Buying A Guitar
Buying a guitar can be an intimidating experience, particularly if you aren’t yet a proficient player. How can you choose the right instrument if you can’t even play it? But, the fact of the matter is there are some practical techniques you can use in selecting and buying an affordable instrument.
This chapter outlines some basic buying strategies that will work for you. These include pre-shopping tips: distinguishing among different types of guitars (drawing on the information from Chapter 2), fitting an instrument to your body type (and style of music), a brief over-view of the common guitar brands, and whether to buy from a local music shop or by mail order.
Even if you could afford to own Eric Clapton’s Stratocaster—and generally speaking you should buy the best guitar you can afford—you may have to be practical. This means buying a guitar . . . that won’t empty your savings account. This chapter shows you how.
Before Shopping
As with all major purchases, it is important to do as much research as possible beforehand. Sources of information will be other players, teachers (local colleges may have a guitar program), and for those with access to the Internet a host of manufacturers’ advertisements.
There are also guitar newsgroups on the Internet, which offer the opportunity to read the experiences of others and to ask for opinions.
Remember from Chapter 2 that there are several types of guitars made to play different styles of music. Before shopping, listen to different players and determine what kind of instrument you would like to play. While you may be able to learn on any instrument, it is better to select one that closely approximates the style you want to learn.
How Much to Spend
It may be wiser to borrow or rent an instrument for the first few months, until you deter-mine your level of commitment to playing. On the other hand, an old, battered, poorly constructed instrument may be so difficult to play that you’ll be discouraged from learning. It’s a good rule of thumb to purchase the most guitar you can afford. Generally, guitars hold their resale value—some in fact grow in value over the years. Buying a very cheap guitar may be self-defeating, because it may not suit your playing style or be so poorly made that it is difficult to play.
Acoustic vs. Electric
Many young players start out on an acoustic instrument because they can’t afford a good-quality electric instrument and amplifier—or their parents can’t stand the noise made by a beginning electric guitarist! Learning on an acoustic instrument will probably be a good experience for most players, even those who only aspire to playing speed-metal. But remem-ber that the two instruments are quite different, and that you’ll need to master a new set of techniques once you start playing an electric.
New vs. Used
A good used guitar can be an excellent value. Many people buy instruments and then discover that they simply lack the time or capability to play them. You can sometimes pick up a real bargain by scanning the local want-ads.
Here’s a checklist for evaluating a used guitar:
1.Make sure the tuning machines all work and turn easily.
2.Check the body for cracks. Any crack, no matter how small, is a bad sign. 3.Check the neck for warping. Press a string down at each end of the fingerboard. It should touch all the frets.
4.Try playing a few notes and chords; see if the guitar responds easily. 5.Ask the owner if he/she is the original owner. Determine if the instrument has ever been repaired.
Shopping Tips
Once you determine what kind of guitar you want to buy, the next thing you need to do is determine how much guitar you can afford.
Many guitars are made in the Far East today, and there’s nothing wrong with their crafts-manship. New American-made guitars tend to be more expensive, so most beginners are going to end up with an imported one. Luckily, the Asian makers make reasonably good guitars in all the popular styles, but obviously if your main interest is the classical/Spanish style, you should look for Spanish imports as well.
Guitar Variants
While most of you will choose from among the four major types of guitars we’ve already described, there are some other noteworthy types of guitars that have been or are available. ➤Bass Guitars. Perhaps the most popular guitar variant is not really a guitar at all—it is an electrified version of a standup bass, designed to be held like a guitar. Introduced in the fifties by Fender, the electric bass has become a standard component of all rock bands. It is tuned and played like a standard acoustic bass—so it’s really a member of the violin family. Recently, acoustic guitar makers have designed acoustic bass guitars that are held like an electric bass but are intended for playing softer music. ➤Smaller Instruments. Three-quarter-sized or half-sized guitars are made, often for children. The Martin Guitar Company recently introduced a specially sized guitar designed for women players, who tend to have smaller hands than men. ➤Acoustic-Electric Guitars. This simply describes an acoustic guitar with built-in electric pickups, designed to be played through an amplification system. These are particularly attractive to people who like to play folk-style music, but the instrument needs to be heard in a club setting.
➤12-String Guitars. These large-bodied, double-strung guitars were much favored by blues players because of their loud volume. The strings were tuned an octave apart, giving the instrument a booming bass sound.
➤Guitar Synthesizers. These instruments enable guitarists to enjoy the wide world of sounds available through synthesizers. They feature guitar-like construction and are held and played like a guitar, but actually they contain or connect to a synthesizer, which creates a variety of sounds.
There are also a wide variety of other guitar types—from tenor guitars to harp guitars—that were popular at one time or another, although they are rarely played or heard today.
Guitar Tab Lesson
Are you read to learn how to read ultimate guitar tab?
Guitar tab is comprised of 6 lines, the lowest line is the top string on the guitar and the highest line is the bottom string in guitar, reverse if you want to think about ultimate guitar tab like that. If you wonder why it is reverse…it is because the lines actually reflect the pitch of the instrument, the lowest line has a lower sound and the higher lines have a higher sound. Pretty cool, eh?
So here is a basic diagram based on the strings on the guitar, remember, opposite, or reverse order.
E—-FIRST STRING (STRING FARTHEST AWAY FROM YOU)
B—- SECOND STRING (SECOND STRING FROM THE BOTTOM)
G—-THIRD STRING (THIRD STRING FROM THE BOTTOM)
D—-FOURTH STRING (THIRD STRING FROM THE TOP)
A—-FIFTH (2ND STRING FROM THE TOP)
E—–SIXTH STRING (TOP STRING CLOSEST STRING TO YOU)
Here is what an E Major Chord would look like, the numbers represent the fret number you want your finger behind on that string, if all the numbers are stacked on top of each other that means play them all at the same time:
E –0——–
B –0——–
G –1——–use your 1st finger, your index finger
D –2——–use your 3rd finger, ring finger left hand
A –2——–use your 2nd finger, middle left hand finger
E –0——–
Sometimes chords are written like this:
E——–0——————————————————–
B——-0———————————————————
G——1———————————————————-
D—–
2———————————————————–
A—-2————————————————————
E—0————————————————————-
The one aspect that ultimate guitar tab is missing compared to proper musical notation, is it’s inability to communicate timing. My suggestion is to use tab only as a guide to the right notes, listen carefully to the music that comes out of the speaker to understand the timing of the playing. So this may mean to play an even strum with all the notes the same length because they are the same distance apart and grouped together.
E——————0———————————————-
B—————0—–0——————————————–
G————1———–1—————————————–
D———2—————–2————————————–
A——2———————–2———————————-
E—0—————————–2——————————–
If notes are spaced like this, play them consecutively in time:
E—————————————————————-
B—————————————————————-
G—————————————————————-
D—————————————————————-
A—————————————————————-
E—0–2–4–5–4–2–0——————————————
Common Ultimate Guitar Tab Symbols:
h - hammer on
p - pull off
b - bend string up
r - release bend
/ - slide up
- slide down
v - vibrato (sometimes written as ~)
t - right hand tap
x - play ‘note’ with heavy damping
This is what a hammer on could look like.
E—————————————————————-
B—————————————————————-
G—————————————————————-
D—————————————————————-
A———6h7———–6h7————————————–
E—0–0———-0–0——————————————-
You pick the first note and hammer on the second note. Which would mean play the open E twice, then hold the 6th fret and hammer on the 7th fret with your 2nd finger, picking only 1 time, the first note, for the sound of both notes. A hammer on. You’re hammering on the second note. Ultimate Guitar Tab is Awesome!
Pull offs look the same, but with the opposite, you pick the first note and pull off the second note :
E—-3p0——————————————-
B———3p0————————————–
G————–2p0———————————
D——————-2p0————-0h2p0h2p02~~~~
A————————2p0———————–
E—————————- -3p0——————
Bends are when you pick the first note and bend that note up to the sound of the next note, so in the following example, you would listen to the sound of the second note, the 7th fret on the 2nd string from the bottom, then move your hand back to the 5th fret and pick the string, then bend it and hold it to the sound of that note 2 frets higher.
E—————————————————————-
B——5b7——————————————————-
G—————————————————————-
D—————————————————————-
A—————————————————————-
E—————————————————————-
It takes years to get good at bending, there are many different styles of bending in ultimate guitar tab. A quick bend, a slow bend, it is best to listen to your guitar hero’s bend and try to make it sound like them.
‘r’ means return, so you would bend the 7th fret up to sound like the 9th, then ‘return’, bring it back down to the 7th frets pitch.
E—————————————————————-
B——7b9–9r7————————————————–
G—————————————————————-
D—————————————————————-
A—————————————————————-
E—————————————————————-
Sometimes, it will say bend up:
1/4 - a little bend, like an emotion bend.
1/2 - the sound of 1 fret higher
1 - the sound of 2 frets higher
Slides are used to pick the first note, then keep pressing down and move your finger to the next note. You can slide both up and down in ultimate guitar tab, each has its own symbol. You may see ’s’ instead of them, but then use your own common sense and ultimate guitar tab wisdom.
E—————————————————————-
B——5/7 pick the 7th fret and slide your finger up to the 9th fret—–
G—————————————————————-
D—————————————————————-
A————–5/3 pick the 5th fret and slide down to the 3rd fret—-
E—————————————————————-
What about this? How do you know where to start or end the slides?
E—————————————————————-
B——/7-9-7—————————————————
G—————————————————————-
D—————————————————————-
A—————————————————————-
E—————————————————————-
There is no definite point, listen to the music, you will see the sound fades in already in motion. Start moving your left hand on the string and then pick that string a few frets before you get to the first note.
You could have a whole series of slides running together, like this
E—————————————————————-
B——5/7/97575——————————————–
G—————————————————————-
D—————————————————————-
A—————————————————————-
E—————————————————————-
The Acoustic Guitar
This type of guitar is normally played with a plectrum, and represents a transition from acoustic to electric guitar, because the guitar itself has some acoustic property although nowadays it is normally amplified. Although a component of the rhythm section of early jazz groups where its distinctive “chunk” sound would cut through and be heard without amplification, this guitar was also used extensively for melody and solo work, an example being the work of great players such as Django Reinhardt.
Distinguishing features include the violin-like f-holes which replace the circular sound hole of the traditional guitar. Often jazz guitars are larger in size than classical or acoustic guitars, and they usually have arched tops and backs, like a violin. This is said to improve their sound projection. Pickups are now built into the guitar, as are volume and tone controls. The pioneering guitarist Les Paul was a technical as well as musical wizard. He is famous for multitrack recorded performances, and his developments on the instrument itself led to the extensive use of solid-body guitars with no innate acoustic resonance. Used for chords and lead in contemporary rock groups, the solid-body guitar has no sound until it is plugged into an amplifier. The electronic sound from pickups is processed in inventive ways for special effects, including deliberate distortion. The result is a new creation that has a fingerboard and strings but acoustically shares little with the traditional guitar.
What Is a Guitar?
Traditionally the sides and back of a flamenco guitar differ in that they’re made of cypress wood, which is distinguishable by its yellow color and lighter weight, but this is not always the case today because some of the great flamenco players prefer hardwood. Classical guitars usually have a slotted peg head and are strung with nylon strings. Generally they are smaller than acoustic or electric instruments. The neck width is greater than on acoustic or electric guitars to facilitate the intricate left-hand work demanded in classical compositions.
Although the term “acoustic” really applies to any non-amplified guitar, it is commonly used to describe the steel-strung guitar used in country, folk, and blues styles. The steel strings give more volume than nylon, and also have a “brassier” sound.
Acoustic guitar players can play with their fingers (as do classical players), sometimes adding metal thumb and fingerpicks to enhance their sound. Others strum across all the strings—or play complex melody lines—using a flatpick (also called a plectrum). The acoustic guitar has a beautiful rich sound in the hands of players like James Taylor, John Renbourne, Leo Kottke, and many others. It works well as an accompaniment instrument, and the best players also use it for solos and improvisations. However, for intricate solo work it is somewhat harder to play than the Spanish guitar.
The Parts of the Guitar
Before discussing the types of guitars available, it’s important to understand the common names for the various parts of the guitar. The accompanying diagram shows these parts clearly, along with names for the fingers of each hand.
Thepeg head is found at the top of the neck of the guitar and holds the tuning machines or gears that are used to tune the strings. On classical guitars, this peg head is usually slotted; on acoustic, jazz, and rock guitars, it is usually solid. No matter—it performs the same function. Thenut is found at the bottom of the peg head and top of the guitar neck. It is made of bone and holds the strings in their proper position. The height of the nut also helps determine the string height or action of the guitar; classical players generally go for a higher action, while electric and jazz players like it lower.
The neck of the guitar contains the fingerboard. Across the fingerboard runfrets. By placing a finger against a fret, the player is able to raise the pitch of a string to play individual notes or chords.
The back of the neck, where it joins the body of the guitar, is called the heel. This may appear in a variety of shapes, and on very fancy guitars it may be carved with animals or human faces. It simply hides the joint between the neck and the guitar.
The front of the guitar is called the face or top. Around the edge of the face, there is usually purfling (often called binding) that hides the joint between the face and sides; similar binding appears around the back of the guitar. The face of the guitar usually features a round or oval sound hole (on acoustic instruments); sometimes f-shaped holes are used on jazz guitars. On some guitars, a fancy inlay called a rosette surrounds the sound hole for decorative purposes.
Read Guitar Music Tablatures
It is quite easy to read the guitar tablature; the illustrations make it a lot easier to learn the numerous guitar chords. And for those who already know how to play but are not quite good, guitar music tablature will help you improve and enhance your guitar playing skills.
On the other hand, the guitar music tablatures also have some disadvantages. The main disadvantage of guitar music tablature is the absence of rhythmic notation. You must know the song properly in order to properly play the song. For some people, in order to quickly learn how to play their favorite song, they usually play along with the guitar as the song plays on the background while studying the guitar tablature.
This is one of the fastest and most efficient ways of learning how to play the guitar.
Available Guitar Music Sheets
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