Acoustic Guitar

[flamestrike]

So me, being a fan of acoustic guitar for a long time, and being jealous of my friends who could play, I bought an acoustic guitar. I recieved it yesterday and am pretty excited to attempt to teach myself. Im just lost on where to start. I first tried to tune it, being probably the first thing you can do, with a pitch pipe and failed miserably. Its now sitting in the corner of my room until i figure out what to do next. so what should start with in teaching myself. Im more interested in playing songs alreadly made rather than making my own, just cause im a fan of sing alongs. So if anyone has any links also and some information it would be very helpful.

 

 

 

my main interests

 

-to be able to tune

 

-to be able to understand frets and how it works

 

-to be able to read tabs

 

-to be able to reproduce hit songs :D

 

 

 

 

 

thanks.

[madchild]

Buy an Electronic Tuner :D

 

 

 

Also, buy a begginers book to teach you the basics. Just a few chords and things. After you've got the hang of it, you can find your own favourite songs on the internet, just use a website. I personally use http://www.ultimate-guitar.com

 

 

 

Good Luck

[TheEmoSanta]

Tuning:

 

There are many methods

 

Use an electronic tuner or learn harmonics.. best ways to do so

 

The Understanding of frets is basically :P they refer to specific notes... but instead of an indepth explanation of correlating frets to sheet music.. play tabs instead :P

 

 

 

Tabs are easy

 

Take this tab for Adam's Song for instance (just intro)

 

 

 

(first)E -------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

B -------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

D -------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

G ----4-0---4-0---4-0---4-0---4-0---4-0---4-0---4-0-----------------

 

A --2-----2-----0-----0------------------------------------------------

 

(last)E --------------------------3-----3-----0-----3-------------------------

 

 

 

 

 

^Basically the letters refer to the string

 

top = high notes (first string = bottom string when looking at guitar)

 

 

 

the numbers refer to the fret number on that particular string that is played

 

the number 0 = open, so you play no fret

 

 

 

 

 

Reproducing hit songs... takes time

 

But good luck :)

[Pink]

I reccomend that you take it to a guitar store and have them tune it and fix it up for you. If you try to fix it yourself, especially when you're not experianced at fixing guitars, horrible, horrible things can happen... trust me.

 

 

 

Books are good. I highly reccomend you learn to read music, most people just go off of tabs and I, having played guitar for sevral years, find it an insult. It may be a fast and easy way to learn, but it really makes me mad when I'm talking to somebody who plays off of tabs. I learned to read music, and then somebody who has played tabs for their entire guitaring experiance comes and brags that they're better than me. It makes me so mad inside, because a 6 year old can read tabs.

 

 

 

Go to a guitar store, or a guitar place, and take lessons. Just because you buy a nice guitar doesn't mean that all of a sudden you're going to have some magical power that allows you to play the guitar well. You have to practice... Sorry if I seem harsh.

 

 

 

Oh, and another thing that might help you tune it, the last note you can play on the first string should be almost the same as the next string's deepest sound.

 

Good luck. :)

[ogloc219]

I say that you buy a chord book and learn all the basic chords first.

[flamestrike]

My friend came and tuned it for me, now i just need to figure out how to read these tabs.

 

 

 

edit:i basically can read the tabs now, i just cant move my fingers in the right way to play it fast enough. Oh well, for 5 minutes of playing i got like 1/3 of that adams song down. i didnt realise the intro to that song was so easy.

[6cheesepie9]

What bands do you like? I know some good band specific tab sites.

[Pink]

...i basically can read the tabs now...

 

:x That's cheating... and the world doesn't need another person who can read tabs... sorry if I seem harsh, but ANYBODY can do tabs... I guess I can't really make you read music, and I can't do anything about it, but if you ever get the chance try to read music... please...

[limpxbizkid]

good luck with the guitar im sorta trying the same thing with my sisters guitar (as its sort of lost it appeal with her).

 

are there any good webistes that have like, scale or tab diagrams or even pictures of the best places of where to put your fingers? (im level of skill is probably just below yours)

[limpxbizkid]

another idea with tuning, i know accoustics wise youve got a note where the sound from a pluck is loudest (as it has the best resination), never actully tried it though :P

[Bubsa]

...i basically can read the tabs now...

 

:x That's cheating... and the world doesn't need another person who can read tabs... sorry if I seem harsh, but ANYBODY can do tabs... I guess I can't really make you read music, and I can't do anything about it, but if you ever get the chance try to read music... please...

 

 

 

Learning tabs...learning music...Sorry I didn't realise one was more 'special' or 'acceptable' than the other? :?

[Danabis]

...i basically can read the tabs now...

 

:x That's cheating... and the world doesn't need another person who can read tabs... sorry if I seem harsh, but ANYBODY can do tabs... I guess I can't really make you read music, and I can't do anything about it, but if you ever get the chance try to read music... please...

 

 

 

Learning tabs...learning music...Sorry I didn't realise one was more 'special' or 'acceptable' than the other? :?

 

 

 

People like to feel smart, let her have her fun. :P

 

 

 

I can read music, pretty much sight read the stuff, but I can see definate advantages of tab. It's more accessable, easier to learn, and if someone just wants to learn a riff, do they really want to sit down with the sheet music for the song?

 

 

 

Yes sheet music is great, you get a real sense of the timing from it, and you can 'see' the piece. But not everyone cares.

[thebobcow]

i've been playing guitar for about a year and a half and i'm pretty good...i've never tried to read tabs or sheet music... but my dad plays lots of diff instruments so he showed me sone stuff... i played bass before i tried guitar so i guess that helped a bit. anyways good luck with your playing! it can be really fun when you get the hang of things

[Bubsa]

...i basically can read the tabs now...

 

:x That's cheating... and the world doesn't need another person who can read tabs... sorry if I seem harsh, but ANYBODY can do tabs... I guess I can't really make you read music, and I can't do anything about it, but if you ever get the chance try to read music... please...

 

 

 

Learning tabs...learning music...Sorry I didn't realise one was more 'special' or 'acceptable' than the other? :?

 

 

 

People like to feel smart, let her have her fun. :P

 

 

 

I can read music, pretty much sight read the stuff, but I can see definate advantages of tab. It's more accessable, easier to learn, and if someone just wants to learn a riff, do they really want to sit down with the sheet music for the song?

 

 

 

Yes sheet music is great, you get a real sense of the timing from it, and you can 'see' the piece. But not everyone cares.

 

 

 

Yeah, I'd like to say I know learning sheet music is definately harder, but it isn't some divine skill.

[flamestrike]

i can read sheet music because i used to play the drums, so i dont know why your like complaing about that, guitar tabs are just way easier to figure out songs with. i suck at guitar. i cant even play that adams song intro without it sounding like crap after 5 seconds.

[xenogold]

tabs are a million times more useful than any sheet music. you cant just condemn one style of playing just cause you dont like it. sure, you took the time to learn to read music...well good for you. But for a beginner it is WAY easier to learn tabs than music.

 

it upsets me when people think that they are better than everyone else just because they can play off sheet music

 

reading music=/=talent

 

 

 

oh, and for the record. i can read music and tabs, and i still perfer tabs...just thought you should know.

[Scruffy5389]

I'm not a snob about it, but I do think it is better to learn to read music. Tabs are just so limited. You can't really learn what a song is supposed to sound like just reading tabs. Sheet music, if you're really good at reading it (which takes a while to learn), can give you a really good sense of how the song sounds.

 

 

 

Tabs are a shortcut. I don't look down on anyone for knowing just tabs, because they're really useful, and if you can listen to the song and learn it by ear anyway, it's not like you really need sheet music. Especially for a beginner.

 

 

 

A really good musician generally needs to know how to read music, though.

[Centuramage]

You know, I think being able to play by ear is an infinitely more useful skill than either sheet music or tab. Personally, I don't care much for tab because it gives me no sense for the timing of a piece, and time/rhythm is, to me, the most important aspect of mastering the guitar. You may have the best chops on the planet, but if you can't work them into a rhythm of any sort, you're a fundamentally useless guitarist.

 

 

 

Albeit, it is more difficult and time consuming to learn to play by ear, but with practice and effort, it is definitely doable. It doesn't require any extraordinary talent, just time, effort, and an ear. The 12 notes of an octave aren't that subtly differentiable; it's a reasonable task to undertake. Furthermore, such dynamic, active interaction with these pieces of music allow you not only to learn to play it, but to better understand the musical concepts the song presents, permitting you to borrow ideas from musicians and derive influence from their creations in developing your own style.

 

 

 

Anyway, it's just an idea. Best of luck learning guitar. :) It's a wonderful instrument, to say the least.