Anybody know their stuff when it comes to guitar? I'm just starting and know nothing. I try to play and it don't work..lol...so any hints/tips? BTW i have an electric. I like hard rock/metal.

 

Here is the biggest tip I can give you, and its based on a common mistake by most new guitar players:

If you want to eventually be at least somewhat good, learn the music as opposed to just using tabs. Tab is fun because it takes 15 minutes to learn a song, but your only memorizing the song and not using music at all.

Other then that, just play. Practice moving your fingers around the frets, getting tone down, before moving on to learning songs.

 

yea i know i just gotta play around...im really having trouble spreading my fingers out across the frets.

 

what bands do you listen to ?

i too like metal.

i tried learning the music notes and what not , but for me tabs are so much easier.

i would just try and do songs with power chords , ya kno easy stuff.

not sure if you listen to rage against the machine or not , but their stuff is really easy to play and sounds awesome

 

I listen to stuff like Metallica, Disturbed, Pantera, Pearl Jam, and occasionally Dream Theater. The only song I know by them is Bulls on Parade.

 

forgot to mention the biggest thing that helps me learn songs , is a program called GuitarPro5, download the demo of it for free.

lets you play along with the song / slow it down , to hear what notes are being played / the timing and rhythm, etc....

then i go to ultimate-guitar.com and search for a song and download the guitar-pro tab to play it on the program

w/o that program i would of quit playing along time ago lol

http://www.guitar-pro.com/en/index.php

 

hmmm....might have to check it out..thanks

 

Play, play, and play some more.

You might benefit taking some lessons from a good teacher, to at least get a grasp on basic music theory, chord progressions, stuff like that. I bought just about every book and downloaded every program and tab I could find, but a couple months of professional instruction opened my ears and eyes more than anything else. It's one thing to be able to play something, but to understand what you're doing and why and how the song is put together, that's what'll really expand your skills as a musician.

Once you get the basics down, it's building muscle memory through repetition for the most part. Eventually, your ear will get in tune with what you're playing and what you want to play, and you'll start hearing the subtle nuances of the music.

Depending on what guitar you've got, it can make a big difference as well to get a complete professional set up. Any guitar shop worth its name can do this, it'll usually run about 50 bucks and involves replacing the strings, setting the action height and intonation, just basically making sure that your instrument is in the best shape it can be. You'll get back exactly what you put into it - garbage in = garbage out - so make sure your guitar is in good, proper shape. That's not to say that you need a $4000 PRS, just make sure everything's dress-right-dress with your guitar as it is, you'll progress better and easier if you aren't having to fight the instrument to form a chord because the action is set too high or the truss rod needs adjusting to correct a bow in the neck, for instance.

Start slow, and gradually speed up. Get a tuner if you don't have one already - besides tuning, a lot of them have metronomes built in so you can pace yourself and learn to stay in time with the music.

Well, you've certainly got diverse tastes in music, which is a good thing.

A lot of Rage songs are deceptively easy, other than the goofy/whacky noises Tom Morello gets from his guitar, like the "solo" on Bulls on Parade that sounds like a turntable, it's him scraping his left hand across the strings while flipping a kill switch back and forth. Tune to dropped-D, focus on the third and fifth frets of the bottom three strings, and there ain't a whole lot of Rage riffs that you can't play.

Pearl Jam? Learn the pentatonic scale, in the keys of Em, A, and G, you'll cover a lot of early '90s era Pearl Jam.

Metallica, Disturbed, Pantera, Dream Theater...well, you'll have to work up to them.

But we're probably getting ahead of ourselves in that regard.

 

haha thanks...alot of help there. but yea i know those bands are out of my sight right now. but i can get crazy trains intro about half the normal speed! lol idk why but im pumped about that. I have a Laguna starter guitar and a Line 6 Spider III amp. thanks again Quintin.

 

Randy Rhodes is a freaking god. If you're anywhere close to belting out any of his stuff, you're doing good.

Those Laguna guitars aren't bad guitars. I have a Line 6 Spider 30, which is okay, but I'm spoiled by tubes. I use the Spider for practicing, which is cool because it has an MP3 player jack so you can play along with your favorite songs.

Remember, practice makes perfect. Regular practice makes perfect. Regular, good practice makes perfect. Don't get carried away trying to learn Dragonforce's "Through Fire and Flames" or whatever. Concentrate on making your notes sound clean, work slow and gradually go up from there.

Remember, sound CLEAN! I got really hooked on learning a couple songs when I first started playing that once I recorded myself and listened to it, I didn't realize how crappy I sounded because notes were flubbed and muted...the basic songs could be heard, but they didn't sound right because I was in a rush to stay up with the music. And going back to relearn a song the proper way is a very hard thing to do, since once you learn it, it becomes second nature (or a habit, really), and that kinda stuff is really hard to deprogram from your brain. Get it right the first time, because it's really hard to get it right the next time, if that makes any sense.

 

I've been playing for 10 years and still cant swing alot of dream theater's stuff

 

haha yea..i plan on learning how to play right. not just to play. but its really hard to do that when i can just go look up tabs. i guess i need alot of patience

 

this july ill have been playing about 12 years on the nose.



what i have to offer is don't get frustrated and give up. guitar doesn't come easy, and it certainly can't be dominated in a few weeks. guitar tabs are effective, i used them when i first started out. just don't get discouraged, taking up an instrument is very time consuming. when i started, i played about 5 hours a day. granted i was only 6 when i started, and was very eager to play.
just get about 3 or 4 songs you like, and arrange them for what you think is easiest to hardest.

start learning from easiest to hardest, and just keep going from there. you have to be consistent, and like i said DON'T GIVE UP!

 

alright thanks for the help! ill try my best!

 

Don't forget to buy a guitar that fit you well and not one just for the looks.