NE1-469 аѕkеd:
I’d lіkе tο mаkе guitar playing a career. I know іt wουld bе tough tο dο bυt, I figure I mіght аѕ well try. Frοm day 1 οf picking up a guitar tο thе day whеrе уου earn intermediate status, whаt wουld уου ѕау, οf аll thе things, techniques, etc… wουld fit іntο thаt beginners level? Thanks.
I’d lіkе tο mаkе guitar playing a career. I know іt wουld bе tough tο dο bυt, I figure I mіght аѕ well try. Frοm day 1 οf picking up a guitar tο thе day whеrе уου earn intermediate status, whаt wουld уου ѕау, οf аll thе things, techniques, etc… wουld fit іntο thаt beginners level? Thanks.
March 8th, 2010 at 12:34 am
There are two basic approaches to playing guitar. One direction, as you have described, is towards a goal of playing professionally. The other has more to do with simply making music.
These approaches come together many times in the players progress, but require different attitudes and specific learning curves.
The one who just wants to make music can get started very quickly by learning a few chords and finding the songs he or she LIKES to play and are within their range of skills. In a single day’s practice, this person could be sitting down, singing and accompanying themselves with some degree of musicality. And, from this point, the guitarist can develop new skills, learn new chords and, eventually, pick up a piece of sheet music and play an entirely new piece.
The musician that plans a career, on the other hand, has to have a more complete knowledge of music theory and the basic concepts of what makes one set of notes music, and another set of notes merely noise. There is a REASON, for example that an open A chord is fingered in a certain way, with some strings sounded and others not. And a reason why an open E chord is played a certain way. Plus, there is a relationship between those two chords, and other pairs and other triads. And that relationship has to do with the individual notes making up those chords.
Imagine a sessions musician, called in to back up a performer in a recording studio. This guitarist may have to interact with other musicians whom he may have never met, or have never played together. And yet, with studio time being very expensive and salaries having to be covered, these people have to be able to lay some tracks down in a very short period of time. What makes this possible and brings these people together is the common language of music. If one persons suggests a chord change, the others must follow, and there is no time to show every individual musician how to do it. They just do it. Fine adjustments are made, but they are done quickly and professionally.
Same thing occurs when a known, or established musican organizes a band. The star may be the leader, but even HE or SHE doesn’t want to lose time teaching the others. That star would expect the other musicians to have the skill sets needed to follow along.
So, you should decide which one of those two scenarios fit your goals. The good thing is that they are not mutually exclusive. You may see yourself a solo act, onstage in the spotlight. But you can start off on the first day with a guitar in your arms croaking out “You Are My Sunshine,” and trying to coordinate you left hand, right hand and putting the words in the right place. And go on from there. There are LOTS of books and videos available to help you teach yourself how to make music.
But, if a professional career is REALLY your ultimate goal, I’d recommend you find a good music teacher, to help you understand music theory and how music is “assembled.” These lessons couldn’t hurt, no matter which direction you want to go.
March 8th, 2010 at 12:45 am
learn the song Dammit by Blink 182. it’s cool sounding and easy to play! also, learn the E penatonic scale and learn some blues scales as well. i would recommend professional lessons for at least 1 year.
March 10th, 2010 at 1:51 am
I’m a 26 yr. old guitar player. I would put myself at a solid intermediate level. I’ve never had a teacher and in the 9 years since I first seriously took it up, but I’ve progressed anyway. Here’s my advice to you to begin learning as fast as possible:
1) start by learning the chord positions for all the major and minor chords, including the sharps and flats. any self-respecting guitar player need to know at the very least those chords, but once you get those down, you’ll quickly find yourself wanting to learn more and more chords, and don’t worry, there are literally thousands of them.
2) Write down a list of all the songs you know the lyrics to and that you’d like to sing. The most fun you can have learning guitar is playing songs you like. most popular songs have only 5 or 6 chords, usually one of the 24 major/minor chords you’ve been practicing. You can find chord chart for pop songs online. just google the song title and the word “chords”. This is also good practice for learning songwriting techniques, learning what kind of sounds different chords make when arranged together.
3) learn guitar tablature notation (lookup guitar tab in wikipedia for more info) unless you already know how to read music. This will prepare you for advanced techniques, learning to play chord riffs and lead lines.
Other things:
strengthen your hands and arms: begin lifting weights and using hand grip exercisers( you can find these at most big-box music stores) to prepare your hands for the muscle tension you’ll nee to press strings down without cramping after only a few minutes. Also, understand that this will probably be the case for the first few weeks of playing, but if you play everyday, the pain will subside.
start with an acoustic, then get an electric: Acoustics require much more hand power to play than electrics, but both provide a sound that the other cannot provide. You can usually find a decent acoustic for around $200. Get your basics down on that and, if you haven’t given up, you can buy a basic electric for around the same price.