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  • Guitar Buying on a Budget: How to Find Hidden Gems

    Guitar Buying on a Budget: How to Find Hidden Gems

    I dream of someday having the money to walk into a guitar store, point at a guitar high up on the wall (you know the ones), and hand over my debit card without breaking a sweat.

    Until that day happens, the price tag matters.

    If you’re like me and still not independently wealthy (despite wishing really hard), you’ll be guitar shopping on a budget for the foreseeable future too.

    And that means you want your dollar to stretch as far as it can.

    The good news is that you can find good deals on quality gear. But how do you do it? What are the tips and tricks? How can you get solid, playable gear while on a tight budget?

    Here are five strategies to get you there.

    Sleep on it

    It’s important to remind ourselves often that guitars are a luxury. We don’t really need them; as strange as it sounds, billions of people have lived fulfilling lives without them (I know — I don’t get it either).

    That truth, as uncomfortable as it is, can help us. Even though we might feel an incredible urge to buy a specific guitar after watching a YouTube demo (or 10…okay, 50), we don’t ever need to make a purchase right away.

    This can help us avoid overpaying because of our emotions. At the very least, if you plan on buying a guitar, sleep on it. Maybe even put it in the back of your mind for a week or a month.

    I’ve found that for most guitars, my interest level waned considerably after sitting on the idea for a few days.

    In fact, I’ve probably saved more money not impulse buying guitars than by any of the other strategies below — combined.

    Research, research, research

    But say you’ve got a guitar living rent free in your head. You’ve slept on it, considered it, and you still really, really want it. (Don’t feel bad; I’ve got two of ’em right now.)

    At this point, it’s time to research.

    What exactly is it about this guitar that piques your interest? Is it the color? The pickups? The carve of the neck?

    Moreover, are you in love with just the style or look of the guitar, or does it matter what brand it is? Is there a certain production year or years you’re looking for? Do you want to mod the guitar in any way? Are there any defects you are willing to live with or that won’t bother you (or that you can easily fix)?

    Additionally, what do other guitarists who own the guitar say about it? What are its pros and cons? Are there mods that everyone seems to do, and if so, why might that be the case?

    Furthermore, how much does it cost? What are similar models selling for on the open market? Are you in a buyer’s or seller’s market, and might things change in a few months?

    The more information you can gather, the better. The more you can dial in exactly what you’re looking for, what the consensus about the guitar is, and what prices the market will bear, the better you are setting yourself up to find and pounce on the right deal at the right time.

    Consider lesser-known or less expensive brands

    Even if you do have your heart set on a very particular guitar, if you’re open to it, you can find some great deals for lesser-known brands.

    If you are dying for a Stratocaster, it’s worth checking out the Godin Progression, for example. Or you just might find a comparable G&L on Reverb that could be just as good as a Fender.

    Likewise, if you have your eyes set on a Gibson SG, you can do yourself a favor by trying out a similar Epiphone model. You could end up walking out of Guitar Center with a $400 guitar that you liked better than the $2,000 one you thought you wanted. (Or maybe not, but the point is it’s free to try, so what’s there to lose?)

    The downside here is the resale value. The reality is Fender, Gibson, and PRS are going to hold their value better over time than other, less common or less expensive brands. It’s just the nature of the beast.

    So if resale value is important to you, this may not be the best route to take. But if you’re willing to potentially lose a little on the back end, it’s a great strategy to spend less.

    Buy used

    This is the no-brainer tip. Buying used is almost always cheaper than buying new.

    I have had a great deal of luck buying used over the years. I’ve bought multiple “used” guitars — at used prices — that, for all intents and purposes, were new. Some of them still even had the original plastic covering the pickguard, tuners, etc.

    There are also some real clunkers on the market, of course. But if you have a discerning eye and are willing to be patient, you can find amazing used guitars at amazing prices.

    Ask for a discount

    YouTuber Phillip McKnight (if you don’t subscribe to his channel, seriously — just do it) recommends that anytime you buy a guitar, ask for a discount. It doesn’t hurt, and as long as you are respectful about it, the seller just might say yes.

    In fact, a lot of sellers are willing to cover sales tax or give you a 10 percent discount just to get the guitar out the door.

    Obviously, you don’t want to be silly about it — no one is going to knock 50 percent off their advertised price. But it is possible to save a little scratch just by asking. And even if it’s only $50, that’s still $50 in your pocket!

    There are always deals to be had

    Buying guitars on a budget is doable. And there is always another deal. If you know how to look, you can amass a very nice collection without breaking the bank. But it does require patience, knowing your stuff, being willing to expand your options, and a bit of boldness.

    What are your tips for guitar buying on a budget? What have you found that works that I didn’t cover? Let us know in the comments.

  • Do You Need to Use an FX Loop?

    Do You Need to Use an FX Loop?

    Go get your amp right now. I’ll wait.

    Okay, now turn it around and look at the back. Do you see a pair of 1/4” input jacks with the words “send” and “return” next to them?

    If so, congrats! You are the proud owner of an FX loop! …Except, what the heck is an FX loop?

    If you’re like me, an FX loop is an enigma wrapped in a mystery. For a long time, I knew they existed but had no idea why. Send what? Return how? I had an idea you were supposed to plug some pedals into it, but I always ran my pedals straight into the amp with no problems. So what was I missing?

    Well, today we’re going to find out.

    A primer on FX loops

    In order to understand what an FX (or “effects”) loop is, you have to first understand how an amp is constructed. (This is important, I promise.)

    The key is this: your guitar amplifier is actually two amplifiers put together.

    When you plug a guitar into the front of an amp, you’re really plugging it into a preamp. This preamp takes your guitar’s signal, or instrument-level signal, which is very weak, and boosts it so that the second amplifier, the power amp, can make use of it. The power amp then takes this boosted, or line-level, signal and uses it to power the speaker(s) and produce sound.

    So, in simple terms:

    • The guitar inputs an instrument-level (weak) signal
    • The preamp converts it to a line-level (boosted) signal
    • The power amp turns the line-level signal into sound
    • Rocking out ensues

    This is where the FX loop comes in. It sits in between the preamp and the power amp and allows you to plug elements of your signal chain in the space between them.

    An amp with an FX loop, then, looks like this:

    • The guitar inputs an instrument-level (weak) signal
    • The preamp converts it to a line-level (boosted) signal
    • The FX loop adds effects to the line-level signal
    • The power amp turns the modified line-level signal into sound
    • Rocking out ensues

    So, why does that matter? It all comes down to distortion.

    When to use an FX loop

    Both the preamp and the power amp are capable of adding distortion to your signal. This is because, from a technical standpoint, distortion is the result of overloading.

    When you crank the gain on your amp but not the volume, you are overloading the preamp. When you dime the volume without turning up the gain dial, you are overloading the power amp. And you’ll get distortion either way.

    Of course, you can also get distortion by running an overdrive (or similar) pedal into your clean channel. But let’s say you prefer using the gain from your preamp (i.e., cranking the gain dial) instead because you prefer how it sounds.

    But while it might sound great, it can lead to a problem.

    This video shows the difference an FX loop can make.

    If you try to run a delay pedal into an overdriven amp, the resulting sound will be muddy and unclear. And the same thing will likely happen with other pedals — chorus, reverb, flanger, etc.

    But if you add these time-based effects pedals after the now-overloaded preamp — that is, add them to the FX loop — voila! Everything sounds crisp and clear again.

    So if you a) like to crank the gain on your amp and b) use delay, reverb, or modulation effects, the FX loop could be your best friend.

    How to use an FX loop

    Unfortunately, the standard terminology used by amplifier manufacturers is confusing. Most FX loops are labeled “send” and “return” (although Fender’s say “preamp” and “power amp”). But what do these terms mean?

    “Send” means you are sending the boosted signal from the preamp to your pedal(s) that you want in the FX loop.

    “Return” means you are returning the now-modified boosted signal to the power amp.

    With all that being said (finally!), here’s how to use your FX loop:

    1. Ensure all pedals in both chains (regular and FX loop) are connected to each other and a power source.
    2. Any pedals you don’t want to include in the FX loop (distortion, compression, wah, etc.) can be plugged into the main input jack on the front of the amp, just as you normally would.
    3. Next, plug the first pedal you want to be in the FX loop into the “send” input jack with a 1/4” cable.
    4. Then, run a second 1/4” cable from the “return” jack to the last pedal you want to be in the loop.

    Note that you’ll need two additional guitar cables (that is, a total of four cables) to make this work. Also, there is a small chance you could damage a pedal if it is not designed to handle a line-level signal, so it’s best to do a little research on your exact pedals before experimenting. (In full disclosure, a lot of resources I found had this warning, but not one provided a specific example of a pedal that could be damaged in this way. So who knows?)

    Cool things you can do with an FX loop

    An FX loop can clean up a muddy sound if you use it to run your delays and other time-based pedals. But it can do some other cool tricks too:

    • Plug a volume pedal into it to use as an attenuator. This allows you to crank the power amp at home without blowing out all your windows.
    • Plug in an EQ pedal to act as a boost for solos.
    • Plug in a noise gate if your preamp hisses.

    Like all things guitar, there is no right or wrong, only preference. You don’t have to use an FX loop at all. Or you can use it all the time. You can run some, all, or none of your pedals through it. In fact, you can try anything you want.

    So now that you know what an FX loop is and how to use it, why not give it a try? You might find a great tone you never thought possible before. If you do, let us know in the comments!

  • Why Your Stratocaster Sounds Better in E Flat

    Why Your Stratocaster Sounds Better in E Flat

    I’ve recently been trying to get my Rondo SX Stratocaster copy to sound and play better.

    I bought it because it definitely has “mojo” (if you play guitar, you know what I mean), but there were a few issues as well.

    After a lot of fiddling and a bit of fixing, I finally had it playing pretty decently. But it wasn’t until I lowered the tuning by a half-step — from E standard to E-flat standard — that the guitar felt and performed at its best.

    And it turns out, I’m not the only one to have noticed this. It’s a common observation that Stratocasters just work better in E-flat tuning.

    But why?

    While in my opinion there is always a bit of mystery when it comes to why any guitar plays or feels well, I’ve identified four reasons why I think tuning down makes so much sense when playing a Strat.

    (Note: To tune a guitar to E-flat, tune each string, starting with the lowest in pitch and ending with the highest, to the following notes: Eb-Ab-Db-Gb-Bb-Eb. The video below shows you how.)

    Tutorial for tuning a guitar to E-flat standard.

    Easier to fret and bend notes

    A Stratocaster and a Les Paul are two very different beasts. But for the purposes of our discussion, one of the main differences is scale length.

    If you don’t know, “scale length” refers to the distance between the nut and the bridge. It’s the total length of the vibrating portion of the string. A Strat has a 25.5” scale length, but a Les Paul is shorter at 24.75”.

    The upshot of this difference is you have to have more tension on Strat strings to bring them up to pitch than Les Paul strings. And when you have more tension on a string, it’s harder both to fret and bend notes. (If you don’t believe me, try playing a mandolin sometime; its strings are extremely taut. You’ll think rats were chewing on your fingertips by the time you’re done!)

    So what’s the solution? Reducing the tension by tuning each string down. If you have a Strat, try it and you’ll see it becomes much easier to play tuned down.

    Richer, deeper tones

    Another major difference between a Strat and a Les Paul is the pickup configuration. Many Strats have three single-coil pickups, while most Les Pauls feature two humbuckers.

    Single coils are great for particular sounds, but they can suffer from sounding a little thin. Down-tuning your Strat can help. Not only do the strings physically play a lower sound, but they vibrate more, too, resulting in a better tone with a little more low end.

    Now, will this make your Strat sound like it’s got a couple of Burstbuckers in it? Well, probably not, but it is likely going to be enough of a difference that you can notice it.

    Easier to sing over

    For most of its history, the guitar has (unfortunately) been a male-dominated instrument. And, of course, men tend to have a lower vocal range. This can be problematic when trying to sing over chords in standard tuning.

    Tuning your guitar down a semitone can help.

    Maybe (like me) you can’t hit a high E, but you can just manage a D sharp. Or for gigging or touring musicians, singing night after night can wear down your voice, and taking things down a half-step can save you some of that wear and tear.

    This could very well be one of the reasons Jimi Hendrix tuned down to E-flat. And often with live concerts, you’ll notice songs are up to a full step lower than the album version. Jon Bon Jovi is a great example — he just can’t sing those high notes anymore like he did in the 1980s.

    Tradition

    There’s one more reason why tuning a Strat down a half-step is a thing, especially in rock and blues music. Simply put, we do it because our heroes did it!

    A lot of the guitar greats of the past tuned down for some or all of their songs. The list includes Jimi Hendrix, SRV, Eric Johnson, Jeff Beck, Doyle Bramhall, and more.

    Unfortunately, we don’t always know why they chose to do this. Maybe they discovered (like I did) that it just sounded better. Maybe it better fit their vocal range. Maybe their heroes tuned down so they dutifully followed suit.

    Whatever the reasons, E-flat tuning is here to stay.

    So what do you think? Do you tune your Strat (or any other guitar) to E-flat standard? If so, why? What are the benefits and drawbacks?

    And if not, give it a try and see what you think. Let us know the results in the comments.

  • 5 Lessons I Learned from Joining a Band

    5 Lessons I Learned from Joining a Band

    I have been playing guitar for…let’s see…carry the one…27 years.

    That is a long time.

    I thought that after closing in on three decades, I had a pretty good grasp on all things guitar.

    Sure, I’m far from a professional, but as a solid intermediate player with experience, I can handle whatever comes my way, right?

    Well, yes and no.

    Fulfilling a bucket-list dream

    One aspect of guitar I had never done in all my years of playing was being in a band. Sure, I’ve played countless times in church, but I’ve never been in a legit rock-and-roll band.

    It was, in fact, a bucket-list item for me—something I thought I would not be able to do until my kids were grown. But then my friend Donn invited me to join his band. They needed a second/lead guitarist, and he wanted me.

    And so one day I was a nobody, and the next I was a full-fledged member of a local cover band, playing for upwards of 80 people at a small bar the next town over! (Super impressive, isn’t it?)

    While this has been a dream come true for me, I also found out quickly that there are still gaping holes in my knowledge and abilities as a guitarist. To that end, I want to share with you five things I learned preparing for and playing our first show — ideas you can put into practice too.

    Don’t neglect stage presence

    When I watched some video clips of the show, I noticed my body language — or lack thereof. To be fair, the stage was tiny and I had almost no space to move, but I still looked like a mannequin. None of the emotion in my soul made an appearance on my face or in my body.

    I’d never really considered my stage presence before. At church, it was never that big of a deal, since the goal of music in a religious service is to worship God, not rock out. Standing still is okay; roaming about the stage or jumping off things would be an irreverent distraction.

    But when I transferred my “church” playing style to a bar, I just looked dead and uninterested in what I was doing.

    I’m still learning on this front, but even something as simple as adopting a wider stance (a little past your comfort level) does wonders for stage presence. I’ve already learned that for myself, keeping my feet further apart, with one foot forward, not only enhances my look but helps me play with more emotion too.

    Use earplugs!

    I played my first show without earplugs. (The thought didn’t even enter into my mind.)

    This is a bad idea.

    I probably didn’t do any lasting damage to my hearing, but because of the stage setup, I was standing right next to two cranked guitar amps and a drum set. It was LOUD (Jim Marshall would have been proud). I can imagine that a steady diet of gigs would have a major impact on my ears.

    The next day I immediately bought some affordable, reusable earplugs. They came in a carrying case that I then attached to the handle of my amp with a carabiner, which ensures I will never forget them.

    My plan moving forward is to wear hearing protection at all future shows, whether I’m in the band or the audience.

    You don’t have to be an amazing musician to play for people

    When I joined my band, I didn’t exactly know what I’d be walking into.

    Would I be as good as the rest of the band, or would I be dragging them down with my (perceived) relative lack of musical ability? After all, I’d never been in a band before; how good was I really?

    As it turns out, I am totally good enough to be in a band — and likely so are you.

    The other guys in my band are at a similar level as I am. We all love playing and do our best, but we also all have day jobs, families, and other commitments. As a solidly intermediate player, I fit right in.

    So while I can’t reproduce or embody Yngwie, EVH, or Tim Henson, I can still play chords and licks and dabble in soloing, which is more than enough to be in a band. No expertise required!

    It turns out practice makes you better

    In the lead-up to joining the band, I had to learn a lot of songs quickly. I ended up carving out about an hour per day for practicing. (I usually spend 15 minutes per day if I’m lucky.)

    This extra practice time paid off in spades. Not only did I learn the setlist, but I almost immediately noticed an improvement in my overall playing. After just a month of concentrated effort, I was able to play things I previously couldn’t. I had a lot fewer “bad” playing days and a lot more “one with the guitar” experiences. I even think my ability to dial in a guitar tone has improved.

    Now that I’ve gotten up to speed on band material, I’m not spending quite as much time practicing, but I am still at a higher baseline than previously, which means I’m playing better than ever. I just needed a bit of external pressure to get me there.

    I should have done this a long time ago

    I always thought being in a band would be too much of a time commitment. I felt it would negatively impact my family life. That’s why I placed it in the “future dream” category.

    But then I joined a band where three of the four of us are dads. We all have family and work commitments. And you know what? We just work around them.

    So sure, we don’t practice together as much as we ought to, and we don’t play a ton of shows, but the tradeoff is this is what allows us to be a band at all. And honestly, it’s not that much of a scheduling issue anyway, especially since I’m now my own boss.

    Had I known how manageable being in a local band can be, I’d have done it a long time ago. The idea that you are “too busy” is likely an excuse, because the truth is we all find time for the things we prioritize in life.

    Joining a band has been a super rewarding experience for me, and if you have the chance, I’d say jump on it! Even so, you can still improve your own playing by learning from my example. Which one of these five things resonates with you? What else have you learned in a band setting that might help our community out? Let us know in the comments!

  • My Five Favorite Low-Cost Pieces of Guitar Gear

    My Five Favorite Low-Cost Pieces of Guitar Gear

    I love to nerd out on guitars. (No, really, Jon? We couldn’t tell.)

    I spend a lot of time learning about the industry, guitars, and gear, but the honest reality is I have a very limited budget. That means most of the cool gear I see out there will remain out of my reach — but thankfully, not quite all of it.

    Over the years, I’ve amassed a decent collection of mostly low- and mid-priced gear. And it turns out you can still find quality at this level.

    Here are my five favorite pieces of quality, low-cost gear that I’ve found. My hope is that this list gets your creative juices flowing and on the hunt for yourself.

    My TC Electronic looper pedal

    Arguably the most useful tool in my arsenal is my looper pedal. I’ve written about this before, but the gist of it is it’s a great tool that helps me practice and grow as a musician.

    If you don’t know, a looper is basically a device that automatically plays back whatever you record with it on infinite repeat. I have one of the most basic loopers out there, the Ditto by TC Electronic. But with just one button and one knob, it does everything I need it do to.

    It allows me to practice soloing by laying down a chord progression. It allows me to practice my composition skills by giving me a platform to create songs with multiple parts on the fly. It even helps me work on playing in time.

    It’s a great practice tool, especially when you are by yourself, and if I were a better player, I could do some amazing live stuff, like this:

    I’m not a huge Ed Sheeran fan, but you can’t deny his talent.

    My Epiphone SG Pro

    As of July 2022, I have a new favorite guitar: my Epiphone SG Pro.

    I’d actually never owned an SG before, but the more I play it, the more I like it. It’s lightweight, and while it does suffer from neck dive (like most SGs), it’s not terrible and it doesn’t affect me while playing. It also has a Slim Taper neck, which is basically a very skinny D shape, and I find it to be very comfortable to play.

    And it just has the “mojo,” you know? I feel like I can play everything better on that guitar.

    I love it so much, in fact, that I’m thinking about how I might get my hands on a Gibson version. And for a guy who sticks to the ~$500 range when buying instruments, I think that’s saying something.

    Plus, I get to pretend I’m Angus Young (minus the schoolboy outfit) whenever I pick it up. (Hey, I might be in my 40s, but I still try to be a kid at heart.)

    This review features an Epiphone SG that’s 99% identical to mine.

    My Joyo wireless transmitter system

    This is the newest entrant on my list of favorite gear, but it’s already a game-changer.

    For my entire musical life, I’ve used a cable. For most of that time, it was the only option. Only touring bands used a wireless setup; there simply was no option for a wireless signal chain for the at-home player.

    And then a year or two ago, I noticed a few people at church using Xvive wireless transmitters to run their signal from their guitar to their pedalboard. This was a new thing to me, so I decided to investigate.

    That’s when I learned that Xvive is very proud of their product — the set of dongles was close to $150! That was way above my comfort level for an optional product like this.

    But about a month ago, I decided to check out a cheaper alternative. I spent ~$35 on a transmitter system from Joyo. It works great, and it is amazing. I never realized how tethered I was to a certain spot — how my cable was in effect a ten-foot leash.

    As soon as I started going wireless, I felt a sense of freedom. I can now go wherever I want. I can move my feet and legs freely without tripping on a cord. I can sit on the couch and play at home or walk off the stage at practice to go get my phone if I need to, and there’s no cumbersome cable holding me back.

    I’m never going back!

    A fairly short but thorough review of the Joyo JW-03

    My Shubb capos

    Capos are a wonderful tool (and most definitely not a crutch as some players think), but the traditional spring-tensioned ones have a common problem: They tend to pull your guitar sharp when in use. This is due to the spring being overly strong.

    Shubb fixed this problem by using a different method. Their capos are more like a clamp with a screw that allows you to adjust the tension to just the right amount. And it’s not a one-and-done thing; you can change the tension based on the individual guitar you are using.

    I have several, including a partial capo, and they are wonderful. My Kysers are long gone — good riddance!

    Okay, it’s an ad, but at least you can see how these capos work.

    My Ibanez Mikro bass

    I’m a guitar player through and through. But I have the occasional need for a bass guitar.

    Enter the Ibanez Mikro bass guitar.

    The beauty of this bass is it is a super short-scale model at just 28.6″. This makes it very comfortable for guitarists like me. There’s no having to stretch for miles to get to different notes. (Seriously, I don’t know how bass players do it.) It just feels like you’re playing the guitar, but the sound coming out is a bass.

    I have one for a few reasons. The primary reason is so I can lay down simple bass lines when recording. But I also just like to play the bass every once in a while. There’s just something about the bass line on “I Can’t Tell You Why” that I love.

    (Additionally, I’m the self-proclaimed emergency secondary backup bass player at my church — someday I should let the worship pastor know — so as the Boy Scouts say, be prepared!)

    The best part? They retail for $200. How can you go wrong?

    A demo by someone who actually knows what they’re doing (unlike me).

    These are the five pieces of gear that would probably make my “deserted island” list — the things I wouldn’t want to live without. They bring that extra level of enjoyment to playing the guitar, and best of all, they don’t break the bank.

    So what about you? What are your must-have pieces of gear? I’d love for you to share them with us in the comments so we can all learn and be inspired together.

  • What Does It Mean to Be “Good” at Guitar?

    What Does It Mean to Be “Good” at Guitar?

    My son started playing bass and guitar about a year and a half ago.

    He’s already pretty good.

    But like with many 14-year-old boys, the Dunning-Kruger effect is in full force. The other day he told me, “Hey, I’m already almost as good as you are.”

    I’ve been playing for close to 30 years. I told him, “Well, I’m not sure I agree with that.”

    I’d like you to understand something at this point: I’m not being egotistical. I’m not trying to keep him under my thumb either. And believe me, by the time he graduates high school, I do expect him to be better than I am. But today is not that day.

    This interchange got me thinking — what does it actually mean to be “good” at playing the guitar?

    Tabs and Rote Memorization

    My son is really into metal. (I am really not.) He saved up enough money to buy a seven-string guitar, and he spends much of his free time chugging away on the thing. But because he is just learning, everything he does is based on practicing his favorite songs with tablature. It’s rote memorization: I fret the sixth string on the fifth fret here. I do a palm mute there.

    I’m not knocking this by any means. Heck, I use tabs to learn songs all the time. It’s way easier than using my ears like I used to do. But it ignores much of the bigger picture when it comes to music.

    In other words, if being “good” is the ability to memorize and play metal riffs, then sure, my son is better than I am. But, of course, that’s not the entire equation, is it?

    From Tabs to Playing by Ear

    Playing by ear was my bread and butter for a long time. For some reason, I eschewed tabs as “lesser” and learned songs the old-fashioned way. (I’ve since repented of the error of my ways.)

    And so when my son and I play together, I often have to help him with what chords are being played, where the changes are, and so on. My ear is simply more developed than his. But does this make me a better musician?

    A friend of mine used to be Joe Bonamassa’s production manager (yes, for real!). He could dial in a soundboard like you would not believe — his ear was incredible. And yet he couldn’t sing or play a note of music. He had the ear, but zero talent.

    So clearly there must be more.

    From Playing by Ear to Listening

    I play a lot of music by myself at home. For me, playing guitar is as much for stress relief as anything else, so I don’t mind just doing my thing.

    But let’s be honest — there’s so much more to making music when you’re jamming with other people.

    And that is not the same as playing in your living room or bedroom.

    I’ve been doing this for years as part of worship teams at church, and I’ve found the most important skill you can possess is listening. Does my part match what the other instruments are doing? Am I overshadowing the vocals right now? Am I still on tempo? Am I at the right intensity levels throughout the song?

    It’s this kind of musical participation that I think starts to separate the wheat from the chaff. You might be able to play Eruption flawlessly, but if you don’t know how to lay down a part that fits the song, can you really be called a “good” player? Maybe.

    Or maybe there’s one more level to this whole thing.

    From Listening to Playing the Right Thing

    Since we’re getting into the cold and rainy season where I live, I’m back to running on the treadmill rather than going outside. And in the last few treadmill sessions, I watched a recent Austin City Limits episode featuring Lyle Lovett and His Large Band.

    Of course, being Lyle Lovett, he had stacked the stage with a dozen of the best musicians you will ever see, and what struck me most was how in control everyone was. No one was playing blazing riffs or shredding massive solos — although I’m sure every one of them could.

    Instead, most of the parts were simple — you and I could easily play them. (Of course, they played them perfectly.) But they were the right parts for the songs.

    I’m beginning to think that this may be the best definition of a “good” guitarist I’ve come across: someone who can serve the song. Someone who, instead of asking, what am I capable of playing here? asks, what does the song need here?

    And if this is the definition, well, both my son and I have a long way to go.

    In fact, I feel like I’m just beginning to approach music this way, 30 years in. It requires a certain humility and letting go of the need to be at the center of attention. It’s no longer about showing off or using whatever technical skill you might have; it’s about making the song the best it can be.

    Does Being “Good” Even Matter?

    So in the end, what does it mean to be “good” at guitar? In one sense, I don’t think it matters. Good is a comparative term, and music isn’t a competition. If you are enjoying yourself and working at getting better over time, then I’d say you’re a “good” guitarist!

    From another angle, “good” can mean a lot of things. It could mean having the technical ability to play a riff. It could mean the ability to figure out a tune by ear. One could also say that anyone who can fit into the mix of a band or listen well while playing is a “good” player.

    But I am coming to realize the best players do all of this and more — they play the right thing at the right time. And often, the right thing is not the technically difficult thing. It could be as simple as a single note, but that note is played to perfection.

    So what do you think? What makes a guitar player “good”? Let us know in the comments.

  • Learn Basic Music Theory and Take Your Playing to New Levels

    Learn Basic Music Theory and Take Your Playing to New Levels

    I’ve been playing guitar for a long time.

    Yet in the past 3–5 years, I’ve been able to level up my playing abilities by working on the things I should have learned 20 years ago.

    Learning the minor pentatonic scale

    Okay, that’s not quite true.

    Way back when I first started playing guitar, a friend showed me how to play a basic blues shuffle in A. If you don’t know, this is just about the easiest thing you can play that sounds like you know what you’re doing. It’s one simple, repeated pattern, and there are no barre chords or technical finger movements.

    And obviously, it’s foundational for any blues playing.

    How to play a blues shuffle in A

    My friend also showed me how to play very basic solos over the blues in A by teaching me the minor pentatonic scale (first position, for you music nerds out there). This, coincidentally, is the scale used by a ton of blues and rock songs, which means once you learn it, you can at least play solos and riffs that, while not sounding great, at least don’t have any wrong notes.

    And this is where I stayed for a very long time. (In my defense, there was no such thing as YouTube in those days; learning required much more effort IMHO.)

    The minor pentatonic scale in A

    Learning the major scale

    A few years ago, I finally decided that, after 20-some-odd years of playing, I needed to up my game.

    I learned how to play major scales.

    I know, I know — it seems pretty basic, and possibly even useless, to spend your practicing playing do-me-ri-fa-so-la-ti-do. After all, nobody wants to hear a “major scale” solo in a rock song, right?

    Wrong.

    Learning the major scale has been tremendously helpful for me as an electric guitar player. So many riffs are based on it, and a surprising number of them are quite literally portions of the major scale.

    How to play the C major scale — possibly the most useful thing I know

    Additionally, learning the scale up and down the neck is super useful when you’re trying to figure out song keys or learn notes in a riff or part. It gives you an existing matrix in your brain and fingers that helps you orient yourself more quickly to any song you’re trying to learn.

    And again, just like the minor pentatonic scale, the major scale at least gives you the notes to play at any point in a song that won’t clash or provide unwanted dissonance, and it definitely helps in creating more intricate and musically interesting solos than the minor pentatonic alone.

    Learning triads

    Another major progression in my playing came when I started learning triads.

    Triads, as I’ve written about before, are simply the three (main) notes that make up a chord. Typically, but not always, it’s the root, the third, and the fifth.

    The reason they are so great is they allow you to play up and down the neck to find alternate voicings for any chord. This is especially important if you’re playing in a band that has an acoustic guitar because you can avoid doubling up parts, which often sounds muddy and uninteresting.

    Triads make you look cool and sound cool

    Once I had the power of triads literally at my fingertips, my playing immediately got better. No more cowboy chords — now I could find a chord anywhere I wanted on the fretboard, and more importantly, provide much more sonic texture and movement for a song.

    The current challenge: learning modes

    The next step in my musical journey has been working on learning the modes of the major scale.

    A mode is simply a scale that starts on a note other than the root. Yes, they have fancy Greek names, but don’t let that scare you off.

    Is there anything Rick Beato doesn’t know?

    As a basic example, if you play a C major scale, but start and end with D, you will play the notes D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D. Congrats — you’ve just played a D Dorian scale! If you do the same exercise but instead start and end with E, you’ve now played an E Phrygian scale. Each starting note has its own corresponding scale — or mode — with its own funny name.

    This becomes super helpful because a lot of rock songs are in Dorian or Mixolydian modes. (To play a Mixolydian scale, go back to the above example and this time start with G.) Modes have given me even more sonic options and tools to use to craft even better-sounding guitar parts, not to mention a much better understanding of what the song is doing as a whole.

    An artist’s progression

    You can think of the above using an example of an artist.

    When an artist first learns to paint, they work on basic shapes and lines. This is equivalent to learning the blues shuffle, a very basic pentatonic scale, or riffs and solos by rote.

    Then the artist progresses to learning basic brush strokes and color theory. Likewise, the budding guitarist learns major scale patterns and common triad shapes.

    Eventually, the artist progresses to being able to dial in their technique and use her skills to tell a particular story and convey particular emotions. As a musician begins to work on more advanced music theory such as modes, his ability to be creative on his instrument likewise begins to grow.

    The journey continues

    I’ve still got a long way to go in my own musical journey.

    I’m excited about how far I’ve come while not kidding myself about how much there still is to learn. But this is where I’m at right now, and my hope is my story can help motivate you to learn something new.

    If you want to learn or get better at any of these things, there are tons of extremely affordable resources online — literally too many to mention here — and almost all of them are great. Your best bet is to just pick one and start practicing!

  • Should You Buy an Expensive Electric Guitar?

    Should You Buy an Expensive Electric Guitar?

    I’ve been on Team Cheap Guitar for a long time.

    I own a veritable mom-and-pop shop’s worth of $200-$500 guitars — enough that I’m not entirely sure of the exact count (it’s somewhere north of a dozen). In fact, to this day, I’ve never paid more than $600 for a single guitar, amp, or pedal.

    And I can tell you with certainty that everything I own plays and sounds just fine.

    Furthermore, in close to 30 years of playing, I’ve never had even a single person give me a hard time for playing an Epiphone instead of a Gibson or a Squier instead of a Fender.

    (Side note: I do have a Fender — an acoustic guitar, their budget parlor model, which comes in at under $200 and is great to take camping. But I digress…)

    The truth is, there are so many great affordable guitars now that there seems to be no reason to spend thousands of dollars on a top-of-the-line instrument.

    But then last year, I bought an Epiphone SG that really amazed me. And I began thinking, how different would a Gibson SG be? The Epiphone is amazing — would a Gibson be better than amazing?

    I also started to realize that there were realistic scenarios whereby I could, for the first time in my life, afford an American-made guitar if I so chose.

    But what about those great-playing-yet-easy-on-the-budget imports that I love and cherish? Wouldn’t I be wasting my money to buy one guitar worth four or five others that in all honestly played just fine? Or was I starting the transition to Team Expensive Guitar?

    This got me thinking about the reasoning behind the choice to buy (or not buy) an expensive guitar. I’ve almost always stuck within a self-imposed $500-per-instrument limit, but that was more a factor of my disposable income than anything.

    So are there any valid reasons to purchase a US-made guitar when a cheaper import version exists?

    To that end, I’ve come up with a list of pros and cons when it comes to buying a high-end guitar, along with some commentary on each one. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this subject, too, so feel free to leave a comment!

    Reasons not to buy an expensive guitar

    It will make you a better player. 

    True, a better guitar will help you play better…to a point.

    A $75 Glarry is probably going to hamper your ability to play with extremely high action, terrible intonation and fretwork, and so on.

    A $200 Squier will likely play decently but will need work to get it up to par (unless playing on gritty frets and cheap tuners is your thing, in which case, good for you!).

    A $500 Epiphone or PRS SE will almost certainly play well out of the box.

    But once you go above that $500 mark, the law of diminishing returns starts to kick in. You end up paying for accouterments and flourishes that look cool but provide little benefit in the actual playing of the instrument.

    There is just no real-world scenario where a $2,000 Gibson is four times better than a $500 Epiphone. Realistically, it might be 5–10 percent better when it comes to playability, and slightly more when it comes to components.

    But past a certain point, you’re paying for a decal. If becoming a better player is your main goal, it’s probably good to stick with that $500 axe and just practice more.

    Everyone will know if you play an inexpensive guitar and will laugh at you behind your back. 

    Unless you are talking with a fellow guitar nerd, absolutely no one knows or cares about guitar brands.

    Ninety-nine percent of people on Planet Earth couldn’t tell a Les Paul from a Danelectro, much less a Squier from a Fender. And the only people who would judge or laugh at you for such a faux pas are guitar snobs, and who the hell cares what they think?

    Virtually no one cares what the name on your guitar’s headstock is. You could rock a Harley Benton and the audience would be oblivious. (Heck, everybody thought Slash played a Gibson for years.)

    So if looking cool in front of other people is your bag, there are better ways to accomplish it than forking over a couple grand for a gold-top Les Paul.

    Expensive guitars are the only quality guitars on the market. 

    This was probably true in 1985. It’s demonstrably false in 2023.

    Factories in China and Indonesia have gotten very good at making guitars. And with the advent of CNC machines, the same exact neck or body can be made anywhere in the world. You can find $200 guitars that will blow your mind (I’m looking at you, Harley Benton).

    The main difference in quality at different price points is how much hands-on time and QC work the company is willing to pay for. But all that does is reduce the odds of flaws or mistakes getting through. You can still find amazing guitars for cheap and expensive guitars with obvious quality defects.

    We’re getting to the point that even budget guitars often have extremely good quality, which means spending a ton is no longer necessary to get a good-playing instrument.

    Reasons to buy an expensive electric guitar

    You are a professional musician. 

    Okay, I admit it — if making music were my day job, I would purchase the absolute best gear I could possibly afford. I’d probably even make payments. It’s my livelihood, after all, and I would want the best tools for the job.

    But even then, I would still probably use less expensive guitars on tour and leave the primo ones for home and studio use.

    You look at your guitar collection with resale value in mind. 

    If you are an actual guitar collector, it makes sense to stick with the big brands (e.g., Gibson, Fender) because they tend to hold their value over time. From an investment standpoint, expensive guitars are absolutely the way to go.

    You’ll never make your money back on a Squier Bullet, but a 1990s Ibanez JEM? That’s not a bad spot to park your cash.

    You just want one. 

    At the end of the day, this is the trump card. Buying a guitar is always an emotional decision, not a rational one.

    No one needs a guitar. We can all live without them. Rather, we buy guitars because we like them and they bring us joy. And because of that, no justification is required (except maybe to your spouse).

    This is where I’m at in my journey. I love all my cheap and mid-range guitars, but I would also like to own a more expensive guitar at some point — just because I want to.

    But here’s the thing — that’s okay. I’m learning that for many decisions, “I want to” (and its corollary, “I don’t want to”) can be its own justification.

    Focus on what you want, and to heck with other people

    The bottom line is, if you have the money and can afford a high-end guitar, then great — buy it and enjoy it!

    And if you’d rather spend less, get a more affordable instrument that you can still enjoy, and pocket the difference, then great — do that!

    But don’t think 1) that your choice is somehow better (or worse) than the next person’s or 2) that you need to justify your choice of guitar to anyone (or they to you).

    Instead, the better approach is to enjoy the guitar you have, buy what you want, and don’t worry about what anyone else does or says. I promise you will at least be a happier player as a result. 🙂

  • Want to Become a Better Musician? Stop Playing and Do This Instead

    Want to Become a Better Musician? Stop Playing and Do This Instead

    When I was a kid, the adults in my life often said, “God gave you two ears and one mouth so that you would listen twice as much as you speak.”

    As a society, many of us seem to have forgotten that message.

    Much public discourse, to our detriment and shame, is really nothing more than attempts to speak over one another. It seems few are willing to hear out any competing viewpoints, and thus many miss out on the learning and growing that occurs in genuine, respectful debate.

    This epidemic lack of listening is certainly not good for society, but there is another area where listening is also just as critical: music.

    I don’t just mean the obvious — that you interact with music by listening to it. I mean that it’s subtle listening, really listening, that is an art you must master if you want to become a better musician. This includes broadening your musical tastes, refining your ear for music, and focusing on both others’ playing and singing and your own.

    So let’s take a look at the four ways listening can make you a better musician.

    Listen to good music — period

    When I was young, I liked classic rock and, well, not much else. After all, I played the guitar, and the heyday of guitar-based music was the 1960s–80s. Naturally, that is where I focused my listening attention: bands like Tom Petty, Boston, and Petra dominated my CD collection (yes, I’m old).

    Now what often happens is that as a person gets older, their tastes solidify. A kid who likes jazz is likely to be an adult who likes jazz. If you didn’t listen to country music growing up, you probably won’t listen to it as an adult. So if you played the odds, you might assume that I’m even more of a classic rock guy now, and to heck with those other, lesser genres of music. Bob Seger FTW! \m/

    But the older I’ve become, I’ve actually done the opposite: I’ve learned to embrace music from many different genres. I sometimes wonder what the Spotify algorithm must think about me. I listen to everything from Brahms and Bach to Scrapper Blackwell and Son House, Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller, Willie Nelson and Hank Williams, Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Mammoth WVH and Foo Fighters, and Polyphia, just to name a few.

    Why did I buck the trend? Because over time, I realized something. I realized that words like blues, country, rap, and rock were terms coined by marketing teams to sell more records. In reality, there are only two genres of music: good music and not-as-good music.

    When you remove the boundaries of what good music can be, all of the sudden you realize how much terrific music there truly is out there. You discover bands and entire subcategories of music that you love and appreciate that you never even considered before. I had this happen to me (yet again) recently. I saw Chris Stapleton’s rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at this year’s Super Bowl. Even though I’m not a big modern country fan, I thought I should give his music a try. And I’m glad I did, because he is ah-may-zing. Imagine what I would be missing out on if I had just assumed because he was a country artist I wouldn’t like his music.

    Listening to a wide range of music also helps you develop your own style as a musician. In a recent Wired interview, Tim Henson from the progressive rock band Polyphia discussed how he blended Top 40 with the music of guitar virtuosos like Steve Vai to create his own signature sound. Although few of us will reach the heights Tim has, we can all create new, unique music, and listening to a lot of different kinds of music will help.

    Listen to experts listen to music

    I honestly don’t know how we learned anything before YouTube.

    Yes, there is tons of absolute mindless drivel on the platform. But there is also a vast amount of high-quality educational material.

    I have personally learned more about music theory by watching Rick Beato’s videos over the last two or three years than I did being in the school band from fifth through twelfth grade.

    Michael Palmisano is another outstanding channel, especially for guitarists. Both channels break down songs to explain exactly why they work. Both men can help you develop your ability to really listen to and understand music.

    Michael Palmisano unpacks a phenomenal song, “Follow the Light” by Cory Wong and Dirty Loops

    Teachers like Rick and Michael are miracle workers when it comes to musicians. Just by watching their free content online, you can educate yourself to a degree once possible only by going to a college like Berklee. And you can shave off years of learning music theory by trial and error — like we used to have to do back in the day.

    The experts are out there making content, and most of it is free or low cost. So use it.

    Listen to your bandmates

    I play in my church’s worship band, and in addition to Sunday morning services, we have Thursday evening practices.

    Occasionally, either the drummer or the bassist can’t make it to practice. Let me tell you, it is hard to play my guitar when either of those two is missing! This is because I am paying attention to both drums and bass in order to create my part. I need to match intensity with the drums, and I need to play something that complements the bass line.

    Listening is a critical part of my own playing music with others, and it should be part of yours as well. Paying attention to what the people around you are playing or singing can help you add to the music. When you’re more focused on your own part, by contrast, you can easily sing over another musician, play too softly or loudly, or even be off beat without realizing it.

    Music-making is a group activity. When you find yourself in a band setting, the best thing you can possibly do is listen carefully to what everyone else is doing.

    Listen to yourself

    This is the toughest one, but it can help the most too. When you play an instrument or sing, there are really two audiences. You perceive your own music in a certain way, and other people perceive it differently. The trick is to understand that how you sound to yourself may be better or worse than how you sound to others.

    This is where recording yourself can really help. Maybe you thought you nailed that Eruption cover at your band’s show last night — but the footage says otherwise. Or maybe you felt you butchered singing “Crazy” at karaoke night, but when you review the video on your friend’s iPhone, you realize you didn’t do too bad of a job after all.

    Recording yourself can give you objective feedback that is hard to get from any other source. And if you are completely honest and nonjudgmental about your musical performance, it can be a very useful tool to help you quit bad habits and improve your singing or playing.

    This video is your reward for reaching the end of the article. Congrats!

    It’s hard to imagine a more useful skill in life than listening. It can help you grow as a person, it can help society as a whole, and as we’ve discussed in this article, it can even help you develop your musical chops. So why not buck the trend and be countercultural today? Spend some time just listening.

  • How to Choose the Best Guitar for Your Needs and Budget

    How to Choose the Best Guitar for Your Needs and Budget

    In many ways, we are living in guitar heaven today.

    There are countless brands and styles of guitars, almost all of which you can purchase with the click of a button. And these guitars come in all shapes, sizes, and, importantly, prices.

    In one sense, this is great: you can get literally whatever you want whenever you want it. In another sense, it’s not so great: with so many options, it can be easy to feel paralyzed. How can I make a good choice? How can I know I’m buying the best guitar when there are so many out there and I can’t try them all?

    This is a big question that deserves a longer answer than I can provide in this article, but I do want to tackle one portion of the answer today.

    I want to give some advice on how to choose the best guitar for you based on your needs and budget. And instead of suggesting various brands, which is always going to be subjective, I’m going to stick with price ranges.

    But first, it’s important to consider a few questions you’ll want to ask yourself if you are in this predicament.

    How much do you want to spend?

    This is the biggie. There is no right answer to this question; it’s all about your comfort level. Some people adopt a “go big or go home” approach and buy a Gibson Les Paul straight out of the gate. I have a friend who did this. He decided he wanted to learn to play the guitar, and he wanted a Les Paul. So he dropped over a grand on a nice, new Gibson.

    Other people have a harder time justifying spending that kind of cash. Maybe their discretionary funds are more limited, or maybe they just can’t bear to spend four figures on one guitar. I’ve been playing for decades, and I don’t own a guitar I spent more than $600 on.

    Price is all about comfort level: how much are you willing to pay for an instrument? With price points ranging from just a few hundred dollars to upward of $10,000, it’s wise to give this some thought before pulling the trigger on a new guitar. And remember, if it feels uncomfortable, it’s probably too much.

    How much (and where) do you plan on playing?

    I’m primarily a living-room guitarist. While I am good enough to be in a band (and it’s something I’d like to do when my kids are out of the house), it’s just not a big priority for me now. I do play in church once a month, though. I need an instrument that is good enough to work in that setting. That’s why I play Epiphone, PRS SE, and Danelectro guitars, to name a few. They do the job and I enjoy playing them. They are quite literally “good enough.”

    Now, if I were a professional musician, you can bet your bottom dollar I would acquire the absolute nicest, most expensive guitar I could possibly afford. That’s because now it’s no longer about simply enjoying playing or volunteering for the occasional worship service. Now my guitar is a necessary tool to make my living.

    In my actual job, I’m an editor and writer, and when I started I bought a very nice MacBook. Yes, a lower-priced Windows-based system would have done the job, but I didn’t want to take any chances with my livelihood — I wanted the best tool for the job.

    How good do you want to get?

    I suppose this is similar to the last question, but it’s worth asking yourself how good you plan on becoming. Are you happy with strumming cowboy chords in your bedroom? If so, there are plenty of very inexpensive guitars that would suit you perfectly. Do you want to become talented enough to start a band or record albums? In that case, you are going to want nicer gear. Is your sole aim in life to become a professional musician? If that’s you, it probably makes sense to up your budget considerably if you can.

    Do you care about resale value?

    High-end guitars tend to retain value over time better than cheaper guitars. It’s entirely possible to purchase a four-figure guitar, play on it for several years, and then sell it for a profit. I can honestly say I’ve never had that experience with a lower-end guitar. I have made most of my money back, but I’ve never personally come out ahead. But that’s okay, because I’m not purchasing guitars as an investment — but that may be an important consideration for you.

    Finding the best bang for your buck

    Another way to look at the monetary aspect of how to choose a guitar is to consider the optimal return on investment. This strategy takes the above questions and tries to boil the answers down into a single overriding value or expectation.

    In fact, you can sum up this idea pretty easily as follows:

    • If affordability is your top concern, look for a guitar in the $200-$300 range.
    • If getting the best value for your money is your top concern, look for a guitar in the $500-$600 range.
    • If the brand name or resale value is your top concern, look for a guitar selling for $1,500 and up.

    Possible purchasing scenarios

    Let’s finish by looking at a couple of scenarios to see how we can apply these ideas.

    Josh, a new guitarist

    Our first guitar buyer, Josh, is a teenager who’s just getting into the guitar. He’s been playing his older brother’s Mexican Strat but wants one of his own. He’s managed to save up $400 but doesn’t want to spend it all. Although he wants to get much better and be in a band someday, right now he decides price is the most important factor. He looks around and finds a used Squier Classic Vibe Strat in good condition for $300.

    Amy, an intermediate player

    Our next buyer, Amy, has been playing the guitar for a few years and wants a better instrument. However, as a young 20-something, she doesn’t have a lot of discretionary income. She decides to take her time and save up enough money to purchase a slightly used PRS SE Custom 24 at $600. She knows it’s a very serviceable, quality instrument that she can use for many years.

    Ron, who wants a “lifetime” guitar

    Our last buyer, Ron, is in his 30s. He recently received a very nice bonus at work for selling over his quota. Not needing the cash for anything pressing, he decides to treat himself to a nice new guitar. (Importantly, his wife is on board with the idea!) He decides that he wants to buy an American-made instrument. After looking at his options, he orders a brand-new Gibson ES-335 from a local dealer. He also manages to get a discount by talking to the owner and ends up paying just under $3,000. He knows it will be a joy to play and a reminder of his past success, and should he ever have to sell it, he will likely make his money back.

    A game where everyone can win

    In each of the above scenarios, the person thought about their situation and bought the right guitar for them and their budget. The surprising part is, everyone was happy with their purchase — but this is because they considered their budget and values before pulling the trigger. They knew what they were willing to spend and why, and as a result, they were able to narrow their search and find the right guitar.