Many People Want To Learn How To Play Guitar!

Many people would love to learn how to play an instrument- perhaps they’re interested in the piano, or want to learn how to play guitar. This can be a daunting proposition, though, for adults who don’t have any prior musical experience. It doesn’t have to be that way; read on for the basics of where to go to begin your musical education!

Before you purchase an instrument, you should locate a teacher. Many teachers advertise their services on popular classified-ad websites; others take out ads in the local newspaper or post flyers at the neighborhood music store. If there is a community music school in your area, that’s an excellent place to start; teachers affiliated with such a school have gone through an interview and screening process and may have more professional credentials than some freelance private teachers. This is not to say, however, that all freelance teachers are to be avoided: the contrary is actually true. Simply be sure to ask about a prospective teacher’s qualifications, no matter who they are or where they’re teaching.

Also ask if they perform actively, and if so, where you might go to hear them in action. If you’re unable to find a teacher through classified ads or a local music school, consider putting in a call to a nearby college or university. The music department will almost definitely be able to point you in the right direction; although the faculty of these institutions often already have full teaching schedules, many college and graduate students have studios of their own and can provide excellent (and affordable) instruction. Some may even come to your home for the lesson, although it’s generally expected that you travel to the teacher’s studio each week.
After you hire a teacher, ask them to guide you in the process of purchasing or renting an instrument. It’s likely that they’ll be able to recommend a reputable music store. Besides your instrument, you’ll need accessories such as a music stand, metronome, chromatic tuner, and possibly picks and extra strings. Your teacher will probably also recommend a method book, or several, as well as some recordings to listen to. Take full advantage of YouTube and iTunes to listen to recordings of you instrument, played in a variety of styles.

Learning how to play guitar (or any instrument) can be a wonderfully rewarding and challenging experience. Be prepared to practice every day at home; the going won’t always be easy, but the end result is absolutely well worth it!

Playing Blues Guitar - The Father Of The Blues

(Note: If you’re interested in the Blues, visit: Beginner Blues Guitar)

The first instrumental hit playing blues guitar was in 1912, called “Memphis Blues,” composed by W. C. Handy, also known as the Father of the Blues. Handy was born in 1873, in Alabama, and began his entertainment career in the 1890s. His first gigs were touring with all black musical troupes. After serving as bandleader of the Mahara’s Minstrels for four years, in 1903 Handy moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi where he first heard the Blues. In his book, he describes his introduction to first hearing the blues guitar as “the weirdest music I had ever heard” (Handy, 74). It was from then that Handy emerged from being a beginner blues guitar player, into a world-renowned Blues guitar musician. In 1914, this once beginner blues guitar player composed “St. Louis Blues,” considered one of the most popular blues guitar songs ever recorded.

While Hendy is considered the Father of the Blues, B.B. King, born Riley King, in Indianola, Mississippi in 1925, is by all accounts considered the King of the Blues. When King was approximately nineteen years old, he started to take beginner blues guitar lessons from his cousin, Bukka White, a well-known Blues musician in Memphis, Tennessee. While working as a disk jockey in an all black music format radio station, Riley took on the name “Blues Boy,” which eventually was shortened to B.B. King’s first national record debut was in 1951, when his “Three O’ Clock Blues” was released. By the 1960s, his haunting guitar playing and trilling blues guitar style, was influencing not only blues guitarists, but also emerging rock musicians. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, King inspired a new musical format - long guitar solos, which practically became the standard for most rock and blues guitar songs. Apparently, this musical style is attributed to King’s inability to sing and play guitar at the same time, and hence the non-vocal, long guitar solo was born. For more information on the full biographies of these and other musicians and how they began their careers as beginner blues guitar players, please see the links below.

Interested in beginner blues guitar? Click here to learn How To Play Blues Guitar!

Bibliography:

Handy, W. C. Father of the Blues: An Autobiography. New York: Macmillan, 1941. Reprint, New York: Da Capo, 1991.

Freeland, David. “King, B.B.” Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Popular Musicians Since 1990. Ed. Stephen Wasserstein, Ken Wachsberger, and Tanya Laplante. Vol. 1. Detroit: Schirmer Reference, 2004. 361-362.