Guitar Newbie

[Admiral Huddy]

I bought my daughter a guitar a few months back and decided I'd like to give it a go myself!!

So mananged to get a lovely Yamaha Pacifica 112 in natural wood from flea-bay for £55 plus £12.50 P&P - bargain.. and a decent Amp for a tenner..

Anyway, I'm all kitted out and my daughter and I have out first lesson tonight.. horra!!

Don't know really what to expect..

#where do I blow?# :D

[Belmit]

The Pacifica is probably the best beginner's guitar, so that's the first hurdle done with! My biggest tip would be that you'll no doubt find the first few lessons boring, but stick with it. The teacher will probably introduce the notes on the strings, open chords and stuff like that, and you might not even get to touch the guitar at first. However, the moment you get three chords down you'll be on your way to playing a substantial amount of songs. Oh, and don't worry about learning the notes and stuff off by heart; I've been playing ten years and I can't read sheet music or remember what notes are what unless I stop and think about it.

[Admiral Huddy]

I have no idea what sort of stuff I really wanna play yet.. I've not thought about it really. Some light rock and stuff..

[Desmo]

Huddy.....try not to break it eh?

[Garp]

I have no idea what sort of stuff I really wanna play yet.. I've not thought about it really. Some light rock and stuff..

Trick I found for making the time go easy was to find some simple songs to play. There are generally some song books in music shops that'll be "learn to play" style ones or the like that have simplified chords for popular songs (Beatles, Oasis, Blur etc.) Ignore the fact you're rough, just play and sing along and enjoy it. The more you play the smoother you get and before you know it you'll be producing sounds that other people might just think bare a passing resemblance to a song they know :)

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/ is a great resource for songs, just be prepared to accept that the chords might not be exactly what was played by the artist (use the *s as a fair estimate of quality.)

As others have said, the Pacifica 112 is a superb choice of guitar, considered by many to be the best guitar in the budget price range (usually retails around £170), it has a gorgeous tone to it, superb action and the classic SSH (Single, Single, Humbucker) configuration covers a good selection of styles, from your Eric Clapton style neck-pickup and tone at 3-4, to a 'ripe for heavy distortion' humbucker & tone at 10.

[Admiral Huddy]

haha I know it has six stings :D

Just finished an hours lesson.. Have learnt A, A minor, E and E minor and D.. Now for some homework.. Really enjoyed it.


thanks for the tips guys.. Wouldn't mind playing some old REM stuff.. digs out old CDs

garp thanks for the link :D

[William]

Learn the magical glorious chords of G, C and D. Then you will sound amazing to your mates. :D

[Admiral Huddy]

I've never had much trouble using my fingers but this is a challange. I was quite amazed at the tunes that could be played with the 3 chords i did learn.. Early days yet :D

[Garp]

thanks for the tips guys.. Wouldn't mind playing some old REM stuff.. digs out old CDs

garp thanks for the link :D

Easy one for ya:

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/r/rem/everybody_hurts_crd.htm

Every body hurts. Bounces around on just 4 chords, 3 of which you already know!

I'm not going to go into chord theory stuff, but you'll find a good number of songs use what are called 3 chord or 4 chord 'tricks'. Status quo are infamous for writing their songs around 3 chord tricks, like D - G - A. This REM song uses a basic 4 chord trick. Its in the key of D which makes the 4 chords, D, Em, G and A. As you continue on playing guitar you'll find that you'll start spotting 3 chord and 4 chord tricks everywhere, like "Love is all around me" by the Troggs / Wet Wet Wet / REM et al.
http://www.chordie.com/chord.pere/getsome.org/guitar/olga/main/w/wet_wet_wet/love_is_all_around.crd

[Admiral Huddy]

mm my fingers certainly hurt.. haha

I've been practising every day, so i'm used to those chords now. I just don't know how i'm ever going to get the fingers moving around quickly to the next chord.

I'd love to be able to play "Message in a bottle" by the Police.. class track and probably "Fields of Gold" by Sting. I love those tracks.

[Belmit]

I'd love to be able to play "Message in a bottle" by the Police.. class track

My hand's too small to stretch across the four frets required to play the riff. :'( Changing between chords will become automatic after much practice though, and then you'll wonder why you were never able to do it before.

[Admiral Huddy]

My hand's too small to stretch across the four frets required to play the riff. :'( Changing between chords will become automatic after much practice though, and then you'll wonder why you were never able to do it before.

you really think so.. I just can't see it at the moment. Even the notes i do produce don't sound that great. :(

Some of you guys will have to give me a few pointers next month :)

Edit - What's a riff?

[William]

Edit - What's a riff?

I think it is somthing that is just said in popular music like "This song has a great beat"

[Belmit]

A riff is just a combination of notes that sound good and often make up the 'hooks' for a lot of songs. Famous riffs include the one from The Beatles' Daytripper - the opening set of notes that continue throughout the song. I've just realised though that you were talking about Message In A Bottle, and not Every Breath You Take, which is what I was thinking of. Both have very recognisable riffs but EBYT is notoriously hard - it involves stretching the hand across four different frets on different strings.

I'm sure the BBQ will be a perfect venue to get some tips in. :)

[Garp]

mm my fingers certainly hurt.. haha

I bet.. took probably 3 months to stop mine hurting during usual practices, and several months until they stopped hurting after longer sessions, and I play an acoustic which is even harder to press the strings on than an electric.

I've been practising every day, so i'm used to those chords now. I just don't know how i'm ever going to get the fingers moving around quickly to the next chord.

Good.. "practice makes permanent" so make sure you're practicing the chords properly (i.e. not like me who's permanently taught himself some crap fingering, a real question of "don't do what I do, do what I say"). Speed definately comes with time, you just have to stick with it as frustrating as it can be. Try to avoid looking at the fretboard any more than is absolutely necessary (i.e. if you get lost:)), so that you learn to place your fingers in chord shapes without looking.

I'd love to be able to play "Message in a bottle" by the Police.. class track and probably "Fields of Gold" by Sting. I love those tracks.

Message in a bottle doesn't look too challenging a picking pattern or chord progression. Fields of gold looks reasonably easy too :)

Just avoid "Every breath you take"! I'll show you at the BBQ meet what an insane stretch he's pulling off!

[Admiral Huddy]

Garp and BelMit - I shall look forward to seeing you both at the BBQ :D
Thanks

[Dr. Z]

The key word for me that took my guitar playing forward was ANTICIPATION. What you are playing now is pretty much irrelevant - you are doing it and your fingers are there - what comes next is what is critical!

I once played an arrangement of a Tocatta - that really rammed home just how critical anticipation is!!

[Admiral Huddy]

ok, I've learnt some new chords today including C, G, Em, Em7 and Am :p and we' have our first track to learn.. Hey Jude, which is one of my fav Beatles track.

That G is a bit of a stretch on the fingers :)

[Garp]

ok, I've learnt some new chords today including C, G, Em, Em7 and Am :p and we' have our first track to learn.. Hey Jude, which is one of my fav Beatles track.

That G is a bit of a stretch on the fingers :)


*plans some much more fiendish finger stretching chords for Huddy to learn at the BBQ meet* :p

G's very easy on a finger stretch perspective, but don't worry if its hard at first, your fingers will soon be a lot more flexible :) Its noticeable that I can stretch my fingers of my left hand much more than I can those on my right.

[Belmit]

I thought Hey Jude started with an F chord - I guess you've been given it in a different key or something.