guitar NEWB thread

Re: speaker intermittent thing upthread - no caps in the speaker, prob either a tinsel lead or a slight voice coil rub. Short version - replace the speaker.

heres a $200 range guitar thats prob good for the price
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/squier-cyclone-electric-guitar/h77032000004000

UPDATE:

I still don't have a teacher. I'm a lazy SOB.

I can play the following chords: E/G/C/D/A/F (ps F sux) (I assume I'm doing F right anyway, I kind of figured it out instead of looking it up and ended up with XX3211)

I can't play anything in rhythm yet. Switching between chords is a 3-10 second "um okay my fingers go here no wait HERE dammit press harder ow my fingers" ordeal.

I have a newfound appreciation for anyone playing fast-strummed rhythm guitar parts because that shit is hard and hurts.

I need to get a teacher, it's stupid I haven't gotten one already.

full F chord is 133211, it's basically the E chord with everything pushed up a fret, but yeah it's a lot harder to play because you have a make a barre

yup, that's F

learning the barre chords is fun and good for hand strength

xp

like n/a said: the "E major" shape barre chord: 133211
the "e minor" shape barre chord: 133111

the "a major" shape barre chord: x13331 (people mostly play this as x1333x
the "a minor" shape barre chord: x13321

I looked at making F with all 6 strings and my hand basically went "you know what, that idea can go fuck itself"

sigh

wait, wouldn't x13331 be... B-flat, E, A, C#, F?

B-flat, F, B-flat, D, F

oh right, 3 not 2

i'm putting those chord names in quotes because that's the shape when played as an open chord.

i probably should have called it "e string root major and minor" and "a string root major and minro" which is more accurate.

no I got what you meant, I was just thinking A = fret 2 and being dumb about translating into notes

another good practice chord is the minor 11

111111

Yeah, that's a good way to practice the barre. Especially if you don't play the A string, making is just a minor 7th.

1x1111

I haven't really wrapped my head around how to skip a string in the middle of a chord

Well, you could try to either
1) play fingerstyle
2) skip TWO strings xx1111

you don't have to skip the string at all. that would be hard! just mute it. much easier.

btw just to gloss n/a's post above re the F chord: the full barre is 133211 but the xx3211 you're playing is also technically a complete F and has a long and honorable tradition. the "baby barre" you're playing on the E and B strings is sort of one of the guitar player's early rites of passage.

this is a little ~advanced~ but if you take any two or three strings of any of those barres it will sound like something familiar.

xx333x = a major triad with root on the 5.

xxx211 = major chord, root 3

xxx321 = minor chord, root 1

xx321x = major chord, root 1

you can move these around anywhere

ha that is what I was figuring out yesterday

I can't play anything in rhythm yet. Switching between chords is a 3-10 second "um okay my fingers go here no wait HERE dammit press harder ow my fingers" ordeal.

haha, yes. i'm reliving this frustration. i decided to really start teaching myself finger style stuff by learning bert jansch's version of angie and it's those first days of learning cowboy chords all over again.

"okay, these two fingers here at the same time, alright then this bass note with my thumb while hammering on th--AAGGGH why is that note muting when i...?!"
*forgets place in song even, though i've spent all afternoon on four seconds of music*
*HURLS GUITAR AT CAT*

cowboy chords?

you know, those chords which, when you finally get them to sound, make you leap up and shout "YEE-HAW" while tossing your ten-gallon hat in the air

I thought it meant those chords that are so frustrating that you want to shot something?

haha, it's just another term for open chords. i prefer the DJP definition

full F chord is 133211, it's basically the E chord with everything pushed up a fret, but yeah it's a lot harder to play because you have a make a barre

I don't! Wherever i can avoid playing barre chords I do, instead I use my thumb to hold down the lowest string (btw Dan I am not recommending you learn to play the guitar this way)

you have to have pretty big hands to do that, seems like it would also inhibit mobility of your fretting hand but i guess whatever works for you!

don't worry, my hands are barely large enough for me to do open chords, let alone utilize that type of barre cheat

btw up until I started actually teaching myself how to play the guitar I just KNEW that it was "bar" chords because you had to use a finger to make a bar across the neck

ha well i think barre is just french for bar

you have to have pretty big hands to do that

I don't though. Having a thin neck helps... on the guitar that is, obviously.

Dan, didn't they ever need you at least once to sing at the ballet?
http://rainonsunday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/bar.jpg

ha nope

Ich spreche Deutsch, Franzoesich ist fuer Maedchen

I don't though. Having a thin neck helps... on the guitar that is, obviously.

― Too Busy Thinking About Mr. Abie (Tom D.), Thursday, July 5, 2012 10:57 AM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah i have pretty small hands and can do this tho it depens on what is demanded of the rest of my fingers, setup of the guitar etc

what i mean to say a lotta times ppl will say things like 'you can't play this unless...' and it's sometimes can be a false zapper of ambition. lots of stuff you think you could never do you probably can, just really takes practice. for ages i thought it was impossible for me to use my thumb that way!

"what i mean to say is that..."

rushing on my way out the door to class here lol...

It's how I learned to play, I don't know what gave me the idea, other than the fact that friggin' barre chords were hurting my hands

i know hendrix did the thumb thing but he was hendrix so you know

Hands like shovels

I'm sitting here listing to old Banshees stuff like "Into the Light" and going "holy fucking shit, how did he even do that" which is semi-disheartening because one of the main reasons I wanted a guitar was so I could learn how to play "Night Shift" (btw, did you know that apparently no one on the entire internet knows how "Night Shift" goes?)

So I've decided to start with acoustic now, mainly because of $$$. What should I be looking for in such a purchase? I want something that looks good so I will want to play it

once again, i recommend the mccabe's rental program. super-low cost of entry, you can buy it if you like it minus the very reasonable rental cost. alongside the crazy high-end stuff they have a really impressive range of low-cost acoustics and set them up in-house so they play and sound their best.

they like beginners and want people to learn to play and enjoy guitar. super nice and not condescending and will get you set up right.

http://www.mccabes.com/rentalpolicy.html

full disclosure i don't work for mccabe's but I did get started on a mccabe's rental.

it's semi pathetic how many takes I'm having to do just to get a simple riff recorded for my AC comp song, I am not used to this

okay lol

I have identified a place where I want to take lessons but I now am not sure I have time in my schedule for them

on the plus side, I can now play the main riff from "Never Let Me Down Again" and can almost reliably play barre chords (well, F and B); I can also play "Mother" really arrhythmically and slowly (G-C-G-C-G-C-D-C-G, F-C-F-C-F-C-G-D-C-D-C-D-C-G)

I am looking forward to the painful unlearning of all of the terrible habits I have created for myself

still no teacher, but I did spend some time over Thanksgiving going over some things with natlawdp that led to:

a) me losing my fear of the fretboard past fret 5
b) me getting better at barres
c) the most important thing at all and the justification of my acquisition of a guitar; I found a sensible tab for the bass line to "Night Shift" by Siouxsie and the Banshees and, from that and combining a) and b), was able to extrapolate a rudimentary rhythm guitar part for the song, when means OMFG I CAN PLAY "NIGHT SHIFT", I CAN NOW DIE HAPPY
d) fuck the mothers, kill the others

welp, I emailed a potential teacher whose name I've had for a year thanks to being super embarrassed about dragging my feet on the root 5 barre chords thread

let's see what happens

Glad we could be of help.

And people say shame isn't a good motivator.

Seriously, this is the most important part about guitar playing

c) the most important thing at all and the justification of my acquisition of a guitar; I found a sensible tab for the bass line to "Night Shift" by Siouxsie and the Banshees and, from that and combining a) and b), was able to extrapolate a rudimentary rhythm guitar part for the song, when means OMFG I CAN PLAY "NIGHT SHIFT", I CAN NOW DIE HAPPY

in the meanwhile, occupy yourself here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/JustinSandercoe
http://www.justinguitar.com/

Have any of you played around with Rocksmith? I can kind of play "Boys Don't Cry" now :-D

I haven't, I'm guessing it's kinda lead guitar focused? Would like to try but suspect it'd end up being an expensive underused gimmick.