Starting Guitar.Music 

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MagpieRacer

MagpieRacer

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Seagull_Racer
Bought a nice new guitar today, should be delivered on monday. Cant wait to start the long learning procedure. Mistax has already provided me with some good links to help, but if anyone knows of any links that could be of help please post them here, so the not only me but everyone else wanting t learn can see as well.

Heres the one i ordered.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produ...struments+and+karaoke>C$cip=28977.Guitars.htm
 
Get Guitar Pro 4 (I don't know if there's any newest version). It's a software that not only shows the songs' tabs but also plays them in midi files. Very useful and easy to understand. And it doesn't just reproduces the guitar parts, it plays all the instruments. You can find any music you wish to play with this program in dedicated websites. 👍
 
That's a pretty good guitar, my friend has one similar looking but not sure the of the brand. If you do get guitar pro got to www.ultimate-guitar.com its where I get all my tabs, but I play eltric so I'm not totally sure of how many acustic songs they'll have. I do know they have some.

Edit: Actually go there regardless of if you get guitar pro or not, I don't have it.
 
Listen to LOTS of music with guitar in it that you admire to get inspiration and to develop your ear. Sounds obvious, but really hammer those sounds and rythms into your head so you have a good feel for how things are supposed to sound like before you tackle song tablatures. Tabs are notorious for not showing the rhythm of the notes, assuming the player already knows the songs well (assuming you don't have the aforementioned guitar-pro, which shows the rhythm well).

Make sure the guitar is set up with a nice easy (low) action so there is minimal finger abuse on those newbie soft pinkies! Consider lighter gauge strings if the original set still causes pain and inhibits practising, until your fingers harden up.

Get a good chord book and get familiar with many different shapes of chords and their respective sounds and names.

Always tap your foot to maintain a steady rhythm, if you can't change chords/notes fast enough to keep up comfortably, just make the foot go slower. The important thing is that you learn to keep a steady beat. The guitar should follow what the foot does, NOT the other way round (stopping time so you can change chords)!!

OK, enough advice from captain obvious.
 
Ultimate Guitar and Cyberfret are my main two sources. I suggest getting a book full of chord shapes to practice with as well.

Learning guitar is very challenging and trying at times. However, once you get past the initial feeling of "wow, this is harder than it looks" it becomes very rewarding and fun. Find a really basic song to learn at first, because once you're able to play a song, it inspires you to learn another...and another....and so on.
 
xXSilencerXx
Playing the guitar is an addiction.
Click to expand...

Provided you do it long enough to get hooked, then you're hooked for life! 👍
 
Each line stands for a string. The numbers are telling you what fret to put your fingers on.

Example.

First String |------------------------------------------------------|
Second String|------------------------------------------------------|
Third String |-----------------------------------------------------|
Fourth String |------------------------------------------------------|
Fifth String |------7-12-12/14-14-17\16/17\16/17--12-14-7---|
Sixth String |------9-10-10/12-12-15\14/15\14/15--10-12-9---|


There's some Iron Man for you. The slashes stand for sliding you fingers. Don't know if you no this but the dots are for easy memorization as to where to put your fingers. Oh and the first string is the little one.

Edit: the ****in lines wont line up but you get the idea.
 
Has anyone got a sure fire way of playing pinch harmonics? Everytime I try to play one it takes me about 10 attempts to hit it right. :ouch:

GT_Fan2005
Maaaaaan im lost on tabs, http://www.mxtabs.net/tab_versions.php?path=Guitar,g,563,Green+Day,Good+Riddance,33298
Like wtfing hell lol, chords and scales im 75% of the way on, still learning but getting there, just need to learn how to change between chords quickly.

But any help on tabs and how the hell you read the things?
Click to expand...
I take it you know how to tune a guitar? Basically, the letters on the side represent the string and its tuning. In that case, the guitar is tuned in standard (EADGBE) tuning. The bottom line on the tab is actually the top (thickest) string on your guitar.

The numbers tell you which frets to play. If there's no number on a line, you don't play that string at all.

So:
Code: 
e------------------------------------
B------------------------------------
G--0--3--5--0--3--6--5--0--3--5--3--0
D--0--3--5--0--3--6--5--0--3--5--3--0
A------------------------------------
E------------------------------------
On the middle two strings you'd play open, then on the middle two strings again you'd fret 3 and play, then 5 and so on. I'm sure you'll know the riff once you play it. :p
 
Pinch harmonics, just do them enough so you know where they are a bit more naturally...

I use the knuckle of my middle finger (wrapped around so the knuckle is facing the strings) to do the actual harmonic and I sound the note normally with the pick between my thumb and 1st finger. Many people just use their thumb to glance the string after they've hit it with the pick, but I prefer my way, as there is no time delay (no matter how small) between sounding the note and "activating" the harmonic... they happen at exactly the same time.
I can do pinch harmonics exactly when and where I want this way, you just get to learn where the harmonics are after enough time doing it.
 
For pinched harmonics, which I'm pretty good at, you gotta hit the right spot on the string with your pick and finger, or right hand for right hand players. Play pinched harmonics on an open string, and start close to the bridge. Then, play pinched harmonics on the open string while slowing sliding toward the neck joint, and beyond. Make a mental note where on each string the harmonic rings the most loud. Now, try it with fretted notes.

Use a lot of overdrive/distortion.

Make sure the side of your thumb and the pick strike the string at the same time. I'll tilt my hand a bit more to make sure I hit the strings with the larger flat spot of my thumb.

Just keep practicing unitl you get a pinched harmonic most of the time you go for one. Sometimes, I miss. Pros miss all the time, and I can't help but chuckle when they do.
 
Oh, a hint about pinch harmonics:

When you go for one and you get a good loud harmonic, and you want to also make another pinch harmonic just as good up the neck say, 2 frets, it helps me to visualise how small the frets would be (if the neck didn't stop at the neck joint and instead went all the way to the bridge) and move my right hand (the one doing the harmonic) the same distance (what the equivalent of 2 frets would be at that position on the string - if the frets continued past the neck and got really small) to play the new harmonic in a sure-fire, just as good as the last one way. I can play entire melodies in pinch harmonics like this, because it maintains the same level of upper harmonic to the note (the interval that the harmonic is higher than the original note). Very fun (but wanky)!

I hope that makes some sense (it does to me).
 
Get yourself a couple of bottles of witch hazel. After you finish practicing soak your fingertips in a small bowl of the stuff.
It will pull the sting out.

Start on the blues. For soloing, the blues is "basic training". Every soloing style pretty much is rooted in the blues.

Also get a good rhythm book (both with either CD or video) and learn to play rhythm.
Soloing takes up about a tenth of a song, Rhythm is always behind it. So it's there about 95 % of the time.

Good luck.
Enjoy
 
Thanks for the tips guys.

I found that a good starting point for open pinch harmonics is directly above the rhythm (closest to fretboard) pickup. And then for ones around the 12th fret, about halfway between the two pickups.

I'll guess I'll just have to practice a bit more so I know where to hit the string a bit more naturally. And work on shifting my thumb down the pick into "pinch-mode" in time! :dopey:
 
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