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DPChallenge Forums >> General Discussion >> I purchased electric guitar, giving up photography
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06/14/2008 11:24:50 PM · #1
naahh… just kidding. No way would I give up photography. That is just plain crazy.

Here is my question for those who play a guitar. What are the good songs to start learning with? I learned some kid’s songs and kind of able to play them. I even learned a simple riff or two.

Googling around the net it seems like everyone wants to sell you some magic system so you would become a guitar god in no time. I’m not going for those.

Anyway, any starter songs, websites, tutorials or tips for beginner would be great.

Thanks

Nick
06/14/2008 11:31:25 PM · #2
Get a good book on chords and scales. Learn the open chords the A and E position bar chords then the major scale and pentatonic minor scale and you will be able to play 90% of the rock tunes ever written. But you must learn the fundamentals.

The obligatory first rock song to learn is "Smoke on the water" by Deep Purple. Congrats and have fun.
06/14/2008 11:44:29 PM · #3
Originally posted by Nikolai1024:


Here is my question for those who play a guitar. What are the good songs to start learning with?

Nick


Green Sleeves, Freebird, and the opening riff of 5150.
06/14/2008 11:58:26 PM · #4
All right. Thanks

I'll start trying some of those once my fingers recover a bit. I had no idea it would so hard on my fingers.
06/15/2008 12:00:20 AM · #5
Originally posted by Nikolai1024:

All right. Thanks

I'll start trying some of those once my fingers recover a bit. I had no idea it would so hard on my fingers.


Why do ya think Ringo said "I got blisters on me fingers" on "Helter Skelter"?
06/15/2008 12:17:31 AM · #6
My son got his first electric guitar and found the best lessons on YouTube. He's been playing for a couple of months and sounds like he's been playing for a year!
06/15/2008 12:17:42 AM · #7
Originally posted by thegrandwazoo:

Get a good book on chords and scales. Learn the open chords the A and E position bar chords then the major scale and pentatonic minor scale and you will be able to play 90% of the rock tunes ever written. But you must learn the fundamentals.

The obligatory first rock song to learn is "Smoke on the water" by Deep Purple. Congrats and have fun.


Doh... I learned that on a Classical Guitar (Spanish kind, neck fatter than my fingers were long) must have been like 25 years ago or so...

At Nikolai, what the Waz said... learn the open chords first A, B(flat) C, D, E and F... Am is a good one as well.

Learn the E and A barre chords and you will be doing every Cars, Eagles, Steve Miller most of the other progressions out there. Learn the Barres and you will be ready for the Pentatonic box system to throw down some standard runs...

What genre are you headed down...

At this point you prolly aren't going to be doing a lot of theory... You gonna learn by Tab? (tablature)

one of the best guitar rags I found was Total Guitar from the UK (I get it at barnes and nobel) can't find a site for them this might be it. //magazine-directory.com/Total-Guitar.htm

Message edited by author 2008-06-15 00:18:14.
06/15/2008 12:25:06 AM · #8
Cool! What guitar did you get? My kids bought me a nice Fender Strat for Christmas. I've been playing it a little each day and having a blast with it. I took lessons for a couple years when I was a kid so I already how to play most chords and a few songs. My wife recently bought me a Fender G-DEC30 amp which made practicing a lot more fun. It's got digital amp modeling, effects, backing tracks, drum/bass patterns, synth with midi interface, phrase sampler, tuner, etc. Guitar Center sells the amp for $369 and it's well worth it. As I said, it makes practice a lot more fun.

I agree with thegrandwazoo's advice on learning the fundamentals. It's important to have the basics down pat. Also, you might want to learn how to read and play tab sheet music. Tabs are very easy to learn and there are lots of songs available for free on the web in tab form.

Mick

06/15/2008 12:40:05 AM · #9
Originally posted by TooCool:

Originally posted by Nikolai1024:

All right. Thanks

I'll start trying some of those once my fingers recover a bit. I had no idea it would so hard on my fingers.


Why do ya think Ringo said "I got blisters on me fingers" on "Helter Skelter"?


Dude, Ringo played drums though! ;-P

Anyways, back on topic, don't shell out bucks for any of those 'magic' systems you see. The advice given so far is good. You Tube has tons of how to vids, for free. Wade through til you find good ones you can relate to, and that work for you. Definitely pick up a chord chart and for sure get the open chords down pat. And for sure learn the barre chords. Teach yourself how to read tab, you can get tab for just about any song you want. Practice, practice, practice.
Another really good thing to do once you start getting some basics down, is find someone or someones to jam with. Even if it's another person just starting out. You will challenge each other, trade little things you learn, and it makes it a lot of fun, and is motivating. It's amazing when you start jamming with people, how quick your playing can start taking off.

Oh, and don't worry about the fingers man, pretty soon you'll get callouses so hard, you could hold a lighter under your fingertips and not feel it! (but I'd advise against that!) In the mean time, if you draw blood, you're practicing about the right amount. :-)
06/15/2008 12:48:16 AM · #10
OH, and guitars make great subjects for photos too!!!



06/15/2008 02:19:19 AM · #11
Originally posted by Nikolai1024:

Anyway, any starter songs ...

Well, perhaps the easiest song to play on a guitar is The Ballad of Hollis Brown by Bob Dylan -- its single chord (Em7) is maybe the easiest chord ever to play, requiring only one finger (fifth string, second fret). However singing it in an entertaining manner is quite another trick ... ;-)
06/15/2008 02:47:12 AM · #12
Originally posted by thegrandwazoo:

Get a good book on chords and scales. Learn the open chords the A and E position bar chords then the major scale and pentatonic minor scale and you will be able to play 90% of the rock tunes ever written. But you must learn the fundamentals.

The obligatory first rock song to learn is "Smoke on the water" by Deep Purple. Congrats and have fun.


Then you can move on to Black Napkins and Son of Mr. Green Genes. ;\ Have fun.
06/15/2008 02:50:53 AM · #13
I've been teaching my daughter to play for over a year now. I got sick of spending hours on things that bored me senseless so I got her to do this online course. I also purchased songs on there. He's really very good the videos are fantastic.

//www.vguitarlessons.com:80/e_course/part15_26.htm

The first song I purchased for her was Jimi Hendrix purple haze, I was totally amazed that within three hours of getting that lesson and video we were playing that together. Now she's having private lessons. I am not a patient teacher LOL

Highly recommend this one. If you would like I can find some of the video lessons she's already had and pass them on.


06/15/2008 03:22:59 AM · #14
Im learning via Youtube :)
I picked up a guitar a few months ago, and just started copying and videos I could-I can now play lots of chords!!!
I can play a few songs, but my bad arthritus stops me from doing anything other than strumming and anything fast :(

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AMB4L9PUFI

Thats my current one to learn!
06/15/2008 09:35:24 AM · #15
I just got a new guitar this week, my first serious new instrument since I was in college:



I've messed around with youtube tutorials and have generally found them to be quite useful. I'm still looking for the definitive FREE web based guitar teacher though. As things progress, the web guitar world is trending toward paid sites. People are finding that they can make money this way. More power to the, I say.

Both smartypants and I are going to sign up for lessons this summer at one of the local music stores.
06/15/2008 09:53:55 AM · #16
I started playing when I was 19....stopped when I was 25. In those years I "mastered" the open chords of A, C, D, E, F, G. "B" was a little hard for me!

I also learned and played the "barre chords". I learned many many many rock songs from Kiss to Led Zep to Alice Cooper..etc....

I never did tackle "lead guitar". I could never seem to play lead correctly. Then...when I was 42yrs old I picked up my guitar and stumbled upon the "pentatonic scales" and a whole new world opened up!

I purchased some blues "backing tracks". They contain drums and bass in all "keys".

Here is a vid of me about two months after learning the "A" scale.

Me Playing Scale

The background drums and bass is coming from my $200 Fender amp.

In short...learn the chords but don't forget the scales !


06/15/2008 09:57:48 AM · #17
Yeah playing through the pain is mandatory...even through the blood. I taught myself and never learned any of the actual scales until 10 yrs later when I took my first guitar lesson - that didn't last. My teacher told me most famous guitar players wouldn't know a scale if it hit them in the face...

Down on the Corner by CCR is a really easy piece of tab to start with and is always a crowd pleaser!
06/15/2008 10:08:46 AM · #18
Originally posted by thegrandwazoo:

Get a good book on chords and scales. Learn the open chords the A and E position bar chords then the major scale and pentatonic minor scale and you will be able to play 90% of the rock tunes ever written. But you must learn the fundamentals.

The obligatory first rock song to learn is "Smoke on the water" by Deep Purple. Congrats and have fun.

Ditto! This is GREAT advice. Most music is just a series of well crafted scales, arpeggios, & chords. If you start your practice by learning & reviewing those fundamental things it will make everything come more easily in the long run. I also advise my students to use a timer (5 min or less to start) for the boring things so they don't do too much at a time and get sick of playing. Then you hammer out Smoke on the Water!
06/15/2008 10:18:48 AM · #19
Originally posted by GoldBerry:

......most famous guitar players wouldn't know a scale if it hit them in the face....


But in many cases you can tell who 'knows' how to play and who just plays.

I'm a Clarinet player, not a guitar player....but if someone just wants to make noise you can simply by picking it up. Do yourself a favor and learn to play and learn to read music.
06/15/2008 10:45:12 AM · #20
I'm not sure I agree with the "famous guitar players" quote. There is no way that Van Halen, Brian May, Jimmy Page, etc etc...do not know scales and theory. If they profess to not know the scales then they are playing "in key" on accident. Even if they never looked at a scale on paper they are still playing within the key of the music they are performing.

I firmly believe that all major label guitarist would be able to show you on his fretboard every note of every pentatonic scale up and down the neck.....and likely many more of all the hundreds of other scales !

Edit: Don't confuse "scales" with knowing how to read music. I believe that most rock guitarist likely do not know how to read music. Like me...they may be able to write out music on a staff but if you put a complicated piece in front of them they would not be able to play in "smoothly"

Originally posted by GoldBerry:

Yeah playing through the pain is mandatory...even through the blood. I taught myself and never learned any of the actual scales until 10 yrs later when I took my first guitar lesson - that didn't last. My teacher told me most famous guitar players wouldn't know a scale if it hit them in the face...

Down on the Corner by CCR is a really easy piece of tab to start with and is always a crowd pleaser!


Message edited by author 2008-06-15 10:48:45.
06/15/2008 10:57:25 AM · #21
Nik, as a friend I will give you the following advice...

Don't give up your day job, rock stars have way more hair than you.
06/15/2008 11:09:29 AM · #22
Guitar Hero 3!! you'll be a god in no time (wink)
06/15/2008 11:24:19 AM · #23
Originally posted by photodude:

Nik, as a friend I will give you the following advice...

Don't give up your day job, rock stars have way more hair than you.


Don't listen to him Nicolai. You've got more hair than Rob Halford of Judas Priest, my all-time favorite rock band.
06/15/2008 11:56:57 AM · #24
isn't there some law somewhere that states if you buy a guitar one of the first songs you must strive to learn is Stairway To Heaven?
06/15/2008 12:00:43 PM · #25
I thought it was Smoke on the Water!
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