Guitar Lessons

3 Priceless Intermediate Guitar Tips

These tips are from of Reddit user “YourRealName” and were posted to the r/Guitar sub-forum, which we highly recommend for any forum-loving guitar players out there. There is also a r/Guitar music education fundraiser, to which we encourage you to donate!

I’ve been playing for 10 years, and am by no means a virtuoso, but I figured I’d share a couple tips that helped me along the way. I have never taken any formal lessons, everything I’ve learned is from online tutorials and a few people giving me tips here and there, so hopefully these will help people in similar situations.

1. It’s All About Patterns.

This is painfully obvious to anyone who has looked at a chord chart, but when someone said these three words to me, it finally clicked. I finally stopped thinking in terms of numbers and started thinking in terms of shapes and patterns. After I had this planted in my head, it led to…

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Guitar Lessons

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April 28th 2011

Demystifying the Art of Django Gypsy Jazz Guitar

by Andy Ellis & John Jorgenson

John Jorgenson has a highly eclectic résumé. The masses know him as the lion-haired guitarist in Elton John’s band, but he’s also a session cat who tracks guitar, mandolin, pedal steel, and saxophone for the likes of Barbra Streisand, Marty Stuart, Bob Seger, and Bonnie Raitt. Loyal fans know that Jorgenson cofounded the Hellecasters with fellow twangers Will Ray and Jerry Donahue. And some will remember Jorgenson from his days in the Desert Rose Band—an outfit that scored numerous Top Ten country hits.

But years before he embarked on any of these musical adventures, Jorgenson was playing Gypsy jazz on a Selmer 6-string in the L.A.-based Rhythm Brothers. For more than two decades, he has continued to hone his Django Reinhardt-inspired chops, and, in the process, earned a rep in Europe as one of the few Americans who can truly wail on a manouche guitar.

Modern Gypsy-jazz guitars, or guitare manouche (named in honor of Django Reinhardt and the Manouche Gypsies of Belgium and Northern France), stem from an instrument designed by classical guitarist and inventor Mario Maccaferri. From 1932 to 1934, Maccaferri built instruments for Selmer, a woodwind manufacturer based in Paris. “The original Selmer Maccaferri guitars had a 12-fret neck, a D-shaped soundhole, and an interior resonating chamber,” says Jorgenson. “Later, when Maccaferri and Selmer parted ways, Selmer switched to a 14-fret neck, removed the chamber, and changed the soundhole to an oval shape. Django played that model until his death in 1952.”

Read on for the Gypsy jazz guitar lesson with Power Tab, charts, audio, and text…

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March 22nd 2011

The Loog Guitar: A Revolutionary Guitar for Children?

We here at TrueFire love Kickstarter. If you’re not familiar with the website, Kickstarter describes itself as “a new way to fund creative projects” and offers people the opportunity to raise funds from others or donate funds to others. When you donate, you choose from several levels of support and you get some reward based on which level you choose. The higher the donation, the greater the reward. We think it’s a brilliant model and a phenomenal tool for creative people who are in need of financial support. We are actually in the process of developing a Kickstarter campaign for a new product we are set to launch sometime in the near future, and we’ll be sure to keep you updated on that.

Until then, we’d like to share with you an interesting project we discovered on Kickstarter called “The Loog Guitar” by Rafael Atijas. Essentially, the Loog Guitar is a starter guitar with just 3 strings intended for children, but usable by anyone. In fact, Rafael claims you can play ANY song on The Loog Guitar and even offers a recording of a song of your choice on the Loog Guitar in exchange for a $50 donation.

The Loog Guitar is not positioned as a toy. It is a real guitar, made out of real wood, that tunes, plays and sounds “amazing.” It’s not a downsized-replica of a regular guitar, but a guitar that has been designed from scratch with a child’s needs, comfort and safety in mind, from the fun shapes, the rounded corners, and the signature feature: 3 strings.

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Guitar Lessons

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March 8th 2011

Q&A On Left Hand Form & Development – Part 1

by Jamey Andreas

Question 1: Thumb Position

I like to play in a similar style to Stefan Grossman and so my left thumb is frequently held on top of the neck waiting to fret the 6th or 5th string. This cradling of the neck style seems to cause a lot of tension, particularly in the first finger. Any thoughts on this?

Answer: First of all, the form for the left hand is not the same for all styles. For instance, you MUST have the thumb wrapped around the neck to bend properly. Some players prefer it also for getting certain chords (bass notes). The neck of an electric of course is also very different, and allows for the kind of form you are talking about.

Comment on this post | Tags: 4th finger, development, form, guitar, Guitar Lessons, left hand, thumb movement, thumb position

Guitar Lessons

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January 17th 2011

Perfect Guitar Practice Makes Perfect

by Sam the Scholar

My guitar practice regimen has helped me greatly improve my level of guitar playing. I still want to improve, and I’m not saying this is the right way, but it works for me. Feel free to share your practice ideas in the comments.