A steel string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound. Strictly speaking, the terms steel-stringed guitar, classical guitar and folk guitar all refer...

To properly understand the strings, the guitar must be in tune. The strings should be tuned to EADGBE. That is, the thickest string should be a low E, the next an A, and so on. This is called standard tuning. Other tunings exist, but we should not...

Sound is caused by the disturbance of particles in the air, usually by vibrations. The disturbance propagates through the air as a wave. When a string is attached to two points, like the strings on a guitar, striking it causes it to vibrate at a...

What is Tremolo Picking? Tremolo means a modulation in volume; in the context of stringed instruments, usually refers to repeatedly striking or bowing a single string in a steady rhythm, especially the fastest rhythm the player can maintain. (This...

3 zones of distortion The starting point for dialing-in various electric rock guitar tones is not a crystal-clean full-range amplifier and speaker, but rather, a tube power amp pushing a guitar speaker that has limited frequency response, with the...

Tapping is the short name of fretboard tapping or finger tapping: the act of tapping the fingers against the strings in order to produce sounds, rather than striking or plucking the strings. Specifically, it usually refers to two-handed tapping,...

It is important for the guitarist to learn both tablature and standard notation. Each has its advantages, and each conveys information the other does not. For this reason, many guitar songbooks feature both standard notation and tablature; some even...

Aside from the physical shape of the guitar body, strings are the most important thing for determining the sound of a guitar. New strings sound bright and full, while old strings tend to sound dull and dead. Many guitarists believe that strings...

The slide is one of the simplest guitar techniques. There are two kinds of slides: shift slides and legato slides. In a shift slide, a note is fretted, then the fretting finger slides up or down to a different fret, and the string is struck again. A...

A slide is a metal/glass/ceramic tube which fits over a finger (usually the ring finger or little finger, but any will work). If you want to mess around but do not have a slide, a battery can work to get a good sound, but you will not be able to...

There are three common ways of playing the guitar. Using a pick (also called a plectrum) is probably the most popular way to play the guitar. However, surprisingly, using a pick is not for everyone. Some people will claim, for instance, one cannot...

Muting Muting a string is simple: with the fretting hand, touch the string with a finger, but do not press it down, and strike the string. It is usually best to do this where a harmonic will not result, but strings can be muted at harmonics for...

You can learn songs easily if you have sheet music for the song you are trying to learn (e.g., tab books, PowerTabs). At first, you have to figure out the parts you want to play (rhythm guitar or lead guitar), then try playing the song part by part....

Lead guitar and rhythm guitar are mildly confusing terms, especially to the beginner. Of course, a guitar should almost always follow some sort of rhythm, whether loose or tight. And many times guitars are very prominent, like a lead part, but still...

Improvisation, or improv, boils down to having a basic knowledge of music theory and some moderate amount of talent or skill. Musicians often have jam sessions where friends play anything that tickles their fancy. It can be done in any situation,...