5 Questions every Guitarist has to encounter- No matter how much they tick him off

No matter what kind of audience is watching a guitarist playing his music, or which place it is; there always would be 3 stupid questions that all the guitarists have to encounter from the people:

1: How much your guitar worth?

2: have you learned music? or you just play anything that you hear by hitting different strings?

3: How much time will I (the listener) need to be able to play guitar as good as (any of his favorite music bands such as; Linkin park, creed, Bryan Adams etc)?

4: Is it difficult to play a guitar?/ does it all require to hit some strings to come up with a song?

5: Hey, play that song (any random song of his choice).

I mean What the heck people think!!! When will they get aware of the fact that music has deep theories and a huge array of study is required in order to learn an instrument, and one of the most difficult instruments of them all is GUITAR! this should be understood by people as every note that we guitarist hit has a history and meaning to it.

There are thousands of things that we learned to become guitarists such as Major minor chords, Notations, Blues, pentatonic Scales, Rhythms, Vocals and lot more. Every song that we learn takes our days and nights of unlimited practice and hardcore efforts. The most difficult thing that we guitarists encounter is the pain our hands have to go through while practicing guitar; our fingers get sore and our wrists get hurt .

However as a guitarist, I (or we the guitarists) can't respond in a negative, aggressive, funny or taunting manner for the fact that people DON'T REALLY KNOW HOW MUCH RIDICULOUS THEIR QUESTIONS ARE THAT TICK THE GUITARISTS OFF, and they are just asking as it's a normal thing.

So, as far as my self goes; I calmly respond because these are the people who listen to my music and I need their support. (and for the fact that I cant do a f**king thing about it ;-) )

This is Basit Ali signing off, everybody, have a nice weekend...

-Rock ON

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Tips For Beginners On Buying A Guitar

When you are first getting into playing guitar and need to purchase one, there are three steps that every new guitarist should take when choosing their instrument. For beginners, it can sometimes feel overwhelming but following these three steps will ensure or at least give you a much better chance of getting the guitar that you love.

1. Figure out exactly what you need and what your budget allows.

The first thing you should be thinking about is what kind of music you will be wanting to play on it as well as how much you can afford.

If you decide that you want to start learning rock music, you will definitely want to be looking at electric guitars. Because of this, you will also want to factor in the price of an amplifier to go along with the guitar. For budding folk or country musicians, you may be looking into acoustic guitars. This will make things a little easier on you since you will not have to look at amps as well, but at the same time, there are a lot of different acoustic guitars out there to choose from.

2. Do you research.

You should take your time and do some research without jumping into anything to quickly. You do not want to just buy a guitar impulsively; a guitar is a big investment, so you really want to be sure you get something you like and you do not overpay for it. It is a good idea to read up on them first, comparing prices and features before settling on a guitar. Online sites like harmony-central.com and right here at frugalguitarist.com are excellent places to start your research.

If you want to get the most bang for you buck when buying a guitar, you should consider researching a beginner guitar from a major brand name. Major brand names are generally more expensive than knockoffs, but with knockoffs, you can pay the price of shoddy wiring and other flaws. Even though beginner guitars from major brand names are cheaper than more advanced guitars and you can trust that they will be well put together.

That way, you can start simple, get used to your guitar, make sure you want to progress with your guitar playing, and then eventually move up to more advanced and expensive brand name guitars. A good example of an inexpensive beginner guitar is a Fender Squire.

The other advantage to choosing a wewll known brand name guitar is that when you do get to the time that you want to sell or trade it up for a higher quality guitar, it will be a lot easier to sell and hold its value better.

3. When possible, try before you buy.

You always want to test the guitar out in person before buying, to ensure that it is in perfect working order. One thing you will want to do is to shake the guitar vigorously as you listen for rattling. Another thing you will want to do is check the intonation of the guitar. Checking the intonation is quite important. To do this, you should play the harmonic at the 12th fret, and ensure that it sounds the same as the open string. You will also want to check for buzzing by strumming the guitar loudly. Obviously buzzing, rattling, and incorrect intonation are all to be avoided when buying a guitar.

If you are really on a budget, you could consider buying a used guitar. You can look online for used guitars at places like ebay.com and other online marketplaces, or you can check out pawnshops and music stores. You want to be careful buying a used guitar, though, and carefully check it in the ways mentioned earlier.

In addition, buying a guitar should be fun! So have some fun with it--after all, you get to look around, explore your options, and test out various guitars. In addition, it is a great feeling when you finally find the guitar that feels perfect for you.

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Why Aren't You a Better Guitarist?-The twenty concepts you need......and the five things to forget!

If you are like most players, you are desiring to become a better guitar player. Through my own learning experience and through teaching well over 1,000 students, I have learned a lot on this subject. Students often ask why they are not not at the level that they desire to be and what can be done about it. I have asked myself this same question many times in the past. A long time passed before I began to understand the answers.

Like you probably have done, I have read a ton of interviews with great players and articles written by many of these same players. I often found it frustrating whenever the subject of learning to play guitar came up or when advice was offered on improving one's playing. With a small number of exceptions, very little time and space was offered on this. Its not uncommon to see the player's advice be summed up in a grand total of three words: Practice! Practice!! Practice!!! Well of course we all know that practicing is the main ingredient. But rarely are we told much more than that. In my long quest to become an excellent player and to help my students do the same I carefully took note of what worked and what didn't. What parts conventional wisdom is accurate and what parts are (at least in my opinion) are not. I believe the twenty concepts that have proven to bring great results to those who use them are:

1. Educate yourself! No matter what level you are at today, you can be and should be learning more. If you are currently studying with a teacher or enrolled in a music program at a high school, college or university, you are on the right track. If you aren't doing this (or if you feel that your current teacher is not helping you enough in reaching your goals) I strongly recommend looking for a new teacher. (I have written an article on this exact topic titled: Choosing a Teacher ) I can't stress enough how important it is to find the teacher that is right for you! Your teacher (or music program) should always be Goal Orientated. If its not look for another teacher or school to study with! You don't need a teacher to simply give you information or things to practice - you can get those things anywhere, what you need is a teacher who:

• Knows what your goals are.
• Cares about helping you reach your goals.
• Knows how to help you reach your goals.

2. Listen to more music. Find more of the same music you already like. There is a lot of music out there that you haven't heard. I am sure you can find something you really like and that would inspire you. Look on the internet if you can't find it on the conventional radio. Check out internet radio, you can customize what you here based on your preferences, its a great tool! Check out web sites that you know feature a lot of the music in the style you like.

3. Turn your musical frustrations into an asset in the form of a motivating force. I wrote a whole article called Musical Frustration. I don't want to repeat here everything that I wrote in that article, so read it if you haven't already. If you have read it, it may be worth your time to read it again now.

4. Believe in yourself. You have probably heard that phrase many times before. Its unfortunate how many people still refuse to invest their own beliefs into themselves. I wrote an article on Perseverance which deals indirectly with believing in yourself. Please read it if you have a problem believing that you can reach your goals.

5. Understand that becoming a better guitarist means becoming a better musician as well. When developing your musical skills, make sure to think beyond skills that are specific to guitar. Of course you will be working on many guitar skills: various guitar techniques, chords, scales, soloing, etc., but don't neglect other skills that are not guitar specific like, ear training (also called aural skills), songwriting, improvising, creativity, reading, music theory, etc.

6. Surround yourself with better players (or at least with those on your same level.) When you started out playing guitar, everyone was better than you, but now you have grown and there are less people better than you than before. The better you get, the harder it will be to find others who are superior to you to hang around or jam with. But no matter how good you get, there will always be something you can learn from someone else. Seek out those people, get to know them, jam with them, discuss music and guitar with them. Be willing to give as much (or more) as you want to take. If you are fortunate enough to be above the level of other guitarists in your area, seek out great bassists, pianists, violinists, drummers, etc. You can learn from them as well. (Even if you are not better than your guitar player friends, seek out musicians that play other instruments as well anyway).

7. Find out what inspires you and soak yourself in that. For me, going to concerts to see great players or bands inspires me to practice more. Listening to great singers inspired me to refine my vibrato and phrasing. Listening and studying the music of great classical composers inspired me to study music composition. I wanted to write great music. Watching the movie Star Wars when I was a kid, reading Lord of the Rings, etc. inspired me as well. There are lots of non musical things that have been inspiring to me. The greatest source of inspiration has been my own personal experiences in life and within myself. The desire to express that was (and still is) a constant burning desire and powerful force that thrusts my desire to improve forward. Know what truly inspires you, seek it out, surround yourself with it and soak and soak there.

8. Define your purpose. What is your definite purpose? Do you really know what it is? If I were standing in front of you right now and asked you this question, could you give me specific answers and explanations? Can you write it on paper in specific terms? This is critical to setting goals, planning strategy and monitoring the results, etc. When all the enemies of progress start to creep into your mind, you will need to bring your definite purpose to the forefront of your thinking. I have seen procrastination, fear of failure, self doubt, lack of motivation, temporary setbacks, and other negative things bring people with great potential to a halt. Knowing your definite purpose and reminding yourself of it when a negative thought comes into your mind will help you overcome it.

9. Define exactly why your purpose exists in your mind. I specifically choose to list this separately from defining your purpose because I did not want you to let the WHY get lost in the act of DEFINING. Trust me, this is important.

10. Create a strategy! You need a strategy that will layout exactly how you are going to reach your goals. Dreaming alone won't take you anywhere. Telling yourself that you are going to play your guitar everyday isn't enough. There is a lot more that goes into being an excellent player than simply playing your guitar. Ultimately you should work backwards. State your ultimate goals (on paper) then make a bunch of short and medium range goals. Think of reaching your goals as a relay race, NOT as a marathon. Each short term and medium term goal is the end of one segment of your plan and the beginning of the next segment (just like a relay race.) There are many benefits of looking at things this way as you will discover for yourself in your own way.

If you clearly know what your ultimate goals are, you can do this yourself. But if you need help in planning out the short and mid term goals to plan your strategy. Consult a teacher whom you trust and believe can help you with this - its worth it believe me. If you can't find a teacher who can do this for you, pay someone (YES I said PAY) to help you develop a specific plan to do this. The best person to approach for this is someone who is already doing whatever it is that you want to be doing.

Remember that its ok to daydream and fantasize about where you are planning to go, but it can't stop there. Don't wish without planning! Don't dream without doing! And always, always, have a strategy. You may need to revise certain aspects of your strategy as time goes on and that's ok, but don't try to go forward without one if you want the maximum results in the shortest amount of time. In my early days learning to play guitar, I wasted a lot of time aimlessly desiring to get better without having a clue as to how to plan for it. Sure I practiced a lot, but without direction and without an efficient path to follow. Most of my substantial progress as a musician came only after I developed a strategy and worked with it.

If you are wondering why I haven't given you a detailed explanation of the strategies I used in the past, it would be pointless for me to tell you what my strategy was, because it was specific only to my goals. Chances are, your goals may differ greatly from mine in many different ways. That is why you need your own strategy for your own personal goals. One last piece of advice before we move on, write everything on paper and read it everyday! It will keep you focused and on target.

11. Imagine yourself having the skills that you desire. Focus on that and concentrate. Convince yourself that you can do it. Convince yourself that you are already on your way to reaching your first goal - because you are. Its easier to manifest your desires when you can imagine yourself already in possession of it. Keep your positive mental attitude always.

12. Define what you plan to do with your musical skills once you have them. If you plan on releasing your own CD or making a living in music. LEARN AND STUDY MUSIC BUSINESS RIGHT NOW!! The fastest way to do that is to actually take music business lessons at a college and take private lessons from a pro (or at least a semi-pro guitarist) Yes you can take lessons in this just like you can for learning guitar, songwriting, etc. Do NOT wait until you are a great player to start learning about this business!!!!!! I can not tell you how many players make this mistake (I made it myself at first and have studying it intensely for the past few years to get my own career where it is today.)

13. Find out how your favorite players reached their goals. Often times this is hard to do since you can't always sit down and talk to some very famous musicians. But interviews exist as well as a few biographies on some musicians (especially dead ones). Despite the fact that many successful don't really talk much about this, you can find some that do. Believe me, becoming successful is a lot more than just practicing and luck! REMEMBER that their strategies won't necessarily work for you because your goals may be different than theirs were. Still you can learn from it.

14. Don't compare yourself to others. There is no need to do this anyway. Music should not be a competitive sport among people, only within yourself. Compare yourself only in relation to where you are in your strategy! Are you on your way to reaching your next short term and medium term goal towards your ultimate goals? Are you on schedule, does your strategy need to be revised?

15. Make sure you are practicing efficiently. Do you really know how to practice the guitar? Are you focused on setting daily and weekly objectives and then practicing in such a way that you will be working towards those goals? These are questions you should ask yourself. The two biggest practicing mistakes I have seen in students (besides not practicing enough) are: 1. Practicing is not goal orientated. 2. Not understanding the difference between playing one's guitar and practicing one's guitar. If you are having any difficulties with practicing, talk to your teacher about it. He/she should be able to help you.

16. Play with others in a band or some type of ensemble. It is important to have experience playing with others. It can be in a band or some other ensemble setting. Formal or informal. The main thing is to be doing it. (at least once a month). Some things you just can't fully practice alone. Besides the fact that this can be really fun, it will also help you overcome stage fright if you have it.

17. Measure your progress. Document your practice time. Keep a record of how much you practice each day. For technique things, use a metronome to see how fast you are able to play a particular scale, exercise, lick, arpeggio, etc. cleanly. Write down the result, practice it all week and see if you can play it one or two beats per minute faster by next week (or next month). Keep a record of all the technical things you are currently working on. You will clearly see if you are progressing and at what rate. For other items that are not so easily recorded with a metronome, paper and pencil, record on yourself tape or your computer each week. Keep the tapes for a long time. Listen back in 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, etc. Listen to how much you have grown.

18. Do not pander to your strengths while ignoring your weaknesses. It is not necessary to be able to play all styles of music or every technique to be a good player, but certain aspects are universal, such as: technique, ear training, knowledge of theory, creativity, improvising, etc. Some musical styles will rely more heavily on certain aspects than other styles, regardless, its important to be balanced. If you are a heavy metal guitarist, chances are sight reading won't be as high on your list of priorities as technique. Likewise, a strict classical guitarist won't have much use for improvisation (unfortunately). But make sure you don't avoid weaknesses that you should be paying attention to because if you do - you will be sorry, sooner or later.

19. Discipline yourself. Unlike a sport, you do not have a coach or a trainer to work with you all the time. Nobody is there to make sure you are practicing the way you need to, when you need to, and how often you need to. You need to be totally self reliant. If this is not a normal part of your personality, fortunately there is help for you. Only you can stop yourself from procrastinating. Take the initiative now to go forward.

20. NEVER GIVE UP! Never say can't. Never say I can't. Never say someday. Never say if... If your IQ is higher than room temperature, if you have all of your fingers and if you really want to succeed, you can.

In reaching your goals:

There are only two real players in this game

....You and Time.

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