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Any tips for a beginning guitarist?


Rabish Bini

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Well, my cousin recently bought me a guitar, and I've been self teaching myself, and I was wondering if any guitarists could lend me a hand.

 

I was hoping for a few tips to make me a better guitarist, as I have been struggling a bit recently, and if anyone has any good song recommendations which are quick to learn and such.

 

I have an acoustic, just so you know.

 

Any tips appreciated. :)

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Learn a lot of chords and theory is one of the most important tips I could give I should think.

Theory can be a lot of stress but it really helps and can make your music sound a whole lot better and smoother.

 

Easy songs?

Uhm ... Try, Time of Your Life - Green Day. Just a few Major and minor chords. Easy enough. The Verse is practically just the chords: G, Cadd9 (not as horrifying as it sounds, :xp: and the chord D. All very simple :)

Even if you don't like Green Day. It's an alright song to learn for a beginner to get used to the switching in between chords.

 

There's also ... [[ and IMMHO the most used song for beginners ]] Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple.

 

Don't try and go too deep and technical when first starting out cause it won't happen. Guitar is patience. To some, it is easier than it is to others. [[i was part of the latter. Couldn't get the hang of it to begin with. Now however, I'm looking for it to be my career]]

 

If you want, go to http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/

There you will find a lot of tabs and lessons that can help a little.

There's a lot of other sites like that one, but I go to it cause it's got news and a lot of other stuff about metal bands and what not.

 

So yeah .. Hopefully that helps a little bit.

If there's anything I missed, I'm sure the other guitarists around here will help ya out :)

 

 

But ... as I said: Practice chords and theory. It'll help. A lot.

Hoped I help :)

 

 

PS: Guitaring is AWESOME!

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My advice? Just to play it safe, never ever listen to anything The Doctor has to say ever again. Ever. Really. Don't. He's apparently dead inside and as we all learned in grade school, never listen to the ravings of zombies.

 

Secondly. Theory Theory Theory. Read. A lot. Look at the different styles, ways of playing, and what makes good guitar good guitar. Find the styles you like and mesh them together where you need to.

 

Thirdly. Before you begin playing each time and while you're playing, make sure you are not tensing any part of your body up whatsoever. A foot, your jaw, a shoulder, none of it is acceptable. Really focus on this because it can stunt your playing very easily. It's amazing to see how many players have a serious hangup like this that really limits what they can do.

 

Fourthly. It's going to hurt for the first month or two until your fingers build up some callouses. Stick with it. It's just something you have to push through.

 

Fifthly. Always remember to have fun with it. Don't bore yourself trying to memorize a bunch of chords every night. Keep it fresh for yourself.

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Learn a lot of chords and theory is one of the most important tips I could give I should think.

Theory can be a lot of stress but it really helps and can make your music sound a whole lot better and smoother.

 

Easy songs?

Uhm ... Try, Time of Your Life - Green Day. Just a few Major and minor chords. Easy enough. The Verse is practically just the chords: G, Cadd9 (not as horrifying as it sounds, :xp: and the chord D. All very simple :)

Even if you don't like Green Day. It's an alright song to learn for a beginner to get used to the switching in between chords.

 

There's also ... [[ and IMMHO the most used song for beginners ]] Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple.

 

Don't try and go too deep and technical when first starting out cause it won't happen. Guitar is patience. To some, it is easier than it is to others. [[i was part of the latter. Couldn't get the hang of it to begin with. Now however, I'm looking for it to be my career]]

 

If you want, go to http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/

There you will find a lot of tabs and lessons that can help a little.

There's a lot of other sites like that one, but I go to it cause it's got news and a lot of other stuff about metal bands and what not.

 

So yeah .. Hopefully that helps a little bit.

If there's anything I missed, I'm sure the other guitarists around here will help ya out :)

 

 

But ... as I said: Practice chords and theory. It'll help. A lot.

Hoped I help :)

 

 

PS: Guitaring is AWESOME!

Makes sense, I already know how to play Smoke on the Water. YAY! :)

Time of your life? that's a good suggestion, thanks.

My advice? Sell the guitar and buy an instrument that isn't played by everyone and their mother. -_-

Well, I learned drums for a bit, and I can play keyboard.

My advice? Just to play it safe, never ever listen to anything The Doctor has to say ever again. Ever. Really. Don't. He's apparently dead inside and as we all learned in grade school, never listen to the ravings of zombies.

 

Secondly. Theory Theory Theory. Read. A lot. Look at the different styles, ways of playing, and what makes good guitar good guitar. Find the styles you like and mesh them together where you need to.

 

Thirdly. Before you begin playing each time and while you're playing, make sure you are not tensing any part of your body up whatsoever. A foot, your jaw, a shoulder, none of it is acceptable. Really focus on this because it can stunt your playing very easily. It's amazing to see how many players have a serious hangup like this that really limits what they can do.

 

Fourthly. It's going to hurt for the first month or two until your fingers build up some callouses. Stick with it. It's just something you have to push through.

 

Fifthly. Always remember to have fun with it. Don't bore yourself trying to memorize a bunch of chords every night. Keep it fresh for yourself.

Wow, that is some good advice, thanks :)

Play bass. You could become as awesome as Les Claypool. :guitar2

Or Cliff Burton.

RIP

 

Thanks for the advice guys :)

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*Pretends to take a crap whilst singing "Heeey heeeeyyy, I wanna be a rock starrrrrr!"*

 

Yes, you do, Chad Kroeger. Yes, you do. -.-

 

@Bini: Boba's right. If you're too tensed up, or worried about if you're going to screw up or something. It just isn't going to happen. Patience. Patience. Patience. Is key.

 

And most of all .. don't care if it sounds crap. Just have fun. And if you like the sound of it, that's all that matters.

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Secondly. Theory Theory Theory. Read. A lot. Look at the different styles, ways of playing, and what makes good guitar good guitar. Find the styles you like and mesh them together where you need to.

 

QFT/QFE :D While my preferences are rock/metal... I really enjoyed (and am grateful) that I studied Spanish Classical for 4 years. My master (Ben Bolt) was tough, but I really learned to appreciate the art, and it widened my options, sound and style later on. :)

 

and please..... please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please

 

learn to read music (if you haven't already). Tab(lature) is great for learning complicated chords, scales, arpeggios, etc. but unless you can read music, you just won't understand it (method behind the music) as much... or be taken very seriously if you wish to do more than just club diving. ;)

 

Even if you have no interest in a band/public playing.. reading music is still rewarding.

 

And most of all .. don't care if it sounds crap. Just have fun. And if you like the sound of it, that's all that matters.

Most important of all :D

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learn to read music (if you haven't already). Tab(lature) is great for learning complicated chords, scales, arpeggios, etc. but unless you can read music, you just won't understand it (method behind the music) as much... or be taken very seriously if you wish to do more than just club diving.

 

Not entirely true. James Hetfield has forgotten, apparently, how to read music and look where he is at the moment :)

But it's still a VERY useful tool to have. Just have to keep with it so you don't forget!

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QFT/QFE :D While my preferences are rock/metal... I really enjoyed (and am grateful) that I studied Spanish Classical for 4 years. My master (Ben Bolt) was tough, but I really learned to appreciate the art, and it widened my options, sound and style later on. :)

 

and please..... please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please

 

learn to read music (if you haven't already). Tab(lature) is great for learning complicated chords, scales, arpeggios, etc. but unless you can read music, you just won't understand it (method behind the music) as much...

QFE. In fact I would even suggest getting at least a few lessons if you can: getting some good starting tips and technique can help out. Dvds & all are really not the same as a real teacher.
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QFE. In fact I would even suggest getting at least a few lessons if you can: getting some good starting tips and technique can help out. Dvds & all are really not the same as a real teacher.

My friends bro said he'll give me a couple of free guitaring lessons, just to start me off. So I'm fairly happy about that :)

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"Beyond The Realms Of Death" by Judas Priest is a good starting song. I'd also suggest taking a couple of good guitar lessons. I'd just find a couple of songs you like, finds their tabs, and just go with it. If you don't play another instrument, learn some basic theory.

 

Just stick with it. Eddie Van Halen taught himself to play if I remember correctly.

 

As a general rule of thumb, don't pay to watch videos that claim to make you a rock deity. it just doesn't work.

 

EDIT: "Don't Fear The Reaper" Is also a good beginner song.

 

MOR COWBELL!

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Practice man. Practice. Practice. Practice. -Yeah, yeah I know...duh right? You can learn all of the theory or scales you want but if you don't do the aforementioned it's a waste of effort. Just sharing what my teacher drilled into my skull.-

 

That & most of what everyone else has said.

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"Beyond The Realms Of Death" by Judas Priest is a good starting song. I'd also suggest taking a couple of good guitar lessons. I'd just find a couple of songs you like, finds their tabs, and just go with it. If you don't play another instrument, learn some basic theory.

 

Just stick with it. Eddie Van Halen taught himself to play if I remember correctly.

 

As a general rule of thumb, don't pay to watch videos that claim to make you a rock deity. it just doesn't work.

 

EDIT: "Don't Fear The Reaper" Is also a good beginner song.

 

MOR COWBELL!

Thanks for the recommendations, Oh, and Dave Mustaine, from Megadeth, had to self teach himself TWICE.

Practice man. Practice. Practice. Practice. -Yeah, yeah I know...duh right? You can learn all of the theory or scales you want but if you don't do the aforementioned it's a waste of effort. Just sharing what my teacher drilled into my skull.-

 

That & most of what everyone else has said.

True

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Most important thing is to have fun. Of course, you will need a good quality guitar that will stay in tune (hope the one you have fits that bill). An acoustic guitar isn't the best thing for a beginner though. An electric guitar is much easier on the fingers because it doesn't take as much effort to fret the notes. Not to mention you can get all kinds of sounds out of an electric with just a Line 6 Guitar Port for your computer or a small modeling amp.

 

As far as learning some technique, if you have some money to put into your learning, you might want to check out iPerform3D. Here is the website....http://guitarschool.net/ It utilizes a 3D computer model of a guitar and guitarist and you can zoom and view the playing from any angle. Its much better than watching an instructional DVD because you can control the camera with your mouse.

 

Here's a screenshot.....perspective2.jpg

 

 

EDIT:

 

I just remembered. When and if you find yourself interested in playing an electric guitar, you should check out http://www.rondomusic.com . They have a product line known as Agile guitars. They are near clones of famous guitars (namely the Gibson Les Paul) and are top notch quality. My stepson owns one and it is a great instrument. They aren't very expensive either. A top of the line Les Paul copy goes for around $400 when the real thing will cost you about $4000.

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Ah, another aspiring guitar player.

 

As a self-taught bass player, here's the most useful thing:

 

Practice.

 

And practice.

 

And then practice some more.

 

1-2 hours a day at least. For years. If you want to get good. You can achieve respectability in around 3-4 years if you put the time in, but the single #1 most important factor in your progress is the amount of time and effort you put into getting better. I learned how to play by putting on tapes (yes, tapes) I liked and plunking along with them until I learned the songs or until my hands cramped up completely and I couldn't even hold a chopstick, but that's how it went.

 

And if you're playing rock/metal and that's the direction you want to go, developing your ear is vastly more useful than reading music. I have played with literally hundreds of rock/metal musicians whether in bands, jams, auditions or just messing around and every single time someone pulled out a riff or song to show me, they played it while showing me on the fretboard. Never, ever, not once did any of them ever pull out sheet music. It's not to say reading music or music theory generally isn't good to know, but for rock, you'll rarely if ever need it.

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