• Entertainment
  • Musicians
  • Recreation
  • Guitars
  • Playing Styles

Guitar Licks

Guitars, tips and great music discussions

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Archives
  • Links
  • About
  • Guest Blogger
  • Contact



You are here: Home / Blog

Learning Guitar Basics Online

April 30, 2013 by Chris

Music is an expression of the soul. People dabble in different instruments to educate themselves in music appreciation and to create a new form of relaxation.

Learning to play the guitar can be difficult and may require a sense of discipline. Many people have the ability to teach themselves new instruments and with online technology and patients, you can learn to play the guitar online.

Guitar Basics

The first step to learning to play the guitar is learning the basics of the guitar. There are many websites that allow you to research the basic components of the guitar such as each part of the guitar and its function. These websites will offer you all the insight you may need to get familiar with guitar from how to properly hold it, stringing the guitar, and tightening and loosening the strings.

Tuning Your Guitar

The second step to learning to play the guitar is learning to prepare your guitar to be played. Your guitar will have to be tuned every time you play it. Different elements will cause your guitar strings to stretch changing the sound you will get from them. Online resources can provide you with a virtual guitar tuner that you can select your tuning preferences.

Most beginners will use standard tuning which is usually the default setting on most guitar tuners online. The guitar tuners will play each strong for you allowing you to use your ears to compare the sound of the tuner to the sound coming from your guitar. You adjust the sound of your guitar by turning the keys on the top of the guitar loosening or tightening the strings. Tightening the strings gives you a higher sound where loosening them gives you a lower sound.

Reading Guitar Tabs and Chords

The beautiful thing about learning to play guitar is there are two ways to play it. You can stick with rhythm by playing chords, which is where most beginners will start out. Once you have an understanding of the various chords, you can move on to playing individual notes. Part of learning to play any instrument requires learning to read music specific to that instrument.

If you have basic sheet reading skills, learning to read music for a specific instrument is a little bit easier. There are several online resources that can teach the basics of reading music showing note placement on a bar graph.

It is important to have patients when learning to play a new instrument. Though you haven’t learned any basic chords or notes yet, you have started learning the guitar online by getting to know your guitar and the basic functions you will need for when you begin learning to play.

The Internet offers a lot of resources for beginners learning to play guitar that range from Youtube videos, guitar tuners, and advice from professional guitar players. If you have followed these steps in this blog, you have taken the first step to learning the guitar and will be playing in no time.

Robert has over 15 years in the music industry, researching the different forms of music appreciation. Robert has learned to play three instruments through internet resources. He has shared his music experiences through writing for the past three years assisting others in achieving their music goals.




Filed Under: Guitars, Playing Styles Tagged With: basic chords, chords, guitar tabs, guitar tuner, Learning Guitar Basics, Online, play guitar, tuning

Why I’d Rather Be A Session Guitarist Than Be In The Band

April 1, 2013 by Chris

Kids grow up wanting to be in a band.  They always have done, since music became a contemporary way of life, and they always will do. The reasons are obvious, too. Who wouldn’t want to become successful in a world where there is the potential for a party every night, or where thousands of people are screaming in appreciation of your skills.

Being a top musician, or having any job in the entertainment industry, means that your life consists of you being paid – sometimes very well, sometimes not so – to enjoy yourself. Not bad work, if you can get it, in a world where millions are miserable and stuck in the ‘rat race,’ going to their job on a daily basis, promising to themselves that they will change their lives, but never doing anything about it.

For me, though, it was never about the adulation, or the fame, or having myself plastered all over MTV. Being a session musician has always held far greater appeal that actually being front and centre of a band itself.

This is why.

Always at Work

Don’t get me wrong, being in a band is clearly a great gig – literally – but those who talk about the ‘price of fame’ aren’t just making it up. I’ve seen what those guys go through, and having people rush up to you with pieces of paper and magazines, and feeling like you have to sign everyone lest people take to Twitter and call you everything under the sun is not something that is particularly appealing to me, nor has it ever been.

I earn well enough and have everything I always wanted out of life. The difference is I can walk through an airport and no one has a clue who I am; just the way I like it.

The Way I’m Viewed

I’ve never felt comfortable with people feeling star struck around me. Admittedly, it has only happened on the odd occasion when an album recording had an invited audience, but afterwards I was the one leading the conversation!

For the most part, however, I’m just me, and people in those situations recognize that I’m just a normal person, not too different from them, and embrace me as such. I like to think that I haven’t got a lot of airs and graces and that I carry myself well, but I try to let other people be the judge of that.

No Criticism

If a band has a particular track or guitar riff on an album and people think it is rubbish, I don’t get any grief for it. Is there the feeling that I’m missing out when a record is critically acclaimed and goes multi-platinum around the world? In all honesty, there isn’t.

I do what I do out of love for music, not because I want to be the face of a generation. No, I don’t get the credit I maybe deserve, but at the same time I don’t have to face awkward questions or criticism, and calls for me to give up my profession.

For me, being a session musician beats lead guitar in a huge band any day of the week.

Karl is an online content writer and session guitarist, despite never having had a guitar lesson in his life. Karl has played guitar with a number of notable artists in studios across London.

Filed Under: Musicians, My experiences Tagged With: band, entertainment industry, fame, guitar, musician, Session Guitarist

Top 5 Best Websites To Download Free Music

February 21, 2013 by Chris

I love my music !The Internet today makes it easier than ever to download just about any song you want for free. However, finding a site with an extensive selection of free music downloads is few and far in between. There are however, sites out there that offer music for purchase with an occasional song for free download. And there are some sites make you pay a monthly subscription for a wide music selection.

But, the problem with free music is, that it’s not always legal. When you download music for free you are not supporting the artists, labels and retailers who distribute the songs. For that reason, I want to emphasize that there are dozen of websites out there that allow you to listen to music freely and legally without downloading it. Like Pandora or Spotify for example.

If you’re like the rest of us, and you absolutely must download music, there are safe and legal sites available that you can use. Sites that will not spam your computer with advertisements, fake links or viruses. From the latest pop music to classic rock hits, download Mp3 songs for free using these five music websites:

1. mp3skull

If you haven’t already, you definitely want to use this website. It’s great for downloading, listening and searching for your favorite songs. mp3skull has a database of multimillion quality Mp3 links. The site even provides you with embed link to post music to your blogs and personal websites.

2. emp3World

While this site may be ten years old, it still provides the best and latest songs for free. The interface is simple, it loads rather quickly and there aren’t many annoying advertisements. This site gets two thumbs up!

3. Mp3Raid

Mp3Raid is a search engine that is dedicated to indexing and organizing music that has legally be posted on the Internet. You can easily listen to songs before you download too. While the interface is a bit unorganized, the overall task of searching for and downloading songs is rather easy.

4. Zippyshare.com

Another one of my favorite sites to download music from is Zippyshare.com. This site is easy to use with a very straightforward interface. Songs are 100 percent free and you can listen to the full song before you download it. Definitely worth bookmarking on your Internet browser!

5. Beemp3

Also a music search engine, Beemp3 can be used for locating an mp3-file over the Internet. The only catch is that the site does not actually host the files themselves. This site just searches through the Internet and indexes all the new mp3 songs.

Everyone listens to music. When we’re happy, sad, and anxious or somewhere in between, music is an expression of emotion. What’s better is if we can get all the music we want for free. And without too much hassle, like irritating pop ads and sign ups. There’s a safe way for downloading music there, choose wisely.

Attached Images:
  •  License: Creative Commons image source

Laura Wolfe is a freelance writer for several music publications. She usually uses KoyoteSoft.com video converter free software for her favorite YouTube videos. She loves having her favorite songs and videos at her fingertips.

Filed Under: Entertainment, Music Tagged With: Beemp3, best, database, download, emp3World, free, mp3, Mp3Raid, mp3skull, Music, songs, websites, Zippyshare.com

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • …
  • 155
  • Next Page »

Connect with Us

  • RSS

Suggested Sites


Eavestrough Cleaning Toronto

Categories

Recent Posts

  • 5 Amazing Alternative Rock Albums Of The 90s
  • Want To Learn To Be A Musician?
  • How Can Ambitious Musicians Find Great Advice From Professionals?
  • Which Musical Instruments Are Hardest To Learn?
  • Things To Know When Beginning A Career In Music
  • Suicidal Tendencies Still Rocking After All These Years
  • Learning Guitar Basics Online

Recent Comments

  • Judy Green on The Old Gasworks was a Toronto institution for music lovers and bands
  • Frank Bolduc on The Old Gasworks was a Toronto institution for music lovers and bands
  • Tom Farr on 5 Amazing Alternative Rock Albums Of The 90s
  • DW on 5 Amazing Alternative Rock Albums Of The 90s
  • Nick Othen on 5 Famous People And Their Guitars

Subscribe

Never miss a post
FREE - Subscribe NOW!
Read our posts in your favorite RSS reader.
rss feed

OR

Subscribe to Guitar Licks by FREE Email Newsletter


Follow us on TWITTER!

Alltop, confirmation that I kick ass
Alltop Guitar news

Shopping

Gifts, Gadgets,
Books and More!

Site Ratings

Visitors


Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Archives

Search

Pages

  • About
  • Archives
  • Become a Guest Blogger for Guest Licks
  • Blog
  • Canadian Bloggers
  • Contact
  • Disclosure
  • Do Follow Bloggers
  • Links
  • Privacy Policy
  • Toronto Bloggers

Blogroll

  • Guitar Boomer
  • Eavestrough Cleaning Toronto
  • Guitar-Werks

My Store

  • My Store

Other Sites

  • Celebrity Scoop 2
  • Celebrity Scoop
  • WebStyle
  • Tricia's Chinese Water dragon, reptile and amphibian care
  • You are in my world now

Tags

Acoustic amp band bands Brantford Bruce Cockburn Canada Canadian concert Entertainment fender funny General guitar Guitar Equipment guitarist guitar player guitars Home house Humor humour instrument jammin jazz John Mayer keyboard Live Music musician Musicians play playing Progressive Rock Pylis rock RUSH Songs to play sound strings Technology Toronto tour Video YES

Copyright © 2026 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in