Wolfrum Guitar

In my previous posts I have probably given you guys a decent trail to help you guys improve and gather enough information if your just starting or even some interesting topics and materials for more experienced players. While I haven’t really covered a specific path for beginners (I plan on creating a more simplistic method later) I hope that there are some tools and tips that you’ve taken with you to help create a smoother journey for your path to a becoming a better guitar player. Personally, I want to reiterate some points that I would want to give to new players. The first thing and most important is to never give up playing. Playing the guitar is very hard it takes a lot of mental effort and physical strength there are going to be days were you think you are the worst player ever and that you should just donate your guitar to someone who could play better. But trust me, it only gets easier you just need to practice more and more until you finally get it. It takes many mistakes a...

While the answer is fairly obvious, a more expensive guitar should usually make you sound better (assuming you have some skill to begin with). A thousand dollar guitar in an idiot’s hands will not magically sound good. However, you don’t need the most expensive models to sound good. Theirs plenty of musicians that use Fender squier products instead of using the Made in America models. Your skill on the guitar will matter way more than what guitar you choose to play on. Jimi Hendrix or any other skilled guitarist would definitely sound way better than me no matter what guitar I choose I won’t be able to match up to their expertise when it comes to playing. You could probably give him a Walmart guitar and he would definitely find ways to sound more impressive than me. Skill will always overshine what guitar you own. But with that being said, most expensive models have a certain kind of sound that a basic model won’t be able to achieve. This especially comes true with electric models, you...

This debate is more recent now that theirs more resources available for guitarists. You can go online and find so much free content for guitarists at any level. Which sparks the debate on whether or not guitar lessons are even worth it these days. Would a person improve a lot more getting 1 on 1 style lessons with a teacher or instructor? Or does it not matter due to the sheer amount of free content that is offered online. For example, one could go on YouTube and find thousands and thousands of videos about how to play different songs, chords, riffs and information on guitar. In my personal opinion you have all the content you need on YouTube and online to allow a beginner to succeed in playing and eventually mastering the guitar. However, I do things having lessons could only benefit a person. Having someone by your side who knows what their doing and is able to give you feedback and instructions in real time is almost unmatched. Getting the undivided attention can be very helpful e...

  A man named Franklin P. Jones once said something along the lines of: "You are what you eat". When I was playing my guitar the other night, I thought of something quite remarkable: "You are what you listen to". Just like how devouring too many potato chips can make you fat, the music you listen to determines what kind of a guitar player you become. The ability to listen is very underrated amongst the guitar community. Most guitarists spend all their time learning licks, guitar solos and perfecting your guitar chops. No one, however, talks about listening with as much enthusiasm. You may hear a guitar student spending hours getting that sweep-picked arpeggio right, but you never really find guitarists say they spend hours of their day simply listening. And by listening - I'm don't just mean listening to the same old guitar players, bands and songs you've always been listening to. That's unlikely going to make you improve as a guitarist. The ki...

  What do you do when you want to inject new creative ideas from playing scales in your guitar playing? If you are anything like the vast majority of guitarists (and similar to myself in the past) then you might look to explore books and online resources in search of more new scales to play. However if you approach learning all scales in the same general way, you will soon once again find yourself very frustrated with your lack of ability to consistently come up with inspiring musical ideas from the scales you know. Unfortunately learning "more" scales isn't going to fix the problem. Fortunately, there is a better way to practice guitar that will help you to get more out of the time you spend learning scales. The most important thing you must keep in mind is the need to explore ALL the creative possibilities any new scale has to offer before you abandon it in search of the next scale to practice. When you get yourself to do this, you will amaze yourself by how much more...

Have you tried your hardest to improve your creativity as a guitarist, but walked away feeling unhappy with your progress? Many guitarists go through this in the process of practicing to grow their musical skills. In addition, if you have played guitar for any length of time, you have certainly heard the conventional wisdom about one's potential for musical creativity being limited by how much natural talent they possess. All of this combines into a recipe for massive disappointment and frustration and it may start to seem that there is no reliable solution to this problem. Although the above situation is very common, there DOES exist a real tangible method for developing musical creativity on guitar. If you cannot dismiss the conventional wisdom about the "need" to be talented in order to become musically creative, realize that 'only' those who are not high level musicians make such ignorant statements, and you will be hard-pressed to find a world-class musicia...

Electric vs. Acoustic guitar is a very big debate when it comes to guitar playing. While it makes sense to have both. It seems that most players seem to usually stick with one or the other throughout most of their playing career. Personally, I am more of a fan of electric because you can customize the sound more due the having an amplifier and pedals to help add effects that you wouldn’t normally be able to make. Whereas, in Acoustic you are basically just limited to the 6 strings you have. However, the sound is very earthy and sounds “authentic”. I think what it really comes down to is your playstyle as a guitarist. For example, if you want to be more flashy and do a bunch of crazy riffs and shred the fretboard then you’re probably gonna wanna use an electric. But, if you’re more about playing for the song and like to sing then you’re probably better off with using an acoustic. A fool-proof way of deciding what to use is what kind of music you are excited to play/what bands and musi...

Most people are very busy throughout the day. People have to work, eat, sleep and do many other activities throughout the day to function normally in society. Often times it can seem really hard to get in the quality playing time you need to help you advance your guitar playing ability. However, I feel like it may not be as hard as you would think to find the quality time you are looking for. I think one of the most beneficial things I’ve done the past year to free up some time was eliminating the amount of spend on entertainment such as tv, movies, browsing the web etc. The amount of time that caused me to save was immense, and some days I feel like I am almost obligated to play guitar because I am so bored from doing nothing. Especially with covid, I feel like I have all the free time in the world to play guitar. The world is kind of in a stand still so now is the time to learn those songs you’ve always wanted to learn. I would not recommend losing sleep and staying up all night to...

Whether you are in your 20's or 50's, it is never too late to  start learning and practicing the guitar. You may think you are too old, or that you do not have the time. But that is simply not the case. You can get by with as little as 15 minutes a day, it is very easy to find the time like that throughout the day. Whenever you catch yourself around the house doing nothing, go pick up your guitar for a bit and try doing different scales and exercises. Now is the perfect time to start too, because with quarantine there is a lot of emptiness and void time for you to be playing and getting better. Also, with some age you might even be better because you probably have an increase in finger strength throughout the years, and your hands are for sure done growing. Just think about how you make time for watching TV, movies, and other entertainment. You could spend that time working on improving your guitar skills. I personally am guilty of not using my time the most effectively. But, I...

New players and beginners often fall into the trap of buying their first guitar from Walmart. It is by far one of the worst decisions you could make. While it may seem like a wise choice at first, it is convenient, cheap and might have cool designs. However, the quality is almost unbearable, and it makes starting out playing so much harder than it should be. You could probably take some of the best guitarists in the world and they might only sound half decent on a Walmart guitar. My brother made this mistake before, and it was really miserable to watch him suffer learning because of how difficult they are to play. The things that make the Walmart guitar so unbearable is the size, strings and the material.   The size is usually a bit smaller than the standard guitar which usually makes most chords more difficult as well as affecting the tuning. The strings that come with them are probably worth a total of 2 cents combined, they are so flimsy and cant hold their tuning at all. The ma...

I am going to be going over the Justin’s E Shape Barre Chord guide posted on his website Justinguitar.com and his YouTube Channel. The link can be found here: https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/e-shape-barre-chord-grips-im-111 E shape Barre Chords (also known as the F chord) are probably the most difficult thing a beginner will have to learn. It can take lots of muscle memory and time to get the finger strength to hold down all six strings without any buzzing. It’s something even experienced players still struggle with every now and then even after hours and hours of dedicated practice. While I recommend watching his video tutorial from start to finish, I am going to emphasize a few things he mentioned. The basics of the chord is that you move up the standard E chord up one fret and then have your index finger barre the first string emphasizing on hitting the Low E, B and high E strings as the E chord takes care of A,D and G strings. One of the most important points Just...

I would easily say that John Frusciante is my favorite guitarist of all time. He is best known for his role as lead guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, he made the BSSM, Californication, By the Way and Stadium Arcadium albums with the band, as well as his solo albums. The only reason I own a guitar today is because I wanted to try and play his songs and riffs that he created. His guitar playing is very inspirational and nostalgic to me. The way I would describe his guitar style is that he plays for the song, he doesn’t try to be extra flashy but instead tries to get a good rhythm and tone to go along with Anthony. He also has moments where he plays and sounds similar to Jimi Hendrix. For example, in Under the Bridge when he’s playing the verse of the song sounds very similar to Little Wing and has the same rhythmic feel to it. The thing I love most about his though is that his solos are always very memorable. What I mean by this is that after he plays the first one or two notes of...

I believe justinguitar.com is the best website to go to if you are new and wanting to learn the guitar. Not only does he offer an extensive amount of beginner, intermediate and advanced lessons, but it’s also completely free! I initially found Justinguitar from his YouTube channel, the first day I got my guitar I found his Californication – Red Hot Chili Peppers Lesson on YouTube and I immediately loved his style of teaching and his laidback personality. He made guitar lessons fun when I was a beginner. Later on, I stumbled upon his website, and was amazed at how much content he offered for beginners. Everyday I would try and do at least one full module from his website and I found myself improving so quickly. Looking back on it, he has everything you need to teach new players. He goes above and beyond teaching all these chords, scales, strumming patterns, and songs. He makes it so you never feel bored and that you’re always improving and working on something that feels important and s...

I interviewed my roommate Chris who recently picked up guitar during quarantine. Q: What was your inspiration to start playing guitar? A: I was sitting in my house dying from boredom over quarantine and decided to trade in my old guitar for a new one at the GuitarCenter. Getting this new guitar helped motivate me to play again and develop an interest in learning guitar. I hardly touched my guitar before quarantine, so upgrading my guitar gave me a reason to commit time to finally learning something I’ve been holding back for so long. Q: What songs are you interested in playing/learning? A: I am interested in learning fingerstyle and classic guitar pieces. So far, my favorite song that I’ve learned is Gymnopedie No. 1. I am trying to learn a bunch of other classical pieces currently, and am working towards learning Claire de Lune. Q: How has quarantine impacted your guitar learning? A: Quarantine has given me a lot more time and freedom to play and learn guitar. I am hardly ...

Hurt: Hurt by Johnny Cash is a classic song that is very good for beginners as it only utilizes three basic chords. The chord progression is a C chord to a D chord to an A minor. If you would like a nice lesson to this song visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEKexrWq5RU&ab_channel=MartyMusic House of the Rising Sun: This is another classic song that has a bunch of basic chords and is very fun and interesting to play due to the finger pattern. It does take some time to get used to but after a few tries it should come naturally. I recommend this video here to help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2rSsaCPkwM&ab_channel=MartyMusic Sweet Caroline: This would be a great song to play with friends and family. This song uses only a couple easy chords and is a very heartwarming song. I recommend this video to help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvRTCN-RadI&ab_channel=MartyMusic Wonderwall: Can you even say you play guitar if you’ve never played Wonderwall? While there is...

Due to Covid-19 people were forced to be stuck indoors with a lot of time on their hands. As a result, I think we will see more guitarists in within the next year. People have all the time in the world to dedicate to learning guitar. Learning guitar takes a lot of time and commitment, and this boredom is all these guitarists need to help motivate them to grind and get better. I know a lot of my friends recently purchased guitars during quarantine. There is a lot of free content on YouTube and the internet to help these helpless new players. Personally, before Covid happened I always neglected my guitar because there were so many other things I was focused on. But with quarantine, I am almost forced to play and learn new songs just because of sheer boredom. Quarantine helped me fall in love with the hobby I once had. It’s crazy to think that such a bad situation (covid) could help jumpstart so many peoples interest in guitar and music. You just have to make the best out of a negative si...

One of my biggest triggers when it comes to the guitar community is how some people sell guitar tabs. Now let’s get this clear, some of the tabs can take a lot work. Particularly, most fingerstyle songs. But the fact of the matter is that these guys are stealing the work of other musicians and claiming it as the work of their own. I find it very disheartening to learn guitar when your watching a YouTube tutorial for a song and the YouTuber is selling the tab for a couple of bucks. It just makes me want to put my guitar down and find some other song to learn. While there are many free guitar tab sites like Ultimateguitar.com and songsterrr.com, most new players have not heard of these and rely on YouTube or google. This could cause new players to quit or shed away a couple of their hard-earned dollars for nothing. Thankfully, there are plenty of good YouTubers and free sites and offer very good and high-quality tabs and lessons for free. This is why I like YouTubers like MartyMusic, Jus...

One of the first thing's you have to do when you get a guitar, and something you'll always have to be doing is tuning your guitar. A guitar can become out of tune, either by time or by use. It is always a good idea to take a little bit of time before each playing session to make sure every string is aligned at the right pitch. As if it is out of tune, it would compromise your playing ability. Most people have a tuner device, either physically or on an application on your phone. I personally use a free app on my phone called GuitarTuna. It is a free app, and has served me well over the years. You can tune in a regular key or do different styles such as Drop D tuning, etc. Overtime and with practice, you might be able to tune with your ear due to the sheer number of times you've heard the correct pitch. Personally, I like to start tuning the the thinnest string first. As I find that normally the thinner strings are usually the culprit for being out of tune. With the app, it t...

A typical guitar starts with 6 strings, varying in thickness. The thicker the string, the lower the pitch will be. The thicker strings are at the top of the guitar, and gradually get thinner. The higher you play on the fretboard the higher the pitch is going to be. So let's say that you a standard F chord on the first fret. If you move that same chord starting on the 6th fret, it will become a much higher pitched chord.  In standard tuning the 6 strings are in a E,A,D,G,B,E format. As you can tell from the diagram below, going from E to an F and a B to a C is a half-step apart. Meaning it takes a one fret distance to reach between the two. Whereas, going to a G, A, B or D takes a whole step, meaning it takes would require to two fret distance to reach. It is rather important to memorize the fretboard early on (or at least the low E and A string) to help understand the logic behind forming different chord shapes and solos. The reason why knowing the thickest two strings (E and A) is...

 Hey, I'm Alec Wolfrum and I am a self taught guitar hobbyist and the writer for WolfrumGuitar. I started learning guitar when I got one under the tree for Christmas back in 2016. Guitar is one of the most rewarding hobbies I have picked up. The feeling you get when you perfect a song enough to make it sound exactly like the record is almost unmatched. However, my guitar journey wasn't always a straight path. There were many times where I wanted to quit and just give up playing altogether. My journey was filled with ups and downs and lots of challenges along the way but persevering through them helped form me into the guitar player that I am today. In my blogs I am going to be writing about my experiences past and present to give new/beginner guitarists a straighter and more efficient path to becoming an intermediate and advanced guitar player. Ocassionally, I'll throw in a different style of post every now and then to change things up. If you ever want to come in contact w...