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Learning to play guitar

if you want to teach yourself. some books can be good, to learn some basics, but you can learn alot by trying to play along with cds. i am self taught and am quite proficient but still learn something new every time i play with someone or pick up the guitar to practice.

my learning curve would have been steeper (at least from a technical standpoint) had i taken lessons in the first few years of playing, but the way i learned helped me to develop a good ear and sense of rhythm and timing.
 
92tide said:
if you want to teach yourself. some books can be good, to learn some basics, but you can learn alot by trying to play along with cds. i am self taught and am quite proficient but still learn something new every time i play with someone or pick up the guitar to practice.

my learning curve would have been steeper (at least from a technical standpoint) had i taken lessons in the first few years of playing, but the way i learned helped me to develop a good ear and sense of rhythm and timing.
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Thanks 92tide. When you talk about playing with a CD are you talking about a teaching CD or a music CD (to learn how to play a particular song)?
 
He means play along with real music. I learned the same way 92tide did. I can't play scales or read music, but I can pick up and play just about anything, within reason :p, pretty quickly.
 
music cd. when i started out (as most in my day ;) ) i learned how to play guitar so that i could play stairway to heaven. spent about a year learning a couple of easier led zeppelin songs and more chords then started playing along with the grateful dead's europe 72 and some of their acoustic albums. (you can do this with most pop/country music depending on your tastes).

i will still play along with cds to keep myself fresh and mess around with a new style, it can be challenging to put 5 completely different types of cds on then hit shuffle and try to play along with everything.

it is also good to find people to play with if possible, you can learn a lot by watching and listening to others play.
 
He means play along with real music. I learned the same way 92tide did. I can't play scales or read music, but I can pick up and play just about anything, within reason , pretty quickly.
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a few years back i was jamming regularly with a bluegrass group and the mandolin player wouldn't even think about trying to play anything unless he had learned the tune note by note off of tab. he was pretty good, but that was very limiting.

i cant read music at all. my way of thinking is if i cant figure it out by getting the tune stuck in my head, i don't deserve to play it ;)
 
I don't know if you've seen this site, but it has some useful stuff on it. (going against everything I just said)

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/

The "power tab" files are pretty awesome. The tabs are "midi-fied" and can be played at any speed. :mad: So you can get those Backstreet Boys riffs down perfect.
 
92tide said:
i cant read music at all. my way of thinking is if i cant figure it out by getting the tune stuck in my head, i don't deserve to play it ;)
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I've heard Paul McCartney still doesn't read music. You might have heard about his little band from back in the 60's called "the Beatles."
 
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ultimate guitar is an awesome site. you can start out playing some simpler music by the eagles, creedence, bob seger, etc. and take it from there.
i would second the idea of playing along with CD's. it will help you get strum patterns down.
 
Paul McCartney was in "The Who?"? That's why I come to this board...you learn something new every day. ;)

Best way I can think of to teach yourself guitar is to learn the major and minor chords. Learn them in as many positions as possible and learn to finger them correctly (Mel Bay chord books are really good).

Depending on what you want to play, you can cover probably 90% of all rock songs by knowing the basic chord patterns (1, 3, and 5 major and 2 minor). So if the song is in E, you can probably play the whole thing using only E, A, and B major, and F# minor. The trick to playing along with CD's is mainly just finding the key. Soon, you should be able to listen to a song and pick out the chord patterns.

When you get this down to a reasonable degree you can try to pick out the leads. Many rock leads are based out of the penta-tonic (5-note, or blues) scale or a major scale.

Have fun!
 
BamaSC said:
Paul McCartney was in "The Who?"? That's why I come to this board...you learn something new every day. ;)

Best way I can think of to teach yourself guitar is to learn the major and minor chords. Learn them in as many positions as possible and learn to finger them correctly (Mel Bay chord books are really good).

Depending on what you want to play, you can cover probably 90% of all rock songs by knowing the basic chord patterns (1, 3, and 5 major and 2 minor). So if the song is in E, you can probably play the whole thing using only E, A, and B major, and F# minor. The trick to playing along with CD's is mainly just finding the key. Soon, you should be able to listen to a song and pick out the chord patterns.

When you get this down to a reasonable degree you can try to pick out the leads. Many rock leads are based out of the penta-tonic (5-note, or blues) scale or a major scale.

Have fun!
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Not to disagree, but I think the best way to play stuff is simply to hear the tune and sing it to yourself sorta. When you play your own stuff, you just hear it in your mind and figure out how to put it together on instruments. When you just play the tune, you figure out how to play the chords and easily figure out the riffs. To be fair, I figured this out only after playing for about 70 years.

edit: but yeah you need to learn some basic chord progressions, lol missed that
 
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Oh and it's critical to learn how to tune the guitar. Find a song in E Minor and you will be able to tune your guitar pretty easily. If you can handle a tuning harp or tuning fork even better. I never trusted those auto-tuners. ;)
 
I've been playing about 20 years. I taught myself to play. I started out learning chords out of a Mel Bay book. Then I picked up scales and tabs out of books and the interweb. Then I would listen to music and play along to get the feel of songs. I'm pretty decent, I can hold my on....but I jammed with a guy this afternoon that made me sound like a beginner. He took lessons.
 
what kind of music do you guys like to play and what guitars do you have? i'm a beatles, radiohead, elliott smith, velvet underground type of guy on a standard fender strat. and to stay on topic...learn the chords. major and minor chords first and then memorize at least the notes of the low e string which you have to know if you're playing any barre chords
 
Trade your Strat in for a Tele, they are the best. . .

I have an old Epiphone acoustic I've been playing for years. My guy put a hard formica piece in place of the lower bridge, and the upper part of the neck appears to be broken, but I can get that SOB in tune even so. At least not according to my liar neighbors.

For electric, I have a Rickenbacker 330 that I love, but have had inclinations to my friend's Tele in the past. But, the Rickenbackers can make some pretty bizarre sounds, a fact to which any witness would admit having heard. . . to.
 
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DJHall4prez said:
I've been playing about 20 years. I taught myself to play. I started out learning chords out of a Mel Bay book. Then I picked up scales and tabs out of books and the interweb. Then I would listen to music and play along to get the feel of songs. I'm pretty decent, I can hold my on....but I jammed with a guy this afternoon that made me sound like a beginner. He took lessons.
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Lessons are good but , I still to this day do not personally know any respectable guitarist that has had formal lessons .

It's strange the way things work out sometimes . I had always thought it would be best to find a local guitarist that I wanted to "sound" like and learn from them . When I asked others , they agreed . Well , one day it happened and I did just that . I had a friend that had only played for 4.5 years and he was just incredible .

I received an electric , pawn shop guitar in November the year of my 24th B'day . I thought everything was good to go . As it turned out , shortly afterwards I attended my friends funeral in February . He was killed in a car accident along with 2 other band members . They hit a tree in Prattville/Millbrook while traveling at a speed of more than 100MPH . The car burned up and there was only 1 survivor . The survivor had been ejected from the car . Good thing he didn't wear a seatbelt .

I've still never heard any non-contracted guitarist and very few "pros" that could top him . He was the best and was appropriately named - Randy Champion . He is the reason that I play . Little did I know that everyone can't get that good in 4.5 short years . I'm still not even close .

After that , if I would get stuck with a song and would have to make a long-distance call to my Uncle . He was also self-taught but , he actually teaches classical acoustic - very gifted . Strange .

Every year my Uncle plays some chords at our family reunion that I've never seen . This year my cousins boyfriend who is a real professional hadn't ever seen 1/2 the chords either . Glad it's not just me .:redface: My Uncle actually had a disco album out just when disco was dying - thank God . Disco SUCKS !!!:frown:
 
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