Information on Buying a Guitar

By Matthew James

Many people dream of becoming a guitarist. The ideas of being a rock god and famous appeals to nearly everyone. One of the best ways at becoming famous is to be good at the guitar so many people and learn it. Before you go and learn the guitar, you have to buy one. But that can be a complicated process and if you don't get the right guitar, you will end up playing bad music and will never get famous.

Never underestimate the aesthetic value of a guitar. You want to feel proud of your instrument. A well crafted guitar is beautiful piece of art. Some collectors hang their guitars on walls like paintings. Moreover, pick it up and play it. If it doesnt feel right straight away move on. Is the neck too thin or is it too fat? Can you get your fingers up to the higher frets comfortably? Are the frets too large or two small? Basically, does the guitar feel right for you?

If you are fond of acoustic, classical or a country music, an acoustic guitar is just right for you. On the other hand, if your type of music is soft rock, hard rock or simply a pop music, then you need to buy an electric guitar. One must consider that the types of guitar vary from what music it is intended to play.

After identifying your type of music and identifying the right guitar for you, it is also important to test the quality of the guitar you wish to purchase. Knowing how to buy a guitar is important for this will determine what kind of music you can produce with the guitar you purchased. One can check every music stores and look into different newspaper and online ads for the brands and the reviews by other users for you to have a comparative basis in choosing what guitar to buy.

Check the harmonics of the guitar by using a guitar tuner. Play an open string and tune it to the tuner. Play the same string, fretted at the 12th fret and ensure the tuner reads exactly the same as it did when you played the string open. If it doesnt than the harmonics are out. Harmonics can be tuned by adjusting the bridge but if they are out then the guitar will sound in tune when you play an open chord but out of tune when you barre a chord further up the neck.

Learning to play the guitar is relatively easy but as you can see buying on is not. Make sure you are very thorough when you purchase a guitar. Purchasing a substandard guitar will lead to the production of bad sounding music. You don't need to spend a fortune on a good guitar but don't go cheap either. A quality product will produce a quality sound. - 18762

About the Author:

Matt has been involved in the sound business for many years and worked with many bands. For more information about stereo and sound, visit his site about guitar communities online and check out the free online guitar lessons.

You Can Learn To Play Piano Online

By Lynn Lopez

There are a lot of people who were practically required to take piano lessons as children. For the ones who really enjoyed these lessons, learning how to play the piano was most likely an edifying experience, but those who were simply pushed into learning found the entire experience torturous, to say the least. After all, not all piano teachers are the same, and there are teachers who can get too demanding.

Luckily, the Internet practically has all the answers these days, and today, anyone with an interest in playing the piano don't have to endure the instructions of a teacher or spend money on private lessons. They can simply go online and pull up great online piano courses on the Web.

One of the things people worry about when it comes to playing the piano online is whether these lessons could be as good as a private, one-on-one lesson, and if they can really learn over the Internet. Believe it or not, there are numerous top-quality piano courses available online, which cater to beginners, intermediate players, and expert pianists. You just have to filter the reliable courses from the ones that look like complete scams. Do some research and look for testimonials and reviews of any course that you're considering. You can also look into websites that offer interactive tools featuring a keyboard you can play using your mouse.

So can online piano lessons possibly be as good as private piano lessons? It all depends on your ability to focus on your lesson. Online piano courses mean that you won't have a teacher to guide you throughout each lesson; you will have to rely on yourself to really stay dedicated to learning. Consider it as sort of a teach-yourself course. You CAN learn on your own--some of the best musicians are self-taught--and you just need the discipline to carry on with your lessons without a teacher breathing down your neck. Without a teacher's prompting, your eagerness to learn should be a strong enough motivation for you. The best part of learning how to play the piano online is that you can raise your piano-playing level and still not go beyond your budget, plus with online courses, you can also keep studying anywhere you go.

Learning how to play the piano online can sound risky for someone who hasn't had much experience in online courses, but when you consider the benefits--big savings thanks to not having the need for private lessons, having a newly developed skill brought about by your own dedication to learning, and having the time to learn as much as you want to--you'll undoubtedly realize that online piano lessons are the way to go. - 18762

About the Author:

Find out how to play the piano for beginners and you will improve motor skills, increase you musical ability and impress your friends and family. Start today living a dream, and learn how how to play the piano by ear it will help you gain a whole new sense of self.

Get To Know The Piano Keyboard And Be A Better Pianist

By Lynn Lopez

So you're very interested in learning how to play the piano keyboard, but you find all those black and white keys and three pedals pretty intimidating? Don't worry; they're no cause for alarm. All you need to get started is to familiarize yourself first with all the parts of a piano keyboard.

The piano keyboard is made up of a total of 88 keys: 36 black keys and 52 white keys. The pitch of the notes ascend as you work your way up to the rightmost portion of the keyboard, indicating that your music's octaves are rising. The white keys are the natural notes, which aren't sharpened or flattened. Sharps and flats are sounded by pressing the black keys. For example, the black key immediately to the right of C is called the C sharp (C#). This C sharp key is the D flat key of a natural D. Simply put, a black key positioned at the right of a white key is the sharp, and the black key on the left is its flat.

That's a short sample of how you can figure out the flats, sharps, and naturals of a piano keyboard. If you want to broaden your skill and knowledge in playing the piano keyboard, you have to be familiar with notes, scales, and chords. Having a piano or an electronic piano keyboard would also allow you to practice what you learn right away. In this case, you can either take piano lessons.

But if you don't have the time or think you cannot afford the services of a private piano instructor, it would be best if you study on your own with the help of many online piano courses out there (yes, studying piano online is becoming a very popular option these days). Not only will online study help you go at your own pace, you also have a wealth of online videos available to you which will help you learn to play the piano keyboard.

You might wonder if you really will get to use all the keys on a piano keyboard--and the answer is yes, you actually will once you've become proficient in playing the piano. If you want to be able to play piano with fewer keys, consider getting an electronic keyboard instead. This doesn't have as many keys and it will make it easier for you to focus on playing your music. Electronic keyboards will, however, limit your ability to practice playing music in numerous octaves. - 18762

About the Author:

Find out how to play the piano by ear and you will improve motor skills, increase you musical ability and impress your friends and family. Start today living a dream, and learn how to play the piano online it will help you gain a whole new sense of self.

I-pods From The Beginning

By Cauldwell Pipps

We all know the ipod to be the most popular portable media device in the world. First seen in 2001 the original model had 5 gig of memory and was only compatible with mp3 files but at the time, 5 gig of memory was the most anyone had every seen in an mp3 player so it was a monumental success.

Since the release of the original there have been five updates and re-releases meaning that the ipod is now in its sixth generation. If you compare the specs on the original and the newest sixth generation model, you can see that how far theyve come is quite astounding.

The latest version is compatible with pretty much any file format as well as being able to play videos, images and games. You can put pretty much anything on it and use it as a portable hard drive and with 80 to 160 gig models available, you literally put anything on it.

Of course, there were other models that took different shapes to the classic shape. There was the ipod mini which was only in production for a few years as the release of the ipod nano rendered it somewhat superfluous. The ipod mini was however the first ipod to have a coloured exterior (other than black or white), and was also cheaper than the classic.

The ipod shuffle is basically a much cheaper version of the ipod because the classic or the mini would have set you back over 100, the shuffle was the ipod for everyone solution. It doesnt have a screen and so is much cheaper to manufacture and only plays songs, but for only a fraction of the price of the other ipod models.

Moving on to more recent additions to the ipod back catalogue, the ipod touch is the largest ipod to date and has a full length touch screen. It looks quite similar to the iphone and some have even said that the only way in which they differ is that you can make phone calls on the iphone. There are obviously more differences than this but on first use of both of them you would probably say this is true.

Over the last eight or so years weve seen the ipod evolve to heights that werent thought possible when it was first released. With over 173,000,000 sold world wide it is the most popular portable media device on the market, and arguable the best. - 18762

About the Author:

To browse through and search for cheap ipod nano visit cheap-i-pods.com

How to Use a Play Along CD: The Best Way For Drummers to Practice on Their Own

By Spencer (Spence) Strand

When we first learned how to play the drums, we learned a few basic beats, and maybe a fill or two. But taking your drumming to the next level requires more.

Whether you're a beginning student just starting with drum lessons, or even an experienced drummer already working the circuit, the one thing you can never get enough of is practice.

Unfortunately, this usually requires playing with other musicians, which is not always possible with everyone's busy schedule. Another drawback is there may come a point where you've outgrown the people you play with and need more challenge to continue improving.

Worse, you can get stuck in a particular genre, or style, of music and no one takes you seriously in any other form. You're a Jazz player that wants to play Hip-Hop. A Funk player that wants to rock. Or even a country player that dreams of playing on Broadway. But because you've been labeled as a certain form, you find it difficult to break into the field. Look at Garth Brooks, for instance. The guy could write his own ticket in country music, but when he tried to come out with a rock album he was nearly booed off the stage.

Of course, the alternative is to play alone which, lets face it, can be quite tedious and boring (there are only so many times you can play Wipeout or Zeppelin's Rock & Roll.) Well now there is a great alternative that is both fun and does not require anyone else's participation.

Now there is a tool available called a play along CD. Lets take a look at what exactly it is, as well as how you can use it to improve your playing in any style.

A play along CD is simply a recording of a song with one or more of the instruments removed from the track. You can think of it like a Karaoke track for musicians. Just like Karaoke removes the vocals so you can sing along, play along CD's remove certain music lines, which allows you to play your part of the song.

For example, if you're a drummer, a drum practice CD contains all of the tracks except for the drums. You simply put the CD on, sit behind your kit, and keep the beat. It's a great way to practice on your own. You can even get more creative than the original drummer and play something totally unique.

Every drummer has to practice. Sure, you could get some in with a metronome and a set of sticks, but whats the fun in that? To be a great drummer, you have to be able to do more than just keep the beat. Professionals are masters of timing, meter, and feel. And to master these things, you have to play with a band, either live or with a play along CD. Do that, and you'll be the one getting all the calls for the next gig. - 18762

About the Author:

Spencer (Spence) Strand is a professional drummer and drum instructor who lives in Nashville, Tennessee. To get your free tracks from his Berklee recommended CD series, "Turn It Up and Lay It Down", please go to his site at DrumFun.com.