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Learning Guitar

6 replies

LollipopViolet · 30/01/2014 22:07

Well, I've had a few false starts with guitar, but got a copy of Rocksmith today, and so far, so good. For the first time ever, I was able to get a clear chord out of my guitar :)

I'm hoping it'll teach me some basics, then I can start downloading tab and learning some rock/metal tunes Grin

However, I have discovered one, tiny, tiny problem.

The fingers on my right hand hurt like crazy after not very long playing! I KNOW it's normal and it'll get better, but as this is my first real experience of playing for a while, I'm surprised by it!

So, anyone else? What guitar do you have, how long have you been playing and what's your favourite song/songs to play?

I've got a cheap C Giant electric guitar, that I've had since I was 17 (am 24 now) and this is my first real bit of progress with it - don't you just love technology?! :)

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Ferguson · 01/02/2014 19:53

I could never manage guitar - much too hard! Did bits of trumpet, then electronic organ. Main instrument thought was drums, for forty years.

This is possibly a good place to start:

sendmemusic.com/instrument-tuition/guitar.html

A lot of this is jazz based, but there must be similar sites for classical, folk, and rock guitar. If you have access to a piano or keyboard, learn chords there as well, as it's easier to understand theory than on guitar.

Good luck.

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Ferguson · 02/02/2014 17:56

Hi - found a few more things may help you:

www.guitartricks.com/blog/index.php?p=How-to-Toughen-Up-Your-Fingertips

www.musicroom.com/browse/arrangement.aspx?category_id=store6_arrangementgroup1_arrangement36

I'm not suggesting you join this, but some of it might be interesting to listen to:

martintaylor.com/guitar-academy/

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AnyFuleKno · 02/02/2014 18:08

well done on making a good start!

Play every day, even if it's just for 5 minutes, and your fingers will very soon toughen up.

For me I tried to start guitar multiple times but I've had the most success by learning ukulele and then going back to guitar - this toughened up my fingers and built my confidence. It was great to be able to play actual songs. Now I am good enough to play most chords, even the tricky bar ones, and I'm working on learning more intricate finger picking type stuff.

This is a fab time to learn guitar with so many web tutorials available.

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LollipopViolet · 02/02/2014 21:55

I've tried a couple of chords - they're quite tricky right now, because my hand needs to stretch out a bit.

I need to get myself a good book of songs - I like rock, metal, also love things like TV themes, Disney etc.

I have to admit, it is rather nice hearing my electric guitar through the Xbox, I can't find the amplifier parents may have hidden it so I'd forgotten how nice it can sound when I get stuff right :)

I love the idea of a ukelele - they sound ace and I don't think it's possible for anything to sound sad on one!

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AnyFuleKno · 02/02/2014 22:47

Ukelele is brill, you could learn it in about a month.

The trick with guitar (aside from getting your fingers tough enough) is learning the movement between two chords and getting that smooth - D to G, G to C etc - keep practicing it over and over to get it in your muscle memory

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iklboo · 02/02/2014 22:56

DH swears by Guitar for Dummies and 'You Can Bluff' books. They gave him lots of tips & practice tunes to try.

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