RichardLionhart Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 What's the first thing you're gonna do with yours? Figure out how to tune it? I'm trying to do that right now... It's tough since I don't know what in-tune notes sound like yet... The first thing I did was dance around like a 5 year old on Christmas morning. If you could have seen the looks on the faces of my two siberian huskies... I bought a Korg GA-30 Tuner for $14.99 with mine. After reading the "destructions", I plugged it in and tuned it up. I highly recommend one of those. It worked great for me and I don't have a clue as to what I'm doing. I can only play by ear at the moment, but hope to change that soon. I dropped mine off at the guitar shop today to have it set up. I guess most of the fellas here would recommend that. I sure as hell don't know how to do it. I also spoke again with one of the instructors at the shop to see about starting lessons this week. I'll know more tomorrow when I go to pick it up. For now... strum happily and grin like ah... umm... an "Idiot"? I'm doing the same. #-o/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomeIdiotDreamer Posted November 4, 2008 Author Share Posted November 4, 2008 The first thing I did was dance around like a 5 year old on Christmas morning. If you could have seen the looks on the faces of my two siberian huskies... I bought a Korg GA-30 Tuner for $14.99 with mine. After reading the "destructions"' date=' I plugged it in and tuned it up. I highly recommend one of those. It worked great for me and I don't have a clue as to what I'm doing. I can only play by ear at the moment, but hope to change that soon. I dropped mine off at the guitar shop today to have it set up. I guess most of the fellas here would recommend that. I sure as hell don't know how to do it. I also spoke again with one of the instructors at the shop to see about starting lessons this week. I'll know more tomorrow when I go to pick it up. For now... strum happily and grin like ah... umm... an "Idiot"? I'm doing the same. :D/ [/quote'] I don't have a real case for my guitar yet, and I don't wanna pull a Ramones and carry my guitar around in a plastic bag and risk it getting knocked around or snagged on the bus.... I found a Guitar Center downtown and a smaller, local music store a bit closer, but I also wanna learn how to tune my instrument by ear. I know if I start with a formal tuner this early in the game, I'm never going to be free of it, and I want to learn what the notes are SUPPOSED to sound like.... I know I'm gonna have to get it serviced eventually... Speaking of strumming, even THAT is harder then it looks! Put your finger on a string, that string doesn't make sound anymore, but it's SUPPOSED to sound higher and...yeah, I'm confused still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tintin Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 1. Even if you tune by ear, you should tune from a reference note (usually the low E open string). You can then tune the other strings WRT to the tuned open E (6th), as well as by harmonics, although that's more complicated. Here's an online tuning tone reference. There are gazillions. Having an electronic tuner is way easier, but, as you know, a brain dead method. 2. To make different notes by fretting, press on the string right above the fret, and then strum or pluck it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricochet Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 Congrats...from another Macbook user... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tintin Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 Basic stuff, BTW: At first it seemed counterintuitive to me, but when referring to the guitar neck and fretboard, closer to the body is "higher" and closer to the headstock is "lower." Also, the low (tone wise) E string is closer to your eyes as you look down over the guitar and the high e string (tone wise) is toward your feet as you hold the guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar Chico Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.... I'm so jealous...:D Enjoy your new guitar sid! It looks wonderful and probably sounds even better! GC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stan 58 Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 GET A TUNER!!!!!!!!!! Your never going to learn with out one. Ive been playing for 35 years and i still use my tuner every day. Get the best one you can afford. When you see your favorite bands they ALL use them. Stan. P.S. nice axe!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tintin Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 A decent electronic tuner is too cheap and easy to pass up, IMO, although you can go with the one reference tone method if you really want. Check out this dude's website. One of my favorite guitar instructors, and certainly one of the most affordable! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tintin Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 , IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomeIdiotDreamer Posted November 6, 2008 Author Share Posted November 6, 2008 I've barely managed to tune it, now I'm going through Arlen's intro lesson on the Gibson website. It's slow going. Wish me luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonedeaf1281734100 Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 Arlen Roth's books and videos are very good, but I have found them generally aimed above my current level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonedeaf1281734100 Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 I just went through this whole thread and learned a lot. I am, at best, an intermediate player, and that is probably an exaggeration, so take what I say with at least several grains of ... whatever. A few thoughts, some of which have already been brought out: Great-looking guitar! You will definitely be happy you didn't buy the cheapest starter pack. I think an electric is also a good choice for a beginner and is easier to play than an acoustic, which is the more common choice. Don't worry about thinking that you don't look right for the guitar. I'll bet Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan didn't look like much when they started out, and they did pretty good. I agree with considering a wall-hanger rather than a stand. The guitar is less likely to get kicked over, and if you are a little embarrassed about it right now, you can pass it off as an incredibly cool, avante-garde decorative wall hanging. If your friends don't buy that, just tell them to go to hell. It will enhance your image as a guitar player. I think a small practice amp is fine for starting out. At some point you will want a better one. A practice amp with a headphone jack is useful. When tuning, make sure that you don't tune the guitar to an octave higher than whatever you are using as a reference pitch. I'm sad to say that I know from experience that this can be done. If you do you can break strings or even damage the neck of the guitar from the high-tension (although that is more common on an acoustic). You will quickly be overwhelmed by how much there is to know, and be bewildered at what to try to learn first. I have found self-instructional books to be quite useful in learning the basics (open position notes, musical notation or tab, chord forms, elementary music theory). There is a ton of free instructional stuff on the web now. Just do a google search for "free guitar lesson". If you are like me, you will find that you make some substantial progress early, then run into a wall. You will find something pretty basic that you will be absolutely certain that you will never, ever under any circumstances be able to do. For me it was playing barre chords (harder on acoustic). Don't become depressed. Keep the faith and you will find that what now seems impossible will someday be so easy that you will not even give it any thought. I absolutely agree and believe that everyone's little finger is hopelessly retarded initially. It can be trained. Expect to hit plateaus like this throughout your progress. Don't learn just one piece and then play it over and over. You have to keep introducing new stuff which you will find challenging. Eventually, you will need to learn the fretboard and scales, but when you are ready you will be motivated to do so because you will realize that you need to do it to take you further. Every time you pick up the guitar, do something with it that you are capable of that is fun. Right now, that may only be sounding the open strings. If practice is always just painful stuff, you may throw in the towel. In learning notes and the fretboard, realize that only a very few individuals have "perfect pitch": the ability to recognize the name of a single note from its tone, and know whether it is sharp or flat. Most of us can only recognize a note relative to some other known tone. You will become able to recognize whether two tones are a "semi-tone" or "half-step" (1 fret difference) or a "whole-tone" or "full-step" (2 frets) apart fairly soon. Learning the names of every note on the fretboard instinctively takes a long time. Start with the names of the notes for all six strings on the first 3 frets, then learn the names of the notes on the thickest E string all along the fretboard, then all of the notes on the next A string. You will then know the note names for half the strings, since the thinnest string is also tuned to E (in standard tuning). As soon as you can start to play with others. The others don't have to be live however. I'm not talking about the "Really Grateful Dead". You can get CDs that contain "backing tracks" where there is a drum track and a bass track that you can play chords in time (and hopefully in tune) with. There are free backing tracks available on the internet as well. A metronome is useful, and electronic metronomes are cheap, but they are very boring to play against. If you have an electronic keyboard, many are programmed to play rhythm tracks and songs at adjustable tempos. You can slow them way down and play over them. At some point, you might want to consider an electronic guitar trainer (like a Tascam) which is a hardware device that plays a CD or mp3 and lets you slow the tempo but keep the pitch the same. There are also "pitch-shifter" software programs for the computer. You probably don't want one just yet, but it is a good thing to know about. Listening critically to music has been emphasized and is very important. Don't just focus on the lead guitar, however. You need to train your ear to pick out what is happening in the rhythm section as well. In a rock track, for example, count time to the music or tap your foot (almost all rock is four beats to the measure). Notice how the snare drum emphasizes the "back-beat" (2nd and 4th beats) in each measure. Train your ear to pick up the pattern that the kick (bass) drum is playing, what the high-hat (cymbal) is doing, and also the bass line played by the electric bass guitar. If there is also a rhythm guitar, train your ear to pick that out. The individual parts backing up the lead guitar are often quite simple, but fit together to produce a powerful sound. If you do get to the point where you start to play with real live people, you will need to be able to keep time with the rhythm of the drums and bass so you need to learn instinctively how to listen for them. Your first assignment will probably be playing rhythm guitar. The chords may be very simple, but as long as you play the right chords at the right time, you will sound great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zonie Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 SomeIdiotDreamer Congratulations! Beautiful Guitar you have there! I think the first thing you will need to know is that many of the older songs, country, folk, old rock etc, share a common idea. Most of them are usually based on a three chord progression. That simply means that three chords, used one after the other will be all you need for the whole song. The easiest 3 chord progression is G-C-D. The nice thing about these three chords is that when your fingers are playing a G chord, the C chord is half finished by just moving two of your fingers over one set of strings, removing your little finger from the high E string and placing your index finger on the second string from the bottom at the first fret. Look at a book to see what I mean. After you have started to learn the G and C chord practice switching back and forth between these two chords over and over. Soon these will become almost natural. Then practice putting your fingers on the D chord. Now practice going from the C chord to the D chord. After the C to D starts working pretty good, practice playing G--C--D over and over. Don't get frustrated when your fingers don't seem to know where to go. With practice you will teach them and before you know it you will be able to switch thru these chords with great speed. Other 3 chord progressions that work together are A-D-E, C-F-G and E-A-B (or B7th). Any of these three chord progressions can be used to play a song. The reason to use one set verses another set is so you don't have to sing in a range that makes you sound like a bull frog or like Tiny Tim. You can learn the bar chords (using your index finger to bridge across all strings with your remaining fingers making up the rest of the chord) later. For now just work on the basics. Have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardLionhart Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 Is there a way to "sticky" this thread? I've found it quite useful, as I'm sure many others probably have as well. It sure couldn't hurt to have a beginner's thread like this for anyone to reference on the fly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueLesPaul2006 Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Keep you hands clean. Wash them before you play. This will help to keep your strings in play for a longer period of time. Also be sure to wipe your guitar down with a soft cloth after you play. You might as well keep it clean and nice since you spent the money on it in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tintin Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 I second the sticky idea! My favorite on line instructor: Justin Sandercoe or, if not linking http://justinguitar.com/index.php All free; all terrific. Check out the beginner's course if it suit you, but there's also material for more experienced players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aj Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Badly out of tune and I don't know how to fix it yet. But it sounds better then I even imagined it would' date=' even out of tune. Looks incredible to: ancient and modern and just a bit regal. I'm in love.[/quote'] Ahhh, another LH player. I don't feel so lonely now Nice LP you have there - congrats! I'll second the Korg 30 tuner. It'll even tell you the string number, which is really convenient until you learn the letters. AJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebb Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Ahhh' date=' another LH player. I don't feel so lonely now Nice LP you have there - congrats! I'll second the Korg 30 tuner. It'll even tell you the string number, which is really convenient until you learn the letters. AJ[/quote'] Aj, as you can see, the epiphone lettering on the box is inverted, that would lead one to believe that all the pics are inverted and sid is not a lefty. IMHO of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zonie Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Sorry aj98. ebb is right. The pictures are mirrored which is why the the gold stick on that says "Lifetime" is illegible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aj Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 Aj' date=' as you can see, the epiphone lettering on the box is inverted, that would lead one to believe that all the pics are inverted and sid is not a lefty. IMHO of course.[/quote'] Duly noted. Appears I'm not the only one with crossed optics... Raphael> Hell they put the neck on the wrong end.....send it back quick. O..wait...you one of those guys. Just kidding lefty's:):) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar Chico Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 Keep you hands clean. Wash them before you play. This will help to keep your strings in play for a longer period of time. Also be sure to wipe your guitar down with a soft cloth after you play. You might as well keep it clean and nice since you spent the money on it in the first place. Or, if you're like me and keep forgetting to do that, get some elixir strings. I like them a lot. GC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomeIdiotDreamer Posted November 11, 2008 Author Share Posted November 11, 2008 Aj' date=' as you can see, the epiphone lettering on the box is inverted, that would lead one to believe that all the pics are inverted and sid is not a lefty. IMHO of course.[/quote'] Correct. Sorry I overlooked that. I took the photos with my webcam, and of course they mirrored everything. I usually reverse them before I upload them but this time I got too excited. I third the sticky comment and not just because this is a thread I started: there are millions of ways for a beginner to screw up, and between ALL the people on this board, I bet we've been through all of them. It's important sometimes, especially for a newbie in danger of getting discouraged, denouncing themselves as talentless and giving up guitar forever, to know that someone else out there went through the same thing and still made it. Like, I have really small hands and very short fingers. The cords are hard for me. I simply CANNOT get the D cord to sound clean: my fingers twist the EXACT WRONG WAY and my hand is sore and it all seems very hopeless right now... P.S I got that guitar stand. I was getting paranoid about leaving my guitar on the floor. If I accidentally broke it, it'd be my roommate's responsibility to keep me from jumping out the window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonedeaf1281734100 Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 Your fingers will feel very retarded at first, and your hands will be a bit sore. Try to fret the strings (press down on them) right next to the metal fret bar. Think as if you were placing your finger tip in the "corner" formed by the fretboard and the elevated metal fret. If you are having particular trouble playing the D major chord with three fingers, you might try playing it as a partial barre chord. A barre chord is where you use one finger flat across the fretboard to depress more than one string at the same time. For D major, you would lay your index finger flat across the first (highest pitch) strings between the first and second frets (near the second fret) and then use your third finger to depress the second string between the second and third frets. Barre chords are kind of hard to play clean initially but they get much easier with practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zonie Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 While I can't argue against cleanliness I don't know that I can go along with washing your hands right before playing a guitar. The calluses that will eventually grow on the ends of the fingers from playing soak up water like a sponge and they can become very soft and easily damaged from playing for any period of time. (Been there, done that.) I would suggest that if washing hands is in the plans, allow at least an hour afterwards for the calluses to dry before doing any playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stan 58 Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 I have to agree with Zonie. Stan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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