How to look up tabs

Here's the link to my Jing video about the ultimate guitar website and looking up tabs, check it out: http://www.screencast.com/t/RKgGqMXP

Interview with John Haynie

John Haynie is majoring in guitar performance at Maranatha Baptist Bible College.

Q:  How long have you been playing guitar?

A: I've been playing guitar...well, I got my first guitar when I was ten and I played for a little while then. And then I stopped playing for about a year, but then I picked it back up in junior high and I've been playing ever since. So, almost ten years. 

Q: What kind of guitar did you start with?

A: The guitar I started with...I don't even remember what brand it was, it was some off-brand but it was a three quarters size guitar. Just a little guitar that my parents found in somebody's attic or something.

Q: What kind of guitar, or what model do you use now?

A: For modern styles, I have an Ovation Celebrity CC-11 and for classical guitar I have a Clarita, it's hand made in Spain. 

Q: What is you dream guitar?

A: You know, there are so many guitars that I would like to have...I don't own an electric guitar and I wouldn't mind owning one because it would complete the circle of guitars that I need. Plus, it's a lot of fun to do sound effects with. As far as actually playing music, I'm not sure that I would use it that much but it's fun for little clips. If I were to have to choose, a specific guitar that I would pick...I would have to go with a newer model of the Gibson Les Pauls, just because they're extremely versatile, they're a classic instrument, and they're also a very powerful instrument. So it's a good guitar to have, I think anyone who plays electric guitar should have at least one Les Paul somewhere along the line. You can't really go wrong with a Les Paul.

Q: How many guitars do you own right now? 

A: Three

Q: Did you start out with lessons or did you teach yourself to play?

A: I started out with lessons and I have lessons and several years where I was self taught. I would definitely say that having lessons is better. It is possible to self-teach, but it's best to at least start with lessons so you know what you're doing. If you start being self-taught, you can end up with poor technique that will end up crippling you as you get into more advanced stages.

Q: What do you hope to do with your guitar playing or see yourself doing?

A: I would like to teach and use guitar to teach people about music. I would also like to perform in various ensembles and Celtic music. I want to serve with guitar playing, definitely use it for ministry. And also arrange music for guitar, both sacred and folk tunes. I think there's a lot of music that needs to be arranged that hasn't been because there's not a lot of people with the knowledge to do it. 

Gibson Guitars Slideshow

Gibson is one of the most respected guitar names and produces many of the most popular electric and acoustic guitars. Gibsons is one of the most high end guitar producers, but they tend to cost much more than average guitars. These are some pictures of their popular guitars.

Guitar Interview and Website

I found an online interview with ones of the most advanced slide guitarists, Sonny Landreth. The website it came from is also a very interesting, well designed site with plenty of interesting ivterviews, advice, reviews and guitars. I might be fun to check it out. Here's the link to the interview: http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2008/Oct/Playing_Behind_the_Slide_An_Interview_with_Sonny_Landreth.aspx

Trace Bundy-Youtube video playing Canon in D

Finding the right guitar

To find the right guitar for yourself; you have to consider many different types of guitars, price ranges, and different styles of playing. The first choice most people make is whether they want an electric guitar or an acoustic. Electric guitars are usually most popular with beginners because they tend to be easier to learn with and are typically viewed as more of a "rock star"instrument. That isn't to that electric guitars are more popular overall, acoustic guitars are used in almost every style of music. As far as price range goes, usually acoustic guitars tend to be more expensive because of the level of work required to produce them but they tend to remain more valuable than electric through time. For keeping the broadest variety of playing styles, nothing beats an acoustic guitar. They can be used for anything from classical to country, where electrics tend to be more confined to playing louder more straightforward styles.

Really helpful guitar links

Like I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to provide some links to some of the websites that I have found very helpful in learning to play guitar. Some of them are simply websites that provide tabs which is basically a kind of sheet music that is much simpler to read for guitar than traditional sheet music. Other websites are places that provide written lessons on different methods to improve and advice about what kind of guitar you might want to purchase. So, I hope this list is helpful and can give you a good base of websites to help you springboard your guitar playing.

1. http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/. This first one is my personal favorite guitar website. It has been incredibly helpful to me for learning. Within the website it has the largest collection of tabs available on the internet, forums for advice, interviews with professional guitarists and bands, reviews on guitars, and hundreds of lessons for skill levels ranging from brand new guitar players to expert guitar players.

2. http://www.google.com/. I know it might seem silly to throw google in here, but for finding things like tabs for obscure songs or looking up advice about buying guitars there is no better website to use.

3. http://www.guitarcenter.com/. This company is probably the biggest retailer of guitars around and has just about anything you could ever need for playing guitar, from amplifiers to picks to music editing programs for the computer. Their stores are also amazing places with hundreds of guitars to try out and very knowledgable staff that can help you find the right guitar for you.

4. http://www.youtube.com/. Youtube is another great website for learning about guitar, finding lessons, and video tutorials. You can find videos of some of the best guitar playing around and some incredibly strange types of play as well. All in all it can give you a really broad background to guitar.

These are just a few of the hundreds of websites I use to find information about guitar, but I hope that they can help you find what you wanted to know about guitars and playing. I plan on adding to more to the list, so keep checking in.

First Post

Hi, My name is Christian Groom and this is my blog about all things guitars. I started playing guitar about four years ago when I was fourteen, with a Taylor Big Baby Acoustic Guitar. Ever since playing guitar has become one of my favorite pastimes and has given me the opportunity to meet and make friends with all kinds of people I never would have gotten to know before.

I wanted to create this blog as a place to share with other people who share the same passion for guitar as I do or people who are simply interested in guitar and want to begin playing. When I began playing, I primarily taught myself and used mostly websites to help me pick up on how to play guitar and learn the basics, so I want this website to be helpful to anyone whether they have been playing for years or are just beginning. I hope it can become a place to share websites, tips about playing, different methods of guitar, and just general information about guitars.In the future I hope to post videos of other guitar players and tutorials, my personal information about my guitars and links to guitar websites that I have found helpful.

For now, feel free to comment and leave information about your own guitar playing. Anything about what kind of styles you play, websites you find useful, what kinds of guitars you have, or just anything about guitar would be helpful to me and readers.