Social Media Guide for Guitarists

There is a surprising dearth of material online on how guitarist and musicians can develop a social media strategy for themselves. By doing this, not only would they be able to stay informed and keep themselves in the loop, but also be able to showcase their skills and abilities in a better manner, and of course, promote their business (for free) if they want to.

Using tools such as Facebook and Twitter is easy, simple and quick to set-up and use, and can be a great source of (highly-personalized) news from around the industry. As a guitarist, I genuinely feel that by ‘liking’ all the right pages and subscribing to the right people, Facebook has allowed me to stay updated and on top of all industry news and trends, and keep abreast of all the happenings and updates, and I’m sure it can do the same for you. From learning about the upcoming gigs near you, to knowing about when and where your favorite band goes on tour.

In addition to the updates, the first-hand news and the ability to remain on top of the happenings in the industry, musicians from all over the world are using social mediums to contribute their bit to the industry, while at the same time promoting themselves as international artists. And that really is the beauty of social media, it lets you shine and show yourself and your guitar-playing skills on an international level. Igor Preskyanov (Iggypres on Youtube) is the perfect example of this, and there are tons of other artists harnessing the power of social media as well.

Why Guitarists and Musicians Should Use Facebook and Twitter

Here is my personal list of reasons why musicians and especially guitarists should be more social:

1. Get the latest news and updates.

2. Get updated with any and all happenings in the world quickly.

3. Get a chance to enter competitions and giveaways.

4. Be entitled to Facebook/Twitter-only discounts and rebates from your favorite vendors.

5. Promote and showcase their music, skills and talent.

6. Be part of the community and the discussions, have themselves heard.

7. Gain invaluable business exposure.

8. Be introduced to bands and have a chance to perform with them.

9. Get a chance to be part of the music scene, and the industry in general.

Facebook for Guitarists

Personally, the new Facebook changes, and the shift to ‘Timeline’ hasn’t been that well received, especially from a musician’s perspective. And I tend to agree, the timeline update would’ve been good had Facebook let the ‘welcome pages’ of before to live. Instead, now there are no more of those fancy welcome pages that musicians (including yours truly) used to redirect traffic to our websites, collect email IDs and other CTA marketing stuff. It has become harder to get more likes and be easily able to redirect traffic to your blog, but nonetheless, Facebook remains a great tool for any musician’s social marketing strategy:

1. Add a Facebook ‘like’ box to your website/blog, so that visitors can become Facebook fans right from your website.

2. Conversely, make sure your Facebook page is completely filled out with any and all information about your website and that you’ve filled out all information properly.

3. Use the cover photo. It is a great feature of the Facebook UI refresh, and gives you an opportunity to be really creative. Add a compelling photo of one of your gigs, or your band mates doing crazy stuff.

4. Add your FB page URL (short URL) to all your posters, CDs and all other material.

5. Get some Facebook ads – they’re pretty cheap and because of the timeline, more and more musicians (and other organizations) are using Facebook ads. They’re effective and having a few ads could have your page get a lot of traffic.

6. Content is important, post all your Youtube videos, kickass jam sessions, songs, behind-the-scenes pictures and footage, tour information and all other material in your FB page.

7. Use large images in your Facebook posts, as images can be used as advertising and diverting traffic to your blog.

8. Follow other brands (Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, Jackson have great pages), other musicians and guitarists, artists and other people from the industry. Facebook is an invaluable source of information!

9. Facebook now lets you add milestones to your timelines, for any big event, like a record release, a big tour or a gig, signing with a label or an awesome review from the Rolling Stones Magazine. You can add these milestones as key moments anywhere on your timeline, and include an image with it as well.

Additional read: This article from Inside Facebook is an excellent read on how musicians are using Facebook to market themselves. Its old, and hence from the pre-timelines era, but should be good for ideas.

Twitter for Guitarists

Twitter does come with its caveats and pitfalls though. Around 90% of the highly-annoying people in Twitter have the urge to tell people about every single one of their moves – from what they might be eating, what they might be feeling, how many times they chew their lunch and how many steps it takes for them to get from the living room to the kitchen. It’s annoying and uninteresting, and usually ends up with people being put off, giving Twitter somewhat of a bad reputation. But it is still an immensely powerful tool when used the right way.

Like Facebook, Twitter too is a great tool for musicians, in terms of marketing and information. Here’s how:

1. Twitter’s dynamics and the way it is set up means that you get the latest news on Twitter easily, in real-time and as it happens. Each tweet is limited to a 160 characters and hence is precise and to the point. Because tweets are short, you can ingest a lot of information in a relatively short time.

2. Twitter connects you to your favorite artists, musicians, and friends directly. You can interact with them, tweet with them and they can even respond to your tweets.

3. It gives you access to first-hand information. Often times, you’ll hear something in the media only to find it to be totally false and made-up and immediately falsified by the artist himself.

4. You get access to exclusive information, behind-the-scenes pictures and even videos. You also get to learn about limited edition guitars and the ability to know about these products as soon as they’re announced gives you a much higher chance of being able to get these instruments.

5. You can win stuff on Twitter, just like Facebook, and participate in giveaways, promotions, discounts and rebates.

6. By having an active following of ‘Tweeps’ (aka. Twitter users) yourself, Twitter, in combination with Facebook, can be a great tool to market yourself and/or your business. You can use it to showcase your guitar-playing prowess, promote your music, and build an online following. 

Planning And Promoting Your First Big Gig

So you’re ready to step it up a level, and go from being a solo artist to playing with a band. Or maybe that’s how you intend to start off. Regardless, playing in a band is a lot of hard work, tons of fun and will give you a great confidence boost while allowing you to enhance your skills.

One important aspect of playing in a band is live performance, or performing live. Doing live gigs, performing in front of an audience, going on tours all over the world and performing with your band will be some of the best time of your life, and your first gig will truly be a defining moment in your career as a guitarist. Take it from someone who’s been there, done that!

However before you move from your garage jam sessions and step into your first full-blown live gig, you need to plan and take a few things into consideration.

1. Equipment

Before you hit the live stage, you need to ensure that you have the equipment to do so. Your old cheapo guitar, that run-down, weak amplifier and those old cables and accessories just won’t cut it now. Now would be a good time to invest in some good equipment. Get a better guitar for yourself, better amps with superior effects processors, better effects pedal and upgrade your accessories. Spend some money; you’ll probably break even after a couple of gigs, with the money you make off them.

2. Location

The next step would be deciding where you would want to play. My suggestion: start off with a couple of gigs in your own hometown, where you would have friends, family, peers and colleagues turn up and support you. Also make sure that the venue is big enough to fit a reasonable amount of people and have its own sound, light and PA facilities. When you move out of your garage, playing somewhere far off, where no one knows who you are and people are unfamiliar with your music probably wouldn’t have a lot of people turn up, rendering it a waste of time and money.

3.  When to Play

Determining when you play is vital, try and book your gig on the weekend, preferably Friday or Saturday. This would ensure a large turnout, as people won’t have work the next day. Playing on the weekdays, when people have work the next day would probably mean a low turn-up. It is also a good idea to avoid public holidays as most people are away on vacations.

4. Collaboration

Finding other bands to play with could be an excellent idea. Local bands, who might already be established and hence have a big following would give you a lot of exposure. Big artists and bands touring your city might be looking for opening acts, these bands usually see a huge number of people turn up, book the best and the biggest facilities and if you open for them, you stand to gain a lot of new followers and fans. Remember, all ‘big’ artists today started this way and probably opened for other artists in the past before making it to the big time. Get in touch with these artists/bands through their social media profiles. Offer to help out with the promotion; you could hire a promoter for this purpose.

5. Transport and Equipment

Determine a way that you will transport equipment to and back from the gig. It is all, in all probability expensive stuff, worth thousands in total, and it is solely your responsibility to ensure its safety. If you’re performing with other bands, would you have the time to switch equipment between the gig, or would it be a good idea to share some of the equipment? Make sure that you develop terms and conditions for this purpose, decide who shares what beforehand, and that everyone agrees to the set terms.

6. Contracts

If someone asks you to sign a contract, turn it down. For instance if a venue owner sets a prerequisite that the only way you’ll play is if you ensure there are a 100 people present, or that you sell a certain number of tickets in advance, walk away. Same goes for going into agreements or contract with other bands or promoters, it is important not to be bullied into signing legal agreements such as ticket-selling deals.

7. Promotion

If you’re opening for another band, they would’ve probably taken care of the promotions. Still you can do your part by advertising (offline and online) – such as through posters that are displayed in music stores and venues in town, billboards across the town, and other venues. And of course, over Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and your Youtube channel. If you’re playing with another band, or even if it’s just your own band this is performing, use these mediums to advertise and get the word out. Use your website. Tell your friends, ask other people to spread the word, and do this well in advance. Make a video where your band performs their best track, and at the end, ask people to come see you perform live. Be creative. If you have a large turnout, the venue might even ask you back.

8. Sponsorships

While a long shot, there might just be sponsors out there who’d be willing to pay you a couple of hundred bucks to have you put their name on the promotional material and plug their business in between the songs. Ask around, check with local business, especially those in your vicinity or town, and to whom you might’ve given a lot of business over the years. Small businesses are always looking for such promotions, as it helps them get the word out. For you, a sponsor (and whatever little he pays) would help to cover at least a fraction of the costs, such as venue or equipment costs.

9. And finally…

Make sure that you’re in touch with all relevant people – the venue, the bands, your own band mates, the promoters and the sponsors – days before the gig. Keep everyone in the loop in case something happens, for instance if someone pulls out. As for the performance, give it your best shot, I’m sure you’ll do great, and do share your experience with me in the comments section!

Practicing Guitar – the Right Way!

Finding the right guitar practice exercises can be an overwhelming process. Searching, look stuff up and filtering through the countless number of exercises takes time. And this is even truer now with the advent of online courses, as one now has access to plethora of options, in the form of books, videos, courses, lessons, and other resources.

Wouldn’t it be just a whole lot easier if you know exactly what to practice on, what to choose and how to do it? Personally, I think knowing this would make you progress the best, especially when it comes to learning the guitar.

I’ve been playing the guitar for a pretty long time now, teaching the guitar for a good part of the decade as well. And from what I’ve seen, most guitarists – new and old – feel that there is a lot of information, exercises and guitar-resources online and offline and most of these musicians fail to make sense out of these resources and material – both online and off.

If you can relate to this, and if you feel you’re unsure where you should be focusing your practice time on, firstly I’d like to tell you that this is a problem faced by a lot of other musicians as well, and secondly, I might have a solution for you. The following write-up will show how you can start making real progress with your guitar-playing or learning exploits once again, and what exactly should you be doing during your guitar-playing time which would help you become a better musician.

One of the biggest errors that guitar players make is have too many options, having too many guitar exercises at their disposal. As a consequence, these people tend to spend a great deal of time and energy jumping around from one exercise or another without making any real progress. Instead of focusing on something that would yield the most results and the highest return out of their guitar-playing, their vertical growth and learning is minimal.

The fact is that it is generally a good idea to stick with a single (or a small number of) targeted guitar exercises that you can learn from. This would allow you to make some real vertical progress, and really see yourself grow as a guitarist as well as an artist.

Mistake number two, from what I’ve seen, is musicians not defining what their goals are, as well as what steps they would take to achieve those goals. Instead, most guitarists tend to simply look for stuff they would want to practice on the guitar. This is a big mistake, because looking for what to practice on the guitar is totally pointless, and to go through random and monotonous repetitions of guitar exercises will have very little effect on your progress.

Instead, you need to focus on the following: what problems are you trying to solve, when you practice a specific guitar exercise, and how this particular exercise will help you achieve your ultimate goal, or the skills you are trying to develop.

It is imperative to understand and remember that these guitar exercise are nothing more than just simply tools that are used to accomplish goals and overcome specific problems during your guitar playing journey. It is extremely important to be specific. Instead of saying “I need to improve my guitar playing”, identify a specific problem, such as “I need to work on so and so aspect of my acoustic-guitar playing skills” (e.g. “I need to start learning how to put different chords together in order to play a solo”).

Pinpoint the problems and work on getting better at those aspects of your guitar-playing skills, because the more specific you become and the more explicitly you define the problem, the easier it will be for you identify the best, most effective guitar exercise to solve that problem.

So in essence, whenever you struggle to achieve any meaningful or tangible results from the exercises that you do or practice on, or when  you feel overwhelmed  from not knowing which exercises you would want to include in your routine, take a step back and ask yourself what specific guitar-playing problem are you trying to solve, how is this exercise going to help me solving this problem and how does this particular exercise fit into the big-picture as far as my long term objectives as a musician are concerned? Here are a few tips that will aid you through this process:

1. Be clear about what your objectives are, and what you want to achieve with your guitar-playing exploits.

2. Split your long-term guitar playing goals into a list of skills that you would need to develop to reach those goals.

3. Narrow-down your guitar-playing and practicing exercises to a select-few, based on the list you developed in point no. 2 above. After you’re done with step 2, delect the guitar exercises that will help you develop those skills, and focus on vertical growth.

4. Be organized and cut down on time wastage (such as during procrastination). Organize your time in order to determine the most effective exercises that will develop your skills and solve the problems you identified before.

5. Accept that you alone are responsible for your guitar-playing progress. Your mind should be focused on the fact that you want to overcome a problem and this will ultimately determine how much progress and what kind of progress you make. Instead of just playing the guitar on auto-pilot, try to focus on the solution of your problems and development of your skills, and as you progress with time, you will not be practicing as much as you thought you would need to.

If you follow this 5-step process, and approach guitar playing this way, you will notice that your guitar learning becomes more enjoyable and a whole lot easier! In addition, I would recommend learning the guitar with an experienced teacher – someone who’s been teaching for a long time and someone who has a proven track record of nurturing the developing great guitar players. 

Tips on How to Get the Best Deals Online

Planning on purchasing your next axe online? If you are, this guide might help you with the process, aid you in getting a good deal and save you a lot of money in the process as well!

Buying a guitar online is just a great option, and in so many ways: it’s convenient, easy, and you can find some very cool vintage guitars and other kickass axes on eBay, Amazon and other place online.

Use the following list of methods to learn about the process of buying a guitar online, and score some great deals whenever you buy on eBay for instance. Do chip in with your feedback in the comments at the end of the article!

1. Look at local auctions and sellers: With guitars, shipping and handling remains a big risk, which is why many sellers will list the guitar as a local pickup only. If the seller is from a small town, a place which is not too well known or a bit far off from a large city center (where there could be a higher competition for the guitar), you have a much higher chance of scoring a great deal because there will be significantly less competition for the guitar he’s selling. For instance I was once able to land a signature Epiphone Les Paul for less than $400 from a seller who was in a small town around 20 kilometers away, used it for a good 5 years and then sold it off for $500 because it was listed for sale in where I lived – the biggest city in the state.

2. Wait till the very end to bid: As a rule of thumb, when you purchase something online, never get into a bidding war, because bidding wars are good for the seller, but bad for you. Instead, bid at the last second, instead of bidding early, as the latter could see you start a bidding war.  If you wait for the very last second (place your bid in the final few minutes before the bid closes down), the person you out-bid will probably not have enough time to place a counter-offer. This process is called ‘sniping’ and could potentially get you a tremendous deal. Of course a lot depends on your luck as well. You could even use some of the widely-available sniping software available out there for the purpose.

3. Items listed in the incorrect category: A lot of times, you’ll end up seeing items which have been listed in incorrect categories. Electronics in sporting goods, cellphones in the antiques category, gaming consoles in the clothing sections and so on and so forth. Similarly, you will often come across guitars listed in incorrect categories, instead of the correct category which is musical instruments. Incorrectly listed items are a sure-shot way of landing a great deal, and even a downright bargain. Just a couple of months back, using this technique, I bought a Telecaster, complete with an Fender amp for half of what it should’ve gone for, one of the best bargains I’ve ever come across.

4. Completed items filter: A rather sneaky method of potentially landing a great deal, but totally legit. On eBay for instance, if you search for something, such as a guitar, scroll down a bit and keep your eye on the left-hand bar and look for a filter that says ‘completed listings’ (under ‘Show only). This lets you filter the search results by completed listings – auctions that have ended. Under this, any items which has its price highlighted in red indicates that it did not sell before the bid expired, and it could be for a multitude of reasons. Send the seller an email, give him/her an offer and maybe you’ll get lucky this way.

5. Buy outside eBay: eBay and other online merchants charge a FVF – which essentially means that they take a cut of whatever price an item sells for and charge the seller. It’s a really small percentage, usually not a lot, but on an expensive guitar, even 0.2% could mean a large sum of money. Provided that both the buyer and the seller have good feedback/rep, you could try closing the deal outside eBay, and offer them less than what they were selling the item for on eBay. You get your guitar on a cheaper price, and the seller’s still able to sell his guitar as the same price as he would’ve if he would’ve paid the FVF. Ditto for Paypal, which also charges the seller and takes a percentage of the deal. Ditch both services and you could save some money, however be careful about it.

6. Using other filters: Using filters such as sorting/filtering results by the ‘Buy It Now ‘and ‘newly listed’ to show only the latest Buy It Now results. Sellers often sell their guitars for great Buy It Now prices, in order to get a quick sale, so do keep an eye out for such deals. Alternatively, you could ask sellers if they would want to end the auction earlier by selling for a specific price or not.

So there we have it, 6 great methods of scoring a sweet deal when buying a guitar online. What methods and techniques do you use, when buying a guitar on eBay or any online merchant? If you’ve got any tips, or feedback on the article, do leave us your comment in the comments section!

Starting Your Own Kickass Guitar Youtube Channel

Intro to Guitars and Youtube

In this post, I’ll be showing you how you can start your very own kickass Youtube channel on guitars – a channel that is successful, gets a lot of views and visitors and helps enhance your exposure as you make your way through the guitar playing world.

If I’m being honest, Youtube is a godsend! Never in the history of mankind has it been so easy and simple to share a video with literally millions upon millions of people out there! It is a great way to showcase your talent, get some exposure, and get your work out there for a large number of people to see and hear. All it takes is a cheap webcam or a camera to record yourself, and of course an active internet connection.

Why Youtube?

For one simple reason: Youtube gets 4 billion unique video views per day!

I’ve been in the guitar-business for a good part of my life now, and I’ve also been teaching it since quite a while. One recommendation that I always give my students as well as all guitar players is that they should never shy away from exposure, and the best (free) way to do that is through Youtube. A couple of my students were able to score massive gigs and the opportunity to play with a band in front of a large audience because of being found on Youtube, and another one of my guitar-playing pals now has a very large and a very successful Youtube channels, with thousands of subscribers and channel views, and he’s even taking private lessons on his Youtube channel now.

So we see that the advantages on being on Youtube are multifold.

Opening a Youtube Channel

Opening your own Youtube channel is as simple as singing up for a Gmail ID. You log onto Youtube, sign up for a free account and that’s it, you’re good to go! Your new account also functions as your ‘channel’. You can start uploading videos easily and quickly and share them on your Facebook, Twitter and other social media profile initially, in order to get some exposure and views, basically to get the ball rolling.

A word of advice: make sure you choose a simple username when signing up for your Youtube account, as your username will also be your channel name. So choose carefully and wisely, and keep it simple and short. Usually, your first name coupled with the word ‘guitars’ is a good idea. For instance, ‘LopezGuitars’.

Once you’re done, you can either choose to upload videos from your existing archive, or start shootin’ and upoadin’! The video manager and video editor will aid you in this process.

Youtube lets you tweak and customize your channel in a lot of different ways – you can put up a display picture, put up a custom background on your channel, add subscribe buttons to your videos, add descriptions (text + links) to any and all of the uploaded videos, enable or disable the like/dislike system as well as the comments system,

Lastly, Youtube makes in-depth and detailed analytics and statistics available at your disposal; the analytics dubbed ‘channel stats’ come as part of the package with your channel and are totally free. You can track a lot of metrics and trends such as views, demographics, playback location, traffic sources, audience retention and engagement reports (likes, dislikes, favorites, comments, shares, etc). Brilliant stuff!

Taking Your Youtube Channel to the Next Level

So now that you have your channel and have even uploaded a whole series of videos, which showcase your kickass guitar-playing skills, what’s next?

Youtube’s ease of use and the fact that it is a free service means that anyone – from your average Joe to Kirk Hammett – can open a Youtube channel and start uploading videos. This means that the competition is steep and your channel, and more importantly – your videos need to stand out in terms of quality and creativity in order for you to be able to make the most out of it.

What you need to be aiming for here is getting the word out and across, about your channel, to as many people as possible, and aim for an increase in subscribers and views.

Most Youtubers struggle with channel and video views, especially initially. And it’s not because they’re bad at playing the guitar or anything, it’s mostly because they either do not know how to make interesting videos, or are unable to get the word out about their channel. Remember that simply having a channel does not in any way guarantee that you will instantly become a Youtube and/or an internet sensation!

How to Supercharge Your Youtube Channel

In order to build a large base of loyal subscribers and have videos with views which hit the million mark regularly (think Igor Presnyakov or ‘Iggypres’ on Youtube), you need to stand out. You could even be an okay guitarist and still get tons of views, as long as your videos are interesting.

Here are a few tips on how you can get the basics right, as well as be more interesting:

1. Video Image Quality: Don’t expect any miracles with subscriptions or views if you’re putting up poorly-shot, grainy and/or low-res videos (such as those shot from a cellphone). If you’re serious about your guitar-playing, serious to make a name for yourself online and want to be taken seriously, invest in a decent webcam (not necessarily an expensive one) which is capable of shooting in HD. Couple your HD videos with a good video editing suite such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, or Sony Vegas but you’ll need to shell out some money for these. A free alternative is the Windows Movie Maker, and of course my personal favorite – the iMovie that comes with Mac OS. Also keep camera angles in consideration, front-on camera angle is the tried-and-tested method of recording, but it wouldn’t hurt to be creative!

2. Audio Quality: Remember it’s a Youtube channel on guitars. It is essential that people are able to listen to you properly when you play the guitar. Your webcam mic will in all probability produce sound that is either muffled, too quiet or loud, or simply low-quality sound. My recommendation: use an externally-connect mic (the one that clips to your shirt), or record the sound separately and sync it with your video later.

3. Other Video Aspects: Other aspects that you need to consider when shooting is getting the lighting right, as a rookie mistake made by most Youtube is that their videos are too dark, shot in a dimly-lit environment. Shoot in well-lit conditions, preferably in the day time, or invest in a cheap lighting kit. In addition, background is important as well – both in terms of lighting and being eye-catching and interesting to the viewer (think RayWilliamJohnson’s videos). As a guitarist, put up posters of your favorite musicians on those walls on the back. Or if you’ve got the cash to spare, invest in a green-screen and a decent studio space.

4. Appearances: Make sure people can see you – and that includes your face! You need to give yourself an identity and something that people remember you by. Your face is your identity here, otherwise you’ll just be another headless-youtuber out there. It is a good idea to see how other Youtube users have been creative, and used methods which help others identify them.

5. Making Yourself Easier to Find: Youtube has multiple ways of promoting your work and making it easier for you to be found. Add the link to your website and Facebook profile in the description of the video. Use descriptive tags which allow people to find your videos through Youtube and Google search. The best thing about Youtube videos is that you can add annotations and caption within the video, with links to just about anything, including your other videos. Lastly, use the video response feature on Youtube to add your videos to other similar videos – every time someone watches a video, they will also be able to see (the link to) your video on the same page.

6. Connect, Participate and Interact: Connect and build relationships with other Youtube users and channel owners in your niche. Youtube is a great way of connecting with other guitarists and musicians, and it has helped me not only find, but play and perform with people I never knew existed! You could start your own Youtube band with other musicians, or discover other guitarists near you to jam with. Furthermore, comment on other people’s videos and channels, and reply to the comments on your own videos and channel.

Suggestions?

How have you used Youtube to build your own following and make a name for yourself online? Do leave us a comment!

Guitar Injuries and How to Avoid Them

Don’t be alarmed, playing the guitar is not hazardous to your health in any way - if of course you do it right!

However playing the guitar for long periods of time, striving to be the best can have an adverse effect on your body. There are quite a few medical conditions associated with guitar-play and it is important to know about these medical conditions and how yo u can alter your guitar-playing routine and technique on order to avoid these guitar-related injuries. And the only way to do that is by educating yourself.

Striving to be the best, working your way up in the industry and being the guitar god that you always wanted to be can take its toll on you, mentally as well as physically. A couple of years back, a friend who has been a musician all his life was diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome – a disorder caused by the compression of the nerve between the wrist and the hand. It was painful, and he’s been out of service since, and exceptionally talented that he is, it has put an abrupt end to his guitar-playing and even worse, it could mean him calling it a day on his career as a musician.

Turns out, he was doing everything wrong, and as experienced as he was, he had no idea about it. Turns out, he did not warm up properly before playing, didn’t have the correct posture during playing and remained stiff. And above all, played with sore wrists and played through the pain during a lot of his gigs with his bandmates. All of this has even affected his day-job, and he is now in the danger of being laid off.

The worst part is that once you go down, you’re never the same person or the same musician again, even if you successfully make a full recovery.

Playing the guitar is great, its supposed to be fun and a way you can enjoy yourself. For a lot of us, it is a way that we earn our bread. And from the looks of it, guitar-playing looks seemingly safe. People however are unaware of the health risks it poses in the long run, and it is important to be able to look after yourself and your body because as a guitarist, you are putting yourself and certain parts of your body at a lot of risk and in danger of wear and tear.

As you’ll soon find out, proper warming up is vital the well-being of your body.

Here are some of the more common guitar injuries, along with the steps you can take to avoid ever getting these injuries:

1. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)

CTS is a painful wrist disorder, which is caused by the compression of a nerve location between the wrist and the hand. It is easily avoidable by simply warming up properly before jamming, as it will help reduce the strain on your hands and wrists. During playing, keep your wrists at a natural, comfortable position. A lot of musicians use some sort of wrist-support during guitar-play to their wrists straight. Also, relax while playing instead of being tensed up. Lastly, my personal recommendation would be to use a lighter string gauge and a guitar with a low action – more comfy to play on.

If you do feel that there is pain in your wrists, consult a chiropractor immediately.

2. Tendonitis

Another painful disorder, Tendonitis is a result of the tendons becoming inflamed in the wrist, the forearm or the elbow. Usually a result of day-to-day playing with guitarists. Warming up before a long jam session, and your lifestyle in general could be detrimental here. Exercise daily, and maintain a healthy diet so that your body as able to cope better with long, stressful sessions. Consult your doctor on how to treat tendonitis.

3. Arthritis

Arthritis refers to the wear and tear of joints. It could the hand, wrist, elbow, shoulder or even the spine, as far as a guitarist is concerned. It’s pretty nasty, and in worst case scenarios, joints get worn down because of overuse and being grinding against each other. For prevention, make Fatty Acids (such as Fish Oils) a part of your food intake in order to avoid inflammation of joints. Massage on a regular basis also helps. So does regular exercising, keeping your weight under control and if  there is swelling and/or inflammation of joints, anti-inflammatory meds or painkillers will help.

4. Tinnitus

Ever experienced that constant buzzing or ringing sound in your ears after listening to loud music for prolonged periods of time? If your answer to this question is a yes, you might have the tinnitus. Solutions? Avoid prolonged exposure to very loud music in the first place, and try giving your ears some resting time during loud jamming sessions or performances. This will allow your inner-ear to heal and the ringing will probably go away and if you don’t do it, it will likely become permanent and cause lasting damage to your ear.

A common solution to combatting tinnitus that I employ, is ear plugs – it doesn’t affect the quality of the music, but does lower its loudness and intensity considerably. Don’t perform or stand too close to the amp or the speakers, and tone that amp down a bit. Remember that once you damage your ears, there really isn’t a cure for it, and you put yourself at risk of losing your hearing on a permanent basis. Musicians sporting hearing aids are uncool!

5. Back Pain

Pretty self-explanatory. Poor posture during playing, not wearing your guitar at a comfortable position, or using a too heavy a guitar for a prolonged period of time leads to back pain, and trust me when I say this, back pains are the worst! Prevention: Having a relaxed posture, using a light guitar and wearing it at a comfortable height. In addition, exercise regularly and keep yourself fit physically, and go easy on that headbanging! If you do experience back pain, consult your doctor/chiropractor immediately because once the damage is done, it will stay with you for the rest of your life, and hamper your day-to-day life as well.

Prevention is always better than cure!

The Complete A to Z of Learning the Guitar

Picture this: You’ve been listening to Malmsteen, Angus Young, Jimi Hendrix or Mark Tremonti (who I rate very, very highly btw) for some time now. Inspired by your rock idols, you’ve bought yourself a shiny brand-spanking-new, kickass guitar, you’ve bought an amp with a great effects processor, and you have all add-ons and accessories that are required to play the guitar. You’re all ‘amped’ up (pun intended!) and ready and raring to go!

The only problem now is figuring out how to play the whole thing!

Luckily, there are literally countless numbers of ways you can learn how to play the guitar – from personal tutors, to classes, to online courses – you’ve got the whole deal. And the road that plan to take will depend on factors such as determination, budgets, the time that you can spare, your geographic location, and many other factors. Your chosen path might even also have a bearing on what sort of a guitar player you end up becoming.

For instance you might be(self-proclaimed) the most ambitious guitar player out there, someone with deep pockets who’s willing to shell 200 bucks an hour on private lessons from one of the biggest names in the industry, however all of it won’t matter one bit if you cannot spare 30 minutes-a-week on practicing . Your efforts would yield nothing but frustration, and not to mention the money you’d be wasting this way.

Here is a guide on what are some of the most common factors that you should consider before starting to learn the guitar. Applicable for all guitarists, all genre players, and all instruments (bass, acoustic, electric), it lists some of the ways you can learn the guitar and be good at it.

1. Personal Tutor

Time Considerations: Shortest time required

Budget Considerations: Could be expensive, but depends on the teacher/tutor chosen.

Location Considerations: No location restrictions.

Going for a personal tutor is the best way of quickly reaching the top-most echelons of guitar play, and that too in the shortest period of time. It all really depends on the kind of teacher that you choose, and while it is a debate for another day, as a rule of thumb, choose a teacher who boasts an impressive portfolio of graduates and has a proven track record of being one of the best in the business. Prepare to shell out the big bucks for a good teacher though!

A good tutor will try his best to develop your guitar-playing skills, and get you to the highest levels. Look in your local ads, on online forums, the newspaper, and the yellow pages. Check with the colleges in your vicinity as well. However location shouldn’t be your priority since many good teachers now offer lessons online, thanks to Skype. Be prepared to pay the big bucks for some of the more renowned names though – Tom Hess and Dave Weiner for instance.

Verdict: Choose to go for a personal tutor if you can spare the time and money and want to advance quickly.

2. DVD/Video Lessons

Time Considerations: Allows you to work at your own pace, if you lead a busy life for instance.

Budget Considerations: Cheap, not very expensive, and some Youtube videos are of course free.

Location Considerations: No location restrictions.

If you don’t have the cash to spare on a private tutor, or maybe (more importantly) you want to practice at your own pace, perhaps going for video or DVD-based lessons would be a good call. A good, high-quality Youtube course or a DVD-based course would still give you a good structured lesson plan that takes you from the basics to an intermediate or an advanced level, however just not as personalized as a tutor-based course.

But let’s not forget its biggest advantage: it allows you to work and practice as you like and whenever you like. And these lessons are cheap, as a good set of DVD lessons would cost even less than a single private lesson!

Websites such as GuitarTricks.com offer excellent DVD and Youtube videos-based lessons. Their unlimited membership costs around $15 which puts as many as a massive 5000 videos at your disposal. That is one-tenth the price of a single lesson by a good teacher! However you will need a fairly fast internet connection.

Verdict: Learning at your own pace, and for 1/10^th the cost!

3. Guitar Books

Time Consideration: Can work at your own pace

Budget Considerations: Suitable for a limited or a non-existent budget

Location Considerations: You need to be close to a store that carries these, or get a subscription.

I’ll say this right in the beginning: I don’t recommend books or magazines at all, and when compared with DVDs and videos, books won’t let you actually see what you should be doing. In addition, the amount you spend on a year’s subscription to a good magazine will be close to what you could spend on a good online lesson. However most magazines subscriptions come with additional goodies such as CDs and DVDs, access to premium online lessons and at times, even free gifts such as a distortion pedal or a set of strings. One of the mags I’m subscribed to has coupons that get me some amazing rebates and discounts on popular guitars and musical instruments.

Magazines are cheap, so if you only have a few bucks to spend, go for it, since some magazines and publications such as Total Guitar UK) have great lessons for all guitarists, and these mags are a great way to expand your knowledge and horizons.

4. Learning from Peers and Friends

Time Consideration: can take anywhere from a short span of time to very long.

Budget Considerations: Free? Surely your friends wouldn’t ask money from you.

Location Considerations: You need to be able to meet your friends regularly.

If you surround yourself with musicians and friends who jam and play the guitar, it could be a great, free (!) way of learning how to play the guitar, as well as improving yourself as a guitarist. Even if it’s just one jam per week, you might just be surprised at how much you can learn and pick up from your friends. Above all, jamming with others is just so much fun, and you could even record yourself playing and put the videos on Youtube!

Verdict: Its fun, and you could learn a lot form each other.

5. Learn by Listening

Time Consideration: Depends on you.

Budget Considerations: N/A

Location Considerations: Works wherever you are.

How do you think Hammett and Page learnt how to play the guitar? Those guys didn’t have access to Youtube or private lessons did they? These guys learnt the art themselves, through trial-and-error, by listening and copying artists and I strongly recommend you try it too! By doing this, you will be able to experiment and learn from your own mistakes, and above all, develop a great ear and listening skills – an invaluable asset to have as a musician.

Verdict: Use this method as a supplement to your learning-method-of-choice.

6. Free Resources

Time Consideration: Depends.

Budget Considerations: Free!

Location Considerations: Accessible anywhere.

Got no cash whatsoever to spare? Totally broke but still have love for the music and want to learn the guitar? Check out Youtube. Then there are other great free resources such as JustinGuitar.com as well. The only potential downside is that you could be overwhelmed by the information available at your disposal, and of course you won’t have any proper guidance or supervision. My recommendation: try looking for a resource that takes you through the lessons in a proper structured manner.

Verdict: The perfect (and the only) option for someone with zero budget.