History of The Electric Guitar
Everybody grows up dreaming about being a rock star, about being able to shred on an electric guitar and impress the masses. Even one of the most popular video games of today, Guitar Hero, is based around people's primal urge to play the guitar. The electric guitar has been the single most defining element of music for the 20th century and it's evolvement from the big band orchestra to the bands we know today.
Who Invented the Electric Guitar?
During the 1920's and 1930's many individuals and companies were experimenting with designs that would enable them to make guitars louder. With bands getting larger, and audiences getting louder, it was important to be able to hear the actual, individual instruments.
In 1924, Lloyd Loar of the Gibson Guitar Company was developing a means (an electric pickup) to pass the vibrations
of the strings through a bridge to a magnet and coil, whereupon they were passed as electrical signals to an amplification device. By 1928 "electric guitars" were officially being marketed and sold to the public.
However, the problem with this was that in transferring the vibrations to a medium before being sent to an amplifier, the signal was too weak. So a more direct method had to be developed. The first to do this, and get the patent for it, was George Beauchamp, along with Adolph Rickenbacker and his company.
The guitar was known both as "The Pancake Guitar" and as "The Frying Pan" because of its appearance and because it was played flat in the musician's lap. Available from 1931 on, the guitar was made out of cast aluminum and steel.
Notable Early Achievements Following the Invention of the Electric Guitar
Before this, there were other models being experimented with by many other people. Les Paul, for instance, was working with attaching microphones to guitars. By the 1940s Les Paul would invent something much more successful, which was the solid wood body guitar.
It was designated as "The Log", because it was essentially just one piece of wood attached to a neck with pickups and hardware attached. Gibson later sold a solid body electric guitar endorsed by Les Paul starting in 1950 which could be mass produced.
It was Leo Fender in the late 1940s that developed the first commercially successful, solid body electric guitar. With a single magnetic pickup, it was known as the "Esquire", while the model with a double magnetic pickup was known as the "Telecaster".
In 1953 Fender introduced the mass-producible and world famous Stratocaster guitar. This guitar had several many unique elements, creative design features and improvements over the previous Telecaster model.
These mass-produced Gibson and Fender models are what took hold of a generation and caught on in popularity with many influential musicians of the time. These guitars changed the outlook, style and sound of music forever.
From humble beginnings, the electric guitar transformed an entire genre of art and was able to capture the emotions and feelings of entire generations of people. From guitar legend Jimi Hendrix to the Guitar Hero next door, electric guitars are now entirely synonymous with popular music. Wanting to learn how to play electric guitar? Here is where you can learn to play guitar point for you. Good Luck!
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Play Guitar - You're Never Too Old To Learn
A concise overview of what it will take to get started learning how to play the guitar.
Did you always want to play the guitar? Do you think it might be too late? I hope you don't mind if I disagree. My name is Ed Nelson and I've been teaching music for over 30 years. It's how I make my living. I've helped hundreds of people learn how to play the guitar, and some of my most rewarding teaching experiences have come from instructing older students. Why is that? Because they're doing it for the pure pleasure of it. 
They really enjoy the experience. They're not stressed out about being better than the kid next door or turning it into a career. For many older beginning students, learning to play guitar is the fulfillment of a life long dream-one that got tucked away because of responsibilities. If you've got even twenty minutes a day to spare, now might be the right time for you to get started.
You'll need a guitar! Perhaps you can borrow one. Many people have a guitar sitting unused in a closet. Maybe a relative has an extra one. On the other hand, some people do better if they make a commitment in the form of buying one. You shouldn't need to spend any more than $200 for a decent acoustic guitar from most any guitar shop. The best advice I can give about buying a guitar is to have someone who already plays come along and try it out. At the very least, find a salesperson who plays guitar and ask them to help you find the best one in your price range.
If you're concerned about hand strength, you might consider purchasing a 'classical' or nylon string style guitar. They tend to be easier on the hand-easier to press the strings down. Steel string guitars vary in difficulty according to how high the strings are above the neck. Electric guitars, for instance typically have strings very close to the neck (low action), which makes them easier to play.
Of course if you're going to play electric guitar you're going to need an amplifier too. Expect to spend at least $500 for an electric guitar and amp. If you go with a steel string acoustic, I do recommend that you ask them to re-string it for you with a set of 'light gauge' strings. Pick up an extra set along with a couple of picks while you're at it.
It may be wise to purchase a tuner. This is a small electronic device that 'hears' your guitar and displays the tone in such a way as to make it easy to adjust the strings to the proper pitch. These typically cost anywhere from $10-$70. Make sure you get a demonstration in the store. You don't require a tuner to tune your guitar.
All beginner method books will show you how to do it by making reference to the guitar itself. But in my experience, this can actually be a little bit daunting, and if you're just starting out, especially without a private instructor, the confidence factor a tuner inspires may be worth the price.
You do not need to read music to play guitar. You may choose to learn later but it definitely is not necessary. A simpler, abbreviated form of communicating guitar music on paper is called TAB. You can learn to understand TAB in about 5 minutes. It will help you, along with your ear and musical memory, learn songs very quickly. While I obviously do recommend a private instructor at some point, the upwards of $40 an hour price can prove daunting to many a beginner. You don't really need an instructor to teach you how to hold the guitar.
There are many online resources to help you get the basics down. I recommend one product for beginners- Jamorama, by Ben Edwards. While I have not checked out ALL the online guitar courses available, I have looked at a lot of them, and Jamorama is the only one I'm currently recommending for beginning guitarists. The lessons are clear and the information is presented very well as far as Internet download products go. In a very short time you can be playing songs.
The Jamorama package comes with an assortment of bonuses designed to make learning easier, including Jam Tracks, Guitar Tuning software, and a software Metronome. There's an ear training program as well called GuitEarIt, which is useful and kind of fun. However the bulk of the instruction is in the form of two pdf books and a LOT of audio and video files.
To get started right away, download a free 38 page Jamorama Guitar Lesson eBook that covers such topics as how to choose a guitar, holding the guitar and pick, tuning, tab, introduction to chords and strumming. This eBook will get you started and easily keep you busy for the next few months! It includes links to audio and video lessons so you can also get a feel for the Jamorama teaching style.
However you choose to learn how to play guitar I hope you will feel encouraged by my article. Music is truly one of the most beautiful experiences life has to offer. There's really no reason why you can't make some of your own.
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I got my first guitar at age 7 and never laid it down. Mama taught me G, C and D. And it was off to the races, son!"
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| By Ed Nelson
Published: 1/28/2008 |
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Guitar For Beginner
This article covers guitar for a beginner and learn easy beginner guitar methods.
Are you a beginner guitarist searching for online guitar lessons to get started? This article offers you crucial insights and tips for the beginner guitarist to progress and excel in learning the guitar online.
Have you ever struggled in learning to play the guitar? What about spending tons of money on expensive private guitar tutors? Ever been to websites that claim to give guitar lessons online only to find that they do not work for you? These are issues that many beginner guitar players are facing. 
Learning guitar for beginners can be very confusing due to the wide array of lessons that can be found on the internet. Many a times, many guitarists who first started out ask me the same question. What is the most important thing that I should learn first when playing the guitar? In my opinion, the most crucial elements of learning the guitar is to build a proper foundation of basic and fundamentals.
Well then, you'll probably have this question in mind now. "Okay, I know I need to learn the fundamentals of playing the guitar but what exactly are they?" One of the first things that beginner guitarists need to know is basically how to tune a guitar. Just think of it, if you are playing an out of tuned guitar, how can anything sound good? Make it a point before every practice session that you ensure your guitars are tuned.
Warming up your fingers before playing the guitar is a must if you want to avoid repetitive strain injury (RSI) to your fingers. Very often, guitarists suffer from hand injuries when they play the guitar for long periods of time without resting. To avoid these problems, 5 minutes of warm-ups before starting your practice would get your fingers geared up for playing the guitar. If you experience any form of sharp pain in your fingers during playing, stop immediately before you aggravate the injury.
I hoped that these guitar tips had made a positive difference in learning the guitar for you. For a beginner guitar player, there is still a vast amount of guitar knowledge available on the internet and one of the key ingredients to your success is to persevere. By constantly practicing the guitar and learning new stuff, you would find yourself improving over time. Remember not to get discouraged and keep an open mind for learning the guitar.
Do you want free online guitar lessons that focus on a complete guitar education? Discuss guitar related issues at our guitar forum.
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