Self-Teaching

[anastaciadarling]

I am bound and determined to learn how to play the guitar.
Today i started teaching myself how to play, and I think I am picking up on it quite fast.
I am eager to play this instrument.


so any of you have little tips....?

[ShutMeUp]

Learn some theory as well as the practical side of it. That's the part I missed out on (I'm self-taught also), so I'm not as good as I should be. Memorising each note on the fretboard and chord patterns will undoubtedly enhance your playing. And scales, learn some basic scales.

[real low mind]

"I taught myself to play guitar. It’s incredibly easy when you understand the science of it. The skinny strings play the high sounds, and the fat strings play the low sounds. If you put your finger on the string father out by the tuning end it makes a lower sound. If you want to play fast move your hand fast and if you want to play slower move your hand slower. That’s all there is to it. You can learn the names of notes and how to make chords that other people use, but that’s pretty limiting. Even if you took a few years and learned all the chords you’d still have a limited number of options. If you ignore the chords your options are infinite and you can master guitar playing in one day.

Traditionally, guitars have a fat string on the top and they get skinnier and skinnier as they go down. But the thing to remember is it’s your guitar and you can put whatever you want on it. I like to put six different sized strings on it because that gives the most variety, but my brother used to put all of the same thickness on so he wouldn’t have so much to worry about. Whatever string he hit had to be the right one because they were all the same.

Tuning the guitar is kind of a ridiculous notion. If you have to wind the tuning pegs to just a certain place, that implies that every other place would be wrong. But that's absurd. How could it be wrong? It’s your guitar and you’re the one playing it. It’s completely up to you to decide how it should sound. In fact I don’t tune by the sound at all. I wind the strings until they’re all about the same tightness. I highly recommend electric guitars for a couple of reasons. First of all they don’t depend on body resonating for the sound so it doesn’t matter if you paint them. Also, if you put all the knobs on your amplifier on 10 you can get a much higher reaction to effort ratio with an electric guitar than you can with an acoustic. Just a tiny tap on the strings can rattle your windows, and when you slam the strings, with your amp on 10, you can strip the paint off the walls.

The first guitar I bought was a Silvertone. Later I bought a Fender Telecaster, but it really doesn’t matter what kind you buy as long as the tuning pegs are on the end of the neck where they belong. A few years back someone came out with a guitar that tunes at the other end. I’ve never tried one. I guess they sound alright but they look ridiculous and I imagine you’d feel pretty foolish holding one. That would affect your playing. The idea isn’t to feel foolish. The idea is to put a pick in one hand and a guitar in the other and with a tiny movement rule the world."

[parkus]

Learn to play a song that is fast but simple (ie, punk), and a song that is of moderate speed and tricky to play (ie, metal).

The first song I learnt was Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N' Roses, I sat there for a week until I could play it note for note, no mistakes all the way through. From there I didn't have any problem with tricky guitar parts. Because my fingers were trained to be fast yet precise.

Also, like what's been said, learn the science / theory. Scales are not overated, learn them and you will notice them in guitar tablature, thus being able to ad lib solos and licks over the main chord progression.

[ShutMeUp]

Learn to play a song that is fast but simple (ie, punk), and a song that is of moderate speed and tricky to play (ie, metal).

The first song I learnt was Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N' Roses, I sat there for a week until I could play it note for note, no mistakes all the way through. From there I didn't have any problem with tricky guitar parts. Because my fingers were trained to be fast yet precise.

Also, like what's been said, learn the science / theory. Scales are not overated, learn them and you will notice them in guitar tablature, thus being able to ad lib solos and licks over the main chord progression.

This. I forgot to put that if you learn theory you'll be able to improvise which plays a HUGE part in most (if not all) styles of music. This is how if a guitarist forgets the song (s)he's supposed to be playing, they can bluff their way through and sometimes it's unnoticable as they'll be playing in the same key as the rest of the band so everything will sound right.

[anastaciadarling]

thanks thanks.
more more.
basically right now i am working on the chords. repetition and memorization is what i find to be the easiest way to go about it.
i figure if i have the chords down i can easily pick up on other songs.

[blue_monday]

How far do you wanna go with it?

[anastaciadarling]

How far do you wanna go with it?

well i wanna go really far.
i am a singer...a writer, basically a creative artist. music is my life.

[ShutMeUp]

well i wanna go really far.
i am a singer...a writer, basically a creative artist. music is my life.

Good stuff, there's nothing worse than applying yourself to something half-heartedly. When it comes to music unless you're really involved in something, the beauty wears off after a while. You give up on it, get bored, decide you're not good enough and you're getting nowhere, etc.. Keep at it.

/pep talk

But seriously, do all the boring shit behind it (scales, finger exercises, key changes, learn out the ins-and-outs of a guitar, harmonics, time signatures, tablature (or sheet music if you're optimistic).

What styles are you looking to play? Do you have a favourite guitarist?

[anastaciadarling]

Good stuff, there's nothing worse than applying yourself to something half-heartedly. When it comes to music unless you're really involved in something, the beauty wears off after a while. You give up on it, get bored, decide you're not good enough and you're getting nowhere, etc.. Keep at it.

/pep talk

But seriously, do all the boring shit behind it (scales, finger exercises, key changes, learn out the ins-and-outs of a guitar, harmonics, time signatures, tablature (or sheet music if you're optimistic).

What styles are you looking to play? Do you have a favourite guitarist?

i am learning the scales and the science of it all as well. thanks to all of those who suggested so.
the styles that i am most drawn to at this moment are blues, and classical rock. that always changes though. and although i know this will sound typical, i have found my favorite guitarist to be jimi hendrix. throughout all the years i have spent reading, listening, studying, feeling other guitarist i have found him to still remain the one guitarist to shake my musical soul to its core.
also i think the guitar is one of the sexiest instruments - lol
but i have an appreciation for anyone who can play the guitar. i would be happy and content for the rest of my life if someone would let me just watch them play.
something about the movements, strums, sounds, feelings, etc. gets me fucking insane.

[ShutMeUp]

i am learning the scales and the science of it all as well. thanks to all of those who suggested so.
the styles that i am most drawn to at this moment are blues, and classical rock. that always changes though. and although i know this will sound typical, i have found my favorite guitarist to be jimi hendrix. throughout all the years i have spent reading, listening, studying, feeling other guitarist i have found him to still remain the one guitarist to shake my musical soul to its core.
also i think the guitar is one of the sexiest instruments - lol
but i have an appreciation for anyone who can play the guitar. i would be happy and content for the rest of my life if someone would let me just watch them play.
something about the movements, strums, sounds, feelings, etc. gets me fucking insane.

It's definitely the most versatile instrument (for playing, I mean). You can get so much from a guitar it's unreal, there is pretty much no limit as to what you can do.

Hendrix was an awesome musician. My current favourites are Stevie Ray Vaughan and John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival).

I think if you get some basic theory down before starting to learn actual songs it will make the eventual learning a lot easier. The thing is, there's no really "right" way to play. That is to say every guitarist is unique, and every guitarist's playing style is unique also.

Have you started playing yet?

[anastaciadarling]

It's definitely the most versatile instrument (for playing, I mean). You can get so much from a guitar it's unreal, there is pretty much no limit as to what you can do.

Hendrix was an awesome musician. My current favourites are Stevie Ray Vaughan and John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival).

I think if you get some basic theory down before starting to learn actual songs it will make the eventual learning a lot easier. The thing is, there's no really "right" way to play. That is to say every guitarist is unique, and every guitarist's playing style is unique also.

Have you started playing yet?

yeah i am playing it right now..
repeating simple chords. lol
good choices in favorite guitarists:rock_Band::rock_Band:

slowly but surely i plan to rock everyones socks off.

[ShutMeUp]

yeah i am playing it right now..
repeating simple chords. lol
good choices in favorite guitarists:rock_Band::rock_Band:

slowly but surely i plan to rock everyones socks off.

Haha thanks. Go check out this site (http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/) for some basic theory. Most of the articles are well-written and not all jumbled and confused.

I recommend reading
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/columns/music_theory/a_beginners_guide_to_music_theory_for_guitar_part_ 1_-_chords.html
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/chords/chord_theory.html
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/chords/chord_shape_formula.html
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/chords/what_chords_are_in_what_key_and_why.html (http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/chords/what_chords_are_in_what_key_and_why.html)
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/chords/how_the_chords_work.html
for a bit of theory :p

Knowledge is power ;)

[anastaciadarling]

thank you
rock on
i will keep you updated and ask you any questions that i have.

p.s. i do have a question: how long have you been playing.

[ShutMeUp]

thank you
rock on
i will keep you updated and ask you any questions that i have.

p.s. i do have a question: how long have you been playing.

Cool :cool: I've been playing over 3 years now, I should be better than I am but like I said I didn't do theory until after I started playing, and now it feels like I've hit a wall and can't progress beyond that level of playing.

[anastaciadarling]

Cool :cool: I've been playing over 3 years now, I should be better than I am but like I said I didn't do theory until after I started playing, and now it feels like I've hit a wall and can't progress beyond that level of playing.

it is okay you can still play me a song.
lol

[ShutMeUp]

it is okay you can still play me a song.
lol

Hahah, I had a couple of recordings but I deleted them, ah well. You should keep updating this thread, learning new shit and posting the results.

[anastaciadarling]

Hahah, I had a couple of recordings but I deleted them, ah well. You should keep updating this thread, learning new shit and posting the results.

will do for sure.
i will be amazin in a week.

[AtrainV]

The best thing I ever did when learning guitar was to keep learning chords and make up songs that require me to do tough transitions. It really gets your fingers working and provides that physical memory which is absolutely necessary.

Also, I agree 100% with people who recommend learning scales. It will help you out in the future.

[Mankonaut X]

Keep yourself motivated, and reward yourself even for small gains. I psyched myself out by listening to and reading up on kickass guitarists (Ron Jarzombek injured the muscles in his hand and relearnt to play the guitar over four years...that might inspire some people but it depressed the shit out of me) and I kept beating myself up for not learning Nothing Else Matters quickly enough, even though in retrospect I was advancing normally.
Oh, and listen to ShutMeUp. I know you are already but do it...more.

[Cliche Guevara]

Yes i thought myself how to play guitar as well.
(get an acoustic, because you have to get used to pressing the frets harder as opposed to it being really easy on electric) And i find its alot to easier to practice if you play songs that you know. (that might be obvious)

start with basic chords (C, G, A, D, E, Em, Am, F (you can go down the frets and play all the major chords with the F, it goes down a half tone every fret), you can actually play quite a bit of songs google easy chord songs or something ) and then you can start learning tab or sheet music.

Tabs are definately easier because you don't need to know theory (but if you want to get better you have to learn theory, otherwise you will plateau , but you can go a loooooooong way with tab for now i dont reccomend you start memorizing notes or anything thats a huge undertaking (well for me it was i smoke copious marijuana, if you want to learn the note names you can just learn bass later)

Its fun to play songs that are easy chords and you will get the hang of it easily enough (brown eyed girl - forget who lol, eight days a week - beatles (D, E, G, E over and over again pretty much) and then you can either progress into picking or harder chord songs (like fair - remy zero took me like 1-2 months, the chords are hard but its all down strokes) and if you get really crazy good you can progress onto shit like tommy emmanuel (my good friend actually self taught himself tommy emmanuel) or if you decide to go electric theres stuff like paul gilbert, buckethead, flight of the bumbleebees (its a song i know) , dragonforce. both are really really hard and i gave up. (ill always be jealous of my friend who gets mad ladies playing tommy emmanuel , here listen http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=AhR04kmcSXU its guarenteed pussy if you can play this song. )

also if u can get a taylor guitar, anything you play will sound so good that you will never give up.
it may be tough at first (but trust me later on its really fun to practice), but you can definitely teach yourself. www.ultimate-guitar.com

guitar pro 4 (or any of them) is a program YOU MUST HAVE. dl it.

[Rick]

For a beginning guitarist. The internet is your best friend. There are so many resources available.

http://www.markweinguitarlessons.com/

thats a good site. youtube also has some good people on it who know how to explain what theyre doing. you can use torrent sites to find instructional dvds and books. It also depends on what you want to do with your guitar. If you just want to be able to play classic rock/blues you can do so pretty easily. Anything on the guitar will take a long time to master but classic rock and blues is usually the best starting point. Learning your favorite songs and playing them with a backing track is another fun thing to do. If you want intense speed and you want to shred and play technical death metal and make br00tal djenty music then you'll need to start really focusing on your guitar and practicing everyday for hours once you decide you want to do that.

Some advice I wish I had when I was starting out though:
WARM UP!!! just do it. do it do it do it. make it a habit or it will come back and bite you in the ass. very hard eventually.
Right now it's time to learn chords and scales. Practice playing chords in all the positions up the neck. Practice major, minor, and pentatonic scales all the way up and down the neck as well. As you learn the chords and scales you will start to see the fretboard differently. It sort of "shrinks" I guess. Make sure you practice perfectly. If you don't practice perfection then how can you expect your fingers to just do it? They won't its up to you to focus on doing it.
You can play anything on the guitar as long as you slow it down and work your way up from the bottom.
There are more ways to practice than one. You can practice your musicianship and expand your musical vocabulary by learning chords, scales, chord progressions and licks either from other people or making your own up. But when it comes to chops its different. If you want chops then its mind numbing metronome repetitive madness. Repetition is key. Your fingers just have to be trained to play any combination of notes at any time at any speed..without thinking about it. Because then...you can play anything right? Not too hard right?
Make sure you spend a lot of time in the beginning syncing up your left and right hands. Alternate picking exercises are all over the web. Use them like the dickens. Alternate picking is the key to speed if that's what you want.
Acoustic guitars will train you to play more solid. You hear all the little mistakes.
Space out your practice time so you don't overwhelm yourself. You never stop growing as a guitarist so you'll never be "finished" with the instrument. It's very open ended. Give it all the time it needs.

Most importantly though. Have fun.

[Wizzle]

Okay, I'm self-taught.

You are a beginner obviously, So you need finger strength on your not strumming hand. Get a Rubberband and Open & Close your fingers with the Rubberband on them.

Learn all the Power Chords first then move on to Normal Chords, I stuck with Power Chords.

And Blink-182

[Jukebox_Hero]

You're definitely going about it the best way. You make so many more connections in your head when you have to learn and figure everything out for yourself. Just be wary of falling into bad habits.

As far as practing goes, get all the open major chords (A through G) under your fingers and get comfortable with making transitions between all of 'em. The chromatic scale at the first through fourth frets is good for building finger strength and getting used to alternate picking and string changes. If you can't do 1-4 at first, move further up the neck until you're comfortable then move back down as your fingers gain strength and learn how to stretch. I'd learn what a scale is and why they sound good at this point, too. Maybe learn a few, if you want.

[Caesar]

I am trying to teach myself guitar. I can play most open chords fairly smoothly, but that is the extent of my skill. I really can't be fucked alot of the time, and whenever I do a jam I tend to do vocals anyway. Still, at the rate I am going I will probably become proficient in a few years, but if I ever find the motivation to knuckle down I may get better quicker.

[ShutMeUp]

Okay, I'm self-taught.

You are a beginner obviously, So you need finger strength on your not strumming hand. Get a Rubberband and Open & Close your fingers with the Rubberband on them.

Learn all the Power Chords first then move on to Normal Chords, I stuck with Power Chords.

And Blink-182

I'd do this the other way round personally. Learn open chords, then barre chords.

[Rykoshet]

I posted it before, but I'll do it again. Here's a small archive (50MB) that expands to a lot (550MB) and contains a shitload of tabs.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KGOXWAJA

The beatles are a great resource, the acoustic parts are relatively simple chords. Freebird is one of my favourite songs, and the acoustic is relatively easy if you're willing to put time into it to get the Ds, barred F, and pattern down well.

Santana's El Farol was one of the earlier songs I learned (on electric) and it's very very easy to learn quickly and will lay down some of the groundwork for picking accurately well. Starts off really nicely and then gets hell near the end.

Don't bother trying to pick up Eruption and be able to tap it by next week or trying to play cliffs of dover anytime this year.

Just remember to practice, that's the only way you'll get better. SCALES are great. Normal scales, bebop scales, penatonic scales, ANY SCALE YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON, practice and memorize.

Half the songs are made of scales and the other half are made of the same scale except you play the entire chord instead of just 1 note. Seriously.

[ShutMeUp]

I posted it before, but I'll do it again. Here's a small archive (50MB) that expands to a lot (550MB) and contains a shitload of tabs.

The beatles are a great resource, the acoustic parts are relatively simple chords. Freebird is one of my favourite songs, and the acoustic is relatively easy if you're willing to put time into it to get the Ds, barred F, and pattern down well.

Santana's El Farol was one of the earlier songs I learned (on electric) and it's very very easy to learn quickly and will lay down some of the groundwork for picking accurately well. Starts off really nicely and then gets hell near the end.

Don't bother trying to pick up Eruption and be able to tap it by next week or trying to play cliffs of dover anytime this year.

Just remember to practice, that's the only way you'll get better. SCALES are great. Normal scales, bebop scales, penatonic scales, ANY SCALE YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON, practice and memorize.

Half the songs are made of scales and the other half are made of the same scale except you play the entire chord instead of just 1 note. Seriously.

Blackbird?

[Rykoshet]

Blackbird?

Sure but he'd probably have to learn it slowly. It has a pretty tough fingerpicking pattern for a beginner. I hate to say it (really really hate to) but the gay ass delilah song has an easy picking pattern that'll teach most people how to use their thumb and fingers together, plus it teaches them the second most useful barred chord.

I also uploaded the tabs:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KGOXWAJA

[ShutMeUp]

Sure but he'd probably have to learn it slowly. It has a pretty tough fingerpicking pattern for a beginner. I hate to say it (really really hate to) but the gay ass delilah song has an easy picking pattern that'll teach most people how to use their thumb and fingers together, plus it teaches them the second most useful barred chord.

I also uploaded the tabs:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KGOXWAJA

I meant Blackbird as in, did you mean Blackbird not Freebird (in your last post) lol.

You brought up a good point though. Alongside the "gayass Delilah song" (what a pile), I think Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers is a good place to start with fingerpicking.

[Rykoshet]

I meant Blackbird as in, did you mean Blackbird not Freebird (in your last post) lol.

You brought up a good point though. Alongside the "gayass Delilah song" (what a pile), I think Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers is a good place to start with fingerpicking.

No I meant Freebird, it's got a pretty easy chord progression:

G, D/F#, Em, Fbar, C, then a couple of funky D, Dsus4, and Daug.

The hardest part will probably be the D/F# (easy if you can use your thumb) and the barred F, but once you get the pattern down that's almost all there is to it.

And no, they won't be doing the solo anytime soon. If you try to learn Purple Haze as your first song you'll give up on the guitar. So save us the trouble and just start from the beginning.

[anastaciadarling]

first of all, for those of you who keep call me a guy....im not..

im a fucking girl.
haha
but that is for your information..get it straight!

thank you guys for you input, suggestions, and websites at which i can get what i need. i do have a couple questions:
i know there were some recommendations as to a song i can play, but what are some other recommendations of songs i can quickly pick up and tab...etc.
i know i should do scales..etc, and i am, and i am learning chords, but i would really like to learn a song at least one..ya know.

what are some other recommendations you could give me to improve finger strength, because as of right now...that is really holding me back.

give me some motivation...
lol

[anastaciadarling]

and there is no way i can even play freebird or blackbird right now for that matter

[ShutMeUp]

Songs -
Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival
House of the Rising Sun by the Animals
As Tears Go By by the Rolling Stones
American Pie by Don McLean
Horse With No Name by America / Neil Young
For What It's Worth by Buffolo Springfield
Wild Thing by the Troggs

Finger exercises -
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/for_beginners/powering_up_your_pinky.html
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/correct_practice/some_decent_exercises.html
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/correct_practice/yet_another_speed_and_finger_strength_exercises.ht ml

[anastaciadarling]

Songs -
Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival
House of the Rising Sun by the Animals
As Tears Go By by the Rolling Stones
American Pie by Don McLean
Horse With No Name by America / Neil Young
For What It's Worth by Buffolo Springfield
Wild Thing by the Troggs

Finger exercises -
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/for_beginners/powering_up_your_pinky.html
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/correct_practice/some_decent_exercises.html
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/correct_practice/yet_another_speed_and_finger_strength_exercises.ht ml

fuck yeah!
thanks...you rock!

[ShutMeUp]

fuck yeah!
thanks...you rock!

Hahah thanks :)

[anastaciadarling]

Hahah thanks :)

as a matter of fact....
can you just come over and teach me....
FUCK!

[ShutMeUp]

as a matter of fact....
can you just come over and teach me....
FUCK!

I would but you probably live too far away hahah.

How's it going? Any news?

[Cliche Guevara]

haha its an advice showdown.

finger strength as in for playing chords or picking?

if its for playing chords, play the chord and then play each string individually and make sure u get clear sound from each. otherwise you'll have weak sounding chords and its hard to unlearn a bad habit.

if its picking do an exercise where you just play the first fret with the index finger, the second with your middle, the third with your ring, and the fourth with your pink, and go down all the strings.

[anastaciadarling]

I would but you probably live too far away hahah.

How's it going? Any news?

uhmmm just walk...jeez...lol

well before you gave me suggestions on songs i looked up the song:
"we are going to be friends - the white stripes
and so far i can almost play half of it.
it isn't that hard.
but it is coming to rather fast...
so things are fine i think.
practicin scales and chords...
over and over...memorization!!

[anastaciadarling]

haha its an advice showdown.

finger strength as in for playing chords or picking?

if its for playing chords, play the chord and then play each string individually and make sure u get clear sound from each. otherwise you'll have weak sounding chords and its hard to unlearn a bad habit.

if its picking do an exercise where you just play the first fret with the index finger, the second with your middle, the third with your ring, and the fourth with your pink, and go down all the strings.

haha
thank you thank you
you can come over and teach me as well!!!
takin your advice.

[Cliche Guevara]

and thank you for taking my advice haha ;)

oh and im on my way .

[ShutMeUp]

uhmmm just walk...jeez...lol

well before you gave me suggestions on songs i looked up the song:
"we are going to be friends - the white stripes
and so far i can almost play half of it.
it isn't that hard.
but it is coming to rather fast...
so things are fine i think.
practicin scales and chords...
over and over...memorization!!

Good stuff, keep at it :)

Try Hang by Matchbox 20, it's just C, CaddG, G, Em, and D. And variations of.

[anastaciadarling]

and thank you for taking my advice haha ;)

oh and im on my way .

fucking schweet

[anastaciadarling]

Good stuff, keep at it :)

Try Hang by Matchbox 20, it's just C, CaddG, G, Em, and D. And variations of.

i think motivation will be my weakness

[ShutMeUp]

i think motivation will be my weakness

STAY MOTIVATED :mad::mad:

Just think how good you'll be if you stick with it.

[anastaciadarling]

STAY MOTIVATED :mad::mad:

Just think how good you'll be if you stick with it.

im tryin im tryin
i get frustrated and make excuses like...my hands are too small or the guitar is too big...etc...lol

[ShutMeUp]

im tryin im tryin
i get frustrated and make excuses like...my hands are too small or the guitar is too big...etc...lol

Haha that's the thing with being a girl, but still, no excuses :p

[anastaciadarling]

Haha that's the thing with being a girl, but still, no excuses :p

my hands are small though.....

[ShutMeUp]

my hands are small though.....

So are mine but I still manage :p

[Erich Von Mangstein]

Good stuff, When it comes to music unless you're really involved in something, the beauty wears off after a while.

A fucking men to that, guitar got so boring for me and I found it so difficult to learn songs all the way through (I have the attention span of a little duck with guitar) so all i ever did was improvise which would've been ok could i be fucked learning new chord progressions and learning new styles.

[i poop in your cereal]

Do heroin and write lyrics that doesn't make any sense.

[Rykoshet]

Do heroin and write lyrics that doesn't make any sense.

And make music that AWESOME!

*cough*stairway*cough*

[anastaciadarling]

I haven't been on for a while, and i have been quite busy, but as an update on my efforts towards learning to play the guitar i can say it is coming on quite well.
my brother has come back from iraq and with my newly formed guitar skills [haha] and his extensive collection of studio equipment [including beat makers (i can't remember what they are called right now) microphones, turntables, amplifiers, etc] we are just simply making music. it is fucking awesome.

[Cliche Guevara]

heey its true I haven't seen you on in a while. You should upload some of the music!! I would love to hear it.

[anastaciadarling]

heey its true I haven't seen you on in a while. You should upload some of the music!! I would love to hear it.

at this moment i studying music and taking it slow i am not quite confident to record myself playing the guitar....singing is a different thing though due to the fact that i am awesome at that. but i am just taking it slow and learning about producing a song, creating a beat, listening to each sound, breaking a song down, etc.
but the downside of this whole project i have indulged myself in, i have realized that diving into a musical career at this point is not in the cards and so it is sort of just a side project. i wish it could be more...but for right now i am just silently becoming a genius...lol

[Chi]

Aren't you a girl?

I think having a vagina means the best you'll ever be is a mediocre bass player.

[Cliche Guevara]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrCawIdyz6k

granted shes probably really ugly, but hey its a she.

[anastaciadarling]

Aren't you a girl?

I think having a vagina means the best you'll ever be is a mediocre bass player.

i am not learning to play the bass, and there really isn't any girls out there who really have amazing skills, but that does not mean there isn't potential for one. the music industry is quite pathetic these days filled with 'talented women' they call: britney spears, lady gaga, and madonna. Although they give women out there a pathetic excuse for talent, doesn't mean there isn't women out there who truly carry some.
be more open minded, and not so immature.

[Marquis In Spades]

the world needs good music again not the pop crap thats on the t.v we as music players gotta try to make it better....or we could just sit here and bitch about how gay music is and do nothing lol

music ftw

[OMGPLZDNTBAN]

"I taught myself to play guitar. It’s incredibly easy when you understand the science of it. The skinny strings play the high sounds, and the fat strings play the low sounds. If you put your finger on the string father out by the tuning end it makes a lower sound. If you want to play fast move your hand fast and if you want to play slower move your hand slower. That’s all there is to it. You can learn the names of notes and how to make chords that other people use, but that’s pretty limiting. Even if you took a few years and learned all the chords you’d still have a limited number of options. If you ignore the chords your options are infinite and you can master guitar playing in one day.

Traditionally, guitars have a fat string on the top and they get skinnier and skinnier as they go down. But the thing to remember is it’s your guitar and you can put whatever you want on it. I like to put six different sized strings on it because that gives the most variety, but my brother used to put all of the same thickness on so he wouldn’t have so much to worry about. Whatever string he hit had to be the right one because they were all the same.

Tuning the guitar is kind of a ridiculous notion. If you have to wind the tuning pegs to just a certain place, that implies that every other place would be wrong. But that's absurd. How could it be wrong? It’s your guitar and you’re the one playing it. It’s completely up to you to decide how it should sound. In fact I don’t tune by the sound at all. I wind the strings until they’re all about the same tightness. I highly recommend electric guitars for a couple of reasons. First of all they don’t depend on body resonating for the sound so it doesn’t matter if you paint them. Also, if you put all the knobs on your amplifier on 10 you can get a much higher reaction to effort ratio with an electric guitar than you can with an acoustic. Just a tiny tap on the strings can rattle your windows, and when you slam the strings, with your amp on 10, you can strip the paint off the walls.

The first guitar I bought was a Silvertone. Later I bought a Fender Telecaster, but it really doesn’t matter what kind you buy as long as the tuning pegs are on the end of the neck where they belong. A few years back someone came out with a guitar that tunes at the other end. I’ve never tried one. I guess they sound alright but they look ridiculous and I imagine you’d feel pretty foolish holding one. That would affect your playing. The idea isn’t to feel foolish. The idea is to put a pick in one hand and a guitar in the other and with a tiny movement rule the world."

This is so much utter bullshit that I won't even begin.


Real low mind, do you have a myspace or something with some of your music?

I'm extremely interested in hearing what you may sound like.


I imagine you could only get away with butchering your guitar like that if it's insane thrash metal where specific notes and keys don't count for shit.

[ShutMeUp]

Good to hear it's going well and you're sticking at it :D

[anastaciadarling]

This is so much utter bullshit that I won't even begin.


Real low mind, do you have a myspace or something with some of your music?

I'm extremely interested in hearing what you may sound like.


I imagine you could only get away with butchering your guitar like that if it's insane thrash metal where specific notes and keys don't count for shit.

who are you talking to....the guy you quoted,....or me...?
you post confuses me

[anastaciadarling]

Good to hear it's going well and you're sticking at it :D

damn straight!!

[Caramello Koala]

i taught myself how to play guitar, never bothered with a teacher. a good place to start would be to memorise the notes on the e strings (the thickest and thinnest string), also learn your chords and different ways of playing them (especially barre chords), next learn about chord progressions, an excellent e-book teaching you about chord progressions can be found here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/88826270/ECP.rar
after you've done all this learn the minor pentatonic scale (http://www.theorylessons.com/pentpos.html) and learn how to play the blues. by the time you have learnt all the above you should know enough about guitar to dictate your own path.

p.s this is the first site i looked at when i started playing guitar, helped me out enormously http://guitar.about.com/library/blguitarlessonarchive.htm

take the time to check out these free guitar e-book sites while you're at it:

http://jazzyelp.blogspot.com/search/label/Beginner
http://guitarebooks.blogspot.com/
http://guitar-freebooks.blogspot.com/

and last but certainly not least, enjoy yourself and good luck!

[Shibby]

i am not learning to play the bass, and there really isn't any girls out there who really have amazing skills, but that does not mean there isn't potential for one. the music industry is quite pathetic these days filled with 'talented women' they call: britney spears, lady gaga, and madonna. Although they give women out there a pathetic excuse for talent, doesn't mean there isn't women out there who truly carry some.
be more open minded, and not so immature.

I'm no feminist but I think you're right. There are women who are amazing with instruments but the focus is not on the music when it comes to women. Getting even less to do with the music for men as well, the industry only cares about money and thus what sells - especially to high school kids.

And about small hands, someone recently said "I would pick up guitar but my fingers are too short."
That individual had longer fingers than my own, and I love playing.

There are people who have learned to play with no arms - using their feet to play! On a less extreme note, there are people who have learned to play with only two fingers, or at least have continued to after losing use of their others on their fretting hand. Whatever the "disability", there is little excuse when it comes to playing guitar - there are small chances, but the odds are you do not fit into a category with a real reason not to play.

It's all about practice, and getting used to the position. After that small hurdle you can focus more on learning to play.

[Horselover Fat]

[QUOTE=real low mind;24538]"I taught myself to play guitar. It’s incredibly easy when you understand the science of it. The skinny strings play the high sounds, and the fat strings play the low sounds. If you put your finger on the string father out by the tuning end it makes a lower sound. If you want to play fast move your hand fast and if you want to play slower move your hand slower. That’s all there is to it.

half japanese fan i presume?

[BATTLESTEER]

Haha thanks. Go check out this site (http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/) for some basic theory. Most of the articles are well-written and not all jumbled and confused.

I recommend reading
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/columns/music_theory/a_beginners_guide_to_music_theory_for_guitar_part_ 1_-_chords.html
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/chords/chord_theory.html
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/chords/chord_shape_formula.html
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/chords/what_chords_are_in_what_key_and_why.html (http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/chords/what_chords_are_in_what_key_and_why.html)
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/chords/how_the_chords_work.html
for a bit of theory :p

Knowledge is power ;)

Do this. My friend did it. Been playing 2 years and hes a damn good guitar player. Still looks at UG a lot. They also have a lot of tabs. If you get the chance get guitar pro. Get books. And look up your favorite guitar players on youtube. Sometimes they have tutorials