Any Guitar Players Out There?

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deleted116951

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So I've been trying to teach myself how to play guitar for the past 2 years. I can play a couple songs good enough that people can tell what there are but I've found that I've kind of hit a wall when it comes to getting better.

Any guitar players have any exercises or suggestions on how to get to be a better player? Right now I'd say my biggest problem is switching from regular chords to bar chords. Man I hate those!!!!
 

drgirth

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I took many years of piano and played drums in a couple of bands back in the days . . . The guitar came kinda natural because of my other experience in music. Reading tabs is all you need to make it fun. If you can carry a tune at all with your voice you will be surprised at what you can figure out with that as a backdrop.
 
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deleted116951

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Oh yeah me and Ultimate Guitar Tabs.com are good friends. Also downloaded Power Tab which really helped me figure out the rhythms. I think it's my finger speed and accuracy that I would really like to improve. Currently I run up and down the chromatic scale several times to limber up.
 

invisibleman

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So I've been trying to teach myself how to play guitar for the past 2 years. I can play a couple songs good enough that people can tell what there are but I've found that I've kind of hit a wall when it comes to getting better.

Any guitar players have any exercises or suggestions on how to get to be a better player? Right now I'd say my biggest problem is switching from regular chords to bar chords. Man I hate those!!!!


Learn the parts of your guitar. If you have effects pedals, learn how to use those effectively. Learn about your amplifier system. That is important.

Guitar-wise:

Learn to tune your guitar properly (MOST IMPORTANT: Everytime you perform your guitar has to tuned properly). Learn E Standard Tuning first before
progressing to the alternate tunings.
Learn your major and minor scales and apply them to your guitar fingerboard according to your tuning (E Standard. Then the other tunings.)
Learn your guitar fingerboard.
Learn the basic chords in all twelve major keys. Like in C MAJOR: C Major, D minor, E minor, F Major, G Major, A minor, B diminished, and back to C Major. Then, learn the other eleven major scales.
And there are other types of chords, too. But learn the basics first.
Find five songs you like on the radio. Melody. Chord progressions. Structure. Rhythms.
Get a guitar teacher to help you find out how to play them while taking lessons. Or check out some basic guitar books at your public library.

If you wanna play lead, learn a lot of solos from classical etudes...to old blues scat singers on blues records...to EVEN TV jingles. (Get some music theory and ear training in there.)

Learn some of your favorite styles of music WELL before progressing to other styles that you may not like but MAY LEARN A LOT FROM. You may find some sounds that you could use in your own way. For example: I don't particularly like urban music. But I have used urban music stylings in my music applied to my songs or music that I am working on.
 
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deleted116951

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I play "Guitar Hero", does that count?:wink:

Dude, if it did I wouldn't be asking for help on the internet :wink: I am a Guitar Hero master! Which only makes me want to be able to play the real guitar more.

Invisibleman - good stuff. I'll check into what you listed. Thanks!
 

sbeBen

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Why learn tab when you can learn to read music instead and be able to play other instruments as well. Tab is very restrictive!
 

Skull Mason

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Learning to read music is a waste of time IMO. You could spend all that time doing something else like perfecting your technique or learning "Eruption" :) The good thing about tab is you don't have to learn it, its already there. Learning to read music certainly won't make it more fun for him to pick up the guitar and may bore him. Learn songs, learn chords, like invisibleman said. I can play any song in the world but I can't read shit. Don't think Jimi Hendrix could read notes either. Although, I do secretly wish I could read music :redface:

Its all about you, the feel of your instrument, and how you connect with it. Don't make it like school or something tedious.
 

sbeBen

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Learning music does not have to be like school and it's very easy to learn and gives you more scope. If you dont know how a tune goes then tab is no good as it does not give any indication of timing.

People who don't read music seem to insist that it's too difficult and a waste of time. If you don't read music then please don't say it's a waste of time!

I have gone from classical guitar to being able to play a few tunes on the piano within a few weeks thanks to learning music notation. So was that a waste of time? It's not rocket science, if it were then I couldn't do it.

I do agree that chords are really useful and wish I'd learnt more but classical doesn't concentrate on them.

Skull mason: you say you can't read music - Oh yes you can, it's just that you choose not to.
 

B_Swimming Lad

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HAHA! I thought it would be really cool to learn how to play the guitar. I was even stupid enough to think I might pick it up quite quick because I can already read music (My mum was a classical pianist and i've been playing piano since I was four).

But it wasn't to be :confused:. Lol. I had about 10 lessons and realised it really wasn't my thing.
But as you can see a guitar is still a useful object for taking posey photographs with! :biggrin1:
 

invisibleman

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Learning to sight read (reading music notated on music staff) CAN be fun. (Even though, I am not good at sight reading music. I am not afraid to get in there measure by measure to figure how what is under the musical hood.) Especially like movie scores...you can learn a lot about melodic phrasing. Harmonic textures.

There is nothing wrong with playing by ear either. I am in awe of those guys that can listen to something and play it back to you like they wrote it. Color me floored.

Five years ago, I didn't have a guitar. My ex gave me my first guitar. A Schecter Strat. (But in the gay divorce, I gave it back to him.:smile:) I like my Telecaster.

Even before, I had a guitar. I had a cheapie keyboard. I took a year's worth of jazz piano lessons. I had copied a lot of Guitar Player magazine articles at the library. When, I had gotten the guitar from my BF. I learned a year's worth of guitar in three months. Chords and all. I used stuff I learned from my jazz piano days and applied it to my guitar. My BF was astonished. Hehehe. I found a lot of my playing came natural due to me listening to alot of music when I was a kid. My father had a bunch of records...a hefty record collection. Ranging from Paul Anka. Tom Jones. (Ooh, Tom Jones...:wink::rolleyes:) Steve Wonder. Ray Charles. Johnny Mathis. Henry Mancini. Elton John. (I could be here all day listing the recording artists my father had in his record collection.) I got my love of disco from my Dad. (HE had a record that had ALL the main disco songs. I got it. Learned the "wacka wacka ocka, ocka" disco rhythm guitar stylings. I have a wah-wah pedal. Learned that. That was wild. BeeGees rocks!!

There is nothing wrong with sight reading or playing by ear. As long as YOU love what you are doing and are learning about music in your way. If you are learning guitar...try learning to play drums...or learning how to play piano...bass guitar. Whatever. Learn how all these instruments blend together.
 
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deleted116951

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Having played trumpet for 10 years I know my way around a sheet of music (even played in the University of Georgia band - Go Dawgs!).

My problem being I don't know how to transcribe what notes I see on the page with what fingering on the guitar - thus I am a straight tab man. I'll get the old fingers trained and then I can worry about reading music.
 

naughty

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I studied classical guitar as a young woman. I have not played for a while though. I need to pick it back up. I picked up my brother's electric base the other day and it surprised me that it was like riding a bicycle! LOL!
 
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66057

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I play guitar, teach guitar, also do drums, bass etc.

I'm a big musician. It's my passion in life. I own a '79 Les Paul Custom in ebony that just makes me ten times sexier.

Rock out with your cock out.