Pro's Help REQ: I want to learn to play a Guitar?

[yoshaw]

Hi,

Thanks for opening this thread. I want to learn to play guitar for once. It's something that I've been wanting to do for a long time now but couldn't put my finger on where to begin. Institutes in Dubai suck, they charge awful fees and the teaching was so robotic.

So I've decided to learn it on my own pace. Now I can assume there are guitarists out here that at one point in their life were simply beginners.

Please tell me, what kept you going?

What motivated you to pick up a guitar and breeze through it all the way to where you are now?

What do you suggest(or think/or assume) could help me pick one myself?

Any help n I mean anything that could be helpful to a beginner. Please share! Don't hold back anything. Tell me what I should be careful of, tell me what I should not bother with, tell me stuff that I could lose track of if not careful, tell me things that I might miss on my own.

Thanks in advance for the help. I really appreciate it all.

PS: My current level can be described as beginner(or even less). All I know is that there is an Acoustic Guitar and there is an electric guitar. Other variations exist but not sure what they are called. Yes, I'm familiar with Bass Guitar. I don't know how to read music keys(guitar tabs?) off of pages. I know what is a pick. I know how to hold a guitar.

Ok, with that said, I've shared all the embarrassing rookie stuff I've learned till now.

[Jesus]

Guitar isn't easy or a breeze. Especially starting out. I can't count the time I spent with bleeding fingers.

What inspired me to start playing... well I'd got into AC/DC and loved the early albums which led me to listen to Chuck Berry and as soon as I heard some of his live stuff I knew I needed to play guitar.

I guess another thing that helped was the fact I was brought up with my dad and grandad telling me how shit new music was and constantly introducing me to new artists with amazing skills, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Mayalls Bluesbreakers (with Clapton), Jimi Hendrix, Brian Setzer, Rory Gallagher and all kinds of other amazing musicians.

I started out playing acoustic, steel string, this helps alot I think. You're gonna hurt your hands alot, the strings are hard to press down initially but I've found to learn this way helps in the long run. I know someone will probably tell you that it won't because once you progress to either classical or electric whatever you choose you're just going to have to re-adjust to the pressure and your hand will probably weaken. Thats true but by learning on a steel string acoustic and then progressing to something easier to fret you'll find your dexterity (ability to move quickly around the fret board) is alot better.

In relation to learning, I personally think teaching yourself is the best way to go. Learn to read tablature first that way you can learn some chords and play some simple songs you like, move onto some basic simple songs with some good lead like Back in Black, then move on to learning scales, maybe get a book like "The Guitar Players Handbook" by Ralph Denyer. Its an amazing start. The other best thing to do is play along with other musicians.

Get yourself a cheap steelstring and start strumming.

[Crow]

as someone who started learning last year i hope i can help abit, listening to music keeps me motivated, i will try and help you with tabs abit...

1|------------------------------------|
2|------------------------------------|
3|------------------------------------|
4|--------------------0---0-0--------2-|
5|-------0----0-0-2-4---0-----4-2-0---|
6|-0-2-4---0--------------------------|

okay the lines read left to right, on the left hand side you'll notice the string numbers 1 to 6

1 is your thinnest string or bottom string

6 is your thickest or top string

after this you'll notice "-0-2-4-"

0 means just pluck the string openly (without putting your finger on a fret)

then put your finger on the second fret (top string) and play it, and then the 4th fret and follow on to play the first part of the intro to Johnny Cash's Walk the Line

this was pretty much the first thing i learned to play, if you have any problems then dont hesitate to ask...love to help out

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/

here is a tab site for you

[Mirai]

My first instrument was the Bass. Ever since I was young, for some reason I wanted to play Bass instead of Guitar. So one month I bought my first bass and my best mate got an acoustic guitar. We bagan learning music together and it was great.

Nowadays, I dabble in guitar a bit as well, though I always go home to bass. However, the one thing that helped me learn both more then anything is playing with other people.

Another tip I can give. Once you get a bit further along, learn theory. I'm self taught so I found it hard to learn the simplest things, like scales and keys, because I had no one to just make sure I understood it. Because of that, I shyed away from some stuff, but everytime I do, I eventually come back and try again, only to find it's ridiculously simple stuff. So yeah, things might seem a lot harder then they are, but just keep at it.

Further along, if you have the opportunity, learn another instrument. I started on bass, and then I learnt guitar and it helped improve my bass playing. A friend of mine started on guitar and then learnt bass, which improved his guitar, particularly his soloing, because he learnt the value of less is more, and sometimes it's the notes you don't play that add the most. I'm learning Piano now, and it's really boosting my theory. I'd love to play drums, but so far I'm not doing so well...

And, probably the biggest piece of advice I can give, become one with your instrument. Just have it in your hands whenever you can. When your watching TV, when your at the computer, when your just relaxing, etc. It'll feel a lot more natural in your hands when you sit down to actually focus on it.

[Blaksmoke]

^What kind of bass(es) do you have, Dee Dubya? I got me an Ibanez BTB5, and I just started to learn piano as well.

As for guitar...I don't play it. One of the things that put me off was that so many people did, and wanted to be different, dammit. But now, years later, I would love to learn how to play if I actually had some spare time around this joint.

[seahorse]

i plyed my guitar today for ages. first time i've played it in a while... learned karma police. just so you know.

[Crow]

^ that was one of the first songs i learned

[nolifeking]

http://www.musicvirtuosity.com/

Heres a link to a site where you can take lessons online.

[Mirai]

^What kind of bass(es) do you have, Dee Dubya? I got me an Ibanez BTB5, and I just started to learn piano as well.

As for guitar...I don't play it. One of the things that put me off was that so many people did, and wanted to be different, dammit. But now, years later, I would love to learn how to play if I actually had some spare time around this joint.

I'm currently rocking a Squire Jazz Bass. Great, thick, punchy and versatile tone.

However, I started learning on an no name Ibanez copy, similar(ish) to your BTB5. It was a great first bass, and, looking back, for the price I paid, it's a wonder it wasn't a total dud.

The only thing I don't like about my Jazz Bass is that it doesn't have as many frets, and I love making my way up into the twenties.

What sort of stuff do you play Blaksmoke?

[Gilly]

I'm learning guitar now, too.
I started playing bass about 2 years ago, and I'm getting a lot better.
I even messaged a guy today who is looking for a bassist.
Self-taught.
First song I learned was "Down On The Corner", courtesy of Jake.
Guitar is a lot of fun, but it's fucking tough.
If you have a friend or 2 to help you, it's a lot easier.
The hardest thing for me is stretching for hard chords and transitioning between them.

[frosty]

The best way to begin learning guitar is to get a few songs down first.

So, pick out a song you want to learn, post it here, and I'll record a video of me playing it and I'll show you how it's done. Once you get a few songs down you'll feel much more comfortable with learning the technical end of it, as you'll see concepts you are learning being applied in the songs you already know.

[Blaksmoke]

I'm currently rocking a Squire Jazz Bass. Great, thick, punchy and versatile tone.

However, I started learning on an no name Ibanez copy, similar(ish) to your BTB5. It was a great first bass, and, looking back, for the price I paid, it's a wonder it wasn't a total dud.

The only thing I don't like about my Jazz Bass is that it doesn't have as many frets, and I love making my way up into the twenties.

What sort of stuff do you play Blaksmoke?

I play everything pretty much, except for you speed metal stuff because I'm really not into using a pick. I need to get a fretless.

Here's a short video of me mindlessly noodling. http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p61/ultimatewalrus/?action=view&current=000_0902.flv

[Daddy Tryptamine]

I never learned how to play songs, which probably made for a legnthy "noob" stage, but now I can play pretty much anything. I can usually jam for hours at a time making things up as I go.

[Media]

If you want to be able to arrange things at instinct, you'd want to study the Greek scales (Phrygian, Myxolidian, etc...), how the notes relate to each other, etc...Music theory.

If you want to get technically skilled and learn songs, do just that...learn songs. Practice your basic techniques like bending, hammering on, pulling off. I'd say if you want to get better at playing chords, avoid powerchords at all costs. Learn the barre chords right away, and dabble in some early to mid Beatles. John Lennon was pretty diverse in his chord arrangements. George Harrison's solos are cakewalk, too, even for a beginner. They'll make you feel like you're good though. That's how I felt as a noob. :cloud9:

Get to know the Blues Scale and Pentatonic Major Scale well, because they will help you learn lead guitar on some songs without tabs if you know the backing chords already. These two scales are the most widely used in standard Rock music.

Learn songs that have a style of guitar you want to learn, because with every new thing you learn, you notice the influence on your own work.

[frosty]

I don't recommend diving head first into too much music theory if you don't already know it, as it can be a bit overwhelming for a beginner. Start off by learning a few songs, so that when you do get the theory down, you will be able to make connections between what you learn in theory and what you know in songs. That will help you to understand what it is getting at.