TD3 said:

Vendetta1 said:

It is.

The thing I need to work most on is my fretting though. I need some exercises to help with it.

One of my friends vouch for this guy DVD lessons. The lesson here I think is the 2n or 3rd but all 4 lessons are there on the website.

http://www.5min.com/Video/How-To-Play-The-Bass---Fretting-Hand-Technique-85012538

How To Play Bass - http://www.how-to-play-bass.com/

Thank you!!!

RodeoSchro said:

purpledoveuk said:

Thanks to everyone for the advice...I am indeed using a terrible acoustic guitar with heavy strings and high action...it's not mine so I can't modify it. I'm only really using it to see f I can do anything before buying the cheapish electric I have my eye on (squier Tele affinity). Because I sent my old tele to a charity shop about 6 years ago afte having and never playing it for about 10yrs my wife is understanably reluctant for me to spend if I won't use especially in these times. ..

Hey, here's some good advice that follows what TD3 said about guitars.

If possible, try to buy something that's not a "cheapo" guitar. First of all, it will be easier to set up and easier to play. It will sound and look better. And, if you decide to quit, you'll be able to sell it and get some money back, which is not something you'll probably be able to do with a cheapo guitar.

TD3 is right - $100 or so can make a HUGE difference.

If you have any friends that know guitars, see if one will help you find a good one for the right price.

If I'd known the teacher a.k.a. Greg was in the house with all that great advice, I would have just given you a and said, stick with it.

[Edited 8/1/10 12:10pm]

Vendetta1 said:

RodeoSchro said:

Have you had your guitar set up to be easy to play? If not, that's job 1. Definitely put the lightest strings on that you can.

If you're not fretting chords right, the problem is probably in your thumb. It's probably resting too high on the top of the neck. Try moving it down towards the underside of the neck. This will make your fingers stand more up-and-down, which will get them out of the way of each other.

Let me know if that helps.

Yep, my guitar has been set-up and I even had the action re-set because it didn't sound right to me. the guy looked at me like I was crazy because I had never played before so he thought I didn't know what I was talking about. Turns out i was right.

Thanks for the tip Greg. I'll let you know if that helps.

I have this love/hate relationship with your bass

IAintTheOne said:

Vendetta1 said:

Yep, my guitar has been set-up and I even had the action re-set because it didn't sound right to me. the guy looked at me like I was crazy because I had never played before so he thought I didn't know what I was talking about. Turns out i was right.

Thanks for the tip Greg. I'll let you know if that helps.

I have this love/hate relationship with your bass

It makes no sense that a leftie can't play a left handed bass.

Vendetta1 said:

IAintTheOne said:

I have this love/hate relationship with your bass

It makes no sense that a leftie can't play a left handed bass.

ahh pffft your bass just don't like me is all

IAintTheOne said:

Vendetta1 said:

It makes no sense that a leftie can't play a left handed bass.

ahh pffft your bass just don't like me is all

"Aja" only like me.

Vendetta1 said:

IAintTheOne said:

ahh pffft your bass just don't like me is all

"Aja" only like me.

Basses are a "one person" thang my bass love me and I love it

All this advice is great. All I would add is, now that you're armed with this information, it never hurts to get some professional instruction if it's something you're serious about. Even a few lessons will help.

Yes, you can learn to play it. Anyone can, with the right exposure to the how-to (RodeoSchro's tips are excellent, by the way).

I've been playing guitar and bass for more than 20 years. Every day, every practice is like starting over again. Keep looking to improve, and you always will.

Yes. But tons of practice, a good ear and great eye-hand coordination goes a long way to being really good at it. Lessons help quite a bit for those of us that aren't "naturals". I found that playing drums is conducive to being a good rhythm guitar and bass player.

squirrelgrease said:

Yes. But tons of practice, a good ear and great eye-hand coordination goes a long way to being really good at it. Lessons help quite a bit for those of us that aren't "naturals". I found that playing drums is conducive to being a good rhythm guitar and bass player.

Absolutely on the drum part. I always think of the strumming hand as a percussion instrument.

You know what I mean.

RodeoSchro said:

DO tap your foot from the very beginning!

Just put a pillow under your foot if you have downstairs neighbours.

ThreadBare said:

I've been playing guitar and bass for more than 20 years. Every day, every practice is like starting over again. Keep looking to improve, and you always will.

Well said.

purpledoveuk said:

Odd question I know. When I was in my teens I bought a telecaster copy thinking an electric guitar would be easy to learn and, no matter what you did, would sound ace. I never really learnt to play it apart from 1 or 2 little basic duties that only required 1 fret at a time. A minor fault on the guitar saw it sidelined (would gave cost about £5 to fix) and eventually it got taken to a charity shop whete somebody now owns a £250 guitar. That's alway bugged me that I never put the effort in to try...now in my 30s I want another crack at it. I'm day 2 into self-teaching (with books and vids) on a really crap acoustic guitar that has strings hard to hold down etc and I can't stretch my fingers many frets and always play with the same 2 fingers...it's really disheartening to not get the right sound or catch other strings by accident. It's just early days right?...my fingers will stretch more, I'll get the hang if it and then justify buying a new tele in time...won't I? I know it's very early days yet [Edited 8/1/10 5:19am]

With guitar playing its best 2 start @ the top. Try learning the hardest songs possible at first and then all the others will be easy..thats what I did and Im ok on a six string

novabrkr said:

RodeoSchro said:

DO tap your foot from the very beginning!

Just put a pillow under your foot if you have downstairs neighbours.

Just to clarify.

This wasn't meant to come off as a rude comment. In some buildings the foot tapping thing just has often resulted in complaints from neighbours. It can be indeed irritating during night time.

Great advice by the great Tommy Emmanuel

I would very respectively disagree about learning the most diffucult songs first. Many people walk away from the guitar because they want to play Hendrix, Prince, Page, Kluge, Benson, or Emmanuel after picking up in guitar 3 months to 24 months time. I'd say start with simple songs and work your way up . . . you will get there depending on steady practice/hard work.

Before I picked up the guitar 12 years ago, I had played flute & soprano/alto sax for 35 years so I had an advantage of knowing how to read music, sightread, and my ear was developed. Still, I wanted to play Earth, Wind, & Fire, Isely Brothers, Stevie Wonder, R&B/Soul music and sheet music wasn't written for acoustic guitar. My teacher wrote / transposed some of those songs for me for about 36 months than pushed me to figure out the chords, find those chords on the fretboard and figure out the melody. Simply, at some point if you wanna learn how to play Prince and any songs that aren't transcribed or written in TAB, develop your ear. Once again, it will seem daunting, but as you work your way up learning chords major/minor and scales, you'll find yourself being able tell what key a songs in and the chords/notes.

Another source for great information and lessons is, Acoustic Guitar Magazine. http://www.acguitar.com/

An excellent magazine with a website (video lessons with the songs ) that complements the lessons and articles each month. For the beginner, every month they have two songs for strumming, fingerpicking, or flatpicking, using basic chords . . . A, D, G, & E.

[Edited 8/2/10 7:57am]

novabrkr said:

purpledoveuk said:

I do t have neighbours underneath and the ones next door can sod off...they have a piano.

RodeoSchro said:

Of course you can! I teach guitar to people just like you, and trust me - you can do this!

Here's the advice I give my new students:

1. Have someone set up your guitar to make it as easy to play as possible. There are two things to do - (A) String the guitar with the lightest-gauge strings you can get (probably a set with the high E string being a 0.09 gauge); and (B) Have the bridge modified so that the strings sit as low as possible without rattling against the frets.

These two things make your guitar easier to play, meaning you don't have to press down as hard to make chords and notes. If you're playing on a cheap guitar with heavy, old strings that are high above the guitar's neck, that will make the guitar waaaay to hard to play, and you'll lose interest fast. So do these things. Any music/guitar shop can do it for you, and it won't cost much. But if you're serious about sticking with it, this will be the best $ you ever spend.

2. I ask my students what their favorite song is, and that's the first thing we learn. I *NEVER* start them off learning "Mary Had a Little Lamb" or some kiddie song that's supposed to teach scales and the like. You can learn the same thing playing your favorite song, so why not start there?

In fact, if you can, try to learn two songs at first. That way, if you get bored playing one song over and over, you have another to work on.

Choose simple songs. If you need some Prince recommendations, I'd go with "The Cross" (only two chords), "Raspberry Beret", or "The 1 U Wanna C". And there are more easy Prince songs so if you don't like those, OrgNote me and I'll give you more suggestions.

3. Use YouTube! For many songs, there are people that post online video lessons. Say you want to learn The Beatles' "Eight Days a Week". Go to YouTube and search for "Eight Days a Week guitar lesson". You'll find several. These are great, because usually they are very basic, and you can stop, rewind or pause the video as much as you want.

4. Buy or download a chord chart book, and buy music books. In the olden days, we all started with the "Mel Bay's Chord Chart" book. It shows you how to make every chord. Nowadays, I think you can find that online if you search for "Chord Charts". In fact, I just did. Here's the link for the search:

http://www.google.com/sea...p;oe=UTF-8

This stuff is all free. Don't be overwhelmed by the sheer number of chords. There are only a few that are used in the vast majority of songs.

Speaking of which, go buy the sheet music book for your favorite album. These books will have guitar chord charts over the sheet music. This is how I learned to play guitar. I bought the book for "Purple Rain", and learned all the songs by making the chords that were printed above the music. Little did I know that "Purple Rain" was so sophisticated, but that was great because after that album, everything else seemed simple!

5. DON'T go to tab sites until you can make chords. Tab sites are great, but if you can't make chords, and can't figure out what all the little numbers mean, you'll be wasting your time. Save www.ultimate-guitar.com for when you can make chords.

6. DO tap your foot from the very beginning! This is the most important thing to learn right off the bat. When practicing ANY song, tap your foot to establish rhythm. Tap your foot as slow as you need while first learning the song, then increase your tempo until you can play it at the right speed. Trust me, tempo is EVERYTHING.

7. Last but not least, if you have any friends that can play, ask them to teach you how to strum properly. I think the strumming hand is the most important hand of the two. It's what makes the guitar talk, and what gives the songs you play texture and feel. I don't think strumming is something you can generally learn playing by yourself (although some people do), and I definitely know you can't learn it from a book. You might get some good tips from YouTube videos, but nothing is better than learning it from a real, live human being sitting across from you.

Most of all, have fun! Playing rhythm guitar is not hard. Don't get discouraged if you hit a bump in the road.

If you're able to put in any practice time at all, you'll be playing those first two songs you chose reasonably well within two weeks. Good luck!

Wow, this is really a remarkable response.

I'm not even picking up the guitar and I'm in awe

purpledoveuk said:

Well, had my first 'lesson' which consists of positioning and basic 1-2-3-4 finger positioning and strumming and also my first 2 chords in C and G7 which I now have to get used to before the next stage. G7 doesn't sound very pretty does it?!

But it is.

Practice makes perfect. If you really want to learn, you can, unless you are a musical disaster.

I learned mostly by playing myself and playing along with songs that I like. I hated lessons, didn't learn that much from it and thought it was a waste of time and money to pay for something I can and should be practicing at home. But to each his/her own.

I would, in any case, advise you to begin with learning the standard chords and scales, strumming on the beat and some simple songs first. Then learn as much as you can by ear. If you are really serious about playing guitar, your guitar must become one with your mind. You must basically hear the music in your head and be able to play it instantly, effortlesly. Hand eye coordination has to be developed to high levels too.

That requires years and years of practice. If that's not your thing, you can enjoy it too, however. It's just that you will not be a really good player.

Anyone can learn the basics..................being creative is another story.

RodeoSchro said:

Of course you can! I teach guitar to people just like you, and trust me - you can do this!

Here's the advice I give my new students:

1. Have someone set up your guitar to make it as easy to play as possible. There are two things to do - (A) String the guitar with the lightest-gauge strings you can get (probably a set with the high E string being a 0.09 gauge); and (B) Have the bridge modified so that the strings sit as low as possible without rattling against the frets.

These two things make your guitar easier to play, meaning you don't have to press down as hard to make chords and notes. If you're playing on a cheap guitar with heavy, old strings that are high above the guitar's neck, that will make the guitar waaaay to hard to play, and you'll lose interest fast. So do these things. Any music/guitar shop can do it for you, and it won't cost much. But if you're serious about sticking with it, this will be the best $ you ever spend.

2. I ask my students what their favorite song is, and that's the first thing we learn. I *NEVER* start them off learning "Mary Had a Little Lamb" or some kiddie song that's supposed to teach scales and the like. You can learn the same thing playing your favorite song, so why not start there?

In fact, if you can, try to learn two songs at first. That way, if you get bored playing one song over and over, you have another to work on.

Choose simple songs. If you need some Prince recommendations, I'd go with "The Cross" (only two chords), "Raspberry Beret", or "The 1 U Wanna C". And there are more easy Prince songs so if you don't like those, OrgNote me and I'll give you more suggestions.

3. Use YouTube! For many songs, there are people that post online video lessons. Say you want to learn The Beatles' "Eight Days a Week". Go to YouTube and search for "Eight Days a Week guitar lesson". You'll find several. These are great, because usually they are very basic, and you can stop, rewind or pause the video as much as you want.

4. Buy or download a chord chart book, and buy music books. In the olden days, we all started with the "Mel Bay's Chord Chart" book. It shows you how to make every chord. Nowadays, I think you can find that online if you search for "Chord Charts". In fact, I just did. Here's the link for the search:

http://www.google.com/sea...p;oe=UTF-8

This stuff is all free. Don't be overwhelmed by the sheer number of chords. There are only a few that are used in the vast majority of songs.

Speaking of which, go buy the sheet music book for your favorite album. These books will have guitar chord charts over the sheet music. This is how I learned to play guitar. I bought the book for "Purple Rain", and learned all the songs by making the chords that were printed above the music. Little did I know that "Purple Rain" was so sophisticated, but that was great because after that album, everything else seemed simple!

5. DON'T go to tab sites until you can make chords. Tab sites are great, but if you can't make chords, and can't figure out what all the little numbers mean, you'll be wasting your time. Save www.ultimate-guitar.com for when you can make chords.

6. DO tap your foot from the very beginning! This is the most important thing to learn right off the bat. When practicing ANY song, tap your foot to establish rhythm. Tap your foot as slow as you need while first learning the song, then increase your tempo until you can play it at the right speed. Trust me, tempo is EVERYTHING.

7. Last but not least, if you have any friends that can play, ask them to teach you how to strum properly. I think the strumming hand is the most important hand of the two. It's what makes the guitar talk, and what gives the songs you play texture and feel. I don't think strumming is something you can generally learn playing by yourself (although some people do), and I definitely know you can't learn it from a book. You might get some good tips from YouTube videos, but nothing is better than learning it from a real, live human being sitting across from you.

Most of all, have fun! Playing rhythm guitar is not hard. Don't get discouraged if you hit a bump in the road.

If you're able to put in any practice time at all, you'll be playing those first two songs you chose reasonably well within two weeks. Good luck!

great advice! i tried to learn to play guitar years ago, but all my teacher wanted to do was flirt with me instead of teach me, so i quit the lessons and sold the guitar. it was harder than i realized, i had mastered piano and had this idea that guitar would be easy for me because i knew how to play piano already. but guitar was very difficult, but i wish i would have had a teacher like you.

it's hard at first (both mentally and physically), but so is pretty much anything, playing golf, jogging, algebra, learning to speak, cooking...

just do a little every day and lord knows time flies by. before you know it you've been playing for a year and you can fake your way through hundreds of songs

I used this http://www.amazon.com/Fen...B0000639G7 to learn my first songs.

8 years later, I'm pretty good at it.
tip: find a band as quickly as possible. No matter how crappy they are, you learn to play together. That's way cooler than becoming a youtube player, if you know what I mean
another tip: when you are really starting to like it, don't buy cheap ass equipment anymore. Otherwise you buy something semi-good, and after a year or so you want the best of the best and your year-old cheap stuff isn't worth shit.

Just trying to prevent you from the mistakes I made

Right thats it...ive decided the piece of crap guitar that ive meen loaned to learn with has got it in for me. Not only are teh strings about 6mm or more away from the fretboard, and feel like solid metal bars but i noticed teh damn ting was going out of tune as I was playing it...1 slight tweak of the E string to begin tuning it back up and PING!!!!...im now the proud owner of a 5 string cheese grater.

The sooner i wear my wife down about letting me buy the electric the better....now where did i put my sons saving account book?!

purpledoveuk said:

Right thats it...ive decided the piece of crap guitar that ive meen loaned to learn with has got it in for me. Not only are teh strings about 6mm or more away from the fretboard, and feel like solid metal bars but i noticed teh damn ting was going out of tune as I was playing it...1 slight tweak of the E string to begin tuning it back up and PING!!!!...im now the proud owner of a 5 string cheese grater.

The sooner i wear my wife down about letting me buy the electric the better....now where did i put my sons saving account book?!

you can get cheap guitars that play well, so it's worth a small investment of less than $200 if you really want to play.

Also, electrics are physically easier to play, generally, because the strings are lighter and closer to the fretboard than acoustics