Learning to play the Guitar (Page 2)

Are you a fan of the Cranberries?

I wouldn't go so far as to say a fan, but I do enjoy their music.

take a listen to the this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ejga4kJUts

Nicely done by the way.

lol, this is definitely the go-to song for people learning how to play the guitar, myself included. I can't tell you how many times I played this as a 10 year old on my first guitar

That sounds pretty good man, especially for only 8 weeks of noodling

Wow, that's crazy.  The intro is almost identical to what I was doing.  lol
On one hand I feel like a plagiarist, but then again IT SOUNDED JUST LIKE IT.  haha, I feel even better about my playing now.  
I'll have to learn the rest of that song.  Thanks for sharing

I have been wanting a new electric fretted bass for a while.  I did some looking around Omaha at the big box music stores and was really disappointed in the quality of the instruments they had in stock, and with their sales staff.  Went to C.B. and bought a very nice Ibanez 4 string bass.

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Very nice flip.  

I've discovered that I need to get an acoustic.  I love rock/metal and that's the direction I wanted to go, but the more I play the more I keep playing with a clean sound and doing basic chord progression type songs.

I goof around with some fun rock/metal stuff every now and again, but I really am enjoying acoustic songs a lot more.

I spent a couple hours at Guitar Center last week and played just about every guitar in $300-$500 range and absolutely fell in love with this one. 
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Martin-X-Series-X1-DE-Custom-Dreadnought-Acoustic-Electric-Guitar-107762015-i2429753.gc

The tone is amazing and it's hard to explain, but I just played it so much better than any of the others.  I'll probably pick it up in a few weeks.

And my better acoustic.

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Thanks, I'll check some of them out

Only advice I have is to persevere through the pain while your fingers toughen up, then don't stop. You may not want to build up the calluses again.

Originally posted by Rollergirl

Originally posted by Rollergirl

Originally posted by ecpasos I started learning last year. The best site I've found is http://www.justinguitar.comBeginner and intermediate lessons are free and the quality is incredible. Also, his method makes learning at your own pace very simple. Really great video lessons. I did buy the beginner song book to complement the lessons and it's really well put together. EP

I was going to suggest that. This guy is an amazing teacher. I am mainly a drummer but I like to play a lot of instruments (not happy with just one instrument, not happy with just one sport ) and I have learnt tons about guitar playing from him. He's just started a series on ukuele, which I am religiously following. Good luck with learning to play!

I had the pleasure of meeting him last week, at a Mark Knopfler concert. It was nice to be able to say thank you in person!

That is cool.  I'd love to meet him.

Quick update on my progress, I'm pretty solid on my G shapes and have several songs down pretty well.  I'm even singing a couple of them (ok, trying to sing anyway)

I have noticed that there are some strum patterns I can sing to easily and others I am a complete train wreck.  My brain is still struggling with doing 3 things at the same time, but I know it takes a lot of time and practice.  

Singing and playing comes with time and experience.  If you think you are doing really well with singing and playing.  Try doing it with a metronome to see if you are keeping the same beat or not.  I play songs with different people, and when we have done some jams with other people it is amazing how many people have a pause or add an extra count to get back into the verse correctly.

Keep working on it and having fun that is all that matters.

Per Justinguitar's advice I started using a metronome early on.  I noticed that even strumming with no singing I'd gradually speed up almost every song, so the metronome forced me to be more disciplined in my timing.

So far with singing I seem to have no troubles at all with songs that have a "down down DOWN down down DOWN" type strum pattern because my brain is able to do the down strums without thinking.  However, when I mix in any kind of "up down" into my strum patter I melt down almost instantly.  lol

I am fiddling around with a recording setup to try and record a song or two.  I can get my acoustic/electric into garage band easily with my SonicPort, but I don't have a real microphone yet for vocals and singing into the iPad doesn't quite cut it.  

I noticed that you are starting to record and mentioned a recording setup and a microphone. I repeat the above from last year, only because I am psychic 

I don't think I mentioned the PA system, keyboard, stands, cables, speakers, etc that came along after I "learned to play guitar". 

lol, that's so true.

I was at Guitar Center a month or so back and talking to the sales guy about how I'm glad I still really suck because I couldn't tell the difference between a $500 acoustic and a $2000 acoustic.  Then I go in the back and play on a $2000 acoustic and OMG, it was 100% better than the one I have.  I'm kicking myself for even picking it up...  I will not buy one... I will not buy one... I will not buy one...

I hadn't noticed until now, but you mentioned that you went for an acoustic guitar as well.  My guitar playing started on acoustic and has primarily stayed there. Both of my current ones have pickups in them, so I can get loud if need be, however, the ability to pick it up and play it and only it, without anything else is one of the draws for me.  And yes, there is a quality/playability difference when you start to look at price ranges.  The one benefit for me in buying certain brands new is the warranty.  As a matter of fact, my Martin OMCPA4 was a "Scratch and Dent" model from Musicians Friend.  The issue with it was the action was too high.  I had it for a few months, took it in to a Martin approved luthier and Martin covered the repair.  It plays great now, and has a high, ringing tone that I love. My other is a Guild F5CE in sunburst finish that I got new in the late 90's. It plays great and has a bigger, warmer sound to it, yet still rings out pretty well if I am up high on it.  It took a while to get that warm sound, but I have found that a well made acoustic gets better with time.  It doesn't show up in the photo, but the Guild is starting to chip and wear in a couple of spots. It has been to the luthier more than once and is starting to show some character.

beautiful

I pretty much only play my Martin now.  I'll occasionally grab the electric to practice some barre chords or scales while my wife's watching TV, but only because it's "quiet" to play.

I'm having a Bible Study at my house tomorrow night and I'm going to play/sing a few worship songs at the beginning.  This will be my big debut.  
I do help with our churches sound every weekend, so I've been able to play a few songs for the worship team while we're warming up which was fun.  I am trying to expand my horizons away from G shape songs though.

Learn to use a capo. The ultimate cheat  friend.

I've been toying with the idea of a guitar playing/songwriting/bible study group at my house.  I can't wrap my head around how to get it all set up.  I'm interested to hear how yours goes.