Guitar Advice

[Disco LT]

especially with acoustic, play some easy songs (wonderwall - oasis, time of your life - greenday, push - matchbox 20 to name a few) and as mellie said....enjoy the sounds! way more enjoyable way to learn

Thanks brad I'll write those down actually, I was thinking some Greenday/Blink 182 style sings might be a good place to start.

[RaTTuS007]

last kiss- pearl jam, wish you were here- pink floyd and through glass- stone sour are another couple of easy ones.
I also learnt investing in a decent capo is really worthwhile, I had a couple of the strap on types and they broke after a couple of uses.

[Disco LT]

Is a capo the clip on thing that clamps to the fretboard? I've always wondered what they were for.

Do you redommend any brand/style/type in particular?

[DarkMellie]

You really don't need a capo, honestly, save your money.

It'll only ever come in useful for one or two songs (and while you're learning you'll not use it at all).

They essentially tamp off the strings and move the 'open' position to whatever fret you put it at. Lets you play songs in a higher key/register. So rather than tune the strings up, pop on a capo and you immediately lift the tone.

I rarely use my capo although I do have a spider-capo (locks off individual strings allowing for some freaky tunings) but even that, with all the fingerstyle music I play, comes out for only a small handful of songs.

If you really must buy one, get the spring-based one that you simply clamp on (rather than the one where you wrap the stretchy fabric around the neck) as it's easier to move/remove. Nfi on brands though.

[Disco LT]

Ah, yeah it hasn't come up as a requirement yet, a friend of mine who played used one to play Jack Johnson songs on his acoustic but I wasn't really sure what they actually did.

I'm still enjoying it though, even though I'm not really making music I can see myself improving ever so slightly with the things I'm practicing.

[VitalBlurs]

My advice for anyone learning to play any instrument is....

Whatever it is that you're practicing.....play it just slow enough that you can play it perfectly. Because speed is just a by-product of accuracy.

[Mearehear]

Intro:
======
(E) 1|-----------------------------
(B) 2|-----------------------------
(G) 3|-----------------------------
(D) 4|------------5----------------
(A) 5|--------7---------------7----
(E) 6|----0-----------6---5--------

Go learn that Disco (repeat it), and come back and post what song it is (hint - playing this publicly is as embarrassing as playing "Stairway to Heaven" publicly..as it is so overplayed by new players)

[Matty]

Intro:
======
(E) 1|-----------------------------
(B) 2|-----------------------------
(G) 3|-----------------------------
(D) 4|------------5----------------
(A) 5|--------7---------------7----
(E) 6|----0-----------6---5--------

Go learn that Disco (repeat it), and come back and post what song it is (hint - playing this publicly is as embarrassing as playing "Stairway to Heaven" publicly..as it is so overplayed by new players)

Sif, songs super fun to play

Edit: and way awesome when you are out at the pub and they crank it.

[Mearehear]

Sif, songs super fun to play

HA! Oh it's fun, I learnt by playing all their songs as a teenager, but I would never pick up a guitar in a store and play that one lol.

A little simple fun thing for him to work out what it is anyway Having fun with it is the best way to learn!

[Disco LT]

Intro:
======
(E) 1|-----------------------------
(B) 2|-----------------------------
(G) 3|-----------------------------
(D) 4|------------5----------------
(A) 5|--------7---------------7----
(E) 6|----0-----------6---5--------

Go learn that Disco (repeat it), and come back and post what song it is (hint - playing this publicly is as embarrassing as playing "Stairway to Heaven" publicly..as it is so overplayed by new players)

Challenge Accepted!.. except, I'm not entirely sure how to read tab.

They're upside down, right, so 0 on the 6th string means an open pluck on the top string on the guitar, yes?, then the 7 on the 5th mean 7th fret, then 5th fret on the next string..and so on, am I on the right track?

[DarkMellie]

Yeah, the bottom line is your fat-E, top line is skinny-E. Numbers are frets. If you know the song the rhythm should be easy, but in order to play songs you don't know, a knowledge of reading musical notation comes in handy.

Most tab books will come with a key to describe all the note effects and so on.

[Marius]

Tab confuses me so much.

Whatever happened to clefs?

That way you can see the rhythm.

[Mearehear]

Yup, what 'Mellie said Disco. It's a pretty well known riff, once you play the notes slowly and repeat, you will click to what song it is.

Tab confuses me so much.

Whatever happened to clefs?

That way you can see the rhythm.

I have always read music by TAB and has never been a problem for me (Never learnt to really understand sheet music). I generally always am listening to the song I am learning, while reading the TAB along to it.

[Disco LT]

I'll have a crack at it and see how I go when I get home

[DarkMellie]

Tab confuses me so much.

Whatever happened to clefs?

That way you can see the rhythm.

It's numbers on a line, what's so confusing?

In notation you need to not only recognise the note but also at what position on the fretboard it's placed. Tab has spacing there (which provides a decent approximation of time) but also just about every tab book has the notation as well so you can quickly find the frets and refer to the notes for length.