finally bought a guitar, now to learn to play...

taratara Posts: 293
edited February 2007 in Musicians and Gearheads
so after all these months of thinking about it, i went out to buy a guitar, got a yamaha, had the nicest sound of the cheaper ones, now i've got to learn how to play (i've got a background in music, and even taught for awhile, so the theory's not the problem), my first question, could anyone suggest some fun songs to start with? i started with masters of war, thinking 'hey only 5 chords, i can do this' then they threw a F chord int here, which isn't so easy.
No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.
Albert Einstein
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Comments

  • Long Road
    Corduroy
    Small Town
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • taratara Posts: 293
    alright, my fingers already feel like a knife is being dug into every single one of them.
    when does that feeling go away?
    No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.
    Albert Einstein
  • senninsennin Posts: 2,146
    My fingertips hurt for about 2 months....now I can't fell them. :p

    ...and they don't call it F-Major for nothing! haha...

    Long Road, Hide Your Love Away, Corduroy (intro), Polly (Nirvana)...
  • taratara Posts: 293
    also, it seems that every website has a different opinion of what chords should be played, could anyone suggest a site with reliable tabs, at least for some of the pj stuff
    non-pj songs welcome too ;)
    No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.
    Albert Einstein
  • I like
    http://www.ultimate-guitar.com

    And don't worry, the pain will go away, eventually.
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • On the subject of sore fingers mine only hurt for about 2 and a half weeks. If you play just untill your about to blister and then stop every day, they callus quickly



    7/02/06 Denver
    12/02/06 Honolulu
  • lucylespianlucylespian Posts: 2,403
    Coupla suggestions, first, F & B are teh hardest chords to fret, stay away from them for a bit if you can, or learn to play a power chord "F5", which is bit of a cheat, but gets you aound it for a bit.
    Also, shops guitars usually have fairly heavy gauge strings n them, 11's or 12's sometimes. Changing to a lighter gauge will be easier, plus new strings sound so good yuo will be amazed.
    Music is not a competetion.
  • taratara Posts: 293
    On the subject of sore fingers mine only hurt for about 2 and a half weeks. If you play just untill your about to blister and then stop every day, they callus quickly

    yeah, i did that yesterday, then i went to my freinds party, then i came home at 3 am and did it again (which was a more drunken, less acurate session, i'm sure my neighbor was thrilled), we'll see how long that lasts.
    Coupla suggestions, first, F & B are teh hardest chords to fret, stay away from them for a bit if you can, or learn to play a power chord "F5", which is bit of a cheat, but gets you aound it for a bit.
    Also, shops guitars usually have fairly heavy gauge strings n them, 11's or 12's sometimes. Changing to a lighter gauge will be easier, plus new strings sound so good yuo will be amazed.

    i've developed a cheating system, where i don't play the whole bar part, so for B just don't play the lower strings, for f, don't play the outer ones (make sense?)
    No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.
    Albert Einstein
  • seanw1010seanw1010 Posts: 1,205
    good place to start: rocking in the free world(just taught my dad it, and he's only been playing for 3 weeks)

    Em////////D//A//
    G////////D////////C////////Em//
    they call them fingers, but i never see them fing. oh, there they go
  • seanw1010seanw1010 Posts: 1,205
    tara wrote:
    alright, my fingers already feel like a knife is being dug into every single one of them.
    when does that feeling go away?
    the more you play, the less it hurts
    they call them fingers, but i never see them fing. oh, there they go
  • taratara Posts: 293
    seanw1010 wrote:
    good place to start: rocking in the free world(just taught my dad it, and he's only been playing for 3 weeks)

    Em////////D//A//
    G////////D////////C////////Em//


    ok, silly question, but what are all the ////// for?
    my freind just called me up "hey tara, lets go climbing" "can't, i just bought a guitar, must play" "you just did what? do you play?" "no" "um, ok, why did you buy it then?" "well, how else will i learn to play" "i don't get it"
    i guess it's sort of a surprise to my freinds that know me solely from my athletic side (my 13 year old self is now laughing hysterically that anyone could think of me as a jock), they don't know music-tara, i hadn't realized that. but what's with the "do you play?" insinuating that if i don't play why would i get a guitar, there's some false logic in there.
    alright neil young, here i come!!
    No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.
    Albert Einstein
  • lucylespianlucylespian Posts: 2,403
    tara wrote:
    yeah, i did that yesterday, then i went to my freinds party, then i came home at 3 am and did it again (which was a more drunken, less acurate session, i'm sure my neighbor was thrilled), we'll see how long that lasts.



    i've developed a cheating system, where i don't play the whole bar part, so for B just don't play the lower strings, for f, don't play the outer ones (make sense?)

    Yeah, basically you are playing a power chord, which is really a diad of the root and the fifth, no third. It's the same cheat I was referring to.They are very common in rock music, esp on electric, where playing a full chord is often too much, esp on distorted tones. YOu can't really expect to play bar chords on teh first fret well for a while, it is very difficult.
    Music is not a competetion.
  • BinFrogBinFrog Posts: 7,309
    tara wrote:
    ok, silly question, but what are all the ////// for?
    my freind just called me up "hey tara, lets go climbing" "can't, i just bought a guitar, must play" "you just did what? do you play?" "no" "um, ok, why did you buy it then?" "well, how else will i learn to play" "i don't get it"
    i guess it's sort of a surprise to my freinds that know me solely from my athletic side (my 13 year old self is now laughing hysterically that anyone could think of me as a jock), they don't know music-tara, i hadn't realized that. but what's with the "do you play?" insinuating that if i don't play why would i get a guitar, there's some false logic in there.
    alright neil young, here i come!!


    Don't worry about the slashes. The top line is the intro/verse section, and the bottom line is the chorus. Just listen to the song and you'll hear the 2 distinct sections. Then try to play along.
    Bright eyed kid: "Wow Typo Man, you're the best!"
    Typo Man: "Thanks kidz, but remembir, stay in skool!"
  • NovawindNovawind Posts: 836
    seanw1010 wrote:
    good place to start: rocking in the free world(just taught my dad it, and he's only been playing for 3 weeks)

    Em////////D//A//
    G////////D////////C////////Em//


    I actually just tried it out for the first time yesterday and I gotta say it's by and far the easiest/quickest song I ever picked up. I can even sing along (kind of!)
    If idle hands are the devil's workshop, he must not be very productive.

    7/9/06 LA 1
    7/10/06 LA 2
    10/21/06 Bridge 1
  • DOSWDOSW Posts: 2,014
    seanw1010 wrote:
    good place to start: rocking in the free world(just taught my dad it, and he's only been playing for 3 weeks)

    Em////////D//A//
    G////////D////////C////////Em//

    I'm fairly certain its Em -> D -> C for the verses.
    It's a town full of losers and I'm pulling out of here to win
  • dunkmandunkman Posts: 19,646
    DOSW wrote:
    I'm fairly certain its Em -> D -> C for the verses.

    It is :)
    oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
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