Be Excellent To Each Other

Haven't picked mine up in years. Did a few nights ago, and today, to see how I'm doing, i.e., not well. I gave up having lessons before I started university y'see, but before then had lessons for six years or so, slightly on-off. Progress stopped because I never had an amp basically, or like-minded guitar people to play with. But I need an extra hobby, so I want to play guitar again. The main thing I want to do is make my own music as I've always been hopeless at learning songs... Any suggestions?

Erm. Practice.

Suggestions for what, sir? Tips on how to play the guitar, or songs to learn?

Remember hammer-ons and pull-offs! And remember that if there is any part of a song you are having trouble with, use the practice mode to slow it down and nail those solos!

For resources (websites), possibly books, I guess. Things to learn. No songs, I haven't a hope in learning other peoples songs on my own, and believe me I've tried - music reading, and all that. Possibly clues to where I should look for someone to practice guitar with (sounds stupid, but I can't do the pre-university old trick of asking people at college. Because I've finished education).

but a looper

Boss, Line6, Digitech, eclectro harmonix etc all make them

i recommend learning how to play a simple blues riff and then learn the minor pentatonic scale and the 'blues scale' variation of it. you can noodle away forever on that and it'll get your skills and improvisation happening.

after that you start breaking away from it. it can lead you in a rock, jazz or metal direction if you let it.

if the words like pentatonic baffle you, drop me a PM I can definitely keep it simple for you.

Bluce Ree is lovely.

That is all.

Play fast.

I have folder full of songs. You can have some of them, if you want.

Get an effects pedal, and put so much delay, reverb, sustain and distortion on, that it's just a wall of beautiful (or not beautiful) noise.

Bluce Ree's advice seems better, though. I've been playing for 5 years, and I'm still clueless when it comes to any sort of theory; I'm not bad at the physical part. I bought a pedal a couple of months ago, though, and now I opt for the above.

Play till your fingers bleed, then play some more.
This is a nice program btw GuitarPro

Practice every day, lots.

Things - http://www.guitarists.net/software/index.php

Let the friendliest guitar tutor on the planet show you how.

Oo arr.

Ooh, PM on its way. I've had a guitar for about 6 years, I used to pick it up most evenings and try to play along to songs armed with about 6 chords and little else. I'd love to get back into it.

I'm wanting to buy an electro-acoustic guitar.

Anyone got any advice as to ones that would be good for a beginner? Shops to order from? I'm only looking to spend around £200 max so it doesn't have to be super super, but at the same time I don't want to buy something rubbish that I'll regret in three months time.

I suggest you get rid of the guitar as there's far too many people playing guitar in the world. Then get yourself a synthesiser and a drum machine. Say an sh-101 and a TR-606 or TR-707. Maybe even just a DR-110. In fact why not get a Juno-6 as well so you can have some polyphonic fun. That should only set you back around £700-800 and you'll be much better off for it.

Alternatively download Renoise (a free music tracker) and load some virtual synthesisers into it.

There, problem solved.

what about a takamine?, quite a nice sound for strumming.

http://www.thomann.de/gb/takamine_eg321c_bk.htm

http://www.thomann.de/gb/takamine_eg320c.htm

not sure how much delivery is though.

I've got a Takamine. S'alright.

i've also been thinking about picking my guitar again, but i've been too lazy to bring it from my parents house.

I never learned it properly, i just memorized songs, mostly because i got bored quickly from doing the practicing exercises i've been told to.

Get a Line 6 Pocket Pod... it's the mini (suppose, "pocket") version of their Pod amp/fx emulation unit. For the amount of money it costs, it really is a nice little gadget. You can emulate all the fantastic amps (Marshal, Fender etc)- plus you can hook it up to your computer (via USB) and edit the FX (as well as download lots of uploaded files). There's also quite a few specific song FX (with a lot being uploaded), so if you want your guitar to sound like a particular song, you can make it close enough to it (without spending thousands on the correct setup).

FX and Gain can help you sound a lot better when you're starting out, so I'd give that a try.

http://line6.com/pocketpod/

oh, and get yourself some audio software to record on, if you want to try and make your own stuff up. I used to use Acid, but I've moved onto Logic.....

That pocket pod looks excellent. I only have a shitty no-name 11w amp at the minute, so that would be excellent for dialling in some actually decent setups.

A couple of you have mentioned Takamine as a good manufacturer. Is there anywhere reputable on the web or would you reccommend only getting from a bricks and mortar store?

Are any of these any good?
http://musical-instruments.shop.ebay.co ... 66?_npmv=3

I've never bought a guitar online, so I couldn't tell you. This is one I've got, and it's served me very well over the last five or so years.

Don't get a Vintage Metal Axxe II.

Some great advice here, already.

1. The biggest one is practise.
2. Your fingers need to be fit before you can do anything, really. So lots of 'finger exercises' (fnar). Practise, basically. Play melodies, not just strumming.
3. Pick some songs you actually like- I think it's important to ignore people who have a set idea of what you should play. (Like I just did above)
4. I'm not to big on the idea of getting lessons - if you're a beginner you'll probably figure out what they're going to tell you anyway, unless you want to be a classical guitarist or something. Basically, if you want to play Oasis songs then you don't need a teacher. Do your own thing. Guitarists are opinionated buggers (As you can see).
5. Practise.
6. Practise.
7. Practise.
8. Practise for at least a hour a day. EVERY DAY. No excuses - you'll be surprised at the difference if you keep it up consistently.
9. Keep the guitar with you when you're doing other passive things like watching the telly. (On top of the hour)
10. You can strain muscles (although this is unlikely at the beginning) so ideally you should warm up by playing 'easy' and try to keep your hands relaxed when you play.
11. Practise.

That's bang on the money for me.

right, I'm bored at work.

guitar is probably about this more than anything.


1. get your fingers working
2. know what notes to play


a good, but dull, way to get your fingers used to playing properly is this.

on the lowest/deepest string (the low E) play these frets....

12, 13, 14, 15

note: one finger per fret (index for the 12, middle for 13, ring for 14, little for 15).

then do that on the next string up. and the next and so on until you get onto the highest string.

then, on the highest string, go

14, 13, 12, 11. (14 = little, 13 = ring etc) then do that on the second highest string, third etc.

then work up on the 10, 11, 12, 13 and back down on 12, 11, 10, 9.


in tab it looks like this

e -----------------------------------------------------------------12-13-14-15-14-13-12-11----------------------------------------
B -----------------------------------------------------12-13-14-15--------------------------14-13-12-11---------------------------
G ----------------------------------------12-13-14-15-----------------------------------------------------14-13-12-11-------------
D ---------------------------12-13-14-15-------------------------------------------------------------------------------14-13-12-11
A --------------12-13-14-15--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E -12-13-14-15---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

e ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10-11-12-13-12-11-10-9-----------------
B -----------------------------------------------------------------------------10-11-12-13--------------------------12-11-10-9-----
G ----------------------------------------------------------------10-11-12-13------------------------------------------etc
D ---------------------------------------------------10-11-12-13--------------------------------------------------------etc
A -14-13-12-11--------------------------10-11-12-13--------------------------------------------------------------------etc
E --------------14-13-12-11-10-11-12-13--------------------------------------------------------------------------------etc


by the time you get down to play frets 3, 4, 5, 6 the distance between frets will definitely give your hands a good stretch.

Another thing to consider is alternate picking. start the whole exercise with a downstroke with your plectrum (play towards the floor) and then come up for the next note and down for the next and so on.

12 (d), 13 (u), 14 (d), 15 (u): repeat


It's not very interesting but it's really good for getting some sort of form happening. The way to approach an instrument is to know what the 'good' technique is, so that you can throw it away if you want to later on.

Three chord punk stuff can be greatness but if that's all you know your expression will be like Karen Matthews getting angry rather as opposed to Bill Hicks doing it.

I wish I'd started my own thread about buying a guitar, rather than hijacking an old one.

Can anyone advise me? I need to get Sam some new strings for one of his electrics, but what the hell is the difference between regular and super slinky? They all look like packs of condoms anyway.

String thickness. You generally want to go with whatever you had before, if it worked as wanted.

Its the gauge or thickness of the wire. Its quite important, as thicker gauge strings generate more tension on the neck of the guitar.
In basics, a guitar neck is wood, with a metal support through it, called a truss rod.
A truss rod basically helps keep the neck straight, and can have its tension adjusted to compensate for the tension of the set of strings that is on the instrument.
Unless you know what you are doing, dont mess with the truss rod.
Having guitars adjusted to play well is usually best handled by a guitar technician and is referred to as a set up (consisting basically of setting the height of the strings to the users preference, adjusting for the gauge of strings used, and setting the intonation - essentially making sure the guitar is in tune across the whole range of the fingerboard).

If you use the "wrong" or lets just say different gauge strings, you risk messing up the neck at worst, and simply making the guitar harder to play as a minimum.
Thicker strings = harder to push down / string bend.

I assume you are talking electric guitar?

Also, slicky and super slinky are a brand name of Ernie Ball strings. Slinkys are 10s (meaning the smallest e string is a 10 gauge) super slinkys are 9's

what guitar is it? Ill hazard a guess then what gauge to get him. Otherwise take to a guitar shop, theyll be able to tell you by sight /feel most likely.

hth

Thanks LS. It is an electric guitar, just a starter kit he had from the shop last year. If in doubt I'll pop in and ask them.

It's a Crafter by Cruiser and he's got a Jacksville custom series two Zeus.

Woosh.

They'll likely be 9's

A pink pack of ernie ball super slinkys will see you right.
I prefer ernie balls coincidentally

I only use Ernie Ball strings on my electric guitars. I really love the Skinny Top Heavy Bottoms.

Also, if buying strings, you can get them for about £4 a pack on ebay, rather than the £6-£8 of shop prices.

I use them on my bass, but I found they didn't hold their tunings so well on guitar, so eventually decided upon D'addario super lights for my electrics.

I prefer heavy strings. mainly because I mostly break the low Es on 9s or 10s.

heavy strings sound better anyway. a little harder to play but I think that's a good thing. makes you work for it and makes things a little more raw.

9s are for LA guitar institute types!

you mean d'addario last5mins

I play 9s
where do i collect my ticket to LA ?

Psh. The set I currently have on have lasted for over 2 years.

Strings will last forever if you don't play that particular guitar.

I use D'addarios on my acoustic.

You and Sir Mixalot!

Don't forget to clean the strings after you've used your guitar!

I don't know much but I do know that there's nothing like "hand filth" to shorten the life of your strings.

I've only had my strat with me for over a year now.

D'addarios are the ones that come in individually sealed bags right and claim to last the longest?


I swear I had them once, and I dont suffer from corrosive sweat or whatever, but those strings rusted to shit in next to no time.
I was really gutted!

Having said that I dont change strings as often as I should - and in fact just bought 3 sets of ernies off ebay for £11 to give my geets a spruce up

I think so, although getting a set now claims that it's an enviromentally friendly set which uses 75% less packaging. And so all the strings come in one sealed bag with "Corrosion intercept technology"



I've not had any problems, myself. My housemate, who used the hybrid slinkys would often find that the strings were rusted before they even went on the guitar, mind. Although I think that's more to do with his habit of buying individual strings.

I've never considered my sweat 'corrosive' but I have managed to rust away most of the back of watch, so who knows? Why risk it?

I put some new Ernies on my Washburn 7-string a few weeks ago and they sound immense.

Thats the ones. Corrosion intercept.
My new Ernies now come in a sealed pack like GJ a massive condom wrapper. Shows how long since I bought a set.
Its nice now, cos people cant nick the strings out the pack. Had that happen before, buying from shops.