Guitar players: I need some advice

[SweetZombieJesus]

I've got a cheap-o acoustic, and I've been meaning to try and teach myself how to play for a long time, and I just was looking for some tips from some of you on how best to go about it, or if I should just forget that plan and get some lessons.

Also, any links to good tabs sites would be appreciated as well.

[FlashHarry]

1. I tought myself...

...by listening to records over and over AND by following the Led Zeppelin Complete songbook (I still have it, dogeared and coffee-stained, 20 years later!) It's a great way to learn chords.

And, as they say: "practice, practice, practice."

[HEyHEY]

2. well I'd say

Tabcrawler.com is a good site And as for learning, just get some chords off the net, practice them far a bit, get some scales practice them...then get some cheap drop in lessons.

[Clovis Sangrail]

3. Try it yourself

if you like it, take a few lessons.
The net is packed full of guitar tab and lessons, so if you want you've got plenty of material to learn from.

Google "guitar lessons online " and you'dd get over 200,000 hits.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. If you lived here I would give you lessons for free

but you don't so tough shit :D

Basically, if you have no music training then some lessons would be good. Self taught is fine but the meeting of the minds is also good.

Here is one of the best tutorial sites I have seen on the web to learn some of the basics.

Check it out and if there is any help I can offer you I will be glad to...a basic understanding of music theory and chord relationships is helpful:

http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~desmith/guitar/chords/chords.htm

[Deb]

13. Great link

I dug out an old Silvertone after spending the weekend with a group of jammers. Had no idea that a free tuner was available for download.
When they hear how this toy sounds I bet they'll put a real instrument in my hands for practice.

THANKS!!

[mmm]

5. as the tree is bent so shall it grow

get some lessons

[Must_B_Free]

6. I tought myself

"Stairway to Heaven", when I was seven

Good song to learn chord shapes.

I learned this from a piece of sheet music that had tablature, either that or I sounded it out.

I must say, my real breakthrough was when I got on stage - like jumping into warter to learn to swim. When you are on stage, you will quickly figure out how to play.

Aside from learning where to put your fingers, there is something to be learned about performing something for people to watch.

[Xandor]

7. Possibilities...

Been playing for 40 years, and I taught myself. It's been a long, arduous process, and I'm STILL teaching myself. BUT ... there are now a few things that you can do to make it easier: 1) There are all kinds of teaching videos that break it all down and really tell you how to do it. I don't know what kind of music you're interested in, but if it's acoustic, check out www.guitarvideos.com. If you want to play electric music, then you can probably find stuff in the ads in magazines like Guitar Player. Same for jazz guitar. 2) There are a few guitar-teaching software products that sound pretty interesting. One that is fairly well known is the "G-Vox" system from Fender (don't know if it's still available, but I would guess that it is). I've never used any of these, but as I understand the basic idea, they can do things like break a tune down into digestible pieces, and give you notation and tab, etc. Seems like a pretty neat way to use the power of computers to teach yourself guitar. Good luck.

[NaMeaHou]

8. kick because I want to hear more responses

thanks

[carpetbagger]

9. Tab sites...and, starting songs.

OLGA (The Online Guitar Archive), Underground OLGA, and a bunch of mirror sites dish out the tabs and chords.

"Wish You Were Here" is a good song to cut your teeth on (I also agree with Stairway's acoustic section, althogh it's a bit more advanced). Easy chords yet beyond the three-chord song (Em G D C Am Am7, not in that order), easy to pick, relatively slow.

If you can't find it, the pattern goes something like this...

gabDE (Em) EGED (G) gabDE (Em) EGED (G) gabDE (Em) EDba (A) gabDE (Em) EDba (A) abag (G)

Chords through verse and chorus: C D Em G D C Am7 G

[mulsh]

10. learn & practice bar chords

all of the above is good advice. I'm self taught. I've been playing for 30 years & learn new stuff every time I play. By the time I had lessons I had developed many bad habits. try the sites & if they don't work get a few lessons.
The only really essential thing I can add is to learn to play bar chords. start with the E formation & play it up & down the neck. play it whenever you pick up a guitar. it took me months to sound good but that one bar chord is the bedrock or rock n roll.
oh yea as much as possible try to use all of your fingers on your fretting hand.

[Squeech]

11. Practice

It's the most unpleasant advice, but you gotta do it. If the rest of your life allows, set up a regular schedule-- right after work, with a beer, while watching the news, if you can do so without trying to shove the neck down the blow-dried commentator's throat :-)

Because the thing is, you won't perceive yourself getting any better for a really long time-- at least I didn't-- and without that sense of improvement, you're not going to think of guitar playing as fun. So you're just going to have to get the basic woodshedding done as if it's a chore, and sometime next year you'll suddenly discover your fingers going where you want and sounding pretty damned good.

Music theory is useful when you start wanting to know why certain chords fit together in interesting ways, and how you can expand or alter them for various harmonic purposes. I recommend a book by a gentleman named Dave Stewart, who's actually a keyboard player (but he got his guitarist to write a chapter specifically for guitarists) and used to write a regular column for Contemporary Keyboard magazine. He's a Londoner and well versed in the British style of deadpan wacko humor (and the various bands he's played in all used to do deadpan wacko progressive rock), so the book is a delight to read. It used to be called "Introducing the Dots," but the publishers felt that wasn't marketable enough, so the second edition has a new title that I can never remember.

Hope this helps!

[lynndew2]

12. If you can read tabs and read music you can teach

yourself. I was lucky cause my older Bro taught me to read tabs. This site you have to join but it is free. It has lots of chords and tabs on it. Good Luck!!!

http://www.guitartabs.cc/home.php

[Warren Stuart]

14. You need two things

1. A pickup that fits in the soundhole of the guitar, cheap ones go for $50. Dean Markley is a good brand.

2. An electric tuner that the pickup plugs into, again another $50, (used, try e-bay) Boss makes the best.

When I first started, getting the damn thing tuned was the biggest problem I had.

Once you are in tune you can play along with your favorite artist, as if you were part of the band. The best way to learn is to play with someone else, if you can't find someone to play with, then you can always jam to a recording.

This will teach you timing, and give you an idea as to how to change chords smoothly.

Some artists tune down a half step to E-flat, a tuner (or a second guitar) is essential in this case.

[MojoKrunch]

15. Most tuners these days

come with a built in microphone *and* a 1/4" jack.
The last one I actually bought only cost me $20.

Korg CA-20 Chromatic Tuner.

Mojo

[Wolfman 11]

16. www.rukind.com

is a good site