Worship Guitar Class

Christian Guitar Lessons and More

Home Archives for Articles

Personal Prayer Journal

By Leave a Comment

Personal Prayer Journal

Have you ever forgotten to pray? Our prayers do indeed make a difference in this world. Here’s a short video:

In my prayer group, we usually end the year by reviewing all of the answered prayers. Some have been pretty amazing!

In looking back at my own life, there were some very difficult times but I wouldn’t trade any of them. God is working on our characters and sometimes that just means we go through difficult times.

Everyone of us will go through the valley of the shadow but we don’t need to camp there… just walk on through.

The most important thing is that we don’t need to walk through this life alone! As it says in Micah 6:8

He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

If you would like to use a personal prayer journal in your walk, here’s a good option:

Personal Prayer Journal

Personal Prayer Journal

Order Now

 

PS. I don’t know how it works, but God uses our prayers to accomplish His will. Besides praying, daily time in the Word and worship are also wonderful ways to connect with Him. 🙂

PPS. The books are also available on Amazon Click Here for Personal Prayer Journal

Amazon-Button

How To Read Guitar Chord Charts

By 1 Comment

For beginner guitar players, you’ll need to learn how to read guitar chord charts. The guitar has 6 strings, which are represented by the 6 strings in the diagram below. The metal strips are called frets and it’s best to hold the strings down with the tips of your fingers behind the frets. The charts are viewing a guitar in a vertical position.

The little piece of white bone or plastic is called the ‘nut’. It’s represented by the top line of the guitar chord chart seen just to the left of the guitar pictured below.

 

Guitar Chord Charts

Some chord charts will tell you what fingers to use, but most chord charts do not use numbers and simple show where to hold down the strings with black dots. Here are two diagrams where the fingers should be placed and with  dots. I’ve included an actual picture of the fingers on the guitar.

A Chord Demonstation

Sometimes you may see the symbol ‘x’ or ‘0’ on the chord chart. The ‘x’ means that you do not strum that particular string. For example, in a ‘D’ Chord the 6th string should not be played. It is not a part of the ‘D’ chord and will make your chord sound muddy. The chart below shows the chord chart for ‘D’. Notice the ‘x’ directly under the 6th string. You strum just 5 strings for ‘D’.

D chord for movie

The ‘0’ stand for the open string. Most chord charts on songs do not include ‘0’ and it’s basically accepted that you play the strings not holding down notes unless there is an ‘x’ mark.

Bar Chords

There are chords that are called bar chords because one finger holds down several strings. On a chord chart you’ll see the same number across several strings. This is the bar code ‘Bm’.

Bm Bar Chord

Chords Higher On The Fretboard

Another symbol you may see in chord charts are numbers beside the fretboard. A guitar chord chart only show 4 or 5 frets at a time. The guitar fretboard is 4 times bigger than just the first 4 frets. To show chords up the fretboard, you’ll see a little number on the outside of the chord charts to signify what fret to start the chord.

In the image below, the chord starts on the 4th fret. Notice that the ‘x’ symbols are now on the top of the chord chart. Again, this means to not strum those 2 strings. This chord is G#+, G sharp augmented. There are many types of chords. Once you know several chords, you might want to learn more about Music Theory.

G#+

For help with learning to play the guitar check out these lessons.

JW Worship Guitar Class Lessons

Step-by-step guitar lessons for learning to play worship songs on your guitar. Click here to Learn More

 

Best Travel Guitars

By 1 Comment

There are so many new travel guitars being produced. Travel guitars are easier to take on trips. These are usually smaller and lighter than a regular guitar. For example, the Martin Backpacker guitar.

Martin Backpacker Guitars

Martin-BackpackersYears ago, when I did a lot of backpacking, I used to bring an old beat up guitar. It was just used for backpack and camping trips. It’s nice to have a guitar that you don’t care about for using in wilderness settings. I strapped it on my backpack and didn’t worry about it. It was fun to have an instrument to play on these trips.

The Martin Backpacker came out  right before I was leaving for a month long vacation to Europe. I brought 3 of the Martin Backpackers with me. They easily fit over one shoulder and at 2 pounds each were very light.

PROS

  • Very light weight. Weighs just 2 pounds
  • Comes with a little guitar case
  • Easy to swing over your shoulder and carry other luggage at the same time
  • Fits in the overhead compartment of an airplane
  • Easy to take backpacking
  • Has both nylon string and steel string guitars.
  • Easy to tuck anywhere in your car, boat, plane, etc.

Cons

  • Takes a while to get used to
  • Feels funny with no body
  • Not as loud as a full size guitar

Although it takes a while to adjust to, it certainly worth the effort. I was on a month trip and as a professional guitarist didn’t want to be without an instrument for that length of time.

What helped me play it was to look in a mirror while holding a regular guitar, then adjusting the strap of the backpacker to fit where my hand normally played a full size guitar. That worked. It took probably 2 or 3 days before it felt ‘normal’.

I am most familiar with the Martin Backpackers since I have owned and played them for years. Here are a number of other travel guitars that you might like to know about. I have not played them yet, but wanted to share them with you. [Read more…]

Playing Music Is Good For Your Brain

By 2 Comments

how-playing-an-instrument-benefiPlaying music has a profound effect on our brains. Music can change your mood and can be very healing. I remember a dear friend telling me that God healed her heart in the midst of one of our worship parties!

Music is even used as therapy in hospitals and nursing homes. Here’s an interesting video on how music has helped people with Alzheimer’s and Dementia.

Listening to music is good for your brain, but playing a musical instrument is even better! It has been compared to taking your brain for a workout at the local gym. Here a FUN video that attempts to show what happens to your brain while playing an instrument, like the guitar.

I remember well how one of the mom’s in a Homeschool Convention where we were exhibiting came to our booth to tell us how much her teenage daughter loved the Worship Guitar Class lessons. She told us that not only was her daughter getting good at playing worship songs on the guitar, but that all of her grade were going up in her other subjects!

That makes sense knowing that playing a musical instrument engages practically every area of your brain all at once. It’s especially good at firing up the visual, auditory and motor skills. That is helpful in learning all sorts of subjects. Your brain can apply what it has learned in music to other activities and subjects that you study.

Have you noticed that Doctor’s are often good musicians? Playing music helps you develop fine motor skills, where just listening to it does not. Playing music increases the activity in your brain.

I believe playing worship music is even more edifying and satisfying to our souls than just playing any type of music.

Before I was a born again Christian, I used to enjoy music by artists like George Benson and Michael Jackson. As a Christian, I tried to listen to these albums and just could not tolerate the words. They had never bothered me before, but I had a new understanding of the message and it certainly did not glorify my God.

Much of the music of olden days was written to God’s Glory, like all the composition by J.S. Bach. Now there are wonderful musicians that write songs to specifically honor God with the lyrics and music. To me, that’s the most beneficial music you can play!

JW Worship Guitar Class Lessons

Step-by-step guitar lessons for learning to play worship songs on your guitar. Click here for Christian Guitar Lessons

Contact

Jean Welles Worship Guitar
11664 National Blvd. #275
Los Angeles, CA 90064

Ph: 800-391-5412, 310-477-6192
Fax: 800-391-5412