UKC

Have you read it? I admit that it's made me interested in taking up the guitar again, even though I demonstrated no talent last time - many years ago!

Are there success stories out there?

In reply to MikeTS:

In my youth I kept picking up the guitar and putting it down again when couldn't get a tune out of it - like I could with a piano - but then, one day, I got a chord chart, a songbook of songs I liked and stuck at it.

Now I am an internationally recognised guitar maestro with a full recitals schedule.

In reply to Bulls Crack:

There's a lot in that. Don't bother trying to play anything that you don't like, you'll soon get bored.

Learn in the open position: A, Am, C, D, Dm, E, Em, F (small barre) & G.
Then learn how to change from each of those chords to the others. Once you've got that mastered, you'll have access to literally tens of thousands of songs.

Start on your barre chords early too (B & Bm are good first ones and useful!), there's no mystery to them, they're just awkward and uncomfortable at first.

Just keep learning chords as you go, keep playing stuff you like don't be afraid to experiment. Learn to hammer on/hammer off, easy arpeggios etc. You shouldn't get bored, but you will get better.

Google for tabs.

Good luck!

In reply to MikeTS:

Also if you like to sing while you play, buy a capo for a couple of quid.

In reply to MikeTS:

Dont start on an acoustic - buy an electric guitar and amp and just play along to records.

In reply to MikeTS: Just concentrate on learning the intros to Stairway to Heaven and Come as you are. That's all you'll ever need...

In reply to Bulls Crack:


And I am the Queen Mother!

In reply to Southern Man:

Thanks. I like Blues,so that's a clear chord sequence that's easy to start I think. And I'll stick to the key of E for the moment. I understand that the guitar open tuning is E in the pentatonic scale already.

A friend recommended software that slows down music on your computer: have you tried this?

In reply to MikeTS: Have a look at Ultimate-Guitar.com and find a song which is in Tab Pro such as this:

http://tp.ultimate-guitar.com/g/guns_n_roses/sweet_child_o_mine_tab_online....

I learnt (slowly) form guitar magazines that have a CD to play along with, but this seems much better, You have to pay for the full Tab Pro feature, but could be worth considering if you want to learn stuff quickly.

In reply to MikeTS:
Seriously this site is heaven sent for the new guitarist http://www.justinguitar.com/

Teaches you everything you need to know in easy to follow lessons and has a really helpful community. The main thing is it teaches you to play guitar rather than just a few songs. It also has great songs rather than nursery rhymes and boring stuff.
I followed the course and after about 12 months I'm certainly no maestro but would say I'm well beyond a beginner.

Reading back it sounds like an advert but seriously you can't go wrong. I stopped my private lessons as I was learning much more through the site, and it's FREE.

In reply to Oujmik:

Thanks

In reply to deacondeacon:
Thanks

In reply to MikeTS:

- i'm not sure you have it right exactly....you can play any scale in the open position it's just a question of where you start....so i would play C major starting at the third fret on the 5th string or 6th string open (ie E)....but yes, E pentatonic is a good one to start with.

- i use tempo slow on the iphone which is free and can access any tune in your collection....im sure there are other versions available for other platforms.

In reply to deacondeacon:
+1 for http://www.justinguitar.com/.

It's a great resource which is laid out in a logical way. I go back to it time and time again.

In reply to Morgan Woods:
Good shout on Tempo SlowMo

For the PC I use Transcribe! which is free to try and then $39. It's a great tool for slowing down tracks to either work out the guitar lines or to play along to.

I also use http://www.guitarbackingtrack.com/ as a resource for backing tracks to play along to song. Basically they are full songs minus the guitar. Some even have the vocal lines still in place. You can also download the tracks as MP3 so this combined with Transcribe! is the perfect practice tool for me.

In reply to deacondeacon:

I meant to say thanks for this link a while back - Mr TC is finding it very useful!

In reply to ChrisRGX:

ta for the link.....playing along to backing tracks might be a good next step.

In reply to ChrisRGX:

Backing track site is great, thanks. They have generic jam tracks which look good for me. And it's free !

In reply to MikeTS:

1) have a riff/song in your head that you'd quite like to master
2) type into you tube "[name of song] guitar lesson"
3) there's a very good chance a result will pop up with some dude taking you step by step through the song


A great resource

In reply to Southern Man:






Listen to this dude

In reply to MikeTS:

once you've got the hang of stuff a bit have a look at downloading powertab, it gives you sheet music and tab together and has a play feature so you can listen as you play along. you can find powertabs on ultimate-guitar.com