| |
| |
|
Music Information |
|
|
|
How To Change Your Guitar Strings
Changing your guitar strings might make you feel a litte uncomfortable if you have never done it before, but it's really quite simple and should become a regular part of your guitar care routine. Before you do anything, first take time to make some personal observations such as: 1. Which way do you have to turn the tuning keys to tighten or loosen the strings? 2. How are the strings aligned from the nut to the bridge? 3. Which is the heaviest string? Taking mental notes will probably save you some frustration and make the job much easier. Below you will find some helpful steps to follow for changing your strings. Once you've changed your guitar strings a couple of times your confidence should begin to grow and you won't need to refer to these steps any longer. I like to remove all of the guitar strings in order to give my guitar a thorough cleaning, but you can remove and replace them one at a time if you prefer. Guitar Care and Maintenance Tools: - Needle-nose Plyers (to cut string ends) REMOVING THE STRINGS Acoustic Steel String Guitar- 1. Using the string winder , begin slowly loosening the string(s) until completely slack. 2. With the needle-nose plyers, carefully grab the string from the capstan (the part it winds around) and pull through the hole until it is free. 3. Taking the string winder again, use the cut-out at the end of it to grab the pin at the bridge. Gently pull the pin until it comes out of the hole. 4. Continue this process until all the strings are removed. 5. Clean guitar surface thoroughly. Classic Nylon String Guitar- Follow steps one and two above. When you come to step three, take your needle-nose plyers and carefully loosen the figure eight knot at the bridge. Pull the string free. Electric Guitar- Follow the same procedure as described for an acoustic steel string guitar. However, if you have an electric guitar with a movable bridge you may want to take it to your local music store and have them show you how to do it safely. If the bridge is moved from it's correct position you will not be able to tune your guitar after restringing it. RE-STRINGING YOUR GUITAR Acoustic Steel String Guitar- 1. Bend the ball end of the string slightly and place it inside the hole below the bridge. Some steel string guitars do not have pins. When this is the case, just pull the string throught the hole. 2. Line up the string with any grooves in the pin. Insert the pin into the hole, making sure it is secure. 3. Take the other end and insert into the hole on the capstan. 4. Pull the string through leaving a fair amount of slack between the capstan and the bridge. 5. Bend the string at the point it comes through the capstan to keep it secure. 6. Watching out for your eyes, begin turning the key with your left hand. Once you get it started it may be easier to use the string winder. (For safety reasons, you might want to cut off any excess string. I usually wait until after they're all on to do this). 7. As you are winding, apply some tension to the string with your right hand to help keep it taught. Make sure you are winding in the right direction! On the bass strings you will be winding counter-clockwise (away from you). On the treble strings you will go the opposite direction. 8. Continue to wind each string until all the slack is taken up. Do not worry about tuning yet. 9. Cut off all excess string length. Classic Nylon String Guitar- 1. Put the string through the top of the hole found just below the bridge. 2. Pull about 3 inches through. 3. Bringing the string up over the tie block, pass it underneath itself at the original point of entry. 4. Come down over the tie block again and wrap the end of the string around itself in a figure eight type pattern. 5. Insert the other end of the string down through the hole on the capstan. 6. Wrap the string around the back and then underneath itself in order to secure it in place. 7. As described above, begin turning the key with your left hand while maintaining some tension with the other until all the slack is taken up. With a classical guitar you will wind clockwise on the bass strings and the treble strings. 8. Keep the string as straight as possible as it continues from the capstan through the nut and down onto the neck. 9. You should not have any excess string length, but if you do, cut it off. Electric Guitar- Follow the same procedure as described for the acoustic steel string guitar. I hope you found this information to be helpful. Remember, establishing a good guitar care routine will insure many long years of musical fun and enjoyment! FREE Reprint Rights - You may publish this article in your e-zine or on your web site as long as you include the following information: Kathy Unruh is a singer/songwriter and webmaster of ABC Learn Guitar. She has been writing songs and providing guitar lessons to students of all ages for over 20 years. For free guitar lessons, plus tips and resources on songwriting, recording and creating a music career, please visit: http://www.abclearnguitar.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Music - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Dierks Bentley Brings The Heat From Nashville To The North! Dierks Bentley is more than meets the eye, but what does meet the eye is pretty darn hard not to look at. His presence is warm, inviting and you feel like you just sat down with an old friend. Legal Free Music Downloads - Songs You Want at No Cost It's all over the news these days. Download music from the Internet and you could be sued, fined, and/or go to jail. CD Clubs: How to Get the Best Deals Online (1) The BMG Music Service offers the best deal you'll find -- 11 CDs for the price of shipping ($2.79 each) when you buy one CD at full club price, which is typically about $15 plus shipping. Beginning Clarinet: The Very Start Like starting with any instrument, beginning clarinet is a process of learning that involves both great achievement and the occasional setback. However, if the beginning clarinetist follows a few tips relating to clarinet care and clarinet playing, the success is sure to outweigh the setbacks. Why You Cant Play Piano It's really not your fault. You see, you've been taught that in order to play piano you need to first learn how to read music, and second, play other peoples music. JOHN LENNON - The Man and His Times John Lennon wasn't always my favorite Beatle; at first it was Paul. But gradually, over a period of time, it was John Lennon who won my heart. What is Piano GHD Syndrome? Do you remember the movie, Groundhog Day? In this wonderful movie, TV weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) relives the same day - Groundhog Day, over and over and over again. No matter what he does, he wakes up the next morning and it is once again Groundhog Day. Are iPods Changing the Way We Listen to Music They're everywhere, and not only are they everywhere, they look cool too. Since its launch in 2001, 10 million have sold and 8 million of those were in 2004. Spectral Muses Revisited: The Channeled Melodies of Rosemary Brown Rosemary Brown (1916-2001) was a middle-aged South London widow, making ends meet as a grade school kitchen assistant, who rocketed to international fame in 1968 through a BBC broadcast recounting her purported collaborations with long-dead composers. These included Liszt, J. Greg Koch Fender Guitar History The Greg Koch Fender guitar began to take shapeall the way back when Greg Koch was in the thirdgrade. Greg cut out cardboard Fender Stratocasterguitars, then Koch used his sisters sewing machinepedal as a wah-wah. Songs Await Singer I Want To Grow Old With You (C)Chorus: I want to grow old with you.. Irish Fiddle Ornaments When I started playing jigs, my default bowing pattern made a groove like Pop Goes the Weasel: "Long-short, long-short, muberry bush, the long-short, long-short weasel."And that still works for me without having to think about it. Jealous Again - Jealousy Among Musicians Jealousy - do you feel it? Do you sense it in others? Does it hinder your relationships with other musicians? Does it sap your confidence? Does it block your creativity? Here are some questions to help you get clearer about the jealousy in your life.1. Guitar Players...Get a Balanced Guitar Practice Diet Do you have a wide variety of things that you practice. Or do you like to binge? (You know. Piano Lessons and Perfectionism Are you a perfectionist? Does every note have to sound right before it comes out of your piano? If so, you might be cheating yourself out of the joy of music making. Most of us learned how to be perfectionists as children, trying to please Mommy or Daddy. 3 Secrets To Understanding What Makes Music Tick It's no secret that virtually everyone loves music in some form or other. After all, music is the universal language. Open Position Piano Chords - Perfect for the New Age Style The Open Position Chord (OPC) allows you to create a vented sound. A sound that is open, literally, as opposed to the closed triads taught in most course books. New M3 with Competition Package The new competition package available for the BMW M3 is almost sad as it is wonderful. With everyone knowing of the strong rumors of the M3's power plant changing to a V8, it's almost heart breaking to think about the legendary straight 6 cylinder being laid to rest. ADIRONDACK versus SITKA SPRUCE Both of these timbers make great soundboards on flat top acoustic guitars. They have had popularity at different times in history heres the story so far. 3 Quick & Easy Steps To Playing Music by Ear Playing by ear is the ability to play a piece of music (or, eventually, learn an instrument) by simply listening to it repeatedly. The majority of self-taught musicians began their education this way; they picked up their instrument and began playing an easy melody from a well-known song, slowly picking out the notes as they went along.
|
|
Articles Home Page | Site Map | Main Site Home Page GETsonic | TrafficFish | Games | YaZoW | Freebies | WildThingsDesigns | Mp3mama
|
|
| © 2008 |
