Learning the guitar

[Les_Worm]

I have a guitar and I've had it for a while but I don't know how to play it. I"m sure there are some guitar players in here. I'm just wondered how you learned to play and which method of teaching did you find most effective? Any tips for someone who is just looking to get started?

[bode]

when i leaned one of my friends showed me the very basics, then i just printed off the tabs of easy songs and practiced them until i played them right.

[ChrisTheFish]

Not sure myself being a drummer but i have a few mates who play and they pretty much started by picking up beginners books which taught you the basics, then getting tabs off the net n practising lots. Also, guitar lessons help obviously if you are serious about learning.

[Trikflow77]

les....pick out 10-15 songs you like alot and look up the tabs for them. Of those tabs, find an easy song and learn to play it. Just keep learning songs, you will learn new chords as you learn songs, and you can look up chords along the way. I learned from a guy in the dorm room next to me, if you know anyone that plays they can get you pointed in the right direction.

[sandstorm]

yeah just start playing, it'll take some time to figure out those first places to put the fingers etc but as you master small pieces, it'll just get more fun and yo will progress

[Renton]

one word:

nirvana




About a Girl was the first song I ever learned to play.

[alias2211]

free fallin yeah i'm free fallin

seriously, have a bud who knows how to play show you 10 songs that you already know in your head by heart. when i started, my bud showed me tons of black sabbath (which is super easy to play basic versions). now i can hear songs on the radio, go home, and play them from memory. just like poker, practice makes perfect.

[Jimmy Mac]

one word:
nirvana
About a Girl was the first song I ever learned to play.

Yeah, I started playing when nirvana were huge - I got the tab for the nevermind album and learnt loads of that. Best way to learn is find a few easy songs you like, get the tab, and learn those. First couple of months are hard work, then it gets to be fun.

[jyms]

http://guitar.about.com/library/bleasysongtabs.htm
go here

Learn the 6 basic chords
find songs you can play with these chords practice changes and get caloused up before attempting harder songs
practice alot and get nimble
Enjoy.

[vqc]

learn how to read tab (music is better but im assuming u dont really want ot be a real musician)
learn how to finger pick with all ur fingers
learn TIMING, like wat a quarter note is and how it relates to music

[Halv]

I started learning on my little brother's plastic guitar. I was a drummer and observing my bands guitarists obviously helped.

Then I got some Metallica tab books. Then I got some videos from rockguitar.com or something.

And finally I stopped learning new things .

[Les_Worm]

Thanks for some suggestions guys. I'd rather not just learn a song and then move on to a new song b/c I want to be able to do more than just imitate a song. I want to understand theory so I can create my own songs as well as play others. I found a friend that plays and he agreed to give me lessons but he hasn't ever taught anyone before so we'll see how this goes.

[euphoricism]

As everyone else has said, find songs you really love, you know by heart, and work on those.

When I started, 9 years ago, it was creed. I sucked, but I learned absolutely everything I could by them. Mark Tremonti (Creed's guitarist) is a hell of a guitarist, and trying to emulate him certainly progressed my skill by leaps and bounds. And because I loved the songs, the rythms were easy to work out (I already had them all in my head).

Learn the 6 basic chords, as trainer said. C, G, A, D, E and F. Theyre very simple, and theyre used in almost -everything-. Once you have them down and you can switch between them easily, your progress will increase exponentially.

A thing that really helped me when I was learning was to "always be playing". When I was walking to class, I was imagining chord shapes and playing songs in my head. Even now, when I get a pretty complex piece, if I "practice in my head", I notice a incredible difference from one practice to the next.

Ive noticed also that my fingers only go as fast as my brain. If I can visualize myself playing a segment at 150 beats/min (BPM), then I can play exactly that fast physically, but no faster. My speed will not increase until my visualization speed increases. Thats an interesting phenomenon.


Also, learn the blues scale. Its fucking simple, sounds amazing, and it will speed up your improv skills and development 10x.

[Les_Worm]

How long on average would you say it takes for someone to go from not touching a guitar to being "not bad".... 6 months?

[pgil]

my suggestion would be to learn control and timing early. do not learn to play sloppy, or you will always play sloppy. learn to play a song slower than it is meant to be played, but get the timing and fingering down pat. then slowly start to increase the speed at which you play.

it is a lot easier to learn something properly the first time than it is to relearn it properly after learning incorrectly.

that was my mistake, and am still trying to overcome this.

[Renton]

i got really good at guitar and bass by learning how to play speed metal on acoustic guitar.

just a thought

[pgil]

if you want to learn to write songs, learn the major scales, the pentatonic scales, chord construction and 12-bar blues. that will take you a long way.

[euphoricism]

How long on average would you say it takes for someone to go from not touching a guitar to being "not bad".... 6 months?

Its a simple matter of how often the guitar is in your hands. Putting a time period on it would be pointless. If you played every day 8 hours a day, you could be quite good quite quick.

[donkbee]

If I were you, I'd invest in just a couple professional lessons. The pro can make sure your technique is good from the start because once you learn bad technique of any form, it's really hard to get out of it.

Good luck

[euphoricism]

I wouldn't bother. Not using your pinky enough is really the only bad habit people get in guitar. Hey, worm, use your pinky when its applicable, k? Just saved you 3 lessons.

[Renton]

How long on average would you say it takes for someone to go from not touching a guitar to being "not bad".... 6 months?

Its a simple matter of how often the guitar is in your hands. Putting a time period on it would be pointless. If you played every day 8 hours a day, you could be quite good quite quick.

Not really.

Muscle memory and callouses are weird. If I were a betting man, I'd wager that someone who plays 30 minutes a day, every day, would get better about as fast as someone who plays 2 hours a day.

[Les_Worm]

How long on average would you say it takes for someone to go from not touching a guitar to being "not bad".... 6 months?

Its a simple matter of how often the guitar is in your hands. Putting a time period on it would be pointless. If you played every day 8 hours a day, you could be quite good quite quick.

Not really.

Muscle memory and callouses are weird. If I were a betting man, I'd wager that someone who plays 30 minutes a day, every day, would get better about as fast as someone who plays 2 hours a day.

Thats interesting. Someone will have to bump this thread after the beginning of the year and ask me how I am doing. Hopefully I haven't given up.

[euphoricism]

Id have to go with "thats absurd", but whatever.

[Renton]

i said "about as fast"

Obviously the person playing 2 hours a day would develop the knowledge faster (scales, etc), but early on it really takes a while for your body to become physically adapted to the rigors of guitar playing. Your fingers have to develop tremendous strength. Their tips have to basically lose all sensation of pain. This takes a few months.

Hell, I have been playing for years, and I am still not that great at fretting 5th string root bar chords.

[euphoricism]

What strings are you playing that your guitar hurts to fret? Actually, it sounds like your action is off. Ditto on the physical strength.

If youve been playing for years, and you still cant fret 5th root bar chords... something is very wrong.

[Renton]

what i have (a little) trouble doing is fretting a 5th root major

like so...

---|--X--|------|------|-- E
---|------|------|--Y--|-- B
---|------|------|--Y--|-- G
---|------|------|--Y--|-- D
---|--X--|------|------|-- A
---|------|------|------|-- E

...where X is my index finger and Y is my ring finger.


BTW, for what it's worth, I am a bass player, and guitar isn't really my forte.

[euphoricism]

Try...

---|--1--|------|------|-- E
---|------|------|--4--|-- B
---|------|------|--3--|-- D
---|------|------|--2--|-- G
---|--1--|------|------|-- A
---|------|------|------|-- E

[Renton]

well, obviously i can do that, but i like adding pinkies to it and shit

[thenonsequitur]

are you guys playing connect four? because that's what it looks like to me.

[Les_Worm]

Anyone think this would be a good investment? I have no clue if this is something that would work or if there are better options out there. From what I've read this is the most highly recommended product of its kind on the market. Its supposedly "the best of the best".

http://www.learnandmasterguitar.com/

[vqc]

have u learned/played any other instruments?

and I have no clue about the master guitar program.
you could always try going to harmony-central.com or tabcrawler.com they both have decent forums. ALtho Tabcrawler might be down in the drain now, i havnt been there in like six years.

[Bmxicle]

How long on average would you say it takes for someone to go from not touching a guitar to being "not bad".... 6 months?

Its a simple matter of how often the guitar is in your hands. Putting a time period on it would be pointless. If you played every day 8 hours a day, you could be quite good quite quick.

Not really.

Muscle memory and callouses are weird. If I were a betting man, I'd wager that someone who plays 30 minutes a day, every day, would get better about as fast as someone who plays 2 hours a day.

It has more to do with the quality of your play during that half an hour than muscle memory and callousses. If you are actively working on new songs and really trying to learn then you will accell, but if you fuck around like i do it takes alot longer to get any good.