Any Guitar players out there? Tips/advice, easy songs to help out the beginners

[Rhino Racing]

So Nicko, How is the playing going? Have you continued or have you become too busy?
I was just about to start a thread ( but a search brought up yours).

I picked up a guitar last week for the first time and i am keen to learn some sweet tunes.
I actually wanted an acoustic but ended up with an electric beacause when i am away for work i need something quiet to practice with as other guys are sleeping in surrounding rooms and we are all shift workers. Someone i know had a guitar and amp etc for sale as he purchased some big $$$ package now that he is playing in a band etc. Took my set up to the local music shop to get it checked out and they said it was all good and well priced. So i have bought a capo, tuner, hardcase and a few other things to get me on my way and i have been practicing chords and trying to toughen up fingertips. OUCH!
After i master my chords better i will have a couple of lessons too.
Have made google my friend and searched and found a heap of songs i like.

Does anyone else here currently play guitar at all?
Any more tips would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!

 

[sircruisealotVS]

lol@ people complaining about sore fingers playing guitar - you should try playing the bass!
there's a spray you can buy for your strings though (name eludes me at the moment) which makes it easier on the fingers and also reduces fretting noise.
as with learning any instrument you just need tonnes of practice, thats about the only good tip there is when starting out, practice as much as you can.
once you start getting it, - being able to change frets quickly and have the strength in the each finger to hold the string without buzz then there are lots of different techniques to try and learn, but you got to walk before you run.
a very very simple noob guitarist excercise i tell people to use is to run up and down four frets, using each finger for each fret. so ie, 1,2,3,4 - 4,3,2,1. i find when i watch people starting out playing they have little to no strength/control in there middle, ring, and little finger. a excercise like this helps to build up the individual fingers.

 

[Hropic]

IRON MANNN!!

Haha first song I ever learnt!

 

[bezz]

Picked up the guitar again a few months back after a couple years off.. Last month spotted a Fender Telecaster model on ebay I always wanted. Discontinued model now so pretty rare and it was going for a good price so I had to have it New one is the one on the left in the photo, love it!

 

[xlr8_87]

go pick yourself up a copy of guitar hero

nah I'm the same, really want to start learning, but can you really do alright without having any lessons? I'm too cheap to pay for lessons, but wouldn't mind practicing myself a fair bit

 

[Scooter79]

Two totally different techniques with acoustic and electric....

Agreed. Electric and Acoustic are two different beasts. I've been playing since I was 12 years old. 29 now. I'm a high school music teacher and also teach guitar privately after work. The way I approach electric and acoustic is with a totally different mindset.

...Wait til you get to minor suspended chords, they are a bastard.

No such thing as minor suspended chords. A 'major' chord is where you take the root note followed by an interval of a major third and then a perfect fifth or 1, 3, 5 degrees of a particular scale.
A 'minor' chord is similar to a 'major' but instead of the major third interval you have a minor interval, so you have Root note, minor third, and perfect fifth or 1, b3, 5 of a given scale. To get a 'suspended' chord you need to remove the third completely. a suspended 2nd or sus2 consists of 1, 2, 5 and a suspended 4th or sus4 is made up of 1, 4, 5 so you see it completely removed the posibility of being a minor or major chord.

while we got all the guitar players looking in here, might as well ask. im looking into making my own electric guitar soon, and am wondering where i should look for wood to make the body. does anyone know where i should look, or any guitar parts shops that could help me?

All depends on what sound you wanting to achieve. As a comparison Gibson Les Paul and Explorers were made of Mahogany body and neck and rosewood fingerboard. Fender strats had Alder or Ash bodies (depending on what year) and maple necks and either rosewood fingerboards or one piece maple necks. Maple is a brighter sounding tonewood and has a bit more 'spank' to it. Rosewood tends to have a warmer/rounder tone. Your typical Ibanez or Jackson body is usually made or basswood which is kind of a composite but also a much softer wood.

bugger that. $140 delivered each per EMG-81 pickups. so 280 on pickups, 90 on a neck, and whatevers left on the body and bridge.
grennan, basically after the price of a piece of wood i can cut to shape, or a pre cut explorer body. not sure what type of wood

Generally, the tone of active pickups like EMG's are less affected by the type of wood they are mounted onto.

go pick yourself up a copy of guitar hero

nah I'm the same, really want to start learning, but can you really do alright without having any lessons? I'm too cheap to pay for lessons, but wouldn't mind practicing myself a fair bit

You can do 'alright' but you've got to avoid bad habbits. It all depends on how good you want to get. Even someone like me who teaches for a living, plays and records still has so much to learn. You never really master it. But if you want to just jam out a few songs to make yourself happy then there is an abundance of information all over the internet. Get yourself a chord book and one of those '101 easy song' books and start playing.

 

[weedo_86]

theres videos on youtube to show you how to play songs.

but in the end it all comes down to practice practice practice, master the basic chords and go from there

 

[bezz]

I reckon the best way to go about it is learn the basic open chords and a few progressions to get started. Next practice pentatonic scales to get a nice feel for the fretboard. In between learn a couple of songs you like to keep ya goin through the tedious bits. I still think having a few lessons to start off is a must tho.

 

[Rhino Racing]

Picked up the guitar again a few months back after a couple years off.. Last month spotted a Fender Telecaster model on ebay I always wanted. Discontinued model now so pretty rare and it was going for a good price so I had to have it New one is the one on the left in the photo, love it!

Sweet looking Guitars mate!
Glad that you picked it back up...

 

[stocky]

All depends on what sound you wanting to achieve. As a comparison Gibson Les Paul and Explorers were made of Mahogany body and neck and rosewood fingerboard. Fender strats had Alder or Ash bodies (depending on what year) and maple necks and either rosewood fingerboards or one piece maple necks. Maple is a brighter sounding tonewood and has a bit more 'spank' to it. Rosewood tends to have a warmer/rounder tone. Your typical Ibanez or Jackson body is usually made or basswood which is kind of a composite but also a much softer wood.

thanks. managed to get an explorer body and neck a few months ago. made from honduras mohogany. also got an emg-60 and a emg-81-tw pickup to go with it, but i havent touched it in months never have time to finish the thing