guitar NEWB thread

I realize that ragtime and old western saloons are very different times, but I also don't realize that because I guess it just sounds "old timey" is what I am saying.

wish rocksmith used tab instead of... whatever it is it uses

The default has the strings the opposite way round to tab, but you can reverse the order, I found it OK once I did that.

does rocksmith have style-specific lessons? is it mostly just for beginners?

There are some video lessons for various techniques, not sure they are any better than stuff you can find on Youtube tho. Some of the solos are pretty advanced, I think, but then I am not a very good lead guitarist - I don't think it's just for beginners though - I've got a long way to go on some of the tracks.

ha given my background as a singer, following vocal lines is my first inclination (2nd inclination is to follow the bass line because I sing bass or baritone in ensembles)

― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Monday, November 24, 2014 5:11 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, it just feels like the missing piece of the puzzle to me, in terms of understanding a song. Like, the vocals are the thing people think of first when they're thinking about a song, so why wouldn't I want to figure them out on my instrument? How did I skip this?

Feel like if I did have a background in chorus, or in another instrument in the band or orchestra, I would have approached things differently. My son plays violin at his school. I can kinda tell when he's just whistling or whatever that he's getting a pretty good grasp on melody.

It's really frustrating in hindsight, but I'm having a lot of fun now.

xp Guitar is a weird instrument in that many people never go through the trouble of learning to play the kinds of very basic single-note melodies that a first-year student on any other instrument would learn. You learn cowboy chords, then power chords, then barre chords, then blues/pentatonic scale soloing.

Like I'll bet a lot of guitarists who have been playing a couple years would have trouble picking out Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in first position.

meanwhile that has basically been the extent of my guitar playing lately (that, When The Saints Go Marching In, Ode To Joy, and the main keyboard riff from Never Let Me Down Again)

It's a good thing to learn, because then when you play chords you can throw in little basslines/licks/fills and it gives you a nice little stylistic edge since a lot of people don't play that way today (whereas in the 60s it was pretty common)

Do you ever take a melody and just strum in the rests? Like you could do "Oh when the saints" (strumy strummy strummy strum) "go marchin in" (strummmmmm a strummy strum) etc. -- it's a good exercise

I can tell you that back in jr. high school when I was taking lessons I probably made it 1/4 way through the Hal Leonard Guitar Method 1 book. I did't want to practice Au Claire de la Lune or Greensleeves.

xp: Yes! that's another thing that I'm doing too, going back and forth between the melody and the chord or root.

I moved this summer and my guitar is now in a room with a computer so I've been playing a lot more - watching videos on youtube and figuring out how to sort of play Ziggy Stardust, Karma Police, Can You Get To That, Mr. Brownstone, etc.

But playing along is still all I do, and I am still totally stupid about scales, positions, keys, and any music theory stuff. I have no idea where to get started and it feels like I will have to force myself to do this and it stops being fun. Which sucks, as this is how it's been for the last 15 years.

Well yeah getting beyond that is going to require some vegetables-eating, just like you don't get much better at basketball if all you ever do is randomly chuck up shots. But don't make it so huge for yourself, just pick one thing and learn it gradually -- how to play a major scale in a few keys (off a few different chords) or something like that. A lot of this stuff builds on itself so once you get a certain amount of base knowledge it gets easier to learn more.

I think it's more that I need to find some specific list of things to work at on a daily basis that progress and build on previous knowledge but am overwhelmed by the options.

I got really good at cooking because I had to eat everyday so I practiced fundamental things over and over. My guitar playing is more like ordering takeout all the time.

The key is to make a very small, manageable list. It won't be "complete." You won't come up with the perfect practice routine. Doing something is better than doing nothing.

Do you workout? It's not that different than with working out -- unless you're a fitness nut you can drive yourself crazy trying to figure out exactly what to do and how to cover all bases and you wind up not going to the gym at all in the end. Better to just do something. That 20 minutes you wind up spending upgrade walking on the treadmill is at least exercise, whereas wringing your hands about what workout to do is not really.

just keep stumbling through satin doll until you can play it perfectly in 20 years

It's something that sort of fascinates me about the human mind and learning process tbh -- how you can keep doing an activity for years but actually not get better at it unless you take specific concerted steps -- the fact that there are just walls that you hit if you don't consciously direct yourself over them.

Hurting otm throughout, painfully so.

i just want a basic but not-trash electric guitar because i'm in my 30s and filled w regret and want to try learning again

what do i get

or should i just get a ukulele

Are you still in town? Because I know a guy

i am not 8[

but you are just the guy i was hoping would show up

Gimme a price range.

fwiw u live in a golden age of affordable electric guitars

big fan of the squier classic vibe tele custom fwiw but: trust in jjj

range would be sub five hundo but ideally sub three

I really like my G&L Tribute ASAT. You can pick them up (and many of the other Tribute models) for under $500.

G&l tribute fallout is amazing, hagstrom ultra swede, several Eastwood models come to mind as well.

Through a weird series of events I wound up with a Johnson Solara -- under $300 and great imo.

Curious if you agree jjj

oh that ultra swede looks v nice

Agree with jjj on the fallout. At least from the demos I've heard it sounds like a super versatile guitar. Would love to get my hands on one someday.

btw Rocksmith original version is on sale at Steam at the moment, just bought it cos it has loads of songs I like on DLC that I can't play in Rocksmith 2014 without owning the original game.

is it a bad idea to buy a used guitar that suffered damage to the neck that was then repaired by a luthier?

In my experience, once the neck broke it was always a weak spot. I had a Les Paul that fell and had its headstock shorn off. I had it repaired once and it broke again a few years later. had it repaired a second time and it broke again a few years later, so I sold it off as a "project" guitar.

per the listing (it's an ebay ish) it did not break all the way through

Terrible, terrible idea. The problem is not that it will break in the same spot, but that the wood fibers on either side of the neck have been greatly compromised. One more drop or fall could be unrepairable.

good to know, thx jjj!

so i got an ebay ultra swede

should i take it into the local shop to get "set up" is that what you're supposed to do

iirc you are supposed to play cliffs of dover

hahaha oh man i str8 up thought that song was the fucking coolest

dan meme4 months ago

So good. I thought it was Joe Satriani for the longest time. This is one of the few songs without vocals that give me a lump in my throat. Emotional, progressive, futuristic, past ,present and heavy all rolled into one. This one of those songs you want played after a lifetime accomplishment with your hand raised in triumph.

lol that is otm

I loved cliffs of dover during the time of my life when I'd read the sweetwater catalog in the bathroom and dream of being rich enough to buy my friend Roland V-Drums so we could really show up the rival high school band by playing cliffs of dover at a pep rally or something.

so i got an ebay ultra swede

Uh.

I did have 3 of these new and one used fyi.

I want to ask how much you paid, it might soothe my wounded soul

i'm going out on a limb and saying 279.95

oh no!!! sorry jj, i figured this would be the cheapest -- i didn't realize you had used

No worries dude, if you paid $280 I would have only saved you $25 and I'm so stupid busy that not having one more thing to ship is probably best for me anyway.

Re: setup, check this out and act accordingly:

Public service announcement: how to set up your own guitar/bass and not pay for others to do it...

ah, cool post. thanks for that.

my fingers hurt