I’ve been playing guitar for about 1 and a half years now, i’m into shredding, and I want to mazimize my abilities on guitar. I do some quite fast shred but i’m not sure what the next steps are. any help?
I also play alot on tempo… as in, i dont make lots of mistakes i’m pretty fluid in my playing. anybody?

Shredding is fun and impresses people, but you should learn music theory, various scales & modes, and maybe explore some other musical styles like classical and jazz if you want to be well-rounded and versatile.

I’ve been playing Hard Rock/Metal and Blues guitar for about 4-5 years and I’ve been working with theory on and off for the past year. Could anyone share a couple tips that could help me improve my playing? Anything that could help me in the long run, something to practice, anything really. I just feel like I should try to take in everything musical that I can if I plan to make a career out of it. Thanks in advance.

One really good idea is to develop a 10 or 15 minute warm up routine.
This will not only warm you up every day, but can be 10 minutes where you run through major scales, minor scales, major arpeggios, minor arpeggios, diminished arpeggios, (do over one octave, two octaves and three octaves), the minor pentatonic in all 4 positions etc

It would take many hours to put this together.
But then every day, you’d be geting faster at these.
And once you’d master all these your playing would improve a lot

Im 15 I want to be a musican when Im older. I got an accustic guitar last year and its been sitting im my closet ever since. I dont know what to do . Am I expose to memorize every sound it makes. If learn how to play a few songs first will it become easier to memorize them. But the biggest problam I have is its boring and confusing learning it. Will eletric guitar or bass be easier?

Bass will be easier but the first thing you need to do is go electric. Its more fun and you wont get bored ith it. I got mine when I was 15 and havent stopped. Learn how to read tabs and then play your favorite songs. You will learn everything by accident in this way.

I’m horrible with memorizing song names, but I heard this one song by Kanye West, and it had this weird sounding guitar playing through the whole song, and it had high-pitched wails by Kanye, and a cool beat from Kanye’s vocal stuff.

Anyone know?

Just go to amazon.com or itunes and look up his cd 808s and heart breaks and listen to the samples of it its most likely from that cd if he is singing high pitched

I know…practice. But I don’t want to practice incorrectly. I took a guitar class so I have some chords down, but how to I know how to strum or fingerpick. Any good resources or helpful websites. My guitar playing sounds like a dying cat. Help!

Keep your fingernails very short if you’re strumming without a pick. If you use a pick, I suggest you buy the thinnest ones possible, because they’re much easier to control. You might want to try just strumming strings 1-2-3 (E-B-G) for a while until you feel more comfortable with the strumming motion. You might also want to view Frederick Noad’s video series, made in the late 60’s. A few cable stations still carry the series today, but you can also order from http://www.noad.com/Nvideos.htm

I have been playing guitar for over 5 years. Recently, I got a segull acoustic guitar which i like quite a bit. The only problems ive had are with bar chords, which have been more difficult to do than on my electric guitar. Any suggestions for makeing clearer guitar bar chords would be great (such as what string gauges to use)

Acoustic guitars, by their very nature, are harder to play than electric guitars. The string gauge is thicker and the action is a bit higher. There is not really anything that can be done to change that other than putting very light gauge strings on the acoustic. This might sacrifice some of the sound quality though. I have played some Seagull guitars and they play very nicely. I doubt if you could get the action much lower on them without running the risk of fret buzz. To be sure, take it in to the store where you bought it and have them put a lighter gauge string on it and ask if the action could be lowered at that time.
I think that you will just need to get used to it. After playing an electric for so long your fingers have gotten used to the reduced tension and lower action. The best thing you can do is just play the acoustic a lot! Doing basic finger exercises like the 4X4 can help improve strength and dexterity.
Here is an example, use all four fingers.
–2-3-4-5–
–2-3-4-5–
–2-3-4-5–
–2-3-4-5–
–2-3-4-5–
–2-3-4-5–
Play each string individually, walking your way across the neck. When you get to the top, reverse direction and come back down. Do this exercise for about 5 minutes a day. It will help immensely with strength and dexterity. It will also improve your coordination and articulation.

Ok I’m 14 and I want to start playing guitar. I know it will take a while to learn and I can’t just pick it up and play so spare me that. I just want any advice on how to get started and learn and any tricks or anything to help. Thanks!

When you’re learning anything for the first time, it’s overwhelming to try to pick the most reliable source of information. You can buy a cheap book or even try to go through reading a lot of free lessons that are offered online. Keep in mind though that just like many things, you get what you pay for. A walmart book or free articles are only going to take you so far, and you probably won’t learn what you actually want to learn.

The best inexpensive yet reliable option is video lessons on the web. You actually get taught how to play. I personally have spent years and years developing a system and creating an online instructional website that is quality (not just trying to make a buck–like most sites out there). In fact, I offer a new video lesson every single week, answer questions, have a forum. It’s set up just for people like you. I actually take the time to help you as you learn. I’ve tried to make a very simple way to learn. I think you’ll like it! http://guitarmann.com

Anyway, here’s a blog post I made recently about choosing on online guitar instruction website. Good luck learning! http://guitarmann.com/articles/the-best-online-guitar-lessons There are also many other guitar blog posts you can check out!

Stephen

I have recntly started playing the guitar, and I have noticed that many good guitar players have very long fingers. Are they so good because their fingers were always long, or did their fingers grow from all that exercise they had while playing an instrument involving fingers? My cousin also plays guitar and piano, and she has long fingers, so I was wondering if playing the guitar will make my fingers grow eventually?

No, your fingers won’t grow but they will be flexible and faster.
I’ve been playing the guitar for 3 years now and I noticed that my fingers became flexible and faster in changing chords, notes etc. You will be a fast learner when your fingers become fast and flexible.

Playing the guitar didn’t make any change in size with my fingers, it just made my fingers used to the guitar. Playing the piano will definitely change your finger’s size because you’ll be reaching notes with your fingers.

I’ve worked with many guitar players and piano players, and when you look at their fingers,I can’t really see the difference of their fingers.

Did Michael Pare do any of the actual singing and guitar playing in the movie, or was it all edited over by someone elses singing and playing?

All the songs in Eddie and the Cruisers (1&2) were performed (vocals and instruments) by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. Straight outta Rhode Island.

Michael Pare can’t act, much less sing or play an instrument.

For the record: Michael ‘Tunes’ Antunes, the saxophonist for Beaver Brown, played Wendell Newton of The Cruisers, and is the only actual band member to appear onscreen.

Here are John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band performing "On The Dark Side":

Ive been playing electric guitar for 3 and a half years now,what are some basics,and others I should already know by heart?I just want to know so I dont have to learn basic crap later on.

3 and a half years you should definitely know the notes on the fretboard,alternate picking,tremolo picking,natural harmonics,pinch harmonics,how to tap,bends,legato You shouldnt have these mastered but you should at least know what they are…
Might be a good idea to try some sweep picking if you haven’t already