It is currently Tue Mar 17, 2020 5:24 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 23 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2
Go to page Previous  1, 2
Author Message
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 8:47 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2009 7:18 am
Posts: 29
I'm 35 and just starting to learn the six string, but have played trombone for over 20 years and thumped around the bass for a while, so I've got a musical background, but like everyone is saying, you really never stop learning. You could spend years just learning music theory alone. Like with anything else, the more you do it, the better you will become.


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 2:00 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2009 1:56 pm
Posts: 45
Location: Sonoma, Ca.
Having a quality guitar or two to learn on is a feather in your cap. I would bet there have been quite a few guitar hopefuls that bought a cheapo guitar, that had no set up, and gave up too soon because of how difficult it can be to play a junker.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:44 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jul 30, 2008 9:05 am
Posts: 1813
Location: Middle Tennessee
welcome to the forum. I am 52 and just started about 8 months ago. So it is never too late (I hope!). And it sounds like you have some nice instruments to learn on - that does help...

_________________
Ignorance IS bliss - and I am the happiest person here!


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:53 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:02 pm
Posts: 718
Imho, it's never too late to learn to play music. I didn't start playing guitar until I was 17 and put it down many times for years before finally just getting into it after blowing a knee up skiing and playing tennis, when I needed something that didn't involve running. BB King shows you can play guitar as long as you're breathing. Once you get going, you'll never want to stop. As soon as you can, learn the two major forms of barre chords and pentatonic scales. Barre chords and pentatonic scales are the basis for blues, rock/pop and much of jazz.

_________________
"Now, bring me that horizon."
-Capt. Jack Sparrow


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 7:16 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sat Dec 22, 2007 10:55 am
Posts: 302
Location: Oneida, NY
First off, it's always good to learn on the best instrument you can afford and secondly to put in the time to practice. Third, don't just learn where to put your fingers..... study all the reasons why they go there. IE: Take music theory lessons along with basic guitar instruction. The more you know about what is going on, the better and quicker you can improve. It tends to be an automatic thing in that knowledge builds on itself and seeks more answers to questions you might not otherwise ask or even be aware of. When you come up with an idea and want to write it down, you need to know WHAT to write, not just to refresh your own memory, but to inspire others with your inventiveness and originality.

Once I acquired a working level of musical knowledge, music theory really helped me to express myself and made it very easy to chart any tune for anyone who could read. If you want to go further and learn to read actual sheet music (lines, bars & dots, etc.), a step beyond 'fake' charts and the common 'tabs' for guitar, do it..... it sure can't hurt. Besides, ANY musical knowledge is applicable to any instrument.

Sure, it's well-known that there are musicians out there that haven't a clue about what they're doing or why, but they have an ear for it and the talent to make use of that ear. Lots of guitarists learned to play and know what's going on, but never learned to "read" except for tabs or fake charts. It is great to have such a talented ear, but it's always better to invest in your grey matter as well. Yes... all there is to know may scare some people, but don't think of it as a mountain of brain food. Remember, what we eat or consume in a life-time may be gigantic when viewed all at once, but we all manage to do it in small bites.

The best advise I can give to any beginner is: Practice on a regular schedule and then add more whenever you can. Playing the same thing over and over shouldn't be boring until you've got it down so well you can play it a dozen different ways in any key. Besides, how can you be bored at all when you take anything you've learned and re-learn it in all the other keys and positions? OK... it's true that certain things are only done in specific keys; kind of like some classical material is locked into a key, but it's still a good idea to include that kind of technique into your arsenal, especially when it comes to little "licks & tricks" you can utilize when you eventually get around to improvised soloing.

There is only ONE draw-back to the serious accumulation of any kind of knowledge: "The more you know, the more you know you don't know."


Last edited by Guitarman1117 on Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 11:00 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2008 9:56 am
Posts: 2766
Location: metro Chicago USA
You have gear and many more decades to learn. Dig in.

In the words of that great American 20th century philosopher, Frank Zappa, "Shut up and play yer guitar."


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Learning to play
Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 6:00 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:34 am
Posts: 384
Location: UK
tabananjp wrote:
Hey guys. I'm a newbie. I first started to learn exactly a month ago. I'm 26 ...

All of these guitars in a month... Did I go overboard?


Haha... one of the advantages of learning when you're a little older - MONEY! :D

You'll be into collecting soon!

_________________
Guitar Collector Forum | Guitar hand trainer | Play Power Chords
Guitar string FAQ | Compare Guitar Tuners


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 9:51 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Sat Oct 13, 2007 7:13 pm
Posts: 48
Location: Indiana
I started in Oct 07 at 59 and I'm not very good yet but I'm having fun.
Sounds like you got some really nice insterments.

_________________
Squire Affinity Strat
Blues Junior
Frontman 15G
Boss DS-1....and
an Esteban Impala 50th Anniversary that my wife got for me on HSN...my first car at 16 a 58 Impala which is painted on the back.


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 23 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2
Go to page Previous  1, 2

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: