On September 16 2012 16:04 JieXian wrote: hmmph I've asked so many students/friends what scales are for and nobody ever gives me a good answer because no one ever teaches them what scales are used for, especially classically trained people and even one guy who plays in orchestras omg.
This is an explaination that I have:
Scales are more than a practice tool. Songs are made up, intentionally or not, by scales. It defines the mood and feel of the song itself. Like if I play something using only notes present in a harmonic minor scale/phyrigian it'll sound Middle eastern. Or if I play around in a Major Pentatonic scale it'll sound Chinese.
*Video of me playing the guitar 404*
It may sound obvious but a lot of people are oblivious to the power of scales, which is a fundamental component in improvising and composing, whether they are thinking about it consiously or subconsiously.
emythrel, I'd like to think of teaching theory/techniques (the important components of music) through songs. Yes songs will be a byproduct but the student should have fun learning the songs but the purpose is to actually learn techniques.
I can go on forever but it's kinda frustrating to only be able type it out.
I feel lazy scrutinising every detail of emythrel's and Dittert but I prefer their advice much more in general.
I do hate to be that guy but when writing as an "expert" which is what TL knowhow is for, you shouldn't be advocating bad practice. I would also suggest that you edit in some videos because a lot of learning guitar is about knowing the correct tecnique and seeing someone doing it right (i.e thumb behind the fretboard, not hanging over the top) helps the process and helps correct any bad habits one might have picked up.
The advice is sound, but you ought to work on your own thumb judging from those tutorial videos. That hanging thumb is a serious offender =).
Even someone like Fruiscante will bring his thumb down to attain proper reach when necessary. As opposed to the droves of non classically trained guitarists who have a hard time reaching 4 frets while letting their thumbs hang indefinitely -- Fruiscante/Hendrix etc used the thumb for a purpose: base notes in riffs.
I would also like to add that the classical stance is to rest the guitar on your left thigh, with your left leg being slightly elevated.
After years of learning music classically and starting to learn flamenco, another really rigid genre, I really hate the mindset of advocating one method of playing the guitar. (Or anything for that matter) It should be find as long as it sounds good, doesn't hurt, and is effective.
I started with flamenco/spanish classical as a child, i actually change how i play completely when going back to it now but don't even really think about it. I agree that so long as it sounds good, thats what matters but only when talking about an accomplished guitarist. For learners, using correct technique is very important, which leg your guitar is on makes little difference in reality, i generally tell students to go with what feels right. Flamenco guitarists hold their guitar off the leg in their arms, classic use left leg generally and rock/pop use right leg. Old school rockers have their guitar on a strap up at their chest, younger rockers have it slung low by their crotch. Personally I move my guitar based on what i'm playing, when playing classical or flamenco sat down, left leg.... when playing electric or acoustic standing I have my guitar hung across my abdomen and when sat down over my right leg.
I too have used songs to teach technique, but with more advanced techniques. For the basics I steer well clear of it. Again, its a matter of my experience pushing me towards doing things a certain way. I'm not opposed to other teaching styles and definitely think as a teacher you need to experiment to find what works. You actually hit on something which I think is why I have success with my teaching style, I show them why knowing all these scales and techniques is important, how knowing them means you can play anything, learn anything, compose your own works, improvise etc.
If you want to be a lead guitarist, you have to know all these scales and how they relate to each other. They are the basis of every riff and solo you will ever write or play. Improvised solos are one of the hardest things to do well imo, I suck at it because I never wanted to be a lead guitarist so never really practiced to be one but put some music in front of me and I can play it or give me a while to work and I can write an excellent solo or riff because I can go back to that early training. I honestly don't know how guitarists without that training can play such excellent solo's, their "feel" for music must be better than mine lol.
Really loved it, cant wait for more! I've been playing guitar for 7 years or so now, but i cant afford classes so I'm really have a really bad ear and a hard time jamming in some keys
For the first article, it covers everything I would have talked about too, so really good job on that. I would add a bit on the first guitar stuff. For the first one, I would REALLY recomend a second hand guitar. I find begginers guitars will always be replaced, even if you just play like 3 days a week, you will get to a point in which that guitar isnt enough. So to spend like 200€ on a brand new guitar that is shit anyways, you can get for the same budget a 350-400€ guitar, just not new, which isnt really a good deal as long as its not like in really bad state.
Also, on the election of electric,classic,acoustic, i would have really talked about that a bit. I started playing electric guitar, i really loved rock,metal, and all that kind of stuff. Playing lightspeed solos was cool and stuff, but eventually I discovered classical guitar, fingerstyle, and a lot more stuff that made me regret about buying an electrical guitar on the first place, so i would have expanded a bit more onto that.
Everything else is really really nice, really good job and hope you keep with this How-to guides, waiting for it
Extra: a bit of fingerstyle/classic guitar on spoilers, to hopefuly helping someone to discover it fingerstyle + Show Spoiler +
Looks like we're getting a lot of good feedback and discussion going in this thread, which I find very refreshing for the internet (though I know TL standards are a little above par on that front anyway).
Regarding starting with songs versus scales/exercises, I think we just have two different schools of thought on the issue. In defense of my approach, allow me to make a Starcraft analogy.
Let's say your friend just bought SC2 and wants you to help him get started with the game. What are you going to do? Odds are, you're going to suggest that he actually play the game - start the campaign, play some 1v1 ladder, or maybe a custom game. You probably wouldn't immediately start teaching him how to kite Zealots with Marauders or suggest that he work with the Starcraft Master mod. If he's not familiar with the races, the units, and the basic idea of the game, those exercises won't mean anything to him. When he comes to you in a few days/weeks/months and says "Why did I lose all my Marauders to Zealots in this replay," THEN you start showing him the finer points of micro.
I think it works the same way with music. Scales and exercises are tools; they only truly matter in context. For example, I had one guitar student bring a Phish song he wanted to play this past Saturday. He had a live version, and asked about the long guitar solo in the middle. "Why does this solo sound different than the one on the record, and how does he know what to play for so long?" At that point, we started talking about improvising and using scales. We had talked about scales before, but this was the first time I really saw it click for the student. He started putting "theoretical" things in context, and that helped him retain (and use) the information much more effectively.
For reference, I teach at a private music store (rather than a school), and most of my students are older (middle school and up). Almost none of them desire to be professional guitarists. Most just want to play songs they like or perform in church or play in a band with their friends.
For this post, I'd love to see a version 2.0 of it. My vision of "The Definitive TL Guide to Getting Started on Guitar" would look something like this (very rough outline):
Intro Buying Your First Guitar (types of guitars, brands, things to look for in a guitar, buying in a store vs. buying online) Deciding on Your Guitar Goals (why do you want to play the guitar, what do you hope to accomplish; also included would be a list of possibilities - playing songs by yourself, playing in a band, writing songs, being a "professional," etc. - plus the pros and cons of each goal) A List of Internet Resources (links to other sites/articles/youtube channels with a note about each one... "want to learn basic chords? click here," "these sites will help you learn about scales," etc.) Eventually, you could link to additional TLKnowHow articles in addition to other internet resources. A List of Guitar Terminology with Images (parts of the guitar, picks, strings, tabs, sheet music, strap... maybe even simple technique things like bends, hammer-ons, trills, etc.) Tab and Demonstration of a Few Basic Chords A List of Easy to Play Songs In Several Genres Tab and Demonstration of a Few Basic Scales and Exercises
I could even take or leave those last few parts, as the first post could simply serve as a portal to other pages/articles.
I'd be happy to help with the guitar post in almost any way. If you want me to take a look at some things, write some things, suggest some different ideas, or whatever else, just let me know (PM me, maybe?)
Also @MightyAtom - It might be a good idea to have a thread of TLKnowHow's "Works in Progress." When TLKH when live, I thought "that's interesting," but I didn't think to contribute because I didn't think I was necessarily qualified. Also, the first posts on business-y type things made me think posts would be more in that vein. If I saw that there were posts about guitar or drumming being worked on, I might have contributed earlier. I'm not sure exactly how it would work, but maybe you could make a list of TLKH posts being worked on and then include "Know something about these topics? PM MightAtom with your qualifications to get involved!" Then you could connect the interested parties together and we could pass ideas/drafts back and forth over PM. I think this would enhance the quality of original posts on TLKN and reduce the need for future edits/revisions. Just an idea...
Yeah that's a good idea. I talked to MightyAtom about creating a team of people for TL Knowhow in general, he said he'd take a couple days to try and organize something specifically for this thread and the next guitar articles, so we will see. The more contributors the better after all, and having the articles written by/with professional musicians would make the whole thing so much better.
Regarding how you start, and with the comparisions to sc2, i would use the same argument, but in a completely different way. When you first start sc2, it's all about mechanics. Before you worry about strategy, build orders and cool tactical moves (like kiting zealots with marauders), you have to learn "mechanics" for a LONG time, or how to use your keyboard and mouse efficiently, how to constantly make workers and so on. Many times, in sc2 strategy (i post there a ton) the advice to diamond and lower people is along the lines of "well this is how you beat infestor/broodlord in theory, but in your replay you need to get your third up faster/get more workers/get more production/better upgrades etc before you worry about that. The same goes with playing guitar, the exercises are there to make you more confortable to the fretboard, and then you can go more in depth. Of course, you will show a newbie a really simple opening build order and ideal army composition, and you might add a few songs when you first start playing guitar, but mechanics are a key aspect in both hobbies.
Also it's really freaking funny how i used the same analogy when discussing sc2 mechanics and why they should be taught first to lower league players, saying you don't just take someone who has bought a guitar half an hour ago and tell him to play Arpeggios from Hell.
On September 16 2012 10:05 neobowman wrote: Question. If there's a sudden drop d in a piece of music, but only for a small part, how do I play it. Do I just have to tune down the E string for the whole song?
A sudden drop D? I've never come across that personally. I would assume that one of the following is happening:
1) You are using tabs/music that is incorrect 2) You have learned to play the song without the drop D but the song needs it i.e you aren't playing it the way it was written
for instance, you can play all of Goo Goo Dolls "Iris" without drop D tuning simply by not playing the E strings ever, it sounds weird but can be done, I've seen tabs that don't even have the drop D in them and simply show only playing the middle 4 strings but there is one part of the song where not having the drop D makes it sound horrible. Another instance would be Everlong by Foo Fighters. I can play it without the drop D but it requires a 4 fret spread for a lot of it and missing the low E string out of 1 of the chord shapes and the mid-section
Could you please give a particular instance of a sudden drop D in a song and if possible a link to the tab, that would help figuring out what is going on ;p
edit: thought of an instance of a sudden drop D but its an unlikely scenario for most songs that use drop D. Newton faulkner plays a couple of songs where he re-tunes the E string mid song but its part of his style and show more than anything and you really won't find many other people doing it.
It's in a few of the guitar parts as well as the bass a bit past halfway into the song.
I must be tired cause I'm not seeing where it changes in the tab pro version, its all in standard tuning. Maybe its different than the one you are using, it would be quite unusual to change to drop D for a section, usually you would have two guitars, one tuned to drop D play that plays without the E string until the drop D section but again thats quite rare lol. I'll look more in to it when I've slept and get back to you
The Tab Pro thing is silly and shows a different song >_<. It's in the Guitar Pro File.
edit: aaah now i see it. Honestly it looks like whoever tabbed that is wrong and you should just play the whole thing in Drop D, it looks definitely doable. No way you can retune in the middle of the song.
In my effort of holding myself back from spamming 100 videos, I'll post this one link to show that the music you play should never be should never limited by the type of guitar/instrument you are playing. The only thing stopping you is the adherece to the "rules"
Their story is fascinating. They were metalheads who broke up from their bands and went busking. Naturally, an acoustic one made more sense to them over lugging amps around -- and the result was magical : an acoustic rock + metal + latin american music fusion.
emy you seem to be a "stick to the rules" kind of guy with that first paragraph about posture haha not that I have serious a problem with that and would be happy to have had you my as teacher. But I agree more with Dittert.
I won't introduce SC to my friends by starting with the mechanics. It's just like learning languages too. Technique and grammar are important but at the same time, dry. Delivery is important. I for one plowed my way through my first years with relatively little inspiration and I practiced mostly to not embarass myself in front of my teacher and to show him respect.
Now I spent so much time thinking about music I even had to cut my dreams short quite a few times to record my ideas down because I was composing while dreaming haha
On September 17 2012 02:20 Teoita wrote: edit: aaah now i see it. Honestly it looks like whoever tabbed that is wrong and you should just play the whole thing in Drop D, it looks definitely doable. No way you can retune in the middle of the song.
@Teoita - Ah, I see where we disagree now, at least with respect to our SC2 analogies. We both agree that scales and exercises are the "mechanics" of SC2. I think we disagree over what the songs are in the analogy. In my analogy, the songs are the actual games of SC2. You only need better mechanics as you want to play better games and/or more difficult opponents. To go back to guitar, you dive in with songs (the games) and only incorporate various scales/exercises (mechanics) when they become "necessary" to play your songs better (or to play harder songs).
I am not 100% sure what "songs" equate to in your SC analogy. Could you explain?
Sorry for not posting too clearly, my analogy is this: in sc2 you might learn a few build orders/unit compositions/counters, but mostly when you start you are generally told to focus on one build, and make sure you execute it as well as possible (clean up your mechanics) without worrying too much about the strategy of the game. You don't tell someone to go to lategame pvz and hallucinate 3 warp prisms while getting 2 real ones, storm dropping two bases at the same time while attacking a third one like Hero. With guitar, you play really simple songs at the start (the very generic sc2 build order), but getting to play solos or using more complex techniques (soloing, lead parts, complex riffs, shredding etc) is secondary to just getting used to using your fretboard well, knowing your scales and music theory and being confortable with them (the mechanics of playing guitar). You don't tell someone to play Arpeggios from Hell as his first song.
Just like a bronze player's macro will go to shit if he tries to harass like Hero does and he will lose focus of what it takes to truly improve at the game, one might, maaaaybe, start by playing pretty hard licks, but it's really likely you will develop bad habits, know a few riffs but really sloppily. Instead if you focus on getting your mechanics down before trying the cool stuff, you will have a solid basis to build on, so it's important to get it done as fast as possible in both sc2 and music.
Cool thread guys. I've got 15 years of guitar experience and I'm currently hitting that baby about 2 hours a day. I've got about 24 years experience with the Piano where I focus primarily on "classical" works. Someday I'll integrate a more robust amount of jazz and modern stuff into my Piano regiment, I just have such a love for Chopin and Mozart that there is always another song I'm looking to add to my repertoire.
Something that really stuck out to me here was the notion of "bad habits" and shortcuts, such as playing the G chord without using all four fingers. Truth be told guys, when starting out I see absolutely no reason to get hung up on such things. Just because you start out playing the G chord the "wrong" way (which I technically did) doesn't mean you always will. That sort of thing is rather easy to correct once you develop the required hand-eye coordination. As we all know, this simply takes time.
Developing hand-eye coordination is fundamentally more important for true noobies than playing according to particular standards. To get the most out of developing hand-eye coordination, one has to enjoy what they are playing. If that means cheating on playing your G chord, then so be it.
The beautiful thing about music is that whatever sounds good, is good. That means a G chord played with 3 fingers isn't "wrong" per se, just different and perhaps not "standard". That doesn't mean its bad. Although he didn't wield the guitar with the most amazing amount of skill, Kurt Cobain used to do the cheater version of the G chord. He was who I learned it from. The way he plays the chord got the job done, regardless of its unique nature. I think few people would've stopped Kurt in the middle of a song to point out he wasn't playing a G chord the "correct" way.
Such is the way with music. I'd prefer someone develop their own way to get things done as opposed to robotically reproducing the works of past masters and adhering to elitist standards that frown upon anything that deviates from their decidedly iconoclastic preferences. There are countless examples of world-class musicians who develop their own methods and techniques for writing and playing their own music.
Here are my recommendations for what I think complete and total noobies should focus on. These are somewhat general in the sense that people learn the guitar for different reasons and to achieve different things. I assume in these recommendations that you are learning with the intention of writing your own music. Even more so than simply playing an instrument, creating your own works is INCREDIBLY REWARDING. I can't put into words that kind of spiritual bliss I've gleaned from recording songs basically just for myself and wife to listen to. Even if they were just for me there is much to be learned from composing music. Additionally, even if you don't want to write your own music these recommendations aren't bad and will definitely help true noobs. Wall 'o' Text incoming...
* Before you even learn how to play a single song, LEARN HOW TO TUNE YOUR INSTRUMENT. I cannot tell you how important this is. There are a couple methods you can utilize to tune your guitar. The first one I suggest you use is the buy-a-friggin-electronic-tuner-and-use-it method. Seriously, its pretty easy. You'll find that crappy guitars have crappy tuning machines. Such is the way of things, deal with it! When you get good enough maybe Santa will bring you a guitar with decent tuners. Make sure you tune before every single practice session, and even during the longer ones. After you learn how to tune, learn how to change the strings. This is also super important. People keep the same strings on for 6 months and take ZERO time in maintaining their instrument. I played for years and was guilty of this terrible sin. Its truly terrible because you are literally handicapping yourself to an enormous degree. You will find that playing an out of tune guitar that has such shitty strings it cannot even be tuned (this happens) doesn't go over well with friends. It shouldn't go over well with you either. In short, LEARN TO HATE THE SOUND OF AN OUT OF TUNE INSTRUMENT and learn basic string-life preserving measures that you can take such as washing your hands before playing to minimize the transfer of dirt and skin. Before playing apply some Fast Fret and wipe the strings down. Check out other things you can do online.
*Upon purchasing your first guitar, take it to your local guitar shop and have a professional tune and check the intonation of your guitar. Have them tune to standard unless you intend to learn and focus exclusively on a group like System of a Down, in which case, depending on the album, Drop C will be your tuning and you will need thicker than average strings. Do some background research on the bands and music you like so you know how to have your instrument tuned, assuming you implement the practice method I prescribe below, which essentially involves learning to play the music you love.
* Consistency in practice is very important. In the beginning you should have difficulty playing for extended periods of time both because of your physical limitations as well as your more musical ones. As such, don't get sad if you can't hammer out 4 hours a day when starting out. More important than a practice sessions duration is repeating it every, single day. Or perhaps every other day but outside of that you start losing the benefit of making the guitar a part of your day. Its not like weight lifting. You don't risk much by playing everyday and in the end, the frequency will help you establish the physical and musical foundation you need to continue climbing the skill ladder. So, if its only 15-20 minutes every day to start out with, this is much better than grinding for 2 hours once a week.
* As much as it is possible, listen to music that you love and intend to learn. For myself, this meant learning every song off every Nirvana album. In terms of learning how to write music, doing this helps you make someone else's style a part of your own. This also helps you enjoy what you play, which is crucial to repeating what you play, which is crucial to continue raising the skill level of what you play. When you play the music of someone else to the extent that you start to free jam and write riffs that sound like that style, you have begun establishing your stylistic foundation and should begin (if you haven't already, which you should have) learning new and ideally, more challenging works. I personally started with Nirvana, Green Day, RATM, Smashing Pumpkins, and Alice in Chains because I grew up mostly in the 90's :-) This practice can have negative results if you don't identify and create your OWN sound because you end up just sounding like a regurgitation of your musical influences. If you didn't realize already, people who have done this are ALL around the music industry. Don't be a musical clone! Whoever you choose, be sure to be realistic with your learning expectations. You aren't going to learn how to play "Far beyond the Sun" by Yngwie J Malmsteen as your first song no matter how bad you love the music.
*Slow and steady wins the race! Having trouble with a section of a song? Slow it way the F down. Better to play it slower than a snail and correctly than play it fast and incorrectly. Still having trouble? Repetition is your friend! Learn to enjoy the sounds coming from your tuned and intonated guitar. Focus in on the exact lick you're having problems with and repeat it again and again and again. They say practice makes perfect but thats only half true. Only perfect practice makes perfect as my Wing Chun Sifu used to say.
*Get yourself a guitar role-model. Someone who inspires you will usually do the trick. When this person also happens to be your instructor or teacher you derive almost twice the usual benefit if not more. Sometimes though, for whatever reason, our teachers don't fuel the proverbial fire in our bellies and we must look to the stars for someone to motivate us. As I mentioned, Kurt Cobain was my first guitar hero. As I moved up skill wise, Tom Morello became my hero. He's still way up there but currently, my number one favorite is Yngwie Malmsteen followed at a close second by Tosin Abasi. I use my heros and their work as a benchmark to gauge my progress and set goals for myself to accomplish. As my goals change, so will my role-models.
*Enjoy yourself!!
The focal points above are interrelated with one another. In order to get better, one must play consistently. In order to play consistently, one must enjoy what they are playing. In order to enjoy what you are playing, one must tune and maintain their instrument etc. This is just my own personal take on starting out with an instrument and is by no means objectively correct and the only way to accomplish your goals. Just as there are different styles in playing, there are also different methods of learning.
Newbie Question #2. I'm learning how to play some songs but I want to learn how to play improv riffs. Think they're called scales. How does one go about figuring this out? Just playing a lot and learning from experience?
On September 17 2012 11:17 neobowman wrote: Newbie Question #2. I'm learning how to play some songs but I want to learn how to play improv riffs. Think they're called scales. How does one go about figuring this out? Just playing a lot and learning from experience?
Improvisational riffs might consist of scales, or they may not. An improvisational riff is just any musical "motive" or "riff" or "lick" that you generate on the spot. In some cases, people take parts of scales to create these riffs. However, they do not require strict adherence to scales to be regarded as improvisational.
An "improv riff" as you called it, could consist of 3 particular power chords. It could involve anything! It could be even less than 3 power chords. You could drop a guitar and have it generate an "improv riff"!
I'm not sure if perhaps you're thinking of something else, but in terms of an "improv riff" one need only look at the definition of the two words to understand what an improv riff is.
On September 17 2012 11:17 neobowman wrote: Newbie Question #2. I'm learning how to play some songs but I want to learn how to play improv riffs. Think they're called scales. How does one go about figuring this out? Just playing a lot and learning from experience?
They aren't called scales. Emy and I had a discussion about it on page 2.
Listen a lot and play a lot (songs, scales, progressions, riffs, anything) and keep funbling around and you'll eventually have ideas. A bit like how you'll need a certain level of language profiency before you can do improv stand up comedy. Of course it can also be a one liner joke if you know what I mean.
Scientists found that conversations and improvs use the same part of the brain.
Also on the scales vs songs thing, while we have our preferences, we can all agree that there's no hard rule and we have to to vary the teaching styles from student to student.
On September 17 2012 07:40 Teoita wrote: Sorry for not posting too clearly, my analogy is this: in sc2 you might learn a few build orders/unit compositions/counters, but mostly when you start you are generally told to focus on one build, and make sure you execute it as well as possible (clean up your mechanics) without worrying too much about the strategy of the game. You don't tell someone to go to lategame pvz and hallucinate 3 warp prisms while getting 2 real ones, storm dropping two bases at the same time while attacking a third one like Hero. With guitar, you play really simple songs at the start (the very generic sc2 build order), but getting to play solos or using more complex techniques (soloing, lead parts, complex riffs, shredding etc) is secondary to just getting used to using your fretboard well, knowing your scales and music theory and being confortable with them (the mechanics of playing guitar). You don't tell someone to play Arpeggios from Hell as his first song.
Just like a bronze player's macro will go to shit if he tries to harass like Hero does and he will lose focus of what it takes to truly improve at the game, one might, maaaaybe, start by playing pretty hard licks, but it's really likely you will develop bad habits, know a few riffs but really sloppily. Instead if you focus on getting your mechanics down before trying the cool stuff, you will have a solid basis to build on, so it's important to get it done as fast as possible in both sc2 and music.
I hope that made sense.
Teolita you're misunderstanding him. He's not stupid lol. He's taking about progressive learning of songs and techniques
I think this is a great guide if you want to learn some casual guitar.
If you can get past this step and you want to move on to jazz or classical guitar, though, you'll wish you had learned correctly. I'm having to re-condition myself to think and play as a musician instead of a guitar player after 15 years now that I'm getting heavy into jazz theory.
On September 17 2012 18:22 ZERG_RUSSIAN wrote: I think this is a great guide if you want to learn some casual guitar.
If you can get past this step and you want to move on to jazz or classical guitar, though, you'll wish you had learned correctly. I'm having to re-condition myself to think and play as a musician instead of a guitar player after 15 years now that I'm getting heavy into jazz theory.
Teoita, nice guide, well done. It's a guitar thread, and as such it's gonna have a lot of comments from people who think they can do it better... Take it easy!
Developing bad habits should be avoided, but are not a big deal by any means. When Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big, Racer X, solo artist) started playing, he would only use his thumb on his strumming hand. If your technique is bad, you'll notice eventually, and then it would be a good idea to figure out what others are doing.
I would disagree with the "learn Classical/Flamenco/Jazz first" approach. When someone's just starting out, they should enjoy the process so that they would not get discouraged. Playing guitar is difficult in the first couple of months and one should not be forced into playing something he doesn't enjoy just because it's more musically rich or whatever. If you end up playing rock anyway, there's actually no reason to divert from that. It's a preference thing.
Also, this is a guitar guide and not a music guide, and should be treated that way.
Again, well done. If you need my help I'm willing to contribute as well. *insert qualifying statement here*
Would be nice if know-hows were similar to wiki format that all the feedback, documents, and videos could be edited into the main text and newcomers could read it as one comprehensive source.
Before you start playing guitar, you have to buy one of course. The most important question is whether you want an electric, classical, or acoustic guitar. The main difference between acoustic and classical is simply that the former has metal strings like an electric, and the latter has nylon strings. All of them are fine to start with, so it really comes down to what you want to play. I personally first started with a classical guitar, and then moved on to acoustic and electric. In general, nylon strings are a bit softer to play, so they are a bit easier for beginners, but a low end electric or acoustic will also do nicely.
You didn't mention that on a classical guitar the neck is much bigger/thicker and the strings are further away from the fretboard, which makes quite a big difference in terms of comfort depending what you want to learn. So yes, nylon strings are a bit softer, but having a thinner neck is also a good thing for a beginner, especially if they have small hands.
In the end my reccomendation would be: -If you want to lean finger picking/classical pieces go for a classical guitar, because nylon strings are indeed softer so it will be more comfortable for finger picking. -If you just want to learn how to strum chords with a pick go for an acoustic/folk guitar, because even if steel strings will hurt a bit more your left hand at first (if you practice regularly it'll go away fast) the thinner neck will make things a lot easier for you. The strings being near the fretboard will especially help a lot when learning barre chords.
I saw so many friends strugle to play barre chords on a classical guitar with a big fat neck and then when trying an acoustic one being like "omfg it's so easy"
On September 15 2012 20:55 Teoita wrote: Whoooops my bad i fucked up the scale. I corrected it now. I'm not really used to writing tabs.
The G and C chord do sound better, but i think when you first start it's easier to use 3 fingers rather than 4, especially when you have to learn how to switch between chords.
Also, i covered changing chords and strumming exercises in a later part that isn't published yet.
Thanks for the feedback though, it was the first time i wrote a guitar playing guide. If you want, i can email you the other 2 articles and you can tell me where to improve them before they are published.
Regarding songs vs pure exercise, what you are saying is true but i feel like starting to play really basic music is a nice motivation boost. Learning how to play properly is a big commitment and, let's face it, starting is boring as hell. If you do nothing but exercises i think you can be less motivated to put in the time and patience, compared to playing some really basic stuff.
I don't disagree about it being boring but I'm coming at this from a tutors point of view, I completely understand why you would advocate learning simple songs but then people like me have to work with students who have terrible habits and teach them the correct way.... grrrrr.
when teaching I always discourage learning pop songs, If you want to learn songs as a beginner you should be learning classical music or be playing pop songs arpeggiated (strings plucked seperately in a pattern) so that you are both getting the motivation and practicing technique ;p
Personally, and most guitar tutors would agree, the use of a plectrum should also be heavily discouraged during the learning process, at least at the very start and until you can play scales and arpeggios with the correct fingers without thinking about it too much. Learning to play finger style is a massive part of learning guitar, if you play for more than about a year with a pick from the start and then try to learn to play with your fingers it makes it 20 times harder. This comes from experience, unfortunately there is a guitar tutor where I live who teaches from the start with a pick, I've had a few of his students come to me after learning with him for over a year and I have to go right back to the start and help them unlearn the bad habits they've picked up.
I would be happy to look over your guides and suggest edits but please don't feel like I'm trying to be an ass or put you down or that you should in any way feel compelled to use my suggestions. I know how much work goes in to one of these guides ( http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?id=165836 ) and you've done an excellent job, it's just that I have nightmares about all the guitar players out there in the world who can't even play a simple arpeggio without a pick cause they never learned how ;p
Btw, if you want to see a good example of how a video should look for teaching guitar, I have a couple on youtube. They are very advanced techniques but I've been working on my teaching techniques for years and the formula I use works no matter how easy or hard the song or exercise is. Break it down in to small parts, focus on one at a time. Then begin to combine. This particular one is in 3 parts starting there, really should update that video with HD quality lol
Approaches to learning guitar vary greatly with the different learning types and different goals. I am self-taught--I took a few lessons in about 9th grade, but didn't take anything away from them. I have now been teaching myself guitar (and other instruments) for over 16 years.
I don't think learning with a pick first hurts your ability to learn to play fingerstyle. I started out learning only electric rock for about five years or so. As my tastes changed I shifted to playing more acoustic. Then I started playing fingerstyle. Of course I was garbage at first, but, in my experience, as long as you are trying to learn to play the music that moves you, you never notice the long hours of practice--you just play. Playing with a pick didn't slow me down any in learning fingerstyle--I was just a beginner again, which always means slowing down and sounding bad for a while.
To me the most important skill that beginners overlook is to listen to yourself. I try to get beginners to just strum a chord in rhythm, with their eyes closed and focus on making that sound as good as possible. Too many people get focused on moving their fingers around as fast as they can and never internalize the basics enough to just play unconsciously.
If you focus on making what you play sound good over everything else, your technique will develop naturally. If you focus on technique over everything else (and you don't burn out on guitar and quit) you might find yourself in the position of being able to play anything in the world, but no joy in playing simply and sounding good. You will be able to impress people, but not move them.
On September 15 2012 22:53 MtlGuitarist97 wrote: I actually know how to play guitar, but I was hoping that this guide would have some stuff on sight reading and actually reading and interpreting sheet music. I can read sheet music for the cello, but since the cello is a bit more linear (for lack of a better word?) when you interpret music, it doesn't transfer so well to guitar (it doesn't help that they're in different clefs).
Overall a good guide though. If you could add anything about reading sheet music that would be awesome ^^
I'm a classical guitar player, if you want to practice sight reading you should know the proper positioning, start with very simple student pieces that are only on the first position and work your way from there. Best advice for someone who wants to play the guitar, find a very good teacher it will save you years of your life, plus somethings you would never find out on your own.
EPT
Take it easy!
