Any guitarist knifeknuts in the house?

Roadrunner

Roadrunner

Joined
Jun 9, 1999
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Does anyone have any good links for information on getting started learning the electric guitar? I've been wanting to learn for quite a while and decided to get off my ass and start learning. Any tips, tricks or useful information would be very highly appreciated. :)
 
Hey Bill,
I don't play much anymore. It is easy to pick up tips these days on the internet. www.ultimate-guitar.com has some lessons for beginers and tab transcriptions. "Tab" is reading numbers instead of notes. The numbers correspond to strings and finger positions. It is pretty easy to do once you "get it". Then you just have to build calluses and learn to play. good luck man.
Mark
 
I bought myself an acoustic last Summer, getting "back into" playing after a 10-year hiatus.
I was pretty amazed at the sheer amount of stuff available on the net for free.

There are dozens of tablature sites, instructional sites, programs, etc.
Guitar Notes is a pretty comprehensive resource, with an active forum and a wide variety of links.
 
Roadrunner said:
Does anyone have any good links for information on getting started learning the electric guitar? I've been wanting to learn for quite a while and decided to get off my ass and start learning. Any tips, tricks or useful information would be very highly appreciated. :)
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The complete guitarist by Richard Chapman is a book that was highly recommnded by my teacher.I'm going to be honest with you,while you could certainly find many famous guitar players that learned without formal training.You will make your experience easier and more fullfilling by at least taking 6 months to 1 year of professional lessons once a week.You won't be sorry,then if you want to self-teach after that at least you will have a solid foundation which is very important in the beginning.

www.guitarlodge.com/
 
Its always good to just start with a regular old Mel Bay chord book, get one for $0.01 on Amazon, and learn some chords first. Then move up to barre chords and power chords, picking technique and palm muting, etc. Start yourself out with a decent guitar also - a lot of beginners have a doubly tough time because they start out w/ a crap axe. If you want an electric, for the money, I'd go with an Epiphone Les Paul Studio. Its no Gibson, but the feel is close. Look at musiciansfriend.com for instruments and amps, read the reviews, and the shipping will be free for orders over $100 (even on real heavy items). I also suggest some formal training so that you don't teach yourself any bad habits (as I did) that will be hard to break down the road. Good luck!
 
Tombstone, how do you feel about players going the opposite route? Playing for a year or so, then going and getting lessons. That's what my plan has been...develop my own style and everything, then go have someone point out anything I'm doing wrong and help me develop new techniques. Only thing I've thought twice about is that I might have to unlearn some bad habits or something.
 
I've been playing for about 15 years, and I wish that I had lessons; guitar has a strange learning curve. becoming a decent player isn't hard, but becoming a really good player is tremendously difficult.
 
Dijos is right, but unless you want to pack stadiums, dont worry about it.
Also someone mentioned callouses, which are also very important. When I don't play in a while and lose them I feel like a beginner again.
I have been playing for about 10 years off and on, but only started singing a bit last year, it took that long to get comfortable enough, but once I learned to sing 1, in 2 weeks I could sing 20, the hard part was memorizing the words.
 
Vivi said:
Tombstone, how do you feel about players going the opposite route? Playing for a year or so, then going and getting lessons. That's what my plan has been...develop my own style and everything, then go have someone point out anything I'm doing wrong and help me develop new techniques. Only thing I've thought twice about is that I might have to unlearn some bad habits or something.
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Your last sentence should answer that question. It's cool to get your own style, but learn the right way first, THEN add your style. You'll be much further ahead if you get the foundation first. I thought the same as you until I decided to take lessons (bass) and I'm glad I did...
 
Vivi said:
Tombstone, how do you feel about players going the opposite route? Playing for a year or so, then going and getting lessons. That's what my plan has been...develop my own style and everything, then go have someone point out anything I'm doing wrong and help me develop new techniques. Only thing I've thought twice about is that I might have to unlearn some bad habits or something.
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Trust me when I tell you,lessons are most important in the beginning when taught by a competent instructor.Your personal technique and influence will come with time and experience.


By the way,anybody interested in serious guitar gear factory direct.Here's a link.No need to pay for the name,when you can buy a better axe custom made with your options.I've owned two Carvins and they kick A**!

www.carvin.com/
 
Bad habits - as I mentioned earlier - are wicked hard to cure. I held my pick with my thumb, pointer and middle finger for about 8 years - took some lessons from a pro - realized I couldn't do any "chicken picking" without that middle finger - boy did that suck. Also, while playing power and barre chords, I would have my pinky behind the neck - don't as why - thats just how my "style" developed. I'm BATTLING with resolving that issue. I can't stress enough that some good basic instruction should be the 1st thing you get, and then set out on your own!
 
diceman said:
Bad habits - as I mentioned earlier - are wicked hard to cure. I held my pick with my thumb, pointer and middle finger for about 8 years - took some lessons from a pro - realized I couldn't do any "chicken picking" without that middle finger - boy did that suck. Also, while playing power and barre chords, I would have my pinky behind the neck - don't as why - thats just how my "style" developed. I'm BATTLING with resolving that issue. I can't stress enough that some good basic instruction should be the 1st thing you get, and then set out on your own!
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Stevie Ray Vaughn played with his pinky behind the neck and he was pretty good... :p

Seriously though, I would totally recommend getting professional lessons. I got to the level of OK player by myself, but hit a plateau and figured I needed lessons to get better. By that time, I was married and didn't have the time or money for lessons.
 
locomike said:
Stevie Ray Vaughn played with his pinky behind the neck and he was pretty good... :p
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Yeah,he was and always will be. :thumbup: :cool:

Roadrunner,
If ya' ever get back to Quaker Steak & Lube in Sharon.Talk to Max,he's the entertainment director.And house band guitarist/singer on weekends,very approachable and willing to help aspiring guitarists.Say something about SRV in front of him and your in. :)

Doug
 
Yes,there will alway's be famous guitar players that play amazing but learned the "wrong" way of a technique.This can cause problems though,when playing certain of chords.music etc.Some people play with their thumbs hanging over the top of the neck,bad,bad habit to form.Since most of us aren't Eddie Van Halen and Stevie Ray, it's best to learn properly.
 
I grew up playing, but then after hearing masterful players, I realized that I would rather spend my time listening than trying to play. Eddie Van Halen just blew me away. Is anyone here a big fan of Tony Iommi, of Black Sabbath? Man that guy... goes past my capacity for describing how good he was.
Next chance you get, check out some classical guitar sheet music. Wow.
 
Tombstone, I own exactly one Carvin, and I don't know if it was a special order, but it has a pretty wide neck, at least as wide as most acoustics.
I'm sure it's great for fingerpicking, but that's not really what I wanted in an electric. Don't get me wrong, I like it, but I don't know if that's how all Carvins are.
Can anyone else give an opinon on this?
Other than that, I HIGHLY recommend eBay for getting good deals on electric guitars. I have a great Dean guitar that someone put Gibson Les Paul pick ups on, and it sounds JUST like a high end Les Paul.
Also, find yourself a good guitar technichian! Have him take a look at how the guitar is set up. You'll probably want light strings at first.
 
You can go to the forums at Carvin and do some research,but the necks are comparable to Jackson Solists imho.
 
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