Learning guitar

[Sun_Sparkz]

I have noticed in the past that we have a few resident musicians.. I've never really in my 20 years endeavoured to learn the arts of the music world but lately I have become increasingly interested so I have set about educating myself..

I brought an acoustic guitar (a 3/4 sized one - I have small hands)

I have began taking guitar lessons every Thursday night from a guy in a
band.. he seems ok and he knows how to play very well.

I have been researching the subjects at http://library.thinkquest.org/C00146...eory/index.htm

Also online lessons from here http://guitar.about.com/library/weekly/aa071200a.htm

Also I have brought tickets to a few different concerts just to get me in the musical mood.. The Who, Duo Sol, A few opera tickets and Jazz in the Park.


It seems to be taking AGES to learn to play.. I am having lots of trouble moving from one chord to the next in time, and also my fingers don't stretch very far so some chords are painfully hard. And it feels like one week I will learn a chord and then as soon as I walk out the class.. I have forgotten everything! and don't even get me started on reading music! I never knew music could be so complicated.. all those clefs and notes and staffs and sharps and minors.. I'm going nuts!

I'm really enjoying it, its just frustrating that's all.. Does anyone have any tips/ comments of when they learnt to play/ good easy songs to learn/ any helpful sites I could visit?

thanks guys..

[Undertoad]

Are you learning to read music at the same time you're learning to play?

It gets much easier! Your hands will start to remember where the chords are and things will start to just come together in your head. You're building "muscle memory" for where you move to get certain results.

I have no idea what songs people start with these days. In the olden days people would play early Beatles. And Pink Floyd's "Pigs on the Wing".

And back in the day 10cc had a song called "I bought a flat guitar tutor" which I never managed to play more than two lines of. The lyrics went (and you can imagine the chords):

I bought a flat
Diminished responsibility
You're de ninth person to see
To be suspended in a seventh
Major catastrophe
It's a minor point but gee
Augmented by the sharpness of your
See what I'm going through
Ay to be with you
In a flat by the sea

[Catwoman]

I'm learning too! From a guy in a band. And for the first few weeks I too struggled to learn anything resembling cohesion. But it gets easier, like UT says muscle memory is the key (scuse the pun), but it's true - practice makes... very sore fingers! The only way!

[Elspode]

I'm afraid I can't be of much help, here. After 37 years of playing guitar, I'm still learning, I'm still not very good, I can't memorize songs to save my life, and have never been able to teach anyone anything about anything.

This hasn't stopped me from recording music, playing in public, etc, though. Guess I should add "not very damn smart" to that list of insufficiencies of mine.

[breakingnews]

Any instrument takes days and days of practice, frustration and exhaustion before it makes any sense at all. Soon you'll notice that fingerings and chords start getting easier and much more instinctual. You'll also get very hard callouses on the tips of your finger, especially if you're playing a steel-string acoustic. That's probably the worst thing about instruments - if you stop playing for a considerable amount of time, the blisters and callouses and such come back SO quickly and twice as painfully.

So. Practice practice practice. Listen to good recordings and really get into the music. Makes it happen a lot quicker and better.

[SteveDallas]

Originally Posted by breakingnews

That's probably the worst thing about instruments - if you stop playing for a considerable amount of time, the blisters and callouses and such come back SO quickly and twice as painfully.

I had a friend in graduate school who maintained that the harsichord was the best instrument in this respect, because so little force was required to activate the keys.

With respect to clarinet playing, it's not really true of my fingers (though a REALLY REALLY long layoff makes the weight of the instrument seem much increased), but it's for damn sure true of the lips.

[Undertoad]

I could probably stick a tack in my left index finger and not feel it.

[smoothmoniker]

After several years of playing piano, I learned the play B3 organ, which is like the harpsichord in that it takes almost no pressure to activate the keys. It was learning to run with bowling balls tied to your shoes, and then suddenly having someone cut away the bowling balls. You can flyyyyy on the B3 in way that's just not possible on weighted keys. It took a real adjustment to relearn, but now I love it.

-sm

[lumberjim]

I have no idea what songs people start with these days. In the olden days people would play early Beatles. And Pink Floyd's "Pigs on the Wing".

smoke on the wa-----ter...and fire in the sky.

Iron man.

whole lotta love.

go sparkz! learn scales, practice them, then practice them some more.

my dad started me off with "woman with the red dress on" by ray charles. or whatever that song is called.

12 bar blues.

you'll probably want the major chords, as you, inexplicably, like country music.

the hardest thing is trying not to make goofy faces while you play, followed closely by singing while you play. ( i cant do either)

and invest in an electronic tuner post haste.
oh, and use the force.

[breakingnews]

I spent my early days of electric guitar jamming to Pearl Jam, Guns and Led Zeppelin. Lots of great riffs and little solos ... but then I picked up an acoustic guitar and just loved it. Sad that my old Blake doesn't see much light these days.

Then I started classical guitar a few months ago, and THAT I really enjoy, but it's probaly because I've been playing violin/viola for dozens of years and have a thing for classical music.

Sparkz, if you buy pretty much any of the mainstream guitar mags (Guitar, Guitar World (?) ), they usually include tabs for a couple popular songs. That's a fun way to get yourself immersed in "making music" - and learning tabulature is cake, though I recommend learning music the right way - with notes n staffs.

[cowhead]

don't get discouraged, there was a thread here somewhere, about who plays music and why.. (although I don't have time to look for it now.) and to reiterate, it's more of a journey than a destiation.. although small milestones are a good way to go (okay, I'm going to learn X song this month etc.) fingers loosen up and if I may suggest, they sell finger strengtheners (also helps to eventually be able to differentiate one finger from the other.. yeah sounds simple enough... but it takes practice) which I highly recomend, since you can use them all the time at work, grocery shopping, watching TV whatever. as to reading music... my poor little lysdexic brain gave up on that years ago, however I don't seem to have a problem reading TAB (well... it is painfully simple..) anywhoo! keep yer chin up and your fingers stretched.

also here's a handy site for music stuff, tabs, lessons, pointers etc.

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com