I learned the pentatonic scale on the guitar, what do I do with it now? How can I use it to improvise and jam?
toss the pentatonic in the bin, its boring. unless you like boring and repetitive rock, blues and chinese music. good rock, blues and chinese music generally includes at least one extra note in the scale. it gives you somewhere to hook onto and slingshot yourself into a different key.so. you wanna learn something interesting and useful to jam with?take this…play a G major. doesnt matter where abouts on the fretboard you decide to play it.slide it up by one fret, so you are now playing Ab major.and guess what?that is the C harmonic minor.learn how the CAGED system works.that you can play your Gmajor in five positions along the fret board. the same five chords you learn to play in the “open” position, simply barred and moved around to all become GMaj. that is, C, A, G, E and D. (caged!)memorise the notes being played.slide it all up one fret.and there you have it. you just figured out most of the fretboard, and two scales.why two scales?because if you slid DOWN instead of up, ie, play G major and F#majors instead, you are now playing the B harmonic minor.if you started with a Cmaj, then you will have the F harmonic minor sliding UP, and the E harmonic by sliding DOWN. note, the harmonic minor scale is 5 semitones up from whatever major chord you decide upon.pretty easy. and the harmonic minor makes a far more interesting sound than the pentatonic waste of time. learning the CAGED principle allows you to play across the whole fretboard in literally MINUTES. doesnt matter what major chord you start with. the idea remains the same. they all blend into each other and really, there are only three possible (major) chord shapes. taking C, you have the three inversions, CEG, EGC, and GCE. same chord. different sound. different positions. inversions. learn them by practising the caged theory.wait. was that a pentatonic minor…or major? and do you know what its root note is? can you play it in EVERY position possible? well, if you had learned that caged idea, maybe you would…it helps to learn at least a tiny bit of theory ;)and a scale that contains ALL the seven notes, such as the plain old standard major/minor.now, try learning and memorising ALL of THESE!http://globalguitarnetwork.com/s...
Is it too late to learn an instrument?
I teach an adult beginner who is about your age. My orchestra stand partner in college was a biochem professor who had to have been in his seventies and had only been playing for a few years. Lots of people have long-established careers or even wait until they retire to learn an instrument. You are definitely not too old at 23. As for "not being great at it" as Thomas put it, that all depends on how much time you can invest in it. You have enough life ahead of you to study the violin for at least as long as a five year old studies before they reach adulthood. If you practice every day, no one will know you started as an adult by the time you are in your late 30s or early 40s. You should not set the bar too high for yourself too soon. Start small and set attainable goals, and make sure you have a teacher. Don't try to teach yourself. You will begin seeing major improvements each week after the first month or two (there is a scratchy stage you will have to get over first). I highly recommend recording yourself in the beginning so that when you feel you are not making progress, you can go back and prove to yourself that you really have come a long way.
What are the difference between electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and acoustic electric guitar and where should I go to buy?
Acoustic GuitarThis is the kind of guitar that produces sound without having electrical amplification. The vibration of the strings resonates through the guitar's body where it creates the sound. This typically involves the use of a sound board and a sound box to strengthen the vibrations of the strings.The main source of sound in an acoustic guitar is the string, which is plucked or strummed with the finger or with a pick. The string vibrates at a necessary frequency and also creates many harmonics at various different frequencies. The frequencies produced can depend on string length, mass, and tension. The string causes the soundboard and sound box to vibrate, and as these have their own resonances at certain frequencies, they amplify some string harmonics more strongly than others, hence affecting the timbre produced by the instrument.Acoustic-Electric Guitaris an acoustic guitar fitted with a magnetic pickup, a piezoelectric pickup or a microphone. In electric-acoustic nylon string guitars, piezoelectric pickups and microphones are always used because magnetic pickups are not capable of picking up vibrations of non-magnetic materials. The design is distinct from a semi-acoustic guitar, which is an electric guitar but with the addition of sound chambers within the guitar body. Usually, acoustic-electric guitars are fitted with piezoelectricpickups, and hence require a preamplifier incorporated into the guitar body to amplify the signal before it travels to the main guitar amplifier. These preamps may also come with tone controls of varying types, but usually equalizers with up to six frequency bands are used. They are also referred to as a "plug-in acoustic guitar", due to their ability to simply "plug in" to a speaker system without the need for microphones.Electric Guitaris a guitar that uses one or more pickups to convert the vibration of its strings into electrical signals. The vibration occurs when a guitarist strums, plucks, fingerpicks, or taps the strings. The pickup used to sense the vibration generally uses electromagnetic induction to do so, though other technologies exist. In any case, the signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is sent to a guitar amplifier before being sent to the speaker, which converts it into audible sound.SOURCE- wikipedia.
What can we learn from the Internet?
Today, we can learn almost everything from the Internet. Gurudutt & Ethan already gave you a broad view of what you can learn from Internet. So, in this modern era, you will find everything on Internet. For example:1. You can learn playing guitar: We all know guitar isn't an instrument which you can play easily. You need lot of practice and guidance to play guitar in a good way. So, you don't need to go to learning center and pay fees for it. Just check on Internet and you will find many pages about how to play guitar and its tutorials2. Ways to save money:We all wish to save money more and more. But don't know how to maximize the savings. So, if you check on internet you will find so many articles about tips to save money. 3. You can find various free ebooks, journals, newspapers, to read and keep yourself updated without going to market to purchase these stuffs.4. Do you need expert advice? Don't know whom to consult? Confused. But on Internet, there are many forums in every field to get the expert advice easily. Post your query and recieve the likely solution. Quora is one of the best example for such forums. Here you will find many experts in various fields. And, they are always up to answer your queries. So, Internet revolutionized the way people think and do. Internet made this world a global village. Connect with everyone, everywhere!Hope this helps. Thank you for the A2A!
How easy is it to learn to play mouth organ (harmonica) and what is the best way to do so?
It is EXTREMELY easy to learn to play harmonica. Probably the easiest of all the popular instruments. The biggest advantage with this instrument is its size. You can carry it anywhere in your pocket, and even if you're playing it for the first time, no matter what you play, it will sound good. Unless you start playing it like a madman. :)Now, there are many ways to learn harmonica, and there are many brilliant articles about it on the internet, even here on this site. They provide an expert opinion on this, so you might wanna have a glance there. Here, I'll just tell you how I learned to play.For the first week or so after buying the harmonica, I just played around with it, playing random tunes with random notes, and pretended I was a musical genius. I might not have produced any award winning tunes, but I did get a basic idea about the anatomy of the instrument. Then I turned towards the internet for some basic tutorials, and found some pretty amazing ones too. On one such tutorial, I learned my first tune, which was "When The Saints Come Marching In". It's a very easy song to play, so you might wanna start there, or anywhere else you like. It's your choice. Whatever song you pick, be sure to learn it completely. Don't leave it incomplete. You can search for the tabs for your song on the internet too. Once you've mastered a song, any song, no matter how easy it is, you move on to the next. After a few easy songs, search for tabs for different songs you like. You won't find them for every one of them, but if you like songs from the 60s, 70s and 80s, chances are, you'll find them.See the tabs, try to play. If you can, perfect. If not, fret not, and move on to another. If you don't even want to do that much work, just play around with it. Go out in the balcony on a cold, silent night, or just while sitting in a park or while laying on your bed, and play your heart out. Like I said, even if you don't know how to play, it will still probably sound good. With time, it will definitely sound good. :)
Do you think it’s necessary for children to learn to play a musical instrument?
Absolutely, and here is why:It might end up that your child is not talented in music, or might end up being outstanding in music. You will never know unless you give your child an opportunity to try it.Most people think French, Spanish, German, etc, are other languages and miss the fact that Sign Language and Music are also other languages. But music is quite special. It is a language everyone can understand, but few people speak! Learning to speak music, regardless of the instrument used, is an outstanding skill.Music also helps children develop math skills, quick thinking, and creativity. Understanding the relationship between musical notes and chords is pure math and subconsciously hones math skills. Since musicians (as everyone else) do make mistakes while playing, the learn how to correct those mistakes quickly, helping them develop quick thinking. And having notes and chords to play with and combine, is like a painter’s palette, but instead of creating a painting, you are creating music.There is a myth that children must be talented in music to play music. That is true of people who don’t know how to read music. What they need is to love music, have a basic sense of “tempo” and “rhythm”, and learning to read music well. With that you can perform anywhere. True; nuances, expression, and other details might be missing, but you will be able to play.Finally, as with painting, sculpting, dancing, and any other art, music fills your spirit and adds to your humanity. What a legacy for children to be able to have all of the above!