Guitar Guides and Gear Articles

Our collection of articles covers a wide variety of subjects, authored by members of the JamPlay staff. As time passes, we will continue to release additional material covering music theory, product reviews, concert reviews, as well as documentation on music history and artist biographies. Viewing our latest 20 articles, feel free to explore.

Review of the Zager Family of Guitars

Being pleasantly surprised by something is always an exquisite feeling. There’s nothing quite like approaching a situation with skepticism and disbelief only to be knocked off your feet by a wonderful product or experience. When Zager Guitars offered to send JamPlay four of their custom..... (read more) Found in our Reviews Section

Acoustic Guitar Guide to Strum Mastery Part 7

Ghost Strumming We began to talk about ghost strumming in the last installment of this series and how we can use such a technique to improve the overall sound of our strum. Ghost strumming, as you might recall, is the process whereby you “skip” a strum in order to reduce the amount of strums..... (read more) Found in our Guides Section

Acoustic Guitar Guide to Strum Mastery Part 6

As we've been discussing in the previous installments of this series, once you've mastered certain techniques you will undoubtedly want to start putting all of the pieces together so that you can use them in your playing. Of course, if you haven't quite achieved the desired level of control..... (read more) Found in our Guides Section

Acoustic Guitar Guide to Strum Mastery Part 5

Of course it's important to learn new techniques and continue to build upon them as you progress through your journey into learning any instrument. But perhaps even more important is the acquisition of the ability to put all of the parts and pieces together so that you can use your new techniques..... (read more) Found in our Guides Section

Stuck?

It doesn't seem to matter whether you've been playing for three months or thirty years. There are seasons when growth and creativity flourish at an unbelievable rate, and there are times when it seems as if you are just plain stuck. You can't seem to shake bad habits. You're not making any..... (read more) Found in our Guides Section

Acoustic Guitar Guide to Strum Mastery Part 4

Building a strong foundation for a mighty skyscraper takes time, energy and a willingness to synthesize and combine various materials and skills together in one cohesive structure. The same can be said for the construction of a musician's abilities as well as the application of those skills..... (read more) Found in our Guides Section

Action Points for Rock Singers (Part 2)

DISCLAIMER: JamPlay LLC and Chris Liepe are not legally responsible for any injuries, messes or general discomfort caused by any misuses of the information provided in this article. Please use caution and stop singing if at anytime your throat or vocal cords feel uncomfortable. Always hydrate..... (read more) Found in our Guides Section

Acoustic Guitar Guide to Strum Mastery Part 3

Skill building is an important part of becoming a proficient strummer. Therefore, take a moment or two and review the first two installments of this article series so that you will be comfortable with the concepts discussed therein. Make sure and practice all of the exercises so that you will..... (read more) Found in our Guides Section

Action Points for Rock Singers (Part 1)

Let's be honest. Being a 'great' Rock vocalist has absolutely no checklist to follow. If you look at current and past Rock legends, each one of them has qualities about their voices that seem to contradict 'correct' technique. They also seem to lead lifestyles in the health and fitness,..... (read more) Found in our Guides Section

Introduction to the Business of Songwriting

You've built up your guitar playing chops, you've written a number of songs, performed them for a few crowds, and even made some decent recordings. You've posted videos of yourself playing your songs on YouTube and your Facebook, Band Camp, and Reverb Nation accounts all offer your music for..... (read more) Found in our Guides Section

Acoustic Guitar Guide to Strum Mastery Part 1

There is no doubt that learning to play rhythm guitar is an art form in and of itself. Many musicians associate the main difficulties of playing with lead breaks and scale riffs, but there are also challenges that are intrinsic to rhythm guitar. We'll take a closer look at some of these challenges..... (read more) Found in our Guides Section

Roger Waters - The Muse Evolved (Part 2)

Roger Waters: The Muse Evolved “Did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter when the promise of a brave new world unfurled beneath a clear blue sky?” Roger Waters It was the end of 1971. Numerous events had already taken place that would change the star-lit countenance of..... (read more) Found in our Historical Section

Got Groove?

The first time I played in a band, I was in high school. I had been playing guitar for about a year and was jamming with some good friends that were at a similar skill level to mine with bass and drums. We wrote a number of songs, played in front of people every chance we got, and saved up..... (read more) Found in our Guides Section

Life as a Hired Gun

For those of you that don’t know, I am currently on tour with The Three Degrees. They had worldwide smash hits in the 70’s such as “When Will I See You Again” and “Dirty ol’ Man.” They were formed out of the Philadelphia music scene in the 1960’s and were on the Philadelphia..... (read more) Found in our General Section

Roger Waters: Taking Life to Lyrical Form - The Early Years

“Daddy's flown, across the water...leaving just a memory, the snapshot in the family album, Daddy what else did you leave for me...Daddy, what'd you leave behind for me?” Roger Waters Anzio Italy, 1943. American and British forces gradually fought their way through challenging..... (read more) Found in our Historical Section

Maintain a Career in Music

So you want a career in music, but don’t know where to start? The first thing you need to know before you consider a career in the music industry is that if you only intend to make money from playing, then you either need to be in a very successful band or have a big hit as a writer. Generally,..... (read more) Found in our Guides Section

Delving Even Deeper into the World of Music Therapy

"Rhythm is there in the cycles of the seasons, in the migrations of the birds and animals, in the fruiting and withering of plants, and in the birth, maturation and death of ourselves. Mickey Hart Miracle of modern marvels is the advent of Music Therapy, known to have been utilized as..... (read more) Found in our General Section

Signal Chain : A Look at Effects Routing (Part 1)

Even if you're just starting out, you probably own or have access to some effects pedals, a guitar amp and/or a multi-effects unit. As your collection grows, so might your confusion. You may notice that your sound gets muddier instead of 'cooler.' You may buy something because you heard..... (read more) Found in our Guides Section

Thoughts on Practice Part 2

I once had a student that used to practice for 6-8 hours a day, and had been playing for nearly 30 years...The only problem was that he sucked! I then realized that it is possible to practice badly. Simply practicing for 8 hours will not necessarily make you an awesome guitar player. In fact,..... (read more) Found in our General Section

Thoughts on Composing

Composing is one of those elusive “in the moment” type of things that one cannot force. However, there are a number of techniques that I believe can help act as a catalyst for your creative juices. Simply sitting down with our instruments and “waiting” for inspiration is not only..... (read more) Found in our General Section