind his old gig, the lyrics and melodies are something completely outside his old Journey catalog. Layers of warmth in acoustic guitars and incisive keyboards create one great melodic hook after another. When Augeri hits the mic, it's an absolute home-run.

While Journey soldiers on, Steve Augeri proves he's not just a pinch-hitter for a great singer, but rather a superb vocalist and songwriter in his own right. As these individual tracks start to flesh out Augeri's new album, you can see he's definitely found a combination of laid-back and instantly arresting that you typically only find in the world's greatest songwriters. Steve Augeri definitely is finding his place among them. You can check out his work at: steveaugeri.com.

Brahms - Piano Concerto No 1 in D Minor

Brahms was a very self-critical composer. He revised and edited his compositions, some of them for years, until they met his high standards. Those compositions that he couldn't refine to his liking were destroyed. He claimed to have destroyed twenty string quartets before he wrote one that met his standards.

The beginnings of the first piano concerto are also an example of his drive for perfection. He began the work as a sonata for two pianos, then began to revise it as a symphony. For whatever the reasons (as his new friend Joseph Joachim, the famous violinist and composer encouraged him) Brahms again converted the music, this time to a piano concerto.

Brahms doted on the score, refining and editing it over and over again. Brahms had heard Beethoven's 9th Symphony for the first time in 1854 and it had influenced him deeply. His drive to create a composition worthy of the tradition created by Beethoven and the other masters he revered while at the same time utilizing his progressive ideas made the work on the concerto last many years. Finally in 1859 Brahms played the premiere of the work with his friend Joachim at the podium. A few days after this performance it had its premiere at Leipzig with Brahms again at the piano but with a different conductor at the podium. The critics were harsh in their appraisal:

"This work... cannot give pleasure. Save its serious intention, it has nothing to offer but waste, barren dreariness," said one critic, with another saying, "The work, with all its serious striving, its rejection of triviality, its skilled instrumentation, seemed difficult to understand, even dry, and in parts eminently fatiguing." And it fared no better with the audience, especially at the Leipzig performance. Brahms described the scene in a letter to Joachim about the Leipzig performance:

"Nor reaction at all to the first and second movements. At the end, three pairs of hands tried slowly to clap, whereupon a clear hissing from all sides quickly put an end to any such demonstration... I am only experimenting and feeling my way, all the same, the hissing was rather too much."

An audience's appreciation of a work is most often gauged by the amount of applause. That also works in reverse, as when as audience 'sits on their hands' (sometimes literally as well as figuratively) it can be hard for a composer or performer to bear. Boos and cat-calls are worse, but an audience hissing is the ultimate negative reaction. I've been present in an audience when it has happened, and it can send a chill down your spine just observing it. Brahms was 25 years old when he experienced this, and it made Brahms all the more cautious about his works, but he also resolved to work even harder to perfect his craft. He vowed to rewrite the work, but all he did was correct a few minor details. Despite the negativity shown the work at the premiers, Brahms judgement proved correct. It is now regarded as a classic and is a staple of the repertoire, although it took years for it to happen.

The concerto is in three movements:

I. Maestoso - The menacing and fierce trills that open this concerto are one of the most recognizable pieces of music in the repertoire. Brahms has begun the work with music that is brutally confident, sounds that grab our attention and are portents of things to come. From the treatment of themes to the entrance of the soloist, Brahms finds his own way from 'point A to point B', and manages to use the inspiration of Beethoven's ninth symphony to communicate his own ideas in his own way. Looking at this movement in an historical perspective, we can see just how innovative Brahms was. He was at 25 years old (and for all of his career) not only an upholder of tradition, but an innovator in ways that are not always apparent (or obvious) to the listener. His phrase structure, use of sonata form and rhythm, lead to a type of virtuosity that isn't always apparent (or obvious) either. It is a virtuosity that stresses the making of music, of expression, with very few purely technical fireworks. Everything works towards the musical whole.

II. Adagio - This movement is usually thought of as a tribute to the Schumanns, both Robert and Clara. Robert had died in an insane asylum in 1856 and Brahms always had deep feelings for Clara. Again, there is no mere display of pianism, but music that in turn is passionate, dramatic, rhapsodic. Near the end is a chain of trills for the piano that go up the keyboard that is resolved by the slow, gentle ending of the movement.

III.Rondo: Allegro non troppo - The piano begins with what always sounds to me like a foot-heavy dance, not really a peasant dance but not anywhere near a sophisticated one. The dreamy tune that endures brings a needed contrast. The orchestra plays through a short fugue that shows Brahms' already considerable contrapuntal skills. The rondo plays itself out until the cadenza, after which Brahms changes the mood to a 'maestoso' but unlike the dark and foreboding maestoso of the first movement this maestoso is bright, confident, jubilant, and marches its way to the end.

How To Maintain Your Guitar Strings

Guitar strings are the most important part of any guitar and if you are going to have a nice guitar you need to have nice strings and maintaining your strings is one of the biggest tasks you have to handle in maintaining the guitar. Guitar strings are fragile and so they need extra special care; if you are not going to be giving them the attention they need then you might as well not buy them in the first place. There are a few steps that are important in maintaining your guitar strings; here are some things to keep in mind and some instructions to follow to help maintain your guitar.

· Apply Hand Sanitizer

Hand sanitizer can help you maintain your guitar and here is how: before playing the guitar apply a pea size drop of hand sanitizer to your palms especially your fingers that will be coming in contact with the guitar, what the hand sanitizer is going to do is that it will help you kill bacteria but also vaporize and get rid of the natural oil on your hands and keep them fairly dry. These natural oils present on your hand damage the strings of the guitar with time and wear them out, so using hand sanitizer would reduce this.

· When you are done wipe with lint free cloth

It is important that you wipe the strings of the guitar so that you remove any oil and any dirt or dust that remains on the string of the guitar before you put it away. The oil and dust will damage the guitar over time if you are not carefully cleaning it after you use the guitar. It is also important that you use lint free cloth and not anything else, because lint will get trapped in the strings and you do not want that to happen because it can be very damaging to the strings of the guitar.

· Try commercially available products to clean strings

I would not recommend doing this unless you have a serious problem with your guitar. If you do not have dirt issues then simple maintenance according to the first two points above will be fine. If you have to use commercial cleaners make sure they are aerosol free and make sure that they are not going to damage your strings. Go online and find out from forums or reviews about different products as to which one you think will serve you best amongst all.

Maintain your strings and you will maintain your guitar, make the right choice of strings, don't go off and buy low quality cheap items.

Exploring Online Jazz Drum Lessons

As we all know, jazz drumming is one of the most admired forms of drumming. Jazz is a soothing music that gives every listener a whimsical sensation. Due to the popularity of this music genre, many drummers seek to master jazz drumming. Acquiring an expert skill in this aspect could be very difficult due to the fact that jazz, itself, is hard to perform. However, this problem is never that hard to solve because there are jazz drum lessons to help you in the process.

Online Lessons

Do you want to play jazz drums? Well, learning new skills in drumming does not only depend on the commitment and dedication that you give to your passion. It should be coupled with various ways in order to improve your skills. If you want to create a good jazz drummer in you, learn it through online lessons.

The different courses, that you can have online, are suitable for musicians who really do not have specified time to learn. It is a highly flexible way to learn because you are given the ability to choose your own time preference. If you are busy, you can always take these lessons in your spare time or during weekends. It does not follow a specific time schedule so you should not worry about it.

Video Drum Lessons

Jazz drumming can be effectively learned by watching videos where the different tactics to drumming can be seen and observed. This method is simply easy. It is a way to help individuals acquire jazz drumming musical abilities easily and effectively. With the videos, you can see examples of how to do jazz beats and the like.

Video drum lessons, that you can find online, offer you drum tips, drum rudiments, speed tips, how it is to play drums. These video lessons can be available in digital formats such as CDs or DVDs. Furthermore, making use of the videos can let you learn the different tips and tricks in mastering jazz beats and patterns so as to bring you to the expert level.

Music Sheets, Modules And Supplementary Materials

Relying on videos alone cannot give you the best outcome that you wish to have. Not all the things about learning new skills are achieved by watching these techniques in videos. Thus, it is a must to complement it with music sheets, modules, and other supplementary materials. This will give you more ideas as regards playing jazz.

Want to read more about DVDs for drums and drumming system? Visit us today!