Dealing with Stage Fright

What Exactly is Stage Fright?

Almost all musicians and guitarists have experienced this at least once in their lives: nerves!

Even legendary musicians such as Jim Morrison, Ella Fitzgerald, Adele, David Bowie and Barbara Streisand were known to be shy and nervous of performing live. Jim Morrison is said to be so scared of performing live, he used to face the band instead of the audience in order to be able to sing!

Whether you play in jam-packed 30,000 capacity arena, or in front of friends and family on a trip to the beach, nerves are part of the game. Stage fright, anxiety, lack of confidence or nervousness – whatever you may want to call it – comes with the package when you’re a musician. And needless to say, it can have an adverse effect on your guitar-play.

Most of the times, such problems manifest from a fear of failure, fear of making a mistake, questioning if you’re good enough, fearing what the audience will think of you and your music, to name a few.

Why Dealing with Stage Fright is Important

The ability to be confident and comfortable on stage isn’t something that comes naturally for a lot of people, including musicians. Ultimately, mastering both these attributes – being confident and comfortable on stage – is what makes a good musician and a good entertainer. It is the ‘entertainment’ industry after all, and unless you create a confident stage persona for yourself, you’ll never be able to make it here. No one would really ever pay to see a stiff musician, who is just a bunch of nerves on the stage!

The ability to create a good stage persona for yourself is even more important than making good music! Allow me to support this argument with an example.

Angus Young, lead guitarist of the popular Australian rock n’ roll group ACDC is a good example here. If you’ve listened to their music, you’ve probably also seen them play live and you’ll know what I mean. If not, I suggest you Youtube it straightaway. The point is that Young has a confident and a rather electrifying stage persona, complete with weird dance moves, absurd stage antics, and the ability to keep the audiences engaged. Granted, ACDC have made some great music, but the reason that they are so popular (and have been so for a good part of the last 40-odd years!) and the reason that they continue to sell out wherever they go, is that they’re absolutely fantastic to watch when they perform live. And a big reason for that is Angus Young!

When ACDC sells tickets, when people learn that ACDC is coming to town and when stadiums and arenas where the band is supposed to play sell out, a big reason for that is Mr. Young!

Creating a Stage Persona

The point of everything that I’ve said above is that every successful musician needs a stage persona. A persona that is strong, presents the artist as a confident musician and meshes well with his personality. Trust me on this, being confident will automatically make you a better musician. You’ll actually be able to notice as you become better, and are able to play better!

But you’ll have to look the part first!

Create a look that goes with your personality, and does a good job of portraying you as a musician. The best way to do that is look at other musicians who are in the same genre of music as you, and make similar music as you do. Notice how they dress, act on stage and act behind the scenes. Never copy these musicians! Being yourself is an important aspect of your personality. However what you can do is ‘borrow’ certain elements off these musicians and see which one of these elements can be integrated with your own personality. The most obvious would be the way they dress, so go from there.

Being More Confident on Stage

Before stepping out on the stage (or in front of a group of people) the next time, try these:

1. Don’t put pressure on yourself  about performing at a high level. A performance is not the time to be putting yourself under pressure, you should do that during practice or rehearsal sessions! Instead, have fin during the gig and enjoy your music. Be well-prepared when you step into the arena and onto the big-stage. If you're looking for online lessons to work on your guitar-play head on over to GuitarTricks (review here).

2. In continuation to the point above, you can perform better when you focus on having fun on stage, instead of worrying about making a mistake or what the audience is thinking of you. Even if you do make a mistake, for instance, give yourself credit for playing the other 99% of the notes correctly, instead of obsessing about that one odd mistake on stage. You’ll have plenty of time to do that after the gig!

3. Next time you’re up on the stage, remember this: everyone in the audience – whether its 50 people or 50,000 people – envy you, and would swap places with you in a heartbeat! That is how incredibly lucky and privileged you are. The next time that stage fright kicks in, remind yourself that people in the crowd ‘are in the crowd,’ while you are up on the stage and living the dream!  Think back to when you were learning to play the guitar – when you imagined how cool it would be to play live. Remind yourself how you began, how far you’ve come as a musician and what you’ve achieved during the process. There was once a time that you wanted to follow the footsteps of you favorite musicians an idols, and now you’ve actually gone on and done it! Be proud and feel good about it.

4. At the end of the day, it’s not about impressing others. Music is about ‘giving to others’. When you donate money to charity, help someone cross the road, or do something for someone else, how does that make you feel? Do you feel nervous, or do you feel nice about it? If you look at your performance as ‘giving to others’ you will never feel nervous about it, because you’re adding value to people’s experiences. Some may like it, while some may not, and that is something that comes with the territory. 

Why Warming-Up Before Playing is So Important

Unless you’re extremely fit and in the shape of your life, warming up before any exercise, even one that involves the slightest bit of physical exertion, is important. Yes, that includes playing the guitar!

Most musicians however fail to understand and realize the importance of a proper warm-up session. Guitarists tend to simply pick up the guitar and start cold. Right from the off, it doesn’t feel very great, and understandably, this then leads to a lot of short-term and long-term injuries, most notable of which are various stress- and strain-related injuries such as RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury).

Even though playing the guitar might not seem like something that really exerts your body, or would seemingly cause major health problems later in your life, the fact of the matter is repetitive hand and arm movements (such as during picking and fretting) are certain to be the cause of many ill-effects and long-lasting damage to the body.

Needless to say, it is therefore vital to incorporate a proper warm-up routine prior to starting to play the guitar. Not only will a proper warm-up drastically reduce the possibility of strain injuries that are associated with playing the guitar, it will put less strain and exertion on certain part of your body.

This is precisely why athletes warm up and stretch before stepping on to the field. Guitar playing, on the face of it, might not be as physical as a 90-minute soccer match or a marathon run, but trust me, a 1-hour jam session or a live performance will take some serious toll on your health!

Warming up will also allow you to improve your posture, increase stamina, get your blood flowing to your fingers and forearms, and allow you to focus on putting in a great performance, instead of cramping hands and painful shoulders.

And a good warm-up sessions doesn’t even have to take a lot of time. It doesn’t involve a full-on Yoga sessions or hitting the gym. All it takes is a few exercises – both without and with your guitar.

First off, make sure that you loosen up your muscles and joints, particularly your head, neck, shoulders, wrists, fingers, and arm joints and muscles. Since all these part are interconnected with one another, failing to loosen up one of these will affect your overall guitar-play.

After you’ve loosened up, grab that guitar and do some warm-up exercises. At this point, it is important to accustom yourself to your axe. Besides, your (wooden) guitar needs to warm up as well. For this purpose, I recommend guitar ‘gymnastics’ exercises. There are plenty of resources available on the internet for this purpose, as a quick Google search would reveal.  Plus plenty of stretching exercises tailor-made for musicians and guitarists. Check the Musician’s Health website for more details.

Like I mentioned above, even after your muscles are limber and loose, your guitar (or whatever is your instrument of choice) also needs to warm up, before you get straight to playing it. This too will help prevent RSI, and allow the guitarist to become lose enough to play accurately.

It is why some of the biggest acts in the world have incorporated warming-up sessions into their routines. Take the example of Metallica. They performed live in in 1997 in Texas, in front of a sold-out crowd, and began the concert (called Cunning Stunts) with a full 3-minute warm-up session! This was part of their ‘on-stage’ warm-up, their off-stage or back-stage warm practices include stretching and loosening up with trained professionals and chiropractors who are a part of their team and travel with the band wherever they go anywhere in the world (‘whenever they may roam’ as James Hetfield would say!).

While you probably do not need such a high-maintenance warm-up routine, this link to warm-up exercises, and this RSI-prevention guidelines will most certainly help!

Prevention is always better than cure. One musician to another: make warm-ups a regular part of your guitar-play today!

5 Underrated Acoustic Guitars on a Budget

Acoustic guitars are absolutely fantastic, and easily any musician’s best friend! Their perfect ‘pick-it-up-and-play’ nature makes them the perfect instrument for any occasion – indoors or outdoors. You can take an acoustic guitar with you to just about anywhere, play them any time you want, and keep yourself and the people around you entertained. Plus, guitars do make good gifts as well! And let’s not forget, chicks seem to dig guitar players! ;)

Here is my list of top acoustic guitars out there, all of which can be had on the cheap!

1. Epiphone DR-100

The DR-100 costs a measly $99, and for the price, is one hell of a good acoustic guitar! Granted, you will most certainly need to invest in a new set of strings as soon as you buy these, it doesn’t change the fact that this is an excellent musical instrument which comes with the reliability of Gibson (Gibson owns the company Epiphone). For an acoustic guitar, it has a great action, and once you hook it up with a good set of after-market strings, sounds fantastic! And while it might not be a looker (perfectly reasonable in this price range), it does come with a spruce top, mahogany neck and body, and chromium hardware. The DR-100 is available in natural finish, vintage sunburst finish or a glassy black finish (the last one is an absolute fingerprint magnet!). It is important to note that the EpiphoneAJ-100 makes for a good alternative at around the same price.

2. Yamaha F335

If you can shed a little more than $99, Yamaha’s F335 is a solid guitar, and would make an excellent choice. Yamaha is vastly underrated in my opinion; they have continued to produce some of the best acoustic (and reasonably good electric) guitars since quite a while now. For 150 of your greens, you simply cannot do better than the F335. The guitar sounds and plays as good as much more expensive acoustics (even some of the more expensive Yamahas!). It features a dreadnought body with spruce top (laminated), meranti sides and rear, and rosewood fingerboard and bridge. Plus a gold die-cast tuners and a tortoise shell pickguard truly come together to make this guitar look great. For $150, it is a great, sturdy guitar that does the job pretty darn well!

3. Vintage V300

In 2006, the Vintage V300 was voted as the Best Guitar Under £1000, and several years later (in 2011), I had the pleasure of extensively using one; I am pleased to report that it most certainly lives up to the billing! First off, at $210, it has a great, vibrant tone, with a bright high-end; ideal for pop, rock (or pop-rock) and blues. For the price, I’ve rarely come across guitar which sounded better than this, particularly in this price range: the tone of the guitar really is just that good! In addition, the V300 has a spruce top with a nato-wood neck and 20 frets. The wood really is to-notch, which makes it one of the most durable guitars in this price range. Even after taking quite a few knocks, the guitar did not have any signs of wear and tear. Impressive, considering it was already a 3-year old guitar when I’d received it!

4. Jasmine by Takamine S35

At $169 retail and as low as $80(!) after saving, good acoustics don’t come any cheaper than this! One of the best entry-level guitars out there, I would recommend any beginner, learner or someone who’s looking to get into guitars to get this, simply because of how easy it is to play!  The S35 features a spruce top, with nato back and sides, chrome tuners, and satin finish which maximizes its resonance. It is one of the most highly-rated budget guitars out there, and for good reason! Comes with a mahogany neck, a 21-fret rosewood fretboard, and Takamine-designed NEX body shape and headstock. Its tone is loud, clear, crisp and rich. The one thing that really stands out when you play the S35 is its impressive bass range. ‘You get what you pay for’ turns out to be an inaccurate assumption to make when it comes to this guitar!

5. Epiphone Hummingbird

Saved the best for the last! You can probably tell that I am a bit of an Epiphone fan. The Hummingbird is my second Epiphone pick out of the first 3 guitars, and while this beauty of a guitar might be worth significantly more than the first two ($349.99, to be exact) – which is not exactly ‘cheap’ – it is worth every penny you pay for it! The first thing that strikes you about the HummingBird is the looks. It has a solid spruce top, a mahogany body with mahogany back and sides, a mahogany neck, all-chromium hardware, and above all, a seriously good-looking Heritage Cherry Sunburst finish. We then move on to the sound, where once again the Hummingbird really excels and leaves its competition in the dust! It produces a warm, rich and full sound, and is probably one of the best guitars for multi-genre guitar play – you will be able to kill it with the Hummingbird whether you play country, classic rock or blues! The Gibson Masterbuild strings with come with the package are tremendous. Overall, $349 for the package you’re getting is most certainly pretty cheap!

Guitar Lessons

Hopefully, this will help you pick up a cheap yet fantastic acoustic guitar for yourself. As a beginner, the next step would be to learn how to play your shiny new instrument. There's a plethora of some fantastic courses online, but I personally recommend GuitarTricks or JamPlay (reviews here). All the best! See you in the comments section.

A How-To on Starting Your Very Own Band

I’ll start off with a question: What is common between all of these names: aside from the fact that they are probably the most well-known people on Earth: Jimi Page, Eddie van Halen, Tony Iommi, Slash, Keith Richards, John Petrucci, Kirk Hammett, Angus Young, Dimebag Darell, Dave Mustaine and Jerry Cantrell?

The answer to that question is that each one of them, while being extremely accomplished, talented, gifted and successful guitarists individually, belonged to successful bands. Bands that went on to achieve stellar levels of success and will probably be remembered for their music many years to come!

The point is that it is a safe assumption to make that the reason that bands such as Metallica, G n’ R, Black Sabbath and The Rolling Stones have soared to such monumental levels of success is down to the brilliance of their guitar players. And perhaps the reason these guitarists have been idolized by billions all over the world, is due to them being associated with such acts. It all goes hand-in-hand.

That however is not to suggest that solo artists are not successful, as there are plenty of examples out there that would tell you otherwise: Jimi Hendrix, Chuck Berry, Joe Satriani and Carlos Santana are perhaps perfect examples of this.

But I digress. The whole point of my argument is that while it is possible to achieve worldwide success as a solo artist (that is what every musician aims to do, right?), being a part of a band makes this dream realistically achievable.

Being part of, and playing with a band, is a thought that would most certainly have crossed the mind of every single guitar player, at least once. And there are many reasons for it: you might feel more comfortable as part of a group, rather than playing individually, or maybe you think that to have a shot at the big time, you need to be in a proper band. Whatever the case might be, you’ve given it a thought, and that fact that you’re reading this proves just that. By all means, go for it!

The following write-up intends to cover the essentials of starting your very own band, finding gigs and work, as well as rehearsing and performing.

Before you set off, you need to ask some important questions and take a lot of different factors into consideration. For starters, have you identified the members who will make up your band? If yes, have you pitched the idea to them and are they onboard? If not, how exactly do you plan on going about it? Do you have a list of potential candidates?

At this point, it is also important to ask yourself how big the band will be, and who exactly will be doing what.

Avoid naming your band before all members of the band have put in at least one practice session. This will allow you to be able to get a feel of the band, before you give it a name that will remain with you for the rest of your life, and become something you will be identified with. For instance you might call it The Metal Nation on the basis that it’s going to be a heavy-metal band, only to discover that metal isn’t for you. Now you’re stuck with an awkward name that you most certainly will have to change.

In all probability, your band-mates will be your close friends, or people you know from school or college, who play instruments. That is how most bands come into being in the first place (pick the history of any big band out there, 90% of the time, that is how the band would’ve been formed!). Starting a band with your friends has its advantages – it’s easier to form a band this way; you know everyone’s strengths and which instrument each member excels at playing. Plus, the fact that you know them well (and vice versa) is important because (as you’ll find out in due course of time), relationships within the band are extremely important. So for instance if you have the choice between a bassist who’s your friend but not as good as another bassist who can really kick it with a bass guitar, but you don’t know him very well, go with your friend. With time, the lesser accomplished of the two will improve and most certainly get better!

One important aspect to consider is that it’s all a lot easier if all band members are able to meet somewhere on a daily basis – such as school or work. Doing so makes it easier to arrange practice/jam sessions and talk about the music and the band.

Once your band is together, give yourself a quick pat on the back and start practicing! When you kick things off, it may (or may not) take time for the band to get together and get in sync with each other; it depends on how familiar everyone is with each other. It will probably take some time before everyone’s one the same wavelength. But for starters, decide upon a couple of songs that everyone in the group – the singer, the guitarist, the bassist, the drummer etc. – is familiar with, and practice intensively. Don’t immediately jump on creating your original material immediately. Take a good easy song, like a Coldplay, Nirvana or a Pink Floyd track.

Continue to practice on a regular basis, depending on the time available for you and the other member to do so. Personally, nothing beats practicing on a daily basis; it is extremely important. But if you (or another member) for instance have work or commitments that might keep you from practicing daily, do it at least once a week, weekends for-the-win!

Deciding where you would be rehearsing is an important factor. My band used to assemble in my garage since it was practically empty, a big-enough space and at a distance from the house so that the noise would not bother anyone else. If you don’t have such an option and if you have access to your school’s music room (or any hall), go for it. If not, rent out an empty space at your local community center, for a few hours – they’re quite cheap!

And finally, perhaps the most important part – getting work! Plan your first gig by starting off locally. You need to think like a marketer initially and basically get the word out by letting as many people as possible that you’re now in a band which is looking for work. Also remember that most gigs pay either nothing, or close to nothing (which is then split 4 or 5 ways!), so don’t expect to earn a lot of money. You’re not making music for the money anyway are you, because if you are, you’re probably in the industry for the wrong reasons! In the beginning, at least for a good year or two, it’s all about exposure and spreading the word. If you’re good enough, someone might just approach you at a gig and invite you to play for them!

Good luck!

Mistakes to Avoid as a Musician

Building a successful career as a musician or a guitarist is hard work (understatement!), and something that most definitely takes its toll on you! As you pass through the various stages of becoming a musician, you will need to know many things in order to be successful in the industry. Trust me on this, there is a LOT of competition, and its cut-throat out there. If you really want to make it to the big time, here is a list of potential pitfalls you need to avoid on your way to success:

Mistake 1: Not having an image that captivates the attention, and goes with the music you play is a big mistake, and something a lot of musicians seem to be making. Yes the ‘music’ industry is about music, but the way a musician comes across during the process is part of the package. Having a confident stage persona, a captivating stage presence – especially one that is consistent with the kind of music that you make or the sort of artist that you are – is vital. Imagine how awkward it would be if you were to see someone dressed as a rock artist but singing jazz instead! It’s all about the image!

Mistake 2: Not getting the word out. Most abundantly talented and extremely gifted musicians, including guitar players, fail to make it to the big time. Why? Because they are not good at marketing themselves (or maybe aren’t ambitious enough to do so). Unless you are able to get the word out about what you do, you might be wasting your talent. Which is a shame to be honest, especially with the advent of ‘Web 2.0’. Use social mediums like Youtube, SoundCloud, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus to get the word out. Record yourself playing the guitar using your laptop’s webcam and put it up. If you’re good enough, if you have the talent, you just might even go viral and end up making a living out of it!

Mistake 3: Focusing on getting the word out but not on making actual fans. You might be getting the word out, but converting people who hear and see you perform into actual fans is the key to being a successful musician. Having returning customers, as opposed to people who ‘liked your music when you performed that one time’ is what defines success for me. What do the likes of Taylor Swift, John Mayer and The Beatles have in abundance? A large number of die-hard fans and followers!

Mistake 4: Point 3 above brings us to another problem: focusing too much on the quantity of of your fans rather than fans who will contribute more to the success of your music. Like it or not, some of the biggest singers, songwriters and guitarists out there are doing this to great effect. Justin Bieber is one example - your personal likes and dislikes for the guy aside, he sells a ton of  records and merchandise, and his name is now one of the biggest buzzwords in the world (proof here, and here!). Granted, he makes pop music, and as a guitarist it might be much harder to reach that sort of level. Still, the likes to Satriani, Petrucci and Slash have done it, right?

Mistake 5: Not focusing on building a music ‘career’. While it is understandable that most guitarists and musicians would spend a bulk of their time practicing and making music, they however fail to put effort into other vital elements needed to make it in the music business. Like Point 2 above, it is important that if you’re even the slightest bit of a talented musician, you should invest at least half your time into starting and advancing your music career and building a future in music.

Mistake 6: Having too narrow a musical horizon. I am a firm believer of this: A good artist or a musician soaks up every bit of information which will improve his skills and improve him as an artist. This means that you should never restrict yourself to certain genres of music or listen to only a few elect artists. Go out there and explore genres and artists that you’re not familiar with and force yourself to step out of your comfort zone. When I was young, the only thing I would listen to was rock, refusing to associate myself with any other genre. With the passage of time, I was exposed to some great music from the jazz, country, soul and rock n’ roll genres, especially when I started off as a guitarist. Being enrolled in a great guitar-learning course like GuitarTricks certainly helped with this. But the point is that this exposure was immense, as it helped me grow as a musician and actually improved my guitar-playing skills. Listening to a diverse array of music has also provided me with a lot if inspiration!

Mistake 7: Not surrounding yourself with the right kind of people. As harsh as this may sound, rid yourself and your surroundings of people who are mediocre, unambitious, lazy or negative. If of of course, you are serious about you music career!

Mistake 8: Not understanding what record labels expect from musicians. While a lot can be said about this, in short and if I’m being really honest, record companies are businesses, and like any business out there, they will only work with someone who is ‘valuable enough’, would get them the highest profit and the largest amount of return. For this purpose, ask yourself if you were to make a deal right now, how much value you bring to it, how much are you worth, how risky an investment would you be and from the label’s perspective, would it be a good decision to bring you in, especially in terms of your value/risk ratio? What makes you a good prospect for the label, which brings us to the final point…

Mistake 9: Not having a USP, aka. a Unique Selling Point. The industry is just so competitive now, that without a gimmick, or perhaps an attribute or a quality that is unique to you and that can be marketed, you cannot go very far. A USP is something that will then set you apart from the millions that are doing the same thing. It could be the way you dress up (e.g. Deadmau5) or your attire (Lady Gaga), a special ability that you have with the guitar (like Igor Presnyakov), or maybe you are just an extremely gifted guitarist (like Slash). Try identifying your USP and marketing it. Trust me, there are some pretty average musicians and guitarists out there who seem to be doing well, if you have a special talent or an ability, there’s no reason why you wouldn’t too! 

Reasons to Start a Guitar Blog (and Writing Ideas!)

With blogging taking over the world by storm, it would be crazy not have a blog if you are a guitarist or a musician, right?

If you are a guitarist, and have even the slightest ability to write, I strongly recommend starting a guitar blog.

Reasons to Start a Guitar Blog

1. It allows you to interact, connect and network with other guitarists. A guitar blog is most definitely a great way to get a chance to talk about all things guitar with other musicians, singers, guitarists and songwriters. The best thing about a blog is that its global appeal and reach transcends geographical boundaries; you can interact and share with anyone and everyone from all parts of the world.

2. Having a guitar blog will allow you to get some major exposure. You spread the word about yourself and the music that you make, and combined with your Youtube videos and social media profiles, a blog could be an extremely powerful way to get the word out about what you love doing! Not only will this help promote your music and open it up to a whole new audience, you can use the blog to form a band, seek ideas on what to play, and do just about anything you might want to do with your guitar-playing. Who knows, your blog might even help you land an awesome gig!

3. Once word spreads around about you and your blog, you will start to be seen as an authority on guitars. If you have a blog (as opposed to someone who doesn’t), especially if it’s a blog that people read, it will increase your reputation and enhance your authority. People in the industry will look up to you as ‘someone who knows his stuff’. You might even have someone important, such as a renowned artist or a guitarist, speak about you or link back to your blog.

4. Let’s not forget that the blog can also be used to help people and give out advice. Even if you’re not the biggest, most greatest guitarist out there (yet), you can still do your best to help other guitarists, give advice, or write about something that might be of benefit to other people. If you play the instrument, it is highly likely you have a LOT to say about it. Put your words on paper, and share it with the world.

5. A guitar blog can be a seriously good source of money! If you’re making a decent amount of money already with your music, good for you. A blog can supplement that income by putting up ads on your website and/or joining an affiliate program that pays well. Ads can be put up via Google AdSense. As for affiliate programs, there’s tons out there, but for starters check Clickbank and the Amazon Affiliate Program. The latter will put affiliate links in all your posts, so whenever you write about something, a related link appears. If someone click on the link and buy the product, you get a commission. There are even programs which send bloggers free gear to review. Don’t expect to make a lot of money, and don’t make money your priority, at least initially.

6. Last but most certainly not the least: a blog could be a great (free) way to improve your guitar-playing skills. As the old adage goes: ‘the best way to learn something is to teach it.” Once you start helping others, sharing advice and maybe even teach a bit of guitar on your blog, you’ll start receiving some advice as well. A blog is a brilliant way to ask others for help, advice, ideas, inspiration, learning new techniques, exchanging guitar buying tips, etc and once this happens, you’ll improve and grow as a guitarist and a musician.

Guitar Blogging Ideas

So now that we’ve seen the advantages guitar blogging brings with it, here are some ideas on what you can write about on your shiny new guitar blog:

1. Anything! Yes, its your blog, so speak your heart out about anything you want! Including your thoughts, ideas, opinions, likes and dislikes – on artists, guitar players, musicians, records, guitars, amps or just about anything that is interesting or on your mind.

2. Upload some videos of you playing. It could be an original composition, a cover of a famous song, a guitar solo… or something else. If you play with a band, post videos of your performances, an indoor jam or practice session, your warm-up ritual, etc. If you don’t have videos, you could always upload an mp3 audio version of it.

3. We spoke of making money off your blog. If you’re interested in that idea, you could start reviewing guitars and other gear including amps, effects and accessories. Start off with writing about the items you and your band mates are using at the moment and look for affiliates for whom you could write review for. You could also sign up for a popular guitar affiliate program, such as those being offered by GuitarCenter, GuitarTricks, or GuitarWorld. There are plenty of others, as a quick Google search would reveal.

4. Us guitarists really love talking about our axes! Almost as much as we love playing them. So speak your heart out, and ask other fellow musicians to join in on the conversation! Good luck!

Setting and Meeting Your Guitar Goals in 2012

As with any other exercise or task that your undertake, it is important that guitar-play and learning how to play the guitar is treated as a task with achievable goals, that are not only realistic, but achieved as well.

Unfortunately, almost all guitar players, especially beginners and those learning to play the guitar ignore the fact that setting goals and meeting those goals is as important a part of it all as the actual practicing and playing. Setting goals and then achieving those goals allows you to remain focused, determined and increased motivation.

Hopefully, guitar learners would’ve been able to make some good strides this year. Nonetheless, here are tips to help give them the boost that might need to learn the guitar in the better manner:

1. Setting Long-Term Goals: Having goals is important because if you don’t determine what your goals are, you can’t reach them.

Long terms goals are important because it is these that ultimately enable you to keep on track, constantly remind you of what your ultimate goal and aim is, and allow you to set milestones which help you to see where you see yourself after specific periods of time.

For instance, what are your goals for the end of the year? For instance what skills would you want to have, when the new year kicks off? Would you like to be a part of a band by the end of the year? Where do you picture yourself at the same time next year?

Bear in mind that it is essential to set goals that are realistic and achievable. You will probably not be able to meet goals that are unachievable or impossible to begin with, and once you discover that you are unable to meet and achieve your goals, you might become demotivated and discouraged, and as a result, quit the guitar. To prevent this from happening, set goals and targets that you can actually achieve!

2. Setting Short-Term Goals: Short-term goals that are in coherence with your long-terms ones are equally important as long-term targets, if not more. It is all too easy to get distracted and when learning to play the guitar and that is where short-term goals, such as day-to-day goals or weekly goals come in.

Short-term goals allow you to take control of, and dictate your progress. You’ll be able to make some proper progress and real strides once you determine your immediate day-to-day goals and set a schedule around them. How many hours will you set aside daily to practice? What goals do you aim to achieve by the end of the week, and the end of the month?

Knowing what your next move will be, and drawing out the steps will work wonders for you!

3. Schedules: In order to get something done (and this goes for anything in life!), schedule it! Put it on a piece of paper, and make a commitment with yourself that you will do it on a daily basis. This applies to your guitar practice as well. Take it seriously and set a specific time in the day aside to practice. If you’re busy, set aside an hour or so in the evening. Set aside 2 hours on the weekends!

On the other hand, fail to set a schedule and instead choosing to ‘do it when you’re free,’ and you would almost certainly never get around to getting it done.

4. Plan and Organize: So you have your goals and you’ve developed a schedule as well. Now it is time to plan in advance what you’ll be doing each day, each week and each month. It could be anything – from a set of guitar exercises, or anything specific that you might want to work on. In order to make progress, you should know, in advance, what exactly it is that you’ll be working on, so that you don’t end up repeating the same thing over and over again, thus making little to none real progress.

5. Learning Sources: It is also important to choose your learning material – where would you be learning the guitar from? Are you planning on taking private lessons? Sticking with online sources (like online guitar lessons, Youtube, or Skype)? Do you intend on taking classes for the more advanced stuff? Or will you be using a combination of multiple sources? What is your course for tabs?

Choose your learning material and prepare it for your practice session – books, tabs videos, the whole lot. DVDs can very helpful as well, for instance the Learn and Master Guitar course comes with an excellent set of 20 guitar lesson DVDs, among other resources such as books and CDs.

6. Strengths and Weaknesses: How exactly do you plan on coping with any weak areas or tackle potential stumbling blocks? All guitar players, during the course of the learning process, discover certain weaknesses. It is recommended to focus on those weaknesses which are relevant to your goals. Such weaknesses can seriously hinder your progress towards achieving your goals, which is when you might need to consult a professional or ask for guidance from a teacher or an instructor.

As for strengths, I don’t particularly recommend playing something that you’re good at repeatedly. Granted, sticking to your strengths and working on them can never be a bad thing, however doing that repeatedly will never allow you to make any progress or headway. Finding a balance here is vital!

4 Signs that You Might Be a Bad Guitar Player (and Solutions!)

1. Looking to become the next Yngwie Malmsteen right away. Ok, so you’ve been worshipping all these great guitarists since so long. Now that you have a guitar, you can do what you’ve always wanted to do: play just like them! However the fact of the matter is that if you overreach, you are almost guaranteed to crash and burn! The reason for this is that it is important to start off steadily, and start with the basics. Like any structure or a building, the foundation is the most important thing!  When you pick up the guitar, you need to lay a strong foundation before moving on to the advanced stuff which might be too high for your level. For a beginner to be paying the solo from ‘Fear of the Dark’, not a good idea.

2. After listening to all those musicians kill it with their guitars on stage, now you have the chance to do it yourself! Lack of patience obviously comes with the package, like trying to play advanced pieces of music note-for-note at the recorded tempo, instead of slowing them down to make them more easily playable by beginners or intermediate players. Needless to say, this is a big mistake to make. And trust me when I say this, you will make a tremendous amount of errors if you take this route. It might even result in you going on to become an error-prone guitar player. The solution is to slow down or simplify the advanced pieces of music, and practice as much as you can that way, making sure that you commit as less errors as possible.

3. Doing the above will not only make you a sloppy guitar-player, your sloppiness and the fact that you’ve become error prone will lead to an increased amount of frustration. Frustration is easily one of the worst things that could happen to a guitar player, for two reason: (1) your frustration will most certainly cause you to become even more error-prone and sloppier, and (2) frustration is THE biggest reason why most guitar player pack up shop and quit. If you’ve reached a point where you’ve become frustrated with your guitar playing exploits, maybe it’s time to start afresh. Quitting is for quitters, you still have a shot at this. Start from scratch, take it one step at a time and enjoy the process of learning how to play the guitar the right way.

4. Admitting that you have problems is the first step towards correcting yourself. However most frustrated guitar players fail to do this; they simply do not want to admit that they have problems which need to be fixed, instead coming up with ridiculous reasons why being sloppy is okay. Knowing or admitting that you have a problem is the first step towards correcting it. Being arrogant about it won’t do you any good. Instead, be more humble about it – admit that you’re doing this wrong, your approach is wrong and continuing like this will get you nowhere as a musician. Remember that Slash didn’t become Slash as soon as he picked up the guitar. It took him years before he became the musical phenom that he is today!

Now that you've admitted that you might be a terrible guitar player, why not do something about it?  You could take a guitar course like Guitar Tricks or JamPlay for example which teach you how to play guitar for a small monthly fee.  Of course, you maybe worried about what kind of value you would get from guitar lessons such as these.  But read any JamPlay review or Guitar Tricks review and you will be able to determine which of these courses will help you grow into a better guitar player.

Fender Telecaster: A Brief History

Introduction

Fender needs absolutely no introduction. Known as the company behind the ultra-popular Stratocaster, as well the company who built the first solidbody electric guitar ever, the undisputed king of electric G’s - the Telecaster! If you’re a guitarist, or just a musician, there is no way you wouldn’t know about Fender Music Instruments Corporation, and the guitars that they make!

The Fender Telecaster is one of the most iconic, legendary and well-known pieces of musical equipment out there. It is generally known to be the first ever production solid-body guitar, and hence it is the granddaddy of all modern electric guitars today!

The Telecaster was first introduced in 1952 and has since then become one of the most popular and widely used guitars in the world, along the likes of Gibson’s Les Paul, and Fender’s Stratocaster. It is used by millions all across the glob – from beginners to celebrities.

It is also one of the few guitars in the world which has a playing style associated with it. Telling someone that you are a Telecaster player, and it will most likely mean that you play either country, blues, jazz, rock n’ roll or a mixture of those genres.

History

Some of the first Telecaster ever produced – some of which that are still in existence now fetch millions of dollars! – had a yellow color, commonly referred to as ‘butterscotch blonde’. They also featured ‘blackguards’ or black pick-guards on their bodies. Their unique color, along with the pickguard, made them some of the most instantly recognizable guitars in the world.

The design was extremely simple, and remains so to this day. The design does a good job of demonstrating the genius that was Leo Fender, and it is one of the main reasons that the Telecaster has sold, and remained in production over the past six decades now!

Another important point that is a big part of the Telecaster’s history is how easy it was to produce and service. Most of the guitars during the time with hand-crafted, in a n artist-like manner, and the production of electric guitars back then was quite labor-intensive – with the use of different wood types used to make different parts of the guitar, glued-in necks and hollow bodies. The Telecasters on the other hand, had necks constructed from a single piece of maple wood, swamp-ash or alder wood was used to construct the bodies of these guitars, and maple was used to construct the Telecaster’s neck which was then bolted on to its body. All of this meant that the guitar was not only extremely simple and straightforward to use, it was also easy to use and service.

Furthermore, the Telecasters features a single-coil pickup setup, which produced an extremely unique and almost instantly-recognizable, trebly sound, which also had a lot of sustain to it – two features which have been the symbol of all Telecasters ever since their inception.

Throughout the years, the Telecasters underwent many changes and design modifications. At one point in the 50s, the Telecaster features a white-transparent-blonde body, with a white pickguard.

It is important to note that at one point, the Telecaster decided to abandon its trademark design of anchoring the strings through the guitar body (a design feature which has been responsible for Fender’s sound), and instead opted to go with a top-mounted bridge, but Fender soon decided to revert back to the original design and has stuck with it since!

The 50s also saw Fender upgrade the Telecaster’s neck rosewood fingerboard. This two-piece neck design is something which gave the guitar a much more ‘darker’ tone.

Fender also introduced the Telecaster Custom, which was a more expensive, custom-built version of the vanilla model. This custom model featured rosewood fingerboard (similar to traditional models), however it had a beautiful sunburnt-orange-yellow finish. Along with its top and back edges, this made for an attractive-looking guitar. Telecasters with maple fingerboards (with the fingerboard being a separate piece of wood this time) were also introduced in the 60s.

Another model, the Telecaster Thinline was introduced in the 60s, and featured a mahogany semi-hollow body (which understandably gave it a warmer tone), with an F-hole – design changes aimed at making the guitar lighter than its predecessor.

The 70s saw the second iteration of the Custom see the light of the day, a guitar which featured a humbucking pickup in the neck. Another new model, the Teelcaster Deluxe, featured dual humbuckers and a four-knob layout. And finally, the Telecaster Thinline with two humbuckers was also introduced. All three guitars were monumentally popular upon release, and have remained so to date.

In the 80s, after a change in ownership and there being a demand for old ‘retro’ styled guitars, Fender started producing them once again, as vintage reissue guitars – the first among them being the ’52 Telecaster. Now, anyone looking for a retro-styled Telecaster can easily get one, and many ‘reissue’ guitars (including Strats) are available out there. The reissue Telecasters include Squier models, cheaper instruments which are made in Mexico to high-end stuff like the models from the Custom Shop!

Reasons behind the Telecaster’s Popularity

The Telecaster remains one of the most highest-selling guitars of the modern era, and easily Fender’s best-selling guitar alongside Fender’s ‘Stratocaster’ line of guitars.

The Telecaster is one of the main reasons why the word ‘Fender’ is so widely-known and highly respected in the music industry.

The reasons why the Telecaster has been so popular ever since it first saw the light of day in the 50, till date, is mainly because of the simplicity of the guitar, and of course, its tone.

But perhaps the reason why the Telecaster has become an iconic piece of musical instrument, is the fact that like other great guitars of its time (the Stratocaster and the Les Paul, most notably), it was able to change and adapt according to the music that was popular at each point of time in history.

This is the reason why Telecasters have been used to play all genres ranging from Rock, Metal, Pop, Jazz, Country, Blues, Reggae and Funk, to name just a few. And used by names such as Jimmy Page, Chet Atkins, Bruce Springsteen, Deryck Whibley, Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Eddie Vedder!

Truly, an evergreen piece of instrument in the world of music!

Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Guitar Playing

If you’re looking to refine and improve your guitar-playing skills, you’ve certainly come to the right place!

Your desire to improve guitar-playing skills could have perhaps stemmed from the desire to see yourself become a better guitarist, generally speaking. Or you might want to focus your efforts on a specific problem – which could be something that you might have identified, such as remove sloppy playing, eliminate string noise and/or play the guitar more cleanly.

This following write-up is aimed towards enabling just about anyone to become a better guitar player:

1. Take a Solution-Oriented Approach: It is important to be fully aware of every aspect of your guitar-play. This includes being aware of imperfections in your technique, being able to pin-point what exactly is wrong and where those imperfections lie, and then look for solutions.

Without the ability to pin-point the problem area(s), there is absolutely no way to correct the problem or find the solution. There are two main ways of pin-pointing a problem: (a) When you play, record yourself. Especially when you play the guitar technique you want to improve upon. After the session, play it back and listen to it at a slowed-down speed. Provided that you have a good ear, you will be able to identify any inconsistencies, unclear notes, string (and other) noises between notes, and the like. It is also likely that you may or maybe not be able to hear everything or correctly, or identify your problem areas on your own. Either way, that bring us to (b) Working with a trained professional, an experienced guitarist or quite simply, a teacher. Have them evaluate your playing technique. Make sure that both – you and your instructor – are on the same page as far as identification of the problem is concerned. Once done, ask for feedback; a good instructor or a seasoned professional will not only tell you what to do, he or she will also be able to point out problems in your guitar-play that you yourself might be unaware of! I personally recommend working with experienced and trained teachers and professionals; you can learn a lot, work on your problems and improve your general guitar-play. Look for local  guitar teachers in your area, or better yet sign up for an online guitar course such as GuitarTricks.com, who have a ton (no, seriously!) of instructors to choose from.

2. Articulation: In addition to adopting a solution-oriented approach, it is also essential improve your ‘articulation’ – the first half of two-hand synchronization.

In order to be able to play the guitar cleanly, your hands should fret and pick each note at exactly the same time. This is known as synchronization. In order to improve your articulation, first off, play with a clean guitar tone during your next practice sessions, sans any distortion or effects. A clean tone will allow you to spot any imperfections easily. Secondly, play as loud as possible, so you can really ‘hear’ what happens as you play. And lastly, practice slowly and do the exact same way as you would if you were playing fast – this includes not playing with a lighter/stronger touch, weaker/strong pick attack, using the same angle and hand position as well. Using the same technique when you play fast or slow will truly allow you to enhance your guitar-play because the sound that comes out of the guitar will be the same, hence allowing you to spot any imperfections and/or problems easily.

3. Release: The ‘release’ is the second half of the two-hand synchronization, and the third-step in your journey towards cleaner guitar-play.

For many-a-guitar-players, this is hands down the hardest problems to correct – because after articulation of the note, most players tend to ignore the noise in between the notes which comes immediately after articulation. It almost never happens when you play without distortion/effects, which is why players think their guitar playing sounds clean when playing without effects, only to discover that something is wrong when they practice later on with effects and are unsure what the problem is.

Here’s the solution: first off, play with distortion but minus the effects. In addition, as described above, make sure that you play loud enough in order to be able to hear what is coming out of your amp, and play slowly without changing anything. Try picking up subtle sounds and noises in between the notes (such as ‘scratchy’ sounds). Still having a hard time picking them up? Record yourself, and play it back at one-fourth the speed (or even slower). Once you’re able to hear the scratchy sound in between the notes, and once you know what it sounds like, you’ll be able to notice it every time you practice from now on. Which of course, will allow you to fix the problem! In almost all instances, release problems are caused by making a sudden upward motion away from the string you just played after releasing a note. Your finger should instead relax and allow it to release the note, instead of pulling away from the strings abruptly or suddenly – something which is certain to cause tiredness, sloppiness during play, or ‘premature finger movement’, a major reason of scratchy sounds.

Adopting a solution-oriented approach, and working on your articulation + release will improve certain aspects of your guitar-play. You will most certainly feel like an improved player.


Here are a few articles on guitar techniques, courtesy Ultimate Guitar. Worth checking out.

In addition, if you’re committed to become a better player, believe in your ability, set goals and objectives (and measure the success or failure of those goals and objectives!), and last but most certainly not the least by any means, practice! Practicing, experimenting, working with a someone who knows his guitars (such as the instructors on GuitarTricks) and pushing your boundaries constantly will almost always make you a better guitar player!