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Owl
2008-11-29, 21:52
I have been playing the acoustic and electric guitar for 4.5 months. I have not taken any lessons.

An example of one of the songs I have recently learned is 'Fundamentally Loathsome' by Marilyn Manson. I average at about one full new song ever week and a half.

I have a couple of questions:

Do I need lessons?

What are some examples of songs I should be able to play at 4.5 months of practice?

whitaker
2008-11-29, 22:26
Yes, you do need lessons.

...Lessons in life, good music, and not sucking dick.

Nightside Eclipse
2008-11-29, 22:54
You should always get lessons.

If you learn the wrong technique, it will fuck you over hardcore later on. In FACT, some mistakes can be so bad, in half a decade you may never be able to play guitar again.

I'm dead serious, get a tutor.

Stainless
2008-11-30, 01:14
Tutors are always very, very helpful for anyone. They will make you progress much faster than if you were on your own, they are someone to play with, they will give you advice, they can suggest particular songs or pieces to learn etc, that will benefit you greatly.

Also, people often put building skill on an instrument down to practice alone, but this isnt always true. I think youll find youll get better by playing with someone who is better than you (which would obviously include a tutor). You watch thier technique, thier ideas and you imitate it and learn from it etc, and most guitarists would be more than happy to teach you something if you ask. I used to play with a friend that was really into Steve Vai and Paul Gilbert and I learnt a lot about alternate picking and sweep picking from him. You should try to play with as many people who are better than you as possible, and if they do something you want to know about, ask away.

Marsh
2008-11-30, 02:02
lessons are good not for learning songs, but for learning how to develop songs, such as improvisation, theory, and what sounds good with what. If all you want to do is covers than you do not need lessons, but if you want to do anything else, find a good teacher.

556
2008-11-30, 04:39
I have been playing about 6 years. Guitar playing isn't a race man, it's about getting satisfaction and fulfilling and most important ENJOYING YOURSELF! There is no safe ratio of how much time it should take you to learn a song to how long you have played. You get better just simply jamming everyday and not getting comfortable, always trying to learn a new little trick on your guitar.

As for lessons a few questions. Do you know how to do pull off and hammerons? How many chords do you know? Can you fingertap? Can you play semi-complex blues riffs or chord progressions? How many scales do you know? Off hand do you have a general idea of what notes sound good together based on the sound you are going for (happy, mellow, dark etc)? If you answered no to most of these what I recommend is finding yourself a classically trained blues driven guitar teacher who is theory based.

Theory fucking sucks, I am not going to lie, it is like being in school but if you care about taking your playing to the next level it is necessary. Theory will teach you a bunch of scales, scales teach you what notes go good together based on if you want the riff to be augmented (happy), dark (diminished), major, minor etc etc etc. You will also learn how to build your own chords or what the name of chords are based on the notes you are holding.

Secondly, blues is fucking awesome to play when you are first starting off for a lot of reasons. For one, it encompasses pretty much every technique for playing guitar down the road (as i mentioned earlier pull offs, hammer ons etc). Secondly, if you fuck up a little bit, you can make it sound acceptable because it is blues, you can do whatever you want with it. Thirdly, it will stretch your fingers out and make you way more flexible with what fingers you can use (made my pinky one of my strongest fingers). Also, it will increase the complexity of the riffs you can play. Gradually learning harder and harder blues riffs is the building blocks of playing solos.

Lastly, you want to learn some classical shit to (canon in D etc) because like blues, it will broaden your skills exponentially. The more classical riffs you learn the easier modern riffs will be for you.

I could keep listing reasons but I hope you get the idea. I am completely opposed against having lessons for the rest of your career, I think you should build on your own AFTER you get the necessary tools from an adequate teacher. I have never learned any bands songs and I don't intend to, I play my own music and that is it.

Lastly, if you get a teacher you don't like, that you aren't vibing with or he isn't taking your feedback on what you want to learn then drop him. I had about 4 teachers and 3 of them were burnout stoners who I could play equally good as or they were pretentious musicians who didn't make it so they release their bitterness on newbie guitarists. Don't be afraid to ask "stupid" questions that is the only way to get a clear understanding on things if you aren't sure. Guitar teachers should be the most open chill people they can be otherwise why are you giving them your money?

PS keep rockin man, there are times that are frustrating I know but you gotta keep fun top priority and rock. If you want some blues/classical riffs to fuck around with or just want to ask me some questions IM me damnedmelody on AIM. I have all my notebooks containing all the theory and scales I learned and I am glad to help out noobies.

joe

EssJay
2008-11-30, 14:58
Do you have any friends who play guitar who you can get advice on techniques and shit from?
When you say you average one full song a week and a half, does that mean learning and working on the song until you can play it near perfectly? Do you usually spend a few days on a certain section?
I'm actually trying to learn Fundamentally Loathsome at the moment, I've been trying to get the chord switching finger positions right the past few days, then I'm going on to work on the chorus.

Owl
2008-11-30, 21:04
Thanks a lot Joe, that message was really helpful. I don't have aim, so perhaps you could post some stuff here?


When you say you average one full song a week and a half, does that mean learning and working on the song until you can play it near perfectly? Do you usually spend a few days on a certain section?


Yes x2.

556
2008-11-30, 22:16
tell me what you want and ill do my best. when i was starting off the first stuff i began learning was just basic blues riffs, then from there using what i was learning to incorporate this new set of skills into my own style and my own music, next came the theory and scales.

do you ever play your own music or are you mainly just learning others? if that is the case i would highly recommend just sitting down for a few hours and just jammin out, just playing whatever comes to mind. you will find yourself as a guitarist that way, it sounds corny but it is the truth.

Owl
2008-11-30, 22:19
I've been mostly playing my own music, but have been told to play other artists' tunes as well.

Maybe you could post some of those blues riffs?

CorpseGrinder22
2008-12-01, 01:01
You should always get lessons.

If you learn the wrong technique, it will fuck you over hardcore later on. In FACT, some mistakes can be so bad, in half a decade you may never be able to play guitar again.

I'm dead serious, get a tutor.

this. one of my friends didnt get lessons, so he didnt bother learning to alternate pick right away, and after four months of playing guitar tried learning how to alternate pick. hes been playing for 2 years now and still sucks balls at alternate picking

hollowtip
2008-12-01, 04:22
you need someone to guide you at the beginning just so you learn to alternate pick etc but if you put the time in there is no need for lessons

xxdeetsxx
2008-12-01, 05:33
I have been playing the acoustic and electric guitar for 4.5 months. I have not taken any lessons.

An example of one of the songs I have recently learned is 'Fundamentally Loathsome' by Marilyn Manson. I average at about one full new song ever week and a half.

I have a couple of questions:

Do I need lessons?

What are some examples of songs I should be able to play at 4.5 months of practice?

You dont need lessons. Just practice scales (internet), as for songs... smells like teen spirit is good for developing power chord skills, umm, naked pictures of your mother by electric six is a good one to play.

Pandalicker41
2008-12-01, 14:51
Being formally taught is always a good way to go, but to be honest, I don't know anyone who has ever consistently taken lessons from someone. Out of me and 4-5 other friends, we are all self-taught. In fact, two of them actually just got signed to a major record company and are semi-famous.