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Post subject: Getting back to playing and could use your help
Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 9:08 am
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Location: Cody, Wyoming
I purchased a new Squire Fat Strat two years ago and bought Gibson’s Learn & Master Guitar to learn how to play it. I used it about a year and practiced about half an hour a day 4 to 5 days a week. I learned from it but not much song playing!

Since then I moved and for a number of reasons had to put my guitar playing off for a year and I’m now ready to get started again. A friend of mine bought me a copy of Rocksmith that I messed with a little but it seems a little to futuristic or game like for me, but maybe I didn’t give it enough time. I'm in my 60's and have never really gotten into gaming.

I thought I put a good amount of time into the Gibson course but in that time I never really got into playing songs. When I told my wife I was going to start playing again she was happy I was going to do that and said “I hope you can start playing songs this time”!

I thought about her statement and realized she’s right, I really didn’t get into song playing, it was more theory, reading music etc. I’m not against any of that by the way, I’d just like to be able to sit down and play something as well.

I don't know how much I retained but would like any recommendations you guys have of something that will help me play songs more quickly. I want to play lead guitar and want to be able to play something so I feel like I’m getting somewhere.

The other day I saw an advertisement from country artist Keith Urban. It comes with an acoustic guitar which I have no interest in. But it said "Play 30 songs in 30 days"! Although that may be a little unrealistic, I'd like something that will teach me to play!!!! Even a song a week would be fine with me!

Any ideas would be appreciated and I’m sorry for the long post.

Harry


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Post subject: Re: Getting back to playing and could use your help
Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 10:09 am
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Harry,

Sounds like you have the drive, now you just need a plan. If you want to get started on some songs right away, start learning some open chords: G, C, D, E, Em, A and Am will open a lot of doors. Just G, C and D will go a lonnnnngggg way.

But really the best idea would probably be to find a local guitar teacher to work with you on a one-on-one basis. That way, you could get direct personalized instruction.

Another route is the video courses. I had really good luck with Griff Hamlin's stuff because I like to play blues and if you want to play lead, that's a good way to go. Check it out: http://www.griffhamlin.com/guitar-courses/

A cool thing about Griff is once you get on his mailing list he sends you emails with tips and licks at least every week and it's pretty good stuff.

You can also search YouTube with the word "Lesson" behind any song you want to learn and pick up a few tunes real quick. I definitely wouldn't recommend Rocksmith.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.


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Post subject: Re: Getting back to playing and could use your help
Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 11:07 am
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Hello Harry, may I ask how far in the Gibson course did you get? I have the same course and didn't feel like I could play any songs until after session 6 or so. Stick to the course but also look for simple songs to learn on the side. I know that course can be frustrating because it seems like it's mostly theory and not enough song playing, but you need that foundation if you want to play good. Good luck!

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Post subject: Re: Getting back to playing and could use your help
Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 2:46 pm
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Learning songs is a great part of any practice time regimen. Practicing scales and chord changes and studying theory should be the bulk of your practice but learning songs makes the rest of it seem worth the effort. It's a reward to yourself. I suggest you put on a song you like on the stereo on repeat and just keep trying to play it by ear. That is also a big part of getting better and becoming a musician, developing your ear.

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Post subject: Re: Getting back to playing and could use your help
Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 3:07 pm
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Harry, I'm 63 1/2 yrs old and picked up the guitar again as I was turning 60, after a 30 year hiatus. When I was younger, I played in bands and learned lots of songs, but never took the time to become a good guitarist. This time I decided to learn to play guitar and not just songs.
I took lessons for about 2 1/2 years and spent a lot of time on theory and technique. It's really paying off for me because I have the mental knowledge as a solid base and don't feel like I'm playing by the seat of my pants the way I used to.
However, your friends and family that know you are putting a lot of time into learning to play, will expect you to be able to sit down and belt out a tune for them once in a while. So you need to find practice time for both. It's important to keep a handfull of songs in you pocket that you can pull out when appropriate. I use Blackbird as one of those songs. It's not really that hard to play, but everyone likes it and it sounds pretty impressive.
Just don't forget about the theory and technique side of it. Songs can be learned pretty quick, theory and good technique not so quickly.

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Post subject: Re: Getting back to playing and could use your help
Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 4:01 pm
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Location: Cody, Wyoming
Hi guys and thanks for your responses,

I'm of the Rock n' Roll persuasion where John Fogerty and other rockers preside... If I'm reading all of you correctly its a "balanced approach" that is needed and I think that is exactly right. Everything you learn has to build on your future ability to play right?

I want to read guitar music so I can play anything and learn chords and to do that I'm willing to do the grunt work to make it happen. I think the Gibson course is great for that and I believe I got through CD #4. I also want to play something so when my wife and grandkids ask me to play something to show that I can really play.

I'd love to have a CD that would show me maybe 10 songs to play and I could branch out from there. I'll put in 45 minutes to an hour 4 or 5 days a week but this time I want to play and not just pick around!

Is there anywhere I'm going wrong?

Harry


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Post subject: Re: Getting back to playing and could use your help
Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 6:12 pm
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harryglos wrote:
Hi guys and thanks for your responses,

I'm of the Rock n' Roll persuasion where John Fogerty and other rockers preside... If I'm reading all of you correctly its a "balanced approach" that is needed and I think that is exactly right. Everything you learn has to build on your future ability to play right?

I want to read guitar music so I can play anything and learn chords and to do that I'm willing to do the grunt work to make it happen. I think the Gibson course is great for that and I believe I got through CD #4. I also want to play something so when my wife and grandkids ask me to play something to show that I can really play.

I'd love to have a CD that would show me maybe 10 songs to play and I could branch out from there. I'll put in 45 minutes to an hour 4 or 5 days a week but this time I want to play and not just pick around!

Is there anywhere I'm going wrong?

Harry

If you were on the fourth DVD then that means you were on session 7 or 8. Those sessions cover barre chords and strumming techniques, which is indispensable for jamming to tunes. Previous sessions cover most open major, minor and 7th chords. You will learn enough chords to strum just about any strummer song out there.

Now i remember reading that you're not that interested in an acoustic guitar. I'd like to persuade you into trying one out. Qjat kind of playing are you mostly interested in? Strumming chords? Leading some tasty licks?

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Post subject: Re: Getting back to playing and could use your help
Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 7:18 pm
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After years of dinking around, last year I decided to get serious about blues / rock guitar. I spent some time with the Rock Prodigy app for iPad (now available for PC and Mac as well; http://www.rockprodigy.com) and it helped: I learned some scales, some new chords, and mostly got more accurate (RP has an innovative note detection algorithm that provides excellent feedback). I already knew theory basics from piano lessons over the years.

But my progress slowed down until I went to the next step: finding a local teacher who was willing to work with me to help me learn what I wanted to learn - how to play rhythm and lead guitar in blues and classic rock styles. I can't emphasize this enough; for example, I'm not interested in being a great session guitarist so my teacher doesn't show me how to apply formal music notation to blues / rock guitar - but I did need to learn to read tablature. I don't necessarily need to know every possible way to play a D minor chord, but I need to know all of the basic 6th- and 5th-string-root bar chords and power chords, at least to the 12th fret. And I learn to play songs I like, including solos, both to develop techniques and get ideas for my own songs and solos. In short, my teacher was / is willing to customize my lessons to focus on my goals. We'll get to all of those D minor chord positions eventually :wink: but in the meantime I can stretch out on some 12-bar blues lead work, or play the intro to "Oh Well" respectably.

There's also a wealth of online material out there too; two sites I've found useful are http://texasbluesalley.com and http://learningguitarnow.com. Both sites have a mix of free and paid resources. I have no affiliation with either, I just have been reasonably impressed with what I've seen so far.

Good luck in your journey!


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Post subject: Re: Getting back to playing and could use your help
Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 8:01 pm
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I fully support having a coach/teacher. Just don't let them hold you back - spend at least as much time doing your stuff as theirs, and your stuff will pick up good things from their stuff.


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Post subject: Re: Getting back to playing and could use your help
Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 8:05 pm
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arth1 wrote:
I fully support having a coach/teacher. Just don't let them hold you back - spend at least as much time doing your stuff as theirs, and your stuff will pick up good things from their stuff.

Yep I just started private lessons and I leaened a whole lot on the first class alone! Nothing beats one on one instruction.

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Post subject: Re: Getting back to playing and could use your help
Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 8:06 pm
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I know of a few teachers that offer Skype lessons now. The lessons can be tailored
to help you hit your goals. If you want the name/contact of one teacher that
I would highly recommend, send me a PM for his contact info. Good luck!

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Post subject: Re: Getting back to playing and could use your help
Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 8:21 pm
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I go along with finding a teacher to jump start your return. There is nothing like immediate feedback that comes with one on one lessons. Good luck.
Kenny V


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Post subject: Re: Getting back to playing and could use your help
Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2015 3:41 pm
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Thanks to all of you for your information and insights, I appreciate them very much. I will take your recommendations and look for a teacher for one on one training.

My Mac computer come with an application called GarageBand and it comes with the following training.

BASIC GUITAR
Intro to Guitar
Chords G, C
Chords A, D
Minor Chords
Single Note Melodies
Power Chords
Major Bare Chords
Minor Bare Chords
Blues Lead

ROCK GUITAR
Power Chords and Palm Muting
Suspended Chords and Arpeggios
Drop D tuning and Heavy Riffs
Melodies and Two Note Chords
Classic Riffs

Have any of you used this or know something about it? At a glance it looks very sharp, fresh and easy to use.

Harry


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Post subject: Re: Getting back to playing and could use your help
Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2015 7:45 pm
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I use the iPad version of garage band for recording. Although I have a Mac, I have never used the Mac version. I should try. If I were you I would just continue the learn and master guitar course.

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Post subject: Re: Getting back to playing and could use your help
Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2015 10:02 pm
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Hi Harry.

I'm almost 62 and I rebooted my guitar hobby a few years ago when the fit came upon me to try learning some Surf guitar technique, starting with buying a Strat and a Line 6 Pocket Pod headphone amp. Most recently I got a Mustang I V.2 amp. I still mostly use the headphones so I don't embarrass myself if I run off the rails. I retired two years ago, so I have lots of time to mess around with it.

One of the tools I use for learning melodies is an iOS app (for iPad/iPhone/iPod touch) called Anytune Pro. I actually paid money (not much) for it. It can slow down any tune in your iTunes library to as little as 30% without changing the pitch. It will also change the pitch by + or- 12 semitones without changing the tempo. It can loop selected passages, etc. The quality of the slowed music is much better than other "slowdowners" I've tried.
I plug the output of my iPod into the AUX jack of the amp so I can play along.

There is also a free version of Anytune, that only slows it down to 50%.

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