REAL tips for anyone learning guitar

Twiz420

Active Member
-Keep your 'axe' accessible, you're alot more likely to practice if it is a quick process to get going. A $10-$15 guitar stand can make all the difference in the world.
This is a great tip, If my guitar is in a gig bag or case I'm more hesitant to get it out to play (I think I'm just lazy lol). If you look closely to the left side of my avatar, my BC Rich Dagger is on a stand, but there is a guitar strap hanging on the left side of my amp, that's a String Swing guitar hanger. It's meant for wall hanging your guitfiddles, but I put it on my amp. This is great for playing shows as well, you can just hang your extra guitar right on your amp. Make sure your amp is tall enough before mounting something like this. A full stack will work, or a setup like mine, 2x12 combo on a 4x12 cabinet.
 

Twiz420

Active Member
For all those electric players out there heres something to check out

http://www.fullcontacthardware.com/

For you acoustic and hollow body lovers check this out

http://babiczguitars.com/

This guy is single handedly changing the guitar world. His innovations are second to none, all he does is find ways to bring more sound out of your instrument, make it easier to play, and easier to maintain which means no more trips to the music shop to pay for a setup. I grew up across the street from this guy, was best friends with his son. He taught me how to play the blues, and how to teach myself everything else. He was my inspiration to become a luthier.
 
K

Keenly

Guest
im learning all nightmare long right now but its NOT going to work on acoustic


i need to get a new power cord for my amp so i can use my electric, my wrist is killing me
 

Twiz420

Active Member
Here are a few warm ups to get you all loosey goosey before some hard core jammin'


Finger stretching and fretting warm up.

e------------------------------------1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1--------------------------------------
b-----------------------------1-2-3-4---------------4-3-2-1-------------------------------
g----------------------1-2-3-4-----------------------------4-3-2-1------------------------
d---------------1-2-3-4-------------------------------------------4-3-2-1-----------------
a--------1-2-3-4---------------------------------------------------------4-3-2-1----------
e-1-2-3-4------------------------------------------------------------------------4-3-2-1--
Do this with alternate picking (down up down up), build speed progressively. If you start missing notes slow it back down a bit. Assign a finger to each fret so index is 1, middle is 2, ring is 3, and pinkie is 4.

Rhythm speed and picking warm up.

e----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
b----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
g----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
d-----------000---------------000--------------000-------------------000-----
a------000-----000-----000-----000-----000-----000-----000---------------
e-000---------------000---------------000--------------000-----000----------
Each triplet is played down up down pretty fast. I palm mute when doing this exercise. Again progressively build your speed and slow it down if you begin to mess up. You do not need to fret anything while doing this exercise, this is simply to warm up your rhythm hand.

Scale practice

e------------------------------------------10-12-13--------------------------------
b--------------------------9-10-12-13---------------------------------------------
g-----------------7-9-10-------------------------------------------------------------
d-----6-7-9-10----------------------------------------------------------------------
a-7-8----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
e----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Practice going up and down scales, build speed and use alternate picking. You can use any scale you like, I like using this one its pretty funky and Egyptian sounding. This one is tabbed in E.

Do each warm up for about 5 minutes
 

Twiz420

Active Member
Note: My rhythm warm up looks kinda jacked up when I use google chrome, but looks fine in mozilla, hopefully you get the idea.
 

Jester88

Well-Known Member
each to there own.. ya gotta have things here for the people who can already grow there own medacine well enough.

plus ive been reading it so its not exactly a waste of bandwidth. :lol:
 

Twiz420

Active Member
wat about those guitars at wal mart? is it possible 2 learn on em?
Simply put yes it is possible. Is it practical though? I wouldn't think so, those wal mart guitars are cheaply made with all of the cheapest parts they could find. If you can manage to keep the thing in tune for more than 5 minutes thats almost a miracle in itself. If you don't want to spend a lot of money on an instrument to learn on, I recommend going to a music shop and trying a Squier by Fender, or a cheaper Epitone; even Silvertone makes a halfway decent beginner guitar.

1 more q: how do i know where to put my fingers at n what notes 2 play?
That all depends on what you want to try and play. I don't read music anymore, I gave that up early on when teaching myself how to play. I found tabliture (tabs) much easier to read, or I just picked things up by ear.

tabs are almost self explanitory, but you need to have an idea of what the song sounds like to really learn the song, since tabs do not tell you note duration most of the time. A 0 on a tab line means the string is left untouched by the fret hand and strummed, 1 would be the 1st fret 2 is the 2nd and so on. There are 6 lines drawn for tabliture each one representing a string of your guitar. These lines are drawn with the high E (thinest) on top and low E (thickest) on bottom. Tabs usually come with a legend for other symbols the author has used to represent slides, hammer on/ pull offs, strum hand taps, bends, palm mutes, ghost notes, harmonics, and trills.

Example:
This is a G chord in tab

e-3---
b-3---
g-0---
d-0---
a-2---
e-3---

When the numbers are lined up like this it represents a chord and all of these notes a strummed together, so a finger needs to be fretting the string at the correct fret number.

This is a double octave G major scale

e----------------------------------------2-3---
b----------------------------------3-5---------
g-------------------------2-4-5---------------
d----------------2-4-5------------------------
a-------2-3-5---------------------------------
e-3-5------------------------------------------

These are notes played in progression, start from the left and it reads like a book. You will start with a G note and end on a G note. The 5th fret on the D string is also a G this ends the first octave of the scale.

Look up some scales to practice, the more scales you know the more you become familiar with your fret board. Once you're familiar with your fret board it becomes easier to pick things up by ear, and you will know where your next note can be found.
 

Jester88

Well-Known Member
nah man dont be like that.

when reading tabs simply put each one of those numbers is a fret on the neck of the guitar, the line there on coincides with the string you hit.

hence
E......thinnest string
B
G
D
A
E.......this is the thickest string

as for the guitars which guitars are they?? as long as its the right size and a style you could bear playing (ie i dont like fancy shapped guitars that much though there are some that really appeal to me as well)

just look around go to a secondhand shop you could pock up a secondhand ibanez for half the price though for beginning 700 bux is a lot to spend on something you may not like.. just look around for a nice cheap guitar that you like and grab it.

you can always get a better one later or realise that you can get all you need from your cheapo some can be really good.

hope this answered your question.
 

God's Balls

Active Member
why look for good guitar info on a forum about growing cannabis
Doesn't matter where you find it, you'd still stop to pick up a $50 bill, right? After a decade of mixing guitar and the herb, I find the two inseparable. That funky smell lodged in every tour van would agree.
 

fdd2blk

Well-Known Member
i have this ibanez GIO i keep next to the couch. it was hanging on my wall for 2 years before i recently took it down. i use it to learn stuff off of youtube, then i go out to my shop and play it on my other guitars. i took the strings off the GIO today. i oiled the wood and polished the paint. threw on some new strings and checked all the hardware. i just played it on my amp. wow, it sounds and feels 100 times better. :)

keep 'em clean. :cool:
 

riddleme

Well-Known Member
Great to see folks discussing guitar here! I started back in 83, learned with Doug Marks Metal Method (I like classic rock, metal & blues)
currently playing a BC Rich Warlock into a Line6 Spider Jam (awesome amp!)
wanted to share this as it is a great way to "start" solo'ing and learning to improvise,,,,,,,,,,,,,enjoy

[youtube]84cEzgO4Qwk[/youtube]
 

Ten bag

Well-Known Member
Ok so Cloud City's thread has been a big waste and anyone trying to learn a thing or two about guitar has not been able to find any sort of help. This thread is for real tips not bogus asshole claims.

Tip #1: Learn how to read Tabs, they are very simple to read and much easier to read than sheet music. If you can read sheet music by all means do so, it gives you a better idea of how to play a song if you have never heard it before.
Check out www.ultimate-guitar.com they have all kinds of tabs, look for 5 star ratings.

Tip #2: Practice as often as you can, and always do some warm ups before playing/practicing. Warm ups are simple, like going up and down scales, using alternate picking, and stretching your fingers. Do stuff like this for about 15 minutes before really playing.

Tip #3: Don't limit yourself to 1 style of music. Yes it's great to master a style and by all means go for it, but the more styles of playing that you learn the more you can incorporate them with each other and make a more unique sound.

Tip #4: Learn as many chords and scales as you possibly can, chords are the foundation to a song, and don't need to be limited to just a strum of the strings, you can pattern pick the hell out of some chords and make a beautiful melody, and scales will help you with finding each note your looking for, and are great for creating lead riffs.

Tip #5: Never avoid using your pinkie.

Tip #6: If you're having trouble learning a new song or riff, try something a little more simple, and don't let yourself get frustrated. The day will come, just keep trying.

Tip #7: Change your strings as often as you can afford to, when using regular strings I like to change them bi-weekly, but when using Elixer coated strings you can go much longer.

Tip #8: Learn how to set up your guitar i.e. tuning, action, intonations, and pickup hight. A well maintained guitar will love you back.

Tip #9: Always keep your guitar in tune

Tip#10: Never allow an asshole to put you down for your style of playing, never listen to any bogus rules they make up, and remember if you have talent keep it up, nay sayers are just jealous.

Good luck to any guitar newbs out there, have fun with your art and great things will come from it.

If anyone else has real tips for beginners post away

Ive been playing for the best part of 4 years now, it really DOES NOT show, i mean, i should be able to solo, sweep and shred all over the place, but no. Ive never had a lesson but im planning on having them when i can afford them. I think i can play pretty well, recently ive been making songs that challenge different aspects of playing that im having difficulty with so i can progress through it :) ultimate-guitar is probs THE BEST site for tabs and info. Tbh though, the post i quoted has the best tips, that really is all you need to remember id say :) and as long as whatever youre playing sounds good to you, then its good! :)

Never let anyone tell you otherwise or you wont get anywhere
.
https://www.rollitup.org/music/277494-heavy-shit.html
Theres a link on there to my music page on ultimate-guitar. have a listen to the stuff i make if your bored :) its heavy, youve been warned ;)
 

Twiz420

Active Member



Ive been playing for the best part of 4 years now, it really DOES NOT show, i mean, i should be able to solo, sweep and shred all over the place, but no. Ive never had a lesson but im planning on having them when i can afford them. I think i can play pretty well, recently ive been making songs that challenge different aspects of playing that im having difficulty with so i can progress through it :) ultimate-guitar is probs THE BEST site for tabs and info. Tbh though, the post i quoted has the best tips, that really is all you need to remember id say :) and as long as whatever youre playing sounds good to you, then its good! :)

Never let anyone tell you otherwise or you wont get anywhere
.
https://www.rollitup.org/music/277494-heavy-shit.html
Theres a link on there to my music page on ultimate-guitar. have a listen to the stuff i make if your bored :) its heavy, youve been warned ;)
Thanks for the comments, I'll be checking out your music page in a bit. Don't feel bad if you can't solo, sweep pick, and shred after only 4 years of teaching yourself. I've been playing for almost 9 years (self taught) and I haven't mastered sweeping and shredding, I have picked up improv soloing, using any scale I'm familiar with. Sweep picking is a very hard technique you gotta practice it for hours every day just to suck at it lol. I kinda gave up learning it, mainly 'cause it's not really my style of playing. I play a lot of metal but I like the slower solos that you can hear each note and really make your guitar cry. But keep it up man you already got 4 years invested, a couple more and I'm sure you'll have that shit down.
 

Twiz420

Active Member
Great to see folks discussing guitar here! I started back in 83, learned with Doug Marks Metal Method (I like classic rock, metal & blues)
currently playing a BC Rich Warlock into a Line6 Spider Jam (awesome amp!)
wanted to share this as it is a great way to "start" solo'ing and learning to improvise,,,,,,,,,,,,,enjoy

Thanks for sharing the video man, pretty sic for only 4 notes. I play on a Warlock too, how do you have yours set up? I threw 2 Seymour Duncan Invader HBs, a Floyd Rose speed loader, and put the neck from a Warbeast on it (had to have the reversed headstock and diamond inlays:lol:) It screams now, and those pickups are butter on the clean channel too so I can rip some blues, which definitely turns some heads when I'm jammin the blues on that thing.
 
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