beginners guitar player thread

reevesy

yeah still strumming!

just learnt another of my favorites yesterday ...david bowies 'heroes'....good for a bit of palm muting..
also foo fighters ..'times like these'

not got the epi ...yet!... funds are a bit tight at the mo
off out for the day on weds so got a couple of guitar shops on the radar....want to try a electro acoustic /cutaway.

can now play quite a few songs without looking at what my fingers are doing ...which is something that seemed a mile away not so long ago.

still cant do a F mind!      ...and as for bar chords !

had wondered as I'm a late starter if my fingers will eventually stretch for these as seems to happen with younger players?


still enjoying it...find it quite relaxing just to sit there and play a bit

hyperfish

Good to hear that you are still hanging in there

Likewise, I no longer need to watch my fingers and I can hit single strings and notes without looking, once I get my bearings so to speak. I can watch myself in the mirror when there's nobody at home

The E and A shape barres come quite easy to me now. I can reliably get the A shape with just the 1st and 3rd fingers.

Strumming isn't where I need to be yet, but I'm getting there. At least it's in time and flowing, particularly when changing between the chords.

reevesy

was in Norwich today and had a look in pmt ....loads of guitars .

had a try of a few around the same 200- 300 quid range...the epi and a Yamaha..and a couple of others.none were massively above my current fender

...until I was pointed in the direction of a 400 quid taylor gs mini

looked at it and wasn't that impressed as its quite a small looking guitar (clues in the name)....but Christ gave it a play......sounded amazing....like it was plugged into a amp....huge sound you could feel it resonating through the body .

didn't want to put it down really ..could have spent a lot longer but my daughter was getting twitchy.

the main thing I took away was the difference in sound quality between laminated and real wood finishes.

think the taylor is a new contender

RBZ5416

With a bit of playing experience under your belt you could reasonably safely take to Gumtree/Ebay for a used instrument now.

reevesy

yeah I have a little look on the bay now and then.

....really was a shock how that great that taylor sounded

guy in the shop... though not pushy and showed me plenty of others....did say they don't tend to hang about once they come in stock

hyperfish

This week I've been working on my rhythm and barre chords. Particularly enjoying the off beat reggae pattern in I Shot The Sheriff.

I reckon the neighbours are ready for shooting the guitarist by now.

reevesy

not tried a reggae rhythm ...all strums are off beat and 'ups' aren't they?

...my neighbours said yesterday that they actually quite like to listen to me play!

4 months on barre chords still seem impossible for me....still cant do a proper F!

just learnt lou reeds walk on the wild side.....quiet easy.....quite a good one to sing to....if you cant sing !

david bowies heroes is another I've recently learnt...glad that was quite easy as its on of my favourite bowie songs
.....also johhny cash folsom prison blues...can manage the 'johnny cash' strum pattern hitting a bass note for about half the song then tend to lose it.....b7 is a bit tricky on second fret with a capo as the capo gets in the way.

hyperfish

You could play on the up strokes but it's more effective to to use down strokes in 16 note strumming (strumming down on the 'and' beat). It's not difficult once you get your head round it.                                         Code:                                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7kdWkBRhvo        Heroes is also a favourite of mine.

reevesy

will have to give it a try...theres a couple of bob marleys  in the justin guitar book I've got.

also thinking of giving power chords a try when I get time....very busy at the mo

am I right in thinking you can substitute a power chord for a chord you potentially cant do?

hyperfish

That's right, although the result would be bassy and less full.

As a point of interest there are also triads. 3 note chords on the 3 higher strings for a shrill tone. The regular D shape is an example.

I'm no expert but I wouldn't think substitution would always be the right path to take.

Use power chords (fingers 1, 3 and 4) as a stepping stone to learn full barres. Major barres are only one finger more.

Regarding open F, I'm still a bit slow with that, but I can hit the barred F on cue no problem. It just comes with practice.
I started off trying to play open E in songs using fingers 2,3 and 4, once that was fluent I would move up the neck and then sort finger 1 out.

After a while it all just clicked.