Learning Guitar

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I'm strictly a singer and rhythm player (clawhammmer and fingerpicking), so you're probably already better at lead than I am. What did help when I was starting out was that I was constantly going "That's a good song! Let's see if I can play it." I wasn't always sucessful, but learned a lot of picking / strumming patterns and other tricks that way. In your case, the way to go might be to find a bunch of songs with guitar licks you like, and try to work them out. There are a few books of guitar riffs out there, like this one: http://www.fabermusicstore.com/The-Riff ... 25210.aspx

For a while I wanted to try and learn bass guitar, but yeah...didn't get very far with that. Bought a bass guitar, took some kind of crappy lessons where they just went over stuff but never really showed me how to play anything. I tried to learn some stuff on my own and could kind of do a couple small parts of songs...but yeah I just don't think I'm a musician. However I am still passionate about music, I consider myself a metalhead and I listen to lots of music a lot of metal obviously but other stuff to..and I like going to concerts and such.

I also am terrible at reading music so whenever I did try anything, I just used tabs...as they were easier to read. But I never learned any full songs or anything. I am much better at painting Warhammer minitures it would turn out, though I started on some cheaper miniatures nothing to do with playing music but I am much better at it than bass guitar and caught on much quicker.

Hello! I took on the same task over a decade ago. Let me see...

I can tell you that when you start learning guitar, you will be tested. It takes quite a long time for your fingers to feel comfortable and familiar with the guitar. THERE WILL BE PAIN. But all of that is the test. You have to want it enough to put up with the frustration of feeling like you are not making any progress.

I would say to start learning power chords. This will help get yor fingers used to navigating the neck and strumming. Switch from one chord to the next, and strum slowly as in... 1.2.3.4=down.down.down.down. Slowly at first, then faster, until you are able to switch from chord to chord smoothly.

As for the scales? I would start with one shape. Say the lydian, and the first shape of the pentatonic. Don't try to learn them all. Just get used to playing the shape, over and over. Slow at first of course. And even start with one or two strings only. That helped me.

As you get deeper and deeper, you will hegin to see all these amazing patterns of how the guitar and all its shapes are structered. Your mind will begin to organize everything into systems that work for you.

One last thing, get on UltimateGuitar.com. Look for songs you want to learn, and begin learning them.

Its actually really amazing and rewarding. I can go on and on in a huge musical monolog like I do to so many unsuspecting people lmao. So if you need any specific advice, let me know, I'd be happy to help. If I said things that are already so obvious to you, let me know and I'll adjust.

Anyway, good luck, and keep at it! You are being tested!

I've been playing music for over forty-five years on various instruments, professionally at times, largely self-taught. One of the really great things about music is you never stop learning. Using backing tracks is an excellent practice method. Rhythm and timing are the most important elements to develop, and you can never stop working on them and improving them. The greats can do more with one note than the hacks can do with twenty-it's not just about what notes you play, it's what you do with those notes. Never stop training your ear. Modes are just one of many tools for making sense of music and adding to possibilities-as you learn more material things like that make more sense. Your local public library might have some good books on theory and stuff. The best studio players can read music as well as the best Jazz players if you're headed that way (I don't play much Jazz, but I know some great players). Don't just listen to the guitar in the band-see how it fits in with the other instruments playing both lead and backing. I'm aspie as hell and horrible at parties, but I can fit in with most any group (to some extent) because I've learned how to listen and make the music and other people sound better (it just occurred to me-that might be a key to fitting in socially too-but who cares).

So what I've done is this:

I did buy the Rocksmith Cable. I got a laptop and put Linux Mint on it, along with the KXStudio packages (which add a whole bunch of audio tools). I plug the cable into the laptop and load the virtual guitar amp program so that I can use different effects.

It comes with a program called TuxGuitar which can view Guitar Pro tab files (and play them through MIDI). So I'm using that to learn songs. I'm also using a drum machine program called Hydrogen to keep a beat (as a metronome) to try to build up my speed.

(I haven't even bothered to buy Rocksmith on Steam though. I don't think I need it right now to be honest.)

I found reading sheet music easier than I thought it would be. I forced myself to read it one day and, well, after a few days of practice it became simple.




Training my ear is the one thing that I am not sure how to properly do.

You may already know this, but by "ear" musicians mean the ability to listen analytically to a piece of music so that you can either replicate it or play something that complements it. You NEVER get done training your ear-that's why great musicians seek out other great musicians that play in other genres to collaborate with them. There are lots of books on training your ear to identify which scale tones you are hearing and various methods (or you can work one out your own), but it really helps to be able to put what you know in a framework. There are those that say music is mathematical, and a lot of the "nuts and bolts" are. Western music only recognizes twelve tones, though in Blues, Jazz, Country, and the music of the rest of the world there are lots of notes "between the notes" (in India they have names for them, too). Rhythm is something else that can be explained mathematically. It doesn't explain all the feeling or expression put into the music, but it keeps you from having to "reinvent the wheel" every time you hear something if you can say to yourself, "this is the lick that I play in another tune, but this musician is playing it slower and putting it against a different chord and it gives it a whole different sound". And while you're at it, take care of your ears and wear ear protection-especially if you're playing Rock. Playing and listening to music that is too loud really can damage your ears permanently, and a lot of us survive a lot longer than we thought we would and wish we'd taken better care of ourselves.