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I'm a rocker, a roller, and an out of controller.
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)
Posted by: BooRadley
I have this beat up old ass guitar that my little brother left at my moms house, and she was going to throw it out, so I took it up here when I moved. So I took it to the local music store and they laughed at me, but said if I knocked the dust out of it, it would be enough to get started on. Then I took a lesson, and signed up for a month of lessons. If it works out, I'll keep going. If not, I'm only out the cost of the lessons and ten bucks for the book.
I now know not just three notes, but also three chords. That's THREE NOTES and THREE CHORDS!
NASHVILLE HERE I COME, BABY!
So my fingers already hurt. How long does it take before that stops, and how long does it take to not suck?
Oh, here's my super cool guitar.
http://booradley.homeip.net/tfr/guitar2.jpg
And I made this so I can practice major chords while I'm at work, or where ever, since it fits in my pocket. http://penguinpants.com/forum/images/smiles/rockon.gif
http://booradley.homeip.net/tfr/guitar1.jpg
Posted by: laborat
musicians fall into three main catagories: those who play for fame and fortune, those who play for fun with beer drinking buddys and for the opportunity to flirt with girls on the weekends: but, they keep their day job, and those who feel their musical gift is a calling (think musical therapist or teacher or church choir director).
Since you are just starting out, it is best to just have fun with it. You can practice your ass off or just take some lessons and learn enough chords to play Kumbaya around a campfire. We all start for the same reason, it feels good to get some song down well enough to sound like you heard it and it seems to attract girls who somehow feel musicians have more depth than just plain normal guys.
The part about the sore fingertips is a part of the process. It takes a while to get the callous built up enough to play without going ouch. I had callous buildup so much I could put my fingertips on a hot plate and feel the sizzle but not the pain. go figure. It was the drugs.
As far as how long does it take to not suck, some peeps can play all their lives and still suck. some can play for a year or two and start turning heads. I have been playing for 45 years and I am constantly learning new licks or scales, learning your instrument will be an ongoing process for all of your life.
Again there is a two part breakdown on musicianship, those who advance enough to play anything like the jazz players or session musicians, and those who develop style like Rye Cooder, Leo Kotke, or Taj Mahal or B.B. King. Most folks develop their own style and are quite comfortable with that.
You don't necessarily have to read music to play music. The ones who do however, have a leg up on those who don't read.
Besides your lessons at the guitar store, there are several interesting sites online you might look at. keywords: (on your browser) guitar teacher, guitar lessons, tablature for guitar, guitar scales, guitar chords.
As to the rest, I applaud your efforts to become good at what you want to do. It offers the finest of rewards in self satisfaction a human can get. Welcome to the ranks, newbie. How far you go is up to you. Jam as much as you can with other guitar players and steal their licks or get them to teach them to you. develop your ear well enough to steal licks off of a record. Find the area of music you really want to excell in and go see musicians who play that style in concert or a club. steal their licks.
once you get enough licks in you, you can start making them your own.
For most musicans, playing music will never pay the bills. I say take your fun where you can create it and share it with others. nothing like the rush of the first time playing a song on stage in an open mic nite and having the audience listen to your stuff and applaud or even better leave a Lincoln (fiver) in the tip jar.
Posted by: BooRadley
One of the main reasons I want to learn to play, even if badly, is just to have a better understanding of music. There are so many times that I hear music that sounds good, is popular, but every musician I talk to says it sucks for technical merit. On the other end, there's music that's great, but without having at least a basic understanding of the instruments, you can't appreciate it. That I can get even if I never get good. I've also always wanted to be able to play something, though. I've just never had the gumption to really try. Well, I would have when I was a kid, but we couldn't afford any instruments. By the time I could afford one on my own, I was afraid to try because it seemed too strange.
If I ever get around to growing up and having a family, my kids will have that opportunity.
I do wish I'd done this myself a decade ago, though. I envy the guys (and gals) who can go sit in a park and strum and watch a crowd form.
Posted by: AK47
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Originally Posted by BooRadley
There are so many times that I hear music that sounds good, is popular, but every musician I talk to says it sucks for technical merit.
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Yeah, dont pay attention to those people. Some musicians get so anal that they over analyze music and it no longer becomes muisc... its just exercises of varying difficulty to them. The feeling of first hearing a song and really enjoying is almost completely alien to them.
To a point, it's great to look at music from a techincal merit, but once you go from really enjoying a band to saying they're not that great just because techincally, they're not composing classical symphonies, then you know you've gone to far.
Posted by: Gunslinger
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Originally Posted by laborat
musicians fall into three main catagories: those who play for fame and fortune, those who play for fun with beer drinking buddys and for the opportunity to flirt with girls on the weekends: but, they keep their day job, and those who feel their musical gift is a calling (think musical therapist or teacher or church choir director).
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Noted.
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Originally Posted by AK47
Yeah, dont pay attention to those people. Some musicians get so anal that they over analyze music and it no longer becomes muisc... its just exercises of varying difficulty to them. The feeling of first hearing a song and really enjoying is almost completely alien to them.
To a point, it's great to look at music from a techincal merit, but once you go from really enjoying a band to saying they're not that great just because techincally, they're not composing classical symphonies, then you know you've gone to far.
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Agreed. I can attest to the phenomenon with an abudance of personal experience.
Posted by: Bunmiadefisayo
Hmm, what a coincidence. I jsut started out learning the guitar a week ago. So far i can play only the C and G scales, i can also play the C major, G7, Fm and Am chords. Those, i think, are the most basic chords you can learn on the guitar.
As far as the aching, dont ignore it!!!. Dont even say for one second that all guitarists have learned to ignore the pain, cuz they havent. If your fingers are aching you, stop playing and rest them. Also be careful with people who can "play" but not learn to read music and such. They can give you some very bad habits.
If you cant read music, learn. That, i think, is so important. You will be very limited by what you can do later on if you dont learn to raad music.
Frankly the only reason, thus far, that i have picked up the guitar is becasue you cant carry a piano around on ur back and look cool  . I do play the piano (been doing so for 5 years) and i have used it to my advantage (girl-wise ). But lately i find that being in coolege, it is hard to get a girl and you in the same room as a piano.
I guess my reasons will change, but for now i am jsut fascinated by how versatile the guitar is. With jsut four chords i can already play along to common sonds like Silent Night and so on.
Good luck man, enjoy the guitar and i am sure you will not regret it.
Posted by: Canis Lupus
you don't have to learn notes in order to enjoy playing good music ... I can tell from experience that I can play more songs on my guitar from memory without being able to read a single note than those who rely heavily on what is written on paper. There's the standard music reading and there's playing by ear, and both are valid avenues for music appreciation. Of course, if you intend to make a living out of music, then learning to read notes can help.
As for bad habits, I dunno. Learning to play a song by ear and from memory rather than reading it from a piece of paper is hardly what I call a bad habit, unless you're playing for a symphony orchestra and looking at a conductor. I feel that those who think reading notes makes one superior to those who don't are just silly... then again, I'm no snob, so I wouldn't know, hehe.
Once you get those callusses up, playing would be a cinch. Bar chords would be fun and more comfortable. Strumming exercises are fun, once you fill it up with some staccatto and slap strums here and there. Nothing beats some casual guitar playing by the campfire or in a small beer party. Once you get all your chords memorized, you'll be able to figure out any song to play just by remembering how the chords sound. No amount of note reading can teach you that - it's all about playing by ear 
As for those who see music as more of an olympics in technical knowhow, they're as fun to be around with as those who watch a movie and criticize the director's use of 60mm lens instead of 75mm ... I feel sorry for those people
Posted by: Gunslinger
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Originally Posted by Canis Lupus
you don't have to learn notes in order to enjoy playing good music ... I can tell from experience that I can play more songs on my guitar from memory without being able to read a single note than those who rely heavily on what is written on paper. There's the standard music reading and there's playing by ear, and both are valid avenues for music appreciation. Of course, if you intend to make a living out of music, then learning to read notes can help.
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Some people focus on the art. Some people focus on the craft. The real musicians are interested in both.
And by bad habits, I think he meant (what I would have meant in his place) is that when you learn from people who ignore the craft, then you learn an abudance of bad technical habits that contribute to slow (and bad) development. Practicing does no good if you don't practice correctly.
Posted by: Canis Lupus
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Originally Posted by Gunslinger
Some people focus on the art. Some people focus on the craft. The real musicians are interested in both.
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I have always believed that real musician is a subjective, and often misused, term
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Gunslinger
And by bad habits, I think he meant (what I would have meant in his place) is that when you learn from people who ignore the craft, then you learn an abudance of bad technical habits that contribute to slow (and bad) development. Practicing does no good if you don't practice correctly.
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care to share en example of one of these "abundant" technical bad habits, aside from not reading notes? I guess one can say finger positions, especially in guitar, but how much more comfortable can you do a D chord other than the standard way
I do agree that one needs to practice correctly, but again, the basics are what need to be learned, and once one masters the basics, how he learns past that point is entirely up to his technique... reading notes can be considered an important part of basic training, but it is not an awfully necessary part, unless one desires to make a profession of music, which I mentioned earlier...
on a related note, how do "real musicians" tune a guitar? Using the fret trick, using a tuning fork, or using their ear
Posted by: laborat
strobe tuner.
Posted by: BooRadley
So I did it. I dropped $300 on an instrument I can't play and another $70 on a case for it. :rockon:
Since I don't know what the **** I'm doing, I talked to a friend from work about it, and he went to the music store with me to find guitars in the $200-350 range. He played them to see which ones had good sound, since I'm buying a mass manufactured one, there's really no telling. We found a Breedlove AD200/sm for $299.99. Unf. It sounds ****ing awesome. Even my three chords sound way the **** better.
http://booradley.homeip.net/tfr/newguitarsmall.jpg
It looks pretty slick, too.
This link is a larger picture.
It's got a cool look to it, too.
http://booradley.homeip.net/tfr/guitarhead.jpg
And even I look cool playing it, well, almost.
http://booradley.homeip.net/tfr/meguitar.jpg
So what do the forum rock-n-rollers say? Was this a good decision? Is this going to be a good choice for a starter guitar? It sounds way super-duper better than the old one. Then again, a stick with strings nailed to it would sound better than that one.
Posted by: imawreque
heheh... My 7 year old girl can play a little Pink Floyd.
Posted by: Bunmiadefisayo
I m so freaking envious of that guitar. All i bought was a $70.00 thingy from Amazon and a $20 case plus a book on How to Play Guitar by Roger Evans.  Why cant i have a job that pays thousands instead of some silly campus job
This was the one i bought, to me it sounds ok and i thought it was good for a first "gootar" as i once heard it pronounced; http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...uments&v=glance
Posted by: BooRadley
Better than nothing. If I had gotten something like that years ago, I'd be rockin' right now. I wish I would have back in college. Instead, I spent my money at night clubs and surf trips. Bummer.
Posted by: Canis Lupus
nice dreadnought  congrats on the purchase!
Posted by: BooRadley
Gracias. I also just found out that Sympathy for the Devil is only 4 chords, and I already know three of them. I may know a song before I even hit my second lesson on Monday.
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