GUITARHABITS

Free Quality Guitar Lessons

Best Music Documentaries for Guitar Players

By 13 Comments

Every now and then I watch a good music documentary or movie to enjoy the incredible stories behind the master guitar players and legendary bands.

The struggles, hardship and passion for playing is really inspiring and insightful for anyone who is a student of the guitar. Today we got a list for you with some of the best music documentaries. Witness the turbulent and expressive lives of these musicians. Follow their love for music, their eagerness, perseverance and lessons learned throughout their journey.

All the guitar players and songwriters faced their own challenges that led to the extraordinary musicians that they have ultimately become. A true pleasure to watch each and everyone of them. Pick your favorites from the list and enjoy.

Have a great one!

Stevie Ray Vaughan – Rise Of A Texas Bluesman – 2014 (Youtube)
A docu on American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer Stevie Ray Vaughan, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock band Double Trouble. He is considered to be one of the most iconic and influential musicians in the history of blues music, and one of the greatest guitarists of all time.

Acoustic Uprising (Youtube)
Acoustic Uprising tells the definitive story of Modern Acoustic Guitar, featuring interviews with world class FingerStyle guitarists from around the world, including Tommy Emmanuel, Kaki King, Newton Faulkner, Sungha Jung, Andy McKee and many more. These artists are renowned for their virtuosity on the ubiquitous acoustic guitar, taking the humble instrument to new heights of “astounding virtuosity”.

Keith Richards – Under influence (Netflix)
Under the Influence gives fans unparalleled access to one of the world’s greatest rock stars and the people and sounds that inspired rock ‘n’ roll legend Keith Richards.

Jimi Hendrix – By Those Who Knew Him Best (Youtube)
Jimi Hendrix is unquestionably the greatest guitarist to have emerged during the rock era. This documentary contains exclusive interviews with his closest friends, associates and fellow musicians, which finally reveals what was behind the greatest musical talent of our time.

Eric Clapton – Standing At The Crossroads Documentary (Youtube)
In this documentary feature Eric Clapton is interviewed in depth with contributions from Keith Richards, John Mayall, The Yardbirds, Jack Bruce and many more. It is THE definitive Clapton biography.

Paco de Lucia Documentary (Youtube)
A beautiful portrait of Paco de Lucia. A Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist, composer, and record producer. A leading proponent of the new flamenco style, he was one of the first flamenco guitarists to branch into classical and jazz.

Continue Reading

Top 25 Contemporary Singer Songwriter Acoustic Guitar Songs

By 7 Comments

Photo by Nova.ie
What a title huh? Well, today I would like to share a list with beautiful acoustic guitar songs from contemporary singer songwriters. We all know the songs of the great singer songwriters like Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen, so I thought it would be nice for a change to put together a list with the next generation of singer songwriters.

Don’t get hung up on the order of this list, nor the incompleteness. I know that the amount of singer songwriters that can be added to this list is infinite, so I hope you put your recommendations in the comments below. There is one rule though, they need to be guitar players :)

The list is here to inspire and give you some wonderful songs to explore, to listen to, study and practice.

Some of the artists in this list you might already be familiar with, others may be new to you. A good reason to check out these great songs, guitars and voices. Get yourself a cup of coffee, pick out your favourites, and start playing!

Note: Each song title contains a YouTube link. The “Chords” link will take you to the chords and lyrics or tabs and the “More Chords” link will show you the official transcribed chords if you want to learn more songs of the artist concerned.

Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Enjoy!

1 – Scientist – Chris Martin (Coldplay) – Chords – More Chords

2 – Daughters – John Mayer – Chords – More Chords

3 – Cannonball – Damien Rice – Chords – More Chords

4 – New york New york – Ryan Adams – Chords – More Chords

5 – Strong enough – Sheryl Crow – Chords – More Chords

6 – Falling Slowly – Glen Hansard – Chords – More Chords

7 – I’m yours – Jason Mraz – Chords – More Chords

8 – Trouble – Ray LaMontagne – Chords – More Chords

9 – A team – Ed Sheeran – Chords – More Chords

10 – Better together – Jack Johnson – Chords – More Chords

11 – Dream catch me – Newton Faulkner – Chords – More Chords

12 – Cinder and smoke – Iron and Wine – Chords – More Chords

13 – Wildfire – Laura Marling – Chords

14 – Heartbeat – Jose Gonzalez – Chords

15 – Follow the sun – Xavier Rudd – Chords

16 – So beautiful – Pete Murray – Chords

17 – Good man – Josh Ritter – Chords

18 – Sideways – Citizen Cope – Chords

19 – Black river – Amos Lee – Chords

20 – Free – Donavon Frankenreiter – Chords

21 – Diamonds on the inside – Ben Harper – Chords

22 – Sunshine – Matt Costa – Chords

23 – I love the rain the most – Joe Purdy – Chords

24 – One moment more – Mindy Smith – Chords

25 – Another day – Bertolf – Chords

Do you know a great guitar song from a contemporary singer songwriter. Please share in the comments. I’d really appreciate it.

Don’t forget to practice ;)

Have a great weekend!

Top 4 Best Singing Lessons for Musicians

By 6 Comments

top 4 best singing lessons for musicians

Most musicians love to sing along to the songs they play on their guitar or any other instrument. Some guitar players focus entirely and solely on their instrument and that’s perfect, but there’s also the breed who loves to sing and play their hearts out. Even if you’re not, you definitely want to read on.

Most of us are not naturally born singers, and even if you are, you can always use some help to improve your singing voice and work to become a better singer / guitar player.

A lot of musicians just think they don’t have what it takes and they can’t do anything about it. They just throw in the towels and accept they aren’t really the singer type.

But that’s where they are wrong, you can definitely work to become a better singer, a good singer, and some even become great singers. But good is good enough.

How great is it to play your instrument and sing to your songs with confidence. Singing along with your instrument adds an extra dimension to the experience. You now have two instruments (your voice is also an instrument) that complement each other.

Learning to sing also helps you improve your playing, because playing guitar is all about listening and aural skills and that’s what you develop with singing lessons.

The most common problems people face are “problems with pitch”, “the crack in the voice” when going from chest voice to head voice, “singing higher notes” and “losing the voice” due to using of the voice in the wrong way. Most people also don’t know there are simple and easy ways to start improving the voice in a real short amount of time.

Continue Reading

12 Keys How to Write Better Songs

By 26 Comments

photo by pedrosimoes7
writing-by-pedrosimoes7-1Song writing is an evolving process. I learned that with every song I write there is improvement.

It is just a matter of writing and playing, writing and playing and so on. You learn while you practice doing what you love most.

Like everything else in life it is all about enjoying the path you walk on and not so about arriving at a certain destination.

The destination must not be your main goal. Don’t focus on success, focus on a beautiful song.

The success you achieve or the happiness you experience from arriving at your destination isn’t lasting, the path is. So make sure you have fun and create a passion for writing while doing it.

It is important to live life, listen and read a lot. Be aware of what you experience and take notice of the things around you. Figure out what is still lacking in your writing and where you can improve.

There is always room for improvement and that is the beauty of it. Then again don’t aim for perfection, but aim for completion. Better an imperfect song finished that a perfect song unfinished.

If you are already familiar with the basics of how to write a song then here are 12 keys to improve your skills to write better songs: Continue Reading