Don't spend too much cause, as was mentioned before, a more expensive guitar wont make you sound any better but at the same time a crappy one will make it difficult to learn. Just make sure the strings aren't too high off the fretboard and there is no buzzing noises on ANY of the frets for every string. Finally, check to see if the intonation is good (do this by playing an open string and then holding the 12th fret of that string and seeing if they are the same note, you may need help checking this). Depending on where you live you can get a Guitar that will give you years of service for about $200, just check a few stores to compare.
1 2007-07-26 04:29:20
Re: How much should I invest in a guitar as a new player? (29 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)
2 2007-07-26 04:22:00
Re: Black and Blue Fingers (26 replies, posted in Acoustic)
I just got back from a trip without my guitar for 2 weeks and my fingers have noticeably softened. i've been playing for five years which shows how easily not playing for a while can affect your fingers. I just played for like 5 hrs on and off so now they're blue with small canals. My point is, when your fingers start to hurt, play a few more songs before giving them a break
3 2007-07-26 04:11:56
Re: Best Female Guitarist (45 replies, posted in Bands and artists)
krhoades wrote:
Charro or Prince.
I was amazed when I first seen Charo play the spanish guitar. LOL prince.
I'd like to mention Avril Lavigne, although she isn't much of a technical player she's writing hit after hit so she must be doing something right on her guitar.
4 2007-07-26 03:57:20
Topic: Favorite Chord Progression To Solo Over (5 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)
I Thought I'd open a section where everyone can post their favorite chord progressions to endlessly solo over, I'll start with some of the popular ones and add a few of my own.
-Any twelve bar blues shuffle (WAY too many variations to name)
- Am G F E (solo in Am)
- Em (for six beats) D (remaining two beats) solo in Em
- Am C F Am (solo in Am, from "Take Me Back" by Bryan Adams)
- F#m C7 Bm F#m (solo in F#m)
- Bm F#7 Asus2 E G D Em F#7 (Hotel california solo in Bm)
- Am G Fmaj7 Fmaj7 (stairway to heaven solo in Am)
- Em C Em6 C *Em6 022020 (solo in Em, it should be obvious where this progression is from)
- Em G D A (solo in Em)
- Em/G D/F# C/G B7/F# (spanish progression, solo in Em but play Eb note instead of E when soloing over the B7/F# chord)
-Dm Am7 F A7/G (solo in Dm, this is the only progession here that I wrote myself)
Theres a few to start off, please add more, good soloing chords are incredibly valuable tools for any guitar player!
5 2007-07-26 03:36:25
Re: I have a fast right hand. (9 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)
That's great that you have a fast right hand, now you need to work on your left and bring it up to speed. Playing 20 notes a second is impressive but not so much if all 20 are the same note.
6 2007-07-26 03:33:16
Re: any ideas.. alterd scales?? (3 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)
Yeah you're definetly in mode territory. A simple trick I like to use as well is to analyze the notes in the chords you are playing and then compare them the the major/minor scale that the song is based on. If you find any notes in a chord that aren't in that scale, play that note with that chord and it will give an awesome but different sound. For example in the progression Am G F E, you would solo in Am but an E chord contains an Ab which isn't in the Am scale. Therfore play an Ab when you get to the E chord and you will get an exotic but interesting sound. Hope this helps
7 2007-07-26 03:25:23
Re: Help! I'm not cool enough to be in a band. (42 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)
Samantha123134 wrote:
If you lived here I'd start a band with yah, I live in canada, I'm 16 and i've been playing guitar for about 7 months...Who cares about being 'cool' or 'popular' be you! Like ken said. My friends either don't want to be in a band or are too busy...so yeah...I hope I can be really good at guitar someday...I don't take guitar lessons...I just look up chords and songs on the internet and this site...anyways...
Good luck paranormal guitar!
Samantha
I'd join too, I'm also Canadian, 18, self taught, been playing 5 years. Most of my friends aren't into guitar (except for the game guitar hero II, i can kill all of them at it). Don't worry about playing to impress others, if theres anything i've learned its that the more you learn stuff you like the faster you will learn. And don't worry about the whole cool thing, it's impossible to play guitar and not be cool. The fact that you can make music from a piece of wood and some metal strings is a pretty awesome feat in itself.
(PS Samantha, you remind me of me when I was learning, I used the internet and looked up chords and tabs and now i can decipher most songs by ear. Lessons help but when you are self taught you really gain an appreciation for the music you learn and you learn to figure things out for yourself, a VERY valueable skill.)
8 2007-07-26 03:08:48
Re: What's everyone listening too?? (18 replies, posted in Bands and artists)
I'll list some of my favorites that haven't already been mentioned (at least not that I read)
Bryan Adams (very underrated guitar player)
Simon and Garfunkle (Scarborough fair is a great fingerpicking song)
Anything by any or all of the beatles (probably already mentioned)
Led Zeppelin (Attempting any page solo will impove your ablility tenfold)
Dallas Green (kind of emo but I like his guitar playing)
9 2007-07-26 03:01:23
Re: Love song with interesting chord progressions (4 replies, posted in Song requests)
Look for stuff by Bryan Adams, he's got lots of good love songs with diverse chord progressions. Examples are: Have you ever really loved a woman, please forgive me, heaven (my favorite), and I'll always be right there. The most interesting one is definetly the first one, i can't actually tab out the song but I can tell you that the chords used include Eb Cm D Bb F G D Am7. There is one good tab and one bad one on the net, it's pretty easy to tell them apart, GOOD LUCK
10 2007-07-26 02:55:58
Re: song request please!!(begginers) (5 replies, posted in Song requests)
Almost any Beatles song is good for a beginner. Most use three or four chords and no really complicated timings. The tabs are also all over the internet.
11 2007-07-26 02:53:04
Re: I need scales (5 replies, posted in Electric)
There's a lot of good sites above, I also recommend a scale poster. I got one as a birthday gift a while ago and it's great, I never forget any of the scales and I can learn a new one whenever I want, they're all right on the wall!
12 2007-07-26 02:38:29
Re: The best sampler, loop pedal thingy (John Martyn, KT Tunstall etc) (9 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)
I can definetly attest that southpaw41l knows what he's talking about with his looping system. I've seen him use it on several occations. I plan on picking up a looper as well to use it for many of the same reasons as you have listed (except percussion since I have a drummer). I will probably get a single pedal model since it is simple, inexpensive, and can be used to record and loop baselines or chords, leaving you open for soloing or playing another instrument (personally I enjoy playing keyboard and mandolin with guitar). Let us know how it turns out.