On March 30 2009 05:42 FragKrag wrote: Tremolo bridges are fine for the most part. The cheap ones suck yeah, but if you don't actually use them, they keep in tune fairly well. Changing strings can be intimidating, but it's nothing hard.
Oh, and if you don't have a large budget, I'd suggest going with Epiphone. (stay away from the explorer line)
oh hah. my friend has so much fun with his tremolo bridge. I don't think i'll get one though, not for my first electric anyways. I don't have any issues tuning or changing strings, tuning is just use the 5th harmonic which i've already learned how to hear from cello and i learned how to change strings through a youtube video XD.
1) Tabs? I use the following tab sites, and it looks like you want to play metal as well so you should find these useful.
www.riversofgore.com (all death metal tabs, mostly advanced stuff here. There's also video lessons) http://ultimate-guitar.com/ (largest tab archive on the web, all musical styles, very few advertisements, some good articles/lessons sometimes) www.metaltabs.com (These guys are very legal and formal, and ask bands for permission to put up tabs. There's a few more rare tabs from obscure metal bands on here that aren't anywhere else)
2) Backing Music
Can't help you much on this one. I never used backing tracks that were specifically meant as backing tracks to practice/improv along to. I usually only play along with songs if they're difficult and I can't keep time without hearing the track and they have too many tempo changes to use a metronome.
3) What kind of guitar/amp should i buy?
Whatever you do, do NOT buy a cheap solid state combo amplifier. These are the worst scams ever invented. I'm talking about the 10-30 watt solid state junkers by Marshall, Crate, and Fender that cost under 200 or so. They make some decent ones in the 300-500 range, but the ones targeted toward beginners and kids are absolutely awful. Instead, I'd recommend investing in an amp modeler/multi-effects device. These things basically emulate various famous amplifiers and speaker cabinets, as well as providing you with a collection of guitar effects like reverb, chorus, delay, noise gates, distortion pedals, equalizers, a TUNER and compressor emulations. These little units can cost as little as 50$, they're a gazillion times more flexible than the solid state junkers and sound a ton better as well. They're definitely not as good as the tube amps they're trying to emulate, especially at a low price range, but they're a much better investment than cheap solid state amps. These devices will take a while to learn how to use and tweak optimally, but in the end you'll have a wide variety of sounds at your disposal and will be able to play literally any style you want. You'll be able to use one of these units with either headphones, stereo speakers, desktop speakers, or an amplifier when you can save up for a quality one. Some examples are the digitech rp series, the line 6 POD and toneport series, the behringer v-amp2 series, and the vox tonelab.
For a guitar, make sure you have something with humbuckers as opposed to single coil pickups, since it looks like you're going to want to be a metal player. These humbucker pickups will eliminate some noise, sound better at high gain levels, and are pretty much used universally among high gain rock and metal musicians. Make sure you get a fixed bridge as well, guitars with tremolo bridges at a low budget have horrendous intonation, go out of tune way more often, and are much more difficult to use alternate tunings with, which you'll definitely be doing as a metal player.
Here's my personal recommendation. This is what I WISH I'd started with, but I unfortunately wasted money on horrible stuff that I now know was totally wasteful.
You'll also need some speakers or headphones to use with the POD, but I assume you already have those.
And last thing, thinking ahead to when you graduate from using a modeler for practice and need something that you can gig with, invest in a rack setup as opposed to a combo amp or an amp head+ a cab. They're much more flexible, portable, less maintenance heavy, and personally I think with the right stuff they almost always sound better. You won't need to worry about this for a long time though. 4) Any tips?
Just learning and playing various scales with a metronome really helped me get off the ground and get my right and left hand technique developed. It's a little monotonous, but it doesn't take long of just doing this before you can move on to songs. Judging from some of the stuff in your original post, you're going to have a big hurdle to overcome with right hand technique and tremolo picking, frequently used in metal and hard rock. You might try thicker picks to help you get through this. It took me a hell of a long time to get my tremolo picking chops down, but now I can pretty much play perfect 16th notes at like 350+bpm.
Get a pirated version of guitarpro or buy it like asap. It's a wonderful tool, and most transcribers save their work to guitar pro files you won't be able to open without the program. It's simply an awesome tool for writing and transcribing. It also has MIDI drums, guitars, bass, and several others built in if you want to make your own backing tracks.
justinguitar.com has a lot of good beginner articles, videos, and lessons.
On March 30 2009 05:42 FragKrag wrote: Tremolo bridges are fine for the most part. The cheap ones suck yeah, but if you don't actually use them, they keep in tune fairly well. Changing strings can be intimidating, but it's nothing hard.
Oh, and if you don't have a large budget, I'd suggest going with Epiphone. (stay away from the explorer line)
They're definitely not fine. Even if you don't use the bridge, you still knock your guitar out of tune sooo much more with a trem bridge, even with a high quality one. The intonation is always going to be better with a fixed bridge, and trems also kill a guitar's sustain, which is going to be compounded with the fact that it's going to be used through a cheaper amp/modeler and have a bolt on neck. All of these problems are going to be compounded further if you try to tune low with a trem bridge. I play in B standard with 13-60 gauge strings on my RG120 backup guitar with a trem and I pretty much need to retune every 15 minutes of play. I do hit my strings very very hard though and use 2mm picks though.
Most beginning guitarists usually get a Fender. But you should still go to your local music store and play with the guitar first before you actually buy it.
I have mostly gone to places like Samash and Guitar Center and I am sure you can haggel the original price down to as low as you can go. Those people make commission off of what you buy, and they usually overprice things.
For example
I was planning on buying a 4 drum shield plexiglass at Guitar Center (yes guitar center sells drums things as well) and the guy said he will sell it for $400, then offered $350. My brother's friends sister works at corporate at Guitar Center and said the same thing I wanted to buy, they get it for less then $150. So be sure to haggel everything.
Yeah.... don't get a fender. Fender's mid range and high range guitars are awesome, not so much for metal styles but they're still very very good. Their cheap guitars are absolutely abysmal though, avoid squire, epiphone, etc, all those chinese made guitars are just horrendous. I know it's your first guitar and all, but you can definitely buy a viable backup guitar that will serve you for a good decade or more for under 200, don't squander it on some piece of crap.
www.metaltabs.com (These guys are very legal and formal, and ask bands for permission to put up tabs. There's a few more rare tabs from obscure metal bands on here that aren't anywhere else)
hehe awesome
-0-30 watt solid state junkers by Marshall, Crate, and Fender that cost under 200 -fenders -trem bridges
*what not to get xD*
Get a pirated version of guitarpro or buy it like asap. It's a wonderful tool, and most transcribers save their work to guitar pro files you won't be able to open without the program. It's simply an awesome tool for writing and transcribing. It also has MIDI drums, guitars, bass, and several others built in if you want to make your own backing tracks.
i use Tuxguitar to open powertabs but i'll pirate it o_o
- tried to play the 2nd tab i posted in OP - i was wondering if TL could point out errors and stuff. finger picking this time I was gonna try and do the riff at the end but i kept failing at it T__T so i gave up.
They're definitely not fine. Even if you don't use the bridge, you still knock your guitar out of tune sooo much more with a trem bridge, even with a high quality one. The intonation is always going to be better with a fixed bridge, and trems also kill a guitar's sustain, which is going to be compounded with the fact that it's going to be used through a cheaper amp/modeler and have a bolt on neck. All of these problems are going to be compounded further if you try to tune low with a trem bridge. I play in B standard with 13-60 gauge strings on my RG120 backup guitar with a trem and I pretty much need to retune every 15 minutes of play. I do hit my strings very very hard though and use 2mm picks though.
I guess it depends on the player, since I started off with a really shitty Ibanez start pack guitar with a trem. Every time I used the trem, it went out of tune, but without it, the guitar actually kept its tune very well. I tuned like once every week (e flat). But yeah, they do kill sustain, but bolt on necks don't kill sustain as much as people let on. If Satch can sustain on a bolt-on, so can you (to a lesser degree). I used the 2mm Jazz iii picks.
And considering he's going to spend around 500, it should be an Edge 3. for the most part, Edge 3 seems to be a decent bridge.
nevermind that, I realized that my ibanez doesn't have an edge 3. The guy who I bought it from installed an Edge Pro. >_>
@Heaven
I'd suggest you take it slowly, and get the beats right. I'm not sure about the rhythm and the beats in the song, but it sounded a bit sloppy. Play at a slower speed and make sure you get the rhythm and timing down (along with accuracy), before progressing to a higher speed.
I find that this guitar really suits my needs. Its pretty low action so I can do quite alot with it, even basic shredding and some tapping. Basically, you have to find a guitar that suits your needs, i.e. what you are comfortable with. It took my quite a while to settle with the LP standard so take your time to find one. Don't get low end ones because they are really, really bad. Unless of course you don't plan on playing the guitar for a long time.
A few tips I can give you is knowing how to pick right. You can first learn a few basic scales like the 7 modes and learn to work around with it.
One of the first vital skills to pick up is actually alternate picking. The concept is simple. If you pick a downstroke on the 6th string, you should do an upstroke next. If you want to move up one string, the concept still applies(just incase you don't know, the 6th string is the string that has the lowest sound when you pick it. Moving up means moving down one string on the guitar in reality i.e. 6th-5th string).
So if you were to pick one note on each string and you want to move from the 6th string to the first, it would be D,U,D,U,D,U.
If you are playing more than one note on each string and are moving up the strings, the same concept still applies. The following string/note should always be played in the opposing direction of the previous string/note.
On March 31 2009 11:43 Drowsy wrote: Yeah.... don't get a fender. Fender's mid range and high range guitars are awesome, not so much for metal styles but they're still very very good. Their cheap guitars are absolutely abysmal though, avoid squire, epiphone, etc, all those chinese made guitars are just horrendous. I know it's your first guitar and all, but you can definitely buy a viable backup guitar that will serve you for a good decade or more for under 200, don't squander it on some piece of crap.
Dude, high end Epiphones are great. Its almost comparable to an identical model from Gibson.
One of the first vital skills to pick up is actually alternate picking. The concept is simple. If you pick a downstroke on the 6th string, you should do an upstroke next. If you want to move up one string, the concept still applies(just incase you don't know, the 6th string is the string that has the lowest sound when you pick it. Moving up means moving down one string on the guitar in reality i.e. 6th-5th string).
So if you were to pick one note on each string and you want to move from the 6th string to the first, it would be D,U,D,U,D,U.
i pretty much do this, or at least aim for it, but the problem i have with alternative picking is that the pick likes to go off-center, like to the right of the guitar my friend told me not to hover my right arm over the guitar, so it's hard to reach the middle part naturally
-First thing is that i really couldnt see your right hand (i meant your pick hand) but seems to me that you are taking the pick far away from the tip. To me it works like this + Show Spoiler +
The idea is that the tip goes out about 2/3 mm, dont look at my ugly nail . Pick at 90º with thumb, thumb parallel to guitar. Palm mute with the edge of the hand. Index under pick, bent at 90º in the middle phalange junture. Distal and middle phalanges straight at guitar. Last three fingers straight and barely touching the guitar with the tips.
-Now for the alternate picking i suggest you: Train Mayor scales, from the 1 position to the 7. Always train from the start to end up and down the scale. They are easy and help you learn something about music. Practice 3 minutes per position all around the neck with a metronome (play the scale at position 1 at fret1 the switch to the same postion in fret 3, fret 5 and 7 and go back to fret 1 repeat without stoping). Then you have a 20 minutes rutine to practice alternate picking. Its not too much fun but its damn good at the start. + Show Spoiler +
Position 1 in fret1 (index finger in fret1) Position 2 in fret3 (index finger in fret3) Position 3 in fret5 (index finger in fret5) Position 4 in fret7 (index finger in fret7) Position 5 in fret8 (index finger in fret8) Position 6 in fret10 (index finger in fret10) Position 7 in fret12 (index finger in fret12) They all give you a major C scale (A minor equivalent)
After you can succesfull alternate pick at the speed you want you may want to learn ecopick but i strongly suggest you not to skip alternate picking.
-Then find some sweep picking simple exercises (or pm me if you need), again they are not fun but then you can play pretty much anything, however take some time apart to learn to SP, this is harder that alternate picking because you need more control in the pick hand.
-Last advice: try to play with your fingers less diagonal more like parallel to the frets, at 90º with the neck, and your thumb in the middle back of the neck.
Finally about your questions: Tabs are everywhere, you can always search another source of more reliable original tab books cough*torrent or *cough guitartrade.org *cough. Amp and guitar, idk i cant help you about that just dont buy the first thing you see and make sure if you buy a new guitar it has a professional calibration included, learn about that. And background music? use your own, learn to play with yourself . Good Luck
The idea is that the tip goes out about 2/3 mm, dont look at my ugly nail . Pick at 90º with thumb, thumb parallel to guitar. Palm mute with the edge of the hand. Index under pick, bent at 90º in the middle phalange junture. Distal and middle phalanges straight at guitar. Last three fingers straight and barely touching the guitar with the tips.
wow that is a giant pick
Thanks a lot for the frets ! i get bored really easily playing through them without some music in the background, and the music i make is ._. so hence, backing tracks! basically to keep beat and for fun :O
-Last advice: try to play with your fingers less diagonal more like parallel to the frets, at 90º with the neck, and your thumb in the middle back of the neck.
oh i just kinda let my thumb hang around wherever it likes XD
The idea is that the tip goes out about 2/3 mm, dont look at my ugly nail . Pick at 90º with thumb, thumb parallel to guitar. Palm mute with the edge of the hand. Index under pick, bent at 90º in the middle phalange junture. Distal and middle phalanges straight at guitar. Last three fingers straight and barely touching the guitar with the tips.
wow that is a giant pick
Thanks a lot for the frets ! i get bored really easily playing through them without some music in the background, and the music i make is ._. so hence, backing tracks! basically to keep beat and for fun :O
-Last advice: try to play with your fingers less diagonal more like parallel to the frets, at 90º with the neck, and your thumb in the middle back of the neck.
oh i just kinda let my thumb hang around wherever it likes XD
First thing I noticed as well. I'm a classical guitarist, but i fool around alot on the electric too. Your thumb movement in relation to the neck is just too awkward. It impedes your reach. You're twisting your hand in an unnatural way everytime you forget about your thumb, and the notes don't come out clean.
You want to hit the fret with the tips of your fingers, not with your entire finger.
EPT
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. Pick at 90º with thumb, thumb parallel to guitar. Palm mute with the edge of the hand. Index under pick, bent at 90º in the middle phalange junture. Distal and middle phalanges straight at guitar. Last three fingers straight and barely touching the guitar with the tips.
