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By Kenn Bell

A lot of beginning guitar players get bored with traditional lessons early on, and would like to learn some easy songs to play on the guitar in order to break up the monotony of learning basic notes and chords. We will take a look at some easy to learn songs that you can learn to play on the guitar.

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“Best home guitar course ever!”

“Top of the league guitar course!”

Learn and Master Guitar is arguably the best home guitar course you can get for your money. It is published by Legacy Learning Systems and instructed by Steve Krenz. The course won multiple awards, including the 2008 Acoustic Guitar Magazine Players’ Choice Awards, two Telly Awards and an AEGIS Award for Excellence in Education.

The instructor, Peter Krenz, is a professional guitarist with a degree in music and a rich variety of real-world performing experience. He played with Orchestras Jazz big bands and Grammy-winning artists like Donna Summer, The Fifth Dimension, Israel Houghton, and Tommy Sims (co-writer of Eric Clapton’s “Change the World”).

At $219 (or $249 for the Expanded Edition), Learn and Master Guitar is not the cheapest guiar course you can find, but it is probably the best for your buck. It is worth the little extra money if you are serious about learning guitar and willing to put in the time it takes to learn and practice.

When you buy Learn and Master Guitar you will get:

• 10 DVDs (20 with the Expanded Edition)
• 5 Jam Along CDs
• Written material
• Access to the online community and student support

Note: Until January 28th, 2010. Legacy Learning Systems offers a $100 discount on both editions of the product. Click here to get the discount.

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Quick facts

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Vibratos can add life to your playing. As its names suggests, vibrato is a technique that creates a vibrating sound around a root note. In classic guitar vibrato, we vibrate the string sidewards, right and left. This is illustrated in the following video:

Rock guitar vibrato is slightly different since you vibrate the strings up and down, instead of left and right. Either techniques can be alternated and varied to your personal taste. You can also play with the speed and amount of modulation.

On a guitar tablature, a vibrato is denoted by a ‘~’ or a ‘V’.

The guitar bend is a technique that allows you to change the pitch of a string, after it has already been picked by bending it up (higher pitch) or down (to a lower pitch).

You should bend with your entire wrist because a single finger alone may not be strong enough to bend the string as far as you want.
If you use a printed tablature from a book or magazine, the bend is denoted there as a curved arrow pointing upward or downwards (depending on the direction of the bend) and a notation to tell you how much to bend (for example: ‘1/2′, ‘1′, ‘half’, or ‘full’).
On an ASCII tablature, a bend is notated by the letter ‘b’. The following example instructs you to pick the E string while holding the 7th fret and bending it up by 1/2 a tone, to make it sound like the 8th fret.

E||------7b(8)---
B||--------------
G||--------------
D||--------------
A||--------------
E||--------------
The following video demonstrate the above example:

A variation to the regular bend is the bend-and-release. In this technique you first bend the string up and than release it. For instance, the notation: “7b(8)r(7)” tells you to pick the string while pressing the 7th fret, bend it up to sound like the 8th fret. Then, without picking again bend it back to sound like the original note.

A guitar slide is a technique where you smoothly transition between notes by sliding your finger from one fret to another on the same string. Slides are marked with a diagonal line (or “/” and “\” on an ASCII tablature) with the beginning fret on the left and the end fret on the right. for example: “2 / 4″ means to begin on the 2nd fret and sliding up to the 4th fret. …click here to read more

The pull-off is the opposite of a  hammer-on. Both techniques help you play a smooth transition between notes, called a slur, or Legato. Like a hammer-on, the pull-off allows you to play more than one note on the same string with a single pluck. Unlike the hammer-on, the first note on a pull-off is always higher pitched than the next one.

The pull-off involves releasing your finger from the fret after plucking the string while holding a higher fret with another finger or an open string.

On a guitar tablature, hammer-ons are marked by the letter “p” or by an arc. For example, the following tablature instructs you to pluck the string while holding the 3rd and 1st frets, than releasing the 3rd fret.
E||-3p1—
B||——-
G||——-
D||——-
A||——-
E||——-

You can watch the above example demonstrated in this video:

Like a pull-off, a guitar hammer-on is a type of slur, a smooth transition between notes. It allows you to play two or more notes on the same string with a single pluck. As opposed to a pull-off, the first note on a hammer-on is always lower pitched than the next one.

To play a hammer-on, first pluck the string with your finger pressed on the first fret you want played, than slam another finger on the next note to be played.

On a guitar tablature, hammer-ons are marked by the letter “h” or by an arc. For example, the following tablature instructs you to hold the second fret while picking the first string (low-pitch E) and then hammering-on the 3rd fret.
E||-2h3---
B||-------
G||-------
D||-------
A||-------
E||-------

You can watch the above example demonstrated in this video:

What are guitar tablatures

A guitar tablature is a simplified form of music notation for playing guitar music. It physically resembles the arrangement of the guitar neck, unlike standard sheet music notation, that consist of note staffs. Since tablatures are more intuitive (represent the physical arrangement of the strings) than standard staff notation, they can be easier for novices to read. This tutorial will teach you how to read and play guitar tabs.

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