On June 08 2009 15:26 hyde wrote: Nice post. Any tips for beginners? Such as what they should learn first ?(besides major and minor chords)
learn your scales and you will go far. Also don't be scared to make stuff up, keep trying new things. Practice every day and finally keep learning new songs.
I've been playing the guitar for a while and I must say that your playing is very good. Do you by any chance do any improvisation, because that would be quite nice to see (and hear) Keep on the good work
On June 08 2009 15:26 hyde wrote: Nice post. Any tips for beginners? Such as what they should learn first ?(besides major and minor chords)
learn your scales and you will go far. Also don't be scared to make stuff up, keep trying new things. Practice every day and finally keep learning new songs.
Thanks for the advice DeathSpank, but which scales? I have a book full of them and I don't know where to start.
On June 08 2009 15:26 hyde wrote: Nice post. Any tips for beginners? Such as what they should learn first ?(besides major and minor chords)
learn your scales and you will go far. Also don't be scared to make stuff up, keep trying new things. Practice every day and finally keep learning new songs.
Thanks for the advice DeathSpank, but which scales? I have a book full of them and I don't know where to start.
Start with the regular Major and Minor scales then from there go to pentatonic and then after that learn all the modes. For the majority of rock stuff you're gonna use a minor pentatonic scale.
On June 08 2009 15:26 hyde wrote: Nice post. Any tips for beginners? Such as what they should learn first ?(besides major and minor chords)
learn your scales and you will go far. Also don't be scared to make stuff up, keep trying new things. Practice every day and finally keep learning new songs.
Thanks for the advice DeathSpank, but which scales? I have a book full of them and I don't know where to start.
Start with the regular Major and Minor scales then from there go to pentatonic and then after that learn all the modes. For the majority of rock stuff you're gonna use a minor pentatonic scale.
Cool, thanks a lot for the advice as to what I should learn next, much appreciated. Starting to get excited about playing the guitar again! haha
On June 08 2009 15:26 hyde wrote: Nice post. Any tips for beginners? Such as what they should learn first ?(besides major and minor chords)
This is a little indirect, but by far the most valuable thing I've learned since starting guitar... is the importance of basics. Seriously, take your time with your chords right now. Strong basic playing is always better than crappy shreding or any other kind of "difficult" playing.
Up until about 2 months ago, I was kind of arrogant about guitar (I've been playing for less than a year, so I considered myself a fast learner) and spent pretty much all of my time trying to learn hard songs and speed techniques. Then one day, a friend I jam with a lot said he would invite a guitar player from UCLA's jazz band to join us. Obviously, their band is really good so I was expecting some crazy shit, but when I met the guy all he did was play basic chords and easy pentatonic fills. The funny thing is, he sounded WAY better than I did. Honestly, a guy with 1-2 months of guitar experience could probably play everything he did, but his basic skills (strumming, tone, etc.) were so good that he sounded like a legitimate pro. It really made me realize how wrong my practice mentality was (plus, the guy only had like 8 months of playing experience, so it taught me some humility too).
So again, really practice your basic chords and basic musical skills like rhythm, tone, and pitch (ear training) before trying to learn anything fancy. These are the only things that matter, in terms of sounding good. Don't worry too much about scales or speed techniques. If you must learn a scale, learn the pentatonics and really master them before attempting modes or exotic scales.
On June 08 2009 16:01 Pyrrhuloxia wrote: I think I'ma buy a guitar soon and try to learn.
Be prepared to make a commitment. It's gonna take about a year for you to become decent.
But against all other instrument i'd say guitar is easiest to sound good. If you play violin ur gonna sound banshee for maybe 5 years before something good come out
On June 08 2009 15:26 hyde wrote: Nice post. Any tips for beginners? Such as what they should learn first ?(besides major and minor chords)
This is a little indirect, but by far the most valuable thing I've learned since starting guitar... is the importance of basics. Seriously, take your time with your chords right now. Strong basic playing is always better than crappy shreding or any other kind of "difficult" playing.
Up until about 2 months ago, I was kind of arrogant about guitar (I've been playing for less than a year, so I considered myself a fast learner) and spent pretty much all of my time trying to learn hard songs and speed techniques. Then one day, a friend I jam with a lot said he would invite a guitar player from UCLA's jazz band to join us. Obviously, their band is really good so I was expecting some crazy shit, but when I met the guy all he did was play basic chords and easy pentatonic fills. The funny thing is, he sounded WAY better than I did. Honestly, a guy with 1-2 months of guitar experience could probably play everything he did, but his basic skills (strumming, tone, etc.) were so good that he sounded like a legitimate pro. It really made me realize how wrong my practice mentality was (plus, the guy only had like 8 months of playing experience, so it taught me some humility too).
So again, really practice your basic chords and basic musical skills like rhythm, tone, and pitch (ear training) before trying to learn anything fancy. These are the only things that matter, in terms of sounding good. Don't worry too much about scales or speed techniques. If you must learn a scale, learn the pentatonics and really master them before attempting modes or exotic scales.
Thanks for the advice, it's true that sometimes I skip to more advanced things before I'm ready for them or before I've mastered all the basics (mainly due to my own impatience), so I will keep these things in mind when I pick up the guitar.
these are the songs you should never play at a music store (if you don't want to get kicked out that is)
Hahaha pretty true - still worth learning since you'll get (instant) respect from anyone without guitar-know how and impressing girls. He could probably play those anyways, at least Stairway and Teen Spirit which I think are fairly easy (Stairway maybe is harder but I'm biased since I'm classicaly trained).
Good job! I play electric myself (good enough to know that I'm not that good haha - waaay better with classical), but any chance you can do the entire Hotel California piece? I'm learning it myself currently.
EPT
