Got My First Guitar. Any Knowledge?
Discussion
I'd take the whammy bar arm out for now. It'll only cause you problems initially.
When I first started to play I used the site below for lessons. I'm still playing a few years later so it must have been ok.
http://guitar.about.com/library/blguitarlessonarch...
The main thing is practice. It's obvious but the more you do the better you'll get.
When I first started to play I used the site below for lessons. I'm still playing a few years later so it must have been ok.
http://guitar.about.com/library/blguitarlessonarch...
The main thing is practice. It's obvious but the more you do the better you'll get.
When I was a kid a good few years ago I started to learn Bass but then some t
t stole it and I couldn't afford another.
Now I quite fancy trying to learn again and now there is this out http://www.bassemporium.com/item.php?sku=096820002... I thought I could learn without all the amps and stuff you would usually need.
Good idea or not?
t stole it and I couldn't afford another.Now I quite fancy trying to learn again and now there is this out http://www.bassemporium.com/item.php?sku=096820002... I thought I could learn without all the amps and stuff you would usually need.
Good idea or not?
When I started (which was a good few years ago now) there was a book called 'Guitar Case Chord Book' - I think its still available and it is great!
I suggest you buy that and start learning the basic major and minor chords, practice moving between them and then when you can move around the basic chords, buy a book of songs by your favourite band and learn the basic rythmn stuff. From there you can learn barre chords and buy a scales book and learn your scales.
The first couple of months are hard because it's all a bit boring but remember that even the top players will generally warm up with scales and the harder chord changes before playing songs...
Cheers
DC
I suggest you buy that and start learning the basic major and minor chords, practice moving between them and then when you can move around the basic chords, buy a book of songs by your favourite band and learn the basic rythmn stuff. From there you can learn barre chords and buy a scales book and learn your scales.
The first couple of months are hard because it's all a bit boring but remember that even the top players will generally warm up with scales and the harder chord changes before playing songs...
Cheers
DC
One BIG mistake I've seen numerous friend do is think that it'll all come quickly and have seen many a beginner's guitar kit gathering dust in a corner as they've failed to appreciate how much work's involved.
The guitar is a tricky instrument to play well and does require hours and hours of practice. It is boring at the start, but if you really want to learn the thing, you'll get past this hurdle relatively easily.
Good luck tho - I've been playing electric guitar for 14 years now, bit by bit it slowly comes together and I was practicing around 2 hours a day every day for the first couple of years ( and it still satisfies btw)
The guitar is a tricky instrument to play well and does require hours and hours of practice. It is boring at the start, but if you really want to learn the thing, you'll get past this hurdle relatively easily.
Good luck tho - I've been playing electric guitar for 14 years now, bit by bit it slowly comes together and I was practicing around 2 hours a day every day for the first couple of years ( and it still satisfies btw)
Edited by 5150 on Saturday 19th September 21:35
This is how I learnt:
Sat with my guitar listening to songs I knew inside out and muted the strings with my left hand, but played along to the rhythm with my right hand! Then I would visit www.911tabs.com and pick the simplest chord shape in the song I was learning and play that chord with my newly found rhythm. It sounds crap at first but it builds your confidence as it vaguely sounds like *something*
Gradually then add in the other chords and pretty soon you get the hang of it
Make sure to learn songs that you love or you'll run out of passion for it.
Sat with my guitar listening to songs I knew inside out and muted the strings with my left hand, but played along to the rhythm with my right hand! Then I would visit www.911tabs.com and pick the simplest chord shape in the song I was learning and play that chord with my newly found rhythm. It sounds crap at first but it builds your confidence as it vaguely sounds like *something*
Gradually then add in the other chords and pretty soon you get the hang of it
Make sure to learn songs that you love or you'll run out of passion for it.As said previosuly, take the whammy bar out for now, put it somewhere safe and get it out maybe 2 years down the line when you have learned the basics.
IMHO you need more than just to learn chord tabs from t'internet. Try a decent guitar book for beginners, which will cover the basics such as scales, chord structure, guitar notes, theory etc etc, as well as chords and leads. When i learn about 25 years ago, i used some books by a chap called Russ shipton. I found them very good indeed, and they certainly worked for me.
Also helps if you know someone who plays, who can sit with you and go through some chords, just to make sure you are doing it right and you are developing teh right technique.
And finally, practice then more practive Good luck
IMHO you need more than just to learn chord tabs from t'internet. Try a decent guitar book for beginners, which will cover the basics such as scales, chord structure, guitar notes, theory etc etc, as well as chords and leads. When i learn about 25 years ago, i used some books by a chap called Russ shipton. I found them very good indeed, and they certainly worked for me.
Also helps if you know someone who plays, who can sit with you and go through some chords, just to make sure you are doing it right and you are developing teh right technique.
And finally, practice then more practive
Good luckEdited by gbbird on Sunday 20th September 12:51
Make a list of a few of your favourite songs, and seek out the tabs for them somewhere like 911tabs. But don't go getting too ambitious just yet, no steve vai or joe satriani stuff to start with. simple stuff that uses a handful of basic chords.
Arm yourself with a list of chords and practice them relentlessly till they're firmly committed to memory, and practice switching between them (go from a C to a D etc), and try some chords that mean you've got to stretch your fingers and stuff fairly regularly. Once you've got a few chords mastered get back to your tab site and dig out a tab that makes use of them and get practicing putting what you've learned into action.
If you get bored of chords, as most people do, you can learn a few scales or lead riffs too, but don't be disappointed by them taking an age to get the hang of, if all fails revert to 'smoke on the water'
The trouble with most of the beginners guides, introduction dvd's / cd's/ books and so on, is that they're so rigid and uncreative, and ultimately boring. If you stick solely to them you'll probably end up as one of the folks who leave their guitars in the corner beneath a coat of dust. Once you've spent a wee while learning the real basic stuff, even power chords if needs be, you can start getting a bit more ambitious. Try picking up a couple of copies of total guitar magazine, they furnish each copy with some tabs and stuff, pretty decent and you might pick up some good tips and so on. I've not bought it for a long time but I assume it's not changed much.
Best of luck with it, it can be tedious and frustrating initially, but once your confidence picks up a bit and you start getting beyond the total newbie level things start progressing a bit quicker, and more importantly you can make some nice sounds and it becomes so much more enjoyable.
Arm yourself with a list of chords and practice them relentlessly till they're firmly committed to memory, and practice switching between them (go from a C to a D etc), and try some chords that mean you've got to stretch your fingers and stuff fairly regularly. Once you've got a few chords mastered get back to your tab site and dig out a tab that makes use of them and get practicing putting what you've learned into action.
If you get bored of chords, as most people do, you can learn a few scales or lead riffs too, but don't be disappointed by them taking an age to get the hang of, if all fails revert to 'smoke on the water'
The trouble with most of the beginners guides, introduction dvd's / cd's/ books and so on, is that they're so rigid and uncreative, and ultimately boring. If you stick solely to them you'll probably end up as one of the folks who leave their guitars in the corner beneath a coat of dust. Once you've spent a wee while learning the real basic stuff, even power chords if needs be, you can start getting a bit more ambitious. Try picking up a couple of copies of total guitar magazine, they furnish each copy with some tabs and stuff, pretty decent and you might pick up some good tips and so on. I've not bought it for a long time but I assume it's not changed much.
Best of luck with it, it can be tedious and frustrating initially, but once your confidence picks up a bit and you start getting beyond the total newbie level things start progressing a bit quicker, and more importantly you can make some nice sounds and it becomes so much more enjoyable.
Did anyone used to use www.mysongbook.com? You could download files off there, and play them in Guitar Pro. It's not very useful anymore because most of the songs were taken down due to copyright issues.
It was a tab/chord/score type file, and the program would reproduce how the music would be played, sort of like kareoke for guitar/bass/piano.
It was a tab/chord/score type file, and the program would reproduce how the music would be played, sort of like kareoke for guitar/bass/piano.
deadmau5 said:
Did anyone used to use www.mysongbook.com?
No - but then I started playing 30 years ago 
Seriously though, the web is a fantatsic tool for learning and unless you're looking for a really off the wall song youtube normally has someine teaching you how to play it. But for me it's all only any good if you know the basics first.
Cheers
DC
Get a copy of Guitar Pro 5. A lot of the tabs online are in this format.
A good place for finding tabs is http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/
Play often. A lot of it is building up strength in your fingers, hardening your fingertips, and muscle memory. If you leave it to collect dust for a month, you'll lose a lot of that hard-earned progress!
It's not easy, it's somthing you have to work at! (Don't be fooled by easy the pros make it look!
)
A good place for finding tabs is http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/
Play often. A lot of it is building up strength in your fingers, hardening your fingertips, and muscle memory. If you leave it to collect dust for a month, you'll lose a lot of that hard-earned progress!
It's not easy, it's somthing you have to work at! (Don't be fooled by easy the pros make it look!
) uriel said:
Without getting a proper teacher, you can't really do better than http://justinguitar.com/
Agree with this. Loads of good video lessons here. Next best thing to having your own teacher. Enjoy the guitar. Learning an instrument is so rewarding.
Edited by SteveO... on Sunday 20th September 15:46
Justin guitar is great. If you want a change though and don't mind paying for a service have a look at jam play. I joined a few months ago and like it a lot. I think there's a free trial lessons and if you google you can find token keys that make your first month of full membership pretty cheap if you want to try out the full site.
SteveO... said:
uriel said:
Without getting a proper teacher, you can't really do better than http://justinguitar.com/
Agree with this. Loads of good video lessons here. Next best thing to having your own teacher. Enjoy the guitar. Learning an instrument is so rewarding.
Edited by SteveO... on Sunday 20th September 15:46
Great Have looked at JustinGuitar and it's very helpful for beginners. Even better is that my son likes the idea and wants to learn too.
Have noticed that it makes fingers sore and also I was born with very short fingers
Seems a long road at the moment but will stick at it.
Thanks folks. What do you guys think of these electronic guitar tuners? just to learn the sounds to be able to tune yourself?
Have looked at JustinGuitar and it's very helpful for beginners. Even better is that my son likes the idea and wants to learn too.Have noticed that it makes fingers sore and also I was born with very short fingers
Seems a long road at the moment but will stick at it.Thanks folks. What do you guys think of these electronic guitar tuners? just to learn the sounds to be able to tune yourself?
Edited by As_Bo on Friday 25th September 15:32
When you're first starting out (especially on a brand new guitar) it will be impossible for you to avoid regularly putting it out of tune! I would use an electric one to begin with as at least you will be 100% certain it's in tune until you develop an ear for the correct note
Soon you'll know without needing the tuner!
Soon you'll know without needing the tuner!
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