krock Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 One of the reasons I joined this forum was to better myself as a guitarist, so I thought I'd start a thread where hopefully all of you guys and girls will list your best tips so others can learn from you.I'll start. My best tip is to play with passion. I find when if I really enjoy what I'm playing, I tend to perform better. If you dont enjoy the musical genre you've got yourself into then change, because you will never appreciate what you are doing or play with passion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 NEVER do one of those things where you spin the guitar on your back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djroge1 Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Learn to play with a pick and without a pick. Eventually, you will drop your pick in the middle of the song. Also, you can play some cool Jeff Beck sounds without the pick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djroge1 Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Take your time and experiment with all of your equipment and discover what it does and how to get the best sounds out of it. Do this especially with your amp. For example, learn what the difference is in sound between just the preamp making the majority of the distortion compared to having the power tubes make the distortion (yes that means turning up and playing loud). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryUK Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Play with passion. You may be able to play fast. But without passion it'll be rubbish. Also, it's better to play less notes better than more notes bad. Practice bends and hold the note a short while before bringing vibrato in. Don't do your vibrato too fast. It sounds crap. I tell kids to play a few notes and then try to play them with feel. ie, Joe Walsh. You'll be surprised how good a few notes can sound when you put feeling in. Listen to Santana, Schon etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Buy a guitar you are wholly in love with. You will want to spend all your time with it and your playing will improve at an increased pace because you are never apart. After that listen to everyone you can. Even if you don't like them you'll learn something. Pay close attention to those whose passion matches your own and learn from their playing. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Like Pippy said, always watch players playing, its ok to steal their techquies...the greats do to! Also, don't do drugs. It can ruin your music creativity and your life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daryl M Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Those little square fastners they put on hamburger buns work great as a temporary strap lock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPguitarman Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Rest your pick hand properly, using your fingers on the pickguard or body and even your palm on the bridge, depending on the style. Picking without supporting your hand can lead to very sloppy playing. Of course when you are strumming, you don't rest your hand. This may be obvious, but I've seen several people trying to play leads with their hands floating in mid air. Also, as said before. Play your notes with a passion. Don't try to play too fast. Stay with the tempo. And, don't try to out-do the vocalist or other instrument during their time to shine. You'll get your turn, everyone does. Learn to control your volume, being subtle when needed and crank it when it calls for it. This does not always mean using the knobs. You can control it with your attack on the strings and sometimes, this is better, because it gets back to the passion comment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hall Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Volume and tone controls on guitars really do work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Volume and tone controls on guitars really do work. Good one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Turn the gain/overdrive/distortion down. Those classic songs you love have a lot less gain on them than you think they do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vourot Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Build your own pedals to get that classic sound you may be looking for. You can almost always find a kit with high quality parts so you can build your own "boutique" pedal without getting ripped off. Soldering is not hard ! Do your own wicked paint job ! P.S. Lots of great amp kits out there too. Want point to point hand wiring ? Do it yourself ! Its fun ! You learn ! People think your smart ! P.S.S Learn ( and use ) the Major Scale ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The RandyMan Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Be clear and passionate about what you like to play and what you like to hear. Enjoy both, as much as you can. No matter what anyone else may say about either. (I'm just here for the deep stuff . . . ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis G Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Learn the notes on the fretboard and learn as much music theory as you can. If you understand the language, you can speak it much more fluently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chase1410 Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Buy a guitar you are wholly in love with. You will want to spend all your time with it and your playing will improve at an increased pace because you are never apart. After that listen to everyone you can. Even if you don't like them you'll learn something. Pay close attention to those whose passion matches your own and learn from their playing. P. Great advise Pippy...I got the first one down four-fold...Your absolutely right about getting a guitar your proud of and never want to spend apart from...Gonna have to try open up my horizons more and try to learn from others that I may not have originally listened too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstMeasure Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Think about what you know when you're practicing or working on something, but don't think about it when you're Playing. Let It Happen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Also...along that same line...play from your heart...truly! Not from your head! That's where the real "magic" happens...IMHO. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimbabig Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 It's better to humble yourself and say that you're not that great, than to say you are so great and have your ego cut down. Even if you are great, you're still an a$$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Never trust tab. Never take a magazine review seriously. Never believe a bit of gear will make you sound like Joe Rock Star. Never play at "11". Always trust your ears. They never lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sproggie Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Don't waste your time noodling. Decide what your going to practise and do just that. Practise, practise, practise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky4 Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Choose an amp you'll actually be able to use. If your 17 and live with your parents, you don't need a Marshall stack. Low wattage amps are the way to go. Check out your favorite guitar players to see who their influences were, then check them out to see who their influences were. Listen to them, and you might find your musical tastes growing and your play expanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sproggie Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Choose an amp you'll actually be able to use. If your 17 and live with your parents, you don't need a Marshall stack. Low wattage amps are the way to go. Check out your favorite guitar players to see who their influences were, then check them out to see who their influences were. Listen to them, and you might find your musical tastes growing and your play expanding. Good one. I once asked a guitar tutor about studying Peter Greens style and he sent me off to study Freddie King. :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Don't waste your time noodling. Decide what your going to practise and do just that. Practise, practise, practise. Gotta disagree, Lenny Breau was a huge noodler. Some say thats how he discovered the harp harmonics on the guitar, by noodling. Also theres two kinds of noddling, bad and good noodling. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sproggie Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Gotta disagree, Lenny Breau was a huge noodler. Some say thats how he discovered the harp harmonics on the guitar, by noodling. Also theres two kinds of noddling, bad and good noodling. :D I must be a really bad noodler. When I just noodle I seem to play lots of bits I know so it doesn't stretch me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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