Learning the guitar, any ideas? Options

[DustyVolume]

Okay, so, I'm going to try to learn to play again. I have my vintage accoustic (okay, so it's an 84) Alvarez Wildwood that took me two months to find, and I want to learn to play.

Does anyone have any pearls of wisdom? Besides practice, practice, practice...


M

[Elemental]

play with other people, (don't be intimidated by it...it's fun!)

[DustyVolume]

So this would be after I learn to play? You don't mean just plunking chords, do ya?

[taliendo]

play with other people, (don't be intimidated by it...it's fun!)

great idea.

Most of the covers that I know are because a bunch of us would get together and have jam sessions in the band room after school and before rehearsals started. Everyone would bring to the table what they knew and we learned from one another. It was very educational considering we had different people playing different guitars at different levels of expertise.

I still play some of the songs that I learned in that band room, and like Elemental said, it was a lot of fun.



oh, and of course tablature. It never really helped me all that much (I've always had a problem nailing down rhythms) but it can in the very least give you an idea of where to start and where you're eventually going. I like to look over tablature and then put on the album and try to play along side the recording.

. . . and of course, practice, practice practice!

This post has been edited by taliendo: Aug 27 2004, 02:20 PM

[WalrusOct9]

Just learn as many songs as you can.

I mean, start easy...I'm a huge Oasis fan, and their songs are really simple, so they were some of the first things I learned to play back in '95 or whenever I started...Nirvana was also really big then, those songs aren't hard to play.

I don't know what kind of stuff you want to play...I'm more of a straight up rock guitarist, so I started learning Aerosmith and AC/DC riffs, stuff like that. It was a few years before I could play Van Halen or Rush songs all the way through, but you just kind of chip away at them, and as you keep practicing, one day you'll return to something that used to be a huge impossibility and struggle, and realize it's a piece of cake.

Just by learning songs, not only do you get better at guitar, but you end up knowing a bunch of songs, which not only is convienient when playing with others, but helps impress chicks. And that's the real reason we play guitar, right?

[hometown boy dav...]

Learn the basic chords, stay in your room until you can play those, then
find someone to jam with. That's what i did when i learned. Took me 6 months
before i had the guts to leave my room.

learn D, C, G, A, Am, E, Em, F , Bm. then add the other ones you
come across along the way

Find a guitar book from one of your favorite artists , I started with
Bob Dylan, Neil Young, America, The Beatles. Try all the songs
until you find one you can easily play.. Then play it till you have it down.

Just keep adding songs at whatever pace you feel comfortable with.

Or better than buying an expensive guitar book, find a website that has
the chords to songs. http://www.olga.net/ , bob dylan songs at http://www.dylanchords.com/. One of my favorite song sites, The Cosmic
Kitchen at http://24.31.24.74:69/songs.php Or do a google search.

This site has all the chord figures. http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/guitar/index_db.html

You also have to build up your calluses on your fingertips or you won't be
able to jam for more than 10 minutes. That takes a few months.

This post has been edited by hometown boy dave: Aug 27 2004, 08:42 PM

[DustyVolume]

Thanks to everyone for their advice. I know it's been a few months, but one of my NYRs was to pick the Guitar up and learn SOMETHING! So I'm taking a non-credit course through the university. Six weeks, one night a week, for an hour and half each night. The leader is a 23 year instructor, and she promises to deliver the goods. The class has 10 people in it, so, I'm hoping that will expose me to some other positive reinforcements, like keeping up!

I'll keep you guys posted! I'm keeping my expectations really low so that I will come away from this with a positive experience.

My first lesson is day after tommorrow!

[Tonepoet77]

Play along with albums you love. Pick an album you love, get the chords to it, and play along with it - it's the second best thing to playing along with other musicians - and you don't have to feed anyone or worry about schedules!

[taliendo]

Best of luck, Mark.

[patrik]

Be careful about buying instruction material. Unless you get a recomendation from someone, don't. I have to this day bought one such book that I looked into more than a few times. It's a really shady market. Lot of people tryingt to sell a (semi)famous name or face. Songs you can usually find on the net, and the best practice is to pick them out yourself. With guitar it's really not that difficult to pick the chords out at least.

Patrik

[Brookd]

a guitar book that was recommended to me by a guitar wiz and instructor is The Complete Guitarist by Richard Chapman.

[patrik]

Oh, and if you're serious, like in planning to eventually perform in from of an audience, nothing will let you improve as recording your playing. When you play you're brain will here what you want it to here, but when listening to a recording you will here all glitches and impurities will show.

Sound quality is of no concern in this case, so record with whatever equipment you happen to have. There is probably some special equpiment for this stuff too but that is pure waste of money.

Patrik

This post has been edited by patrik: Jan 17 2005, 03:01 PM

[DustyVolume]

Thanks for all the input, you guys--and girls! The book the instructor is using in this class is a Melbay spiral bound "Guitar Class Method, Vol 1" I've thumbed through it and read the first few pages. I have to say it's daunting, but I'm excited.

On Ric Hordinski's site, he recommends using a book by Lee F. Ryan called the Natural Classic Guitar. which is hopelessly out of print and no where to be found.

I'll let you guys know what my thought are after my first class tomorrow. The guy at the music store where I bought my book said the instructor was great and had taught a lot of people to play!

[Carrie]

Good luck with your guitar class!! I'm so jealous! I got a guitar in October and I am determined to learn how to play. I plan to take some private lessons over the summer. I love the idea of a class setting though. Have fun!
So far I have just been working on chords. It does hurt my fingers so! I got a video that came with my guitar but it is terribly frustrating for me. I do better now that a friend wrote out the chords and told me to just focus on those. I play piano so I am hoping that helps a bit with at least the reading music part. Everything else is completely different though.

[FloridaGirl]

Mark, I am very jealous. I have been "playing" the guitar for a little under two years, and I am nowhere near ready to play in front of people. (It's the damn strumming, mostly, because I have no rhythm.) Good luck to you -- I bet you'll pick it up way faster than I have!

[DustyVolume]

Hey, we could all start a beginners guitar support group and post our thoughts and stresses and joys here online. I guess I'm the only true beginner though. I've taken a few voice lessons, and attempted a piano class, but dropped out. I took Music 101 about 5 years ago and can't remember a single thing except how daunting it all is.

Ack. I'm getting nervous now!

[Tonepoet77]

I don't mind a few Q and A's now and then to help people learn guitar. And contrary to popular belief, Theory can help... a LOT.

[DustyVolume]

Well, I took my first guitar lesson tonight. I "played" a G, a D, and a D7. Notice I use the term played in the loosest sense possible. It feels like my fingers are suddenly very short, fat, fleshy, sensitive and unresponsive to my motor controls.

I got an F1 pick which is kinda neat. And I tried my best to keep up with "Skip to my Lou" while the teacher called out the word "strum" in 4/4 time.

But the most exciting part was that just for a split second--I mean for this lighthing flash instant, I could feel the music and the rhythm, and I thought I knew exactly what I was doing just from some kind of instinct. It was awesome, but then it went away and I was lost again. But I still remember that feeling. COOL!

[DustyVolume]

Guitar lessons suck.

[liberation party]

That they do... but they're tremendously helpful when you're trying to get the basics, if you have a good teacher. Those moments where you think you're part of the music will eventually become more and more frequent, but only if you cherish them. I hope you don't stop. Some people can teach themselves from scratch, but I'm not one of them. Good luck!

[askewphotography]

I took lessons for quite a while, and eventually stopped, I think in order for me to keep learning I would just have to take straight musical theory.

[patrik]

The number one ability for a guitar player is to be able to pick out tuner by ear only. You can't practice playing along to you're favourite records enough.

1. pick out the chords (I always start with the bass-line, but then I'm really a bass player)
2. get the rhythm right
3. pick out any riffs that catch you ear
4. Copy the players(s) on the record. Figure out how they strum, how they voice (you can play chords in more than one way, you know), how they shift between strumming and picking, and so on
5. complement what you hear, or make your own part that fit's what's already there,
6. make you're own "acoustic" version, incorporating chords, riffs, important bass rhythms and so on.

As a beginner points 1-3 will be plenty. But really, you can't do this to much. Guitar lessons, IMO, are good if they can help you with this stuff. Playing a music instrument is about growing big ears, not (just) strong hands.

Patrik