guitar NEWB thread

is it wrong that I want to tune the entire guitar a half-step down so I have an instrument that matches my preferred singing range, before I've even learned how to play it

you know who tuned a half step down? weezer.

Eb tuning, very 90s :)

yeah the more i think about it like every fucking alt rock band used that tuning. it was really annoying.

http://www.wfu.edu/~breckers/howtoplayguitar.htm

DJP you can learn the songs of metallica's "load"

yeah the more i think about it like every fucking alt rock band used that tuning

that's because every fucking alt rock band in the 90s was fronted by a yelpy baritone

you should just capo the 11th fret instead

Then cut the neck off immediately behind the capo.

I'm sure your new teacher, Mick Goodrick, author of The Advancing Guitarist will be very impressed with this instrument

Eb = Hendrix tuning. Eddie Van Halen too. Stevie Ray too, I think...

Slash

Have you practiced yet this weekend yet, Dan?

haha have I practiced yet

I spent 90 minutes Saturday afternoon playing simple songs from my lesson book on strings 1 and 2, including "Jingle Bells" and "Ode To Joy" (which btw was annoying me because the version in the book was super simple and all in half and quarter notes and without the drop down a fourth at the end of the third line, so I started playing it "right" and using the third string as well).

Then, I started playing the C scale during the 2nd half of the Saints game and kept playing it and random songs until the end of SNL.

Then I started working on really incorporating string 3 yesterday for about an hour but my evening shenanigans really did a number on my fingertips and shoulder.

Need to pick a teacher this week.

. because my new year's resolution is to learn to play the guitar
i need to get a guitar first.
does anyone want to sell me a guitar for cheap?

talk to jjj, it's kind of like he does that for a living

no wait, it's EXACTLY like he does that for a living

to be fair i took guitar lessons for about 6 months in high school, but my teacher was a jazz dude, and that's not the kind of guitar i want to learn to play now (plus i don't remember anything).

Which shoulder hurts, Dan? I have to admit I'm a little confused.

right shoulder

Perhaps one of these arrangements will be more to your liking
http://www.guitarnoise.com/topic/christmas-songs/

Need to pick a teacher this week.

ha that is assuming I have a shortlist; as noted upthread, Boston is DROWNING in music teachers

oh and I moved the guitar into the corner of the living room; no fight!

How cheap is cheap bene?

Dan, I assume you acted prudently and looked on craigslist asked your opera buddies for recommendations

not yet I haven't, that is today's Facebook project

Too bad Peter Frampton found his guitar, bene_gesserit, or maybe you could have bought that one.

jjj, under a hundred

Don't tell Dick Destiny that.

http://www.rondomusic.com/

I have not personally played a Rondo instrument and cannot go to bat for their quality.

Any progress? IMM wants to know.

I've started playing the C scale up and down across all 6 strings. I've also solicited friends on Facebook for guitar teacher recommendations and have gotten a couple of good leads; one is a Berklee prof and the other is an NEC grad. Self-instruction wise, I'm up to doing "songs" on the third string but I don't want to go too much further than what I'm doing now without seeing a teacher.

Which Berklee prof? Freddie?

this dude: http://www.berklee.edu/faculty/detail/eric-byers

To think I learned by playing along with records :(

How old were you when you started?

I admit it was tricky having to get up every so often to wind up the gramophone

Doesn't work for everyone though - I learned by playing along to records as well and I'm a lousy guitarist!

What makes you think I'm not!

question: does it make sense to bring examples of the types of things I'm most interested in doing with a guitar into an initial lesson or is that jumping the gun/potentially prejudicing the teacher's ability to show me the fundamentals?

I don't see what harm it would do

Definitely do that.

xxxpost cos I've heard you play on an ILX comp and you're pretty good?

Shucks, I'd forgotten about that

zomg I just realized that I had completely forgotten to try playing Siouxsie songs

"Night Shift" here I come FUCK THE MOTHERS KILL THE OTHERS

Do you have any books with chords in them? As a permanent guitar NOOB myself, I recommend Chords and Progressions for Jazz and Popular Guitar, by Arne Berle for the chords and then one of Rikky Rooksby's guitar books for chords plus arrangements of songs.

(I'm just assuming that ultimately single note stuff is going to end up being pretty easy for you)

hey y'all

I haven't contacted a teacher yet because I feel like I should get my wisdom teeth taken out first. I know that logic doesn't make much surface sense but in my head it TOTALLY makes sense.

I have gotten VERY tired of playing the C scale on strings 1-3 and have started walking up and down all 6 strings. I also kind of stumbled across E, E7, Emin, Emin7 and C and have jamming back and forth between them. I also found some chord that I am CERTAIN is the first chord to "Love Will Tear Us Apart" but I can't recreate it now. Also been playing the intro to "Crystallised" over and over.

how are current Epiphones? their version of the Gibson ES-339 is only $400 online, which seems pretty affordable

aww djp i meant to ask you how this was going on saturday!

btw I'm learning the lead guitar part to "Ana" by the Pixies, which is fun

I can recommend a couple of good teachers who Zoom. They’re west coast based but that may not be a bad thing if you’re looking for post-work hours.

As a crap player who has settled comfortably into the “friend’s older brother who used to play a little” skill level i’m also happy to hop on Zoom 4 u

ooh I am interested

I am bumping this thread because rogermexico totally hooked me up with a teacher who rules and I can now get through/legitimately play the following songs:

Blackbird - The Beatles
Boys Don't Cry - The Cure
Just Like Heaven - The Cure
True Faith - New Order
Get The Message - Electronic
Never Let Me Down Again - Depeche Mode
I Feel You - Depeche Mode
Lovesong - The Cure
The Blood - The Cure
Lullaby - The Cure
Here At The Home - Tribe
Ana - Pixies

<3 this makes me so happy. i've been in the black hole of work and totally dropped the ball on seeing if you guys even connected and I DIEEEE

He's teaching me how to play The Rain Song by Zepplin! I never would have been able to imagine this a year ago

That's awesome DJP!

also after retuning my guitar to DGCGCD I want to keep it that way and buy another one, lol

yessss…

you can have one good acoustic for life but electric guitars breed like rabbits

i am not a guitar newb but years and years ago someone on this board recommended a guitar "instruction" book that was not about technique but more about philosophy/attitude towards playing guitar. i had it on my to-read list for years but never got around to it and now i can't remember what it was or how to search for it on here. does that ring any bells for anyone?

it totally does ring a bell but i don't think i have any more leads for you unfortunately

oh i think it was "the advancing guitarist" by mick goodrick. the description doesn't sound exactly like what I'm remembering but the cover looks right

Wow, I started this thread 10 years ago

Imagine if I'd gotten a teacher then, I'd be a lot better now

Also I did end up buying a d'Angelico guitar from jjjusten