boseeb.
ZynewaveI have never played guitar before, but for a while now I’ve had an urge to master some kind of acoustric instrument. Piano is a little impractical in a two room apartment, so I bought myself a classical guitar (not a western guitar). I’m having fun trying to learn the chords and techniques. I bought the http://www.jamoramaacoustic.com downloadable lessons, which I’m working my way through.
It’s a nice break from development to grab the guitar once in a while and practise some chords.
Any Podium users care to share some stories of how they got started with the guitar?
The Jamaroma lessons are using acoustic guitar as example. Does anyone have experience with courses based on the classical guitar?
sam cvery cool Frits!
i bought a pawn shop (do they have those in Denmark) stratocaster copy and amplifier at 16. the guitar was in such bad shape it could not be tuned. which was probably o.k.. because i could not tune it! 😉
i bought a mel bay book that showed a few progressions. D-C-G sort of thing.
man i had the bug. all i did was play that damn thing. 3 months later i had enough money for a gibson sg. a few folks showed me a few more things and i simply worked the information i had to death.
at 17 we had a band doing allman bros, zz top, rock stuff like that. it has been a long love affair…..and it is not over……
PodianerGood decision Frits! Playing guitar can really help to relax sometimes. I started playing electric guitar at the age of 16. My first guitar had a broken neck and was hard to play. It didn’t take me long to buy my second and third etc. guitar 😉
I am 27 now and I never had any pauses in between. My guitars stood by my side for all the years now.. I tried several styles, and I also had a classical guitar once, but I sold it, because I liked the sound of a western guitar more. My latest guitar is a red Gretsch 5129 which I really love.
Guitars are so versatile in terms of sound and playing technique. I love the rock sound of the 80s most. Playing and feeling solos with a certain sound can be a very strong experience that makes you forget the problems of your day.
Frits, I can only encourage you to learn as much as you can.. And have a look at all those great accoustic rock ballads of the 80s and 90s e.g. Nothing else matters, More than words etc. You will need time to learn those, especially as a beginner, but it’s great fun!
And don’t give up when your fingers start to hurt.. That’s normal!! 😉
As far as ecourses are concerned, I don’t have any experience with classical guitar lessons, but for electric guitar there are tons of stuff in the internet. Even YouTube offers some (!!) nice lessons.
Max
UncleAge“I’ve got blisters on my fingers!” 😆
Got my first guitar at 12. Flying V, no less, from the JC Penny Xmas catalogue. After I got the intonation and action set is was a really nice guitar [heavy as hell though]. My first songbook was tablature [don’t laugh] a BeeGee’s songboook. Keep in mind this was about 28 years ago. I stole a few from my brothers and sister who played brass/wind instruments. After 8th grade I spent the summer with my brother who worked for the government in a division that developed computer imaging systems and software and stuff. They let me come in everyday and tool around in the lab. I got some schematics and built an overdrive, a distortion, a phaser and a tremelo pedal [4 in all, and all wire wrapped]. I think my next, and last “album” inspired songbook, was for Def Leppard’s Pyromania album. Those were good times 🙂
Seriously though, good luck with the new instrument. I never delved much into classical guitar. I preferred the jazz/rock/blues guys myself. I always wanted to be a combo of Steve Morse,Joe Pass and Stevie Ray Vaughan. And if not all of them then maybe just Joe Pass. Never got there though.
Can’t help you with the e-lessons but a video course I ran into a few years ago that I though was excellent for begining to intermediate players was Fretboard Logic. I struggled with a lot of the Mel Bay stuff during early years simply because I didn’t “get it”. I ran across the Fretboard Logic videos at a friends house and thought, damn, I wish I had had that to start off with. It was right in line with how I viewed/view the guitar and ridiculously simple to understand.
I’m playing a Schecter, no trem, nowadays [when I find time] and will probably play it for forever cause its a real good fit. Its always nice to hear that someone else has picked up the guitar.
Best of luck with that Frits.
ConquistadorNice move Frits.
Heh… I’m not a guitar player but my son is. He has been having guitar lessons for the last year or more about twice a week.
It is a very good way to kick back and relax. I really like hearing my son play. At some point I would like to learn how to play the guitar as well…but not just yet 😉
ZynewaveI chose the classical guitar over an acoustic guitar after reading in beginner recommendations that the steel strings would be tough on the fingers for a beginner. Also a nylon stringed guitar is not as loud, which I’m sure my neighbours appreciate :wink:. If one day I become a decent guitar-player, I’ll probably get me a decent acoustic guitar.
As guitar genres goes, I’m mostly interested in folk music, where my favorites are Suzanne Vega, Joan Baez, Nick Drake, Paul Simon and such. Mostly singer/songwriters that favours finger-picking rather than strumming.
I’ve been searching the net for tabs for some of my favorite guitar-songs. Today I managed to learn the start of Nick Drakes “River Man” which goes in an interesting 5/4 rhythm. I don’t have a problem with the guitar rhythm, unless I try to sing at the same time 😆 . Lots of practise needed, but at least I’m having fun learning.
thcilnnahojWelcome to the club! 😀
I’ve also been at it for ~2 years now, mostly classical, but I also own an electric.
The best tip I can give you is this:
If you’re really serious about it (hey, you said ‘master’ :P), then, from what I’ve learned, the key to success is to really get to understand how your muscles and their memory work! Only if you’re able to control every single movement without any unneccesary tension anywhere (you might find that you tend to tense up your shoulders in anticipation of a barre chord) that you’ll be able to express yourself on any instrument the way you want.
I imagine this is quite hard on one’s own… But it’s not much fun failing to get that 200-bpm metal riff right when your fingers land somewhere else every time… I’ve seen that.
So, even if you don’t plan on playing classical pieces, the ‘classical’ way of sitting, holding and playing is immensly helpful with this! You should try it! 8)
If you’re interested, here’s a classical piece I love. (Not me playing)
And here’s a good place for classical sheet music, with a nice forum, too.
In the end, enjoying yourself is everything, so don’t let yourself be discouraged by anything along the way, Frits! 🙂
ZynewaveIt’s now a month since I bought the classical guitar (Yamaha C45, cheap but good for the price). Unfortunately one of the top wooden braces inside was starting to come loose. It produced a horrible rattling noise on some frequencies. I brought it back to the shop today, and they said they would give me a new one as it is not worthwhile doing repairs on such a cheap guitar. Instead of replacing it I opted to upgrade to a more expensive western guitar. I’m now the happy owner of a Taylor 110 😀
Here are some links I’ve collected in my search for tabs (mostly fingerstyle folk music). Please share if you have links to similar resources:
Suzanne Vega:
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Diner/1804/tabs.html
Simon and Garfunkel:
http://freespace.virgin.net/r.kent/tab.html
Leonard Cohen:
http://www.cohenchords.com
Heather Nova:
http://www.heathernova.net/modules/tinyd9/
kingtubbyInstead of replacing it I opted to upgrade to a more expensive western guitar. I’m now the happy owner of a Taylor 110
That’s a fair step up in price Frits 🙂
How is your learning experience so far? Are you finding the steel string easier to learn on, over the classical – with the narrower neck and all?
Mart.
Zynewave@kingtubby wrote:
How is your learning experience so far? Are you finding the steel string easier to learn on, over the classical – with the narrower neck and all?
I actually liked the mellow tone of the nylon strings, but I found out that my fingers are a better fit for the narrower acoustic guitar fingerboard. All the pieces I’m trying to learn are written for the acoustic guitar, so it was a given that I should go for an acoustic guitar.
I’ve only had the guitar for a day, but I’m confident that I made the right choice.
I got the Taylor for about four times the price of the Yamaha C45. I’m not experienced enough to judge the tone nuances of the different acoustics I tried out, but it was such a nice quality feeling just to hold and behold the Taylor.
kingtubbyCoincidently, I bought my first guitar a couple of months back – a Crafter TA050 which is a copy of a Martin parlour style guitar – it has a slightly thinner body and the upper bout is smaller than the dreadnought style, hence it’s probably not as full sounding as your Taylor, but the size and shape feel comfortable to me.
I’ve been mainly concentrating on practicing technique, finger drills and chord changes and so on, rather than learning songs atm – but hey, that’s just me 🙂
Mart.
ronincongrats to your decision! playing guitar is a good thing since a guitar has almost always a beautiful voice and never contradicts 🙂
if you are looking for tabs check out tuxguitar (which is also available for win). It’s an opensource program for playing tablature files…very handy tool for practicing guitar!
there are some huge databases for these files out there. mysongbook.com hosts a lot of stuff but unfortunately due to some licensing issues some tabs are not downloadable anymore…but you can find some archive files if you ask the mule 🙂 there are some other good sites but I can’t remember them. I’ll write again if I can find them.
boseebI have played bass guitar in several bands until a few years ago. Unfortunately I don’t have the time anymore. That is why I started with recording on the computer. I recently also bought an acoustic guitar and just bought Janorama Acoustic Guitar Online. Tanks for the tip! I will start practicing tonight.
Eric