Alia Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 ...lend me your help. After several years of piano lessons and the development of a hardened stringed-instrument phobia, I'm learning how to play the guitar. Why, you ask? Because my parents promised me a new computer as soon as I was proficient enough to play with them (competently.) So I'm very inspired, you see. I borrowed my little brother's crappy little Strat and am blowing the doors down with a mini amp. I know some of you are guitarists, so do you have any tips for a guitar n00b like me? To broaden the conversation capabilities of this thread, you could talk about whatever kind of music you play and how and with whom and whatever. Oh, and it wouldn't sound like a plea for help without this: im like stuck!!!!!11 pls helpp!!!!!1111 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kjølen Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 Well lets see, it's different for every individual intrument. 2nd position is usually a tiny bit out from 1st position which is all the way in. 3rd position is right where the bar of the slide and the bell and even, 4th is a tiny bit farther than that, Fifth is a lot farth out, 6th is almost all the way out and 7th is when you see the line on the slide that means you only have a few inches left of slide. Yeah. That's it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edlib Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 Learn to play by ear as soon as possible. Just get a record you like, and learn the guitar parts off of it by listening to in a zillion times. Stay away from tabs,.. they will actually hinder your progress in the long run (learned this the hard way) Practice EVERYTHING with a metronome or drum machine at first. That's the only way you will develop rock-solid time (and guitar players are notoriously sloppy with time. Again, learn from my mistakes) As soon as you think you can handle it move up to heavier strings to practice on. Practice how you plan on playing. If you plan to play on stage, standing with your guitar hanging on a strap with your amp on the floor behind you, then you should always practice that way. Turn off all the effects, reverb and distortion right away. You will play cleaner in the long run. Listen to guitar players playing stuff you can't, even if you don't really like it. If you only listen to people that play music you like and who play like you can already, you will never develop beyond that point. Hang out with other musicians, especially those who are much better than you. Take chances and use every oppertunity to play with other people, even if you think you will be embarassed. Listen to music constantly. Every style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Jones Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 i'm playing two 1210s with my fellows.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptdc Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 For a while your fingers are probably going to be sore. Stick with it until the tips go hard (har har ) and it'll be a lot easier. Practice the same thing repeatedly until you get it, then play it really fast. Learning to read music or if you know already learning how to relate that to the guitar would be useful. I managed to work out the monkey island and blackadder themes once through trial and error, but then I forgot and I'm a terrible guitarist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alia Posted October 18, 2003 Author Share Posted October 18, 2003 Hehe, you should hear me play the MI theme on the piano. And yes, my fingers are pretty sore. I'm keeping all this advice in mind and thank you, edlib, for letting me learning from your mistakes. It'll save me a lot of grief, I think. Thank you again! P.S. I figured out how to play Jingle Bells, and can play the whole thing at rip speed. Go me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernil Posted October 18, 2003 Share Posted October 18, 2003 Me being the singer in a band, and not the guitarist, I'm afraid I've got no good advice for you. All I can say is that if you want inspiration, listen to bands such as Phish, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Weezer, Jack Johnson, etc. Hear enough of them, and you'll be writing brilliant music in no-time. P.S....the guitarist is my band is also a MI fanatic, and a member of these forums. He seldom posts here...only 4 or 5 times, but he could be PMed if you want some info out of him. Name's Mr.Burger. Musical Genious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edlib Posted October 18, 2003 Share Posted October 18, 2003 Here's a couple of web sites that have beginner guitar lessons: http://www.fenderplayersclub.com/ http://www.acousticguitar.com/lessons/lessons.shtml http://www.guitarnoise.com/ I also recommend getting Guitar Player mag http://www.guitarplayer.com/index.htm Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrik Posted October 18, 2003 Share Posted October 18, 2003 Yeah, as Edlib said.. being able to play by ear is an awesome skill to have. Then you can pretty much play whatever you want (through a fair amount of trial and error, often) instead of being limited to what is provided to you on paper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RicardoLuigi... Posted October 18, 2003 Share Posted October 18, 2003 your little brother sounds like a creep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Groovy Posted October 18, 2003 Share Posted October 18, 2003 I played in about 4 bands in my life. My first act was a punk group called Trevor, I played rhythm, which was mostly 4 chord madness. I had a Krammer, after about a year of trying to sound good, I gave up and moved to vocals. I sang in the last three bands, ranging from industrial to metal. I found the guitar to be difficult to learn, it takes a great deal of patience. Singing came more natural, because most of the people in my family all have good voices. Don't get me started on my trombone days... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alia Posted October 19, 2003 Author Share Posted October 19, 2003 Originally posted by Das Mole your little brother sounds like a creep. Affirmative. And so does yours. Groovemeister: Trombone? What about the - NO! Don't ask! *slaps self* Anyway, I practiced for two more hours today. Mostly just that annoying trial-and-error method of figuring out a song, chords and melody. But it's so great when you finally get it. And it's a lot more fun than I thought it be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branik Posted October 19, 2003 Share Posted October 19, 2003 Learn the scales and as much theory as you can ASAP, and always remember to STAY AWAY from TABS! They'll ruin you in the long run. Learn from my mistakes. I never bothered to learn any theory or anything, I just started playing (mostly by ear). Now that I've concentrated more in classical music, scales and such have become very important. I know, they're boring, but extremely useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edlib Posted October 19, 2003 Share Posted October 19, 2003 Originally posted by Thrik Then you can pretty much play whatever you want (through a fair amount of trial and error, often) instead of being limited to what is provided to you on paper. Agreed. It's frustrating at first, but you get better the more you do it. Also: Doing "ear-training" away from the instrument will speed things up quickly. http://www.good-ear.com/servlet/EarTrainer http://music1.csudh.edu/EarTraining/ http://solfege.sourceforge.net/ Do some of the interval and chord drills everyday away from the guitar or piano and you will move along much faster. Sight-reading is also a great skill to have, but I think in modern music, much of which is never notated, being able to put on a record and pick out the chords and the melody really quickly will make you a much more flexible musician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alia Posted October 19, 2003 Author Share Posted October 19, 2003 I've done a lot of theory, ear-training and stuff, so I'm not so badly off on that point....thank god. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edlib Posted October 19, 2003 Share Posted October 19, 2003 Cool. That was a sticking point for me when I started. I had never had much musical training before I picked up the guitar, so I had to learn everything at once. I tended to cut some corners in some areas in order to impress my friends as quickly as possible, which hurt me later when I went to college as a music major. I had a fair amount of technique, and knew a bunch of songs I learned from tabs and transcriptions, and was pretty good at theory and composing (since I wrote most of the songs we played in the bands I was with) but I could barely sight-read at all, and my ears were weak when I was away from the instrument. I'm still not really up to speed on those things, and still find myself working on the basics of some of those things today. It's good that you have a bit of a background. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptdc Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 What's wrong with tabs? I like tabs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alia Posted October 20, 2003 Author Share Posted October 20, 2003 I went to the SCUMMbar today and downloaded a bunch of MI music so now I'm working on that. I must be nuts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edlib Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 Originally posted by PTDC What's wrong with tabs? I like tabs Nothing,.. as long as you don't neglect other aspects of your musical training. If you stick to only learning songs by tab you limit yourself to what you can do. If you train your ear appropriately you can learn anything ever recorded. If you learn to sight read music you can play anything ever written for any instrument. But with tablature you are limited by what people have bothered to transcribe for guitar and bothered to make tabs out of. They can be a good tool, but you need to be careful that you don't get lazy and rely on them too heavily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptdc Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 I'm know a few chords and I'm trying to learn how to play properly, tabs are easier but I suppose in the long run you have to work harder if you want to be able to play better. :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herman Toothdecay Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 ya... like being able to tell minor, sus, major7th chords by ear, that sort of thing, when it comes to lead stuff, scales help you a lot (not that i know any lol)... btw anyone else love the maj7th chords, they're so soft and beautiful when played right ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acrylic Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 Originally posted by Herman Toothdecay btw anyone else love the maj7th chords, they're so soft and beautiful when played right ! *Raises Glass* *Nods* *Walks Out With Headphones on Ears* EDIT: I just noticed, this is my 3,000th Post. Wow. Never thought I'd make it to 3,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernil Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 I must be nuts! Ayep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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