Almost all of us have spent our childhood dreaming of who or what we want to become. Some dream of reaching high in the skies as rocket scientists or astronauts while some took the liberty of starring as the best medical specialist ready to take on the most devastating and wily diseases known to man. For some the limelight allures as they are magnetized by the music weapon of their choice. They rally on to become the best entertainers the world can come to love.

High school parades in our lives as one of the most colorful pages. In this stage of our lives, we meet people and do all sorts of hobbies that shapes the type of individual we become. One very famous bonding activity comes into mind—combos. Combos or modern day band acts are composed of a group of people sharing the same kind of love for a certain music genre. Guitars, drums, keyboards, and of course the bass synchronize in harmony and technology to form the bands very identity.

The electric bass is one instrument that is not very common to some people. The bass guitar is very similar to the guitar except that it has a larger body, a longer neck and scale length, and usually has four strings tuned to the same pitch as that of the double bass having pitches one octave lower than those of the four lower strings of the guitar (E, A, D, and G). The electric bass guitar or more simply known as the bass is played with the fingers or thumb either by plucking, slapping, popping, tapping, or thumping or by utilizing what is called as the plectrum.

The plectrum or in layman’s term the pick, is a tiny flat tool used for plucking or strumming. Just like its buddy the guitar, the electric bass is connected into an amplifier and speaker to pump up the volume in live performances.

In life we are always offered different kinds of instruments to play with, what’s always important is how we keep it clean, smooth, and real. This is the basis on getting a great performance even when just starting with the music field. When you care for your instrument, it also means that you are also caring for your sound and your music. It represents your passion for your craft and how well you want to improve it.

For guitar playing tips visit Top Guitar Playing Tips

Poison singer Bret Michaels made it to Sunday’s live finale and won the title of “Celebrity Apprentice”, beating out actress Holly Robinson Peete.

“Bret Michaels, his creativity and imagination are just amazing,” said Donald Trump, who chose Michaels as the winner to receive $250,000 for his charity, the American Diabetes Association. “He’s been through a lot.”

Michaels flew from Los Angeles to New York on Sunday to attend the NBC show.

“[Doctors] didn’t want you to be here tonight, are you risking your life being here?” Trump asked Michaels, according to Newsday.com.

“Lately, it seems like me standing up is risking my life,” Michaels joked.

Even Robinson Peete conceded that Michaels was a strong competitor.

“My 5-year-old son said, ‘Mom, I love you, but I’m kinda pulling for Bret,’” she said. “How can you beat that?”

Read more from Newsday.com.

Getting started is the most important part of learning how to play the guitar.  Unfortunately there is a lot to learn just to get started and there is a large potential to make the wrong choices.  This can “put off” some potential guitar players right from the beginning.  To get started on the right foot visit our friends at Top Guitar Playing Tips and look at their Guitar Tips For Beginners post.    You will learn about:

1. Choosing a the right guitar
2. How to learn to play in the quickest time possible
3. One problem all beginners have
4. What you options are in regards to Lessons.

They also have some other articles with some great tips.

Some people are not just content on playing their electric bass guitars.  There are many techniques on how you can play your electric bass guitar.  They are the following.

Sitting and Standing

Most electric bass players would play while standing up, especially those in a band. But sitting down is also accepted especially if you are playing for folk or jazz music. But whenever it is standing or sitting, bottom line is you should be comfortable with your position.

When handling your bass guitar, the ideal position would be that the bass strings cross between your belt and belly button with a slight upward angle.  This would allow you to play you guitar, maximum level, even if you are sitting down or standing up. To be totally comfortable, make sure that your left hand can move from the bottom to the top of the neck and your right hand can reach all the strings. If you feel your hands are strained, adjust the height or the angle.

Fingerstyle

Fingerstyle technique is something which is rarely done nowadays.  This is considered to be the oldest bass-playing technique. Picks are more commonly used to emulate or copy the fingerstyle tone. But there is nothing wrong with learning how to do both.

There are many patterns when learning how to use the fingerstyle. You can research some patterns and learn them, you can practice with one pattern and then try moving to another pattern effortlessly. There are a lot of websites that offer fingerstyle lessons. But when you are practicing and learning on your own, use a metronome since this would help you maintain time and beat.  This would also help you speed up your fingerstyle picking.

For the rest of this article visit  Top Guitar Playing Tips