wanna learn the guitar?

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R

RAdams

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I have been messing aroung with the Guitar for a few years. Unfortunately, my knowledge is very limited.

Until two days ago, i was lucky to be able to pluck out a few tunes that i had learned off of tabs. An amazing transformation happened two days ago. The guitar was finally explained to me in a way that makes perfect sense and is completely uncomplicated and uncluttered.

Now i am slamming out blues riffs, making up solos, blazing through scales, and learning new songs almost instantly.

I hate to sound like a commercial but i am totally amazed. I didnt buy anything, or study any weird cd's or anything. I was introduced to the raw fundamentals of guitar structure and theory. My world is entirely different now. I wish i would have known years ago how easy it is to learn this thing. absolutely amazing.

P.S. I will post a picture of my new (to me) Ibanez Gio when my wife returns with the camera.
 
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gketell said:
I thought the liar's club entry deadline was finished? And you won?

So what's the deal? :biggrin:
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I'm with you Greg!

I've played guitar for over 50 years, both for pleasure and professionally, and there was no magical formula that popped up out of the blue. Just lots of work and hours on top of hours of constant practice.

RA, I'm not calling you a liar, but I am truly skeptical to say the least.

Rick (mtgrizzly52)
 
Rick (and everybody else for that matter),

I would be totally skeptical too... I been plucking around for about three or four years at least (off and on) and can play just a short list of songs i learned from tab. Last night, I learned a couple of Tom Petty tunes, "Wild Wood Weed" (a bluegrass tune), two different blues riffs, two blues scales, a pantera song (part of it so far), and some other stuff i cant remember right this moment.

I am not saying that every time i touch a guitar it sounds like Clapton. I still miss alot, no let me rephrase that... I still miss ALOT. I fumble my way up and down the neck beating the daylights out of everything. But i understand the architecture of the music now. I may not be in the right place, but i know where that place is at. I just have to keep practicing to get in the right place!

I still have to learn all the chords, and work on pick patterns and muscle memory and all of that. I will 100% agree that without practice, knowledge is useless.

I will also agree that i have MEGATONS to learn about the subject. I have only begun to learn all that is involved with playing the guitar. The information i recently learned may be simple elementary level guitar fundamentals for all i know... I am just totally blown away at how it opened my eyes.

I was a "poor boy" guitarist. I couldn't and still can't afford lessons. I learned everything i knew from tab. Tab is great if you want to learn a specific song, but not so great if you want to learn to actually play the guitar. So, If you don't know someone that plays, and is willing to teach you, then you are stuck.

I learned about several things that in my opinion, give me a good base to start REALLY learning how to play. To me, it is like chess. Some people claim that they can play chess simply because they understand how the pieces move, while people that actually know how to play understand that there is much more to it than just moving the pieces.

It is the same with the guitar. Some people claim that they can play because they can figure a song out off of tab, or play the rythm, while people that actually play know that there is much more to it than that.

I have a fairly mathmatical mind. I understand numbers and patterns. I was shown several things, some of which i could show you but not type out on a screen, that break the guitar down into a series of patterns and numbered sets. Plus some stuff about 3 and 4 chord progressions, steps and half steps, scales, and pick patterns, and the fact that the double dots represent the guitar neck literally starting over an octave higher. Which for learning purposes, takes some of the fear away.. Now i know that the bottom half of the neck is just a copy of the top half of the neck, so to learn, i focus on one half at a time.

So.... Anybody that is interested, I would be more than happy to share my tiny bit of knowledge that totally changed how i look at a guitar, but i prefer to do it thru PM's. I prefer not to get flamed for my personal achievements. I simply wanted to share a bit of info with some friends, not get called out by the Pro's.
 
rsmith said:
The secret is really simple...practice, practice, practice...:eek:
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mtgrizzly52 said:
I'm with you Greg!

I've played guitar for over 50 years, both for pleasure and professionally, and there was no magical formula that popped up out of the blue. Just lots of work and hours on top of hours of constant practice.

RA, I'm not calling you a liar, but I am truly skeptical to say the least.

Rick (mtgrizzly52)
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I've played guitar for 48 years and I agree with both of the gentlemen above.
ESPECIALLY the practice, practice, practice part. Only I would take it one step further..........practice, practice, practice and .........PRACTICE!:biggrin:
 
I've been playing for almost 18 years. While I agree with the mantra of "practice, practice, practice", I see nothing wrong with exploring new ways of understanding how the instrument works. Shoot me a PM, Ron, I'm interested in hearing how you did it!
 
Sounds like he got some theory under his belt. Like pentatonic scales and such. Then the circle of 5ths etc.
 
I took lessons about 20 yrs ago and let it go. Now I want to pick it up again. Did you learn from a book or a teacher? It is still a mixed up instrument right now. If is was a book please PM me the name so I can enjoy it again. Thanks RichB
 
markgum said:
and what is this TAB thing you keep talking about. My son's have guitars that are collecting dust...
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Tab shows the places where you should fret on the neck with "numbers" for which frets you press. It looks kinda like this.

E-0-0-0-0-0-0-
B-0-0-0-0-0-0-
G-2-0-0-2-0-0-
D-2-0-0-2-0-0-
A-1-0-0-1-0-0-
E-0-2-3-0-2-3-
 
The only way I can play guitar is to pop a cd in the player and push the play button.:frown:
 
Tab is sheet music translated into laymans terms. Instead of the 5 bar graph used in sheet music, it has 6 bars,,, One for each string. It is basicly a way to show you how to play a song knowing absolutely nothing about how to actually play.

I have recieved ALOT of PM's from curious friends! I am going to write out what i have learned and share it with those that are interested.


Don't get me wrong..... This is not "Stardust"... Meaning that you cannot read the stuff and cut a platinum album. It will simply help you get past the wall of playing tab, and not knowing whats really going on.
 
RA, I apologize for pulling the "Pro" thing on you, that was not my intent. You had a couple of things going for you in your original post that really caused a lot of skepticism. First of all, the Liars Club winner, and you didn't really explain what you were doing as you did in your 2nd post.

With additional information, your claim makes sense, and yes, having a mathematical mind as you say is beneficial to understanding the concept of learning music and the guitar. I've been able to read music since age 5, and really when it came to learning new songs, using my ear and perfect pitch was much more important, that is, after I learned the basic things you are talking about.

So RA, good luck and enjoy because playing any musical instrument is a great joy in life. Oh yes, Practice, Practice Practice and then Practice some more, and someday we'll be buying your cds/dvds. *grin*

Rick (mtgrizzly52)
 
I think it is great that the light bulb went off for you and understanding has made it easier. That is how turning went for me. One day something just clicked and the bulb went off and yahoo I got it. I wouldn't let any comments deter you from your statements in your first posting. Knowing how things work make them easier for me.
Good for you.
 
I was pretty good at it when I was younger ..... a LOT younger .... my guitar had a crank on the side! :biggrin:
 
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