beginners

We are making some new pages just for beginners. Any requests for specific topics?

We are just getting started.

One thing I remember when I first started was not getting the concept of muting certain strings. Like, playing a simple G or E chord was no problem but when it came to a D, I couldn't get it through my thick head that you weren't supposed to play the 5th & 6th strings. Just a stupid little misunderstanding like that and it delayed me for about a year cause I gave up on even trying. It always pisses me off when I realize that if my beginners book had explained things just a little bit better, I wouldn't have wasted that first year leaving my guitar in the closet.

same thing with me schmange, i say ive been playing for 1 1/2 years but it's really 2 1/2 years i didn't count the first year cause i only played my guitar for like 15 minutes that whole year and left it in the closet so i don't count it. i think it would be nice to show pictures of how to make certain chords it took me 4 months when i started to learn how to make a barre chord and i'm sure other starting guitarist don't know how to do that. i think more pictures should be involved in teaching because part of learning is seeing not just reading. so i think a chords topic should be involved.

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Jake Sommers

[This message has been edited by jake sommers (edited 04-29-2000).]

[This message has been edited by jake sommers (edited 04-29-2000).]

A big frustration for me, as a new beginner, is "where to start?" I get so discouraged when I hear these 'professionals' play, and they're like amazing! Then I go home and sit down to practise, and I'm like, okay...uh...what now? Anyone have any insight?

Just remember that whatever level of playing you're at, we've all been there at the beginning & we know exactly what it feels like. When I first started I couldn't figure out chords and tuned my old kmart guitar to an open G. For a whole year the only 2 songs I could play were Smoke On The Water and Not Your Stepping Stone by the Monkees.
One day I was in a music store and picked up a Beatles songbook with chord charts, & figured 'this can't be that hard'...wrote the chords down on a little piece of paper and went home to try em. Suddenly everything just kinda clicked. From there I just ended up remembering the positions of most of the chords...then figured out what barre chords were & the basic 'rock' scale and started copying records.
I still hate everything I play...think I suck compared to 'real' theory type players, can't stand learning new songs...& hear guys like that ingwie guy & think..how the hell????
You're never fully satisfied cause it's a non-stop learning process & fer sure if you ever get that 'I'm the king of the world' feeling...some young hotshot who's 10 years younger than you will come out of the woodwork and totally blow you away.
How do ya get to GuitarTricks? Practice ...practice...practice...

Peace & Grooviness
schmange
wavelength@tvo.org

Tuesday, May 2, 2000
3:58:55 AM


[This message has been edited by schmange (edited 05-02-2000).]

Schmange, I know how you feel. I had just learned my first Yngwie song and I thought that I was real great cause of how fast I could play it and the song sounded so great, So I told Magnus Andersson who is 2 years younger than me that I had learn a Yngwie song. And he asked wich one?. I told him that it was 'Far beyond the sun' and he sad that he could play that tune too. I had not heard Magnus play for about a year and he wasn´t any great then so I "knew" I was better than him, cause I had practised like hell under that last year. So we went to the music classroom at our school and I played the tune. And then it was his turn to play it. He totaly blew me away, after my ego was smashed he played another Yngwie tune, just to pour some salt in the wound. I was so slow compared to him, but that is one thing that teached me alot. To Practise, Practise, Practise...I keep telling myself that I´m not good enough, and that I could get better. I just can´t get satisfied with my own skills. I don´t know if this is good or bad, but it pushes me to practise more.

Heyas guys,

interesting posts... but personally I think that by posting a few easy to play chords but the sound of the strummed song is great will really boost a beginners ego! Kinda like what schmange said about the beattles song.

try strumming wet wet wet's love is all around! Its easy. :-) and sounds nice.

D Em G A D Em G A

Chorus

G Em G D G Em G A

Hello
Yeah I know what you are saying but from the other side of the story it's really fun when even a beginner plays and everyone is like amazed that you can play more or less something that people have heard of before. I would say that if you were to build a site then put some popular music on the site that is easy to play, that way a person feels like hey this is a song everyone knows and I can play. It gives a very good sence of accomplishment, and maybe more people will play the guitar and not quit.


[This message has been edited by rockboy105 (edited 07-08-2000).]

you should also add a page listing all the terminology you know...hey thats a good idea a guitar dictionary of sorts cause we all know what it felt like when you looked at a tab or what not and go what the heck does mF or even 5b7p0 meant

You should put stuff dealing with scales, because it's very important to get your fingers running on the fretboard
it also helps alot to figure out the solo
before i learned the pentatonic scales i could hardly play any solo at all...
P.S put some advice how to figure out songs by hearing... i know it's a problem for all the beginers, even now when i'm playing 2 years it's sometimes just to hard to figure out fast solos