Remember the Beatles song? The reminder is for reviewing a Website called Guitar.about.com for everything on Guitar.
’Music has charms to soothe a savage breast’(and I am not an exception).
The Proverb from the play by William Congreve takes me back to my college years. Being an ordinary music listener who would care little to spend some time on watching Music Channel, Listening to Radio. Buying Audiocassettes or CD’s was a remote possibility. I was just a passerby in the music department.
Then came an eye opener. Having a truck load of studies to do with exams, attending Coaching Classes, pressure of performing. I was getting exhausted and the depression started creeping in. I wasn’t being able to get over it.
One day I somehow listened to ‘Comfortably Numb’ by Pink Floyd and was deeply affected by the song, especially two Guitar solos By David Gilmour in that song. The Guitar added so much of emotion to the song I couldn’t stop myself from listening to some more by Pink Floyd. There I started realizing the importance of Music in our lives and was getting attracted towards the instrument, Guitar. I started doing things, which a typical music fan would do, i. e. listen to some more music. I bought all artists I could from Led Zeppelin to Metallica. The passion for the guitar was endless and nameless.
I spoke to myself, where do I go from here? I wanted to do something more to expand my interest in music. Fortunately soon I got an opportunity to get my hands on a cheap acoustic guitar. Not knowing how to play was the obvious thing. But the main problem was that I had no time to go to coaching classes to take lessons in guitar from a professional players.
I was not ready to give up that easily. I turned over to Internet and Google did not disappoint me, the website was right up there. After consistently using the website for over one year and taking all the beginners lessons, I can say I know Guitar. I am not boasting, all I mean is I know what it takes to play Stairway To Heaven (Led Zeppelin), What are Blues Lead Techniques, soloing and so on. All Credit to my master Guitar.about.com.
I hope the protracted background didn’t bore you. But the intense liking, respect for the website couldn’t stop me from over-writing. It is virtually impossible to write a detail description of the contents of this huge website. So I will mainly discuses the website from the beginner’s point of view and mostly cover those aspects of the site which I could make use of (and still using).
Guitar.about.com is a part of About.com network run by Dan Cross, a professional guitar player and a trainer. (I hope every one of you are aware of irritating about.com pop up advertisements coming every time you visit websites supporting about.com.(eg: baazee.com)). Anyway that’s beside the point. The site contains comprehensive environment built by the guide including Guitar Tabs, Beginners Lessons, Daily Mp3’s Articles Archive, designed to allow guitarists to share their opinions of specific guitars with others, Forums, Chat, Free Newsletter and much more.
I will divide the homepage in to Subject, Other subdivided in to In the Spotlight, Sponsored Links, related Links From About.com, Search Box, Advertisements.
Most Important is Subject.
Subject:
Contains links to Guitar Tabs and Bass Tabs for most of the famous songs.
Lyrics to songs can be found here.
Brand of Guitars, Amplifiers, Effect Pedals, Strings, Tab Software(eg.: Chord Generators) links are for potential buyers of guitars and related products from standard renowned guitar products makers Fender, Gibson.
Pictures of guitars, Clip Art can be found from various websites listed.
Many legal Mp3’s of songs by famous artists like Neil Young and many more are available for download. I guarantee they are a veritable feast for music lovers.
Links of Practice Tools, Repairs, Gear Reviews will help increase your technical or hardware knowledge about Guitars.
There is a section on Guitar Players, Guitarist’s Gear, Local Guitarists which gives information about famous guitar players including Kirk Hammet - Metallica, Slash – Guns N’ Roses and their gears (meaning combinations of guitars, amplifiers, effects etc. they used for their songs, concerts.)
A small box with a header Essentials has links to Beginners Guitar Lessons, 100 Greatest Guitar Solos, Guitar review Archive, Acoustic and Electric Guitar Recommendations.
I strongly recommend you to check out 100 Greatest Guitar Solosranked on the basis of poll taken by Guitar World magazine. Try to listen to as many songs as you can of that list. Outstanding songs with out of the earth solos played by virtuoso guitarists are well listed here.
Most important of these links is the Lessons links. There are lessons for beginners as well as Advanced Players. Starts of from lesson 1 discussing different parts of guitars and general tips on setting practice schedule. Then Lesson 2-3-4 describes different Chords and basic Blues Scales. The good thing about the lessons is they provide a sample audio clip of the thing they teach you to play. So get an idea of how you should be playing or how much right you are playing. Then in each chord lesson there are song tabs given which use these chords. They are very easy to play and they give you confidence. I remember the joy I had when I first played John Denver’s Leaving on a Jet Plane. The Lessons get tougher and tabs get intricate as you go along. Everything is discussed with a down to Earth approach.
Other
Some 10 % part is occupied by relevant and sensible advertisements.
Finally In The Spotlight has new contents including articles, news which are updated regularly. Also get private lessons direct from Experts online! By paying nominal charges. Sponsored links listed also worth a visit. Trust me this a very brief description of the site the, a whole thick book is needed for the entire description of this fantastic website.
Many of us have a Hidden Desire, A Dream for playing guitar like all those legends, but let me tell you one thing, there is no crash course to learning guitar, it takes time, and when you are on your own there is a finite probability that you may give it up in between. But When Guitar.about.com is with you there is no feeling of being alone and on your own. So in my opinion anyone with a strong interest for learning, patience and passion will find it a piece of cake. Don’t worry about my depression thing I did well in exams.
Important: All interested and potential players Aim for playing all the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos.
