Learning Guitar // Music Theory

FrankieG

So I have picked up the guitar and am trying to teach myself.
I'm not very good, yet. But am hoping to practice 1-3 hours everyday until i become good enough to mess around, have fun, and sing songs by the campfire.

This is where my question comes: Do I need to know the Music theory behind the guitar? Why this chord and that chord go together.. What the root notes for G is.. What the different variations of blah blah blah...

Or, can i just memorize the tabs/chords?

Can anyone give me a good online free website to teach me the music theory?

I am open to all suggestions on how to become a better guitarist!

juan lester

i don't play guitar, but have rocked the uke for a few years now. you don't need music theory to play backyard bbqs, just know the chords. i don't know why G, Em, C, D, G sounds right, but it does. online recources are limitless, and if you learn to read tabs, the entire world of PJ music is available at giventowail.com. also, chordie is a great site with a mix of chords and tabs, usually with chord diagrams as well. azchords is also a good site.
music theory is important, but not essential to get started.
have fun and stick with it - nothing like making your own music. it's real live magic.
peace.
rock.
jc

Newch91

Check your PM.

FrankieG

BUMP

phungi

This site will get you started on the basics...

FrankieG

phungi wrote:

This site will get you started on the basics...

Thank you! :geek:

doctor z

One tip a guy gave me long ago is to practice with a rhythm of some type . Don't just randomly strum chords . It doesn't have to be a specific song . It works .

AzWicker

My only advise on this is to not learn tab, at least not yet.

Learn by using your ear by playing along to records. It will take longer to learn to play your favorite songs, but once your ear is developed you will sonn catch up and surpass the rest of us who learned with TAB.

Basically TAB makes you lazy.

The old joke about guitarists... : How do you slow down a guitar player? Put sheet music in front of him/her.

Once you have a developed ear, then feel free to use tab as another tool. It is a lot harder to develop your ear after relying on tab.

ryanevolution

I disagree slightly with the above post. TAB is crucial for guitarists, but you need sheet music as well. That is why when you buy a real guitar music book it gives you the tab and staff (sheet music) together. You need the sheet music to read the rhythm of what you are playing, along with the chord names at top. And the TAB for knowing where to fret the notes (place your fingers).

inlet13

FrankieG wrote:

So I have picked up the guitar and am trying to teach myself.
I'm not very good, yet. But am hoping to practice 1-3 hours everyday until i become good enough to mess around, have fun, and sing songs by the campfire.

Awesome. I'd say picking up the guitar was one of the best things I ever did. I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do.

FrankieG wrote:

This is where my question comes: Do I need to know the Music theory behind the guitar? Why this chord and that chord go together.. What the root notes for G is.. What the different variations of blah blah blah...

Absolutely, not. You do not need to know music theory to play songs. I'd also argue that you don't need to know music theory to write songs. Music is a layering process. You won't "get it" right away. It takes time. But, even in the beginning you can write/play some great stuff. In fact, simpler can be better.

In my opinion, some aspects of what's considered "music theory" are absolute rubbish. For instance, I don't believe there's a code in which one needs to analyze in order to write a song. Instead, I think a person just writes it. That said, I believe there's no doubt that learning different chords, scales ect. can help expand a songwriters ability. So, learn more and more songs and you'll learn more and more chords and you'll get better and better.

FrankieG wrote:

Or, can i just memorize the tabs/chords?

I wouldn't suggest "memorizing" anything. I'd suggest learning songs. Seriously, the whole point is to have fun. Don't drain yourself down by "memorizing chords" or scales. Instead, I'd recommend having fun and learning a song you enjoy. In doing that, you'll learn by doing and you'll learn a cool song along the way. This, in my opinion, is exactly what makes guitar/music addicting.

FrankieG wrote:

Can anyone give me a good online free website to teach me the music theory?

I am open to all suggestions on how to become a better guitarist!

In closing, only other advice I'd give is to learn some songs with basic chords first and/or powerchords. For instace, try Brown Eyed Girl if you like Van Morrison (open basic chords). Or give some Teen Spirit if you like Nirvana (power chords). Try out some Pearl Jam later on, because PJ tends to be a bit more advanced.

FrankieG

Inlet13, thank you so much for the great advice!

I dont have any intention about writing songs, yet . But I hopefully will someday soon.

When I said memorizing, i meant learning, so I know exactly what you mean. I just want to make sure that i am not missing out on certain variations of chords that can make me sound better.

I have learned Smells Like Teen Spirit, always a fun one to play. You are definitely corret that Pearl jam is more advanced. The reason that I picked up the guitar is inspiration from Mike/Ed/Stone, but learning their songs is a different story. I have gotten a couple down well enough to play the song. But other simplier songs from other bands that I like is what i am concentrating on now.

Newch91

FrankieG wrote:

Inlet13, thank you so much for the great advice!

I dont have any intention about writing songs, yet . But I hopefully will someday soon.

When I said memorizing, i meant learning, so I know exactly what you mean. I just want to make sure that i am not missing out on certain variations of chords that can make me sound better.

I have learned Smells Like Teen Spirit, always a fun one to play. You are definitely corret that Pearl jam is more advanced. The reason that I picked up the guitar is inspiration from Mike/Ed/Stone, but learning their songs is a different story. I have gotten a couple down well enough to play the song. But other simplier songs from other bands that I like is what i am concentrating on now.

Small Town is great for beginners.

BinFrog

Newch91 wrote:

FrankieG wrote:

Inlet13, thank you so much for the great advice!

I dont have any intention about writing songs, yet . But I hopefully will someday soon.

When I said memorizing, i meant learning, so I know exactly what you mean. I just want to make sure that i am not missing out on certain variations of chords that can make me sound better.

I have learned Smells Like Teen Spirit, always a fun one to play. You are definitely corret that Pearl jam is more advanced. The reason that I picked up the guitar is inspiration from Mike/Ed/Stone, but learning their songs is a different story. I have gotten a couple down well enough to play the song. But other simplier songs from other bands that I like is what i am concentrating on now.

Small Town is great for beginners.

Long Road is another good one to learn.

Newch91

BinFrog wrote:

Newch91 wrote:

FrankieG wrote:

Inlet13, thank you so much for the great advice!

I dont have any intention about writing songs, yet . But I hopefully will someday soon.

When I said memorizing, i meant learning, so I know exactly what you mean. I just want to make sure that i am not missing out on certain variations of chords that can make me sound better.

I have learned Smells Like Teen Spirit, always a fun one to play. You are definitely corret that Pearl jam is more advanced. The reason that I picked up the guitar is inspiration from Mike/Ed/Stone, but learning their songs is a different story. I have gotten a couple down well enough to play the song. But other simplier songs from other bands that I like is what i am concentrating on now.

Small Town is great for beginners.

Long Road is another good one to learn.

Yep.

BinFrog

FrankieG wrote:

So I have picked up the guitar and am trying to teach myself.
I'm not very good, yet. But am hoping to practice 1-3 hours everyday until i become good enough to mess around, have fun, and sing songs by the campfire.

This is where my question comes: Do I need to know the Music theory behind the guitar? Why this chord and that chord go together.. What the root notes for G is.. What the different variations of blah blah blah...

Or, can i just memorize the tabs/chords?

Can anyone give me a good online free website to teach me the music theory?

I am open to all suggestions on how to become a better guitarist!

If your intent is to truly just play some songs for friends sitting around a campfire, then memorizing a few songs is totally fine.

If you want to be versatile, for either jamming or even just sitting in and figuring out songs on the fly as people are playing, then you need some theory.

Theory can never hurt.

DangDang

Sometimes learning just the basic chords, and then barre chords, and then what chords are generally in what Key is more than what you need to get started. (this can all be learned off a basic one-page chord chart!)

After that alot of is feel.

If you want to do leads then learning the basic scales would be nice.

I think the variations of chords that Stone does is basically moving his fingers around and saying "hey. This sounds good & grungy & raunchy" weeert weeeert blong.

I don't believe that's "theory". It's more under the category "feel"

DangDang

http://www.mmissary.com/guitar~1.gif

link to good guitar chord chart that shows the different keys and what chords are played in those keys

(you can zoom into that chart once you're there)