The guitar’s soft melodic tone made it difficult for people to hear it when being played alongside other instruments. So during the 1930’s an inventive individual decided to change that and invented the first electric guitar. Little did he know, or have imagined way back then how the invention of the electric guitar would significantly affect the course of 20th century music.

Like most new things, the electric guitar had its critics but it quickly won people over because of its ability to allow musicians to play much more creatively and express their own individual styles.

The First Pickup

In 1924 an inventive engineer working for the Gibson guitar company named Lloyd Loar, designed the first magnetic pickup. Using a magnet, he converted guitar string vibrations into electrical signals, which then were amplified through a speaker system. This first pickup was crude, but it was a great beginning.

The First Electric Guitar

In 1931 the Electro String Company was founded by Paul Barth, George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker, and developed the first electric guitars marketed to the general public. They made their guitars from cast aluminum and were played on a person’s lap using a steel slide much like today’s steel guitar. Because of their unusual material, they were affectionately called “Frying Pans.”

The early success of the frying pans prompted the Gibson guitar company to build their first electric guitar, the ES-150 which is a legend today.

The First Solid-Body Electric Guitar

Electric guitars were quickly becoming popular, even though there was a major problem with their construction. Their bodies would vibrate due to the amplified sounds coming through the speakers they were played into, causing what we know as feed-back. The obvious remedy was to build a guitar made with a solid body which wouldn’t vibrate so easily.

As with most innovations, there is controversy over who invented the first solid –body electric guitar. Guitar legend Les Paul in the 1940’s developed his affectionately called “The Log” solid-body guitar by attaching a Gibson neck to a solid piece of wood…a railroad tie, hence the name “Log.”

Around this same time, guitarist Merle Travis and engineer Paul Bigsby developed a solid-body electric guitar that resembled the solid-body guitars that we’re so familiar with today.

The First Mass Produced Electric Guitar

Leo Fender in 1950 was the first to mass produce an electric guitar which was originally called the Fender Broadcaster. This guitar was quickly re-named to the infamous Telecaster because the name “Broadcaster” was already being used by another company. Leo followed this up in 1954 with the most renowned guitar of all time…the Stratocaster.

Leo’s success led other guitar manufacturers into developing their own mass-produced electric guitars. Most notable was the teaming-up of the Gibson guitar company with Les Paul to create the famous Gibson Les Paul electric guitar.

More Affordable Electric Guitars

During the 1960’s and 1970’s famous brand name electric guitars were too expensive for the average person to buy. Less pricey imitations quickly came to market but they were sub-standard in sound and playability. The Japanese, in the 1980’s started manufacturing electric guitars of similar quality to the more expensive American made models, but with much more affordable pricing. This prompted Fender and other leading guitar manufacturers into producing less expensive versions of their classic models. This resulted in electric guitars now being more affordable and accessible to more people.

Today, the Gibson and Fender guitar companies are still producing some of the most well-known and best made electric guitars on the market. But it’s getting crowded with other high quality brands such as BC Rich, ESP and Peavey. Innovative designs, shapes and materials are being incorporated with new technologies to produce better sounding electric guitars.

Modern guitars have built-in software allowing them to sound like other types of guitars. Some are even fitted with pickups that synthesize the sound of different instruments or record the notes in musical notation.

The electric guitar has come a long way with an interesting and inventive past and many in the industry say it has an even brighter future.

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his article is a copyrighted work and does not come with reprint or resale rights and may not be altered or changed in any way including the resource box. The site owner acknowledges that by using this article they accept this condition. The only exception being to bold the appropriate copy i.e. headlines and subhead text. See what your local retail electric guitar shop doesn’t want you to know http://www.electricguitarsource.com

Finding the Right Size:

The problem with buying a guitar for a child is that one day, it will eventually be too small. Just like kid’s clothes, kid’s electric guitars will soon become cumbersome and constricting like ill-fitting jeans. It is important that you let your child try a few different sizes, just to see what looks and feels appropriate. The child will likely gravitate toward a bigger instrument, but make sure you consult with a knowledgeable staff member at a music store prior to making a purchase. It may be a good idea to take a trip to your local music vendor to get an idea for what is available, take detailed notes, and then continue shopping online.

Vivid Color:

In your child’s eyes, the color of their guitar will play a significant role. Make sure you discuss the importance of finding an instrument that fits, rather than one that looks pretty before you ever set foot in a music store or start viewing products online. Only after you have determined what size is appropriate should you consider discussing a color scheme for your kid’s electric guitar.

Getting Good Value:

If you get a guitar at Wal-Mart for $45, then you will end up with a product that sounds and behaves like a $45 guitar. This means that you’ll have broken strings. This means that you will have cracks, scratches, dents, and possible electronic failure issues. The sound and quality of your kid’s electric guitar will be dependent upon how much you are willing to invest. Another consideration you should make is that if your child is taking lessons or a devout self-learner, it will be challenging for them to experience success with something that came out of a box from Wal-Mart. There are extremely affordable options produced by reputable guitar manufacturers all over the world. You probably wouldn’t have your car painted at Wal-Mart, but you would take it to a body shop. Likewise, if you’re buying a guitar, don’t shop at Wal-Mart - consult a music store or music website.

Choosing Between the Brands:

Most major guitar manufacturers produce kid’s electric guitar models. When you shop online or in a store, look for familiar guitar names like Fender or Yamaha. Consider purchasing a package deal that comes with everything your child will need to start rocking.

As with any new responsibility, it might be a good idea to sign your child up for lessons after you’ve purchased your kid’s electric guitar. Your child will learn how to handle their instrument properly, while developing great techniques. They may continue on with a teacher or decide to take a more self-directed approach. This will also help you both make the most out of your guitar investment.

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If mastering essential guitar scales (such as the major blues scale) is important to you, then be sure to check out: http://www.GuitarScaleMastery.com/letter/

• Never expose your guitar to high temperature and humidity. For example, don’t leave your guitar in a hot car or in direct sunlight. Typical heat damage consists of warped soundboards and unglued (detached) bridges.

• Never lean the guitar on furniture or the wall. The guitar is unstable (the lower bout is round) and can easily fall and be damaged. Always store your guitar in a case or on a guitar stand.

• Wash your hands before playing. Dirt and oil will clog and corrode the strings and diminish considerably the sound and life of your strings. To provide best protection use a guitar cover in order to avoid dirt and scratches.

• Handle the guitar only by the neck. Squeezing the top and body will damage the delicate soundboard bracing.

• Wipe your guitar off with a soft cotton or mircofiber cloth after playing. Clean and polish your guitar occasionally with a light polish. Do not use heavy paste waxes as they eventually build up into a thick, vibration muffling coating.

• Guitars normally require very little maintenance. However, a little care in handling and storage will protect your investment for many years to come.

• Never expose your guitar to high temperature and humidity. For example, don’t leave your guitar in a hot car or in direct sunlight. Typical heat damage consists of warped soundboards and unglued (detached) bridges.

• Never lean the guitar on furniture or the wall. The guitar is unstable (the lower bout is round) and can easily fall and be damaged. Always store your guitar in a case or on a guitar stand.

• Wash your hands before playing. Dirt and oil will clog and corrode the strings and diminish considerably the sound and life of your strings. To provide best protection use a guitar cover in order to avoid dirt and scratches.

• Handle the guitar only by the neck. Squeezing the top and body will damage the delicate soundboard bracing.

• Wipe your guitar off with a soft cotton or mircofiber cloth after playing. Clean and polish your guitar occasionally with a light polish. Do not use heavy paste waxes as they eventually build up into a thick, vibration muffling coating.

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Deen Jonse Guitars from Spain, Inc. 2658 Del Mar Heights Rd. #242 Del Mar/California/USA 92014 Phone : (866)-396-1933 Fax . (561)-347-0291 http://www.guitarsfromspain.com

Whether you are an expert or a mere learner, getting a new electric guitar is a thrill. Perhaps you have only ever played an acoustic guitar, and want to branch out? Maybe you are simply learning guitar from scratch? Whatever your reasons, buying an electric guitar means you will be able to play searing riffs and haunting melodies like you have never experienced with any other instrument.

There are a number of things to decide upon when choosing an electric guitar.

The first decision you need to make is what body shape you want your guitar to be. To date, the most popular guitar shape is the solid-body Les Paul shape. You can also opt for the SG Style, which has a thinner double cut-away body. Other most common shapes are the Stratocaster and Telecaster.

Once you have chosen the shape of your guitar, you will need to decide what pick-up you want, either single or humbucker pick up. These refer to the copper wire that is wrapped around the bar magnets. As its name implies, the single pick-up it is composed of one copper wire wrapped in a single coil around a single bar magnet or several rod magnets. The humbucker pick-up, on the other hand, uses two coils which tends to increase the intensity of a guitar’s sounds.

Choosing the right bridge is another important step. You will need to decide between the stock tremolo, double-locking or Floyd Rose double locking system. Depending on the style, the strings may be positioned differently, looser or tighter, and more or less responsive to your touch.

These are just some of the things you will need to consider when you select your new electric guitar. The choice you ultimately make will vary depending on the sort of music you want to play, as well as your knowledge and level of experience. Your budget will also bear upon your decision, and for those with less money, secondhand guitars are always an option.

Seeking help from friends who play the electrical guitar, or staff at the music store is always invaluable. Once you have the right guitar, your playing will be more enjoyable… and the better for it.

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Peter Mack writes for electricguitarshow a website of electric guitar articles and fender guitar resources.

Most guitar players desire to become a better guitar player. Guitarist ask me quite often why they are not at the level that they desire and what can they do. In the past I have asked myself the very same question. Soon I began to understand the answers.

Just as you have probably done, I have read a lot of how to play guitar interviews and articles from great guitar players. I often found it frustrating whenever the subject of learn to play guitar came up or when advice was offered on improving someone’s playing. With a few exceptions, little time and space was ever devoted on this.

It is not uncommon to see a guitar player give advise to learn to play the guitar summed up in as little as three words: Practice! Practice!! Practice!!!

I remember when I first was learning how to play guitar I would practice on some days so long that the ends of my fingers would be tender to the touch and hurt for days.

We all know that practicing is the main ingredient. Does a football player practice a few times and then is able to play up to the caliber of an NFL football player?

Rarely are we told anything more than on how to play the guitar then to just practice. In my long quest to become an excellent player I carefully took note of what worked and what did not - which parts conventional wisdom are accurate and which parts are (at least in my opinion) are not. I believe the following twenty tips have proven to bring great results to those who use them:

1. Educate yourself! It doesn’t matter what current level you at can and should always learn guitar more. If you are currently in a position to learn guitar online, studying a home guitar study course, or have a teacher for you to learn how to play guitar then your on the right track. If you are not doing this (or if you feel that your current home study course is not helping you enough in reaching your goals) I strongly recommend looking for a new one. I can not stress enough how important it is to find a good home study course that is right for you! Your home study course (or teacher) should always be Goal Orientated. If its not look for another course or teacher to study with! You don’t need a home study course or teacher to simply give you information or things to practice - you can get those things anywhere, what you need is a study course or teacher who:

A. Knows what your goals are.
B. Cares about helping you reach your goals.
C. Knows how to help you reach your goals.

2. Listen to more music. This is really something that helped me. There is a lot of music out there that you have not heard. I am sure you can find something you really like and that would inspire you. Look on the internet if you can not find it on the conventional radio. Check out internet radio. You can customize what you hear based on your preferences; its a great tool! Check out web sites that you know feature a lot of the music in the style you like. Listen to the guitarist in the background. Listen to the strum patterns, picking or anything else the guitarist is doing.

3. Turn your musical frustrations into an asset in the form of a motivating force. I used to get frustrated when I was trying to learn how to play guitar. I would use this frustration to motivate me to play the next day and then the next day and all afternoon sometimes.

4. Believe in yourself. You have probably heard that phrase many times before. It’s sad how many people don’t believe in their beliefs or themselves. If you don’t believe in yourself, you will not grow as a guitarist. I always in my mind say, "I can do it; I know I can." This can be a driving force no matter what you want to accomplish in life. If you start something and never thought you could accomplish it in the first place than you probably will not.

5. Understand that becoming a better guitarist means becoming a better musician as well. When developing your musical skills, make sure to think beyond the skills that are specific to guitar. You will be working on many guitar skills - various guitar techniques, chords, scales, soloing, etc., - but don’t neglect other skills that are not guitar specific like ear training (also called aural skills and very important), songwriting, improvising, creativity, reading, music theory, etc. When I was learning how to play guitar I would work with a pianist once or twice a week with ear training, creativity, and even music theory.Don’t limit yourself.

Each of us has some natural ability of some kind. You may already know what yours is or you may not yet discovered it. If being a better musician is not coming easy for you that simply means you are like the rest of us.

I have continued the next five tips of 20 tips to part II of how to play guitar - discover 20 tips to play like a pro.

The next tip I will be discussing is "Surround yourself with better guitar players" Be sure to get part II with the next 5 tips.

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Jason owns a few blogs on http://guitar—lesson.blogspot.com http://how–to–play–guitar.blogspot.com http://learn–guitar.blogspot.com http://learn–guitar–online.blogspot.com http://learn–to–play–guitar.blogspot.com http://free-guitar-lesson.blogspot.com

So why is it better to take online guitar lessons rather than sit in front of a live person? For a start it is much, much cheaper. There are courses that will cost you one hundred dollars or more. Find out how many real-world lessons you get for that price. I can tell you now, it’s not too many. Also there’s the travelling. Time and money spent just getting to your teacher. Do you really need the aggravation? As far as personal cost goes, online lessons work out to be much less expensive than your local guitar teacher. And you don’t have to laugh at your online teacher’s lame jokes!

What kind of help and learning materials will you expect from online guitar lessons? Nice clear videos showing you where to put your left hand fingers on the guitar neck and what to do with your right hand to make the music come out. We’re talking videos you can play over and over again until you understand what your instructor is trying to pass on to you. Usually some kind of backing tracks are available with online lessons. These are accompaniment for you to test your guitar playing skills. Basically backing music gives you a way of testing your ability to keep time while giving you the opportunity to see how you would sound playing guitar with a real band. By the way, most online guitar courses come with basic tools like a metronome and maybe some written lessons you can print out for future use. Additionally, a lot of guitar courses include some way of asking questions and getting answers back from your guitar teachers.

When you sign up for guitar lessons online, you should be getting a broad musical education. You might have a fair idea of the kind of music you want to play, but online guitar lessons are an ideal method of showing you what is available to guitar players who want to learn more than one musical genre. So just bear in mind you should be able to get a taste of some of the music available to you like jazz, country, fingerstyle, blues, R&B, and so on. Along with a wide range of music, your guitar course should offer you depth of guitar playing experience. You need to learn what it feels like to accompany songs, play solos, and improvise. The best online guitar lessons will give you the opportunity to get this kind of experience.

Okay, so now you know the advantages of online guitar lessons and the materials and tools you should expect to be included in any set of lessons, you can examine any course a little more closely now from a more informed viewpoint.

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Ricky Sharples has been playing guitar his whole life, and is presently engaged in building a blog called Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free at http://playaguitarforfree.com/ The blog features free tools, lessons and resources for guitarists of all ages and stages. Ricky updates the blog regularly

Believe it or not, there are some companies who focus entirely on making musical instruments and accessories that are geared toward simplicity and portability. A travel electric guitar may be the answer to staying on top of your guitar technique and maintaining your globetrotting lifestyle.

Traveler Guitars:

The Traveler Guitar makes several travel electric guitars that have many of the same features as standard instruments. Their guitars and basses feature unique, ergonomic designs that will keep you rocking on the road. Each instrument comes with a case and weighs roughly 5 pounds. Traveler Guitar even makes essential on-the-go accessories like small amp heads. They produce both electric guitars and basses for the road.

Hohner Guitars:

Hohner travel electric guitars feature a one of a kind design. Their “headless” construction makes the instrument much shorter, but it still packs a powerful punch in the sound department. The unique design is eye-catching, and heads will turn when you pull this instrument out of a gig bag. You won’t even need a strap to play this guitar, because it features a fold out leg rest that packs neatly away right inside the body of the instrument. Coupled with the perfect small sized or practice amp, this guitar packs a lot of power. It also performs well when plugged in to a standard amp, and might serve you very well in an impromptu gig or jam session.

Pignose Guitars:

The Pignose travel electric guitar features the ultimate in ease of portability, with an amplifier built directly into the instrument. Powered by a 9-volt battery, this little guitar is perfect for the traveler who doesn’t want to haul an amp along. However, this instrument can also be plugged into an amp if desired.

A travel electric guitar is the perfect solution for staying on top of your musical game despite your busy work and personal life. An investment in a travel guitar is like an investment in your musical development, and it will protect your more expensive gear from dangers on the road. They feature accessories and amenities that are comparable to your regular instruments. These little travel guitars are perfect for jamming on the road, on your lunch break, or in between classes. Some of them are powerful and resonant enough that you could even use them in recording sessions if you wanted to!

Don’t let your music suffer because of the inconveniences that are presented by traveling. Take your guitar along with you to relieve stress, pass the time, and entertain your friends, family and coworkers while you’re at it.

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If you would like to discover unusual but very effective strategies for mastering essential scales such as blues guitar scales and jazz guitar scales, then be sure to check out: http://www.GuitarScaleMastery.com/letter/

The Need for Electric Guitars:

Electric guitars first appeared because of an unlikely demand. It is a well known electric guitar fact that the first instruments were needed by big jazz bands in the early 1930’s. Bandleaders called for a source of amplification for the guitar so that it could be heard over the screaming horn sections and drums. Electric guitars for jazz were initially hollow bodied in nature, and this eventually led to the use of the instrument in other genres of music.

The First Electric Guitarist:

There were many attempts to create a guitar that could be amplified in the 1930’s. Players and manufacturers experimented with attaching microphones to guitars, but their feats produced few viable results. The first successfully produced electric guitar was called the Rickenbacker. Now with this great new invention, there had to be a person that could really make the instrument sing. Electric guitars are different from acoustic guitars. Remember that at this time, there was no such thing as electric guitar technique. Charlie Christian is heralded as the very first electric guitarist. His unique guitar playing technique went on to inspire many other famous guitarists, and as more players began to develop skill, a need arose for more progressive models of electric guitars.

The First Solid Body Electric Guitar:

One of the most widely known electric guitar facts is that innovator Les Paul created the solid body electric guitar. One of the most recognizable instruments in the world, the solid body electric is so popular these days largely due to the early efforts of Les Paul. Les Paul wanted a smaller bodied guitar that relied more on the power of its electronics than acoustic offerings of a hollow body electric. Makers like Fender and Rickenbacker quickly followed suit and began producing impressive solid body electrics. The Les Pal model, however, retains its seat as the king of all electrics, and is still one of the most popularly sold and played instruments today.

The Electric Guitar Invades Classical Music:

Electric guitars are common in jazz, rock, blues, and country music. Gurus of all types tend to overlook electric guitar facts relating to classical music. The instrument crossed into this unlikely genre and plays an important role for classical guitarists and composers alike. Composers experiment with wild songs that call for some 100 electric guitarists, and the instruments are often employed for live performances and recording sessions alike.

These are some very basic electric guitar facts, and there are many more like them. Records have been set and broken, and you just might find yourself turning into a guitar fact finding guru if you continue researching the history of the electric guitar.

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To discover some unusual but very effective strategies for mastering guitar scales, be sure to check out this website: Guitar Scales Mastery

If you are one such individual, there is a musician resource that you may have overlooked: the Internet. Now, please don’t misunderstand. I know that you have already found out about the internet. You use the internet every day and you have probably found countless guitar tab sites, guitar lesson sites, band classified sites and the like. You have learned a lot on the internet. Your eyes have found the Internet, but has your music?

When you connect your instrument to your computer, you connect your music to the rest of the worldwide community of musicians. Out there on the internet, unlike in your home town, are many many people just like you, who want to hear your music. They are as dedicated as you, they are into the same music, they are your peers without question, and they want to hear what you are working on.

This article teaches you how to plug your guitar or bass right into your computer, to start sharing your musical ability with the world-wide internet music community. We are assuming that you have an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar with a pickup.

Overview

Turn your computer around and look at the back of it. You should see a walkman-style mini headphone jack in one of the shiny steel plates back there. Actually, you should see 3 mini jacks. If you look closely, they have little etched pictures next to them. One is a picture of a mic, one is a picture of headphones, and the other some picture you don’t know what it is. The one that is not mic and not headphones is the line-in jack. Your guitar has a 1/4 inch cable that is too big to fit into this mini headphone jack. So, you will need an adapter that will convert the quarter inch jack to a mini jack. You can find this sort of adapter at your local electronics shop. In the U.S., Radio Shack is your best bet.

The following are three scenarios that describe how to plug your instrument into your computer.

Average Situation

Here’s the deal: your guitar is supposed to plug into the line-in jack. But your guitar is not loud enough to play direct into a line-in. So you have to put an effects pedal with a volume control in between the PC and your guitar. That way you can give your guitar enough of a volume boost to hear it well on your PC.

Poor Situation

If you don’t have an effects pedal, or something else to give your guitar a slight volume boost, then the line-in method won’t work. Your guitar will be too quiet. If this is the case, you will need to plug your guitar into the mic jack instead. The guitar is too loud for a mic jack. So, you will have to turn the guitar down for it to record properly. Even then, it won’t sound too good. Computer mic jacks just don’t sound good. But, it works.

Ideal Situation

Ideally, here is what you want to do: get a mixer, plug your guitar into your amp, mic the amp in a sound-proof room. Turn it up really loud. Mix your effects into the signal at the mixer, and plug the mixer line out into the line in of your computer. If you have all the equipment for this, then I would suggest you get one more item: a studio-quality audio card. These cards have improved circuitry and software that will significantly improve the sound of your records and the flexibility of your system.

I hope this article has been helpful to you and that your music inspires and fulfills you throughout a long and happy career. I also hope that you will join a musician community on the internet and get as much satisfaction out of it as I have.

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Jon Broderick is a guitarist from California who has been an online musician since 1998. You can find Jon featured in online Music Competitions and online Guitar Lessons at major music websites.

The following article gives you some broad idea of what is actually an electric guitar which will be useful for any body who start learning it and finally it will give you some useful buying tips because there are something you should know before you decide to get one.

Electric guitar is probably the musical instrument that has dimpliest mechanism of music amplification that was ever developed. It was made on the basic theory of to amplify the sound to be combined with other musical instruments. Some of you who may have a little experience about practicing guitar in the past will have the clear this idea about this and they will see it is the fact that no matter which kind or which brand of the electric guitar will be, the principle of making sound and to simplify the sound is almost the same.

Therefore, some of people may have thought that so what is the different between those electric guitar available in the market? Well I have to say that in my perspective, the only different is the felling of buyer towards when they are using them. For example, some people may rather prefer Fender rather than Gibson because it makes them fell so comfortable when they are playing meanwhile the guitar itself is not much different. Ok it might be also a bit different in terms of sounds and tones that come out from the guitars but I would say that if you are not really the professional musician, then you could not see the different because there is just slightly. However, the most important thing seem to be the feeling when you are playing.

After we have clarified about the different so the next important question has been raised, which is what kind of electric guitar that you should go for? Should I look for only brand name ones or non-brand name one? Well, it is actually a good a good short question but very hard to answer. Basically, as I have mentioned above that there is no significant difference but I would like to suggest that whether you should go for brand name or non-brand name is really depends on your level of skills and your budget. That is if you are electric guitar novice, it is absolutely not necessarily to choose brand name unless you have plenty of money to afford. This is because novice requires nothing more than ordinary sound for their training or practicing. On the other hand if you are middle-skill or professional players you may have a brand name one for longer and harder usage because brand name electric guitar made from good quality materials which support many functions such as sound effects and this necessary for professional music performance.

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Written By: Nitiphat N. B.Ed.Fine Arts. We are glad and welcome if you will visit our web site.At you will find great resources,articles,links and more about song,music and musical instrument.Visit us at: http://www.electricguitars-no9.com