Guitar players? tips & suggestions

mandm

mandm

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Anyone out there play guitar?

I have a music background from my younger years but I was on the woodwinds side of things. Now I am getting into singing, piano and guitars.

I’m getting a handle on chords and theory, but I’m finding guitar to be extremely difficult. From the woodwinds side of things, you are the music usually so it’s easy to relate the notes, but playing guitar and piano seems to be more about the background music.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to improve strumming patterns and getting into the grove when playing the backing tracks to songs? Suggestions on songs to start with? Doing a lot of stuff online and learning bits and pieces from different sources. One good piece of advice I learned yesterday was to use thinner picks, and I broke my first pick yesterday but the sound is much better.
 
mandm said:
Anyone out there play guitar?

I have a music background from my younger years but I was on the woodwinds side of things. Now I am getting into singing, piano and guitars.

I’m getting a handle on chords and theory, but I’m finding guitar to be extremely difficult. From the woodwinds side of things, you are the music usually so it’s easy to relate the notes, but playing guitar and piano seems to be more about the background music.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to improve strumming patterns and getting into the grove when playing the backing tracks to songs? Suggestions on songs to start with? Doing a lot of stuff online and learning bits and pieces from different sources. One good piece of advice I learned yesterday was to use thinner picks, and I broke my first pick yesterday but the sound is much better.
Click to expand...
Been playing since I was like 12, but haven't touched my stuff in over a year.

Though from experience I can say the answer to these questions is always the same: buy more gear.

Buy one of these.
1754590879032.png

Buy one or both of these:
1754590981009.png

Play Metallica.
Start with "Sanitarium" and "Fade to Black". Graduate to "Master of Puppets".
Go from there :cool:

EDIT: (Any imperfections in your playing style will be masked by the crushing volume of your amp and the disgusting amount of distortion you dial that thing up to)
 
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mandm said:
Anyone out there play guitar?

I have a music background from my younger years but I was on the woodwinds side of things. Now I am getting into singing, piano and guitars.

I’m getting a handle on chords and theory, but I’m finding guitar to be extremely difficult. From the woodwinds side of things, you are the music usually so it’s easy to relate the notes, but playing guitar and piano seems to be more about the background music.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to improve strumming patterns and getting into the grove when playing the backing tracks to songs? Suggestions on songs to start with? Doing a lot of stuff online and learning bits and pieces from different sources. One good piece of advice I learned yesterday was to use thinner picks, and I broke my first pick yesterday but the sound is much better.
Click to expand...
I'm a pretty avid hobbyist musician who has played a lot of different instruments (mainly drums/percussion and piano), guitar is admittedly one of my weaker ones/one I don't play as much and I play fingerstyle so not sure I can be that much help re: strumming if you're committed to the pick. What kinds of music are you playing? What specifically are you finding difficult -- getting the rhythm down, the sound you want on the chords, speed, something else?

One thing I've found works without fail with any instrument I've picked up is slowing it way down and repeating it over and over and over again gradually increasing the speed as you start to get the muscle memory and it clicks. Boring, yeah. But it works. Much like anything, practice and the more you do it the better you get.
 
Are you just strumming chords? Obviously playing lead with individual picking is more akin to your "woodwinds" reference, but playing chords is probably similar to something like Trombone music. The idea is more to provide a moving rhythm than an actual melody. I am a percussionist, but I know enough guitar to strum along to the basic stuff with 4 or 5 chords. As @T Bird said, I'd slow it down a bunch as you work through major sections until you have it down, then progressively move up the tempo until you can play it at full speed. Muscle memory is important (and where I suck, personally) when it comes to quickly changing chords.
 
I learned quite a bit in the beginning listening to the Ventures. 60's surf music, but very clean. Two guitars, bass and drums. No vocals (other than the guy saying "Tequila" once in a while).

Regarding strumming patterns, there's an endless variety of patterns. Strumming/rhythm adds a percussive element to the background. You can play the same chord progression (G-C-D, or whatever 1-4-5 key you want) with tons of different strumming patterns. Each one will make the song sound anywhere from folksy, to country to rock to death metal. The answer is, "it depends". :)

(oh, I do like a thinner pick myself. that's akin to a high-wing/low-wing question, though)
 
ArrowFlyer86 said:
Been playing since I was like 12, but haven't touched my stuff in over a year.

Though from experience I can say the answer to these questions is always the same: buy more gear.

Buy one of these.
View attachment 143751

Buy one or both of these:
View attachment 143753

Play Metallica.
Start with "Sanitarium" and "Fade to Black". Graduate to "Master of Puppets".
Go from there :cool:

EDIT: (Any imperfections in your playing style will be masked by the crushing volume of your amp and the disgusting amount of distortion you dial that thing up to)
Click to expand...

IMG_0668.jpeg

Here’s my current setup :biggrin::cornut:
 
ArrowFlyer86 said:
Been playing since I was like 12, but haven't touched my stuff in over a year.

Though from experience I can say the answer to these questions is always the same: buy more gear.

Buy one of these.
View attachment 143751

Buy one or both of these:
View attachment 143753

Play Metallica.
Start with "Sanitarium" and "Fade to Black". Graduate to "Master of Puppets".
Go from there :cool:

EDIT: (Any imperfections in your playing style will be masked by the crushing volume of your amp and the disgusting amount of distortion you dial that thing up to)
Click to expand...
If you can’t be good, be loud!
 
T Bird said:
I'm a pretty avid hobbyist musician who has played a lot of different instruments (mainly drums/percussion and piano), guitar is admittedly one of my weaker ones/one I don't play as much and I play fingerstyle so not sure I can be that much help re: strumming if you're committed to the pick. What kinds of music are you playing? What specifically are you finding difficult -- getting the rhythm down, the sound you want on the chords, speed, something else?

One thing I've found works without fail with any instrument I've picked up is slowing it way down and repeating it over and over and over again gradually increasing the speed as you start to get the muscle memory and it clicks. Boring, yeah. But it works. Much like anything, practice and the more you do it the better you get.
Click to expand...

I’ve been playing blinding lights and zombie, I find it extremely difficult to play while the song is on in the background. That delay I have between chords and by the time I get my fingers changed the music is already 3-4 lines away. Then I try to start over with Em and my count for the 1/2/3/4 is way off. I can’t hear where my playing contributes to the music, at all. Then I think it sounds bad because I hear the pick hitting the strings, nothing is consistent note wise (like a woodwind instrument would be).
 
mandm said:
I’ve been playing blinding lights and zombie, I find it extremely difficult to play while the song is on in the background. That delay I have between chords and by the time I get my fingers changed the music is already 3-4 lines away. Then I try to start over with Em and my count for the 1/2/3/4 is way off. I can’t hear where my playing contributes to the music, at all. Then I think it sounds bad because I hear the pick hitting the strings, nothing is consistent note wise (like a woodwind instrument would be).
Click to expand...
Honestly, this just requires practice. It takes a while to get the fingers to move the way you want. I spent around 30 years in bar bands. I haven't been in one for almost 10 years now. Now when I grab a guitar and try to play, it is amazing how slow and stiff my fingers have become. Keep at it.

Research apps/tools that will record a piece of music, then play it back slowed down but doesn't alter the pitch. Find another musician to practice with (guitar or piano). Play together something nice and slow without the original music playing. You'll have a "band" you can play along with at whatever tempo you want.
 
Funny guitar story. I was doing Arctic military training in Norway. Middle of nowhere, middle of winter, at a Home Guard barracks in a small town called Dombas.

We're sitting in the day room (TV lounge), watching TV in Swedish. One of our guys walks in with a guitar and starts playing and singing 80's rock music. Guns and Roses acoustic.

Within 30 minutes there are 6 young blonde Norwegian ladies sitting on the floor listening. I still don't know where they came from. Fairies from a snowbank? Viking princesses hiding in the woods?

I never forgot that lesson. Guitars = girls.
 
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I also cheat and find the tabs for whatever song I want to play. Downside is I don't even know the chord I'm playing or the best way to do the transitions/fingering. I also get annoyed that there's so many ways to play the same chord. Percussion is much easier: hit things and they make noise, hit harder for effect, lol.
 
I've taught 2/3 of my kids from zero to college level classical repertoire. Three magic rules:
1) Practice
2) Practice slower
3) You're still not practicing slow enough!

(Forum doesn’t seem to allow uploading of videos so I can’t share Asturias in the Harvey Milk terminal)
 
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My first Electic guitar, 1959 . Gibson ES225 was 19 and stationed at Fort Ord. Went to town on first week end pass out of basic. First place I stopped was a music store in Monterey. Spent my whole pay check as a down payment . $250 purchase on a $87 pay check. Lots of Duane Eddy and Elvis music played with that.
First guitar was in 1955,an Arch top guitar from SEARS ROEBUCK. $15 delivered to post office box. It was a real callus building machine. Fingers actually bleed . Did Everly Brothers songs that captured the hearts of young , one of whom I married.
 

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Southpaw said:
...Fingers actually bleed...
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That's hardcore! I've been walking around for weeks with my fingertips feeling like I burned them on the stove.

mandm said:
...Doing a lot of stuff online...
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What are you doing? I've been doing guitartricks.com. I'm not far enough into it to recommend myself. It was recommended by a relative who is a pretty decent guitarist.
 
Matthew said:
If you can’t be good, be loud!
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I was told exactly that - several years ago - by the lead guitar player for Mary Chappin Carpenter.

I am an amateur - can play about a dozen tunes well enough that I occasionally get asked to “come up and play a couple” when we go out to some local music venues.

Here are my two oddball “tips” for upping your game.
1) Buy an inexpensive guitar stand and keep your guitar out in a room where you hang out. Do not keep it in a case or in a closet.
2) Practice strumming while driving. I listen to a “set list” in my car and do a strumming motion (on my shirt/belly) with the tunes I am listening to.
 
Buy this:

My copy is literally falling apart from use. It's a big help for understanding theory from a guitar perspective, and for learning all aspects of guitar.

Look for some freeware that will let you slow a song down. Being able to practice at a VERY slow tempo will help your fingers learn the changes, and then you can gradually speed up until you're at the correct tempo.

Finally, if it still doesn't sound good then you're not using enough distortion.
 
For rhythm, learn to palm mute chords. In fact, to really learn rhythm palm mute everything and treat the guitar like a percussion instrument (e.g a washboard). Just mute-strum the beat that supports the song. Then gradually unmute the chords so that a little of the tonality leaks through.

Also learn to change chords fast. That's just practice, practice. But nothing will screw up your rhythm like having position each finger individually while trying to make the next beat.

Then again I've never been able to get that fast bluegrass strum down... I'm always switching the beat around like a train wreck.
 
My problem, OK, I have many, is remembering chords. There are a lot I know, a lot I can figure out, but a lot that I have to look up.
I have several chord diagram apps, but it’s frustrating.
 
Totally depends on what genre of music you are pursuing. Guitar, more than many other instruments, is very different in approach for a given genre.
 
Lawson_Stone said:
Totally depends on what genre of music you are pursuing. Guitar, more than many other instruments, is very different in approach for a given genre.
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True, and few guitarists become skilled in multiple genres. There are some notable exceptions, like Roy Clark and Glen Campbell, but most stick to their own niche. Andres Segovia, for example, was a phenomenal classical player (though, AFAIK, he only played covers) but I can't imagine him playing rock or bluegrass.
 
Chords are for losers.

Just crank up the gain and distortion.

Pinch harmonics. Lots of pinch harmonics.

Whammy bar. Whammy bar. Whammy bar.

That is all.
 
Half Fast said:
If you haven't already done so, learn your basic barre chords. Understanding moveable chord forms will open up the fretboard for you.
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I have a hard time with the A shape, but bar chords are so much easier overall. I wish I’d learned them right from the get-go.
 
ateamer said:
I have a hard time with the A shape, but bar chords are so much easier overall. I wish I’d learned them right from the get-go.
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Not just barre chords, either. Other chord shapes are moveable if you can let the bass player cover the root. For example, the basic D chord (X-X-0-2-3-2) or Dm (X-X-0-2-3-1) can be moved up the fretboard in a simple inversion that has the root on the B string. You could play Eb as X-X-X-3-4-3, where the Eb is on the B string at fret 4. The bass player can be playing a low Eb to round out the chord, but even without him the chord will still fit the song.

Learning barre chords and other moveable forms makes it easy to solo over chords, since you'll know places up and down the fretboard where notes within the chord lie. And when the acoustic guitar player is strumming away on open position chords, it's nice for the electric to go up the fretboard and play some higher arpeggios and licks that will fit and round out the overall sound.
 
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I don’t remember when I discovered Michael Hedges, but it wasn’t soon enough.

Sometimes I have to just listen to someone like this.

 
I play bass but I wouldn't recommend learning the way I do. I seriously don't even know what a chord is, (someone please explain it to me like I'm 5) I just listen to the song a bunch of times while playing along by ear. Eventually, it starts to sound pretty good.. if not, I just play really loud and rattle the windows/roof/siding.
 
A good teacher will really accelerate things. If you get one early, you won't have established bad habits to unlearn. And scheduled lessons encourage regular practice. In person lessons are best, but I've been taking from a guy I like a lot on Zoom.
 
OneCharlieTango said:
A good teacher will really accelerate things. If you get one early, you won't have established bad habits to unlearn. And scheduled lessons encourage regular practice. In person lessons are best, but I've been taking from a guy I like a lot on Zoom.
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he already got a lesson in post #3!
 
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