No Tuner? No Problem! How to Tune Your Guitar to Itself Like a Pro

Hey guys, Brad Litton from SimpleGuitar.com. This blog post transcribes my YouTube lesson on what to do when you need to tune and you don't have a tuner — dead battery, left it at home, whatever.

This is one of the most essential skills every guitar player needs. At least get the guitar in tune with itself.

You can do this. Not as bad as you think.

First: Strum a Chord and Listen

Pick up the guitar. Strum something you know — I like E a lot of the time, or G. Does any of it sound off? Pick through the strings one at a time. Sometimes it's obvious. Sometimes it's just a little out.

That takes ear time to develop. So we use a reference pitch and tune the guitar to itself. All six strings agree with each other. That doesn't always mean they're at concert pitch — if your A is a little off A, the guitar can still sound good with itself.

I usually pick the A string as home base. Sometimes the E. Whatever works.

Fif...

How to Change Your Guitar Strings For Beginners

Hey guys, Brad Litton from SimpleGuitar.com. This blog post transcribes my YouTube lesson on changing strings if you've never done it. You're not going to hurt anything. It needs to happen regularly, and you can do it yourself.

I demoed this on an old acoustic. Floyd Rose / locking nut and Bigsby are a different animal — I don't have a magic Bigsby trick. What I'm showing works for pretty much any regular acoustic or electric. You just need to know how the strings go in at the bridge.

Tools

• New strings
• A string winder (the notch on the end pops acoustic bridge pins)
• Wire cutters

I like light strings. On acoustics I use .010s. On electrics I like .007s and .008s. I used to play super heavy. Lighter is easier.

Step 1: Take the Old Strings Off

Loosen all the strings with the winder (or a drill attachment if you have one). Get them off.

Taking all the strings off is not going to ruin your neck if you're not leaving it that wa...

How to Use the Tone & Volume Knobs on Your Guitar for Beginners

Hey guys, Brad Litton from SimpleGuitar.com. This blog post transcribes my YouTube lesson on what the knobs on your guitar actually do — volume and tone — on a Les Paul–style guitar and on a Strat-style guitar.

"Pot" is just short for potentiometer. We call them pots.

Volume Knobs (Les Paul Style)

On a dual-humbucker Les Paul–style guitar you typically get:

• A volume for the neck pickup
• A volume for the bridge pickup
• A tone for each

On a good amp — especially a tube amp — the guitar's volume knob changes the tone, not just loudness. All the way up is fuller. Rolling it back thins it out, can get more "raw." You can go almost nothing, or crank it.

If you're on the middle pickup position (both pickups), both volume knobs affect the blend. You can have the neck rolled down and the bridge up, then bring the neck up to mix.

Use volume knobs to shape the sound, whichever pickup you're on.

Tone Knobs = High Frequ...

Are You Using the Right Pickup? How to Use the Pickup Selector on Your Guitar for Beginners

Hey guys, Brad Litton from SimpleGuitar.com. This blog post transcribes my YouTube lesson on the three-way switch on a Les Paul–style dual-humbucker guitar — any brand, same idea.

The switch chooses which pickup is hearing the strings and sending that to the amp. Each pickup has its own sound.

What the Labels Say

On a real Les Paul:

• Rhythm (one end of the switch) = neck pickup
• Treble (the other end; some people say "lead") = bridge pickup
• Middle = both

Why Those Labels Are Backwards for Rock

Les Paul was a jazz player. Jazz tones are a different world from rock, blues, metal.

In high school jazz band I left it on Rhythm (neck) for chording and it sounded great.

In a rock band, neck pickup for crunchy rhythm can get muddy — not crisp. Bridge pickup for lead can sound thin and weak.

Flip It for Popular Music

Lead: try the neck pickup. Creamy, juicy, smooth. That's often what yo...

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Today's guitar lesson for beginners is a Guitar Pro 8 Q&A Tutorial that goes through a lot of the questions that I've been getting about using Guitar Pro 8 on other videos. Guitar Pro 8 is still my favorite tool for transcribing songs & learning songs & I use it regularly in lessons & classes with students. So today we're going to look at a lot of different features in GP8 like how to use the metronome, transcribing different phrasing elements like hammer ons and pull offs, and more. Hope it helps you out! If you have any more questions about Guitar Pro 8, let me know in the comments!

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Today's beginner guitar lesson is a Guitar Pro 8 tutorial for beginners where we're going to just scratch the surface of what you can do in Guitar Pro 8 to make learning guitar easier. Hey guys, Brad Litton from SimpleGuitar.com here with another beginner guitar lesson for you about this super useful guitar notation software that also works as a super useful learning & practice tool. In today's Guitar Pro 8 101 lesson we're going to go over some of the very basics of how to use Guitar Pro 8, how the interface works, some of the basic functions, etc. If you have any questions about specific things you can do within Guitar Pro 8, make sure to leave a comment & let me know so I can make future videos helping you out.

✅✅ ►► You deserve to feel like a rock star even if you're just starting out. Download my FREE guide on The Top 10 Things to Learn on Guitar First to start making real music on guitar faster (this is not for you if you would rather learn more boring exercises) → http://si...

What are the best electric guitar strings for beginners? Good question! And that's what we're covering in today's guitar lesson for beginners. Hey guys, Brad Litton from SimpleGuitar.com here with another beginner guitar lesson for you. There's been a lot of controversy over the years about string gauges & which sounds best. When I was first learning I always heard that "thicker strings mean better tone", but that's just not true. Your tone has far more to do with how you play & hold the guitar, the electronics in your guitar, & especially your amp. However, thicker strings WILL make your tone darker. Lighter strings will make your tone tighter & brighter. So if you're playing in a band or recording, lighter strings will cut through a mix more easily. On top of that, lighter strings are far easier to play as they require much less effort. So my recommendation for my students is to get the lightest strings you can. I currently play 7 gauge strings on my electrics & playing is so easy...

Today's guitar lesson for beginners is about how to get songs performance ready faster. Hey guys, Brad Litton from SimpleGuitar.com with another beginner guitar lesson for you about how to make songs sound finished & polished so that they're ready to play for people. Whether it's songs that you're learning that other people have written or you're writing your own songs, getting them polished & ready to perform is not going to be that hard. The trick is focusing not just on each section of the song, but also on the transitions between each section of the song. If you can smooth that out, then that is going to make your songs sound good whether you're playing acoustic guitar or electric guitar. Thanks a ton for watching this video. It really means a lot to me & I hope it helps you out!

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