Five Tips to Achieving Guitar Hero 3 Guitar Mastery

By Doug Reach

If you are serious about mastering Guitar Hero guitar technique then you have got your work cut out for you. Achieving expert status is not going to be attained by occasionally picking up your Guitar Hero guitar and noodling. You are going to have to work at this and not get frustrated. The average person tends to be impatient and easily gives up. Like anything in life, if you are patient, steadfast and diligent you can accomplish most things.

Tip One - Go Slow

Mastering the Guitar Hero guitar is not that much different than learning how to play a real guitar (of course, learning to play a real guitar is much more complex - but the learning strategies are similar). The most important thing that you can do is slow down. You are training your reflexes and muscles to respond in a very refined and complex manner and you need to make sure that each move that you are learning is perfect.

Most of us learn to play guitar (or Guitar Hero) by playing too fast, making lots of mistakes and hoping the these mistakes will eventually just disappear. Well, they won't!

If you are making mistakes while you are playing then that is what you are practicing and learning. You are just getting better at playing your mistakes. For most people, the only way to eliminate the mistakes and play as perfectly as possible is to play slow.

Once your muscles begin to memorize the patterns the speed naturally develops. For the most part, you don't need to work on speed. Work on accuracy and the speed will come effortlessly. Take advantage of the slower tempos in Practice Mode.

Tip Two - Practice Short Sections

One of the worst things you can do is just play the song over and over. Most players will find that there is about seventy-five percent of the song that is not too hard and about twenty-five percent that trips them up.

So, work on the hard parts. Isolate the sections that are giving you problems and work them slowly. If you only have twenty minutes to play then why spend fifteen minutes playing the parts that are easy. That won't help you improve.

Unfortunately, most of us like to do things that are fun. Working on the hard parts is usually frustrating and feels a bit like work. We'd rather just play the parts that we can do well.

I recommend that you take the middle way. Spend a bit of your time doing some serious work on the difficult sections then forget it and just have fun.

Tip Three - Practice Each Hand Separately

You might find it beneficial to try practicing each hand separately. In other words, work on the strumming hand and then work on the fret keys.

Tip Four - Practice Your Hammer-ons and Pull-offs

You may have noticed that the border around the notes changes color during fast tempos. This means that you can stop strumming and just play the fret keys (this would be the equivalent of hammer-ons and pull-offs on a real guitar). What you would do is hit the strum button on the first note and then play the rest of the notes only with the fret keys. Make sure your rhythm is accurate.

Tip 5 - Master the Whammy Bar

Every time you hit a long note you can begin to learn how to work the whammy bar. This will help bolster your Star Power. The faster that you move your whammy bar up and down the more points you will earn.

So get to work and I'll look out for your Guitar Hero video posted on your favorite video site.

Douglas Reach writes on many subjects in the fields of music and guitar. If you are looking for the best deals on Guitar Hero guitars and games visit Guitar Hero Guitars Online.

What to Look for in a New Guitar

By Scott Daugherty

Most new guitarists aren't sure of what kind of guitar they should buy when they decide to purchase. Myself, I spent months and thousands trying to find the right guitar. Here is a list of things to look at when trying to decide which guitar to choose.

Tone

This is probably the single most important thing to look at in a guitar. Whether you are playing electric or acoustic, country, rock, blues, or jazz, you need to have a tone that fits your musical genre. You wouldn't want to play a guitar that is perfect for country music in a heavy metal band. Which guitars have the right tone for you?

Blues

If you are playing blues, you need a guitar that has a bluesy tone. That being said, there are a few guitars that are perfect for that style: Semi-acoustic electric guitars with "soapbox" humbuckers sound great, as do Fender Stratocasters. The other important thing to achieve a blues tone is your strings. In blues, the heavier the string, the better the sound. You can't achieve the right sound using extra light gauge strings. They won't have the resonance, the bottom end or the mid range of the heavier strings.

Also playing electric guitar blues, your amplifier will make a difference on your tone. If you are using a vintage amplifier, preferably tube amp, you will notice a BIG difference in the tone.

Country

Country music needs a brighter tone from the electric guitar. To get the brightest tones, it is best to use a guitar with single coil pickups. The two best guitars for this category are Fender Stratocasters and Fender Telecasters. Using a Tele, it is as easy as plugging in and playing really. On the Strat, there is a secret that a lot of guitarists don't know that I am going to share with you.

A lot of Nashville guitarist call it the 'Nashville Sound'. Simply put your toggle switch all the way to the bridge pickup. Then start sliding it back to the next position toward the neck. In between the bridge position and the second position, you will find a sweet spot. The switch will not be locked into place on either pickup but the sound is awesome. It takes only a minute to find it and when you do, the sound is incredible.

Again, the amplifier plays a big key on the sound of an electric guitar as well. A lot of Nashville musicians use a Peavey Classic VT/Series Tube amplifier or the newer Peavey Classic. Behringer also makes a great amplifier that is used in country music.

Jazz

For jazz guitarist, a good semi-acoustic electric guitar is almost vital. The pickups on these guitars are usually humbuckers. For tone, a medium gauge set of strings is suggested.

As far amplifiers go, just about any 'natural' sounding amplifier will work. My personal recommendations are Mesa Boogie, or Peavey. They recreate a good sound.

Rock

Last but not least, let's look at rock and roll. Getting the right tone for rock and roll is tricky. Maybe you want a heavy sound that a standard 6 string can't give you so you get a 7 string guitar. The best 7 string guitars are made by Ibanez. Since the conception in the late 80's or early 90's, Ibanez has perfected the tone from the instrument.

If you don't want a 7 string but want that same tone, you can get the same tone from a 6 string using heavy gauge strings. The guitar should have humbucker pickups to get better tone as well. Guitars recommended for this are Gibson Les Pauls and Ibanez.

For a more modern top 40 rock style, the sound would vary. For the retro sounds heard in a lot of today's alternative music, Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters are used. Sometimes, the Fender Jaguar is played as well. For the heavier sounds, you would need a guitar with the humbuckers and probably two of the best guitars for this would be the Gibson Les Paul and Paul Reed Smith.

To get the tone at the amplifier, it is important to have a good tube or solid state amplifier that can model a tube amp. Mesa Boogie has the leading edge on tone in rock music as does Marshall. Other good amplifiers are made by Peavey, Crate, Behringer, and Fender.

Playability

The way the instrument plays determines a lot on your happiness with it. You can have a guitar that makes the most beautiful sound but you hate to play it. It is said that the perfect guitar will be like an extension of your body. I have found this to be true with my number 1 axe. Whenever I pick it up and play, it feels like a natural extension of my body.

After you pick the guitar that you want for tone, play it and see if it frets right. If the strings are too high, adjust the torsion rod and intonation. This in itself could make the world of difference on your guitar. If you don't know how to adjust these yourself, call your local guitar shop. It usually costs no more than $15 and takes about 30 minutes to do it.

Think about these things before purchasing your first or next guitar. It may save you a lot of headache and money in the long run.

Scott Daugherty is a performing guitarist and studio engineer. For a free guitar lesson visit http://www.superguitartab.com or for purchasing a new beginner guitar visit http://www.superguitartab.com/store/