hey fellow fender fanatics,
i'm getting my first electric next month when im turning 18, and i was wondering, what's the best way to start out? i want to learn a bunch of chords and a few scales. i'm into blues and some rock... john mayer, buddy guy and srv being my favourites.

so far i know the c a g e d asus2 and em chords which are rather easy to learn, especially on a 50 euro spanish acoustic, haha, so i don't know any barres. i absolutely hate tabs, as in, learning to play entire songs from tabs. i don't think it takes any talent and you barely learn anything from it. i want to learn it the "hard" way by actually knowing what chord and/or scale i'd be playing, and after a year or maybe 2, start knowing how to play by ear.

what are the chords i should learn and what scale would be the best to start out with?

i'm very excited and it seems like alot of fun to be making progress with this, especially when you start improvising a bit. i was very excited when i knew my first chords and started jamming with those abit, so i can only imagine what this will be like, haha.

thanks guys!

Welcome to the forum Hat. Go online and you'll find tons of websites with beginner lessons and such. Go slow, it's a lifelong journey. Once you get that guitar, let us know and we''ll be waiting for pics. Mike

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The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

i thought i'd ask here because you are experienced players, and you might be able to help me out further than those websites. i've learnt from a piece of paper so far that tells you how to place your finger for certain chords, so i was thinking i'd learn those other chords like that aswell and was wondering What chords would be most important. scales i read i should start out with the pentatonic and work up from that; so i guess i'll do that?

also, i'm probably going to be fixing up a cheapo squier bullet in the summer break just for the fun of it and to own a second guitar i can take to my friends place or w/e so i'll post pics when i've got both!

chordbook.com shows fingerings, everthing. All scales, major, penatonic,blues. Hang there for a bit and see what you think. Mike

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The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

nice site, might come in handy! thanks!

now all i need is a few chords that i should really learn

Sounds like you're on the right track. I'd recommend you look into a book called "Blues Guitar for Dummies". Despite the stupid name it's actually a great book that you should be able to get a lot out of. They also make one called "Rock Guitar for Dummies", that you may also enjoy. They explain things so that they're easy to understand and they come with CDs, so you can play along to what it teaches you. After you learn a few licks, and learn some of the scale boxes, teaching yourself the hard way, without tabs, should be a lot easier. Most guitarists stick to certain patterns and scales that they're most comfortable with. So after you get an idea of how they play, figuring it out is fairly easy.

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im not the greatest but ive tought my self for the most part but also picked up a lot from paying with other people.

i suggest looking into music theory and UNDERSTANDING chords.
this will grately help you.

another thing, try to pick things up by ear. that only comes with experince and you will really surprise people if you can bust out a song someone is listing to on the spot

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Paddle faster! I hear banjo music!

If you're into blues, you'll definitely want to start out by learning the good ol' minor pentatonic scale. Then move onto the major pentatonic (it's the same shape as the minor pentatonic, it just has different root notes). And then focus on the major and minor scales. You should be able to find all of those scale patterns in "Blues Guitar for Dummies" or a similar book, or online.

If you have a good working knowledge of those scales -- plus the basic open chords and power chords -- you should have enough knowledge to start learning songs by ear. Try playing along with CDs, picking out individual licks in songs and improvising over chord progressions using your scales. Your ear will tell you which scale(s) will work best for individual songs (and for blues, you're going to be using the minor pentatonic about 90% of the time).

If at all possible, try to jam out with some friends. There's no faster way to get good on an instrument than to play with other musicians. In lieu of that, you can always record your own rhythm guitar parts and then solo over the playback.

Hope that helps -- good luck and have fun!

Petmyhat, I would not be so quick to shy away from tab as it makes life so much easier.Try the sight licklibrary .com it is a great sight for any level of player.You have to have a reasonable amount of knowledge under your belt before you start learning from ear.Once you have down the basics (chords-pentatonic scale) THEN BY ALL MEANS LEARN BY EAR .But I would advise you to get some begGiners dvds or books on chords and scales first and hang around as many people who play as you can.Yes I bet most of us are self taught here but it is a lot more easy having someone show you something in 5 minuetes then it took for a lot of us to spend a day or two learning.That is why you see so many young kids tearing up the fret board today on youtube because there is so much learning tools available today than back in a lot of guys my ages time.I mean we all have 2 hands and you dont want to know what it was like putting a needle over a lick 50 times with a record player when you can just watch it and learn on the spot .GOOD LUCK

Well, do you want to play rhythm or lead? Chords for rhythm and scales for lead.

As far as chords, sounds like you know the major open chords. Learn the minors, the 7th, and 9th variations. Then also learn the E and A based barre chords.

There are lots of good free instructional videos on youtube. I really like the ones from rockongoodpeople.

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http://www.bluesrepublic.org/

2008 Fender American Stratocaster
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thanks the tips are very useful.

so e and a based barre chords, and minor and major chords; i'll start learning those. thanks! yeah i'll definetly learn the minor pentatonic scale asap! no worries though, i'll take my time! got a summerbreak up ahead and no job so yeah, time to spend playing guitar!

Welcome to the forum !

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Welcome and have fun!

"Play that electric guitar!"

Its a good idea to learn as many chords as you can. Barres are essentially power chords that are barred across a fret. And the Am pentatonic scale is the easiest to make leads up with, and it can be used anywhere on the neck.

Or there are always things you can buy such as chordbooks and scale charts. Those can be useful.

But anyway, good luck and may your new hobby bring you years of entertainment to come. Cheers.

oh it surely will,
i already got a chord book

thanks. i'll have loads of fun for sure!