Music Basics

Esteban has brought music to millions of people all over the world, and he has also made buying a guitar affordable. One of the nice things about the Esteban guitar is that you can apply...

Tuning a guitar is one of the most important skills to develop if you want to become a serious musician. It can be learned in minutes, days, weeks, or months depending on your ability to...

Few instruments can match the expressiveness of the guitar. Natural harmonics, a type of note that is meant to sound bell-like, add color easily to your playing. Any guitarist can add harmonics...

I learned how to perform this guitar technique years ago, and it is always nice to be able to do these on the fly when jamming with friends. If you have learned just one scale, then this...

This is the simplest way that I know of to tune a four string bass guitar by ear. A tuner takes out all of the guesswork, but you don't always have one handy. And too, the better you get with your...

If you are new to guitar or just never learned how to read guitar tablature you are in for a treat. It's SO easy! After I show you some easy examples of guitar tablature and clearly explain how...

Different tunings can give a different feel to your song. For instance, blues artists tend to use Open A tuning and Open E tuning frequently. Kurt Cobain almost always had his guitar tuned down...

The cool thing about guitars is that the scales are the same, no matter where you are on the guitar. Guitar scales use octaves on the strings preceding each other to keep the shapes the same and...

Guitar tabs are a great way to learn to play the guitar. They're not as good as sheet music, because they can't show rhythm. As long as you've heard the song you're trying to learn, you should be...

With enough practice, anyone can get good at anything. But before you can become a pro, you have to learn how your instrument works, how to use it, and what to expect. Knowing these things will...

Some of the greatest guitarists of all time have played left-handed, including Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and Paul McCartney. And they all began the same way that right-handed players do: by...

Tablature, often referred to as tab, is a system of music notation used primarily for stringed instruments. Tablature uses a graph similar to a traditional music staff, except that each of the...

You can count to 12 and say the ABCs at least through G, right? Well, then my friend, you've got what it takes to comprehend the universe of the 12 note western scale! Everything in all western...

Tuning a violin/viola can be a difficult and trying task, especially for beginners. A good musical ear and patience are a necessity to tune the violin/viola successfully. Since the violin/viola...

Individuals who first pick up the guitar often struggle the most at first with the left hand and its association with the fret board. The frets on the guitar will really stretch and push your...

By reading the article and seeing the "how to" video tutorial, you will learn how to tune your electric guitar through a built in amplifier tuner. Note: You can tune an acoustic guitar...

This article is intended for those who want to tune their 5-string banjo accurately. I have developed a system that has proven to be successful on well set-up banjos.

This article is a beginners guide to play metal guitar. If you want to bypass the boring stuff beginner guitarists are subjected to, like learning to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb," and...

There are many different basic chord shapes for guitar. These are usually called "open chords" because you leave 1 or more strings open when playing. Today I will teach you how to play...

Even a prodigy can't just pick up a guitar for the first time and start playing a song without some initial training. If you want to play a song on the guitar, it stands to reason that you must...

A bassist's job is never done. Bass players have to consciously think about notes (the melody) and keeping in sync with the drummer's actions (the rhythm) to keep the music moving. If you're a...

The cello is a very recognizable part of any orchestra. Despite its popularity throughout the centuries, however, it remains a difficult instrument for most people to learn, and its mastery is...

One important part of playing the guitar is finding ways to produce different tones and notes. One way is to change the tuning of the strings. This article will show you a way to tune your guitar...

When you tune your guitar to D flat standard, you are three half steps lower than standard E tuning. Many guitar players use standard D flat to achieve a deeper, lower tone than can be produced...

So you wanna learn to play guitar but you're horrified of sheet music? You're not alone. But luckily there's an easier way to learn your favorite guitar songs. In this article on how to read...

The term "frequency" applies to any type of wave, and refers to how many wave peaks occur within a given time period. This has implications for various phenomena, including the way in which music...

Tuning the guitar is vital to making the guitar sound good. Here are some simple instructions that explain guitar tuning basics.

Knowing how to tune your guitar goes hand in hand with playing it. If you have to have someone else tune your guitar try this method. In this easy method you will compare each string to the next...

Because harp players attack each string to get a sound from it the harp is also considered a percussion instrument unlike a violin which uses a bow to create its sound. Play a harp as a percussive...

A violin is one of four instruments making up a primary string orchestra: viola, cello, and bass are the other three. The violin is the highest pitched of all these instruments, meaning it hits...

Guitar scales can be played on several strings or one string by walking down the neck the whole way. Play a major guitar scale on a single string using tips from an experienced musician in this...

"Wildwood Flower" was a folk standard long before it was made famous by the Carter Family. It requires only two chords, E and B, to play, and anyone can learn to play it on guitar with a bit of...

A G major chord, consisting of the notes G, B and D, can be played in many ways on the bass guitar. In root position, the G is the lowest note. In first inversion, the middle note---the B---is the...

Guitar sheet music is comprised of two parts. The first section of guitar sheet music is written in standard music notation. The second part is written in a special form of notation called guitar...

Popular and portable, acoustic guitars attract interest that more complex, costly instruments are hard-pressed to match. For a beginner, the acoustic guitar offers a relaxed, low-key approach to...

This article contains everything you need to know to begin playing bass guitar. Whether you are a beginner, have played for a while, this article is just what you're looking for.

If you really want to rock the bass guitar, you need good right hand position. This article will teach you how to play finger style like the great bassists you hear on the radio.

This is really easy guide for a beginner guitar learner. I personally have always done it this way, understood it this way, and hopefully it will be easy for you after reading this article as...

Music for guitars is normally written in a graphic notation system known as tablature, or "tab" for short. Even though tabs may have some shortcomings, they are easy to learn and understand and...

Reading a bass guitar "tab" is different than reading standard sheet music, and easier. This is the key difference between tablature and standard notation, as standard notation is more complex....

Learning to play a musical instrument is a tough and challenging task, but learning to read tabs is not. Understanding the layout of the lines of a tab as well as a number of special symbols...

Tuning a classical guitar can be tricky for a beginner, but with practice you will find yourself flying through the process. These instruction are written to tune a classical guitar without the...

Here is simple way to learn how to play octaves on the Electric Bass which will add verity and interest to your studies. At the end of the article I have written a "Things to Try"...

If you play guitar or are in the process of learning to play, chances are that you have heard of something called "guitar tabs." As a guitar teacher I can tell you that nothing has...

Learning to use a tuning fork to tune your instrument is by far the best way. It's not that difficult and once you learn you can never forget.

Tuning a six-string guitar is a skill that all guitarists must master. Though it is a skill that requires some work to get right, it's made easier, especially at first, by referring to an outside...

A guitar has six strings and twenty to twenty-four frets. The frets are divided by vertical bars. The guitarist generally plays the frets by pressing on the appropriate strings at the desired fret...

Violin notes are written in the same format as all sheet music--with a slight twist. Notes played on the violin are written only in the treble clef, and numbers indicating which finger to use are...

Tuning a bass guitar is easiest if you have an electronic tuner, but there never seems to be one handy just when you need it. The ability to tune without the aid of an electronic gizmo is one of...

Here's a brief summery of how to play a guitar with the instrument known as the eBow.