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Post subject: Guitars for Idiots
Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 3:24 am
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Can anyone point out a website or a book with basic information about guitars, like with names on things a guitar has and... stuff. :oops:

I'm a total beginner on guitar and even though I've been listening to rock music more than half of my life I've never really bothered learning about instruments or notes and... stuff :oops:


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Post subject: Re: Guitars for Idiots
Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 4:02 am
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NonniG wrote:
Can anyone point out a website or a book with basic information about guitars, like with names on things a guitar has and... stuff. :oops:

I'm a total beginner on guitar and even though I've been listening to rock music more than half of my life I've never really bothered learning about instruments or notes and... stuff :oops:

you are in the right place , go to the merchandise tab on this page and then the library tab and all of the definitions and descriptions type of literature is there if you have'nt already then the support tab has all of the manuals and set up guides for fender guitars ( i saved my bass using that information because the person who owned her before myself did'nt treat her right ) then the resouces tab for great stuff about fender. have fun !

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Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 7:04 am
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Try here for basic terminology etc: http://guitarstringguide.com/drupal/con ... ide-guitar

And here for simple tuning info: http://guitarstringguide.com/drupal/con ... our-guitar

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Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 9:57 am
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You can also check out Amazon.com They have a ton of books on guitar.

Bill

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Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 10:21 am
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If you are beginner, then go to justinguitar.com - it's very interesting guitar lessons.
Well, of just for me :wink: .


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Post subject: Re: Guitars for Idiots
Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 10:42 am
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NonniG wrote:
Can anyone point out a website or a book with basic information about guitars, like with names on things a guitar has and... stuff. :oops:

I'm a total beginner on guitar and even though I've been listening to rock music more than half of my life I've never really bothered learning about instruments or notes and... stuff :oops:


Beyond what has already been mentioned, I'd like to offer a little practical advice if I may.

If your primary interest is "rock" music, start by learning your primary bar chords and a pentatonic minor scale. What you will discover sooner or later this that a lot of rock music only consists of 3 or 4 chords...certainly not all, but a lot of it. If you learn to play a barred A chord at the 5th fret and a barred D chord at the same 5th fret, you will be well on your way to playing -A LOT- of music. One of the most lovely things about guitar vs. other instruments is that the hand position that forms the chord is the same for several chords. For example, once you learn to play that A chord at the fifth fret, if you slide it down 2 frets (to the third fret), using the exact same fingering, you are now playing a G chord. If you slide that A up two frets to the 7th fret, you're now playing a B chord...it really is that easy to begin.

The same applies to a pentatonic minor scale as well. A pentatonic minor scale is the primary scale used with most popular styles of music (except for country which tends to use a pentatonic major instead). Once you learn to play a pentatonic A minor scale from the 5th fret, you just slide everything down 2 frets and with the same fingering, you're now playing a G pentatonic minor....down two more frets and you're playing an F...you get the idea.

Certainly if you are looking to learn jazz or classical, there's A LOT more involved with learning music theory and in any case, it's well worth learning the notes on the neck, but learning basic bar chords along with a pentatonic minor scale will get you up and running.

Now as to learning resources such as books and such, my advice to you is to avoid most of the "learn to play guitar" books out there...stuff like "Mel Bay's Modern Guitar Method" for example. While these books may be good at teaching you the notes on the neck as well as how to read, they are otherwise rather useless....unless you're planning on playing "Little Brown Jug" the rest of your life! They typically teach you -nothing- about ear training and/or how to improvise which is really the foundation for so much music today. From a personal stand point, I've worked with musicians who were "classically trained" and had no improvisational skills at all and it's -very- annoying. You take the sheet music away from them and their hands simply stop moving. Folks like this also tend to have no ability to simply "jam" what so ever...if they don't have the sheet music or if they haven't "memorized" the tune, they simply can't play. If you try to do something outside of the pre-planned arrangement of a tune, they're simply lost. In my opinion, part of being able to work well with other musicians is the ability to let your musical expression flow freely and/or flying by the seat of your pants! If you can't "work" with other musicians, very simply you'll never be in a band and with modern music, being able to improvise is a very crucial part of this.

So, where should you start? Once you've figured out how to play those bar chords and that scale I mentioned, in my opinion you should sit down with your favorite tunes and try to "mimic" what you hear on the recording. Don't worry about getting it perfect...you won't (at least not at first) but this will give you a good reference towards "playing by ear" which is a very strong asset if you ever plan to work with other musicians. Second to that, there's this wonderful new resource out there called "Youtube" that has a ton of guitar lessons and such just ripe for the picking (err...no pun intended there). Go to Youtube.com, if you don't have one already get yourself an account with them (it's free!) then do a search for "Guitar lessons beginner"...you'll be amazed at what all is out there!

If you feel the need to learn from books, then stick with stuff you like...get sheet music books (with tab) for your favorite bands and albums. It's been my experience that one of the things that keeps a person playing is actually being able to practice to music they enjoy. A lot of folks get turned off playing something like guitar because they get stuck with books or lessons that teach you crap like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" or "When the Saints Go Marching In"...and that stuff can be quite maddening! Of course, a good chord book or chart is always helpful :D. Here I would just use Google and search for "guitar chords" and that will find you -a lot- of stuff.

Last but not least, the biggest piece of advice I can give to any beginner is to simply -be patient-. Everyone learns in different ways and at different speeds but guitar playing is a "skill" and it takes time to learn. It never ceases to amaze me how many people I've ran into over the years who have said things like "yea...I bought a guitar and I messed around with it for a couple of weeks but couldn't really play it. I guess I don't have any talent, so I gave up". Playing virtually any musical instrument simply doesn't work that way!!! To that I would also add that it's an on-going learning experience as well. I've been playing guitar for over 25 years now and I'm -always- learning something new! I also firmly believe that for many people, "talent" has nothing to do with anything. I'm sure there are a few folks out there who are genuinely gifted, but I for one am not...I have to work at it...every single day. If I don't practice regularly, I simply suck! LOL!!! Do not expect to sit down with something like "guitar for dummies" and be able to start playing...it takes time, it can hurt like hell (like any "exercise" it takes time to develop those finger muscles, let alone those calluses!) and it can and will be frustrating at times. Trust me though when I say that if you love music, it's worth it! Be patient, allow yourself to learn at your own pace and most of all, have fun...that's what it's all about.

These are as always just my own personal opinions.

Good luck to you!
Jim


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Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 7:20 pm
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Well... there IS a guitar for dummies book...

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