Links
All Styles
GuitarTuna is my current favourite free tuning app. (in spite of the annoying ads!). GuitarTuna also includes a useful metronome, a chord library, and various games to help you learn to play chords and identify them by ear.
The Fifth Fret Method: Guitar students should also learn to tune their guitar in the ‘old-fashioned’ way using the ‘fifth-fret method’.
www.sheetmusicdirect.com This is the best place to get hold of the official, i.e. accurate tabs. to songs. You’ll need to pay for each tab, and the artist gets paid a royalty for every download.
Guitar Pro is a great program for the more advanced guitarist. It allows musicians to read, write and share their notation/tablature.
YouTube I encourage students to supplement their guitar lessons by watching and learning from guitarists on YouTube. If a student wants to learn the chords or solo of a particular song, the chances are that some helpful person has already posted up a YouTube video showing how it’s done. YouTube also includes a useful tool to adjust the playback speed, which enables you to slow down the tempo to help figure out and copy the guitar part.
Classical Guitar
Delcamp This site provides a large library of free classical guitar music, with many of the pieces accompanied by video links.
Classical Guitar info/history, etc Click on this link to find out about the history of the classical guitar
Boije Collection This site is basically a gargantuan library of 19th century guitar music, and it’s all free!
Rock Guitar – Songs and Tablature
www.e-chords.com This is one of the best sites for finding the chords and tabs for songs.
www.learn-acoustic-guitar.com This is a useful site, especially for acoustic guitarists looking for easy beginner songs.
Theory
www.musictheory.net This site provides a good introduction to theory. There is also a note trainer that teaches the notes on the guitar and an ear trainer for intervals, chords and scales.
Ear Training
tonedear.com Don’t neglect your ears; they are the musician’s best friend! This free site will help develop your aural skills.
Interval Song Chart This webpage is great for giving interval mnemonics to well-known songs (YouTube links are included).
e-musicmaestro.com This site provides online training to improve aural skills in preparation for music exams.
Chet is my favourite ear-training app. At the moment, however, it is only available for IOS devices (I use it on my iPad and love it!)
Chord Finder
www.chordfind.com or www.all-guitar-chords.com Visit either of these sites if you need to find a chord.
A Free Online Metronome
metronome-online A metronome is a useful device that makes a ticking sound that can be adjusted to keep time to the pulse of the music. The one is simple and works well.
Guitar Ensemble
Derek Hasted has created a great site dedicated to classical guitar ensemble.
Forrest Guitar Ensembles ‘offers a range of music composed or transcribed for guitars and other instruments. It encompasses a range of styles and levels including guitar ensembles for schools, amateur groups and for more advanced performers.’ Most of the pieces on it are now free PDF downloads. I’ve tried a number of these pieces in my own ensemble groups and can honestly say that they are all of an excellent quality. Highly recommended!
Playing by Ear – Transcribing from recordings
Transcribe! I’m sure you’ve heard amazing guitar recordings and thought, ‘I’d love to play that’. Unfortunately, the music is usually whizzing by too quickly to work out the notes and chords. Happily, this need no longer be a problem. ‘Transcribe!’ allows you to slow down a recording without altering the pitch. Once you’ve tamed the music by slowing it down, it becomes possible to work out the notes, chords and rhythms. The ability to transcribe by ear is highly prized by musicians, and this software will help you develop this essential skill. You can download ‘Transcribe!’ and use it for free for a 30-day evaluation period.
Audacity If you can’t afford the ‘Transcribe!’ program, you can download ‘Audacity’. Audacity is an easy-to-use, multi-track audio editor and recorder, which is absolutely free. It has many functions, one being the ability to slow down the tempo of a recording without affecting the pitch. It doesn’t do this quite so well as ‘Transcribe’, but it is still very good and won’t cost you a penny!
Improvisation
Band in a Box Visit this site to find out all about the wonderful Band in a Box program. Band-in-a-Box automatically generates a complete professional quality arrangement of piano, bass, drums, guitar and strings in a wide variety of popular styles. (Jazz, Pop, Country, Classical etc.). It does this and a great deal more. Teachers can use it to quickly generate backing tracks for students, while musicians will find it invaluable as a tool to develop improvisational skills.
Guitar Supplies
Strings By Mail This is the best place in the USA for strings, music, and other guitar-related supplies. Not only do they have the largest stock, but they also provide an excellent service.
Other Sites of Interest
Peter Ware Many people have commented on the amazing artwork in my books, an aspect that certainly puts Guitar Academy ahead of competing titles. The artist responsible for the high-quality line art illustrations and most of the artwork accompanying the individual tunes is Peter Ware. Peter has now retired, but an online portfolio of some of his work can be seen via this link.
www.andyparker-illustrator.co.uk I am often asked about Guitar Academy’s eye-catching cover artwork. The artist who created this is Andy Parker. More of his amazing artwork can be seen on his website.
www.cathyjudge.co.uk This is the website of my sister, who is a professional sculptor.
All Styles
GuitarTuna is my current favourite free tuning app. (in spite of the annoying ads!). GuitarTuna also includes a useful metronome, a chord library, and various games to help you learn to play chords and identify them by ear.
The Fifth Fret Method: Guitar students should also learn to tune their guitar in the ‘old-fashioned’ way using the ‘fifth-fret method’.
www.sheetmusicdirect.com This is the best place to get hold of the official, i.e. accurate tabs. to songs. You’ll need to pay for each tab, and the artist gets paid a royalty for every download.
Guitar Pro is a great program for the more advanced guitarist. It allows musicians to read, write and share their notation/tablature.
YouTube I encourage students to supplement their guitar lessons by watching and learning from guitarists on YouTube. If a student wants to learn the chords or solo of a particular song, the chances are that some helpful person has already posted up a YouTube video showing how it’s done. YouTube also includes a useful tool to adjust the playback speed, which enables you to slow down the tempo to help figure out and copy the guitar part.
Classical Guitar
Delcamp This site provides a large library of free classical guitar music, with many of the pieces accompanied by video links.
Classical Guitar info/history, etc Click on this link to find out about the history of the classical guitar
Boije Collection This site is basically a gargantuan library of 19th century guitar music, and it’s all free!
Rock Guitar – Songs and Tablature
www.e-chords.com This is one of the best sites for finding the chords and tabs for songs.
www.learn-acoustic-guitar.com This is a useful site, especially for acoustic guitarists looking for easy beginner songs.
Theory
www.musictheory.net This site provides a good introduction to theory. There is also a note trainer that teaches the notes on the guitar and an ear trainer for intervals, chords and scales.
Ear Training
tonedear.com Don’t neglect your ears; they are the musician’s best friend! This free site will help develop your aural skills.
Interval Song Chart This webpage is great for giving interval mnemonics to well-known songs (YouTube links are included).
e-musicmaestro.com This site provides online training to improve aural skills in preparation for music exams.
Chet is my favourite ear-training app. At the moment, however, it is only available for IOS devices (I use it on my iPad and love it!)
Chord Finder
www.chordfind.com or www.all-guitar-chords.com Visit either of these sites if you need to find a chord.
A Free Online Metronome
metronome-online A metronome is a useful device that makes a ticking sound that can be adjusted to keep time to the pulse of the music. The one is simple and works well.
Guitar Ensemble
Derek Hasted has created a great site dedicated to classical guitar ensemble.
Forrest Guitar Ensembles ‘offers a range of music composed or transcribed for guitars and other instruments. It encompasses a range of styles and levels including guitar ensembles for schools, amateur groups and for more advanced performers.’ Most of the pieces on it are now free PDF downloads. I’ve tried a number of these pieces in my own ensemble groups and can honestly say that they are all of an excellent quality. Highly recommended!
Playing by Ear – Transcribing from recordings
Transcribe! I’m sure you’ve heard amazing guitar recordings and thought, ‘I’d love to play that’. Unfortunately, the music is usually whizzing by too quickly to work out the notes and chords. Happily, this need no longer be a problem. ‘Transcribe!’ allows you to slow down a recording without altering the pitch. Once you’ve tamed the music by slowing it down, it becomes possible to work out the notes, chords and rhythms. The ability to transcribe by ear is highly prized by musicians, and this software will help you develop this essential skill. You can download ‘Transcribe!’ and use it for free for a 30-day evaluation period.
Audacity If you can’t afford the ‘Transcribe!’ program, you can download ‘Audacity’. Audacity is an easy-to-use, multi-track audio editor and recorder, which is absolutely free. It has many functions, one being the ability to slow down the tempo of a recording without affecting the pitch. It doesn’t do this quite so well as ‘Transcribe’, but it is still very good and won’t cost you a penny!
Improvisation
Band in a Box Visit this site to find out all about the wonderful Band in a Box program. Band-in-a-Box automatically generates a complete professional quality arrangement of piano, bass, drums, guitar and strings in a wide variety of popular styles. (Jazz, Pop, Country, Classical etc.). It does this and a great deal more. Teachers can use it to quickly generate backing tracks for students, while musicians will find it invaluable as a tool to develop improvisational skills.
Other Sites of Interest
Peter Ware Many people have commented on the amazing artwork in my books, an aspect that certainly puts Guitar Academy ahead of competing titles. The artist responsible for the high-quality line art illustrations and most of the artwork accompanying the individual tunes is Peter Ware. Peter has now retired, but an online portfolio of some of his work can be seen via this link.
www.andyparker-illustrator.co.uk I am often asked about Guitar Academy’s eye-catching cover artwork. The artist who created this is Andy Parker. More of his amazing artwork can be seen on his website.
www.cathyjudge.co.uk This is the website of my sister who is a professional sculptor.
