rockman82 Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 One thing, i believe is that guitar players really need to know why they have picked up the guitar and really have a deep understanding, and not just playing because everyone else does. I don't know how many people i see walking down the hallways of my school with a guitar in hand, and don't even stick to it. Of course, i could be wrong, and i mostly hope i am. Other than that, just the basics, which most of you have stated. If one wants to learn lead, learn as many scales as you can. Study chord and chord progressions, study the notes on the fretboard and such. And last but not least, keep a positive attitude, and believe in yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackie Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 Be able to always get your guitar back from the pawn shop......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted March 15, 2010 Author Share Posted March 15, 2010 Be able to always get your guitar back from the pawn shop......... I would like to add clear the cocaine lines off the case... My guitar teacher has some interesting stories about what goes on backstage at concerts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 Guitar owners have one for show. They may or may not be able to play anything. Guitar players enjoy making music at their own level of talent and/or skill because ... they just enjoy it. To be a pro or even semi-pro guitar player requires more skill and talent than many other guitar players, but far more importantly, it requires first and foremost a capability to be in front of people and "entertain" in a mode that includes some use of a guitar. Hmmmm. I think I sound a little cynical on that last, but... m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmurray Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 Transcribe, play by ear, and be able to groove (i.e. have a solid sense of rhythm). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 post in a Forum :- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre S Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 I think I am going to get a set of GFS Prewired pickguard' date=' route out my current Strat, throw em in, change the Trem and thats all under 200 bucks. I am really looking at a Custom Shop Strat, I think I will rather save up my money, if the difference is enough between the Custom Shop and the American Standard. Thanks for asking[/quote'] Cool.... What kind of Custom Shope strat? A sig model or a reissue? I always wanted Eric Claptons Sig... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmurray Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 And DON'T rely on TAB, use your ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ledzep59 Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 Stairway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MojoRedFoot Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 Well its best if you can still play well but as long as you THINK you played well' date=' its good enough. Yeah I remember (well not really) playing an AWESOME New Years Eve gig a few years back and I have a feeling we did not play as well as I may have remembered. [/quote'] Do you recall people cheering at the end? As long as they did cheer and were more intoxicated than you were, then I would call that a success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingarmadillo Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 Be able to always get your guitar back from the pawn shop......... I was going to suggest find an "Significant Other" so when you lose your day job you don't have to pawn your guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 Reading some of the "you should ought to be able to do 'X,'" kinda concerns me. I try to look at guitar playing for most people as something they do like talking or walking around a neighborhood barbecue. Yeah, I agree, you should be able to tune the thing and change strings and play some chords. I tend to take playing rather seriously although I recognize that regardless of a degree of ability to develop skill, I don't now and never have had the degree of people to watch and emulate for the kind of playing I wanna do. Yeah, I've a bit of understanding of composition and transposition and "orchestration," but frankly that's only at the skill level rather than the "talent" level. Darn it. And yes, that's the sort of thing I've tried to teach along with some basic, style-transferable "stuff" when I've taught beginner guitar. There are thousands of folks who play a dozen basic chords at most, and simply strum along to neighborhood singalongs and everyone is rather happy with the results. There's no need for that individual in his/her own mind to improve technique because he/she is doing what he/she wants to do with the guitar. That latter person is still a "guitar player." He may not know why he plays a song with given chords, or how to transpose, because it's simply not relevant to the fun and benefits of guitar playing from his/her perspective. I've seen folks like that keep pickin' for 50 and more years. OTOH, I've met guitar prodigies who quit playing in late teens or early 20s; excellent musicians who simply didn't care to keep pickin'. They're just not really guitar players. Some people have almost no "advanced" guitar technique or "theory," and play almost daily for 60 years. Others have loads of talent and technique and theory and... just quit anyway. Which is the guitar player? Ah.... heck. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackie Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 I have no idea what half the chords I play are........or what key I am in...........I never had a lesson on guitar....used to play the trombone and read music for it......... I can set up a guitar as good or better than a so called tech.............I have a good time playing ......and like what I play......... can I play others music..........maybe............but mine is mine and thats what I play..........anytime I have ever played for others they listen and then at some point ask hey can you play such and such........and I go nah I only play my own thing........... Then later they go ...you should be in a band........ha ha ha ha........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted March 15, 2010 Author Share Posted March 15, 2010 I'm just curious as to what people say. I thought there would be some "guitar standards" like there are for jazz, but I guess I am wrong I play what I like. I know how to read music, but I prefer to d¡ck around until I get it myself. I like to riff around. For me it is fun. When it stops becoming that, I don't know if I will still be playing as much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matiac Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 Don't be lulled into "volume wars" with the other guitarist. Back in the 90's, I used to jam with a bunch of guys, and the other guitar guy used to try ever so desparately to be "heard", thus jacking up his volume, at which point I would put my guitar back in it's case, and tell him, "all yours!"...screaming it of course over his Jimi-solo. What a trout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted March 16, 2010 Author Share Posted March 16, 2010 Don't be lulled into "volume wars" with the other guitarist. Back in the 90's' date=' I used to jam with a bunch of guys, and the other guitar guy used to try ever so desparately to be "heard", thus jacking up his volume, at which point I would put my guitar back in it's case, and tell him, "all yours!"...screaming it of course over his Jimi-solo. What a trout.[/quote'] BWAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA... that only happened once. He was playing rhythm, I had a solo. He kicked up his volume so I couldn't hear mine. I bumped mine up a little so it was audible, then he kept trying to top me. Lesson learned: He looked like a jagoff, but I had the last laugh. 50 watts tube > 100 watts solid state :- And this was at practice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 Do you recall people cheering at the end? As long as they did cheer and were more intoxicated than you were' date=' then I would call that a success.[/quote'] Then it's settled...I MUST be a guitar player...people ALWAYS cheer when I quit playing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brookfielder Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 Ears with a connection to the brain are incredibly important! To be able to differentiate pitch is SO key. If you can't hear that you are in tune or playing in the right key, all is lost. Closely related to that is a sense of time. I recently sat down with a friend who had a song with quite amusing lyrics and a very basic tune. When we tried to record I found that he could not keep time with even the most obvious 4 on the floor kick drum and he couldn't tell that he was out of tune. With all of the enthusiasm he had, I can only cross my fingers that experience will bring him to pitch and time! Having said that, I wonder how many wince when I play?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 Closely related to that is a sense of time. I recently sat down with a friend who had a song with quite amusing lyrics and a very basic tune. When we tried to record I found that he could not keep time with even the most obvious 4 on the floor kick drum and he couldn't tell that he was out of tune. With all of the enthusiasm he had' date=' I can only cross my fingers that experience will bring him to pitch and time! Having said that, I wonder how many wince when I play??[/quote'] Conversely, years ago when I was teaching guitar, I had a student who was VERY mathematical... she understood the timing of all the notes...but... she had no "soul" in her music.... everything sounded like a metronome..... music is a hybrid of science and art. Take either out of the picture, and the results aren't pleasing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShredAstaire Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 Do you recall people cheering at the end? As long as they did cheer and were more intoxicated than you were' date=' then I would call that a success.[/quote'] Oh yeah...many beers were purchased for me after we finished playing too...we must have been at least OK....however, in my mind, we were better than Sabbath!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MojoRedFoot Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 Oh yeah...many beers were purchased for me after we finished playing too...we must have been at least OK....however' date=' in my mind, we were better than Sabbath!!! :) [/quote'] Epic win! Dan....i did not look at it that way. People can be cruel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 After reading all of these posts, it seems that the answer to the OP question is- enjoy playing. For me, I want to improve. I think the fastest way to improve is to learn, and the fastest way to learn is to take lessons from a qualified instructor until you've gotten all you want out of him. Also, I think you learn faster playing in bands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grampa Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 Disable a thermo-nuclear device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 Disable a thermo-nuclear device. Did ya know I was on and EOD team? Nuclear-Rated, Presidential Support in Chambersburg, PA! ('course that was in 1971). They probably got better nukes now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 Rob... I think you hit one excellent point in terms of music being ... art ... rather than "science." I know that sometimes I question my own timing on phrasing - why do I do what I do and is it "good" or is it simply how my brain thinks it should be. Frankly that's one of the main reasons I feel I'm terribly lacking in any sort of "talent." Yet still there is a joy in playing music - to me especially guitar - that is unmatched by about anything else. Yeah, I love the zen of shooting sports and martial arts practice; yeah, I love study of a lotta stuff; yeah, I enjoy various physical pleasures ranging from a good meal to soaking in the heat from the sun on the first really warm spring day. But honestly, picking guitar and working on technique and the challenge of performance... It's a gig that never tires. I wish that I had the talent to justify and support that sorta habit. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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