Playing Guitar

[BatsareBugs]

Re: Playing Guitar

Dayummmm...And I thought the $300 for the Casio was expensive. :y4:

Yeah, costly and it's a huge investment. I only recommend a workstation if you're in one of those major band gigs or looking to produce music since it's a huge investment. I'd go with a very good keyboard (usually expensive, but not as much as these workstations) if you're just out to play or perform.

[elicoleman]

Re: Playing Guitar

Well hot dog, I just learned Silent Night on my acoustic.

While it's one of the easiest songs you can learn, its my first full song!!!

[headrulz101]

Re: Playing Guitar

Been playing for about 13 years now. As a beginner the first thing you should do before you start playing is set some goals. What do you want to accomplish? When do you want to accomplish? Those are both very important as it will keep you organized and keep you motivated.

Next, when you're starting off, like a previous poster stated, Acoustic may be a bit tougher to handle as opposed to an Electric. I feel this is not that much of a deal. It won't take that long to get used to it but will you lose that fire/motivation to continue on your guitar playing? Maybe.

Another question that is often asked is:

Should I get a guitar/music teacher?

Many say it is good to have a teacher. When I started playing, I also started lessons. At first, I thought all was well, I was learning. Oh yeah I learned, but as the years went on I noticed the money was being wasted. It IS good to have a teacher right when you start, as they can tell you the do's and dont's, but before you splurge the green, make sure you research the teacher. Check his career, his students, maybe some records he made. Anything about the teacher.

In my opinion, I feel the self-teach books/DVDs are the way to go. Funny thing is, most teachers get there Lessons from these books, so there you go.
I reccomend any book from Berklee Press and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Guitar.

Music Theory of Technique?

That is a question that has probably been asked millions of times. You'll hear people saying, "Music Theory doesn't matter!", "Great players like Hendrix, Clapton, Page didn't know Music Theory!"

To answer that I'll say, does it hurt if you learn some theory? Atleast the basics, which are EXTREMELY important if you are looking forward to becoming a good guitar player. Although as a beginner, you should start off with Technique excercises, just to get your fingers/hands into the groove, get the FEEL. Another very important thing I must state is that, when practicing these technique excercises, play them slow and with a METRONOME! If you do not have a metronome, you can go to this site:

http://www.metronomeonline.com/

Practicing with a metronome is so important. It gives you that sense of rhythm, which is often overlooked by many guitar players.


Since we are talking about guitar practice I'll say this. It's not how long you practice every session, it's CONSISTENCY! When you are practicing those technique excercises your hands are developing new muscle memory.
Example: You practice Monday for 1 hour. You then practice Tuesday for one hour then your next practice session is Monday of the next week. By that time your muscles would've forgotten the progress you had made. So try and practice EVERYDAY. Even it is for ten minutes!

Finally, it is nice to research some guitar players or bands in which you are interested in. Learn some of their songs, observe the way they play, their techniques. You can then incorporate this into your playing.

Well that's pretty much all I gotta say. Oh and HAVE FUN PLAYING YOUR INSTRUMENT, ENJOY IT!

[SLAYER]

Re: Playing Guitar

Great post, headrulz, but I feel bad for beginners hunting for tabs. We're heading back into the limited tab access era (guitar mags must be thrilled), due to the legal hassle over free guitar tabs. Thank God software is out to slow things down without affecting pitch.

[elicoleman]

Re: Playing Guitar

Well Ultimate-Guitar.com is still up, and they have tons of tabs, so that's where I look at.

Hopefully it'll stay up.

[BatsareBugs]

Re: Playing Guitar

Yeah, I was pissed when Mxtabs was taken down.

[DXZeke]

Re: Playing Guitar

Dayummmm...And I thought the $300 for the Casio was expensive. :y4:

My Fanton X-8 was $3,000 when i got it.
The 3 expansion sounds cards were $230 each.

My recording equipment is a Roland VS-2400. That bastard was $2300 when I got it.

I've probably spent nearly 15k on high end stuff over the past 3yrs.


Workstations are awesome. For a producer it really is nice. I do all the pianos, strings, drums, electronica sounds, etc off of the keyboard. Then I play all the guitars (acoustic, electric, 12string acoustic, and bass) on my own. It's really nice hearing something in your head and then making it come to life. It's also nice not needing a band and doing things how you want them done.

It's also a b*** when people ask "where does your band play out at" when it's just me. At least people ask. I more or less just want do this music thing for personal gratification.

[elicoleman]

Re: Playing Guitar

That's awesome man.

Do you have any samples I could listen to?

[DXZeke]

Re: Playing Guitar

That's awesome man.

Do you have any samples I could listen to?

https://www.myspace.com/edwardrorabaugh

[BatsareBugs]

Re: Playing Guitar

I need to get going on that. I ain't getting any younger.

[elicoleman]

Re: Playing Guitar

www.myspace.com/edwardrorabaugh

I really like what you've done so far. Pretty chill music.

I wish I had the equipment and talent to create the music. It'd be nice to put the songs I've written to music.

[DXZeke]

Re: Playing Guitar

I really like what you've done so far. Pretty chill music.

I wish I had the equipment and talent to create the music. It'd be nice to put the songs I've written to music.

That's all a couple years old.
Almost everything this past year has been acoustic and sort of dark.

This was my goal as a teen. To put things down EXACTLY the way i hear them and not just some shade of what it was meant to be.

I did my first demo when i was 17 at a local studio. It turned out better than anything anyone in their 20s was doing in the town i lived in. It created a lot of jealousy. I was putting songs together back then like I am now. Thankfully, I can just do it all in my own home with no time constraints of hourly fees, plus my digital gear now is better than the analog 16 track i recorded on then. it's funny how much technology has improved in this industry.


I don't know what I have more fun coming up with, Piano or guitar parts.
Guitar though is and will always be my first since it's what i play best.
I still HATE HATE HATE singing. I always will, but i won't cough up my songs to anyone else.


Again though. ANY OF YOU could be putting songs together in a year if you just sit down and practice. They might not be the best thing ever, but the point is, THEY ARE YOUR SONGS!!! :wink:

So skip too!!! Start learning!

[Blzer]

Re: Playing Guitar

Your music sort of reminds me of Helmet. Don't ask why.

[DXZeke]

Re: Playing Guitar

Your music sort of reminds me of Helmet. Don't ask why.

I like those boys too.
"see you dead" is a charming song by them.

[eXperiment63]

Re: Playing Guitar

Johnny Cash's rendition of Hurt is fairly simple to learn for any new guitarists.