guitar NEWB thread

as a trained violin dude who didnt take any guitar lessons at all i am sad to think of the years (literal) i wasted by not learning stuff correctly in the beginning. and tbf i still play guitar "wrong" even now in a lot of ways.

dude absolutely positively get lessons and do it sooner rather than later

protip: as a dude in boston, you should def make sure that yer guitar instructor has at least a formal real deal BA in guitar performance.

Don't think there is any stigma in getting a teacher. Based on anecdotal first hand observation in NYC, jazz guitar players are constantly taking lessons from each other, playing duets together and just generally hanging out with one another being guitar dudes

I must admit I am envious - learning to use the guitar as an interface to produce music, when you already know some stuff about how music works, sounds idyllic to me.

As DJP and goole already noted, a huge amount of early guitar instruction is stuff like: this is what a note is, this is what a scale is, this is what a chord is, this is what I and IV and V mean, this is what minor and major mean. Not having to wrap your brain around that stuff when you're also wrapping your fingers around the guitar must make a huge difference.

I am not a particularly good guitar player but I really enjoy the peculiarity of the guitar-as-interface. The layout is both so bizarre (compared to a linear keyboard) and so friendly (in terms of giving you immediate feedback about what you're doing) it can't help but affect the music you make and don't make.

The guitar makes suggestions to you. When you're fingering a particular chord shape, there will be other notes that are more or less easy to reach; you can choose to accept those suggestions or resist them. Sometimes the result is cliche; sometimes it's great. Guitars like some keys more than others; you can choose to go along with that tendency or work to subvert it.

Um, anyway good luck and godspeed

jjusten totally totally OTM and yes you live in the one city other than LA where super-competent gtr instructors like fall out of trees.

ime the first few months are tough and then as your fingers get stronger and smarter everything just opens up and it's beautiful

Dan, the first thing you should get your new teacher to show you is what a Power Chord is.

first off- congrats on the guitar!

second- ditto on lessons, between your personal contacts and craigslist there should be no problem finding somebody you vibe with.

finally- i'd start off learning some basic open chords: a, am, c, d, dm, e, em, f, g, g7... you'll find you can play a ton of different songs with basic open chords, and they are a good first dance for your fingers to learn

oh almost forgot the most important advice: Do Not Keep The Guitar In A Case. get a stand, put it on the stand near where you spend lots of time (couch, computer area, etc.) so it is in reach & readily available.

-'case kryptonite' is real, i started playing way more once i started keeping my guitar out.

case kryptonite totally real. also, that is good advice to not fuck with b chords...yet.

...or you could drop your low E to D and proceed directly to Soundgarden 'Outshined'.

edit: "between your personal contacts and craigslist there should be no problem finding somebody you vibe/DIE with."

sidebar- anybody ever skype guitar lessons?

lol, the guitar is on a stand already but is currently in the back bedroom; I am working up the courage to move it to the living room where I expect my wife will lovingly notice that the wonderful gift she gave me is totally in the fucking way and is going to get knocked over plus it just causes clutter and why do I have to play all the time while she's trying to watch TV, anyway

or maybe I'm just inventing all of that

I did some cursory guitar teacher research and there's something undeniably off-putting about seeing a guitar school with a 20-year-old on their teaching staff, no matter how impressive her performance bio appears to be

I mean, maybe this is totally ageist of me but I do not want to take lessons from someone the age of a hypothetical child I could have had assuming my life had taken a slightly different turn

'case kryptonite' - never heard it called that before, but yes, have the guitar and amp set up so that you can pick it up and strum away for ten minutes (which will quickly become two hours but that's another thing).

is it wrong that I want to tune the entire guitar a half-step down so I have an instrument that matches my preferred singing range, before I've even learned how to play it

you know who tuned a half step down? weezer.

Eb tuning, very 90s :)

yeah the more i think about it like every fucking alt rock band used that tuning. it was really annoying.

http://www.wfu.edu/~breckers/howtoplayguitar.htm

DJP you can learn the songs of metallica's "load"

yeah the more i think about it like every fucking alt rock band used that tuning

that's because every fucking alt rock band in the 90s was fronted by a yelpy baritone

you should just capo the 11th fret instead

Then cut the neck off immediately behind the capo.

I'm sure your new teacher, Mick Goodrick, author of The Advancing Guitarist will be very impressed with this instrument

Eb = Hendrix tuning. Eddie Van Halen too. Stevie Ray too, I think...

Slash

Have you practiced yet this weekend yet, Dan?

haha have I practiced yet

I spent 90 minutes Saturday afternoon playing simple songs from my lesson book on strings 1 and 2, including "Jingle Bells" and "Ode To Joy" (which btw was annoying me because the version in the book was super simple and all in half and quarter notes and without the drop down a fourth at the end of the third line, so I started playing it "right" and using the third string as well).

Then, I started playing the C scale during the 2nd half of the Saints game and kept playing it and random songs until the end of SNL.

Then I started working on really incorporating string 3 yesterday for about an hour but my evening shenanigans really did a number on my fingertips and shoulder.

Need to pick a teacher this week.

. because my new year's resolution is to learn to play the guitar
i need to get a guitar first.
does anyone want to sell me a guitar for cheap?

talk to jjj, it's kind of like he does that for a living

no wait, it's EXACTLY like he does that for a living

to be fair i took guitar lessons for about 6 months in high school, but my teacher was a jazz dude, and that's not the kind of guitar i want to learn to play now (plus i don't remember anything).

Which shoulder hurts, Dan? I have to admit I'm a little confused.

right shoulder

Perhaps one of these arrangements will be more to your liking
http://www.guitarnoise.com/topic/christmas-songs/

Need to pick a teacher this week.

ha that is assuming I have a shortlist; as noted upthread, Boston is DROWNING in music teachers

oh and I moved the guitar into the corner of the living room; no fight!

How cheap is cheap bene?

Dan, I assume you acted prudently and looked on craigslist asked your opera buddies for recommendations

not yet I haven't, that is today's Facebook project

Too bad Peter Frampton found his guitar, bene_gesserit, or maybe you could have bought that one.

jjj, under a hundred

Don't tell Dick Destiny that.

http://www.rondomusic.com/

I have not personally played a Rondo instrument and cannot go to bat for their quality.

Any progress? IMM wants to know.

I've started playing the C scale up and down across all 6 strings. I've also solicited friends on Facebook for guitar teacher recommendations and have gotten a couple of good leads; one is a Berklee prof and the other is an NEC grad. Self-instruction wise, I'm up to doing "songs" on the third string but I don't want to go too much further than what I'm doing now without seeing a teacher.

Which Berklee prof? Freddie?

this dude: http://www.berklee.edu/faculty/detail/eric-byers

To think I learned by playing along with records :(

How old were you when you started?

I admit it was tricky having to get up every so often to wind up the gramophone

Doesn't work for everyone though - I learned by playing along to records as well and I'm a lousy guitarist!

What makes you think I'm not!

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

went through a bunch of this guy's youtubes, too, the website is v organized: www.justinguitar.com

Came across that website whilst looking for something else. Seems like it might be useful.

you know, I never got a teacher

I should change that, especially since I picked the guitar back up this week after a LOOOOOOOOONG hiatus

btw I'm learning the lead guitar part to "Ana" by the Pixies, which is fun

I can recommend a couple of good teachers who Zoom. They’re west coast based but that may not be a bad thing if you’re looking for post-work hours.

As a crap player who has settled comfortably into the “friend’s older brother who used to play a little” skill level i’m also happy to hop on Zoom 4 u

ooh I am interested

I am bumping this thread because rogermexico totally hooked me up with a teacher who rules and I can now get through/legitimately play the following songs:

Blackbird - The Beatles
Boys Don't Cry - The Cure
Just Like Heaven - The Cure
True Faith - New Order
Get The Message - Electronic
Never Let Me Down Again - Depeche Mode
I Feel You - Depeche Mode
Lovesong - The Cure
The Blood - The Cure
Lullaby - The Cure
Here At The Home - Tribe
Ana - Pixies

<3 this makes me so happy. i've been in the black hole of work and totally dropped the ball on seeing if you guys even connected and I DIEEEE

He's teaching me how to play The Rain Song by Zepplin! I never would have been able to imagine this a year ago

That's awesome DJP!

also after retuning my guitar to DGCGCD I want to keep it that way and buy another one, lol

yessss…

you can have one good acoustic for life but electric guitars breed like rabbits

i am not a guitar newb but years and years ago someone on this board recommended a guitar "instruction" book that was not about technique but more about philosophy/attitude towards playing guitar. i had it on my to-read list for years but never got around to it and now i can't remember what it was or how to search for it on here. does that ring any bells for anyone?

it totally does ring a bell but i don't think i have any more leads for you unfortunately

oh i think it was "the advancing guitarist" by mick goodrick. the description doesn't sound exactly like what I'm remembering but the cover looks right

Wow, I started this thread 10 years ago

Imagine if I'd gotten a teacher then, I'd be a lot better now

Also I did end up buying a d'Angelico guitar from jjjusten