Stupid guitar player...

[JohnH]

Hi,

I am, as I said, a stupid guitar player. Not a good guitar player. But I've been playing and enjoying it for twenty some years now. So I'm competent, at least.

I've recently been trying to learning piano.

I have not enjoyed music this much for years! The piano has opened up a whole new world to me.

My guitar experience (and I'm not a theorist who practices scales), has given me a foundation of basic chord theory, and a repitore of songs, to teach my left hand where it needs to be in a pretty short time. I've discovered inversions, and moving up and down the keyboard (things I could never master on the guitar) that are just so.... fun!

I might not be making great music, but its giving me much pleasure.

And, in the end, I think that's what music is about. If you're pleased with what you're playing, and you make people smile (or even smirk a bit), that's good music.

My right hand is still... a bit out of control. I can pick out a melody. Say... "Moon River", or "Danny Boy" or, as someone suggested, a song I've had much fun playing with, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". All simple, three or four chord songs where your left hand can kind of go to sleep... and you can let your right hand explore. I've just been doing them in C. But I think that's OK for now. It impresses my friends.:p

I'm trying to do more interesting things with my right hand than the simple melody. At least two note chords, or octaves. But that's hard, and is taking much more time to learn than the left hand did.

I'll never be a pianist. But I am having a blast exploring the instument. My goal is to someday be able to sit down and accompany a singer on a song without sheet music. I can do that for a lot of songs on the guitar... but I'm a while away on the piano.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Anyway, I'm so glad to have found a site where both guitar players and piano players interact.

How cool is that???

:cool::cool::cool:

Jt

[live]

That's good for you! Congratulations :-)

[carmencita]

Hello John!

A very basic exercise for your right hand:
Place your thumb on C an play c-d-e-f-g-f-e-d-c-d-e-f-g.... and so on
At first very slowly, control every tone! And when it is starting to flow (after days or even weeks!!!) speed up. It should look and sound as if it was the easiest thing in the world! Play it staccato, legato, loud or soft... invent rhythm... whatever you like!
Later you should think about playing scales and arpeggios, even if you don´t practice them on guitar. It´s good for your hands...

Piano is a great instrument! Great you enjoy it!

[fortymile]

hey man, you might already be beyond me, because i see you're comfortable with inversions, but i'll briefly mention my method for piano.

i took lessons as a kid, but wasnt keen on reading sheet music. so i began doing what i prefer as a rule: playing by ear. i discovered tori amos and was thrilled to discover that although her songs sound very complex, her style is almost formulaic at times, and its pretty easy to pick up.

i use a lot of fifths in the left hand, as she does, which frees up my right hand to do whatever. the left is almost on autopilot. the basic shape for the left hand when you want to ape tori is to create an octave, and then drop the fifth--or a color note--in the middle. you can thus play power chords in the left hand, or simple arpeggios that pretty much stick to three or four notes as you revolve through the chords.

in the right hand, then, you can pick out melody lines and elaborate by turning them into chords here and there. many notes will work. thirds, fourths, whatever.

this is a bad explanation, but i heartily recommend her music for kind of a shorthand way to sound like you know what you're doing without really doing too much at all.

another complex sounding guy who's actually easy is yann tiersen. get the amelie soundtrack and realize: that complicated sounding stuff is mostly all arpeggios. you can figure out the roots by ear and then fill in the rest of the chord. then just arpeggiate really fast, memorize the pattern, and delight in the fact that at the most, the right hand is dealing with single or double notes, and no more.

[Padawan]

another complex sounding guy who's actually easy is yann tiersen. get the amelie soundtrack and realize: that complicated sounding stuff is mostly all arpeggios. you can figure out the roots by ear and then fill in the rest of the chord. then just arpeggiate really fast, memorize the pattern, and delight in the fact that at the most, the right hand is dealing with single or double notes, and no more.

I love the amélie soundtrack and I'm looking forward to transcribe some of the stuff! You are right with the arpeggios, that could be interesting for the guitar.

[Madaxeman]

i discovered tori amos and was thrilled to discover that although her songs sound very complex, her style is almost formulaic at times, and its pretty easy to pick up.
this is a bad explanation, but i heartily recommend her music for kind of a shorthand way to sound like you know what you're doing without really doing too much at all.


I have never tried to play her stuff, but that's encouraging. I have been a huge fan of her music for awhile. The only thing I figured out was 'Crucify', which actually was pretty easy come to think of it. Scarlet's Walk is her best album I think...lots of great harmonies and layered vocals.

Anyway...I agree, music is about being happy creating it. I think many times, especially in youth when just starting, the mentality is that you have to be this amazing player and become famous for the whole thing to be valid. For me coming back to music after much time off has been the best thing for me. I'm just happy creating my own stuff, and enjoying the learning of it all.
I've also found the piano, and it is a great compliment to the guitar and theory as well as far as seeing how it all works.