New guitar player, stuck in the learning curve!

  • Thread starter Thread starter barks62
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BarksDude :D

Sometimes when I sit down to write something new, I'll just set up a click track, lay down a beat (anything really) and just start jammin and record it. Then I'll grab my guitar or bass and record it. Most of it gets chucked but usually there's something in there that sounds pretty cool.
I'll take that part and expand on it. It'll usually get the creative juices flowin.

So if you've got a drum machine or some loops to throw down, set it up and just start jammin. Don't worry about it if sucks or not and don't get hung up on accuracy at this point. Just jam. Throw some off the wall chord progressions in there. Whatever pops into your head or hands. Jam it and record it. Chances are, you'll find something in there that'll branch off into something cool and original.
 
Dogbreath said:
BarksDude :D

Sometimes when I sit down to write something new, I'll just set up a click track, lay down a beat (anything really) and just start jammin and record it. Then I'll grab my guitar or bass and record it. Most of it gets chucked but usually there's something in there that sounds pretty cool.
I'll take that part and expand on it. It'll usually get the creative juices flowin.

So if you've got a drum machine or some loops to throw down, set it up and just start jammin. Don't worry about it if sucks or not and don't get hung up on accuracy at this point. Just jam. Throw some off the wall chord progressions in there. Whatever pops into your head or hands. Jam it and record it. Chances are, you'll find something in there that'll branch off into something cool and original.
Click to expand...

I do have a drum machine and I do sit down to play with it, but that's what I'm saying, when I do play I always end up playing the same rhythms but with different chords. It's hard to explain, but I think the problem is I don't know any scales and that's where I'm falling short. My next mission is to learn some pentatonic scales in the next week.

Anybody have any tips on how to do that? I did find a few exercises that I think might be useful and I'm going to give them a shot tonight if I get time. I really, really hope I get some time...

Thanks all for the replies!
 
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Tah2

mjbphotos said:
Play along with music you like and that you want to 'sound like'. Practice practice and more practice. You've been playing for 5 months? Your calluses are still building!
Click to expand...

Once the light goes on , you;ll know it. being stuck does'nt mean nothing is moving. And just practing the guitar wont get U there. Valentine - early draft but something to start with!
 
Greg_L said:
No, I didn't take it that way at all. Just giving the explanation behind the name.

People have been calling me "teh gerg" for a long time in here. I don't even remember how it started.
Click to expand...
didn't it start with that guy who comically mispelled people's names?
Who the hell was that? ......... ummmm, the "I like to run" guy at A&A ...... dammit ...... stupid can't remember geezer brain.
:mad:
 
start with the groove

Hey there barks; same old situation here as well... One of the methods I use is to turn everything off and just tap a rhythm out on the chair/leg/thin air to come up with a groove...

Once I have that groove I just use E/A/D to see if the groove will work. That is a method that I use to come up with riff ideas. That, and listen to Pantera, Black Sabbath and AC/DC (among other riffy bands) to bogart ideas!

Good luck
Cris
 
Hi barks62..

I feel the same as CrowsofFritz.. if you need any help with learning the basics give us a shout (PM). I am a guitar teacher in life so perhaps I can be of help.
In any case, there's really no need to be scared of pentatonics. There are 5 fingering. Just learn 1 at the time, up and down the fretboard. There are numerous ways you can do that (rhythms and patterns) but just start with a basic alternate picking (down/up strokes all the time) and a slow steady 4/4 time (1 note per beat).

You can easily find the 5 fingering "boxes" on the net but here is 1 example.

Pentatonic fingering for guitar.webp

Looking at the first box (lebelled N)... all notes on first fret of every string is pressed with the index finger, so the hand should not move sideways (along the neck) to perform the whole scale.
1 finger per fret.

By the way.. I find it hard to believe that you've been playing guitar only for a few months. The 2 tracks you posted are very good. Good sense of space, good rhythm, clean sound, nice chords progression.. simple yes, but very effective nontheless. Good work!

Have fun.
 
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Ahh redhoney!

I actually emailed him the diagrams along with some other info. But it's good you posted it up here in case anybody else wanted it!
 
Yes, CrowsofFritz sent me some great information on the pentatonic scale that has helped me quite a bit. I really like cohibacris' suggestion of tapping out a groove, but nothing is going to help me until I learn some scales.
 
redhoney said:
By the way.. I find it hard to believe that you've been playing guitar only for a few months. The 2 tracks you posted are very good. Good sense of space, good rhythm, clean sound, nice chords progression.. simple yes, but very effective nontheless. Good work!
Click to expand...

Thank you!! I did have a bit of a head start, though. I've written plenty of lyrics before and a friend of mine that is a great musician would write music for them. We recorded a few songs that turned out really good, but I contributed nothing to the music. I did, however, spend a lot of time in his studio watching him record, so I learned something about songwriting in general, and about getting decent sounds out of a guitar, mixing tracks, that sort of thing. But I never knew a single chord and had no clue how a chord progression would work until December. I started playing when my girlfriend bought me Rocksmith for Christmas and I borrowed my son's guitar to play it. After that I started researching chords and chord progressions, and eventually wrote The Picture. Valentine came next, and I was pretty happy with it, but after that I was stuck. I think learning some scales will open things up for me. I think I have a good feel for songwriting, just no technique to build on.

Anyway, thanks to everybody for replying!
 
I didn't see it mentioned here but you can get software that slows CD music down
and loops sections so you can more easily learn to play along with it.
I've been using one called "Transcribe!" and it works really well.
Knowing something about how others do it can inspire your own work.
 
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