There are many people who play guitar, but not all of them are going to take it as seriously as those that go on to play for most of their lives. Some think of it as a hobby, and others find that this is something that they can not live without in their lives. Some people start out with acoustic but then move on to the electric guitar. Many people play both. When it is time to use the electric, you have to have a way to amplify the sound. Shopping for electric guitar amps may not seem easy, but there are some simple things that can help you out.

There are full sized electric guitar amps, and then there are the practice size. These vary greatly in sound and capability, but you often want to start out with the practice amp. This is about a foot to a foot and a half square, and has very few options on it. However, this is perfect when someone starts out with the electric guitar. These electric guitar amps are far less expensive than the larger ones you would need for performance, but they do what they need to do and they can do it well. Most keep one later on for home use.

When it comes time to buy the larger and performance based electric guitar amps, you have to take some more time to see what you want to get. There are some types of amps that are better than others, and there are some brands that people prefer. Each of the different brands of electric guitar amps have their own unique sound. Some work better with different types of music, and other times, people just have a preference for a sound no matter what type of music they play.

One of the best things you can do when choosing electric guitar amps is to do your research first. See what others that play your style of music use, and then look for consumer reviews as well. These can cost anywhere from 1000 dollars and up, with the really good ones being very expensive. You don’t want to go about and choose electric guitar amps on a whim without knowing what you are doing. If you do, you could end up with something that does not work for you, and if you resell it, you won’t get back nearly what you put into it money wise.

Caring for your electric guitar amps can mean they last longer and sound better. Be careful when you store them, and make sure you know when the tubes are going bad. At times, something as simple as a fuse could have blown if something is not working, but you may not have any idea what went wrong. Electric guitar amps are very touchy, and as you know very expensive, so find a great dealer or expert to do the repair work for you.

Custom Beginners Electric Guitar - Pro Tested/Approved US $50.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 10:14:07 PDT Add to watch list

39" Beginner Electric Guitar Pink(NEW) US $69.99 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 15:29:14 PDT Add to watch list

Fender Starcaster Strat Beginner Electric Guitar & More US $99.99 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 18:08:04 PDT Add to watch list

Fender Starcaster Electric Guitar Pack Beginner Upgrade US $159.00 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 18:33:47 PDT Add to watch list

New Hannah Montana Electric Guitar & Amp Beginner Pack US $89.95 End Date: Saturday Jul-31-2010 8:45:07 PDT Add to watch list

39"Beginner Electric Guitar Coffee(NEW) US $79.99 End Date: Saturday Jul-31-2010 13:58:46 PDT Add to watch list

39" Beginner Electric Guitar Sunburst(NEW) US $79.99 End Date: Saturday Jul-31-2010 14:15:11 PDT Add to watch list

Schoenhut Beginners Electric Guitar 609R **BRAND NEW** US $94.99 End Date: Saturday Jul-31-2010 14:40:56 PDT Add to watch list

Dean EVO XM Beginner Electric Guitar Package w/ Amp US $219.00 End Date: Saturday Jul-31-2010 15:23:03 PDT Add to watch list

New Electric Guitar for Dummies Beginner's Pack by Kona US $139.95 End Date: Saturday Jul-31-2010 15:37:08 PDT Add to watch list

Although your typical electric beginner doesn’t know it, your career as a guitar player is often determined by the choices you make right when you first go to the store and start looking. The guitar you choose, the strings you buy, the amplifier you purchase, and the books you pick out say a lot about whether or not you will ultimately succeed or fail at playing the guitar. Not that there aren’t electric guitar beginners to recover from making bad choices about their gear. Many of the best electric guitarists started out on lousy instruments. Nevertheless, but if you play a decent instrument, your chances of succeeding and sticking with it are so much better. Things will sound better, feel better, and be easier to play. You’ll be less likely to get discouraged early on and quit while you’re still an electric guitar beginner.

The very best thing that electric guitar beginners can do is to take an experienced friend with them down to the store. Find someone who is not just your friends, but also an electric guitarist whose style you admire. Find out what they use, what they started with, and what they recommend for you. That way, you can profit from their wisdom and learn from their mistakes. Some electric guitar beginner instruments are actually extremely good. Just because you’re only spending a hundred dollars or so for your guitar, amp, picks and strings doesn’t mean that you’re going to end up with a worthless guitar. The key is to know what beginning electric guitars are a bargain and which ones aren’t worth the money you pay for them.

Of course, just because you are an electric guitar beginner doesn’t mean you need to get beginner equipment. On the contrary, some electric guitar beginners choose to invest several hundred dollars in getting pro or semi professional gear. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. As I said earlier, the better your gear, the better it will sound and the easier it will be to play. The disadvantage is that if you don’t end up sticking with the guitar, you will be out several hundred dollars.

A good compromise solution is to buy used pro gear. If you keep your guitar equipment in good shape, it won’t lose any value. As an electric guitar beginner, you can save a little bit of money on some high quality stuff and have the option of selling it on to someone else for almost what you paid for it. It is a win-win situation, provided that you know what to look for. Sometimes, used gear has hidden problems and that that aren’t easy to see if you are an electric guitar beginner. Bring along someone who knows what they are doing and have them check it out.

BLUE ELECTRIC ACOUSTIC BASS GUITAR W/ EQUALIZER EBA-BL1 US $94.95 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 5:44:44 PDT Add to watch list

NATURAL ELECTRIC ACOUSTIC BASS GUITAR EQUALIZER EBA-NR1 US $89.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 7:44:58 PDT Add to watch list

Dean Fretless Acoustic Electric Bass Guitar Gloss Black US $224.95 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 7:59:05 PDT Add to watch list

SUNBURST ELECTRIC ACOUSTIC BASS GUITAR EQUALIZER EBA-SB US $94.95 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 9:09:00 PDT Add to watch list

NEW 43" BLUE ACOUSTIC ELECTRIC BASS GUITAR W/ EQUALIZER US $75.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 9:16:27 PDT Add to watch list

Pignose HOG 20 Rechargeable AMP Acoustic Guitar-Bass US $134.95 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 10:39:31 PDT Add to watch list

OVATION CC2474 ACOUSTIC ELECTRIC 4-STRING BASS GUITAR US $399.99 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 11:08:52 PDT Add to watch list

RED ELECTRIC ACOUSTIC BASS GUITAR W/ EQUALIZER EBA-RD1 US $89.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 11:15:02 PDT Add to watch list

Luna Muse Acoustic-Electric Bass Guitar US $329.95 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 11:39:32 PDT Add to watch list

BLACK ELECTRIC ACOUSTIC BASS GUITAR EQUALIZER EBA-BK1 US $94.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 13:09:07 PDT Add to watch list

Buying my first acoustic bass guitar was one of the high points of my year. I have had some experience playing bass before, but very little. I used to have an old beaten up Ibanez bass guitar that I got from my dad, but it wasn’t in very good shape. This was really my first chance to ever experiment with a good instrument, and I relished the opportunity.

I did not no this until recently, but the difference between a poorly made instruments and a high-quality one is enormous. Acoustic bass guitars can vary tremendously, and the one I had been using before was in pretty bad shape. The neck was bent and warped, which made it very difficult to finger correctly. The intonation was also a little bit out, so it didn’t even stay in tune very well. New, it would have been a very high-quality electric bass, but my dad hadn’t taken very good care of it and it showed.

I resolved to take very good care of my own acoustic bass guitar. Every day I used it, I would start by wiping it with a dry cloth, tuning it up, and checking to make sure that everything was in working order. Acoustic bass guitars are actually pretty low maintenance instruments, so as long as you keep them in the right conditions, they are not too hard to take care of. You don’t want to expose them to excessive moisture or to get them too hot or too cold. Most of all, you don’t want to have radical temperature changes. Basically, don’t leave it in the car or in your unheated apartment in winter if you can avoid it.

It is amazing what having a nice sounding instrument will do for you. I have experimented a little bit with playing bass before as I told you, but it has never felt anything like this. The sound was so rich and full on the acoustic bass guitar that I just couldn’t stop playing. My fingers were practically bleeding by the time I was done practicing every day, and the next day I was always ready for more. I knew that, if I persisted, I would be good in no time.

In a lot of rock bands, the guitar player with the inferior skills ends up playing the bass. As a result, there are a lot of lousy bass players out there. When I first touched this acoustic bass guitar, however, I knew that I would become good. I would not just be another second string musician. I would specialize in playing the acoustic bass guitar and really investigate all of the sonic possibilities. I’m not there yet, but I’m definitely making progress. Any day now, I will be the bass player I want to be.

NEW RESONATOR - Acoustic / Electric GUITAR - Steel Pan US $139.00 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 3:59:48 PDT Add to watch list

NEW RESONATOR - Acoustic / Electric GUITAR - Steel Pan US $139.00 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 3:59:48 PDT Add to watch list

41" Cutaway Acoustic Electric Guitar Blue Sunburst US $89.95 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 5:21:49 PDT Add to watch list

Thin-Line SG ACOUSTIC / ELECTRIC Double Cutaway GUITAR US $129.00 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 5:41:48 PDT Add to watch list

Martin DC16RGTE AURA Acoustic-Electric Guitar US $1,600.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 5:42:17 PDT Add to watch list

BLUE ELECTRIC ACOUSTIC BASS GUITAR W/ EQUALIZER EBA-BL1 US $94.95 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 5:44:44 PDT Add to watch list

Luna Oracle Crane Laser Etched Acoustic-Electric guitar US $399.99 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 5:57:47 PDT Add to watch list

NEW NATURAL ELECTRIC ACOUSTIC GUITAR CUTAWAY C-N1 US $64.99 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 6:03:54 PDT Add to watch list

Fender California Kingman SCE Acoustic-Electric Guitar US $289.95 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 6:08:41 PDT Add to watch list

IBANEZ EW20ASE ACOUSTIC ELECTRIC GUITAR - 2010 US $265.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 6:15:14 PDT Add to watch list

Acoustic electric guitars are not much different from your normal acoustic guitar. The main difference is the addition of a pickup. In an acoustic guitar, there is no built-in pickup. If you want to amplify the signal, you need to either stick a pick up under the bridge, or sit close to the microphone. With an acoustic electric guitar, however, the pickup is built right into the guitar body. This has obvious advantages. It makes it easier to amplify signals since you can just plug in to a guitar cable. It also means that you have less gear to carry around. You don’t have to keep an extra pick up on hand for playing a gig.

Of course there are some people who do not like using the amplifiers built into acoustic electric guitars. They would rather sit near to a microphone and pick up the guitar that way. This gives a dryer, sparser sort of sounds more suitable to rhythmic playing. But I’ve always liked acoustic electric guitars even when I want to amplify with a normal microphone. The reason is, having an acoustic pickup built in doesn’t stop you from using other means to pick up the sound. You can still use a normal mic to record the sound of your guitar. You simply have the option of adding the onboard guitar pickup.

This is also nice if you like to experiment with sounds. A lot of people I know who play acoustic electric guitars like to mix sounds from different sources. You can use a bridge pickup and mix it with a microphone pickup, for example. Some people even take it a step further, adding contact mics on to the guitar body at various points. Depending where you pick up a signal, you will get all sorts of sounds from the guitar. This allows you to tweak your sound, getting just the right signal for whatever project you are working on. It also gives your sound mixer more options when you are playing a live show and trying to compensate for whatever peculiarities the club has in its acoustic performance.

Of course, sometimes you run into problems of availability. Some high-quality models simply aren’t available as acoustic electric guitars. Fortunately, portable pickups have gotten so good at this doesn’t have to be a big obstacle. You can simply stick a pick up under the bridge and mix in the signal as if you were using a normal acoustic electric guitar. Of course, you won’t have an onboard mixer like acoustic electric guitars do, but you can always add a mixer into your signal line. It may be a little bit less convenient, but you can still get the sound you like.

There are many people who play guitar, but not all of them are going to take it as seriously as those that go on to play for most of their lives. Some think of it as a hobby, and others find that this is something that they can not live without in their lives. Some people start out with acoustic but then move on to the electric guitar. Many people play both. When it is time to use the electric, you have to have a way to amplify the sound. Shopping for electric guitar amps may not seem easy, but there are some simple things that can help you out.

There are full sized electric guitar amps, and then there are the practice size. These vary greatly in sound and capability, but you often want to start out with the practice amp. This is about a foot to a foot and a half square, and has very few options on it. However, this is perfect when someone starts out with the electric guitar. These electric guitar amps are far less expensive than the larger ones you would need for performance, but they do what they need to do and they can do it well. Most keep one later on for home use.

When it comes time to buy the larger and performance based electric guitar amps, you have to take some more time to see what you want to get. There are some types of amps that are better than others, and there are some brands that people prefer. Each of the different brands of electric guitar amps have their own unique sound. Some work better with different types of music, and other times, people just have a preference for a sound no matter what type of music they play.

One of the best things you can do when choosing electric guitar amps is to do your research first. See what others that play your style of music use, and then look for consumer reviews as well. These can cost anywhere from 1000 dollars and up, with the really good ones being very expensive. You don’t want to go about and choose electric guitar amps on a whim without knowing what you are doing. If you do, you could end up with something that does not work for you, and if you resell it, you won’t get back nearly what you put into it money wise.

Caring for your electric guitar amps can mean they last longer and sound better. Be careful when you store them, and make sure you know when the tubes are going bad. At times, something as simple as a fuse could have blown if something is not working, but you may not have any idea what went wrong. Electric guitar amps are very touchy, and as you know very expensive, so find a great dealer or expert to do the repair work for you.

Although your typical electric beginner doesn’t know it, your career as a guitar player is often determined by the choices you make right when you first go to the store and start looking. The guitar you choose, the strings you buy, the amplifier you purchase, and the books you pick out say a lot about whether or not you will ultimately succeed or fail at playing the guitar. Not that there aren’t electric guitar beginners to recover from making bad choices about their gear. Many of the best electric guitarists started out on lousy instruments. Nevertheless, but if you play a decent instrument, your chances of succeeding and sticking with it are so much better. Things will sound better, feel better, and be easier to play. You’ll be less likely to get discouraged early on and quit while you’re still an electric guitar beginner.

The very best thing that electric guitar beginners can do is to take an experienced friend with them down to the store. Find someone who is not just your friends, but also an electric guitarist whose style you admire. Find out what they use, what they started with, and what they recommend for you. That way, you can profit from their wisdom and learn from their mistakes. Some electric guitar beginner instruments are actually extremely good. Just because you’re only spending a hundred dollars or so for your guitar, amp, picks and strings doesn’t mean that you’re going to end up with a worthless guitar. The key is to know what beginning electric guitars are a bargain and which ones aren’t worth the money you pay for them.

Of course, just because you are an electric guitar beginner doesn’t mean you need to get beginner equipment. On the contrary, some electric guitar beginners choose to invest several hundred dollars in getting pro or semi professional gear. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. As I said earlier, the better your gear, the better it will sound and the easier it will be to play. The disadvantage is that if you don’t end up sticking with the guitar, you will be out several hundred dollars.

A good compromise solution is to buy used pro gear. If you keep your guitar equipment in good shape, it won’t lose any value. As an electric guitar beginner, you can save a little bit of money on some high quality stuff and have the option of selling it on to someone else for almost what you paid for it. It is a win-win situation, provided that you know what to look for. Sometimes, used gear has hidden problems and that that aren’t easy to see if you are an electric guitar beginner. Bring along someone who knows what they are doing and have them check it out.

BLUE ELECTRIC ACOUSTIC BASS GUITAR W/ EQUALIZER EBA-BL1 US $94.95 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 5:44:44 PDT Add to watch list

NATURAL ELECTRIC ACOUSTIC BASS GUITAR EQUALIZER EBA-NR1 US $89.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 7:44:58 PDT Add to watch list

Dean Fretless Acoustic Electric Bass Guitar Gloss Black US $224.95 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 7:59:05 PDT Add to watch list

SUNBURST ELECTRIC ACOUSTIC BASS GUITAR EQUALIZER EBA-SB US $94.95 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 9:09:00 PDT Add to watch list

NEW 43" BLUE ACOUSTIC ELECTRIC BASS GUITAR W/ EQUALIZER US $75.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 9:16:27 PDT Add to watch list

Pignose HOG 20 Rechargeable AMP Acoustic Guitar-Bass US $134.95 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 10:39:31 PDT Add to watch list

OVATION CC2474 ACOUSTIC ELECTRIC 4-STRING BASS GUITAR US $399.99 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 11:08:52 PDT Add to watch list

RED ELECTRIC ACOUSTIC BASS GUITAR W/ EQUALIZER EBA-RD1 US $89.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 11:15:02 PDT Add to watch list

Luna Muse Acoustic-Electric Bass Guitar US $329.95 End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 11:39:32 PDT Add to watch list

BLACK ELECTRIC ACOUSTIC BASS GUITAR EQUALIZER EBA-BK1 US $94.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 13:09:07 PDT Add to watch list

Buying my first acoustic bass guitar was one of the high points of my year. I have had some experience playing bass before, but very little. I used to have an old beaten up Ibanez bass guitar that I got from my dad, but it wasn’t in very good shape. This was really my first chance to ever experiment with a good instrument, and I relished the opportunity.

I did not no this until recently, but the difference between a poorly made instruments and a high-quality one is enormous. Acoustic bass guitars can vary tremendously, and the one I had been using before was in pretty bad shape. The neck was bent and warped, which made it very difficult to finger correctly. The intonation was also a little bit out, so it didn’t even stay in tune very well. New, it would have been a very high-quality electric bass, but my dad hadn’t taken very good care of it and it showed.

I resolved to take very good care of my own acoustic bass guitar. Every day I used it, I would start by wiping it with a dry cloth, tuning it up, and checking to make sure that everything was in working order. Acoustic bass guitars are actually pretty low maintenance instruments, so as long as you keep them in the right conditions, they are not too hard to take care of. You don’t want to expose them to excessive moisture or to get them too hot or too cold. Most of all, you don’t want to have radical temperature changes. Basically, don’t leave it in the car or in your unheated apartment in winter if you can avoid it.

It is amazing what having a nice sounding instrument will do for you. I have experimented a little bit with playing bass before as I told you, but it has never felt anything like this. The sound was so rich and full on the acoustic bass guitar that I just couldn’t stop playing. My fingers were practically bleeding by the time I was done practicing every day, and the next day I was always ready for more. I knew that, if I persisted, I would be good in no time.

In a lot of rock bands, the guitar player with the inferior skills ends up playing the bass. As a result, there are a lot of lousy bass players out there. When I first touched this acoustic bass guitar, however, I knew that I would become good. I would not just be another second string musician. I would specialize in playing the acoustic bass guitar and really investigate all of the sonic possibilities. I’m not there yet, but I’m definitely making progress. Any day now, I will be the bass player I want to be.

Cort Earth 500 Acoustic Guitar + Strap + Hard Case US $350.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Jul-30-2010 12:48:52 PDT Add to watch list

Yamaha Acoustic Guitar FG730S W/ Strap and Gig Bag US $115.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Jul-31-2010 21:49:51 PDT Add to watch list

Washburn D29S Acoustic Guitar w/Strap & Stand MINT!!! US $550.00 End Date: Sunday Aug-01-2010 13:05:53 PDT Add to watch list

New Acoustic electric Flame guitar w/ strap picks US $99.00 End Date: Sunday Aug-01-2010 18:45:42 PDT Add to watch list

MINT Gibson Epiphone EP200 Acoustic Guitar + Strap/Case US $149.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Aug-01-2010 20:00:20 PDT Add to watch list

LYON BY WASHBURN ACOUSTIC GUITAR+TUNER+DVD+STRAP+STRING US $69.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Tuesday Aug-03-2010 14:57:55 PDT Add to watch list

New Acoustic electric Flame guitar w/ strap picks US $99.00 End Date: Wednesday Aug-04-2010 20:11:56 PDT Add to watch list

Acoustic Guitar with Echolac Guitar Strap US $75.00 End Date: Friday Aug-06-2010 22:39:05 PDT Add to watch list

GUITAR, ACOUSTIC 38" COFFEE COLOR WITH CASE & STRAP!!! US $79.99 End Date: Saturday Aug-07-2010 16:27:23 PDT Add to watch list

New Luna Muse burst solid Acoustic Guitar, bag strap pk US $269.00 End Date: Monday Aug-09-2010 19:06:52 PDT Add to watch list

You people who play guitar don’t know how lucky you are to have an instrument that allows you to express yourself by customizing its appearance. I’ve been playing harmonica for about 10 years now, so I have grown up playing an instrument which no one can see when you are performing. With a harmonica, there’s no point in adding stickers, painting it, or coming up with musical accessories to decorate your instrument. With guitar, however, you can do a lot to give yourself a particular look as a musician. You can paint a guitar, put stickers on it, refinish it, and even glue toys on to it if you want to. Even an acoustic guitar strap can be a way to express yourself.

In the music store I work at, there are literally dozens of different acoustic guitar straps. A lot of them have a pretty standard look to them. A classic acoustic guitar strap is usually black, thick, and padded. It is a pretty utilitarian design. You see, unlike electric guitar straps, acoustic straps have to be big enough to carry a fairly heavy instruments. Acoustic guitars can get pretty big, so using a thin strap around your neck can really start to hurt soon. Even people who use a more fashionable acoustic guitar strap usually prefer a fairly thick one.

Of course, there are exceptions. You see, there are so many different sorts of acoustic guitars, and they come in many different sizes. If you are playing a dreadnought guitar, you need a heavy-duty, industrial-strength acoustic guitar strap to really handle the weight properly. If you are playing one of the small guitars often used in Spanish music, however, you can get away with something much lighter weight and thinner. It will actually look better and feel more comfortable to use a smaller strap. With backpack guitars, you can use an even more minimalist approach. It all depends on what you’re playing.

A lot of the guitar players I know don’t even use a store-bought acoustic guitar strap at all. Instead, they improvise. One of the most popular approaches is to use a converted luggage strap to hold your guitar. Luggage straps are about the right thickness for an acoustic guitar strap, and they also are easy to customize. You can adjust them very easily too, which makes them ideally suited for use as acoustic guitar straps. And many of them come in bright, pretty colors which will give your guitar just the right Look to express who you are. Then again, there are some pretty innovative acoustic strap designers out there. You might want to look to see what they have to offer before you choose a luggage strap.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t give other sorts of musical groups a chance. Sometimes, it’s nice to have an amateur band with raw, unvarnished energy come in and put on a wild rocking show. It’s just that these bands can not be counted on to make you money. Usually, I’ll just give them a couple drinks and maybe 10 bucks each if it’s a good night. Enough to cover gas money, but not cut of the door. After all, if they’re not making me any money, I can’t really afford to pay them.

Most of the amateur musical groups get this, but a few of them don’t. I’ve definitely had my share of arguments with musical bands who are expecting me to be blown away by their performance and offer them loads of money. I don’t know what they think I am. I think in some of these guys heads, club owners are supposed to be waiting there just to see them play. I think they believe honestly that, if they play in the right club, they are going to be made millionaires overnight – or at least get enough money to pay rent. I can’t do that for a small, amateur musical group. I’m just trying to make do myself.

Still, sometimes it’s good to take a risk. I’ve definitely paid good money to bring in musical groups from out of town, sometimes with disappointing results. Other times, you find a small band with incredibly loyal followers who will go with them anywhere. You bring in one band from Georgia and they bring a hundred fans, driving across multiple states to come see them play. It’s really hard to tell how it’s going to go until it does. Basically, as a club owner I just have to trust my own judgment.

Learning when and where music copyright law goes into effect is the place to start. Since the first writing I did was just penning new tunes to two- and three-hundred year old hymns at church, I didn’t really have much to worry about. I was using lyrics that were public domain (sort of like “Happy Birthday” — when it’s public domain, you can sing someone else’s tunes or lyrics without winding up in jail), so I didn’t have to worry about protected rights. Using these types of songs and lyrics is the way to go for beginners, but I’ve advanced beyond that point now. I’m trying to write my own stuff, and I don’t want someone else getting credit for it, which is why I needed to find out how music copyright law works.

Music copyright law protects composers, publishers, and arrangers from having their work stolen or tampered with in any way. In essence, United States music copyright law guarantees that the creator/owner of the original material has the exclusive rights to that material as long as they’re alive, plus 50 years! For songs written before 1978, the decided-on time frame is 75 years. That way, the creative folks that penned their own songs and lyrics get all the credit for them, as well as any monetary gain from their sale or broadcast. It’s a pretty terrific system, if you ask me.

The best way to protect what you’ve written, what some call your “intellectual property,” is to register what your songs or lyrics with the appropriate government agency. A good attorney is really worth your time in this regard, even if it’s just in the capacity of advising you on how and where to start. The web is full of resources and references for music copyright law, including some well-known sites that can give you step-by-step information on safeguarding your work, all of which can be done online. And you can find attorneys who specialize in our business (that’s where I found my lawyer).

So I’m glad that I did a little bit of homework, and I’m hoping that when Steven Spielberg decides to use what I’ve written as the soundtrack for his next summer blockbuster, I’ll be ready to sit back, relax, and watch those lovely royalty checks flow right into my mailbox!