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Anyone play the guitar?
- Thread starter Scott1
- Start date
A
angellous_evangellous
Guest
Try the Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum.
http://p082.ezboard.com/btheunofficialmartinguitarforum
Those guys and ladies know everything about guitars and more than you'll ever want to know.
I have but two suggestions: be sure your guitar is "set-up" and intonated by a professional guitar repair-person (luthier) - this costs anywhere from $15 to $100. It will make your guitar play in tune (sound good) and effortless to play. This is absolutely essential for you to learn and love to play. Guitar repair shops - in my experience - sell the best guitars and the most affordable lessons.
Second, only play music that you love. Find music that you like, search for it online or play by ear.
Third, find other players and hang out with them. Learning from other players who like the same kind of music is the fastest way to get better.
http://p082.ezboard.com/btheunofficialmartinguitarforum
Those guys and ladies know everything about guitars and more than you'll ever want to know.
I have but two suggestions: be sure your guitar is "set-up" and intonated by a professional guitar repair-person (luthier) - this costs anywhere from $15 to $100. It will make your guitar play in tune (sound good) and effortless to play. This is absolutely essential for you to learn and love to play. Guitar repair shops - in my experience - sell the best guitars and the most affordable lessons.
Second, only play music that you love. Find music that you like, search for it online or play by ear.
Third, find other players and hang out with them. Learning from other players who like the same kind of music is the fastest way to get better.
standing_on_one_foot
Well-Known Member
If you want to find music online, generally looking up "[name of song] tab" with help you find the guitar music for that song.
Shadow Wolf
Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
First, download a program called Powertabs. It has both the actual music scale, and guitar tabs for songs. Then, go to http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/. LOTS of tabs for guitar and bass, and ones you can download for the Powertabs program.
standing_alone
Well-Known Member
For books I recommend Guitar For Dummies.
There are guitars, and there are guitars. A classical guitar is played very differently from an electric guitar or even a plectrum guitar. Different types of music require different styles of play as well.
What sort of guitar do you have and what kind of music do you play?
What sort of guitar do you have and what kind of music do you play?
Shadow Wolf
Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
Seyorni does have a good point. It does depend alot on what kind of guitar, and what kind of music. Such as Yngwei Malmsteen. He plays as scalloped guitar which produces a sound that an electric guitar will not produce.
A
angellous_evangellous
Guest
A new bridge between the acoustic and electric guitar is the Taylor T-5.
It doesn't sound quite as full as a big dreadnaught acoustic, but it gives many acoustic guitars a run for their money - and it's electric, too.
http://www.soundtech.co.uk/taylor/news/t5guitarist?PHPSESSID=4e5c05489e66e16cf5c785c60e...
It doesn't sound quite as full as a big dreadnaught acoustic, but it gives many acoustic guitars a run for their money - and it's electric, too.
http://www.soundtech.co.uk/taylor/news/t5guitarist?PHPSESSID=4e5c05489e66e16cf5c785c60e...
Scott1
Well-Known Member
Good points all... thanks Seyorni.
I have a very cheap acoustic guitar now.... my wife knew I'd always wanted to learn, so she bought it for me last Christmass @ Wal-Mart. It's a First-Act brand... loads of plastic and horrible sounding... but it's all we could afford. If I keep up with my practice, I plan on buying an electric guitar sometime in the spring... I would love to learn to play the blues.... my favorite guitar player is Robert Cray.
I don't know much about music... I don't read music and have just been introduced to guitar tableture, so I don't know enough to know what I want.... get me?
.... but I'm learning.... and like Michael said, having a hard time playing for more than 20 min before my fingers hurt too badly, but that I understand wears with continued practice.... and having fun with developing an "ear" for things... I originally learned the E minor chord and did not hear a difference between that and the E major chord... the other day I played the E major and was blown away by the beautiful difference that somehow I could not hear before... so that was pretty neat for me. I'm looking forward to many more "aha!" moments in the future.
Scott
I have a very cheap acoustic guitar now.... my wife knew I'd always wanted to learn, so she bought it for me last Christmass @ Wal-Mart. It's a First-Act brand... loads of plastic and horrible sounding... but it's all we could afford. If I keep up with my practice, I plan on buying an electric guitar sometime in the spring... I would love to learn to play the blues.... my favorite guitar player is Robert Cray.
I don't know much about music... I don't read music and have just been introduced to guitar tableture, so I don't know enough to know what I want.... get me?
.... but I'm learning.... and like Michael said, having a hard time playing for more than 20 min before my fingers hurt too badly, but that I understand wears with continued practice.... and having fun with developing an "ear" for things... I originally learned the E minor chord and did not hear a difference between that and the E major chord... the other day I played the E major and was blown away by the beautiful difference that somehow I could not hear before... so that was pretty neat for me. I'm looking forward to many more "aha!" moments in the future.
Scott
A
angellous_evangellous
Guest
Scott -
The best thing that you can do is find a guitar repair-person and buy a used guitar from him when you can afford it. Remember - lost of blues artists play with acoustics - and you don't need an amp. You should be able to get a good used acoustic or electric for under $200 - and sometimes under $100 from a repair shop and it'll sound and play like a million bucks. If you go electric you can get a used amp from a pawn shop, or you can pick up a cigarette pack amp for about $20 or less...
The best thing that you can do is find a guitar repair-person and buy a used guitar from him when you can afford it. Remember - lost of blues artists play with acoustics - and you don't need an amp. You should be able to get a good used acoustic or electric for under $200 - and sometimes under $100 from a repair shop and it'll sound and play like a million bucks. If you go electric you can get a used amp from a pawn shop, or you can pick up a cigarette pack amp for about $20 or less...
Scott1
Well-Known Member
Cool... thanks AE... I was afraid I'd have to shell out 300-400 bucks for a decent guitar and amp.
I do admit that I would love to try an electric down the road... being able to shape and distort notes sounds like fun... and my preference in listening to music has been electric.... but I think I will wait until I'm a little better with the instrument.
Thanks again.
I do admit that I would love to try an electric down the road... being able to shape and distort notes sounds like fun... and my preference in listening to music has been electric.... but I think I will wait until I'm a little better with the instrument.
Thanks again.
A
angellous_evangellous
Guest
Scott1 said:
It depends what you mean by "decent." There's not much to an electric guitar - you just need comfortable neck and nice frets - that's about the only labor that goes into the production of the guitar - the rest is cheap machine automation... An acoustic needs a lot of carving if it's done right.
Epiphone may well be the brand to look for... for both acoustic and electric... they're made by Gibson in China, so they're inexpensive, high quality guitars.
Check out the used Epiphones at www.elderly.com.
You're right, a decent guitar is going to be expensive - one that has the latest gismos and marketing costs. But you can find a used one for well under $400 that will suit your needs just fine.: hamster :
Shadow Wolf
Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
I used to play a First Act electric, even in a band (with the brand name covered up with a piece of electrical tape for shows). The sound wasn't that good, but nothing a good amp and BOSS MT-2 Metal Zone pedal couldn't fix. Some Ernie Ball strings also helped the sound tremendously. I would refrain from Fender strings if you go the electric route. In my experiences, Fender strings have always broken and snapped the easiest, and do not handle my pick slap at all. My pick actually cut the low e string once when I did that.
A
angellous_evangellous
Guest
Luke Wolf said:
That's cool, man.
I think that I've heard of someone playing a First Act Acoustic on stage somewhere. I've been in some scary places with my guitars... with acoustics, you never know how the stage environment is going to affect the sound.
Scott1 said:
A hard action is common on cheap guitars -- it's easier and cheaper to raise the action than to produce a perfect fingerboard.
To take some pressure off your fingers you might try having the action adjusted (if the strings are closer to the fingerboard it's a lot easier to depress them). You might be able to lower the strings considerably without producing a buzz.
Just out of curiosity, what kind of guitar do you have? If you plan eventually to play electric you should be learning on a plectrum guitar -- steel strings, narrow neck, designed to be played with a plectrum (pick). You mention tablature, though, which is written mostly for classical guitar -- nylon strings, wide neck, designed to be playes with the fingers.