Does your playing lack a driving rhythm? Or maybe you suffer from always playing too fast or slow? When learning how to play songs, your first Guitar Lesson should be about Strum patterns . All songs use strum patterns for the rhythm playing. Sometimes they’ll change during the song, and sometimes the pattern is quite hard to hear.

In my ebook Guitar Method Beginner Book 1, I show you 6 strum patterns that can be used to play thousands of songs. I specifically created this book for the beginner guitarist. By learning some simple techniques, anyone can start playing the guitar immediately! It just takes a little practice.

From these six patterns I’ve developed, a wide variety of songs can be played. Let’s take a look at one of them. This strum pattern consists of playing 2 quarter notes, and four eighth notes. You will strum down, down, down up, down up. Count 1 2 3& 4&

This Strum pattern can be used to play many songs such as “Times like These”, “Brown Eyed Girl”, and many others. Strum patterns will put a consistent rhythm in your playing that you may have been lacking. Practice these everyday with a metronome, and you’ll be on your way to playing all your favorite songs. For more info on strum patterns please visit my website, Learning Guitar Now.

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Are you in need of some soulful music? Isn’t everyone these days. When you’re having one of those days, or when things aren’t just going your way, one thing that can uplift your spirits is the sound of a good tune.

A former student of mine Michael Mann of Radiolucent, just wrote a great song. I filmed him singing and playing this song and I think it’s a fantastic song and I want you to check it out. Watch the video now!

I’m also running a contest with this song, “Honky Tonk Heart”. Name 2 artists that have one of their song titles mentioned in the song “Honky Tonk Heart”, to be put in a drawing to receive a FREE Slide guitar DVD. To participate, go to Michael Mann Youtube video and make a text comment. In that text comment, name 2 artists that the names of their songs are used in the lyrics of the song, “Honky Tonk Heart”.

On March 2, I will have a drawing of all the correct entries and the winner will be chosen. It’s that easy!You’ll get my new Slide Guitar Method 1 Open E Tuning DVD valued at $24.99! This is 80 minutes worth of instruction, 7 pages of PDF tab, downloadable Quicktime video bonus, and 2 backing tracks to play with.This is your chance to start learning slide guitar now!

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My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-f751aa14ac72c8e48e60122aec889103}

Just an announcement of my guitar lessons in Athens, GA. If you live in the Athens Georgia area and are interested in private guitar lessons please contact me. I have a limited number of openings, so it’s first come first serve.

If you’ve always dreamed of playing the guitar, I can help you achieve this goal. While it does take some practice, there are some specific things you can do to improve your success, when learning the guitar.

Whether you’re a total beginner, or a pro looking to pick up some new tips, I can help you achieve whatever you want to do with your musical goals. Playing guitar takes practice and commitment. I can eliminate the wasteful practice time, and give you a focused approach that will give you the knowledge you need to start playing the guitar like you want to.

Here’s a couple videos I put together to give you an example of my teaching style.

I look forward to talking with you.

John W. Tuggle

So you want to play the guitar like the great Jimi Hendrix. This can be frustrating, but with a little ingenuity and practice, you’ll be sounding like Jimi in no time.

Learning how to play the guitar like Jimi Hendrix can be a mammoth task, so it is better to take a certain element of his playing, and work on that. After you’ve learned that element, move on to another. Today I’m going to talk about Jimi’s clean rhythm playing. His rhythm playing was fantastic, and reminds me of all the R&B guys from the 50’s and 60’s. You’ll hear this style of playing in “Little Wing”, “Castles Made of Sand”, and “The Wind Cries Mary”.

This lick demonstrates Jimi’s use of 3 reoccurring elements in this style of playing:

1. Major Pentatonic scale
2. Doublestops
3. Hammer ons

This lick is in the key of E Major and uses all the above. Make sure to barre your first finger across the 9th fret on th D, G, and B strings.

Jimi had a vast catalog of licks and styles he recalled from at will. Any aspiring guitarist should learn as much material from Jimi as they can. Learning how to play the guitar is an everchanging thing. There is so much you can learn. It is best to define what you want to learn, and write it down. Now practice this everyday until you got it. Repeat. You’ll get much more accomplished this way. I guarantee you.

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This is the most used scale in rock music period. The minor pentatonic scale has been used for decades by countless guitarists. Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Angus Young, Steve Vai, Albert Lee, John Frusciante, Billy Joe Armstrong and many others have one thing in common. They all use the minor pentatonic scale.

If it hasn’t occurred to you by now, you MUST learn this scale to play lead guitar. Here it is in the Key of A in it’s most popular form.

There are many popular licks you can play that come directly from this scale.  Practice this scale everyday, making sure you go downstroke, then upstroke with the pick.  Memorizing this scale and practicing it regularly, will launch your playing into new levels.  No lead guitar lesson would be complete without a thorough examination of the minor pentatonic scale.

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From the great technology of skype, comes the ability for me to teach anyone in the world private guitar lessons. By using a webcam, and skype this is now a reality! If you would like a preview of how it would work contact me at info@learningguitarnow.com.

For the student they would need a few things

1. obviously a computer
2. a guitar
3. skype, a FREE program which can be found here skype
4. a webcam, and a microphone or headset. Here’s a $30 one with a webcam with audio. Creative webcam

That’s it!

You will now be able to see me, and hear me. I will be able to see, and hear you as well. It’s that easy.

The lessons are $25 for 30 minutes. You will get a private lesson from me, PDF tabs of parts you need to work on, and access to a page with backing track MP3s to practice along with.

This is the future of guitar lessons! You won’t even have to leave your house. You will save time, gas money, wear and tear on car going to and from lessons. No more being late because of traffic. It’s the easiest way to learn guitar!

I have over 13 years teaching experience of teaching people of all ages, and all styles of music. If there’s something you want to learn, I guarantee I can teach you how to do it. If not you will receive a full refund. That’s right. If you’re not completely satisfied with the lesson, I will give you a complete refund on the first lesson. That’s how confident I am in my service.

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This is a question I find many people asking.  This does make a big difference if you don’t know.  One thing to keep in mind is that you need to hold the pick lightly when strumming.  If you don’t you will get a very stiff awkward sound.  To get a smooth sound, you need to hold the pick lightly, and let the pick give in to the string as you strum.

Thin picks will give you a thinner sound and produce a nice strum effect.  Medium gauge picks sound better for electric.  The medium gauge picks also work well when using acoustic guitars.  I find the thin picks sound good on Acoustic guitars as well, but not so much for electrics.

Thick picks work when you really want to dig in on an electric guitar, especially for power chords and rock soloing.  Using thick picks on acoustic guitars will give you a big duller sound, which may sound good depending on what you’re going for.

Here’s my suggestion to you.  Go to your local music store, and buy one, of each kind of pick.   Now play each kind of pick on acoustic, and then electric.  This will help determine what you like best for each kind of guitar.  This is crucial.  YOU need to find out what YOU like.  Music is a great thing.  One, because it allows individuality, and there are no steadfast rules, just basic guidelines.  This means that you can use a thin pick on electric for power chords, and it won’t be wrong because I said to use thick picks earlier in this article.  I’m telling you to use thick picks for power chords because I have tried it, and find it sounds better for power chords.

W hen learning the guitar, don’t worry about learning something wrong, and don’t be afraid to try something new.  I find that out of failure comes greatness.

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Power chords are a simple way to learn all the chords on the guitar. What, all the chords? Well not exactly all the chords, but A-G# chords can be learned by just using power chords.

Here’s the shape to learn.

Now that you’ve learned the shape.  Simply move the chord up and down the strings to change the chord.  Your 1st finger determines the note name of the chord.  So whatever note name your first finger is on, that is the name of the chord.  For example, if you put your 1st finger on the 5th fret of the E string, and your 3rd finger on the 7th fret of the A string, as shown above, you will be playing the A power chord.  Simple!

To me, learning the guitar is about movable patterns that can be moved around to change keys, or ideas.

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This is a question many people will ask during the course of this year, and while there is no definitive answer about what you should learn on the guitar first, there are certain things to learn that will make the guitar easier. I created Learning Guitar Now and from my experience, here are 3 things you can start practicing the first day that will make learning guitar much easier.

1. D, Cadd9, G These three chords are fairly easy for the beginner, and you only need to move 2 fingers to change through the chords. One thing that makes it easier is that the 3rd finger remains still while you change all the chords. You NEVER have to move your 3rd finger. There are plenty of songs that use these 3 chords as well. Learn these first and you’re good to go.
2. Chromatic exercise This is good for developing the coordination between the left and right hand. You simply play the 1st fret with your 1st finger, then your 2nd fret with your 2nd finger, 3rd fret with your 3rd finger, and the 4th fret with your 4th finger all on the Big E sting. Now do this for every string. Also, don’t forget to go down then up with the pick.
3. Strum patterns Practice these, and you’ll be on your way to strumming songs in a matter of no time. A good starter pattern when learning the guitar, is 2 quarter notes, then 4 eighth notes. So you’ll play down, down, down up, down up with the pick. For more info on these lessons, sign up for my newsletter at LearningGuitarNow.com for complete video lessons on how to do these techniques.

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Does your guitar playing lack that spice, and energy of favorite guitarists? Well one way to put more spice in your playing, is to use Hammer ons and Pull offs.

First let’s talk about how to perform a Hammer on. It’s pretty easy really. Pick one note and now “Hammer” to a note above that one to create the new note. For example,

Pick the note on the 2nd fret of the G string. This is an A note. Now after you pick the note, “Hammer” to the note on the 4th fret of the G string, which is a B note. Pretty simple huh. Here’s an example.

Now let’s talk about the Pull Off. This is exactly the opposite of the Hammer on. So now pick the 4th fret of the G string, which is the B note, and Pull off to the A note on the 2nd fret. One thing to note when performing the Pull off. If you pull your finger down slightly, you will get more volume out of the note.

These two techniques are used in thousands of songs. They should be practiced on the guitar everyday. Learning guitar is not that hard if you stick to practicing the same techniques everyday.

You’ll find these techniques in many popular songs. Here’s the short list:

1. Sweet Home Alabama
2. Over the Hills and Far Away
3. Crazy Train
4. Fire and Rain
5. Simple Man
6. Hey Joe
7. Mama I’m coming Home

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