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Useful Information for
You don’t have to burn CDRs for one or two songs then throw them away later. You can use CDRWs to burn, erase and reburn to your heart’s content. If you don’t want to take the time to do an erase (10+ minutes on most computers), use a program like Drag and Drop, In CD, or Direct CD to format your CDRWs in UDF file format, so they work like a large floppy and you can just drag files on and off of them quickly. Though you cant play UDF format CDs in a CD player, if you take lessons at Issaquah I can play them on my computer in the studio. An even easier way
to bring your music to lessons is by using the new portable USB storage
devices, or thumb drives (like the Sans Disk Mini Cruzer). They are
a great, fast, easily portable way to bring music and audio recordings
to and from your lesson! A lot easier than CDRWs for moving around
a couple tunes or files. A big part of the process of learning guitar is being able to record yourself playing, both to capture song ideas and simulate a band feel by playing melody or solos over top of your recorded rhythm part. In the old days (i.e. 1980, when I learned to play!) this was easy: everyone had a tape recorder. Now good tape decks that record from a built in mike can be tough to find (though still available, especially by mail order off the internet: search for boomboxes with built in or condenser mikes). But there are other options. Here’s a complete list. All students should aim to get one of these methods: 1) Recording boombox
(about $45 and up, see above)
2) 4 track recorder that uses tapes ($100 and up) 
3) Digital 4 track ($300? and up)4) Minidisc recorder: these are very cool, easy to use and sound great. I wish more people used the minidisc format. Basically they are akin to having a portable CD burner that records right over top of old material instantly. 5) A computer based program like Cakewalk Home Studio (about $90). To use this you’ll need a decent sound card; most generic ones have the wrong kind of mike inputs and levels for serious recording. An external USB audio interface can substitute for a bad sound card. You need a P3 or P4 chip and lots of RAM. Products available for interfacing to the computer are evolving every month. 6) New products like the Line 6 TonePort UX1, the M Audio Black Box, or the Boss MicroBR combine guitar effects and amp modeling with a USB audio interface for even more fun and ease recording to the computer. Search musiciansfriend.com or ask Charles for more info about these kind of products. Power Tabs If you are interested in getting TABs for songs off the internet, Power Tab is a better way to go. Power Tabs (*.ptb files) are generally more complete, readable, and accurate than the common TABs. Last time I checked you can get the application (called Power Tab Editor) at: http://www.power-tab.net/downloads.php One archive of Power Tabs is at: http://www.powertabs.net/pta.php?page=browse Disclaimer: By linking to these sites, I am making no claim as to the safety or legality of using Power Tab.
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Materials
Every Student Should Have (these can make great gift ideas):