| Feature Article A Brief History of Fender Guitars
Author: Michael Casamento
Perhaps no other guitar maker has touched the hearts of so many players and collectors as Fender. By producing excellent guitars at reasonable prices, Fender has been the instrument of choice for many guitarists throughout the world. Both the famous and not so famous have relied on Fender guitars to define their signature sounds. The Fender company was founded by Leo Fender, and produced its first solid body electric guitar in 1951. This guitar was called the Telecaster, and was soon followed by the Precision Bass, and the legendary Stratocaster in 1954. Over the years many changes would take place at Fender which had a great impact on the types and quality of instruments they produced. The first "mile-stone" year for Fender came in 1965. During this year, Fender was bought by corporate giant CBS. Quality began to decline during CBS's reign, and although Fender still remained popular among players, CBS lacked the commitment and understanding necessary to satisfy the needs of serious musicians. As a result, the guitars produced during the "Pre-CBS" era would become prized collectors items demanding large sums of money in the vintage guitar market. In 1985 Fender enjoyed another "mile-stone" year as a group of employees purchased the company back from CBS. For the first time in 20 years Fender was in the hands of musicians and artisans committed to producing world class guitars. A new manufacturing facility was built in Corona California to handle the production of USA made guitars. In 1987 the Fender Custom Shop was established, reaffirming the company's dedication to producing top quality guitars, and catering to the needs of top musicians. From 1985 to the present day, Fender has been steadily expanding its operations within the United States and abroad. The company now produces a vast array of musical products from strings to mixing boards. In spight of such massive growth, Fender's commitment to the production of quality guitars remains very high. Fender remains one of the few companies that can successfully provide quality products to both the "budget conscious" and "price no object" musicians. © Written By: Michael Casamento Michael Casamento is the founder of Guitar Pages Online - a comprehensive resource for guitars and guitar related merchandise on the Internet. For more information visit:http://www.guitarpagesonline.com " http://www.guitarpagesonline.com This article may be freely reproduced so long as the above resource box is included in its entirety. ...
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| Feature Article American Fender Stratocaster - A Guide to the Fender by Stratocaster
Author: Mark Byrne
History It is said the Leo Fender couldn't play the guitar … and he was tone deaf. Regardless of whether the above statements are true or not, the company he created managed to produce one of the true icons of popular music – the American Fender Stratocaster. It's been widely reported that these classics were close to being dumped as, apparently, Fender had planned to stop production of the Stratocaster before Jimi Hendrix popularized the guitar in the late 60s. Made In The USA The American Series Stratocasters are, as the name suggests actually made in America whereas the Standard strats are made in Mexico. American Series versions are considered to be overwhelmingly better than the Standard versions and their price reflects that gap too. These days, list prices for American Fender Stratocasters are around $1,400 but there are some distributors out there, if you know where to look, who will cut you a great deal with free shipping, lowest price guarantees etc. Technical Stuff Introduced in 2000, the guitar body is fashioned from Alder, the neck is made in the Modern "C" shape from Maple. You have a choice of seven colours from 3-colour Sunburst to Charcoal Frost Metallic. As standard, it comes with 3 American Strat Single-Coil Pickups but, of course, you could customise these to your own taste. The maple neck is 25.5 inches in length with a 9.5 radius and the fingerboard (made from either rosewood or maple) has 22 medium jumbo frets. There's a 5-setting pickup selector switch which allows you to select any of the following combo's: - Setting 1: bridge
- Setting 2: bridge & middle
- Setting 3: middle
- Setting 4: middle & neck
- Setting 5: neck
Expensive Strats The most expensive strat ever sold went for US $2.6 million to a sheihk at an auction in Qatar. It had been signed by Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Brian May, Liam and Noel Gallagher, Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, Ray Davies, David Gilmour, Tony Iommi, Mark Knopfler, Angus and Malcolm Young, Paul McCartney, Sting, and Bryan Adams. The proceeds went to helping the victims of the 2004 Asian Tsunami. The previous record was held by Eric Clapton's "Blackie" which fetched US$959,500 at a charity auction in 2004.
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| Feature Article All About Acoustic Guitars
Author: Victor Epand
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that produces an acoustic sound through the vibration of its six strings. When we talk about guitar, the first thing that comes in our mind is Spanish guitar. Acoustic guitars have a rich history. It had changed its design many times. Acoustic guitars are 5000 years old. Spain has a big contribution in its development. The earliest form of modern acoustic guitar is the Cithara. Romans introduced this instrument in Hispania. After this, Moors developed the shape and made it a four-string instrument. But in Europe, the six-string lute guitar was very popular. A Spanish guitar like instrument called Vihuela was introduced later in the 16th century. It's body looked like guitar, but it had to be tuned like Lute. Modern acoustic guitars are of various types. Like, twelve-string guitar, classical guitar, still guitar etc. Given below are some of the popular names and description of acoustic guitars. - Renaissance and Baroque guitars: These guitars are very similar to the classical guitar. But they are smaller and quieter than classical guitar. Their strings are paired up like twelve string guitar. But they do not have six courses of strings like twelve string guitar. They have only four or five courses of them. - Classical guitars: Classical guitars are made of nylon strings. That's why they are also known as nylon string guitar. Playing system of the classical guitar is somehow different. Fingers play it. Plectrum has no role in this specific playing process. - Portuguese Guitar: This guitar is used in Portugal. This guitar is playing their traditional Fado song. This is guitar is a Portuguese twelve string guitar. - Flat top guitar: This guitar is almost like classical guitar. But it is larger than classical guitar. It has got still strings. Still string produces louder sound. This guitar is used with varied kind of music like, jazz, bluegrass etc. - Arch top guitar: This instrument is very much inspired from violin. This too is a still stringed guitar. Lloyd Lure invented this guitar this guitar is very much popular among the jazz guitarists. - Twelve string guitar: Twelve-string guitar is a still stringed guitar. This guitar is made of six courses of paired up strings. This guitar is very popular in rock and roll, folk and blues music. - Russian guitars: This is a seven-string guitar. It is a Russian guitar. This guitar is tuned in open G Major. - Acoustic Bass Guitar: Strings are made of steel. Have only four strings. - Guitar battente: have four or five metal string. Smaller than classical guitar. Used to accompany with voice in Calabria (Southern Italian region). Apart from these there are other sorts of acoustic guitars also. Like, Extended range guitars, Harp guitars, Tenor guitars, Dobro guitars etc. Acoustic guitars are very interesting instrument. The best thing about them is, they are absolutely hassling free. They are very easy to carry. And you can create magic with them in a family gathering also.
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| Feature Article All About Acoustic Guitars
Author: Victor Epand
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that produces an acoustic sound through the vibration of its six strings. When we talk about guitar, the first thing that comes in our mind is Spanish guitar. Acoustic guitars have a rich history. It had changed its design many times. Acoustic guitars are 5000 years old. Spain has a big contribution in its development. The earliest form of modern acoustic guitar is the Cithara. Romans introduced this instrument in Hispania. After this, Moors developed the shape and made it a four-string instrument. But in Europe, the six-string lute guitar was very popular. A Spanish guitar like instrument called Vihuela was introduced later in the 16th century. It's body looked like guitar, but it had to be tuned like Lute. Modern acoustic guitars are of various types. Like, twelve-string guitar, classical guitar, still guitar etc. Given below are some of the popular names and description of acoustic guitars. - Renaissance and Baroque guitars: These guitars are very similar to the classical guitar. But they are smaller and quieter than classical guitar. Their strings are paired up like twelve string guitar. But they do not have six courses of strings like twelve string guitar. They have only four or five courses of them. - Classical guitars: Classical guitars are made of nylon strings. That's why they are also known as nylon string guitar. Playing system of the classical guitar is somehow different. Fingers play it. Plectrum has no role in this specific playing process. - Portuguese Guitar: This guitar is used in Portugal. This guitar is playing their traditional Fado song. This is guitar is a Portuguese twelve string guitar. - Flat top guitar: This guitar is almost like classical guitar. But it is larger than classical guitar. It has got still strings. Still string produces louder sound. This guitar is used with varied kind of music like, jazz, bluegrass etc. - Arch top guitar: This instrument is very much inspired from violin. This too is a still stringed guitar. Lloyd Lure invented this guitar this guitar is very much popular among the jazz guitarists. - Twelve string guitar: Twelve-string guitar is a still stringed guitar. This guitar is made of six courses of paired up strings. This guitar is very popular in rock and roll, folk and blues music. - Russian guitars: This is a seven-string guitar. It is a Russian guitar. This guitar is tuned in open G Major. - Acoustic Bass Guitar: Strings are made of steel. Have only four strings. - Guitar battente: have four or five metal string. Smaller than classical guitar. Used to accompany with voice in Calabria (Southern Italian region). Apart from these there are other sorts of acoustic guitars also. Like, Extended range guitars, Harp guitars, Tenor guitars, Dobro guitars etc. Acoustic guitars are very interesting instrument. The best thing about them is, they are absolutely hassling free. They are very easy to carry. And you can create magic with them in a family gathering also.
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| Feature Article Acoustic Electric Guitars
Author: Seth Miller
The guitar is the most known and popular musical instrument. It's an instrument that is played for almost all kinds of music, like rock music, country music, lounge music, pop music and contemporary classical music. An acoustic guitar is hollow with a sound hole (a round hole in the face). An electric acoustic guitar is made up of wood and has six strings which produce a rhythmic, sweet, musical, yet loud sound. The difference between an acoustic electric guitar and an electric guitar is that a normal electric guitar can only be played when it is plugged in, where as an acoustic electric guitar doesn't have to be. Plugging in an electric acoustic guitar gives it an awesome sound. The electric guitars have a lot of knobs to deal with, whereas the acoustic electric guitars can be used as a normal guitar or an electric guitar. The strings of electric guitars are soft, and much easier to press. If asked to recommend what type of guitar is the best buy, then the acoustic electric guitar will definitely take a higher edge in recommendation as it can be used two ways: as a normal acoustic guitar to play it normally and as an electric guitar to be played when plugged in an electric socket. The sound produced by an acoustic electric guitar when not plugged in is the same as a normal acoustic guitar, and when plugged in it sounds like a good electric guitar. The two-in-one purpose makes it the best buy if you are passionate about the guitar and want to have both types. Electric Guitars provides detailed information on Electric Guitars, Acoustic Electric Guitars, Cheap Electric Guitars, Electric Bass Guitars and more. Electric Guitars is affiliated with Piano Lessons.
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| Feature Article 3 Time-Tested Tips For Learning Guitar Chords
Author: Fabian Tan
Learning guitar chords may seem daunting for a new guitar player. However, it doesn't have to be that way. Remember, the guitar professionals were once novices who didn't have a clue about chords as well! In this article, I will divulge some proven tips for learning chords quickly and easily. Firstly, let's define what a guitar chord is. A guitar chord is a collection of tones sounded in harmony by pulling two or more strings on a guitar. It usually requires playing open strings. Now that we have got the definition out of the way, it is time to get straight down to the methods! Obviously, one of the main difficulties in playing chords is using a few fingers a tight space in an attempt to play a tune. Well, practice makes perfect. You can speed up the process of learning chords by referring to a guitar chord diagram. These diagrams show the organization of the guitar chords you should be playing. The second tip is to find a song, preferably an easy song, which you like and to try to play the chords to it. Starting with an easy song helps build you competence in chord playing My third tip is to simply choose a chord family and really practise it until you become really good at it! If you try to learn too many chord families in a short space of time, you may end up with information overload, and you will not be able to learn as quickly. This is a common mistake many beginners make. Learning guitar chords can be trying at first, but after a while, you will begin to get more comfortable. Getting a large repertoire of guitar chords under your belt is important as it is the base for higher levels of guitar playing. Fabian Tan is a devoted guitar player and idolizes legendary guitarists like Jimi Hendrix and Bruce Springsteen. He is a big fan of the Jamorama learning course, and reviews it at his Jamorama Review Site
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| Feature Article 1959 Stratocaster Vintage Guitars
Author: Jeremy Hier
Mid 1959 Stratocaster vintage guitars have a slab rosewood fingerboard with white "clay" position dots. The fingerboard radius of this Fender guitar is 7.25". The bottom fingerboard is flat. Vintage Fender Stratocasters made July 1959 and after basically will have rosewood fingerboards. The neck now has a very thin "D" backshape, by the end of 1959 it gets even thinner. Stratocaster vintage Fender guitars from mid-1959 have a celluloid "mint green" three layer pickguard which is white/black/white. Sometimes the pickguard of this vintage Fender is called a "nitro" pickguard. The celluloid pickguard was first introduced to the Stratocaster guitar around July 1959. Before that, rosewood fingerboard vintage Stratocasters were made with a single white pickguard with 9 or 10 screws. During the same time period in 1959 some vintage Fender Stratocaster guitars were made with maple neck and a 8 screw three layer celluloid pickguard. In order to replace the thicker and much smaller shield previously used on guitars single layer pickguards, a thin aluminum shield the size of the pickguard was installed underneath the three layer pickguard. Fender used a very photo-reactive dye in their sunburst finish of the vintage Stratocaster guitar. This caused many 1959 Strats to fade from 3-color sunburst to a 2-color. The photo-reactive nature of the red on the Strat Fender guitar caused fading from ultra-violet light. The fading is noticeable up close, from a distance it is difficult to recognize. Copyright © JJ PERSISTENT PUBLISHING, INC. PERMISSIONS TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in its entirety free of charge, electronically or in print, provided it appears with the included copyright and author's resource box with live website links. Jeremy Hier is the Business Manager and Webmaster of http://www.best-guitar-deals.com/ " target=_blank>Best Guitar Deals Jeremy Hier is a freelance writer and regular contributer He likes to offer his advice and tips to consumers looking to purchase http://www.best-guitar-deals.com/acoustic-guitar.html " target=_blank>acoustic guitars and http://www.best-guitar-deals.com/electric-guitar.html " target=_blank>electric guitars ...
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| Feature Article 1959 Stratocaster Vintage Guitars
Author: Jeremy Hier
Mid 1959 Stratocaster vintage guitars have a slab rosewood fingerboard with white "clay" position dots. The fingerboard radius of this Fender guitar is 7.25". The bottom fingerboard is flat. Vintage Fender Stratocasters made July 1959 and after basically will have rosewood fingerboards. The neck now has a very thin "D" backshape, by the end of 1959 it gets even thinner. Stratocaster vintage Fender guitars from mid-1959 have a celluloid "mint green" three layer pickguard which is white/black/white. Sometimes the pickguard of this vintage Fender is called a "nitro" pickguard. The celluloid pickguard was first introduced to the Stratocaster guitar around July 1959. Before that, rosewood fingerboard vintage Stratocasters were made with a single white pickguard with 9 or 10 screws. During the same time period in 1959 some vintage Fender Stratocaster guitars were made with maple neck and a 8 screw three layer celluloid pickguard. In order to replace the thicker and much smaller shield previously used on guitars single layer pickguards, a thin aluminum shield the size of the pickguard was installed underneath the three layer pickguard. Fender used a very photo-reactive dye in their sunburst finish of the vintage Stratocaster guitar. This caused many 1959 Strats to fade from 3-color sunburst to a 2-color. The photo-reactive nature of the red on the Strat Fender guitar caused fading from ultra-violet light. The fading is noticeable up close, from a distance it is difficult to recognize. Copyright © JJ PERSISTENT PUBLISHING, INC. PERMISSIONS TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in its entirety free of charge, electronically or in print, provided it appears with the included copyright and author's resource box with live website links. Jeremy Hier is the Business Manager and Webmaster of http://www.best-guitar-deals.com/ " target=_blank>Best Guitar Deals Jeremy Hier is a freelance writer and regular contributer He likes to offer his advice and tips to consumers looking to purchase http://www.best-guitar-deals.com/acoustic-guitar.html " target=_blank>acoustic guitars and http://www.best-guitar-deals.com/electric-guitar.html " target=_blank>electric guitars ...
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| Feature Article Competing With Paul Reed Smith Guitars Successfully Quicksilver ...
Author: Not Available
Paul Reed Smith Guitars , PRS Guitars , Steinberger Guitars ,Fender Guitars , Kramer Guitars , Ibanez Guitars , Jackson Guitars , Heritage Guitars , Jaros Guitars , ... ...
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| Feature Article 12 String Acoustic Guitars
Author: Seth Miller
Guitars have evolved a long way from the 6 stringed guitars of the yesteryears to a completely functional acoustic guitar with 12 strings. Earlier, a guitar only meant the non-electronic variety. A 12-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar that has its roots in the classical guitar. Acoustic guitars are tensed with steel strings for a clear and loud sound. They require a stronger frame construction to withstand the tension created by the strings. Terms such as the steel-stringed guitar or folk guitar are used to distinguish an acoustic guitar from classical guitars. The production of a 12 string acoustic guitar has many variations in the construction method and materials used. These methods contribute largely to the sounds produced by an acoustic guitar. Expensive guitars feature solid wood tops, sides and backs, while the lower priced ones may use solid tops with laminated backs and sides. Acoustic guitars made for amateur guitarists are completely laminated. As the availability of high quality woods is on the decline, manufacturers have resorted to using different types of woods. Plastic and graphite are also used as a guitar making material. The various combinations of different woods and their quality, along with design and construction elements are among the factors affecting the tone of the guitar. The most contributing factor in the tone of an acoustic guitar is the solid top. The laminated sides and backs are also instrumental in the production of pleasant sounds. There has been a rise in the number of guitar players and the companies selling guitars. The most prominent American makers of acoustic guitars are Martin, Guild, Taylor and Gibson. They are known for both the quality and price of their instruments. Rock bands have adapted to the use of 12 string acoustic guitars. They are easy to learn and play. They provide variations in the sound output that may not be possible for a classical guitar. Electric Guitars provides detailed information on Electric Guitars, Acoustic Electric Guitars, Cheap Electric Guitars, Electric Bass Guitars and more. Electric Guitars is affiliated with Piano Lessons.
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| Feature Article Classical Guitar Tablatures
Author: Thomas Morva
A classical guitar is slightly different in shape from an ordinary guitar (i.e. rhythm guitar, bass guitar, Hawaiian guitar, etc.) The fret board, also known as the neck of the guitar, is slightly broader than that of other guitars. As a result the strings are more distanced from each other. The guitarist must stretch his fingers a bit more than when he is playing an acoustic or an electric guitar. When it comes to the string, the difference is that a classical guitar uses nylon strings instead of metal ones, making for a mellower sound. Classical guitars are based on the classical mode of music and follow classically oriented instructions. But the modern day guitar tablatures follow a slightly different course from that of classical notations. Playing classical guitar is more inclined to figure work and plucking. Therefore, these classical guitar tablatures are more meticulously structured and they are much more complex and intertwined with more uses of notes (i.e. C, Bb, G, A, F, F#, etc) than others. If we track back the history of tablatures, they have been used in the Western world for the last six centuries. They were mostly a horizontal grid read from left to right with letters and numbers written over them signifying the construction of pitches, and rhythmic signs above. Then by the 17th century various systems of tablatures existed in Germany, Italy, Spain and France. Nowadays tablatures, guitar tabs in particular, have vertical lines which represent the strings of the guitar (no matter what kind of guitar it is), horizontal lines for the frets, and dots signifying the position of the figures. Guitar Tabs provides detailed information on Guitar Tabs, Free Guitar Tablatures, Classical Guitar Tablatures, Bass Guitar Tablatures and more. Guitar Tabs is affiliated with Guitar Tabs.
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| Feature Article Choosing a Guitar Teacher
Author: Tom Hess
The electric guitar has advanced far beyond the time when someone could teach himself (or herself) to become a world class player. If your ambition is to become a competent player and a competent musician, you need a competent teacher. Even if your goals are more modest, you can reach those goals far more quickly, easily and efficiently with the guidance of the right teacher.
Much of the information needed to learn about guitar playing (and music in general) is available from many different sources. There are hundreds of books, instructional videos, CD-ROMs and, of course, the Internet. Even though a lot of information is readily available, there exists a lot of incorrect, incomplete and otherwise bad information (this is especially true for a lot of information found on the Internet!).
You will need the aid of an excellent teacher to teach you how to fully understand and apply the correct information. You can save yourself a lot of unnecessary frustration and disappointment by studying with a good teacher. Remember that textbooks, CD-ROMs, instructional videos and the Internet cannot answer your specific questions. They cannot offer you advice on your playing, song writing, ear training, etc. They cannot listen to your playing and point out any mistakes or flaws that may be present. Some textbooks are great and I have seen some pretty good CD-ROMs out there too, but you still need the aid of an excellent teacher to guide you through everything and to help you develop your abilities and musicianship correctly and efficiently.
Great teachers manage and schedule new materials and effectively explain their importance and meaning. A teacher should encourage you when you are doing well and correct you when you make mistakes. Good teachers will show you how to better organize your practice materials and show you how to effectively manage your practice time (this is crucial to your progress!). They help you build up your confidence level (even if you are not consciously aware that this is happening). A great teacher will help you become secure with your technical skills so that you can execute difficult techniques on your guitar comfortably. These teachers emphasize creativity (songwriting and improvising) and performing.
Great teachers want to make sure that you fully understand what you are learning and, most importantly, teach you how to apply it by giving you detailed explanations and encouraging you to ask questions when something is unclear. A good teacher sincerely cares about your musical growth and development. An experienced and competent teacher will take you far beyond what you could learn on your own. Unfortunately, guitar teachers are not licensed and there is no organization that oversees or regulates them. Anyone can claim to be a good teacher and there are lots of people who make this claim. The number of competent teachers, however, is limited.
This brings us to this crucial question: how can a student find, choose, and then accurately evaluate a guitar teacher? Here are some questions that you should ask any teachers you are considering studying with. I have also included my own comments for each question:
1) Can you please tell me about your teaching experience? May I see your resume or credentials? How long have you been teaching and approximately how many students have you taught during that time?
At least three to five years of teaching experience is preferred - certainly no less than one year of experience. Prefer a teacher who has taught a moderate to large number of students. It takes time for a teacher to truly learn how to teach well, and the main way that someone learns to teach is by teaching for a while.
The students of a new teacher are like experiments. These teachers are learning how to teach on the job by trial and error. They need time to learn how to teach, and will make some mistakes in the beginning of their careers. You don't want to be one of those first thirty to fifty students. Let a new teacher gain his or her experience by making mistakes with someone else.
2) Do you teach private lessons or group lessons?
You definitely want private lessons, unless you are a total beginner or are enrolled in a college music course. You will learn a lot more about playing guitar in a one-on-one private lesson or in a correspondence lesson program.
3) What styles of music do you teach best?
Make sure you ask this question before telling the prospective teacher what style of music you want to learn. A lot of teachers claim to teach all styles well. Beware of this. Do not be impressed by someone who tells you that he or she can teach every style of music well.
If you really want to be a great rock guitarist, take lessons from a rock teacher, not a blues or country player who claims to teach all styles well. Find yourself a good rock teacher. If you want to learn multiple styles of music that are not similar (like country, classical and heavy metal) take lessons from more than one teacher for each of those styles. Unless you are a total beginner, you are better off with an expert teacher in your style of music, not a jack-of-all-trades teacher.
4) What is the cost of lessons?
Excellent teachers are in demand and usually already have a lot of students. These teachers often are not cheap. I can tell you that the going rates for good teachers in the Midwestern United States (where I live) is between $16-$24 per 1/2 hour private lesson (rates may be different in your state or country). There are a handful of teachers offering correspondence lessons for students who do not live in the same state or country as the teacher. Usually these lessons are less expensive in the long run (read more about correspondence lessons later). In general, don't look for the teacher with the lowest rates; you usually get what you pay for. If you can't afford to pay the higher rates for a really good teacher, ask the teacher if you can take lessons on a bi-monthly basis instead of taking weekly lessons.
5) Can you tell me how you teach the lessons?
This is probably the most important question you can ask a teacher. The answer to this question can help you determine if a teacher is competent, because this is actually a trick question. Anyone can tell you they have been teaching for 100 years, they have had 10,000 students and the cost is $1,000 per lesson because they are the greatest teacher of all time. But an inexperienced teacher cannot trick you with his or her answer to this question (unless he or she is reading this article.)
If a prospective teacher who does not know you, your musical knowledge, your guitar technique, your musical tastes, and your musical goals tries to explain how he or she will teach you, this is not a competent teacher. Not even the best teacher on Earth could answer this question if that teacher knows nothing about you, your goals, your playing level, your knowledge of music theory, etc.
So what would an experienced and competent teacher say to you when you ask the question? Well, I can tell you what I do when a new prospective student asks me this. I explain to him or her that I can't formulate a lesson plan for anyone until I learn a lot more about that student's playing, goals, musical tastes, knowledge of theory, etc.
To my correspondence students (whom I don't see face to face), I send a long list of questions about everything I need to know about their music background. This helps me determine the best way for us to begin. I also encourage the student to send me a tape or CD of his or her playing with a variety of his or her playing on it so I have a clearer picture of what areas need improvement.
Obviously, for my private students (whom I do see face to face), I can simply ask the questions that I need answers to. And I can hear the student play in front of me. Only after all of this can I (or any other teacher) truly know how to teach that individual student. It seems obvious that you shouldn't teach a 13-year-old-boy who has never played guitar before and wants to learn to play alternative rock the same way that you would teach a 27-year-old-man who has been playing for 16 years and wants to become a virtuoso in the style of Steve Vai or Yngwie Malmsteen.
In addition to asking the questions above, here are some other things to watch out for:
When students ask how to approach a certain technique or how to hold the pick correctly or how to most effectively mute strings that are not supposed to be sounding, the advice of some teachers is to do whatever feels natural to you. Sometimes what you may think is the natural way to hold your left hand may not be the correct way at all. It is the teacher's job to know those types of things. The teacher should be teaching, not letting you do whatever you feel like doing. For most things, there is a right and wrong way and you will be better off learning it the right way from the beginning.
A teacher may have some talented students, but this does not mean the teacher is good. This might seem like good criteria for evaluating a teacher, but the fact is that sometimes advanced students were already good players before taking lessons from the new teacher. The only time you can judge a teacher's teaching skills, based on his or her students' playing skills, is when those advanced students have been taking lessons from the same teacher since they were beginners.
Some teachers tell their students to learn from as many sources as possible and then leave it up to you to sort through it all and decide what works best for you. How are you supposed to decide that? How is a student to know what the best fingering is for a particular scale? Students typically won't know how to determine what the right way is. This is one of the reasons you have a teacher. It is his or her job to teach you these things. This is why you are giving the teacher your money!
Do not assume that someone is a good teacher just because he or she may be an excellent player or has good credentials. I know plenty of competent players with advanced music degrees whom I don't believe are good teachers. I was fortunate to have some truly great teachers, but I had some incompetent ones too, along the way. Whenever I realized that a teacher wasn't good, I looked for a new teacher.
The following things are not required for someone to be a good teacher, but it certainly is to your advantage to have a teacher who, in addition to teaching you about guitar and music, can help you in some of these other ways:
1) Guitar Pedagogy - This is learning how to teach guitar. If one of your goals is to be a guitar or music teacher, then you would benefit greatly from a teacher who can show you how to teach a variety of techniques, music theory, ear training, songwriting, improvisation, etc. You will also need to learn about how to deal with a wide variety of personality types. Every student is different. Each student learns and comprehends information in different ways. It is important for any teacher to understand this. You need to know how to explain the same information in several different ways so you can teach all of your students well.
2) Recording advice - The better you become as a musician, the more likely it will be that you will want to record your guitar playing. If you have little or no experience in this area, then having someone who can help you is especially helpful.
3) Music business - If you plan to record, release and sell your own CD, now or in the future, there is a huge amount of music business information that you will need to learn if you want to make any money. Some teachers who have released their own CDs, and are promoting it themselves, can be the best source of help for selling your CD. You can also learn other things like how to set up gigs for your band and how to get the press to write about you.
Now that you have a better idea about what to look for in a teacher, the next question is, where do you look for a good teacher? This depends on if you are looking for a teacher to teach you privately (face to face) or if you are looking for a teacher to teach you through correspondence. Both are good and there are advantages to both ways.
If you are looking for a private teacher to teach you face to face, check out these places first: Contact the music department at universities and colleges near you. Even if they can't help you directly, they can usually refer you to someone who can help. Next, you can try your local music shops (where guitars are sold). Most music shops offer lessons. And most of the teachers found here are not of the highest quality, but sometimes there are great teachers you can find at these shops.
When you call one of these shops, ask to speak to the manager or owner. Find out from him or her exactly who are the most qualified teachers for you (your style of music and skill level). After you get the teachers' names, make arrangements to speak to each of the teachers privately. Ask those teachers all of the questions we've gone over above. If you are not satisfied with any of those teachers, keep looking.
If you are looking for correspondence lessons, your search will be a little different (and these lessons are usually a little cheaper in the long run). You can look on the Internet for these types of teachers and you can also contact universities (in any part of the world). The best thing about correspondence lessons is that you can take lessons from any teacher in the world (that teaches via correspondence)! What I would look for in a correspondence teacher is someone who has been doing this type of teaching for a while, someone who always allows you to ask questions about your lesson via e-mail or telephone (for no additional charge!).
I personally don't think that courses (like CD-ROM courses) are a good idea because they don't provide the private and individual instruction needed to learn in the most efficient way. Even though correspondence lessons are not face to face, the lessons should be personalized for you, your skill level, your musical knowledge, your style of music and your musical goals.
Stay away from a one-size-fits-all method or the cookie-cutter style courses. Everyone is different and is at a different level, has different musical goals, and likes different music. So the lessons (whether face to face or correspondence) should be tailored specifically to your needs.
After teaching guitar and music for over 11 years now, I can tell you that using the information above can make a huge difference in finding an experienced high quality teacher. An incompetent teacher can severely hinder your ability to fully develop your guitar and music skills. If you are not progressing well, but you are spending a lot of time practicing, find another teacher.
I invite you to sign up for my free newsletter which is filled with valuable guitar instructional resources! Article Source : http://www.articledashboard.com More articles by Tom Hess are available for free here: tomhess.net My email: hess@mc.net See Tom Hess on the HolyHell world tour in 2006. Tour dates posted here: tomhess.net/news.php ?rubric=1 ...
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