Learn Guitar

After featuring Jamsbio on my last blog entry I thought it would be fun to create my first list on the site. It's called "Top 5 Most Underrated Guitarists" and features Richie Kotzen and Joe Satriani amongst others.

I hope you like it and would encourage you to create your own ultimate list of guitar players. Visit Jamsbio.com to join and once you create a list we'd love to hear about it so make sure you post the URL in the comments below.

Labels: guitar, guitarists, Jamsbio

Guitarists are well and truly spoilt for choice on the internet these days however as there are so many websites on-line, sometimes it can be tricky finding the best ones. Hopefully this list of essential websites for guitarists will help you in the right direction.



Guitar Site

This magazine style website offers plenty of guitar news and gear reviews as well as tutorials and lessons. Not a bad place to start.



LickLibrary

This is a paid membership website for guitarists however the sheer wealth of content and quality on offer is well worth the monthly fee. They have some big name guitarists such as Joe Satriani and Steve Vai promoting it and you would be hard pushed to find a better community website for guitarists.



Guitar Noize

This guitar blog features some interesting posts and we'd recommend subscribing to the RSS feed when you get the chance.



Ultimate Guitar

This massive on-line guitar community is one of the most popular websites around and they have a particularly good guitar tabs section which features tabs uploaded by members. We find the layout a little confusing at times but that's probably due to the sheer amount of lessons, reviews and columns they have. Definitely one for the favourites.



Guitar Port
This website has been built around the innovative Guitarport USB amplifier and features a well laid out and feature rich layout that compliments the Guitarport perfectly. You'll get a vast library of accurate tabs, famous teachers and the ability to play rhythm, bass or lead guitar on each backing track Superb!



Guitar Toybox

Another well laid out blog that features interesting news in the guitar community.



Music Street UK

Probably our favourite place to buy guitars and equipment. The website is easy to use, they have a massive range of gear and often have deals that you would be hard pushed to find anywhere else.



Audio Tool

This is simply incredible. Built entirely in Macromedia Flash, the Audiobox on Hobnox features an array of stomp boxes, samplers and even a Roland Drum Machine.The dragable interface lets you view all the effects which can all be controlled easily via a few mouse clicks. You could spend a lot of time on this tool!



Guitar World

Just like the magazine, Guitar World provides a wealth of interviews, guitar reviews, lessons and tabs. It's geared to towards the modern rock and heavy metal scene however so it might not be everyone's cup of tea.



Jams Bio

This website is a recent discovery but we love it already. It's a social community that allows you to share your life through music and was created as a place for people to meet, reconnect, or simply stay in touch by sharing music related stories. I can see many guitarists using this website to share gigs and experiences with friends and it's also a great site to create a tribute to your favourite band or guitarist. Well worth checking out!

If you have any suggestion for even more essential websites for guitarists then we want to hear about them. Simply leave a comment below with the name and URL of the site you'd like to recommend.

Labels: guitar, guitar news, guitarists

Well I have to admit I do like Coldplay but I'm a little concerned over some of the melodies which seems quite familiar at times. Check out the video below which does a convincing job of arguing the case that Cold play have stolen the main riff and chord progression from Joe Satriani's "If I Could Fly" for "Viva La Vida".



Pretty cool ending to the video though. Hey I wonder if we could get Joe on stage with Coldplay? Well maybe if the lawsuits aren't flying!

Labels: guitar, guitarists

Looks like Guitar Hero IV is shaping up nicely. Ozzy Osbourne and guitarist Zakk Wylde will appear in the game, due this autumn (fall) and will feature in the classic tracks Crazy Train and Mr. Crowley. Those songs will also be playable in a virtual Ozzfest venue.

Other tracks confirmed include;

Steve Miller Band - The Joker

Interpol - Obstacle 1

The Doors - Light My Fire

Linkin Park - In The End

Michael Jackson - Beat It

Smashing Pumpkins - Bullet With Butterfly Wings

Sadly, despite the success of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, we will not be seeing Led Zeppelin's iconic songs in either game any time soon, according to the Wall Street Journal. The band, specifically Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, is not comfortable giving gaming companies access to the group's master recordings which is a necessary step in adding the band. No surprise there as Led Zeppelin have been typically elusive when it comes to access to their songs. You only have to look at the lengths Jack Black had to go to secure the Immigrant Song in School of Rock.

Labels: bands, guitar, Guitar Hero, guitarists

I guess every guitar player has had an embarrassing guitar moment at some stage. Whether its bum notes, broken guitar straps or slipping on stage we all have a story to tell. But I came across this story from Joe Satriani on Youtube.com that shows that even the best still have the odd embarrassing moment and to be honest it doesn't come much more embarrassing than this. I feel for you Joe!

Labels: guitar, guitarists

Now I've been a Motley Crue fan since I was about 15 after listening to Dr Feelgood. I still remember the awesome gig at Wembley Arena with Skid Row (man they rocked!) and White Lion (unfortunately they didn't) which also happened to be my first gig. I'll never forget the gig, especially Tommy Lee's amazing spinning cage drum solo and the great show they put on that night.

It looks like the band are well and truly back with a vengeance on the Cruefest tour which also features kick ass bands such as Buckcherry, Papa Roach and SixxAM who recently had a No 1 US single.

Looks like the tour is US only at the moment so fingers crossed we'll get some UK and European dates soon.

In the meantime visit the Cruefest website for more tour dates, videos and news.

Check out this great Motley Crue interview on larry King.

Labels: bands, gigs, guitar

As a web designer as well as a guitarist I'm always finding great social media websites but unfortunately few are really relevant for guitarists. However recently I've come across a great social internet radio website called Jango.

You simply type in an artist - and Jango creates a custom radio station that starts playing right away. You'll get the music you want, along with similar favorites of Jango users who share your taste. You can easily add more artists and also rate songs that you want to play more or less.

The site is a pleasure to use and despite the track selection being glitchy on occasions (it is in beta after all) it was great to be able to listen to the artists I wanted to. All you eighties rock fans can check out my Jango radio station if you want a blast from the past.

Labels: guitar, music

I firmly believe that you don't need to spend a fortune to get a really special guitar nowadays and £500/$1000 should get you a really professional instrument now matter what style of music you play. Check out the following guitars when your next in your local guitar store.

Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus

The Epiphone Les Paul has fast become a mini classic. It has an arched, figured curly Maple, carved top in faded sunburst finishes for that great LP look. And like all Les Pauls, features a solid glued neck joint for great sustain and stability. They are even built to 100% Gibson specifications which is hard to believe considering the price. A great rock guitar for the beginner!

Fender '72 Tele Custom

The Telecaster by Fender is often referred to as the guitarist's guitar and its a real work horse, make no mistake. The ’72 Tele Custom improves on this classic design with a "Wide Range" humbucking neck pickup and a traditional single-coil bridge pickup and sexier design. This guitar would suit variety of styles and with the humbucker it can rock out with the best of them.

Ibanez Joe Satriani JS100

The Joe Satriani endorsed Ibanez JS series are outstanding rock guitars as you would expect from such an accomplished endorsee but for some time they were out of the reach of most budgets. However the introduction of the JS100 changed all this and it features great playability, tone and flexibility. It looks the business too!

PRS SE Custom - Sunburst Hardtail

I'm considering picking one of these up, I don't really need one but the thought of owning a Paul Reed Smith for less than £500 is too good to resist. The SE Custom features a solid mahogany body with a visually stunning flamed maple top, a glued-in mahogany neck, two PRS designed SE standard humbucking pickups with Zebra coils, and a PRS designed hardtail bridge. This guitar is class through and through.

Jackson DK2S Dinky Electric Guitar

Jackson equal Rock n Roll. Period! If you want a great looking and tone filled rock guitar that doesn't hurt your wallet look no further.

Schecter Tempest

This is what I'm playing at the moment and its without doubt the best guitar I've owned. With a carved top, striking appearance and tone to back it up, the Tempest Custom is built for players who want a guitar with real flexibility.

This is a set-neck guitar with a bound Mahogany/Maple body and a tune-o-matic bridge. It's neck is Maple with a 22-fret, bound Rosewood fingerboard. The inlays are split-crowns and the frets are medium in size. Other features include Grover tuners and gold hardware on the black model and chrome hardware on the sunburst. This is my top recommendation in the sub £500 category.

Labels: guitar, guitar reviews

BBC Radio One are running a competition called Rockerz where they give you a chance to be part of the next great British rock band.

Their looking for singers, guitarists, bass players, drummers and keyboard players...and dancers. And the best of these will be chosen by a panel of celebrity judges and by a public vote.

Sounds a bit X-Factor I know but its actually quite different. Firstly, you get to film your own entry and submit it online, so there's none of that auditions stuff. Secondly, the 12 finalists (two from each category) will be filmed playing and then turned into CGI animations.

Over the course of the autumn they will then be holding rock-offs to get the final band, in which their animated alter-ego's will play Wembley Arena in front of 15,000 people.

I have to admit when I first saw this I thought you'd actually get to perform live on stage so I was a little dissapointed about the CGI animation part of it. But it still sounds like a cool idea and hopefully it will be an entertaining show.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/rockerz/

Labels: guitar

Well we are well and truly into the christmas maze of trying to figure out what presents to buy our friends and family and I don't know about you but I'm always leaving it too late to buy presents online. I'm always left with that last minute rush around the shops which as we all know isn't much fun at all.

So it got me thinking about alternative presents and especially those for guitarists. Typically after guitar strings, picks and straps, presents for guitarists can get expensive especially when you start looking at effects pedals and amps. The answer, especially if you know someone who is just picking up the guitar is an online guitar course such as Jamorama. These online course are good value for money and can be downloaded instantly so you don't have to worry about whether it is going to be delivered on time. Alternatively if you have someone in mind who is more advanced then how about buying them a 6 month membership for Lick Library or a more advanced online course such as video guitar lessons.

Well this should give you some food for thought anway and help take some of the stress out of shopping this time of year. More importantly I hope you have a peaceful and very merry Christmas!

Labels: guitar, learn guitar, video guitar lessons

We thought we would kick this first post off with a little note about what the "Learn The Guitar Now" blog is about. Well basically its all about learning the guitar and how how you accelerate our learning online. We want to provide you with the best material online to improve your playing. Our reviews and articles will cover all aspects of how to learn the guitar as quickly and efficiently as possible and we hope you can save you loads of time by posting all the best resources on the internet in this one site.

We have kicked off the site with three of the best online guitar courses you can buy. They are Jamorama, Express Guitar and "The Acoustic Guitar Workshop". We found these courses to provide the best value and quality and they all offer a full money back guarantee so do check out the reviews.

Well that's all for our first post. Enjoy the site.

Labels: guitar