Changing your own guitar strings is something that every guitarist should know how to do. It is part of the overall guitar maintenance process and there is little reason why you should get somebody else to do it for you. Not to worry, it is quite a simple thing to do this and it is not at all likely that you will cause any damage. Read the 5 tips below to do the string change properly:

1. Type of guitar string. If you don’t want to damage your guitar, make sure you use the correct kind of string for your guitar. You should know that different kinds of guitars should be strung with strings made of different materials. Nylon strings are typically used for classical guitars and metal based strings are used for electric and acoustic guitars.

2. Use the correct tension guitar string. For beginners, you would want to start with a lower tension or “gauge” string. You will find that there are several string tensions available at any guitar shop. The higher the “gauge”, the higher then tension. Beginners will find that using lower tension strings is more comfortable on the fingers.

3. Do not change all the guitar strings at once. Rather than removing all the strings from the guitar before restringing, it is recommended to change the strings one at a time. This helps reduce the chance that the guitar will be damaged by preserving the tension of the guitar neck and body during the process.

4. Use a string winder. A string winder is a valuable tool for any guitarist and it will save valuable time. It will cut down the time you will need to unwind and wind the strings by a significant amount. Use one so you can get back to playing the guitar quickly!

5. Do not cut your strings before tuning. The strings of the guitar have the tendency to slip slightly during the string change process. Because of this reason, it is highly recommended to tune your guitar up to pitch before you cut the strings. If you don’t follow this process you might find that the strings might slip off the guitar before you are done.

The acoustic guitar is the age old favorite dating back to 1779. It wasn’t until the 1930′s that the electric guitar screamed its way on to the music scene. Instruments that inspired the acoustic guitar have been around for a thousand years and include the lute and oud.

Many great bands have used the acoustic guitar in their steller unplugged sessions, including Nirvana and Pearl Jam. The acoustic guitar produces heartfelt soulful sound and has no outside form of amplification.

Have no fear if you are considering trying to learn the acoustic guitar, it is quite easy and enjoyable. Lessons on the acoustic guitar are fun if they are well structured and varied. For the beginner, finding the right guitar is probably one of the most important steps before looking for lessons. Be sure to get an acoustic guitar suitable for your particular body style.

Stop right there! Don’t make the mistake of borrowing an acoustic guitar from a buddy. It is worth it to own your own. It can be used or brand new, but make sure it is a good fit for you.

Take a look online or in your local yellow pages. You won’t have to look far to find a great deal on an acoustic guitar. Also check out your local music store, just be sure to ask a lot of questions.

You are now the proud owner of an acoustic guitar. Now its starting to get fun. Now, how do you plan to learn to play? We all have schedules that vary wildly so this may be a challenge. Here are a few options to start strumming that guitar like a pro:

Private acoustic guitar lessons-This is a good place to start. A good instructor can really help you progress quickly. They will be there to answer all of your questions, and help decrease the learning curve.

There are disadvantages of taking private guitar lessons. You will have to go to the instructors place of business at set times unless they agree to come to your house. This will definitely increase the cost. Again, lesson will be at set times that may be hard to fit into your busy schedule.

Online Acoustic Guitar Lessons-In this day and age, it is really easy to learn just about anything you can think of through an online course. There are many acoustic guitar courses available, both free and paid. I recommend finding and purchasing a good course as they are more likely to be better organized.

I recommend using a paid online guitar course because most are only a small one time fee to get you started learning immediately, all from home sweet home, or anywhere you have access to a computer. Feel free to use the money you saved to grab a nicer guitar when the time is right.

Thanks for reading this article. Follow these easy steps and you will be on you way to campfire stardom. I know you can do it. Just take the first step!

It is hard to overstate the importance of acoustic guitar tuning. Always take a few minutes to tune your guitar before you begin to play. Whether you’re playing in a professional venue or just practicing at home, an untuned guitar is simply not enjoyable to play. Beginners often become frustrated, feeling that their playing sounds bad when really it is just their guitar is not in tune.

Pluck the string you want to tune. If you use an electronic tuner, the tuner’s built-in microphone will pick up the sound. Look at the indicator. It could be a flashing light and/or a meter. It will tell you how close your are to the right pitch and whether you are sharp or flat. Adjust your acoustic guitar tuning accordingly by tuning the string’s tuning key.

Taking your strings from looser to tighter will tune your guitar, also called tuning down. If the string is too tight, you will need to get it in tune by loosening the strings slightly and then tightening it again until it is in tune. Tuning up will give you a more true tone than tuning down.

A reference pitch source is needed whether or not you want to use an electric tuner when learning how to tune your guitar. Some options as to other things you can use are a tuning fork, another in tune guitar, a piano, or an MP3 that you know is in tune. Your results will always be accurate if you use an electric tuner when acoustic guitar tuning. If you’d like to try it the old fashioned way, an electric tuner will be helpful if you’d like to check your results.

Begin acoustic guitar tuning with the sixth string (low E), which should be tuned to match the reference pitch. After you’ve done that, the other strings must be tuned to that note. Simply work on them one by one. There’s a scientific explanation for this procedure, but you don’t have to learn it anymore than you have to learn to build an engine in order to drive an automobile.

Here’s how to do your acoustic guitar tuning:

1. After verifying the guitar is in tune, play it on the fifth fret. Use that as a basis to tune the open fifth string. 2. Using the fifth string as a guideline, play the fifth fret on that to tune your fourth string. 3. Use the fifth fret on the fourth string to tune the third. 4. Pay close attention here, because there’s a bit of a change. The third string should be played using the fourth fret to tune the open second string. 5. Changing it up again- return to playing the fifth fret, only using the second string this time, to tune the first string.

Before you try acoustic guitar tuning for the first time, have an experienced player show you the ropes. The best place to learn is probably the music shop where you bought your acoustic guitar. After a few tries, you’ll get the hang of it. You have to put time and effort into mastering the skill of acoustic guitar tuning. Its a whole lot easier for someone just starting out to use an electronic tuner instead. Since they only cost about $20, they are well worth their price. Whats more, if you choose one that was manufactured especially for use with guitars, it can actually let you know which string you’re playing too.

Throughout the history of the rock guitar, since it’s birth as an instrument, there have been lots of models and shapes and sizes that have stood out from the crowd. This is not just because of the way that the guitar has been built or that they feature the recent and most innovative designs and internal components, but that they have been created, owned and played by by the most famous guitarists of all time.

Most likely, the most infamous guitar would be the Fender Stratocaster. First made by its creator, Leo Fender, founder of the world leading Fender Guitar company back in the 50s, the Stratocaster or Fender Strat as it is more commonly known, has taken it’s place amongst the history of music and rock and roll. Now enjoying a cult of followers from newbie guitar players and vintage guitar lovers alike, the Strat still empowers the best of todays musical groups.

The 1957 model of the Strat is most likely to be considered to be the most sought after of the near sixty year run guitar classic. The 57 release features the famous 2-tone sunburst coloring, usually orange fading to red or yellow and black and can be seen being played by guitar heros such as Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin during the recent years. After it’s launch all those years ago, the Strat was mainly used for playing Blues until the likes of Hendrix transformed it into another dimension and started pushing the guitars boundaries and rock music to it’s limits and into a new era. Jimi was one of several who was able to operate with the Fender boffins and the Fender Custom Factory team to design and release his own white signature model of Strat. Leo Fender was well known for encouraging and allowing the worlds best guitarists to work along side them to not only manufacture their own personally designed signature models, but also reinvigorate their existing designs through customization.

The Fender Stratocaster has been used on a wide variety of different musical sounds over the years from jazz to blues. It’s clean, clear sound allows the guitar player have the freedom to make any sound and type of music accessible and the perfect build quality of each Fender Strat is second to none. The body of the strat is constructed from alder wood and the neck is made from all maple with a rosewood fretboard. The guitar includes a set of three single coil pickups which helps give it the clean, classic and pure sound. There is a 5 way selector switch that allows you to switch through any combination of the three pickups to generate different tones and a set of knobs for tone and volume.

The Strat is certainly one of the guitars that will go down in the annuls of time as being an almost perfect and extremely versatile instrument that had a hand in helping change the face of rock and roll and music made by guitars as we know it today. I am sure that Leo Fender was unaware that that when he first made the Strat in 1950, he would also be creating a cult and a legacy that will span well over 100 years.

This is a power chord

Power Chords (a.k.a fifth chords) are one of the most easiest chords to play in guitar and they’re one the coolest chords too! Most of the greatest rock and metal riffs have been made with just Power Chords, from classic rock bands to modern whatever-core bands and everything in between (call it Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Grunge, Thrash Metal, etc)

If you want to be a rock or metal guitar player you NEED to learn how to play power chords and know what they are.

What they are?
Power Chords consist in a root and it fifth, for example if you want a G Power Chord you have to play G + D, we will talk more about this later.

How to play them?
Pick your guitar right now and play this chord to play the G power chord we talked about:

x – – – – – – – – – – – – – e
x – – – – – – – – – – – – – B
x – – – – – – – – – – – – – G
x – – – – – – – – – – – – – D
5- – – – – – – – – – – – – A
3 – – – – – – – – – – – – – E

If you don’t know how to read tabs (the thing above is a guitar tab), you can learn it here: Learn how to play acoustic guitar or here Learn how to play Lead Guitar

If you want to learn more about how to play Power Chords read the post i made in my blog: Learn How to Play Power Chords