The Guitar Players Club

I'm on the Internet everyday for more hours than is probably healthy. I think I've ran across just about every site related to playing the guitar by now. Well, I had found a site quite a while back, but I never really took a close look at it. I made a mental note, bookmarked it, and told myself I'd check it out later.

Well, later finally came...today I was meandering around and happened back onto the same site is question. The Website by the way is GuitarAlliance. If you haven't checked it out yet, I recommend you do so immediately. The resources there for the aspiring guitarists are fantastic. Regardless of your style of playing, there's something there to help you.

I can't even begin to give an accurate overview of all the great features that are offered. They have some cool products, like 'Riff-O-Matic', 'Guitar Mojo', and 'Just Acoustic.'

This is not some fly-by-night outfit either. They've been in the business, and on the Web since 2000. That's a long time in Internet years. I'll tell you what, don't take my word for it. Go to the Website and have a look for yourself. They've got an unbelievable amount of testimonial audio. All those people can't be wrong.

Lastly, just until September 5, 2008, they're running a special 'Lifetime Membership Upgrade.' That's a very big deal. You pay one time and you've got everything they offer for life!!

Again, I won't try to cover all they've got for the guitar player needing to learn, like the weekly lessons delivered to your email inbox, the mp3 jam tracks, or the over 1000 high-quality multimedia lessons full of exclusive information packed content. This site has info. for beginners and the experienced alike. I'll let you see for yourself.

If you hurry you can still get in on the lifetime membership upgrade.

Oops...nearly forgot, there's a 90 day test drive period. If you're not thrilled with everything offered, you get 100% of your money back...PERIOD...you can't lose.

For those of you out there that are die hard Fender fans like moi, you need to take a look at what's going on in the Fender Custom Shop. I'm not only a big fan of Fender guitars, David Gilmour is one of my most favorite players of all time. At least in my top (5) or so.

Well, I'm kinda freaking because on September 22, 2008, the Fender Custom Shop is releasing a David Gilmour signature Strat!! Yes, what could be better ? The release date was set to coincidewith the release of Gilmour’s three-disc Live in Gdansk CD/DVD set. The instrument is based on Gilmour’s beloved Black Strat and was created by Fender Custom Shop craftsmen to mirror the look, sound and feel of the original instrument.

David's famous guitar was nicknamed very, ah hem, very 'creatively', 'the Black Strat'.

It's awesome to even look at, but when you know what David used the original for, it'll kinda give you cold chills knowing that you could own even an exact copy. I mean his Strat was used on all the hot Pink Floyd tracks from Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall...not to mention Gilmour's solo work. I'm talking about an instrument that will go down in rock and roll history. I have to have one!!

David Gilmour, and his long time guitar tech., Phil Taylor worked closely with Fender in the development of the Signature Series Stratocaster guitar. I would expect nothing less that perfection in form and function.

Here's a link to the Black Strat at the Fender Custom Shop. You need to go check it out for yourself.

I should mention...always head over to zZounds.com for the best selection and prices for all of your musical needs. Those guys are awesome. Great products, great selection, great prices, fast shipping and a very knowledgeable staff. What else could you want ?

In the days not so long ago, even when I first started to learn to play the guitar in the 1970's, there was no where near the available resources available to aid the student as there is today.

Obviously the Internet is the single best development to help not only guitar players, but those interested in any profession, hobby or interest on virtually any topic.

Just a while ago an instructor, the printed book, tapes, recorded and live music were about the only options to help a student learn. There is so much more that I won't even be able to mention it all here I'm sure.

Mentioning every single topic or techonolgy isn't my goal however. My point of this post is to let you know to use every possible resource that might help you. As I mention elsewhere on this blog, and my other sites, I

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I was recently reading some posts in a forum topic regarding guitar tablature and learning to read standard music notation. There were some 'interesting' opinions on the topics.

Firstly, I'd like to say that I learned to read standard music notation many years age. When I was 12 or 13 years old I played in the school band. At the time I was playing the clarinet, not my ideal choice of instruments, but the guitar wasn't an available option at school. Although the clarinet wasn't the instrument I

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I'm somewhat surprised that I haven't thought about posting about PG Music as of yet. I can't remember where I first ran across PG Music and their fantastic products. I guess it was probably in the early 1990s that I first found out about Band In a Box and Power Tracks Pro.

I was looking, I believe, for a program that would provide some backing tracks so I could click the mouse and have a rhythm track to jam with. Well, I got more, much more!!

I don't get any kind of commission on any sales from PG Music, but I still want to let you know, if you don't already, about the products that they have available. I won't try and go into detail about the products, I'll let their Website do that. I still want to let you know that I've used literally all of their software products (I bought the Omni Pak last time, that's everything!!), and I can tell you that anything you buy from PG Music will be a purchase you won't regret.

As I mentioned, I first wanted nothing more that a program that could provide 'backing tracks' to jam with. Band In a Box will do that...and so much more. You wanna play gigs, but don't want the headaches of dealing with the temperament of several other musicians ? No problem, get Band In a Box, install it on your notebook, and you've got your entire group right there. No lame excuses for missing practice or being late for the gig. No more heated discussions instead of getting practice in. Nothing but a great, in-tune, always on time group that you don't have to pay or feed, and that NEVER TALKS BACK. There is a heaven.

Think that's enough ? It could be, but there's more. A little program called Power Tracks Pro Audio. You wanna talk digital audio sequencer ? Here's a complete multi-track workstation program that you have to try.

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I thought I'd write a quick post on an online guitar tuner. I recently installed a widget from Widgetbox.com on another site and thought I'd mention it here. In case you haven't ran across Widgetbox, you should check it out if you ever need (or want) a widget. At last look they have over 66,000 widgets available for WordPress, Blogger, Facebook and many other formats. There's music related, as well as just about any other topic you can think of. There's some really cool stuff there.

A hardware tuner is also a must-have item for any guitar player. Zzounds has a great collection of guitar tuners as well as anything else you could want or need relating to playing guitar.

New for 2008 is the Ibanez Jam Tuner, a chromatic tuner that comes with the works, jammed right in. The Jam Tuner features a Hi-Spec wide LCD display, 20 rhythm patterns for practice and jamming, a distortion effect, an AUX input for CD or MP3 players and a built-in metronome.

Ibanez RU10 Chromatic Guitar and Bass Jam Tuner