guitar

The new DreamScreen tablet from HP looks like what everyone wants from Apple at first glance. Until we dig deeper and find out it may be what nobody wants. The music publishers also seem like they're full of stupid too wanting to get a performance right for you watching a TV show alone in your room. And Cooley and I get in a knock-down over Kurt Cobain's proper presentation in Guitar Hero.

Music publishers want more $$ for downloads, movies, and … Read more

On September 9, classic rock fans will have a chance to strap on a plastic guitar and jam along with the biggest act in popular music history.

Artfully orchestrated buzz has been building for The Beatles: Rock Band since the start of 2009, and the team of developer Harmonix and publisher MTV Games (and distribution partner EA) hope to provide a bright spot in an otherwise drab video game market with one of the few video game products for the 2009 holiday season that has a real chance of appealing beyond core gamers.

We've gotten our hands on a final retail version of the game (minus the new Beatles-inspired instruments, but our old Rock Band gear worked fine), and gave it a test drive in CNET's AV Lab. Check out this video to see our extremely shaky music skills, and read our hands-on impressions below.

Dan: Music aside, this is essentially the same Rock Band game you've been playing for two years, but with nicely done overhauls of the menus, graphics, and interface, including some very cool animated Beatles segments. The biggest change to the actual gameplay is the inclusion of three-part vocal harmonies (you'll need three USB mics). We found out the hard way that these songs are actually pretty tough to sing, and nailing the harmonies is even tougher. … Read more

So you finally got tired of faking it and bought a guitar. Congratulations! Now what do you do? Most beginners start with some basic lessons to learn how to hold the thing and finger some very simple chords. So far so good. Then they buy a tablature book, which shows you how to finger chords and scales. This is where a lot of would-be guitarists give up and decide they'll become lead singers instead.

A new iPhone app called iPractice can make the chore of learning and practicing your fundamentals a bit more fun. It's a lot more … Read more

In a move sure to resonate with recession-minded gamers, Activision's just-released Guitar Hero 5 game includes an offer to get the highly anticipated Van Halen version of the music game franchise for free.

As a value-based pushback against the Beatles: Rock Band juggernaut, it's an excellent idea. Guitar Hero 5 includes 85 tracks (versus just 45 in the Beatles game), plus 44 more in the Van Halen spin-off.

Guitar Hero 5 includes acts from Johnny Cash to Stevie Wonder to Tom Petty, while Guitar Hero: Van Halen has 25 classic VH songs, plus 19 more from "guest … Read more

ChordWizard Gold lets users learn guitar chords and scales. Guitar novices might find its many options a bit overwhelming, but overall, it's easy to navigate.

ChordWizard's interface is not particularly sleek, but it's very intuitive and customizable, allowing users to orient the fret board for right- or left-handed playing and to select how many strings will be used. The program's features are organized into five separate tabs, allowing users to explore scales related to specific chords, construct new chords, and practice along with a built-in metronome. On the whole, the program was easy to navigate, although … Read more

Legendary jazz guitarist Les Paul, known for his contributions to guitar design and recording technology, has died at the age of 94, according to a joint statement released by Gibson Guitar, the company that produced his iconic Gibson Les Paul guitar, and New York's Iridium jazz club, where he continued to play weekly gigs almost until the end of his life.

Paul's reputation as a guitarist and recording artist are overshadowed by his contributions to music technology. He pioneered many sound recording techniques still in use today, and was also instrumental in developing the modern solid-body electric guitar, … Read more

If you're trying to learn how to play an instrument, you might be thinking about hiring a local tutor. After all, it's the way it has always been done. But you might be surprised to learn that the Web is a great place to learn how to play that instrument.

All Guitar Chords It's a simple app, but All Guitar Chords provides you with a full listing of all the guitar chords you might want to learn. Simply pick the chord you want, click the "Get" button, and it will display where to put your fingers. It's not the best tutorial app in this roundup, but it works better than you might expect. It's a simple and efficient tutor.

Chordbook Chordbook is the place to go if you want to learn how to play guitar. The Flash-based site displays guitar strings. You can then choose which chord you want to play. Upon doing so, it automatically places circles on the guitar strings to help you learn proper placement of your fingers. When you're ready to learn a chord, you can click the "strum" button and it will play a chord to help you determine what your guitar should sound like when you play. If you're beginner, Chordbook is the place to be.… Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--The first couple of weeks of September are going to be a banner time for music video games. On September 9 (09/09/09), the much-anticipated The Beatles: Rock Band will hit store shelves, just eight days after Guitar Hero 5 gets its chance to rock living rooms everywhere.

With the Beatles game, it's easy to imagine long lines and huge sales figures. After all, this will be the first time that any of the recent slew of music-oriented video games will feature any Beatles songs, let alone dozens of them.

But with Guitar Hero 5 (see video … Read more

Guitar Chords is a simple program that will help guitarists of all skill levels, whether you are picking up the instrument for the first time or are an expert looking for new chords. With a simple design, you cannot go wrong here.

The program's interface cuts learning guitar chords down to its most basic. By simply clicking well-labeled buttons, you can quickly and easily navigate the program. In addition, the Help file not only explains how to operate the program, but also has a tutorial on reading guitar tablature (which is a staple of this program). Utilizing the program'… Read more