You might be surprised when your pre-teen girl begs for a pink acoustic guitar. Usually, guitars are asked by brooding teenage boys and not by little girls dressed up as princesses five years ago. There might be a temptation for you to initially observe if your daughter loses interest, or purchase an inexpensive guitar instead. Before you go ahead, there are pointers for you to seriously consider first.

It is a popular idea nowadays for a girl to want to play music and you should encourage this. This can be because of TV shows like Hannah Montana, who is a young girl pop star. There are good things and bad things about a girl wanting to be a star. As parents, you can use the desire your girl has for a pink acoustic guitar and turn it into a viable interest.

Playing guitar can be very beneficial for young women to have a creative outlet that can process their feelings. Unlike years before, the pressures and expectations nowadays on young people, especially young girls are greater. This may be social pressures, body image pressures, likewise early sexual and academic pressures too. The trend with girls, quite often with scary results, is to internalize pain or stress. With their privacy in mind, you can guide them into enjoying creative outlets such as playing a guitar and encouraging them into these types of releasing all forms of their emotions - whether they be bad, good or somewhere in between.

Even in the solitude of her own space she can release these emotions in a creative way and express herself. Her guitar songs are hers alone, and she does not have to share them with anyone. However, parents can gain insight into what their daughter is going through that you may not normally hear about if they encourage her to perform, even if it is just for the family after dinner.

You need to keep a few things in mind when you make the decision to buy your daughter her first guitar, even a pin acoustic guitar. First, dont be cheap. Ignore anything you can find in the toy section of the local discount store. Inexpensive guitars are really very hard to play, even for experienced guitarists. The smartest thing you can do is visit your local music store or better yet, one that is dedicated to guitars.

There are several great guitars that hold a special visual allure for girls. Daisy Rock is a popular company that focuses on making guitars with girls in mind. They are not called The Girl Guitar Company for nothing. Daisy Rock carries everything from simple pink acoustic guitars to heart-shaped guitars and ones that come in the shapes of stars or butterflies.

Rather than making your little girls first guitar a surprise gift, take her to the store with you when you shop for it. Each guitar is a little bit different so each pink acoustic guitar is not made in the same way. By allowing your daughter to choose her own guitar, she will get the one that feels best in her hands and the one that sounds just right to her and it will earn a special place in her heart.

Read the article below to find out exactly what to look for when choosing a guitar tutoring course and how to avoid the pitfalls most beginners make when selecting which course to go for. Looking for a guitar course to teach you how to play the guitar can be an absolute mine field for the beginner guitar student!

The very best place to find guitar lessons that suit your needs is of course the internet. This fantastic medium allows you to leisurely brows through the many courses and guitar lessons that are on offer. The problem we have is that there are literally hundreds to choose from. Well, when it comes down to it you have two choices to make:

An online guitar course or an offline one?

Years ago people only had one option and that was to book a lesson with a guitar tutor and turn up at a predetermined time to have the guitar lessons. Or on the odd occasion the guitar tutor would come to your home. In this day and age it’s all changed, we have many more options open to us. With more choices comes more chances to make costly mistakes, hence why you should try to get it right first time.

Let me explain in more detail the advantages and disadvantages of both online and offline and to help you make the correct decision when choosing which course to go for. Ill first start with online guitar lessons and courses.

Online Guitar Lessons or Courses

An online guitar course is a course that is either downloadable or accessed by streaming were the material can be accessed while downloading is taking place. The disadvantage of tis type of course is that the quality suffers due to very large file sizes being needed to get a real good quality production. Compared with say a DVD the quality will be nowhere near as good. Also you will need a real fast internet connection to take advantage of these type of courses.

Also it is very hard to build up an archive of material that you can refer back to over and over again. This is an absolute MUST HAVE when learning to play an instrument. Look also for a REAL address at the bottom of the webpage or internet site. DO NOT accept a PO Box as an address. A real address tells you that the company is legitimate and responsible. Also make sure they list a contact telephone number should you have any problems.

Offline Guitar Lessons or Courses

What are offline guitar courses?

Offline lessons or courses are given by a real person who comes to your home to conduct the lesson or in some cases the tutor will come to you. Once you have had your guitar lesson you will pay them a fee for their services. The problem with this is that it can be quite hard to find a good tutor who you gell and get along with and where can you find a tutor in your area who is up to the job?

Most live guitar tutors in my opinion will only give you just enough information to keep you coming back and charge you as much as they can get away with to keep you. Not the best scenario

Here are some disadvantages of going for regular guitar lessons.

* The problem with either traveling for a guitar lesson or having a tutor come to your home is you have to have the lesson at a predetermined time. This will probably screw up your day and everything else has to work around it.

* Your progression will be restricted if you are not playing tunes and songs you enjoy. Your tutor may not necessarily be into the type of music you enjoy and if he/she is not prepared to teach you using your type of music then boredom will set in.

* If you need an answer to a particular issue in between lessons, what do you do??? You end up waiting for next week to come along to get your questions answered, wasting time. Ideally you need your questions answering NOW, there and then when you are stuck, this allows you to get your questions answered immediately and move on to the next stage…

* Most people when sitting in front of a tutor and playing back what they’ve learned in the week will feel a little if not quite a bit intimidated or nervous. They will feel under pressure to get it just right in front of their tutor. What happens in most scenarios is the student will make mistakes when at home they have played the piece very well. The best scenario would be to repeat back the lesson in their own home with no pressure in familiar surroundings…

So Where Does That Leave YOU?

Do not fear! There is an alternative to both these methods yet encompasses both.

The alternative is to have guitar lessons conducted through a hard copy DVD course that is delivered by conventional post to your door. In my opinion this far out weighs the other two methods as it combines the ease of obtaining the course through the internet, being able to shop around and you will be able to follow step by step instructions shown in Hi Definition which you can refer back to over and over again.

So if this is my recommendation, which course do you choose???

If you take my advice which I hope you do, then the lessons MUST meet the following criteria:

* A FAST Structured Progression that is VERY EASY to follow and understand.

* A course of lessons created by someone who has a vast experience in the music industry, is a professional (gets paid for playing the guitar and hasnt got a job on the side), knows what he is doing and is not some wizz kid who has learned the guitar, played for about 3-4 years and trying to cash in and make a fast buck.

* A course you can study and take part in, in a nice relaxed environment with no pressure put upon you, helping you to progress at lightning pace because you are in a cool, relaxed frame of mind.

* A course of lessons that you know you CAN afford and you know will be great value for money ensuring you’ll not get ripped off.

* A Solid, Cast Iron, No Questions Asked, FULL Money Back Guarantee. Just ask your guitar tutor for your money back once he has given you your lesson! It’s not repeatable what he’ll say!!!

* A course of lessons that doesn’t beat around the bush and gives you what you are looking for straight out of the tin bringing you on as fast as possible…

* Lessons that you can refer back to over and over again that will inspire and motivate you with audio, video, illustrations and downloadable teaching aids.

* All The Fast Track Short Cuts That The Professionals DON’T Want You to Know.

If you are in the process of looking for a guitar course or lessons my advice would be to take your time and do your research. There are some very, very good courses out there but be warned there are also some very bad one’s. Use this guide to help you to choose a course that you think will best suit your needs.

If there is another piece of advice I can give you it would be this:

Once you decide on a guitar course and you have received your first couple of lessons which you are happy with, stick with the same tutor. This way you will progress more quickly as you will get tuned into one guys teaching methods and not flipping from pillar to post spending fortunes using different tutors methods, books and DVDs which do not carry on from one lesson to the next in a chronological order.

This article has hopefully set out some guidelines for you to follow when choosing a guitar course or set of lessons for the first time. Use them wisely. I will be posting some articles in the near future on guitar lessons using speed learning techniques taking the beginner through to accomplished player in the shortest possible time.

Several notes played simultaneously is called an acoustic guitar chord. Even though there are many different acoustic guitar chords, you can get away with learning just a few basic acoustic guitar chords and still play some of the latest and all time classic pop songs (not just Status Quo songs). A chord sound evokes an emotion in people. Major chords have an up beat, cheerful sound while minor chords are thought to be slightly darker or sadder in timbre.

Chord diagrams are used to notate guitar chords for beginners. Acoustic guitar chord diagrams resemble guitar tabs except for the diagrammatic notations; strings are represented by lines running vertically instead of horizontally. When you study a chord diagram, note that what you are seeing is essentially a grid. Again, the vertical lines are the strings. The frets are represented by horizontal lines. A dot on the diagram represents where your fingers should be placed to get this chord sound.

Numbers will be at the top or bottom of the acoustic guitar chord diagram. This diagram represents the finger that holds down each strong - 1 means the index finger, 2 means the middle finger, 3 the ring finger, and 4 the pinky. If you see a 0, that means to leave the string open when you play. On the other hand, an X means an string open that is not played. And occasionally you’ll see T used. This means to use your thumb to play, but this does not occur too often.

G-major is the first chord we?re going to learn on the acoustic guitar. Place your fingers as follows: middle finger on sixth string at third fret, index finger on fifth string at second fret, ring finger on first string at third fret. Play each note one at a time, including the open strings. Each note should be heard clearly, with no odd buzzing or rattling sounds. If anything sounds off, you can push down firmer on the string or move your fingers so they are closer to the fret. Your fingers should not be in contact with one another and only on one string at a time. When each individual note sounds good, strum them all together. You have just accomplished a G-major chord on your acoustic guitar.

The chord E-minor is considered to have easier fingering than the others. Use your index finger to hold down the fifth string on the second fret and your middle finger to hold down the fourth string on the second fret. Both fingers need to have plenty of room on the fret and can not touch each other. Try the notes out and alter your fingering a bit until it sounds right to you. Finally, strum the E-minor chord. You will note right away the dark sound associated with this acoustic guitar chord. With a little practice, you will have this chord down in no time.

The basic acoustic guitar chords that you should hone include C-major, D-major, A-minor, and A-major. You should get comfortable with the finger positioning for each chord and then practice moving the fingers from one chord to another. You should get it to the stage where this moving from one position to the next is almost second nature.

Despite what you may have been told or think, learning to play acoustic guitar chords is not easy. It is not a natural movement and only by continued and focused practice will you get the skill set down and into your head. Don’t let this put you off though as continued practice will guarantee success. Everyday you practice will strengthen the muscle memory and you will be playing acoustic guitar chords without too much apparent effort. And believe me the effort is worth it.