Steps to Changing Guitar Strings – Electric & Acoustic
steps to changing guitar strings on both an acoustic and electric guitar.
The most important part of the string changing process however is the strings. Make certain you purchase quality guitar strings. It really isn’t worth it to save a bit of money on poor quality strings as it will adversely affect your playing experience.
Acoustic Guitar Strings
For acoustic guitar, my favorite strings are from Martin and I prefer the medium weight strings. They produce a wonderful sound. They are quite strong and can stand up to my heavy playing. I do not personally like light strings. They are much easier to play, but I do not like the sound they produce. If you are just starting out however, and have not built up enough strength in your hands and have not developed callouses, then you may have to use light strings for a while. Once your hands are stronger and you have developed callouses, you can then upgrade to medium strings. It really is a matter of personal preference though. I had to experiment with a bunch of different strings before I found the ones that I am most comfortable with.
Electric Guitar Strings
For electric guitar strings, I prefer D’Addario. I have been using this brand of strings ever since I began playing electric guitar and have never felt the need to look elsewhere. As far as the thickness of the the strings are concerned, the same holds true for electric guitar as does the acoustic guitar. A thicker string is going to produce a better quality sound but it is going to be more difficult to play, so again, I like to use a medium weight string with electric as well. You have to experiment with electric guitar strings as well to find the one you are most comfortable with. I hope this at least gives you a good starting point on choosing the right strings. Now on to the changing guitar strings videos:
Steps to Changing Guitar Strings on the Acoustic Guitar
Learn how to change your acoustic guitar strings the pro way with Justin Sandercoe. These videos were created by one of my favorite guitar teachers on YouTube, Justin Sandercoe. Justin is an excellent teacher.
I highly recommend you visit Justin’s YouTube Profile for more awesome video lessons like the ones below:
===> Click here to visit Justin’s YouTube Profile.
Be sure to also check out his website by following the link below. On Justin’s site you can learn more about him as well as find more great lessons!
===> Click here to visit his site
Part 1
Part 2
Steps to Changing Guitar Strings on the Electric Guitar
Learn how to change your electric guitar strings the pro way with Justin Sandercoe.
Part 1
Part 2
I hope you enjoyed this post on how to change your guitar strings. Just take your time and practice and it will become second nature.
The Evolution of Jazz Guitar Part 1
Before we begin I would like to point out that the guitar played a minor role in jazz prior to the1930’s. It wasn’t until after this period in time that the guitar began developing its own sophisticated voice and was first featured in jazz improvisation at par with the piano, brass and woodwind soloists. In lieu of this fact, I have chosen to begin this series with the Swing Era.
The Swing Era’s most prominent contribution to jazz is believed to be by many, the introduction of the “big band” orchestra format. In addition to a combination of brass, woodwinds, and a rhythm section, until the 1930’s most dance orchestras also included a string section. The string instruments were dropped from the format and the new orchestras were streamlined for the new daring swing arrangements which featured not only highly orchestrated music influenced by European traditions, but also a soloist who after taking center stage, would improvise over the framework of the entire piece. It was not unusual for other soloists to join in sometimes and engage in collective improvisation, a practice already common when performing Blues and Dixieland.
Throughout the first part of the 20th century, jazz was not considered a respectable form of music among mainstream white audiences due to the fact that it was synonymous with the music of brothels and black culture. However, in 1930 George Gershwin was responsible for completing the assimilation of jazz into white American society by writing I Got Rhythm for a successful Broadway musical. One of the musicians who played in the pit orchestra of that show was a young clarinetist named Benny Goodman who went on to become one of the most influential band leaders of the swing era. Until this point most bandleaders associated with jazz, were black. Not only has Benny Goodman been credited for being one of the first white bandleaders in the world of jazz (along with Glen Miller and the Dorsey brothers) but also for introducing us to Charlie Christian, one of the first electric guitarists in the history of jazz improvisation.
CHARLIE CHRISTIAN
Christian was born in Bonham, Texas, on July 29th, 1919, and raised in Oklahoma City. It was here that Christian learned to play guitar as a kid. As a result of his surroundings he was influenced not only by jazz and blues but also by country music. This hybrid amalgam of influences is evident when listening to several of his recordings such as “Seven Come Eleven,” with the Benny Goodman Sextet. Christian admitted to wanting to sound like a tenor saxophone and thus his fluent horn-like solos were influenced by saxophonists such as Lester Young. While working in Oklahoma as a young musician, Christian was able to jam with several big name musicians who came through town such as Teddy Wilson and Art Tatum. It was pianist Mary Lou Williams who first gave word to record producer John Hammond about the talented young guitarist. After auditioning Christian, Hammond arranged a meeting with Benny Goodman. Being the first white bandleader to feature black musicians, in 1939 Goodman hired Charlie Christian to play in his newly formed sextet also featuring Lionel Hampton on vibraphone and Teddy Wilson on piano. Shortly thereafter, Christian’s innovative style on guitar was captured in the studio for the first time. Unfortunately, his recording career lasted less than two years, as he died of tuberculosis on March 2, 1942, in New York.
FREDDIE GREEN
In his autobiography, talent scout and producer John Hammond describes how he first discovered Freddy Green playing at a mob owned joint in New York City called “The Black Cat”. He states that what most impressed him was how Green with his “unusually long fingers, a steady stroke, unobtrusively held the whole rhythm section together.” It was 1937 and bandleader Count Basie was debuting with his orchestra in town when Hammond took him to the Black Cat to hear Green. Shortly after this meeting, Basie hired Green who went on to record with his big band for the first time on March 26, 1937 and thereafter remained a member for almost half a decade. This gave birth, along with Basie on piano, Jo Jones on drums, and Walter Page on bass, to the legendary “All American Rhythm Section”. When asked why he dwelled on the high register of the keyboard during his solos, Count Basie’s reply was…”After all, I do have the world’s best rhythm section.”
Born in Charleston, South Carolina on the 31st of March 1911, Freddy Green pioneered the way a guitar should function both rhythmically and harmonically within the big band. During one of his interviews he stated that “you should never hear the guitar by itself. It should be part of the drums so it sounds like the drummer is playing chords-like the snare is in A or the hi-hat in D minor.” Green who used to hold the guitar almost flat on his lap, favored an unamplified guitar and rarely soloed. He was a minimalist when selecting his chord voicings which often consisted of the 3 most essential notes that comprise each chord (root, 3rd and 7th). The unsounded strings were muted by his left hand. This technique resulted in a percussive effect that not only locked in tightly with the drums but also helped avoid any interference with the rich collective harmony being played by the overall band.
Freddie Green passed away on March 1, 1987 at the age of seventy-five.
DJANGO REINHARDT AND GYPSY SWING
During the 1930’s in Europe another important movement known as “Gypsy Swing “surfaced among jazz aficionados. It was inspired by Belgium born guitarist, Jean “Django” Reinhardt. Also known as “manouche jazz”, its orchestration consisted of guitar (usually 2), violin, accordion, clarinet and upright bass. The percussive nature of the drums was replaced by a rhythm guitar technique known as “la pompe”. Another peculiar characteristic of this style is the use of mainly 2and 3 finger chord structures instead of standard barre chords on guitar. This is to emulate the unique style Django Reinhardt developed in order to play chords as a result of a hand injury. At the age of 18, Reinhard’s caravan caught on fire and two of his left hands fingers were badly burned. Although he was able to relearn how to execute his single string solos at blazing tempos with only 2 fingers, his remaining digits were reserved for a limited physical role in the formation of chords. As a result Django’s chords consisted of only the essential notes. What a coincidence that around this same period in time, thousands of miles away, guitarist Freddie Green developed a very similar harmonic concept except for different reasons!
In 1934, Reinhardt and Parisian violinist Stéphane Grappelli formed the “Quintette du Hot Club de France”. The guitars used by Django and the Hot Club of France, the Selmer Maccaferri, are the first commercially available guitars with a cutaway. This was the first time a steel reinforced neck was employed. Many luthiers consider them to be among the finest guitars ever made.
Django Reinhardt died on May 16, 1953 in Fountainbleu, France of a brain hemorrhage. Contemporary Gypsy jazz is kept alive today thanks to many guitarists such as Bireli Lagrene, Boulou and Elios Ferre, Babik Reinhardt, Angelo DeBarre, Jimmy Rosenberg, and John Jorgensen among others.
For discographies and videos of the profiled jazz guitarists please visit http://www.miamijazzguitar.com
Richie Zellon (guitarist, composer, arranger and educator) has held teaching positions as professor of jazz guitar at Florida International University (Miami) and the University of South Florida (Tampa).
He has offered clinics on jazz and Latin American music at various prestigious schools such as the New England Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, Jacksonville University and the University of South Florida. An ongoing columnist for Jazz Improv magazine, Zellon is currently director of Miami Jazz Guitar. For more info please visit http://www.miamijazzguitar.com
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20 Essential Acoustic Guitar Tips for the Beginner
Acoustic guitar lessons online are not difficult to come by. There are many sites offering free tips and lessons for the beginner, but it can be rather difficult sifting through pages of content to find direct answers to some of the most basic questions beginners have. I researched many of the frequently asked questions that beginners have and created this list of quick acoustic guitar lessons and tips to make life a bit easier for you. I do hope this helps.
1 – Learn how to play the acoustic guitar with both your fingers and your pick. Practice using both. This will make you a more versatile player.
2 – Learn how to use a capo. A capo is a clamp that you can apply to different frets of your guitar to change the pitch. You will definitely need to become familiar with this wonderful tool. If you do not already own one, head out to your local music store and buy one today.
3 – Make sure you choose the right guitar for your size. Guitars come in different sizes from classic to jumbo. It is very important that you find a guitar size that you are comfortable playing.
4 – Learn how to change your strings and change them often. If you do not know how to change your guitar strings yet, stop what you are doing and search for articles and videos online right now. This is very important.
5 – Wash your hands before you play and clean your strings after you play. Dirt and oils from your fingers and hands can wear down your strings.
6 – Build up those calluses. Many beginners complain of pain in their fingertips when first starting out. This is normal and will go away after you have been playing for a little while and start to form calluses. The more often you practice the faster you will build up calluses.
7 – Learn how to tune your guitar. Make sure your guitar is in tune before you start every practice session. Tuning your guitar is really quite easy. You can either purchase one of those small battery powered guitar tuners, or you can tune your guitar online. Just do a search at your favorite search engine using the key phrase “online guitar tuner” and you will find many helpful sites on this topic.
8 – Use YouTube to find free acoustic guitar lessons. Everyone is now familiar with the site YouTube. They have a huge variety of free lessons. Two providers of free lessons that I recommend you check out are: “Next Level Guitar” (goes by the user name “rockongoodpeople“) and “Justinguitar.com” (goes by the username “JustinSandercoeSongs“). They offer some of the best free online acoustic guitar lessons. Highly recommended.
9 – Find a good guitar teacher. While it is possible to learn at your own pace at home using free lessons online, books and home study courses, nothing will replace a guitar teacher. A guitar teacher will help keep you from forming bad guitar playing habits and praise you when you are making progress.
10 – Stretch and warm up your hands and fingers before each playing session. This is important. Proper warm up and stretching exercises are essential in helping you avoid injury and improving your guitar playing. For more information on stretching and warm up exercises, do a search on Google using the key phrase: “guitar warm up”. You will find plenty of tutorials on this subject.
11 – Learn music theory. I know music theory can be boring and difficult, but it is essential learning if you want to become a good guitar player.
12 – Learn about the parts of your guitar. Spend as much time as possible familiarizing yourself with all the various parts of your guitar and how it is constructed.
13 – Learn how to practice. This may seem obvious, but you would be surprised how many guitarists are not practicing correctly. There is definitely a right and a wrong way to practice. Make sure you understand how to make the best out of your practice sessions.
14 – Keep your finger nails on your fretting hand trimmed. Your fingernails on your fretting hand must be kept short. If not, they will most certainly make playing more difficult as they will prevent your fingers from pushing down the strings properly.
15 – Don’t over do it. If you are experiencing any pain or discomfort during your playing or practice session, then stop and take a break.
16 – Try and learn something new. If you continually do the same thing, day after day, then your guitar playing will become stagnant and you will not progress.
17 – Join discussion forums online. Search for guitar discussion forums online and begin discussions with experienced and professional guitarists.
18 – Listen to a variety of different music. Not just your favorite styles either. You would be surprised at how much this can influence your guitar playing.
19 – Learn alternate ways to tune your guitar. Not every song is played in standard tuning.
20 – Go to live performances. This will give you a chance to get up close and personal with the musicians enabling you to see first hand how a professional plays.
When Playing Guitar, Don’t Forget Your Thumb
By Keith Dean
You can use it to hitch a ride. Roger Ebert has made a fortune using one or both – up or down. It’s universally recognized as the sign for a number of affirmatives – “okay”, “good job”, “looking good”, “it’s under control”, among others. It’s also the appendage that one would be inserting “where the sun don’t shine” in a well known metaphor for aimlessly idling one’s time away. We are, of course, referring to the thumb.
In terms of playing guitar, the thumb is like the “red headed step child” of the playing hand. More neglected than even the “pinky” finger (but that’s for another article).
The focus of our playing hand, the hand that attacks the fret board, is typically centered on the first three fingers. These are the easiest to use. They are stronger, longer and faster than the pinky or thumb, so they face the call to action much more than their “weaker” siblings.
But as guitar players, we would be wise to make full use of all of our appendages when playing. In fact, we might be surprised to find that the effort that goes in to incorporating the use of the thumb into our playing technique will result in making some tasks on the guitar neck even easier!
Here are some uses for the thumb when playing guitar:
1. Walk Downs
2. Chord Formations
3. Muting
4. Added Pressure
5. Playing Lead
Let’s take a look at some of these:
1. Walk Downs – The thumb can be put to good use when playing a “walk down”. This is when you start on one chord and “walk down” to a resolution chord, typically by way of a “passing” chord in between.
When the bass notes of a walk down occur on the 6th string (low E in standard tuning), it is often easier to use the thumb to play some or all of those bass notes, rather than trying to use the fingers.
A good example would be the commonly used walk down from an open G chord, down to an Em. The passing chord between these two chords is normally a D/F# (D over F#). The easiest way to play this chord is to form an open D chord as normal, then wrap the thumb up on to the 2nd fret of the 6th string (F#). This method makes for a smooth transition.
2. Chord Formations – The thumb can also be used to assist in the formation of chords. Many chords are conducive to using the thumb. For example, a minor 7th chord could just as easily be played with the thumb.
Jimi Hendrix was known for making use of the thumb to form chords where most of us would use barre chords. Rather than “barring” the 1st finger across a fret to make a standard barre chord, he would often use his thumb to play the bass note, form the rest of the chord like normal, and then play the remaining notes as necessary with the first finger.
Try this next time you pick up the guitar. Play an A barre chord at the 5th fret. Now lift off your 1st finger that is making the “barre”. Then take your thumb and use it to play the A root note on the 5th fret of the 6th string. Finish by placing your 1st finger in the 5th fret of the 1st and 2nd strings. You are playing the same identical notes as the barre chord version, just with a different hand formation. Try this with minor barre chords as well. It can be a little liberating once you get used to it!
3. Muting – The thumb is a great tool to use for muting strings when strumming rhythm patterns. For example, an F chord in the open position is normally played using only the first four strings. It would be difficult to perform some aggressive strumming maneuvers without striking the 5th and 6th strings. Using the thumb to lightly mute these two strings will solve the problem. The same can be said for many open chords that do not use all six strings, such as the C, D and Am chords in the open position.
4. Added Pressure – There is a natural tendency when playing guitar to keep the thumb in a position that is wrapped over the top of the neck. There are times, however, when you may need some extra finger pressure on the strings to form a chord or play a lick. That extra pressure can often be found by bringing the thumb down to a position where the ball of the thumb is planted firmly on the middle of the back of the guitar neck. This increases the amount of pressure for the fingers and provides extra pivoting power.
In terms of conventional guitar instruction, this thumb placement position is often considered to be the accepted way to play guitar.
5. Playing Lead – There are some players who incorporate the thumb into playing lead runs and solos. It is really a matter of personal preference and what you get used to. I have never mastered this approach to playing leads but have seen other players use it effectively.
Regardless of your guitar playing style or approach, there are probably times when using your thumb when executing chords and licks might make good sense, and, make life a little easier. So when your fingers go out for a “dance” on the fret board, don’t forget to take the thumb along for the ride!
Keith Dean is founder of AdultGuitarLessons.com and a 30 veteran of stage and studio. He toured extensively as a road musician throughout the US and Europe, was a former lead guitarist for Jason Aldean, and has shared stages with Little Big Town, Wild Rose, Winger, Confederate Railroad and more. He is a published songwriter, owned and operated a successful music store, and has instructed numerous students in guitar. http://www.adultguitarlessons.com
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Jazz Guitar Lessons Free – Essential Video Lessons
So you are interested in learning how to play jazz guitar? Looking for free lessons on this amazing style of guitar playing? I know how difficult it can be to find 
jazz guitar lessons online that are not only of good quality, but are also free. It can be quite frustrating to sift through link after link and find absolutely nothing, so I decided to do something about it.
I scoured the web searching for all the best free jazz guitar lessons I could find. I know that one of the most effective methods for learning how to play guitar online is by watching videos. On the following pages you will find links to some of the top video lessons teaching jazz guitar. You will find everything from how to play chords, scales to advanced lessons like soloing.
I will be adding more videos to this page as time goes by so be sure to bookmark and check back every once in a while for new videos.
I do hope you find this post helpful and that it gives you a good foundation in your quest to become a jazz guitarist.
Free Jazz Guitar Video Lessons
Below are some very popular and highly enjoyable Jazz Guitar Video Lessons:
1) Beginner Jazz Guitar Lessons
6) Block Chords Wes Montgomery lessons
9) Jazz Guitar Licks Using G Major Scale
10 ) Jazz Guitar – Chromatic Lick Lesson
11) Learn your essential chords FAST!
13) 9 Easy Jazz Chords for Guitar
14) Jazz guitar lesson: Chord Melody
15) Learning the Chord Changes
17) Jazz Guitar Lesson – Soloing over Dominant chords
18) Playing with the II-V-I progression
