A tough learn guitar question this week. Let’s dive straight in
Question: ok, i have a electric guitar! and i want to learn how to play it but mom want get me lessons so how do i go about learning?? any websites or stuff that could teach me chords and stuff??
plus, i already know how to tune it so i can skip that step
Answer: Well personally, I think you won’t do as well if you don’t get lessons. So i’d say, ask some friends if they can show you the basics. If not, then you will have to buy lessons yourself.
Learning an instrument is expensive.
A tough learn guitar question this week. Let’s dive straight in
Question: What is a Good Learning Guitar to Buy?
Answer: Any classical nylon strin guitar will do good for a beginner
Keep the learn guitar questions coming! I liked this one:
Question: So, I’m going to be starting to learn guitar in a few days. I don’t have the money, so besides internet videos, I will be self teaching myself. Does anyone have any good videos, tips, etc. on how to self teach yourself guitar?
Also I’m starting on an acoustic guitar my friend is letting me borrow, until I get my own electric guitar probably for Christmas.
Answer: Start off slowly!!!!!!!
Learn how to tune it properly.
Learn the notes of all the strings.
Learn basic "open chords" and play them until you do not hesitate when you switch them.
Find a few simple songs to strum and play.
Do not rely on TABS to learn guitar.
use this website:
http://www.all-guitar-chords.com/
BE PATIENT
You will not be a good player after a couple of weeks.
Keep the learn guitar questions coming! I liked this one:
Question: My best friend and I want to learn guitar together. My friend told me that they had a guitar in advance, and I assumed it was acoustic because they told me how much they love acoustics and how pretty they sound. So I was like, okay. Since we’re teaching ourselves together, I’ll get an acoustic, too.
Well, I get my guitar. They say, "Madison! Why’d you get acoustic? I have an electric!" So now we’re stuck. She’s got an acoustic, I’ve got an electric, and we want to learn together.
So, in conclusion, I have several questions.
(1) Since we have different guitars, can we still learn together? When I say learn together, I don’t mean we’re learning guitar separately but we’re in the same room. I mean that we’ll be TOGETHER, right next to each next to each other, practicing and learning TOGETHER, side-by-side, playing and learning the notes simultaneously.
(2) Do acoustic and electric guitars have different notes or are they the same?
Thanks.
thanks, Average Mike. You seem to pop up in all my guitar questions fairly quickly and you’re very helpful! So thanks again.
Answer: Yes and yes. You can learn together and they have the same notes.
Keep the learn guitar questions coming! I liked this one:
Question: Okay, so I started practacing guitar 2 days ago. I have decided not to even attempt learning any songs or chords before I can properly play pentatonic scales and improve my motor movements. For the first two days I practiced doing the minor pentatonic scale in 12 different frets, this I have practiced for about 3 hours all up and it is getting a little easier…
Then I tried doing this new exercise this morning, you put one finger on each fret, so 5, 6, 7 & 8 on the top e sting, then move your index finger down a string, leaving the other fingers in the same position, then move the next finger down a string, then the next and so forth…
I found this exercise REALLY hard! For the first 20 minutes my brain was trying to make a specific finger move and a different finger would respond! It felt like I was in some type of rehabilitation…. after a little more practice I could get the right fingers to move but it took quite a while (about 3-4 seconds) and a lot of concentration to do so. I ended up trying this for half an hour…
what I want to know is, Obviously I have to train my brain and muscles to interact with these fine motor movements, but what do you think is the ideal practacing time frame to make the most effictent learning happen in my brain?
Do you think it will consolidate better if I do three sets of half an hour, sprad appart, or is it better to do a while hour and a half at once?
And did anybody else have this problem, feeling like a cripple when trying to move specific fingers up and down…?
Do you have any other tips?
Answer: What you’re doing is good, but you don’t need to spend 3 hours on pentatonics…. and if you do, make sure you do them on as many frets as you can, not just 12.
The second thing you mentioned sounds like a chromatic exercise. These are the best way to get your fingers warmed up and moving. I’ve been playing 16 years, and I still do them. There are millions of variations. You want to start them at the top of the fretboard, and do what you do, then move down a fret, and continue. If you don’t understand it, just look on youtube.com and type in "chromatic exercise", and you should get a ton of hits to pop up.
You need to start doing chords… even just a couple basic ones to get you started…. and even if you’re just doing them for 20 minutes a day to get you going.
I find that if your fingers don’t hurt, then it’s ok to continue playing as long as you can. This builds up your dexterity. Otherwise, if you play in 30 minute increments, you’ll eventually lose stamina and start playing sloppy guitar.
We all felt like our hands were crippled, or wondered if we were born with small hands, or fingers too tiny to play the guitar efficiently.
Only tip I have, continue to learn, continue to play, continue to be inspired. After a year or two, you’ll notice that things you’re doing are second nature. When that happens, you need to be sure you’ve learn a few other things.
Keep the learn guitar questions coming! I liked this one:
Question: I am a beginner and i’m looking for popular songs (or Beatles because i LOVE them!! 
) to learn on the guitar.
Answer: Look up Collective Soul the World I Know. Its a fun song to play because it involves some complex sounding, but easy to play riffs. if you look up the tabs for it and watch an instructional video, it will be much easy to learn. that was the first song I learned to play on the guitar, and its good because its not one that everyone knows, you will likely be one of the few who will know it. unlike other songs like smoke on the water. there isnt a guitarist alive that cant play that…
A tough learn guitar question this week. Let’s dive straight in
Question: Well I am 20 years old. I look like I am 17 or 18 though. I look younger than my age. I have potential for singing. Am I too old to start singing and learning guitar. I am going to university this September for film cinema and media studies. I am going to do some acting too. I auditioned for theatre but wasn’t accepted for it. It was for the theatre program at York University. I am still an actor though. I have done lots of drama in highschool. I have passion for acting and film. I am still gonna audition next year for theatre. That is how my passion for it goes. I have a better chance of getting in since I am going to do acting in the uni that is for non-majors. They have really good stuff for acting in the uni. Should I try out again next year for theatre?
I also am getting a really strong passion for singing though. I love it. Am I too old to start singing and learning guitar? My dream is to become an actor or a singer or both!! Its my passion!!
Answer: At the age of twenty Elvis Presley was a full time truck driver. He studied in the evening to be an electrician and played the guitar in his spare time …
What’s this week’s learn guitar question? Let’s dive straight in…
Question: I’m learning guitar on a tele (not that that matters) and having trouble concentrating on the ‘core’ of what I should be learning. (putting it all together)
The stuff I like is usually pretty simple, rhythmic, ethereal..
I know all the major and minor (learning 7th) open chords. From what I can tell, a lot of the music is broken down between these chords played as chords and also appregios.
True?
My next step is the pentatonic scales.
Am I wrong or can a lot of music be played by having a good comfort of all of the above?
Answer: Adam is essentially right but he is getting way ahead of where you are. There are 6 basic open chords, A C D E F G. There are 4 basic open minor chords Am Dm Em Fm. There are 7th and major7th variations of all of these. The next step is to learn the basic BAR chords. There are 2 general patterns for these. The first type is what I call "root on 6th string" style chords. They are based on the familiar "E" shape chords with a bar behind them. EX;
—5—index
—5—index
—6—middle
—7—pinky
—7—ring
—5—index (bars across all 6 strings at the 5th fret)
This is the basic A major bar chord. Notice that it is an E chord shape moved up the neck with the index barring across all six strings behind it. This is a movable bar chord form. At the 1st fret it is an F chord, 3rd fret it is G, 5th fret it is A, 7th fret it is B, 8th fret it is C, 10th fret it is D.
If you use the Em shape than they all are minor chords (lift the middle finger)
If you use the E7 shape than they all are 7th chords (lift the pinky).
This is a crucial concept to learning to play rhythm guitar.
The other series of bar chords are root on 5th string and they are based around the A chord shape EX;
–(5)–index
—7—ring
—7—ring
—7—ring
—5—index
—x—mute
This is the D major bar chord (based on the A chord shape) It is a bit more difficult because it requires that you bar the ring AND index fingers. This is also a moveable shape. At the 2nd fret it is a B chord, 3rd=C, 5th=D, 7th=E, 8th=F, 10th=G.
By using the minor chord and seventh chord shapes based on A you can play all of these as major, minor, or 7th chords.
Memorize these shapes and learn to move between them. This is the foundation for rhythm guitar playing on an electric guitar.
The next step is to memorize the basic pentatonic scale EX;
–5–8–
–5–8–
–5-7—
–5-7—
–5-7—
–5–8– This is the A minor AND C major pentatonic scale.
Play it one note at a time starting on the low E string at the 5th fret than move to the next note on that string. Repeat all the way across the neck and back. Learn to use hammer ons and pulloffs on each string as well as various bends.
This will give you a solid foundation to work from.
I strongly suggest enlisting the help of a good qualified local instructor. A good teacher can get you playing this stuff in no time and help you with the stylistic and technical considerations. You can learn more in one MONTH of lessons than you can in a YEAR of trying to teach yourself. This is no joke. I have had students go farther in a month or so of lessons than they did in a year or more of trying to teach themselves! Consider it.
This week’s question is as follows:
Question: Can You Suggest Any Websites That Will Help Me Whilst Learning Guitar?
Answer: There are, but the best way is simply to learn the basic chord shapes and keep playing them: C major, d major, F majore and G major, A minor will get you a long way – further than Status Quo!
Good luck – A. Guitarist
PS Try the link below.
