How did you learn to play a guitar

[btoth76]

Hello Jimi!

 

I did try to tap the rhythm with my foot, or use a metronome. The results were even worser. It distracted me from playing. :D

 

Whenever I decide to learn a song, I print out the tablature. But, they always seem to be wrong to me. I try to count, and play slowly first, only to realise, that it doesn't sounds - not even - close to the record. So, I learn the notes, and figure out the rhythm from the record. :D

 

That's how bad I am at it. I remember watching a lesson with Al DiMeola. He said, if You can't tap the rhythm with Your foot while playing, put the guitar down - it's not for You. I guess, many would say the same, but - hell - I like the guitar! At least, I don't share my playing with others. Never even posted any of my playings here, at the Forums. You should be all thankful for this.

 

Cheers... Bence

[btoth76]

Here it is:

 

 

Cheers... Bence

[milod]

All kidding aside, I think that basic fingerpicking may be the best way to learn "rhythm" guitar. Start with the old thumb, 3-fingerpluck; alt-thumb, 3-finger pluck... over and over.

 

It's the "boom-shush" in 2/4 or 4/4 time and because the fingers are in direct contact with the strings, one least likely to overwhelm one's mind with attempting to watch what one is doing.

 

It may certainly not be part of the player's goal as such. It's not intended to be, although some may use it and variations their whole lifetime. The intent here, however, is to create a rhythmic path in one's mind that is most easily brought from one's hand techniques. There's no pick to go flying, for example.

 

Yeah, blues/rock/gypsy/bluegrass/folk/jazz/classical/flamenco all will at times have a different mode of bringing a rhythm more appropriate to their styles. No question.

 

The "gypsy jazz" is a good example of what appears to be just simple pounding - but it's not all that simple and can take years to get the style down solidly. Plus if one doesn't "feel" the rhythm, it doesn't work.

 

The advantage of starting with the thumb and three fingers is more consistent contact with the strings by the fingers and the natural rhythm of the thumb alternating on bass strings - again, with a tactile feedback where one's thumb might be. For example, just rest the fingers on the G, B and E strings while forming any six-string root chord. Then without moving the fingers, do the alternating bass just with the thumb. It almost forces a 1-2 sorta rhythm almost from the beginning even for a rank beginner.

 

More complex rhythms can come later, but the basics IMHO can be broken down and then when the mind is into those basics, one can begin to add on stuff and various techniques. But if it ain't in the head, it ain't gonna come outa the guitar. KISS at first, then figure variations. At least, that's my opinion.

 

m

[4Hayden]

Here it is:

 

 

Cheers... Bence

If your tring to learn u tube is the best way to go, you can view how it's done > scales and chords

[Drog]

Hello Jimi!

 

I did try to tap the rhythm with my foot, or use a metronome. The results were even worser. It distracted me from playing. :D

 

Whenever I decide to learn a song, I print out the tablature. But, they always seem to be wrong to me. I try to count, and play slowly first, only to realise, that it doesn't sounds - not even - close to the record. So, I learn the notes, and figure out the rhythm from the record. :D

 

That's how bad I am at it. I remember watching a lesson with Al DiMeola. He said, if You can't tap the rhythm with Your foot while playing, put the guitar down - it's not for You. I guess, many would say the same, but - hell - I like the guitar! At least, I don't share my playing with others. Never even posted any of my playings here, at the Forums. You should be all thankful for this.

 

Cheers... Bence

To learn to count rhythm , start without your instrument, this way the note name does not mean anything but just the note duration. Then say it out loud as you tap it out. Then get the note names and play to that rhythm. You should get a basic book for reading, one that explains time signatures. One I used in the past was Introductory Musicianship, by Theodore A. Lynn.

 

One thing to help counting is this: count the beat on each number or word

Quarter note = 1 ,2,3,4

Eighth note = 1,&,2,&3,&4,&

Sixteenth note = 1,E,&,Ah,2,E,&,Ah,3,E,&,Ah,4,E,&,Ah

Triplets= tri-pl-et, tr-pl-et the duration lasts over what would be two notes of the same value. Ex with a triple in eighth notes, you say the word tri-pl-et over the duration it would take to say 1,&. Like this tri(1)-pl-et(&). The pl goes in between evenly.

 

A dot after a note adds 1/2 the value of that note to the count.

Ex a quarter note 1,2...would add an 1/8 note duration to the beat. So count 1,&

 

The rests work the same way.

 

The notes in the measure will be equal to the time signature.

4/4 = four beats in the bar and quarter note gets one beat

3/8 = three beats in a bar and eighth note gets one beat

7/8 = seven notes in a bar and eighth note gets one beat

 

1 whole note = 2 half notes = 4 quarter notes = 8 eighth notes = 16 sixteenth notes = 32 32nd notes = 64 64th notes

 

Hope this helps, but get a book or instructor to make it more clear if needed.

[4Hayden]

To learn to count rhythm , start without your instrument, this way the note name does not mean anything but just the note duration. Then say it out loud as you tap it out. Then get the note names and play to that rhythm. You should get a basic book for reading, one that explains time signatures. One I used in the past was Introductory Musicianship, by Theodore A. Lynn.

 

One thing to help counting is this: count the beat on each number or word

Quarter note = 1 ,2,3,4

Eighth note = 1,&,2,&3,&4,&

Sixteenth note = 1,E,&,Ah,2,E,&,Ah,3,E,&,Ah,4,E,&,Ah

Triplets= tri-pl-et, tr-pl-et the duration lasts over what would be two notes of the same value. Ex with a triple in eighth notes, you say the word tri-pl-et over the duration it would take to say 1,&. Like this tri(1)-pl-et(&). The pl goes in between evenly.

 

A dot after a note adds 1/2 the value of that note to the count.

Ex a quarter note 1,2...would add an 1/8 note duration to the beat. So count 1,&

 

The rests work the same way.

 

The notes in the measure will be equal to the time signature.

4/4 = four beats in the bar and quarter note gets one beat

3/8 = three beats in a bar and eighth note gets one beat

7/8 = seven notes in a bar and eighth note gets one beat

 

1 whole note = 2 half notes = 4 quarter notes = 8 eighth notes = 16 sixteenth notes = 32 32nd notes = 64 64th notes

 

Hope this helps, but get a book or instructor to make it more clear if needed.

Nice job

[btoth76]

...

Hope this helps, but get a book or instructor to make it more clear if needed.

 

Thank You, Drog!

 

Cheers... Bence

[ReGuitar]

By ear or lessons ?

 

My dad & mother got me lessons when I was young ( 13-15 )later I started to pick up songs by listening to them. Which makes a better player ?

 

Both. I started taking private classes when I was 13 and soon I was able to play songs by ear.

 

- Picking up Rock and Roll stuff by ear helped me with my melodic sense, scales and technics;

 

- Brazilian Bossa Nova songs helped me with chord progressions and improvisation as well.

 

Cheers.

[4Hayden]

Both. I started taking private classes when I was 13 and soon I was able to play songs by ear.

 

- Picking up Rock and Roll stuff by ear helped me with my melodic sense, scales and technics;

 

- Brazilian Bossa Nova songs helped me with chord progressions and improvisation as well.

 

Cheers.

Seems a lot of us started around 13 with lessons

[zigzag]

As I said before, I am not a good reader. And like m, I struggle more with rhythms than note ID. Most of my knowledge of theory revolves around intervals and not actual names of notes. But, I still believe that I retain a song longer in my little brain if I learn it from notation.

 

I had a great instructor who taught me how to determine rhythms. Drawing from Drog's lesson, and also from knowing the value of each rest symbol, my instructor taught me how to diagram the rhythm of a measure. For a song in common time (4/4), first, you determine the quickest note value in the measure; say it is a 16th note. Draw 16 circles (4 beats to the measure, a quarter note gets one beat, there are 4 sixteenth notes per quarter note) on a piece of paper. Where each note is played in that measure, fill in the circle. Using the system that Drog taught, count out: 1ee&uh, 2ee&uh, 3ee&uh, 4ee&uh, and where the note is played, pat your knee. Get used to hearing where the pats are in the measure. This will also help you when learning a song with TAB.

 

Example:

 

 

 

|| X 0 0 X X 0 0 X X 0 0 X X 0 0 X |

 

 

The more you do this, the easier it becomes. It will be very slow at first, but don't feel stupid or alone. It is like that for everyone. Be patient, and always use a metronome.

[milod]

I think too that learning music in general, perhaps especially reading music, points out exactly why and how each individual learns differently - and that in ways, "learning theory" does well enough describing how different people have difficulty with certain types of learning, but doesn't necessarily do any good at all in prescribing how to overcome that.

 

The above info on note values, etc., I've known since I was 5 - doggone nearly 64 years ago. But I still have difficulty in applying that knowledge in terms of sight reading music. Lemme hear the piece once done properly and wham, I've got the rhythms even if I don't quite yet "know" the tune.

 

For example on picking stuff up in terms of my own head, some 40 years ago I got a call from a friend who was a college theater prof. Their guitar player for the pit band in "Man of La Mancha" came down sick. Could I learn the guitar stuff quickly and fill in? Full rehearsal was in two days, dress rehearsal in three and three performances began in four days.

 

I knew one piece from it. Period. He got me the recording and the score that had chords written in that were for pretty simple "progressions" but in awkward keys for guitar. So I proceeded to play the recording every minute I wasn't at work - including running repeats at night while I was sleeping.

 

So with the "music" on paper and timing concepts from the recording, it worked well enough. I dunno if I hadn't had the recording - although I could "hear" chord changes and rhythms as we went along, but I'd have to have been "reactive" to that instead of being able to feel my entries and such.

 

Everyone is different in how they learn. I've also noticed that I think in "chords" more than I think in notes. So actually fingerpicking with melody is easier for me than doing single string playing of the exact same melodic notes! Others, I'm sure, will chip in how they're different - which is exactly my point.

 

Don't worry, keep pickin' and enjoy the journey.

 

m

[zigzag]

I hear what you're saying, m. There is a lot to be said for auditory learning and thinking in chords and arpeggios. But, if you were a good site reader, you could have played through that music once or twice in no time, and used the charts as a guide during the performance. Being a good site reader involves more than being able to read lines of notes. When you know how to read, you instantly know keys, scales, and rhythms, and from that you can derive chords (if they aren't otherwise written), modes, and arps. And, it allows you to play music you've never heard the way it was written.

 

I'm not saying that to be a great musician you have to know theory or be able to read music. I'm saying that if you have an aptitude for it, and you want to take your musicianship to another level, learning to read music is worth the effort. Most serious musicians I know include site reading in their practice routines.

[milod]

Ziggy...

 

I hear what you're saying - but figure that I've been reading music for close to 65 years for a number of instruments, starting with keyboard, and I'm still a lousy sight reader. If I know the material at all, it tells me the notes and timing and I enjoy using written notation and it works well - even tab that I've used since the late '60s; if I don't, it just doesn't click.

 

m

[AndyK]

I asked to play the guitar when I was about 9. My parents made me play the violin and clarinet, both of which I hated, and cost them a lot of money.

 

When I got my first pay packet at 18, I bought a Columbus Les Paul copy. I listened to records and tried to imitate. Had a session with a friend of my dad, who taught me about blues and starting to solo. Everything else, I've learned myself.

[ReGuitar]

Seems a lot of us started around 13 with lessons

 

Yep, to me, it was similar to AndyK.

 

I asked to play the guitar when I was about 9. My parents made me play the violin and clarinet, both of which I hated, and cost them a lot of money.

 

When I got my first pay packet at 18, I bought a Columbus Les Paul copy. I listened to records and tried to imitate. Had a session with a friend of my dad, who taught me about blues and starting to solo. Everything else, I've learned myself.

 

When I was about 9 or 10 I used to see all those guitarists on TV. I thought that was really cool. I was already into music, carrying my Sony Walkman (remember?) wherever I used to go. My parents didn't give me a guitar untill I was 13. It was a strat-like model. Not good at all but, for me it was a dream come true.

[4Hayden]

Yep, to me, it was similar to AndyK.

 

 

 

When I was about 9 or 10 I used to see all those guitarists on TV. I thought that was really cool. I was already into music, carrying my Sony Walkman (remember?) wherever I used to go. My parents didn't give me a guitar untill I was 13. It was a strat-like model. Not good at all but, for me it was a dream come true.

I remember my first guitar , my parents bought it at Sear .Amp was in the case, I was in hog heaven