“I’ve got blisters on my fingers…”

Allegedly Ringo Starr uttered these words as he tossed his drum sticks across the studio after numerous takes of the Beatles song “Helter Skelter”. Reportedly there is a dispute as to whether it was actually Ringo who said those words on the recording, or if it was John Lennon. One of the arguments is that Ringo, a drummer, was not as likely to develop blisters “on his fingers” as Lennon, a guitar player.

If you are just starting out on guitar, maybe just beginning guitar lessons or even shopping for your first guitar – you are soon to discover the results of pressing virgin flesh to metal…Ouch!

Hold on – don’t run off just yet! Things will get better, I promise.

If you’ve ever spent an afternoon in the yard raking leaves for a couple of hours, you probably walked away with a couple of blisters on your hands. Painful battle scars for your efforts.

But if, on the other hand, you raked leaves for a living, and did it every day, eventually those blisters would turn into hardened calluses, and you wouldn’t even notice the feel of the wooden handle in your hands.

Guitar playing is very much the same. In the beginning you are exposing the soft flesh of the finger tips to the harshness of metal guitar strings. It stands to reason that, before too long, this abrasive abuse is going to result in some pain!

But rest assured that this is something we all go through in the beginning stages of playing guitar. There is just no way around it – but it is temporary.

Many of my beginning guitar students ask what can be done about it. I know they want some sort of “magic bullet” answer – some insightful words of wisdom that will provide an easy fix.

And although I am sympathetic to their plight, the truth is, there is no easy way around sore fingers in the beginning days of playing guitar.

The only real way to solve the problem of sore fingers is, quite simply, to play guitar! The more you play, the faster your finger tips will harden with calluses, and eventually you won’t even feel the strings beneath your fingers.

Moderation is the key in the beginning. You shouldn’t suffer with agony, and when it gets bad, put the guitar down and take a break.

But by spending a little time each day, even just 20 minutes or so, you will find that your blisters (and the pain) will be gone before you know it!

For Free Video Guitar Lessons designed for Active Adults go to http://www.adultguitarlessons.com/amember/free_lessons_ez800.php

Keith Dean is founder of AdultGuitarLessons.com and a 30 veteran of stage and studio. He toured extensively as a road musician throughout the US and Europe, was a former lead guitarist for Jason Aldean, and has shared stages with Little Big Town, Wild Rose, Winger, Confederate Railroad and more. He is a published songwriter, owned and operated a successful music store, and has instructed numerous students in guitar. He is a Platinum Level Expert Author on Ezine Articles.

By Keith Dean

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Keith_Dean
http://EzineArticles.com/?Got-Blisters?-The-Painful-Side-of-Learning-Guitar&id=2506883

Using tablature is a great way to learn to play the guitar. Fortunately, easy acoustic guitar tabs are readily available.

You’ve probably heard of tabs before, and maybe you’ve tried already to learn them but have just gotten frustrated. Like anything else, tabs can be a really challenging to learn if you don’t have a teacher who is really good. You can struggle along and maybe learn some basic principles of playing gutiar, but you’ll probably hit a plateau and be unable to excel beyond that point. Maybe you’ve already hit that plateau; if you have, some easy acoustic guitar tabs may be able to help you.

If you walk into your local music school and sign up for studio lessons, you will probably find out very quickly how expensive that can be. After just a few lessons, you will spend much more than you probably expected. The truth is, there’s no real reason to spend all that money. You can easily get online and find a lot of information on easy acoustic guitar tabs. There’s even a few complete programs that are really good, and which are certainly much cheaper than a traditional music academy.

Tabs are much easier to learn than classic staff notation. They use diagrams of your fretboard, and you just put your fingers on the frets indicated in the picture. After some basic lessons, you will be rapidly on your way to playing the guitar. With some easy acoustic guitar tabs, you can start a band, play for your kids or just learn for yourself!

Learn Easy Acoustic Guitar Tabs

About Acoustic Guitar Tabs

By Lia March

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lia_March
http://EzineArticles.com/?Easy-Acoustic-Guitar-Tabs-For-Beginners&id=2445389

Guitar Basics – Learn the Basic Parts of the Guitar

If you are willing to put in the time to practice and don’t mind getting calluses, you can learn to play the guitar. That’s right YOU! I’m going to inform you of the basics that every guitar player needs to get you on the right path.

First thing’s first…you need a guitar! There are four main parts of the guitar. Let’s go through some to get you started.

HEADSTOCK
The head is found at the edge of the guitar. It is used for adjusting the pitch of the guitar. The headstock is where all of the tuning pegs are contained.

NECK
The guitar neck’s is where a lot of the guitar parts are located. The fretboard, frets, tuners, headstock, etc. are housed on a long wooden panel.

FRETBOARD
The fretboard is the bread and butter of the guitar. It is where you will strum your little heart away. It is made up of hardwood and lies on the neck of the guitar. The fretboard can also be called the fingerboard.

BODY
The body of the guitar is a big factor in determining the overall sound that is produced. There are four parts of the body of the guitar. The four parts are the upper bout, bridge pins, sound hole, and the bridge.

You are now armed with the basics of the guitar. Now it’s up to you to go out and strum your life away!

Learn to play like Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Guns ‘N Roses, and Green Day at Best Guitar Course.

By Ashley Norton

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ashley_Norton
http://EzineArticles.com/?Guitar-Basics—Learn-the-Basic-Parts-of-the-Guitar&id=2470224