To be frank, I have been always allured by the technology. And part of the motivation will be that. Planning to learn this sweet thing with dedication.
Yeah, I'd buy another good amp but for the testing purpose I am getting G01. It will be quite handy at night when everyone else is sleeping and I can just plug my earphones.
Thinking of buying Fender Mustang 2 40 watt AMP later.
To be frank, I have been always allured by the technology. And part of the motivation will be that. Planning to learn this sweet thing with dedication.
Yeah, I'd buy another good amp but for the testing purpose I am getting G01. It will be quite handy at night when everyone else is sleeping and I can just plug my earphones.
Thinking of buying Fender Mustang 2 40 watt AMP later.
Initially planned to buy it from bajaoo.com but they raised the price of white color guitar to 32k after 2 days when I inquired about that. Black version is close to 28k.
Not going to buy anything from that site in lifetime and never going to recommend it to anyone.
a. Electronic Tuner - you can get Korg 5000 bucks one or Cherub 500 bucks one!
b. Hard Case (protect that guitar, forget gig bag)
I am assuming you are learning on your own, and do not have a teacher -
c. Open Youtube, download all of Freepower's videos (tutorials+exercises+whatever he says)
d. Register at UG, talk to folks, talk to FP, get help at Technique thread.
e. Check all (most?) Guitar Learning sites on the net (or at least as much as you can), take every advice (even Justin Sandercoe's) with a pinch of salt - adapt those to meet your needs, don't just blindly try to follow - get your technique corrected at UG.
As you visit more and more sites, you will feel overwhelmed with so much advice - but you will also get an insight into which piece of advice might be for you and which might not be! For eg - Sandercoe says, "Keep the axe vertical /completely parallel to your body" - while this may work for an electric, it often does not for a fat-a55ed acoustic...Then there's one more guy, I think, Brian or someone, who gives outright bad info at times - only if you check multiple videos will you be able to determine for yourself what's good worth following and what's not!
f. For the first month, or at least till your fingers bleed, practice 2-3 hours every day (at different times) - do this till you can fret any string with any finger and it does not hurt, no matter how long you do it. Once it stops hurting, you may bring down your practice time to an hour a day if other matters take priority (I know you are a working guy and its not always possible for us to put in 3 hours daily) - Forget all that "10-15 mins everyday" crap.
Initially for first two days, you wont be able to play at stretch, your fingers will demand rest every 5 minutes. Thats normal, dont worry. [True for high-action acoustic steel, might vary for electric]
In my case, I used to wake up real early, "do the guitar" an hour, then in the evening, do it an hour and again at night before sleeping, do it an hour. It stopped hurting after 10 days.
g. Buy/borrow some Music Theory book, read it whenever you can or feel like, dedicate time to it, if you like what you are reading. [It blew my mind, when I started reading about it, so I kept at it..another friend also started but lost interest and stopped - so really up to you] [Complete Idiot's guide is a good one, I feel]
h. Pay attention to your left hand wrist (assuming you are a righty-guy], keep it straight (always for strings 1-3, and as much as possible for 4-6 - straighten the guitar (towards the ceiling) if required).
i. Pay attention to your left hand fingers (curl, curl, curl)
j. Pay attention to your left hand pinky - build strength in it - practice Sandercoe's or FP's stretching exercises.
k. Pay attention to your right hand - swing it, dont swing the wrist.
l. Don't anchor your right hand - anchor = BAD! Hold pick in whichever way feels most comfortable to you - don't listen to anyone on this point (well of course, don't hold it with your pinky and ring finger!)
m. Ring notes clearly, don't do it half-heartedly or be satisfied if you miss a note or bend one out of tune or play a Eminor11 between 2 chords (you'll get this eventually ). Aim for the moon, so you'll land in the stars [or else you will be stuck forever in guitar hell ]
n. Do two things whenever you feel like playing - 1. Tune before playing. 2. Clean after playing (strings, fretboard, body everything).
o. Try training your ear - there are software trainers available for free. Try to sound out a note you hear around you on your guitar. I hear the 5 am clock chime (the tune that plays before the "dong") everyday when I am playing and try to sound that note on my guitar...have been trying for two weeks without success - but I know it will happen one day [unless I am tone-deaf, hopefully I am not!])
p. Don't depend too much on a metronome - yes, use it when you want to keep rhythm, but get that rhythm "inside you" as soon as you can, and stop using the metronome.
And finally, the most important thing you need to learn is
q. Watch Shawn Lane once a week for inspiration ???? Download Slash Max sessions video for inspiration??? Also dream of playing like Batio ??? Ya ya you get the drift!
Remember, God only came down once as a shredder (as Shawn Lane), so none of us can ever play like Him - but we can always play like ourselves, if you know what I mean!
Best of luck!
PS: If you need fingerprinting to be done for any purpose (visa/NASSCOM card), don't play till those are done.
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I have been at it for a month now - I still can't change chords, but NO WORRIES - one day, I will!
yes it happens at 1 chord per minute speed for me right now, all I have to do is increase the speed!
To be honest, I am really finding it difficult holding the A and G (4-finger) chord. Let's see - all I can do is keep at it and pray Lord Hendrix showers some of his blessings on me
Best way to learn to shift chords is first place your fingers one at a time and then strum to ensure that all fingers are firmly in place, then, release all your fingers widely and then replace them and strum. Continue this till you get a hang of it then continue the same for another chord.
Once you get a hang of this, you can continue the same while alternating between two chords which you want to practice.
Nice piece of advice Mario,i see youve learned alot in a short time.good luck to you
Well i have decided to take a break from 'guitaring',starting from Q3 this year for 3-4 years.Will start learning from note 1,then.Good to see new aspiring guitarists emerging out,here.I guess 'God' maintains a balance among guitarists,kicking out me from the scene,when someone new comes in.Anyways ive promised myself that i'll start all over again 'nice and slow' after 3-4 years.
@Nanducob: See the sad part is I have learnt nothing.. Sure I know what the Circle of Fifths means and how the shape of Am chord is, but can I PLAY it? Noooooooooooooooooooooooo. :'(
Why 3-4 years? Now, man, do it NOW! You need to watch some "Lane" to ignite the fire again
^hehe dont worry,as i 'learned' from bits,here and there it took me 2 years to understand that there were certain notes in the neck like e,f, f#,g..you know..and it took another 2 years to understand cof'ifths...so i decided not to waste my time learning myself..after 3 yrs i will go to a good tutor and learn from the beginning
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