Just started...

DOSW

I was going to post this in the "too late to start?" thread, but I figured I'd put it by itself.

Well, I'm 18 years old and just graduated high school a few days ago. Since I'm taking a year off before college, I was determined to do something constructive while gathering some money for next year. So I decided to get serious with the guitar (I've dabbled in it for a day here and there in the past, but nothing significant). I've been playing for about a week now now on a decent acoustic Alvarez... the nylon strings are kinda bugging me, but I just have to learn to compensate for the softer sound of them next to the brass strings, I guess. It's also physically impossible for me to play some of the really advanced chords (I don't have very big hands... but I will be able to play them eventually, right?). Still, I'm surprised how much fun I'm having.

I have a beginner's book and I go online a lot, but I'm not going to be able to pay for lessons (I'm a little tight on funds). My routine is mixed between practicing chords and chord changes, trying to find the melodies of my favorite songs (without tabs), and creating simple melodies on my own. I think the variety is what can make it fun. I realized it's not all about doing the same chord change over and over and over for eight hours straight... you're allowed to mix it up a little bit to keep things interesting.

Hopefully this will become a great hobby for me. I don't really have many exceptional talents or things I am passionate about, but with time... well, who knows? This could be a lot of fun, I think. I plan to go electric once I'm determined that I'm serious about playing... if I'm still interested in a few weeks, then that's a pretty good sign that I can take the next step with a relatively cheap electric package. We'll see, I guess.

But now I'm off to giventowail.com to learn some riffs.

Thumbing My Way

Good luck man, I'm 18 too and am graduating next month

I started playing about a year and a half ago and I play everyday, I love it and I've come so far.....stick with it and it just keeps getting better.

The coolest thing I find about the guitar is how you're never done...I mean like, there's ALWAYS room for improvement no matter how good you are.

If you can save even $50 I would suggest getting maybe 1 or 2 lessons....even though $$$'s tight they will help out alot, I took mine like 4 months ago after playing for a year on my own and they helped out.

Again, good luck and keep us posted...the people in this forum are the best.

Cheers

enharmonic

Congrats to you both on your graduation!

likepilateihaveadog

try to learn a new song every day.

you'll learn a ton that way.

helped me out a bunch.
no lessons - self taught, worked out OK.

Thumbing My Way

likepilateihaveadog wrote:

try to learn a new song every day.

That's a really good idea!!

I would always try and learn new stuff too, now I'm almost perfecting the stuff I know more than learning too much new stuff

It's a good point though, a song a day :)

likepilateihaveadog

Thumbing My Way wrote:

That's a really good idea!!

I would always try and learn new stuff too, now I'm almost perfecting the stuff I know more than learning too much new stuff

It's a good point though, a song a day :)

Yeah.
The key word is TRY in the beginning...
Think of easy Ed songs...preset kind of songs.
Throw your arms, Don't be Shy, maybe Dead Man, Parting Ways, Hide you love away.
things like that.
Simple, three chord songs, for the most part.
It will really build confidence and good experience in learning new chords and patterns, etc.
It won't be perfect, but just don't try and sit and perfect the Alive solo to start...(not that you would)
But it's quite alright just to try something, let it go, and come back to it later.
You'll be amazed!

Thumbing My Way

likepilateihaveadog wrote:

Yeah.
The key word is TRY in the beginning...
Think of easy Ed songs...preset kind of songs.
Throw your arms, Don't be Shy, maybe Dead Man, Parting Ways, Hide you love away.
things like that.
Simple, three chord songs, for the most part.
It will really build confidence and good experience in learning new chords and patterns, etc.
It won't be perfect, but just don't try and sit and perfect the Alive solo to start...(not that you would)
But it's quite alright just to try something, let it go, and come back to it later.
You'll be amazed!

Oh totally!!

I'm constantly just throwing chords together and making up stuff based around other things, I've been working on Alive for a while and I can play the whole song and the first 2 bars of the solo but I haven't tried the rest of it yet....I keep the theme of the solo throughout.

I love playin' man ::)

harrisonmerwin

im 100% self taught,t hey only things ive learned from others is while jammign with them, and it wasnt really a student/teacher learnign process. the biggest thing is just playing 2-3 hours a day, and allways going over new stuff, and stuff you allready know.

morepeopleshouldsing

I didn't learn till I was twenty, and my first song learned was Elderly Woman. From there I've pretty much figured out everything I ever wanted to play,(with some help on the more difficult chords of course) and have even written some of my own stuff. Now, 8 years later I'm ripping out some mad riffs! Well not exactly but I'm doing shit I could only dream of being able to do just a few years ago! Keep it up.

Pappas

i been playing a year an taught myself everythin purely from playing pearl jam songs

its gr8 coz they have such a diverse range it can teach you everythin from simple chords to advanced scales/solos etc

DOSW

Hah, I just printed out a few tabs from giventowail last night. Well... I realized that I'm definitely not at that point yet, but I'll just come back to it later. I can't expect to be playing Elderly Woman like a pro after a week of playing.

Now I feel inspired to practice more so I can play these songs. It's an exciting undertaking.

likepilateihaveadog

DOSW wrote:

Hah, I just printed out a few tabs from giventowail last night. Well... I realized that I'm definitely not at that point yet, but I'll just come back to it later. I can't expect to be playing Elderly Woman like a pro after a week of playing.

Now I feel inspired to practice more so I can play these songs. It's an exciting undertaking.

Good good good.

Keep it up, keep us posted!

NothinGBetteRPJMaN

I find it funny that I am 18 and also just graduated. I am thinking about taking up guitar. My cousin has an acoustic and electric and he doesn't play anymore so I could just take his guitars. I have not a clue when it comes to guitar. All I have ever done was play it a few times at my cousins and just improv in my own shitty way. He also taught me how to play the first few chords of Come as You are. Anyone have any recommendations for learning by yourself? Any great books or websites?

Thanks!

likepilateihaveadog

NothinGBetteRPJMaN wrote:

I find it funny that I am 18 and also just graduated. I am thinking about taking up guitar. My cousin has an acoustic and electric and he doesn't play anymore so I could just take his guitars. I have not a clue when it comes to guitar. All I have ever done was play it a few times at my cousins and just improv in my own shitty way. He also taught me how to play the first few chords of Come as You are. Anyone have any recommendations for learning by yourself? Any great books or websites?

Thanks!

learning by ear...
picking through tabs of songs you know well, want to learn
practice
practice
practice
practice....

DOSW

My guitar sounded strangely good today. Chords actually sounded like chords instead of different notes being played one after another. My guess is that I've been playing it out of tune without really knowing it (my methods for tuning are.... imprecise, to say the least). Can being a little bit off key make a world of difference, or was I just imagining things?

sennin

DOSW wrote:

My guitar sounded strangely good today. Chords actually sounded like chords instead of different notes being played one after another. My guess is that I've been playing it out of tune without really knowing it (my methods for tuning are.... imprecise, to say the least). Can being a little bit off key make a world of difference, or was I just imagining things?

buy a chromatic tuner....it will tell you if you're out of tune or not. One you use it a few times, you'll start to get a "feel" for what's in tune.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Korg-CA30-Chromatic-Tuner?sku=210527


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