Christmas Newsletter 2011

Ornament for Easy Christmas Songs For GuitarGiving the gift of music is a wonderful gift that has a lifetime of value to individuals. Especially for children... it helps with their brain development! Here is our latest Christmas Newsletter. It also includes inexpensive gift ideas that are either free or cost very little.

We have a good Christian Guitar Lessons program that can be an excellent Christmas gift. And for easy song this Christmas, we are still adding to the Easy Christmas Songs For Guitar program.

In the video above a couple of the items, like the quilted place-mats, were gifts I received this year. What are some fun gift giving ideas that you have?

 

New Christmas Songs Lessons

Christmas CatChristmas is around the corner and I've always wanted to make easy to play Christmas Songs. We have the Christmas Songs and Solos program which has lots of instrumental arrangements of Christmas songs, but it doesn't include video lessons on how to accompany this songs to singing.

Would you like to learn easy to play Christmas songs for the guitar? I've asked on my Facebook page and learned that Terry, Christy, and Chris love 'O Holy Night'. Tammy and Ryan liked 'Do you hear what I hear' and 'Little drummer boy'. Chalmers suggested 'Angels We Have Heard' and I know that Christy also loves 'Mary Did You Know'. Am planning on including all of these songs plus 'It Came Upon A Midnight Clear'.

Here is the first song and excerpts of the songs already posted at the website.

Five of the songs are finished and more are coming. Since it is so close I've already posted them at the streaming video website. If you would like to get the lessons, the page is here Easy Christmas Songs For Guitar.

For the music of 'Silent Night' free, just request it from the form below.

[Read more...]

Changing Chords Quickly

Changing Chords Quickly PictureChanging Chords Quickly

I remember well how difficult it was to originally change to any guitar chord. In particular the 'C' chord tends to be a little tricky for new guitarists. With a bit of practice, the chords do get easier to play.

Daniel's question included help in how to transition quickly between chords. He took the recent Worship Guitar Class Newsletter Survey. Here are some tips that should help any guitar player in changing chords quickly.

Changing Chords Quickly Tips

  1. Put down the bass finger first. For example, for a 'C' chord the root note is 'C'. It's better to work on placing the 3rd finger down first so you can play the bass of the chord and still have a second to get the rest of the chord down. Eventually try to place all of your fingers down at the same time.
  2. Think ahead to the next chord. Think about where your fingers are moving before they actually move. This is especially true for shifts in position on the guitar. Look to the frets you are moving too before you actually shift your fingers. If there is a shift from the first position to the 7th position, your eyes should be on the 7th fret before beginning to move your fingers from the first fret. [Read more...]

Guitar Wrist Pain? Video Newsletter

guitar wrist painHelp for guitar wrist pain is one of the question that was asked ina recent brief survey. Below is a video with answers to a few question like what can you do to help with guitar wrist pain?

Basically, it's how you are holding the guitar. when your wrist is too bend it causes wrist pain. If you change how you are holding the guitar, it can make a significant difference regarding any pain in your hands.

Besides the wrist pain, a few people also asked for help in improving their singing voices. You can find some tips for improving your singing in the video,in addition to help for the guitar wrist pain.

For the record, you should not be experiencing any unusual pain when playing the guitar. It is common for the tips of your fingers to be a bit sore when first starting to play the guitar, but you should not have wrist or hand pain while playing. That means there is something wrong with your technique.

Guitar Wrist Pain And Other Questions - Video Newsletter

Watch the 6 minute video below to get ideas of how to eliminate guitar wrist pain. If you have not taken the survey yet, you can find it here. If one person has a question there are pretty good odds that others may have the same questions, too

These days I've been using an ErgoPlay Guitar Support.

If you would like to see the vocal mask blog post mentioned in the video, the Vocal Mask blog video is here.

This is where you can find the Vocal Warmup CD mentioned in the video. As mentioned in the video above, it's a great idea to warm up your voice before singing. This is especially true for Sunday Morning worship leaders. It takes a while for your voice to 'wake up' in the morning and vocalizing on the way to church is a great way to start the morning.

The exercises in the CD are excellent material for choirs to use too. In fact, the creator of the vocal warmup CD is a choir director and is quite accustomed to helping people get their voices in shape to sing.

And here is where to find the 'How Great Thou Art' arrangements.   [Read more...]

Sore Fingers Guitar?

Sore Fingers GuitarSore Fingers Guitar? Here are a dozen solutions and tips.

1. The first tip for sore fingers guitar is to get an easy to play guitar. Nylon string guitars and electric guitars are much easier on your hands. It's much easier to hold down the strings.

2. With a classical or acoustic guitar, lower the action. It's the distance from the string to the actual neck.  Aim for around 1.5mm at the 1st fret and 5mm at the 12th fret of your guitar. Your fingers will not hurt as much when the action is lower.

3. If you are using a steel string acoustic, start with strings that have a lighter gauge. Lighter gauge strings can help your fingers from getting too sore.

4. Try soaking your fingers in vinegar for half a minute. Let them dry and then start practicing.

5. After you wash your hands, use rubbing alcohol on the tips of your fingers then play after they are dry.

 

More Sore Fingers Guitar Solutions

Click the 'Read More' for more tips... [Read more...]

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Jesus is LORD!