Guitar(Acoustic or Electric)

[rhitwick]

Guys, its been 1 yr I'm away from my Guitar. Initially work pressure then just laziness. Another not-so-important reason is, my guitar is Hobner accoustic.
Its strings are too hard, when I say too hard I mean it, I've tried diff. guitars and found that its not my fingers, its the strings. Playing even continuously 7 months, I was not comfortable with it.

I'm thinking about a reboot, wish me luck.

Again, my teacher told me a trick for holding a pick. I follow it, c if u can find it convenient.

1>Bring all of ur 4 fingers together and make them in level.
2>Now place ur thumb on the index finger, a bit more of the tip of thumb should be on it.
3>Now push the pick in b/w the thumb and index finger having the angular thing towards u.

try it...

 

[MetalheadGautham]

Change strings then. I had a friend who purhcased a guitar string set for around Rs. 200/-. Said it COMPLETELY changed his experience.

 

[ionicsachin]

Yeah there are strings, I currently use D'Addario Extra Light strings on my acoustic, they cost me 350/-

Start learning scales here *www.cyberfret.com/scales/basic/index.php

Ibanez is one of the best companies of guitar worldwide, many great guitarist made their signature models through ibanez itself. And yes, the guitar i mentioned above can be used for any and everything, just pump them up with good amps later when performing live. For home practice purpose use Marshall MG10CD, a very very nice amp.

 

[MetalheadGautham]

Yeah there are strings, I currently use D'Addario Extra Light strings on my acoustic, they cost me 350/-

Start learning scales here *www.cyberfret.com/scales/basic/index.php

Ibanez is one of the best companies of guitar worldwide, many great guitarist made their signature models through ibanez itself. And yes, the guitar i mentioned above can be used for any and everything, just pump them up with good amps later when performing live. For home practice purpose use Marshall MG10CD, a very very nice amp.

Is it available in Bangalore ?
And any reviews ?


And yeah, I originally intended to play bass guitar, but learnt guitar because it was cheaper.
Any chance of learning later ?
I can still play with my fingers very well. I love finger plucking. I use it for some songs like Paranoid.

 

[ionicsachin]

I visited 3 shops in hyderabad, and it was available at all three places
Here is review *reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/product/Ibanez/GRG170DX/10/1

You may start later, but it wont be as good as starting it first

 

[The_Devil_Himself]

For the pinky, start practicing all the scales, keep practicing the scales again and again. When u take ur guitar, first thing u do is picking scales. And important is that you use alternate picking. And this will help you improving ur memory in remembering the note name. Here is a very good website from where i began scaling *www.cyberfret.com/scales/basic/index.php
And be patient, it will take some time in making the finger muscles of pinky to match others. Appart from Master of Puppets, try layla(acoustic), Hotel california, why georgia, STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN(try this definitely, a good exercise for fingers)...

Yeah, these companies offer lucrative prices and later bring down the expectations. I wanted to reach higher frets only to play solos like Stairway to Heaven ending solo and Smoke on the Water solo. Better look at other affordable but original companies like Jimm, Granada and all.

I searched many articles about singing while playing. All i found was that i have to make my hands control the guitar subconciously so that i can concentrate on singing. Beginning from basic songs which follow the same notes, u can practice slowly and slowly. At one place i even read that this process becomes faster if u write your own lyrics and make a tune for it and sing out loud.

About the guitar, electric, for lefty nothing in this world is better then this *www.bajaao.com/ibanez-2007-grg170dx-lefty-electric-guitar-p-4276.html
It offers a Floyd Rose tremelo and can play all the genre, plus it is an Ibanez, which most of the big names use like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert...After bargain it will be possible for some 12000-13000 and wen combined with Marshall MG10CD or MG15CD it will become invincible.

So keep guitaring and keep in touch

wah man,you made my day.And I thought I was the only one who sucks that much,been like 4 weeks and I still can't play all major chords specially A and the ones using pinky.Though I dint practise for like 2 weeks cus I was buasy and very-very frustrated.

I bought a GB&A for about 4.5k(it was the second to the cheapest GB&A model),its a cutaway and it sounds amazing.Some friends had suggested that hobners and GB&A guitars are best for beginners.

Initial aim-->Should be able to play intro of 'stairway to heaven' in about 8 months,.

So now,the practise schedule is:try tuning the guitar(still cant get it)--->Practising Major chords individually everyday---->tried barr chords but decided they are still very far away,---->tried playing two chords one after another(like A-D-A-D...) but decided it can't be done yet.SO I am stunk on tuning and chords for now and its kind of frustrating tbh.

I did try the classes too:the teacher tought me how to play saregama,I cudn't go beyond sa-re,paid him his one day fess(150 rupees for an hour) and never went back.Waste of time and money.I am following *www.wholenote.com/ btw.

 

[ionicsachin]

^
Friend, just keep your cool. Everyone faces exaaaaaactly the same problems. And know what, tuning is not a beginner thing, it will come at the stage when you are beginner-intermediate. A guitarist can tune perfectly only if his memory banks all the notes and there names. Once you understand the tuning logic and memorise the notes(the sounds, not the notes), then you will be able to tune instantly.And yeah, GB&A are superb beginner guitars.
Most websites mention tuning in the beginning part of learning, but it comes by itself when you learn the guitar. Basically they ask you to do so for getting the perfect sound off guitar. If u have a microphone then you may try this free software www.aptuner.com
Remember, tuning is not for beginners, it just makes guitar sound better and thus putting confidence in you.
Some major chords take lot of time for learning. For me the tuffest were G major and F major. But then believe me, it is just a matter of days that you ll play them as you wish.
Yeah, barre chords scares everyone off, but you know they are actually easy. Once you practice that pattern u can make any major/minor chord by just sliding up and down the pattern. Barre Chords are for beginners . About the chord shifting, dont learn it right now, first make sure you can play either of the chords perfectly. You must be able to play them immediately without spending time in thinking about their pattern. Then you can easily learn shifting between chords.
There is a very easy way to learn stairway to heaven, and that is using Guitar Pro. If u have this software then I can provide u with the tabs. Its the easiest way.

Keep playing man, you will notice the difference in a very few days. Use pinky while playing scales and it will soon be into use.

And 99% teachers will teach you saragam , rest you will have to learn yourself

 

[IronManForever]

Let me join the discussion more actively..

@MetalheadGautham
I know what you are facing. I have a similar pinky problem, though it is subsiding. My own guitar is no different, el cheapo. Its a semi-hollow kind and looks ugly, with blue+red combo color which feels like a superman color. Though its much better than those jumbo ones, as I am more interested in lead, had enough of rhythm. Though yeah, without good rhythm you cant improve upon your lead. And its been 2 years I bought my guitar. But haven't played much the last one year. I just payed it seriously for 4-5 months, looking at tabs and stuff. Used Guitar Pro initially. Now I prefer doing it my own way, as far as my current skill level can manage. I could have learnt a lot in the time that passed by, but I don't know how, 2 years went by with me not satisfied at the rate I'm learning.

Things I plan to do with my guitar.
- 2 strings are bad, and I have a habit of changing all the strings at the same time. I will go and buy a good pack of strings to play for 2 months.
- Then, after 2 months, I'll get rid of those strings and buy nylon strings. Thereafter I will be able to manage playing solos, I love solos but I find it difficult as I cannot move freely on normal strings. It will feel more natural on those strings. I will also buy a pickup and fix it up. I have a pickup in my current guitar but it is yucky.
- I'll also buy a jack and a converter to connect it to my pc and do all those great music creating stuff. Here I need your help. I will need a Linux solution to do the music stuff on the computer. You might know of softwares that can take in audio signals from line-in/mic and add up effects, distortion, etc and record live, eh?
- And lastly I will paint the body to get rid of the superman shades.
Its all a temporary measure until I get my hands on a good electric guitar.

Here's something my friend has done and might interest you.
He bought a cheap rocket guitar. We call 'em rocket guitars here, those V shaped ones. It was cheap. had 2 pickups and the strings could cut your fingers anytime. The sound was something I did not get to check out but must have been awful too.
He then replaced the pickups, added one more and changed the strings. And lo, he got it done for much cheaper than what a similar sounding, similar shaped guitar might cost in the market.

I don't know much about the electric guitar thingies though. I know nothing of guitar theory, I don't even know what its called when you bend a string up/down to yield a 1, 2 or 3 note higher sound.

@The_Devil_Himself
Man, don't fret just yet. You will be able to get along soon. EVERYBODY felt the same way, feels the same way, are going to feel the same way. Just sit down, relax and try learning the major chords one at a time. You should soon reach a stage when you will be able to arrange your fingers on the right places sub-consciously.

@iconicsachin
You're the man!

Okay, I must tell you that though that I do not know much theory, I have gotten along really well. I loved music since childhood (I'm 18 ) and I'm pursuing it as a hobby currently (into MBBS). I never knew any theory behind scales, but I guess it was there in my sub-conscious, because some of my other guitar-buddies haven't achieved the state of realizations that I have. I learned tuning after 1 month of learning. And when I could tune myself, the realization of notes, high, low, pitch dawned upon me. Its a very big realization and things haven't been the same since. Its called sur in Hindi (I am Nepalese, but know a bit of Hindi, its similar to Nepali). Oh, what a realization it is, how could I do without it for so long!

And with more and more practice, realization of taal made its way into my mind. I was then slowly able to extract the simple solos from the songs. And with time, I began to extract chords.

I hope you have read previous paragraphs, I am now thinking of moving to electric after sometime, after some more practice on my acoustic.I want you to recommend me a website, from where I can learn the theory part. I should be able to explain myself when need be, and without theory I cannot. I wanna know the names of notes, scales. I want to be able to read notations. Yada, yada.. And then I want to know about amps, synthesizers, overdrives, processors, etc.

Its been nice reading your posts. I would further encourage/ask you to create a guitarists thread here on the forum and post the link here.

Regards, IronMan.

Added
@the_Devil_Himself..
For tuning, you need practice. I started out with simple theory.
- You count strings from down upwards, 1-6. The string which is thinnest is 1st and the thickest is 6th.
- The 2nd string pressed at fifth fret gives should sound like 1st string. Keep turning clockwise/anti-clockwise until you match the pitch of both strings. Do take care that you dont go too tight, strings may break. At the begginer level, tuning is nothing but matching the pitch of strings.
- The 3rd string pressed at fourth fret sounds like 2nd string.
- The 4th string pressed at fifth fret sounds like 3rd string.
- The 5th string pressed at fifth fret sounds like 4th string.
- The 6th string pressed at fifth fret sounds like 5th string.

 

[ionicsachin]

Hii Iron Man,
You have got the right thing bro, its the MEMORY BANK that need to be filled up with the notes. You have understood what the next note on the next fret and next string is going to sound like, and thats a very good achievement.
I think this website will have each and everything necessary, just practice and practice *www.cyberfret.com/
There is also a book often referred as "Guitar Bible" and it is like "Every guitarist must have that". Its called The Guitar Handbook by Ralph Denyer. If you wish you can purchase that. Its definitely the best reference guide and explains everything step by step. Its not easily available locally. I purchased it from Indiatimes for 1100/-.
Anytime you can ask me anything from playing the guitar to high speed steve vai like techniques..
I too began with an acoustic guitar and picked many solos, its real fun and gives lots of enthusiasm..
Cheers, keep guitaring

 

[IronManForever]

^ Thank you.

1) Which website do you recommend for tabs? I find it hard to extract them from some high tempoed songs..

2) What kind of singing + playing were you guys talking about? If its rhythm of some specific songs, I can do it very well. Of course if its solo/plugin in different note, I just cant do it at the same time.

3) As I will be buying an electric guitar soon, but have my acoustic wth me currently, can you tell me some things that need to be taken care of?
Should I improve upon fingering exercises on my acoustic itself? I have been putting it off until I buy an electric one, as the strigs are much easier to press, pull, hammer and slide upon. Am I doing the RIGHT THING?

Regards, IronMan.

 

[anotherlogic]

Hey Dear,

You shuld purchase an Acoustic guitar coz as you are a novice and it wont be possible for for you to carry your electric guitar with its amplifier ..............and ofcourse acoustic is really easier to learn than electric one.................

 

[ionicsachin]

@IronMan
1)I generally do the "<artist> - <song> guitar pro tabs" search in google, and the best search results come at 911tabs and ultimate-guitar. Remember, you will need Guitar Pro.

2)Songs which are a bit off rhythm, like Cocaine by Eric Clapton, Hotel California by Eagle

3)Things that you need to take care when buying are:-
a) Start saving, an electric guitar will be much better if it is of a better brand. In these days nothing beats Ibanez. You can see the latest prices and user reviews at bajaao.com
b) Invest for a good amp. I wud suggest a Marshall MG10CD (Rs. 3000/-) or MArshall MG15CD(Rs. 4000/-)
c) Check for the strings, harmonics and all right at the shop, ask him to plugin into some amp for u to check.

About the things you should take care of now are:-
a) Always keep in mind that one day you are gonna play on electric guitar, so dont feel low if u cant play some fast moving songs.
b) Learn and try to master as many techniques as you can on acoustic.
c) Give special attention to pull-off and slide up, coz hammer on and slide down are easy but not the formers.
d) In general just learn as much acoustic guitar as you can, it will pay you back while electric guitaring.

@anotherlogic
Acoustic Guitar is easier to learn, but most difficult to master.

 

[MetalheadGautham]

how is TuxGuitar ? does it have a good leftie mode ?

 

[ionicsachin]

I dont have idea about TuxGuitar, but Guitar Pro has left hand mode and its good one..You can reverse the display of the fretboard. Just click on the « <---> » button (Windows) or on the « <> » button (Mac).

 

[MetalheadGautham]

Next question:

How do I prevent the "jarring" effect I find while sometimes playing the bass E string ?
I try controlling my speed, but often that changes the whole picture.

And yeah, is there any cheap long 21-fret fretboard cut-out lefty acoustic guitar available in the market ?

 

[ionicsachin]

Jarring effect usually comes if the low E is very thick. The remedy is to either get a new set of strings which are extra lite(usually relatively thinner) or if the bridge sadle is adjustable then highten it a bit.

Yeah probably u might find one is Granada or Pluto(non semi electric ones)

A simple practice workout made by me for making your pinky into action
E----------------------7-8---------------------
B------------------7-8-----7-8-----------------
G--------------7-8-------------7-8-------------
D----------7-8---------------------7-8---------
A------7-8-----------------------------7-8-----
E---7-8------------------------------------7-8-

Just make sure that you use ur third finger for "7" and fourth finger aka pinky for "8" ...practice this daily for at least 5 mins at different places on fretboard

 

[MetalheadGautham]

Thanks for the exercise.

And what model should I see ?
I am intrested in guitars which come with a pickup across the cavity.
They make good substitutes till I can get an electric.

And my current Fendar acoustic has a pickup at the end. But since it touches the strings, fret noise is highly amplified and so is the sound of my fingers touching the guitar.
Is there any solution ?

And what is the price of external pickups for the guitar ? I want to fix a pickup across the hole. A cheap but decent sounding one.

BTW, I use a software called GNUitar for using my PC as an amplifier. Awesome software that is. But when I learn Jack Studio Audio Workstation applications later this year when I have free time, I can also use pro apps like JackRack for guitar effects and Ardour2 for remixing and recording songs (they are all opensource software and are there in my repositories luckily for me). This means I can wait before getting a concert rig. I can manage with my PC studio till I save enough cash or gain enough confidence.

 

[ionicsachin]

Look out for Granada PRS-1 lefty cutaway, its a very good one.
You can purchase any guitar, and later fix pickups over the hole. They price from around 600/- to higher...Also try to get lighter strings to avoid jarring...

One more very very useful tip.. Use a metronome software, always

 

[MetalheadGautham]

Look out for Granada PRS-1 lefty cutaway, its a very good one.

LINK PLEASE
Does it come with Pickups ?

You can purchase any guitar, and later fix pickups over the hole. They price from around 600/- to higher...Also try to get lighter strings to avoid jarring...

Rs. 600 pickups ? Perfect. All I need to do is to borrow somebody's drilling machine.
Its exactly in my budget (actually I hoped for Rs. 500, but 600 not much difference).
How would the quality be ?
Any links please ?

One more very very useful tip.. Use a metronome software, always

whats a metronome software ?

PS: I like the pickup+acoustic sound. Feels like Janic Gers

 

[ionicsachin]

PRS 1 doesnt come with pickup, the right hand model is available at bajaao.com , lefty wud be at some good shop.
600 bucks the quality might not be that high, but that sure is good point as it wont pick much of external noise and all, it will be similar to that in Givson jumbo
Metronome is actually a physical device that does "tic-toc-tic-toc" at user-fixed interval of time, it will actually help you time your note perfectly. It is a very good habit to use it if you persue stage guitaring.
Yeah, it sounds warm and homely .