Teach myself guitar?

Pearl Jam and toast

Never too late! :cool:

who's_pearljam?

Pearl Jam and toast wrote:

Never too late! :cool:

Exactly! Pat Martino is one of the most amazing jazz players out there, and I saw he was teaching a class, so I figured I'd sign up. Might as well play with the best!
You have to know how to read and know theory and audition to get into his classes, too.

who's_pearljam?

Boom The Cat wrote:

I really wish I was better at guitar. Its just finding the time to practice.

That's a common problem. Finding time. Which is exactly why I stress that you have to try to learn to practice properly. A good teacher can help, or the program that ,,,, hell, the name escapes me! It's great, too!
DOH!!! :(

Enharmonic will know if he signs in because he's mentioned it, too, or I'll look it up.

But you have to focus on your practice and not wander around diddling into licks and out of them. Learning in 20 minute chunks of time is good, too. It gives what you've learned time to sink in, and doesn't get as boring if you're running scales, or learning triads. etc.

driftingangel3

i taught myself...i think it's definitely about being able to find the time...i think i would have learned faster if i had lessons since i would have more likely committed the time to practice before i met up with a teacher...so for me it took a couple of years. i didn't have the patience for the basics (which i sometimes regret) and i don’t know how to read notes, so i found it easiest to use tab since it tells you where to put your fingers. i basically found a tab and started trying to play it. the first song i learned was time of your life by green day, for some reason I just really wanted to be able to play it but actually after how long it took me i don’t suggest that as a starter song,…then to learn how to play barre chords i stuck with hail, hail....over and over and over again until i got the hang of it. since i didn't know anyone else who played at the time that i was learning, it wasn't until about a year after that that i discovered that i have the wrong finger placement for barre chords and it's so hard to switch now but it works for me. so yah, i totally suggest teaching yourself, there are lots of sites that can explain the basics and tab to you and it’s the cheapest way…plus i have found that people who know how to play are always willing to give advice about it too...if you like it you'll stick with it…good luck!

Pearl Juli

who's_pearljam? wrote:

That's typical, Pearl Juli, and hello!


Everyone's different in how they approach learning. Some people have the knack to learn via ear, some need to see it on paper, or in a book, and some need a live person to show them the ropes.

Remember if you're self taught, you're learning from someone who doesn't know what they're doing!

I think getting a teacher that you like will put you farther ahead than someone without a teacher, because if you get some of the basics in you, then you build on them, rather than plunk away at stuff from a TAB site THEN get the basics.
A good teacher should show you how to practice most efficiently. I think the time invested into learning the basics is far less than the time people spend on the computer trying to get the tab for each song. It takes time to learn the basics up front, but then you have them,,, and in most cases you won't need the TAB.

There ARE some good DVD's out there and that can work, because you can plug that thing in whenever you have time, but you have to have the discipline to do it.

If you want to help ear training, one thing I used to tell students is to at least:

1) Learn to barre the E and A formation major chords all the way up the neck. That takes some strength training but it's great to know.


E formation

Letter on the left is the string, Number on the right is the fret
On an open E, the 0 is an open string.
On a barre chord, the 0's will be your index finger struggling to barre across all the strings.

E -0
B-0
G-1 < middle finger
D-2 <pinky
A-2 <ring finger
E-0

A formation:

E-0
B-2 < pinky
G-2 < ring
D-2 < middle
A-0
E-0

2) Learn all the notes on the low E string and A string frets.
The note on the low E string is the root of the chord in the E formation.
The note on the A string is the root of the chord in A position.

For instance, when you're playing a barred E position chord at the 7th fret, you are actually playing a B chord.

3) Now listen to a song you want to learn and find the key by fretting the E string up to what the general sound matches and voila,,, that's the general chord that's being played.
Use trial and error and soon your ears and your hands will mesh and you will be released from looking up TAB in most cases.

4) Now learn the Em, E7 , Eminor7th,,,Am, A7 and A minor7th positions and you have just about all rock and roll chords right there.

Em:

E-0
B-0
G-0
D-2
A-2
E-0

E7th:

E-0
B-0
G-1
D-0
A-2
E-0

E minor 7th:

E-0
B-0
G-0
D-0
A-1
E-0

A Minor:

E-0
B-1
G-2
D-2
A-0
E-x

A 7th

E-0
B-2
G-0
D-2
A-0
E-x

A minor 7th

E-0
B-1
G-0
D-2
A-0
E-x

Those aren't hard to learn to barre after you get the major chords down, but then you'll have some basics.

If you listen to the sound of an E7, E minor, E minor 7th enough, for instance, you WILL recognize what chord it is sooner than you think, without even playing it.

There are MANY different ways to play all those chords, but they are basic ways, and that should keep beginners busy for a day or so!



Ok, this post took a long time to type! I missed lunch!

Hello there!

Thank you so much for your reply It was very helpful. I saved your post, and I'm gonna get to it as soon as I change strings. I broke the high E...it always seems to be the only one that breaks

DOSW

who's_pearljam? wrote:

That's a common problem. Finding time. Which is exactly why I stress that you have to try to learn to practice properly. A good teacher can help, or the program that ,,,, hell, the name escapes me! It's great, too!
DOH!!! :(

Enharmonic will know if he signs in because he's mentioned it, too, or I'll look it up.

But you have to focus on your practice and not wander around diddling into licks and out of them. Learning in 20 minute chunks of time is good, too. It gives what you've learned time to sink in, and doesn't get as boring if you're running scales, or learning triads. etc.

Yep. It's not about how much time you have to practice. It's about how you use your practice time.

Here's an article about effective practicing: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/columns/general_music/an_analysis_of_suck.html

I read another one too that was a little better than that, but I can't find it. That one is a good article, though.