enough of this crap... im gonna learn to play guitar

[skiz]

Specifically rhythm guitar.

Im a drummer, and im sick to the teeth of having no way of getting whats in my head(melodically) out to everyone else.

I can play a couple of chords and scales, but thats about the extent of it, so im pretty much a newb.

My question to you is this:
Where should i begin? also does any one know of any free (really solid) content on the net so i can hit the ground running?

 

[YorkshireTrippe]

hahaha I've been trying to teach our drummer the guitar for nearly two years with no joy...there's a reason that when choosing an instrument some people just go for "the one you hit"...

I'm sure you have more perserverance than him though so you could try www.cyberfret.com

If its just to get idea's out you might be better off learning the piano? just a suggestion

 

[skiz]

yeah i thought about doing piano, but i think the learning curve will be a bit easier with guitar? especially if its teaching myself, dont have that much time for lessons this year

 

[grimtraveller]

I always advise anyone wanting to learn guitar, get 3 things - a guitar, a pitchpipe and a chord book. It's what I did. No one ever does though !

 

[DrewPeterson7]

yeah i thought about doing piano, but i think the learning curve will be a bit easier with guitar? especially if its teaching myself, dont have that much time for lessons this year

Well, guitars are smaller and cheaper, which is nice.

Can you read tablature? That's how I taught myself how to play, way back in the day - downloading tabs to some of my favorite songs and learning how to play them, and then just paying attention to how all the pieces fit together.

If you already know some chords and scales, you're probably well ahead of where I was when I picked up the guitar.

 

[skiz]

I always advise anyone wanting to learn guitar, get 3 things - a guitar, a pitchpipe and a chord book. It's what I did. No one ever does though !

I have a guitar, and i have GuitarPro, which ive been told has some sort of chord library. what on earth is a pitchpipe though?

Well, guitars are smaller and cheaper, which is nice.

Can you read tablature? That's how I taught myself how to play, way back in the day - downloading tabs to some of my favorite songs and learning how to play them, and then just paying attention to how all the pieces fit together.

If you already know some chords and scales, you're probably well ahead of where I was when I picked up the guitar.

i can read tabs for the most part. we do own a piano, but learning to play it seems like too big a task without proper lessons!

cool maybe ill learn some smashing pumpkins stuff to start with

Any one have any songs to recommend to start learning? especially with respect to rhythm guitar?

 

[c7sus]

Kum By Yah or Pinball Wizard.

 

[skiz]

...there's a reason that when choosing an instrument some people just go for "the one you hit"...

haha to be honest i actually started on the guitar when i was younger... never got a good teacher so it just fell by the way side. Im actually really keen to learn now cause now i know how important technique is, and i can actually start to learn technique before learning bad habits.

speaking of.... are there online lessons that focus on technique?

 

[grimtraveller]

I have a guitar, and i have GuitarPro, which ive been told has some sort of chord library. what on earth is a pitchpipe though?

A pitchpipe is this little pipe thing with six holes you blow through that give you the notes E,A,D,G,B and the high E. It's an easy way to tune the guitar. They're cheap little things. But if you have a piano, you won't really need one. Pal, you're ready to go !! Pick up that guitar ! Do it !!

 

[philbagg]

speaking of.... are there online lessons that focus on technique?

Try youtube

 

[starbuck26]

What's the last thing a drummer says before getting thrown out of the band?
















"Let's try one of my songs."

 

[Richard Monroe]

Kum By Yah or Pinball Wizard.

You can be a cruel man, C7.

I suggest 2 things- a guitar, and a guitar teacher. Yeah, you can learn to play guitar without a teacher, but you'll learn much faster from a human. And then you won't spend the next ten years trying to unlearn your bad habits.-Richie

 

[antichef]

What a coincidence - I just decided to learn drums - I don't have good drum lines in my head, though - I just wanna hit stuff.

Richie's right. But don't make/expect the teacher to drive you to want to play/practice - that has to come 100% from you.

I skipped a lot of high school just to practice guitar (my "guidance" counselor told me before I graduated that he calculated that I was present about 21% of the time I should have been - I wasn't practicing for that *entire* 79%, but a lot it I was). The days I went to school were the days I had band class - we had a Music-PhD jazz trumpet player for the band teacher and he was absolutely awesome (but couldn't play guitar) - he made sure I learned chords, scales, modes, and I'm sure could have taught me much more than he did if had more time to learn from him. For technique, I was more on my own, but took it very seriously - I practiced for up to 8 hours a day several times a week, and a least an hour every day for the first few years. I got tendinitis pretty bad a few times and had to take breaks for a few weeks - later attributed that to wearing the guitar too low and not warming up before trying the fast stuff.

I think there's a lot of good material, and probably some bad material, on youtube - wish that had been around in the early 80's when I started.

 

[philbagg]

You can be a cruel man, C7.

I suggest 2 things- a guitar, and a guitar teacher. Yeah, you can learn to play guitar without a teacher, but you'll learn much faster from a human. And then you won't spend the next ten years trying to unlearn your bad habits.-Richie

...and if you're not getting something, you can't ask a book or a video specific
questions.

I couldn't learn until I got a teacher to get me started.

 

[mikemorgan]

http://www.zentao.com/guitar/guitar-lessons.html

 

[haymedic]

if i can say anything... get the very basic rudiments down first. learn to control the right hand. i've been playing for a while, and recently went to a classically trained guy to show me how to get over my road blocks and how to get more speed out of my right hand. we went back to the very basics (which i never learned) and now i sit for an hour a day (at least) fingering SLOWLY and feel like a total newb.

i talked to a couple of friends about it, mentioning that i wished i could play as fast as them, and they were like... 'yea, that's what i had to do when i took classical lessons too!'

my response... 'oh, i didn't know you took lessons. i thought you just knew how to do that from birth.'

s

 

[MikeSknabriaf]

Can you read tablature? That's how I taught myself how to play, way back in the day - downloading tabs to some of my favorite songs and learning how to play them, .

Alright wiseguy.

People have only been downloading guitar tabs from the internet for, at most, fifteen years.

Wise guy!

 

[SlowerHand]

Yeah, you can learn to play guitar without a teacher, but you'll learn much faster from a human.

For me the opposite was true. Learning from a teacher, you depend on what this teacher wants you to learn: on my own I was a lot quicker, just learning as many songs as I could, and writing my own things as well right from the start. It's the only way I could ever learn to play guitar rather than move my fingers to make it seem like I know how to play.

Plus, I'm pretty much a human myself.

 

[Richard Monroe]

For me the opposite was true. Learning from a teacher, you depend on what this teacher wants you to learn: on my own I was a lot quicker, just learning as many songs as I could, and writing my own things as well right from the start. It's the only way I could ever learn to play guitar rather than move my fingers to make it seem like I know how to play.

Plus, I'm pretty much a human myself.

Sounds like you and that teacher were a bad fit.