Guitar

musicismylife78

Hi, I got a guitar over the summer and am feeling frustrated. I practiced hard for about a month. Then school started and I practiced only occasionally, it was hard to balance school and guitar. Now its the winter break, and I want to practice again. I know basic chords, but he only songs I learned were the totally newbie type songs like Row Row your boat, or Go tell aunt rhodie.

I want to be able to play PJ and learn to read tabs. Anyone have any suggestions to get me out of my feelings of frustration?

Should I learn to play Elderly Woman on chords or learn to read tabs and then play it?

Any strategies?

I really want to start playing these songs that changed my life, I am just stuck.

I want to REALLY learn to play, and am willing to practice A TON, and when school starts up I will FORCEMYSELF to make time for homework and guitar.

I need to learn tabs. Any suggestions?

PLEASE HELP!

El_Kabong

i learned by playing tabs...but everyone is different. i think it was ahrder for me to learn chords later down the road, but you said you know some so...

it can be hard and frustrating. a lot of it is the tone, you can play it right but the tone may be off b/c of tunings, effects, amps, even strings....

i'm afraid the only help i can give are 2 good tab sites...get em while ya can

http://www.giventofly.com

http://www.olga.net or org

Thumbing My Way

Hey man,

I learned from tabs too, and i found them very difficult to read at first too. Like everything though, you get better at reading them with time and practice.

I started off really simple though, i mean i didn't play any chords until like 7 or 8 months in, it was all just picking stuff. I would try to learn stuff like Wishlist or something not too tough at first, then stuff like Small Town

Just my thoughts...

Spook Fish

Hey dude,

ditch the tabs and concentrate on your own ideas, try to make your own songs up and mess with them later. i thinks reading tabs is ok but nearly all the PJ tabs you will find in web sites are not actually correct as they are only peoples interpretation of what that song is.

the best thing to do is play along with the song and maybe just use the tabs as a starting point / idea.

i reckon you start to create your own ideas as soon as possible and you will get more out of playing the guitar in general.

Paulo Diniz

I First learned tabs when I was 14 but now I have 31 and went to a school and this is much better... if you can, do it...you will feel different.

bigmuzz

i learnt chords and stuff first, and mainly played songs in chord format........but now i like to mix it up with tabs and chords, and it is a pretty easy transition......you just gotta practise.....

Thumbing My Way

Spook Fish wrote:

Hey dude,

ditch the tabs and concentrate on your own ideas, try to make your own songs up and mess with them later. i thinks reading tabs is ok but nearly all the PJ tabs you will find in web sites are not actually correct as they are only peoples interpretation of what that song is.

the best thing to do is play along with the song and maybe just use the tabs as a starting point / idea.

i reckon you start to create your own ideas as soon as possible and you will get more out of playing the guitar in general.

Remeber he is JUST starting though too....i could barely play stuff like The Redemption song when i first started.

That's so much to ask "for him to create his own stuff"...he should get the basics down first.

Oh, Jimmy

Thumbing My Way wrote:

Remeber he is JUST starting though too....i could barely play stuff like The Redemption song when i first started.

That's so much to ask "for him to create his own stuff"...he should get the basics down first.

I agree. He shouldnt just start writing stuff. I started with tabs, but each person should do what comes easiest to start. Once, you get the basics down, and I mean way down, I started by improvising over the top of solos on cd's with my acoustic guitar. That should give you and idea if your ear is being trained. Once you get some confidence, your playing will become alot better also. Try to jam with some people if thats possible, and don't be afraid to really jam with them, and throw in your solo spot. It might not be blazing fast, or liquid smooth, but just hearing right and wrong notes next to each other, can help train your ear. That just my 2c

enharmonic

As far as technique goes...I wish I would have had this 8 years ago

http://www.guitarprinciples.com/

CaptainSpaz91

This is the best thing I can give, I started last year and granted I started in college with a friend in the hall that was very talented, but he wasn't always there and this is what I did. I'd practice basically 3 chords at a time, example E, A, G. I'd take those three and keep working at the chord changed over and over and over. Sounds boring but it worked pretty good, then I'd switch to three different chords say D, C, F (I worked up to that F barre chord so IMO save it for last). Then I'd go back with the same progressions and find I don't know the technical term, but I guess the fingerings I'd change, for example I'd go from E to A but the A I would barre with my first finger instead of using fingers 2,3,4. Things like that I'd do, what I believe is it was better for me to get my hands to be comfortable moving around the fretboard in different positions.


If I'm able to move my hand around with some ease, then the rhythm I can always try later. But to be honest I just suck at learning the rhythms,

Incubus - Drive, chord changes no problem but for some reason I just can't get that rhythm.

who's_pearljam?

I guess tabs are ok, I never use them, though.
You'll learn songs with tab, but you won't learn to play the guitar with tab.
You'll learn to play the guitar better by learning chords!

It's good to mix it up. You just can't sit there for a year playing scales and chords, but mix it up with playing songs you'd like to learn, too.

Like Captainspaz says, I would learn chords first and the combinations he showed. Get a chord book, or get on the site that Enharmonic showed, (which is great, by the way) and learn all 12 major chords,
A,
A#/Bb,,,,, A#is Bb
B,
C,
C#/Db,
D,
D#/ Eb,
E ,
F ,
F#/ Gb,
G,
G#/Ab.
then the 12 minors, then the 7ths of all them. There's 36 chords which is practically all of rock and roll.
Then you learn to barre the E position chord, and the open A chord, you can work your way all over the guitar.
Learn the notes at each fret at the E and A strings. When you play the E barre position, where you're fretting the barre is the chord. (3rd fret low E string = G chord.)
When you play the A barre, the fret at the A string is the chord. (3rd fret = C chord)

That's a bit of work there!,,, but if you get to that, you have the means to play most of the music you hear without needing tab. Think of it as an investment in your future! Especially if they take all the tab sites off the net!

Then you learn the 6ths and the 9ths ( not too hard after you learn the above, actually) and the #5th, b5th and all kinds of stuff like that.
Then you're playing Jazz! :cool:

When you have this knowledge, and you listen and try to play with a CD, you can fiddle around and find the right chord by ear. You WILL get your ear for it, but you have to know how to make the chords to get it.
You'll find that most leads come straight out of the notes in the chord, so you can experiment with that. Practice playing melodies of songs, too, which will help your ear and learn to play what comes out of your head.
When I look at tab, I spend more time looking at the tiny numbers, then when I play it, it's like, "Oh,, it's a D chord!" Why didn't they just say so!

As you can see above, there are a lot of approaches to the guitar. It’s a pretty unlimited instrument, and there are a lot of different ways to learn.

If you talk to different musicians, you’l get a different way to learn from each one. These are loose quotes

Neil Young - "Just learn a bunch of chords develop your own style and sound."

Zappa - “I hate the tab players when they audition with me, it’s like a bunch of parrots repeating what they hear. Learn scales!"

Adrian Belew - "I don’t know how to read music. I learned to play what comes out of my head." (Played a lot with Frank Zappa and didn't know scales!)

The Ramones - "We don’t practice. We don’t want to be “good”. It’s all about the energy."