I am finally taking guitar lessons!

[MERRYKISSMASS2U]

Well, I'm finally taking guitar lessons. I just had my second lesson yesterday, and the dude gave me a short "song" to practice on.


I've been practicing, and I've finally mastered it. I can't wait to be as awesome as you guys are!

He wrote it out in tab, but the whole song isn't really there. I hit either the low E string or the A string (it depends), play the chord, then hit the three thin strings coming back up. I repeat this three times, do the 320 or 023 part, then move on to the next part.

I think I'm progressing well, and so does the instructor. The lessons are once a week on Thursday.


He also gave me a few bar chords, and some other misc things.


He gave me the song so I could practice the chords in a fun way. (It's boring to just keep playing chords. Incorporating it into a song makes it fun.)




Here is the song:




Please let me know if you want to see the other things he taught me. Also, please give a new guitar player some advice

[Big Fat Sammy]

That song is kinda like Redemption Song by Marley...among others.

[MERRYKISSMASS2U]

I'll have to listen to it. He said a lot of country songs have similar patterns.

[bastardog]

It looks like a math equation to me.

[MERRYKISSMASS2U]

The numbers = Frets.

It's really not as hard as I thought it would be.

[sadaist]

A great site to check out is

http://www.guitaretab.com/

Since you seem to know how to read tablature a bit, it might be fun to look up some of your favorite songs & riffs when you get bored with what your instructor gave you.

[MERRYKISSMASS2U]

Originally posted by sadaist
A great site to check out is

http://www.guitaretab.com/

Since you seem to know how to read tablature a bit, it might be fun to look up some of your favorite songs & riffs when you get bored with what your instructor gave you.

Thanks, but I don't think I'm ready for Hangar 18 yet!

[MERRYKISSMASS2U]

Do you think you could give me a very easy song to start off with? I only know a few chords.... half of these tabs include terminology I'm not even familiar with yet.

[Nitro Express]

You are never a real guitar player until you can play rythum well. Even BB King in his 60's took music lessons because he wanted to learn how to read music and play chords better.

[Nitro Express]

I took classical guitar lessons after three years of piano lessons (A family requirement in the house I grew up in). My mom bought me a classical guitar with the big neck. The nylon strings and low tension did make learning easier.

I never felt I mastered chords and rythum until I bought a used 70's three bolt Strat with the 7.5 inch radius neck. That broomstick of a neck made playing chords easy and to this day, I still have that guitar.

[MERRYKISSMASS2U]

Well, I'm only on my second lesson, so I don't really think I have rythym mastered yet.


Which kind of guitar would you recommend for me to get? I want to play metal/rock stuff.

The Squier Strat I have now isn't the best..... it's ok. but it going out of tune is driving me absolutely INSANE.


I want to get a guitar that locks the strings in place, has dual pickups, etc etc.


I'm looking for rock shapes; the Flying V is looking pretty good so far. I don't know when I should upgrade; it depends on how fast I learn.

[sadaist]

Originally posted by MERRYKISSMASS2U
Do you think you could give me a very easy song to start off with? I only know a few chords.... half of these tabs include terminology I'm not even familiar with yet.

Start with just the beginning of a song you like. An easy one would be Dokken - Alone Again. You will see that a lot of rock ballads have a very similar approach to the notes for the main riff. Not very much fretboard work, but helps with getting your picking and tempo down. Also Metallica - Fade To Black, One, Sanitarium; Def Leppard - Foolin', Hysteria; etc...

Just fuck around until you recognize the sound you are playing. You don't even really need to master them at the beginning. Just having some different riffs to mess with can make it more interesting if you get bored with the same practice riffs.

[Nitro Express]

You never completely master anything. You always can do better and anyone that thinks they have become a perfect God like character is a self-absorbed asshole.

Rule number one: You have to want it and eventhough it's a lot of work you should like doing it.

Rule number two: Play for the moment. Don't fixate yourself on what you don't know. Play what you know now and do the best you can at it.

Rule number three: Don't play a poorly set up guitar. You can take a $7,0000 Gibson Byrdland and set it up to where it's unplayable. You can also take your Squire Strat and set it up to where it will do the job. Put light guage strings on it. Adjust the truss rod to where the neck is straight. Drop the bridge saddles down to where the strings start to buzz and raise them a tad until the buzzing stops. If you play hard you might loosen the truss rod a tad to put a little bow in the neck to give that big E string some vibrating room. Play your Squire for a while before buying another guitar because you are too early in the game to know what you like.

[Eyes of the Night]

Sounds cool indeed 2U ...

[MERRYKISSMASS2U]

At Nitro:

I would take your suggestions, but I don't even know what a truss rod or a bridge saddle is!

Awesome comment though