Losing my guitar virginity!

[Angelicus]

Hey, joined this awesome forum yesterday.

So i've got my new electric guitar and a couple o' picks...

But I haven't used it yet.

I'm sitting with it next to me and I want to get started, it's tricky though because I have no idea how to start!

Been reading online "how to play" stuff and it seems fairly easy to understand, but i'm hesitant to try it because I don't want to get stuck training something that has bad pointers in it, i'm going to be serious about my guitar playing because I have always wanted to be able to play it, and I don't want bad pointers to get me off to a bad start.

Because if I practice something that is "wrong" and I get used to playing like that, I bet breaking that habit will be less than enjoyable.

So basically, anyone know of any good guides for a pure guitar virgin?

Also was wondering if I should start reading all the theory as soon as possible, or if I should get used to using the guitar before that.

Anyone have any pointers or recommendations for me? :eek:

[Malcolm]

I'd point you to songs. You can if you like take the next year and learn a bunch of chords, and a lot of scales, or you could be learning your chords and scales as you play some songs. There are a gzillion chords, however, a basic song has three to five chords and with only those three to five chords you can play hundreds of songs.

Don't worry about picking up bad habits, so much of what we do is based upon what is right for US, my hand size is different than yours, so I do it this way, now that may not be right ..... but who is to say that is incorrect?

So you do learn something that is not right, or there is a better way, it's not all that hard to change. So forget about your tendency to be exact and just start playing.

Playing what? Chords and accompaniment - to you singing the song - are the easiest, so I'd recommend you start there. What song? One of your favorites. How do I know what chords to use? Let Google tell you.

Using these key words; Guitar chords, "name of the song" the comma and the quote marks are important. I'm listing a pretty good fake chord site below:
http://www.chordie.com/chord.pere/www.russell-lawson.com/music/chordpro/HankWilliams_ColdColdHeart.cpm

Here is how to use fake chord sheet music - on that song.

.D................................................ ..................... A7
I try so hard my dear to show that you're my every dream
A7................................................ ................. D
but you're afraid each thing I do is just some evil scheme
D................................................. ............. D7.... G
a memory from your lonesome past keeps us so far ap-art
G .................................................. .A7......................... D
why can't I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold, cold heart

Grab a D chord and start strumming - which strum - any you like - I'd recommend all down strums right at first. Strumming is a feel thing and does not have to be the same as the original artist. Sing the song - under your breath if you like -- and when you get to the word "dream" change to the A7 chord. Keep strumming the A7 chord till you get to the word "Dream" then change back to D. Keep strumming......

Here is a video of Hank Williams singing and strumming this song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pYTOHernds

Now Hank may not be your style, however the above is basic dirt simple and will give you a pretty good idea of what to do.

Let Google find the song you would like to start with, do not start with nursery rhymes or Happy Birthday - boring! Start with your favorite song. You say it has some hard chords - dumb them down, i.e. if you find something like Dm7b5 all you really need is the Dm. D7b9 all you need is the D, i.e. dumb them down to the basic Major (D) or minor (Dm) chord. Plenty of time to work your way up to the hard chords. Have fun, it need not be work and will not be as long as you are having fun.

Here is a chord generator site that I use:
http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/guitar/index_db.html

Good luck. Chords first then scales a bit later.

[Babsi]

I suggest you play around with it a bit and get yourself accustomed to its feel before you start going serious with it. =D

ps.
nice topic title

[Jed]

Take lessons from the most respected teacher you can afford. Bad habits are hard to break and bad guitar teachers are all too common. Self-teaching is for advanced students of the guitar, not for newbies. Save your self the heartache of re-inventing the wheel and the pain of slow progress - get a good teacher . . . . immediately.

cheers,

[Babsi]

But wouldn't it be better if you have some time to have fun and get familiar with it first?

[Malcolm]

Several ways to look on this. Jed is very detailed and structured, I suspect the OP is also so lessons probably will work best if structure and order are your priorities. However there are others that feel learning the basics on their own first makes since. Learning on your own will take you twice as long, but, will cost you a lot less money.

What is right for you, never met you, I have no idea.

[JazzMick]

I would agree on finding a good teacher to get you started. If there are not many in your area. Just go with who ever you can get. Take a lesson or two to get yourself used to the instrument.

If your unsure if your teacher is a good one. I'm sure you will get plenty of input here as to weather he/she is giving you the relevant information.

Besides that. There are plenty of straight forward beginner type lessons on youtube. Also you can stop by my site (see signature) for some free video lessons.

I would not worry too much about theory just yet. Learn some scales and chords. From tab sites maybe, or buy yourself a book such as the 'Modern Guitar Method' - william leavitt which is quite a good one for both technique and sight reading.

[Jed]

But wouldn't it be better if you have some time to have fun and get familiar with it first?

I'm lost as to how a newbie might "get familiar" with the guitar in a meaningful way without someone to guide them. What do you mean by "get familiar"? If this were a second instrument and the person in question already "knows" music then it's a different thing all together. I guess I'm assuming the OP is new to the guitar and to music.

cheers,

[Crossroads]

Private lessons are the best way. But there are two obvious drawbacks. First, not all teachers are good (& some are terrible!). Second, lessons are expensive.

Personally I wouldn't worry to much about "bad habits" at this stage, at least not for the first few months. But....if you do want to get your technique straight from the start, then a private teacher is by far the best way. ... alternatively you can learn correct fretting technique & correct hand position, correct picking methods etc. from books (mostly from old classical guitar books), but it's far easier and safer if you let a good teacher have a look at the way you are playing and get him/her to set you straight about that.

If I were you, I’d start as follows -

1. learn a dozen of the main chords in open position (get a chord book, eg Chris Juergensens book)

2. learn the same chord shapes with a barre & learn how to move those barre-shapes up the neck to form new chords (same shape, just the name changes when you shift position)

3. learn the major scale in key of C, & learn all 5 interconnecting patterns

4. learn the Aminor pentatonic scale in all 5 interconnecting patterns (& realise that Aminor is the same as Cmajor....ie Amin is called the "relative minor" to Cmajor...it means both scales have exactly the same notes, in exactly the same order).

5. learn the bit of theory that shows how chords are created from scales by the process called "harmonising the major scale" - do that in key of Cmajor to generate the following seven basic chords in the key of Cmajor ....

I-chord = Cmajor

ii-chord = Dminor

iii-chord = Eminor

iv-chord = Fmajor

v-chord = Gmajor &/or G7

vi-chord = Aminor

vii-chord Bdiminished

Don't worry about the Bdiminsished chord, hardly anyone ever uses that (although the 4-note version is used a lot in jazzier styles , ie Bminor7flat5, ie so-called "half-diminished" chord)

6. now try playing any of those chords in any order, and in between the chords try making up little solos using the Cmajor scale and Aminor pentatonic scale ... those chords & those scales will all sound “right” together because they are all in the same key (key of Cmajor, which is the same as key of Aminor). IOW - you can solo over those chords using the scales of Cmajor &/or Aminor or Aminor pentatonic.

Apart from that, I agree with Malcolm that you should start to learn favourite songs immediately. And if you don't have a teacher (& in fact, even if you do have a teacher), I think the best way by far is to get a couple of good modern tutorial DVD's of your favourite players, and follow the lessons on those DVD's to learn each song (most stuff from Lick Library is good).

Best of luck :) .

Ian.

[Blutwulf]

My standard FAQ:

1. What guitar should I play?
Well, this bulletin board doesn't do equipment discussion. But I will sneak an answer in: one that can be tuned.

2. No, Really. I play rock. Should I buy an electric?
For rock, yes, at some point you should consider it. And an amp.

3. Hey, waitaminute... Are all your answers going to be so useless?
Depends on the question.

4. *Sigh. What is easiest to start learning?
What kind of music do you like?

5. See, you did it again!
So tell me... What kind of music do you like?

6. I like Jet, AC/DC, Black Crowes, and Barry Manilow.
What kind of music would you like to play?

7. Huh? I just answered that!
No you didn't.

8. Okay, smart aleck. I enjoy listening to rock songs that can be danced to, with a lot of distortion and a catchy drum rythym. I imagine that this is what I would enjoy playing, since when I hear it, it is what I air-guitar to and what I spend all my money on.
You may find it easiest to simply start learning Jet, AC/DC and the Rolling Sones.

9. What about Manilow?
I choose to ignore that question.

10. Fair enough. How do I learn to play lead?
What is "lead?"

11. The guitar solo, then. You know... the waai neeruhh nah nah stuff.
Same way you learn the non-lead.

12. *sigh. How am I supposed to learn to play guitar?
You will learn about 15 basic open chords, play them a million times in different patterns - call them 'progressions' - and then move on to shuffle riffs. At that point, you will begin to experiment with licks or riffs to accent your shuffle stuff.

14. Awesome! You are answering! Now say all that again?
No.

15. Whatever. How do I learn these chords?
You can see the fingering for open chords from the Mel Bay book gathering dust in your uncle's basement, or from a friend. Perhaps online.

16. Wow. I have to memorize all those fingerings?
Yes.

17. But how?
You won't be memorizing 'finger goes here, finger goes here,' etc. You will be memorizing the whole shape and all fingers at once. Trust me. 15 or so little memorizations. Fewer than you thought.

18. Well, okay, I'll trust you. Now where will I learn these 'progressions?'
You already know them.

19. Eh?
You already know them. Otherwise, you wouldn't want to be a guitar player.

20. You have a Yoda complex, or something?
No.

21. What do you mean, I already know them?
Join me. Daa da da da daa da da da...

22. Daa da da da daa da da da daa da da da da da da da...
See?

23. Yeah, but how do I know what chords they are?
Practice. Drink some ade as you do. It helps.

24. No, I mean, can you write down all the progressions for me?
No.

25. Why not? Look, Mr. Old School, there is nothing wrong with learning materials and chord charts.
After you learn to change chords without breaking your fingers, I will tab out whatever you want.

26. You have discouraged me! You are a bad FAQer, and now I will not play the guitar!
Right.

27. I mean it!
Yeah.

28. Come on, man! I... I just have to play. Jeeze, FAQ Guy, you surely remember what it was like. The constant dwelling on guitar, staring at magazine ads, listening to my favorites solo after solo, screaming in passion when Gilmour starts the solo in Comfortably Numb, blasting out Stevie Ray Vaughan in my car! I can't stand it! I must play!!!
I understand. You will. I promise.

[Crossroads]

Oh and one other thing (before the football starts on TV) - at first you will find it VERY difficult to do anything on guitar, and that comes as a nasty shock to most people - it is not an easy instrument at all.

Forming even the simplest open chord shapes will seem like a horribly painful contortionist trick. Changing chords one to another, will seem even worse.

Remembering all the notes in all the scales, learning all the patterns & trying to understand what's in key & what's not (& why), will make rocket science look like child's play.

But don't let any of that "throw" you - everyone has that experience at first. And the only way through it is to stick at it no matter what!

..... & now I have to watch the European football final!

Ian.

[Padawan]

Best topic title so far :D

[Jed]

Remembering all the notes in all the scales, learning all the patterns & trying to understand what's in key & what's not (& why), will make rocket science look like child's play.

Perfect, . . . now I'm thinking of switching to an easier instrument. . . . I wonder how "Smoke On The Water" will sound on a pitch pipe or maybe a Kalimba . . . . ;)

[Angelicus]

Fantastic, in less than a day I got it all in my forum post, helpful and productive ideas, suggestions, comments and a fun FAQ!

Thanks alot for your input, it's helpful and motivational.

Googling Iron Maiden songs right now, guitarr next to me, recently showered so I don't smell like hobo, it's all good - Time to get rawkin'! :rolleyes:

[Crossroads]

Perfect, . . . now I'm thinking of switching to an easier instrument. . . . I wonder how "Smoke On The Water" will sound on a pitch pipe or maybe a Kalimba . . . . ;)

On a Pitch Pipe?....FAaaaaNTASTIC ... if only that Jimmy Page bloke had thought of that :cool: .

Terrific match by the way :) .

Ian.

[Malcolm]

http://www.google.com/products?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=RNWE,RNWE:2004-37,RNWE:en&q=kazoo&um=1

[Babsi]

I'm lost as to how a newbie might "get familiar" with the guitar in a meaningful way without someone to guide them. What do you mean by "get familiar"? If this were a second instrument and the person in question already "knows" music then it's a different thing all together. I guess I'm assuming the OP is new to the guitar and to music.

cheers,

I have assumed that he is new with the whole concept of the electric guitar, but what I'm trying to say is, he should know what the guitar is first. I guess he should toy around with it for a week or so - discovering some new stuff in the process (like, wtf - why does the sound change when I switch this and that).

In my case, I wasn't exactly dead serious when I first got a hold of one. Heck, I didn't even know about pick-ups and the whammy bar and ****. I started goofing around with it, and eventually I felt the hunger for learning something. It was at first, to impress friends, but I got to the point where I just had to learn just so I can be a better guitarist and all.

Essentially, I think he should know the capabilities of the guitar and what else that comes along with the package. And when he's familiar enough with its parts and functions and when he's really felt the desire to pursue music seriously, until then should he spend money on teachers and lessons.

Just my opinion though.

[Angelicus]

Lost my virginity and now i'm sore.... :(

My fingers that is!

It's excellent though, I like it alot already and i've only played for about two hours in total.

Tricky to get the fingers where you want them to be, I found out my fingers are about as agile as a refridgerator.

The thing that confuses me most is to read guitar tabs, I understand how to do it, but I need to look up the chords etc every time I see a new letter!

I shall persist and soon enough i'll be impressing everyone with Van Halen inspired solo's! (Or atleast 'twinkle twinkle little star') :D

[Blutwulf]

Learn all the chords first, and get a little used to changing from one to another. That will get your fingers used to that they need to do so you can play all those tabs you're downloading. Don't skip #25 in the FAQ, dude...

[ChrisJ]

I was lucky. I didn't know better and signed up for lessons on the day I bought my first guitar. Thank God. That is why my pinky works as good as my other three fingers, why I can sort of read music. And why I can play the blues. If you are serious, go and get lessons before you screw yourself up. Just make sure that your teacher teaches you the five basic things:

Scale/Improvising
Chords/Harmony
Reading
Music Theory
Ear Training

The latter two can come after the fact but the first three you should start right away. Ear training can be simple homework from your teacher like figuring out a song with the chords that you know. Improvising should maybe start with the blues, he should teach you the chords and rhythm as well so you can record yourself and solo to the changes.

-CJ

[Angelicus]

I'm not skipping #25 on the nice FAQ, i'm implementing it! ;)

I'm not fanatically focusing on getting one song down, i'm just using it to spice up the learning of chords. This way it will be easyer to remember the chords since i'll know in beforehand how it will sound, and i'll be able to hear if i'm doing it correctly or not, while programming the common chords into my thick skull.

I'm trying to get chords down to where I can look at the letter and know the sound in my head, and fingers moving there automatically (more or less...)

This is mostly to block out any leprachauns in my head telling me to burn things, but also for easier learning.

Bad idea? :)

[Angelicus]

If you are serious, go and get lessons before you screw yourself up.

-CJ

I appreciate your input CJ, but I live in a town isolated from the world, where prehistoric animals roam freely and not a decent guitar teacher in sight.

That, and i'm currently between jobs so going to the neighbour town to take lessons is no an option my wallet is allowing me at the moment.

As soon as the cash comes pourin' in though, i'll probably end up hookin' up with some guitar teacher to speed up my progress.

[Crossroads]

Lost my virginity and now i'm sore.... :( My fingers that is!

Hey....see I told you it would hurt!

One thing that I think may be very encouraging, is to find (or be told) little short licks (just a few notes) which are highly memorable and very characteristic of the sort of solo guitar stuff you hear on favourite records/CD's.

If that's not clear, what I mean is - there are hundreds of very short easy licks which can take you years to find, but when you discover them you suddenly think "ahh, now that's exactly what I was hearing on that famous record" ... so when you're feeling that progress is slow & things are hurting, it may be quite uplifting & encouraging if someone shows you little tips & tricks like that.

In fact, why don't I show you a couple of very simple but effective things....try these ("h" means hammer-on, eg "5h6" means play note at 5th fret and hammer on to 6th fret)

e---------------5-------
B-----------------------
G------5h6-------------
D-----------------------
A-----------------------
E-----------------------


---------------------
--------------5-----
------5h6-----------
---------------------
---------------------
---------------------


----------------------
----------------------
------5h6-------------
---------------7------
-----------------------
-----------------------


------------------------
------------------------
------5h6---------------
------------------------
---------------7---------
--------------------------


--------------------------
-------------5------------
------5h6-----------------
-----------------7---------
---------------------------
---------------------------


----------------------------
-------------5--------------
------5h6-------------------
-----------------------------
------------------7----------
-----------------------------


-------------5---------------
-----------------------------
-----5h6---------------------
------------------7-----------
------------------------------
------------------------------


------------5-----------------
------------------------------
----5h6-----------------------
-------------------------------
------------------7-----------
-------------------------------

-----------------------5------
----------------5-------------
------5---6-------------------
-------------------------------
-------------------------------
-------------------------------

Notice in the lick above, you do not use a hammer-on between 5 and 6 the G-string.

Below is an example of how you can put all the above variations together to make a classic blues lick

--------5--8b--8--5h7p5-------------------------------------------------
-----5------------------7p5----5-----------------------------------------
5h6-------------------------7----5h6----5h6-----------------------------
--------------------------------------7---------------------------------7-
----------------------------------------------7--r--77--66--55-4--3h4----
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the lick above; "b" means bend-up (by 1 tone/step), "p" means pull-off, and "r" means a short rest (ie a short delay before playing the next note.

Ian.

[Angelicus]

Oh that is excellent!

I am obsessed with all kinds of guitar solos and it's my dream to be able to play them and eventually even create them!

So thanks alot for your post Ian, motivation up high now and i'm going to try it out as soon as possible! :D

[sofia712]

I want to learn to play the guitar, and I got one for Christmas along with some DVDs that teach you the basics. I've tried the DVDs several times, but they are frustrating and not totally helpful. I want to take lessons, but my parents don't know if it's a good idea. I want to try guitar because I think it would be a lot more fun. I just want to learn to play some alternative/rock music. So which one is better to teach yourself…DVDs or get private lessons?

[Crossroads]

I want to learn to play the guitar, and I got one for Christmas along with some DVDs that teach you the basics. I've tried the DVDs several times, but they are frustrating and not totally helpful. I want to take lessons, but my parents don't know if it's a good idea. I want to try guitar because I think it would be a lot more fun. I just want to learn to play some alternative/rock music. So which one is better to teach yourself…DVDs or get private lessons?

Well first thing to understand is this - guitar in NOT easy to play. You need a lot of dedicated practice, and at first it seems almost impossible, as well as quite painful, to even press the strings down and to form the chord shapes etc.

So you do need a real burning desire to play, otherwise you'll probably never get past those initial problems.

If you can find a good private teacher, then that will always be the best route. But there are two obvious problems. Firstly, lessons are expensive. And second, not all teachers are good, not by a long shot!

DVD’s are just like teachers - some are good & some are bad. However, the best modern tutorial DVD's are really excellent - in one 2 hour DVD the best of them will present what a good teacher would take months to show you.

On the other hand, a personal private teacher can look at your playing technique (which is 99.9% certain to be bad/wrong), so he/she can quickly correct things like that. You can't get that sort of personal attention from a DVD. Same with any questions that arise during the lesson - with a private teacher you can immediately discuss the bits you don't understand ... with a DVD you can only keep re-winding it and playing it again & again in the hope of eventually understanding it.

Use the "Search" to look at my old posts here and you'll find I've recommended loads of DVD's and books for beginners (& also for more advanced players). In particular, Danny Gill has 2 or 3 excellent teaching DVD's which I think will help you a lot ... do a search on "Danny Gill" and you'll find my posts on that stuff.

I'd recommend that you do both things. First, get Danny Gill's two DVD's ie Rock Essentials, and Rock Concepts (forget your present DVD's they are very unlikely to be anywhere near as good as the Danny Gill ones). Try playing through those 2 DVD's for a few weeks/months. Then book a couple of private lessons with the best teacher you can find, & let the teacher look at what you've been trying to do from the Gill tutorial DVD's.

You will also need a good chord book as reference for chord shapes, and hopefully that will contain clear diagrams for scale patterns & arpeggios too (if not, then you'll need a second book for scales and arps). Again, do a search and see what I've said about the books by Chris Juergensen and Guthrie Govan. If you don't know who Guthrie Govan is & if you want some inspiration, try this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUZK9dasP8s :)

Ian.