Tommy Emmanuel - His Guitar Picking Technique

Tommy Emmanuel was born into a talented family who inspired and encouraged his talent for guitar finger picking. Picking up the guitar when he was just four years old, he was already a seasoned guitar player when he heard a Chet Atkins record on the radio. This was a defining moment in his life but the direction his career as guitarist took him in was hardly compatible with Nashville finger picking.

Tommy Emmanuel's career as a guitar player took him into the world of rock and roll where he won talent quests as a guitar player, played drums in a rock band with his brother Phil on guitar and ended up playing with the big names in Australian pop music. He embarked on his present career in 1990 with his album "Dare To Be Different" being heavily promoted at a time where the likes of Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler seemed to have the guitar solo niche cornered.

Tommy had to work hard to remain visible to the record buying public while developing the possibilities he had heard as a child in the technique of Chet Atkins. The Chet Atkins guitar style featured the use of the thumb playing bass and three fingers playing the tune. This technique enabled him to play a melody in a similar way to a piano player with the bass and the lead line both clearly defined.

Chet Atkins' style of guitar playing had its origins in ragtime music which was originally played on the piano. During the early years of the development of the blues and jazz idioms guitar players began to be interested in duplicating the bass and melody combination of ragtime. The most memorable of these guitar pickers was Merle Travis. Travis was born in 1917 in Kentucky where there were already many guitarists using the thumb and index finger guitar picking technique.

Chet Atkins was a talented guitarist who, until he latched onto the Travis picking style, lacked a definitive guitar playing style. He expanded Travis picking to include the use of the middle and ring fingers to play chords and single notes while the thumb played bass. This was the guitar playing style that amazed the young Tommy Emmanuel and filled his head with ideas for a new, more complex kind of guitar picking.


Tommy Emmanuel stresses the prominence of the melody played with the fingers while making use of his thumb to back up the lead. He has often spoken of his love of the self contained quality of a guitar melody bass played by the one soloist.

Tommy Emmanuel has taken the Travis/Atkins way of finger picking to new heights with his energetic approach to the guitar and his talent for staying loose under the demands made by recording and presenting concerts. He uses a thumbpick as did his predecessors, playing a custom Maton EBG808, utilizing a pickup and a condenser microphone in the body. One aspect of Tommy Emmanuel's guitar playing that he did not inherit from Travis and Atkins was the heavy use of his guitar as a percussion instrument on stage.


Do you want to learn to play the guitar? Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free is a constantly updated blog which contains all the resources you need for: learning to play solo guitar, how to learn guitar chords, how to learn to read and play easy acoustic guitar tabs, finding a free online guitar tuner, looking for free guitar lessons online, and how to learn guitar scales.


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Guitar Strings Last Longer With Proper Care

Metal guitar strings are subjected to many conditions that shorten their life. The life of guitar strings can be extended with care and proper maintenance. This article will help you extend the life of your guitar strings.

Guitar strings can lose their tonal quality prematurely due to factors that include:


*Stretching

*Wear

*Corrosion


Stretching: Guitar strings naturally stretch during tuning and while playing the guitar. Over time strings slowly lose their elasticity and their tone quality. Guitar strings that are stretched no longer produce rich tone or harmonic overtones. As a result, the guitar becomes difficult to tune and the sound of the strings become dull and lifeless.

Wear: Guitar strings wear during the process of playing. This process comes from moving the metal strings against the metal frets on the fretboard. Of the two most common types of strings, wound and plain steel, wound strings are more susceptible to fret wear. Wound guitar strings tend to "flat-spot" more rapidly than plain steel strings. If left unchecked, the flat spots can create breaks in the windings of the strings. Flat spots and broken windings will decrease tonal quality and can also cause the strings to "buzz".

Corrosion: Metal guitar strings are subject to tarnish, rust and corrosion. Metal guitar strings are also subject to the body chemistry of the individual guitar player. Individuals with higher acid levels in their pH will get less life from their guitar strings due to an accelerated rate of string corrosion.

There are several things guitar players can do to get extended life from their guitar strings. Taking the time to follow these simple steps will ensure that you get the most from your strings and reduce the cost associated with premature string failure.


*Do not over-stretch your strings during the tuning process.

*Be careful not to crimp the strings at the tuner peg when replacing the guitar strings.

*Periodically, check the condition of the guitar bridge and bridge saddle to avoid breaking a string during the replacement process.

*Monitor the condition of your guitar frets and replace any frets that develop excessive wear or sharp edges.

*Always clean your guitar strings when you finish playing the guitar.


It is impossible to say how long a new set of guitar strings should last. The life of guitar strings depend on many factors and variables. It is possible to extend the life of guitar strings through proper care and maintenance. Be sure to take the time to care for your guitar strings and you will get the longest life from each set.

When the time comes to replace the strings, choose quality replacements and change the strings carefully.

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How to Play Rhythm Guitar This how-to guide offers lessons, licks, and tips drawn from the groove gurus in a wide range of classic and modern styles...

You Too Can Learn Rhythm Guitar

By: Keith Baxter

If two different guitar players were to download some free guitar sheet music, say some Eric Clapton guitar tabs or some Metallica guitar tabs, it is highly probable that the guitarists would play the very same song in a very different fashion. A lot of this has to do with the skill level of the particular guitar player, but even if all things were equal between the two individuals, they would still be unlikely to interpret the guitar tabs in the exact same fashion. So why is it that even with easy guitar tabs to easy guitar songs people play the songs differently? The answer is that people strum guitars differently. This has to do with rhythm, and it is arguably the most important aspect of becoming an excellent guitar player.



Rarely will you find a guitarist who does not practice playing solos and lead riffs. Nearly every guitarist, in fact, wants to be able to pull off the complicated lead parts that are sure to be impressive. Often times, however, the backbone of the song the rhythm is overlooked. This is a shame because rhythm guitar is such a critical element to any song. It has been said that a guitarist is either born with rhythm or he isn't, but this is simply untrue. There is much a guitarist can do to improve his rhythm, and while it might not be as exciting as practicing lead guitar, it certainly pays high dividends.



In playing rhythm, it is particularly important to ensure that your guitar is well tuned. If even one of the strings is slightly out of tune, the instrument's harmony will not sound true. As such, before practicing your rhythm guitar check to ensure your guitar is tuned; you can use an online guitar tuner if you do not have a portable tuner. Next, grab a guitar chord chart free guitar chords are available online and get ready to practice. Your focus here is not so much on learning the chords, but on transitioning between chords that sound good with one another and selecting strumming patterns that are interesting to listen to. Start with a simple chord progression, such as a G-C-D progression and see how many different strumming patterns you can come up with. Try to get away from the standard progression and be creative, perfecting each and every progression that you create.



As you go through your chord progression, here are a few pointers that will help: Play directly over the sound hole on an acoustic guitar, and experiment with different points of contact on an electric guitar for the best sound. Try to maintain even pressure on down- and up-strokes for a consistent and even sound. Do not be afraid to apply hard pressure when you strum, and move your strumming arm like a pendulum so as to keep the rhythm steady. Following these pointers will be sure to improve your rhythm quality.

Author Resource:-> Once you think you have perfected the above-mentioned tips, visit http://www.totallyguitars.com.

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Rhythm Guitar Chord System (93214) Commonly referred to as the rhythm guitarist''s bible, this innovative book is a system of guitar chord formation which maximizes power voicing while minimizing left-hand movement! Originally ...

Profiles in Classical Guitar: Fernando Sor

Fernando Sor was a classical guitarist and composer who was born in Spain and he lived from 1778 to 1839. He was a contemporary of Beethoven and is often referred to as the “Beethoven of the Guitar”. He wrote many different works for the guitar including his famous Sor Method for the Guitar and his 20 Studies for the Classical Guitar. Both of these works are still in use today.

His Life

Sor grew up in tumultuous time is Spain. It was during the time that Napoleon and the French were attempting to take over Spain and Sor spent time in military service. For a period of time the French successfully occupied Spain but eventually they were ousted. After the war was over and France had been successfully ejected from Spain Sor moved to Paris (around the age of 35) and he never returned to his homeland. He also spent time living in Russia and in London but he eventually returned to Paris where he would live out the remainder of his years. It was during this time in Paris that he achieved a significant amount of fame as a composer, a teacher, and a performer, and he spent many years touring the great cities of Europe.

As a Performer

In Spain during his younger years and early adulthood he achieved an amount of fame that began with a performance of his opera “Telemachus on the Calypso’s Isle” and this lead to a short lived sponsorship by the Duchess of Alba. While living in Europe he reached the height of his fame as both a composer and performer and he performed concerts all over Europe including Paris, Russia, and London.

As a Composer

As a composer of music he had a remarkable wide variety of pieces that ranged from instructional in nature to songs, duets, vocal music for voice and guitar, and even an opera. His style of music ranged from sheer classical to very Spanish in sound.

Some of his more famous work

Much of his work is no longer played and some of it is lost but he does have some pieces that have withstood the test of time and are still regularly performed to this day. Or course there is his method for guitar and his twenty studies; and while these are instructional works they are also comprised of many pieces and arrangements that stand alone on their own right as legitimate performance pieces. A couple of his more famous individual pieces include his Opus 35 number 22 in B minor which is often called “The Moonlight Etude” and his Opus 9 variations on a theme by Mozart (The Magic Flute). Both these pieces are remarkably beautiful and perennial favorites of modern guitarists.

Recordings and More

Many contemporary classical guitarists have incorporated Sor’s compositions into their repertoire and you can readily find works. There are many CD’s by current performers that are devoted solely to the work of Sor. There is also a book about him (Fernando Sor: Composer and Guitarist). It is written by Brian Jeffery and it is a comprehensive and detailed account of Sor’s life. The first edition was published in 1977 and a second edition published in 1994.
Fernando Sor was a remarkable multi-talented man who was a gifted performer, a teacher, and a composer who wrote across many forms and genres of music. His music still lives on today, and through his methods for guitar he is still teaching students over 150 years later.



About the author:
You can hear pieces composed by Sor, watch videos of performances and download sheet music composed by Sor on my website: The Classical Guitarist
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Classical Guitar Collection An outstanding selection of solos for classic guitar, which spans six centuries of music from the fourteenth century to Bartok, including works by Carcassi, Sor and Giulian.

Learn To Play Guitar - Tab, Bass, tablature, chords and strings

Guitar is a musical instrument strung with gut strings having a body with a flat back, graceful incubations etc. and for playing, it is twanged by the fingers. It is called in French as guilarre, German as Guitarre, Italian as cijitarra and in Spanish as guitarra.

Guitar is a musical instrument strung with gut strings having a body with a flat back, graceful incubations etc. and for playing, it is twanged by the fingers. It is called in French as guilarre, German as Guitarre, Italian as cijitarra and in Spanish as guitarra. The construction of the instrument is of paramount importance in assigning to the guitar its true position in the history of musical instruments, midway between the cithara and the violin.

Materials Used

The back and ribs of guitar are comprised of maple, ash or cherry-wood, frequently inlaid with rose-wood, mother of pearl, tortoise-shell etc. while the sound board is of pine and has one large ornamental rose sound hole. The bridge, to which the strings are fastened, is of ebony with an ivory nut which determines the one end of the vibrating strings, while the nut at the end of the fingerboard determines the other. The neck and fingerboard are made of hard wood, such as ebony, beech or pear. The head, bent back from the neck at an obtuse angle contains two parallel barrels or long holes through which the pegs or metal screws pass, three on each side of the head. The correct positions for stopping the intervals arc marked on the fingerboard by a little metal.

Strings

The real Sound ridges called frets. The modern guitar has six strings, three of gut and three of silk covered with silver wire, tuned as, the thumb are assigned the three deepest strings while the first, second and third fingers are used to twang the highest strings. They are divided into two groups - Bass and Treble. The bass strings are thicker and have an inner nylon core with steel wrapped around them. The trebles are clear nylon and thinner. The thumb finger will more often twang treble strings than the Bass strings.

Types of guitars

1.Acoustic guitars

As long ago known from the history these are used by playing with hand. Though it is impressing many limitations are there such as listened to a short distance, often note cannot be recalled unless the player knows the tab well. A great-sounding acoustic guitar will be necessary but not sufficient condition to produce a great amplified tone.

2.Electric guitars

Electric players have known for fifty years that they needed to learn about more than just their guitars, and have made a science of studying their pickups, amplifiers, cord lengths, impedance problems, effects devices, amplifying, miking techniques, and even speaker and tube types.

Famous Guitars

Many famous companies make and sell guitars of both types. Remarkable of them are Gibsons and Fenders Guitars. There are many guitar centers which teach playing guitar. Online guitar lessons are also given in some websites. They teach guitar tabs (ie) tablature set of notations for listening and playing), bass tablature, guitar chords, ultimate guitar tabs etc. Some give even free lessons online.

Learning Guitar - Notations & String assignment

The notations are defined to the right hand fingers. While writing down the fingers are indicated by letters, i for Index, m for Middle and a for Ring finger. When written down the thumb is indicated by the letter p. This code is to do with the Latin names for each note. { P = Thumb I = Index M = Middle A = Ring Finger } This can be easily remembered as PIMA.

The names of each string read from Bass to Treble as:
6-E -bass
5-A -bass
4-D -bass
3-G - treble
2-B - treble
1-E - treble

Open string preparation and striking

When striking or plucking a string the movement in thumb should come from above and through the string making sure that you have a good solid contact with the string and a clear follow through. Your finger again should come from above but they will pull backwards into the palm of your hand. A good contact is needed and again a clear follow through that does not collide with the other close fingers.

Stable right hand technique

Now try to rest the thumb on the D string when the fingers are playing and also rest each individual finger on its assigned treble string. This gives a solid stable right hand position that isn't floating in the air above the strings attempting to hit a moving target. Your fingers and thumb should rest on the string waiting to strike. Make the transition smooth, so when replacing the thumb back on the D string pluck with the index and begin the trebles.

Practice

Often players have a slight lift and shake in their right hand that often limits the volume and security of your stroke, if you repeat this exercise slowly and listening for a good sound you will relax the hand and get a very clear sound. This is a technique of preparation and economy of movement that will take some time to filter its way into your existing songs and chordal progressions. It also will build a new technique and way in which you approach the guitar.

1.Take your time, don't go for speed first, go for accuracy.

2.Go for a nice deep stroke and listen for a rounded tone.

3.Feel secure and balanced.

4.Remember you want a technique that is as simple and as stable as possible.

6TH String = P = E
5TH String = P = A
4TH String = P = D
3RD String = I = G
2ND String = M = B
1ST String = A = E

Try and go up and down the guitar nice and slowly try and keep your hand relaxed, this exercise will remind you of the feel of the strings and how to approach the guitar.

Using standard chords

With your left hand bring in the chords of Eminor, Cmajor, Gmajor and Dmajor. Hold the chord for at least two repetitions of the right hand pattern going up and down the guitar. These chords require 6 strings, 5 strings and 4 strings to be plucked if we want the root note of each chord in the bass. This gives your thumb a different starting point for each chord. Remember to pivot through the changes in the left hand, try and link each chord to the next one. No fret buzz or sloppy timing between the hands. Complete synchronicity and always enough pressure to sound the note without buzzing,careful that you don't put down to much pressure.

Repetition and speed of fingers

When playing music that is formed in single lines, e.g. a guitar solo, the melody of a tune a run or scale make sure that your fingers alternate when plucking or striking the notes. The simplest way to approach this is to alternate between Index & middle fingers. These fingers are set beside each other and are also strong fingers so they should quickly get used to this type of alternation. The alternation gives a sense of rhythm and groove and will enable you to play twice as fast than if you used just your index.

Careful to always alternate index to middle. When playing the repetition of 4 or 2 this is easier than 3 or 1, the odd numbers create almost a little skip as you cross the string, relax your hand and concentrate on shifting the weight from finger to finger. Careful that you don't bring your left hand to far from the fret board, keep it close in so each finger it can be quickly depressed onto the strings. Tip of the fingers in the left hand at all times.

Things to remember while playing Guitar Sit with a forward sloping posture by tucking your feet underneath a horizontal chair, heels off the floor. The easiest way to have a forward sloping chair is to place a piece of wood under the back legs of your chair. Avoid backward sloping chairs.

If you don’t like sitting with your legs tucked underneath, then just initially tuck your legs underneath until your upper torso swings forward like a pendulum. You spine will reach a more natural curve. Then bring your legs back to the untucked position by only moving your feet foreword; do not let your upper torso move back to a slumped position, although it may swing back a very small amount.

Sit with the entire body in a symmetrical position while still making minor movements and adjustments. Sitting well yet too rigidly makes for poor pressure distribution. Also, try wearing loose clothing as to allow for easier movement. Place your music stand at horizontal lane of your eyes at a convenient distance for your eyes.

Have a nice day, Be happy.

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