I am an adult and looking for a good starting method for learning guitar and bass. I am no stranger to music theory as I had a few years of piano when I was young and lots of trombone time through college. I played in a jazz band and a few jazz combos and studied some jazz theory and even leaned to improvise, though I was never very good. So the theory and chord explanations are not necessary except for guitar specific information. My roommate many moons ago had an Ovation roundback and taught me a few chords. I picked up the Yamaha FG-75(see below)the other night and checked out
www.guitar-masters.com. I was able to recognize the finger positions and reproduce them for E, Em, and A, although I have a tendency to want to cheat and play the A with one finger instead of 3. My fingers are wide and fitting three on the same fret on adjacent strings is difficult. I am capable of picking out notes and chords, albeit veeeeery sloooooowly and with lots of unintended sounds along the way.
So is going through guitar masters website a decent way to start or are there some other programs out there that are better(websites or DVD). Private lessons would probably be too difficult as that's time away from the family outside of work. It's easier to get some free time in the evenings after the daily duties are done.
I'd like to eventually play some classic rock, blues, and some pop stuff with my kids. I plan to start learning more chords and practicing my chord changes. Are there some good exercises I should work on to increase my ability to retrain my brain-hand coordination? Should I be working on scales also(probably more important for solo guitar and bass?)? Any other advice?
I'd just like to maximize my benefit from practice time. I'm not 15 anymore and can't practice for 3 hours a day.
Here's a little more background on why I am starting this if you haven't gotten bored and swapped threads by now.
My kids seem to have an ear and an interest in music and after a couple of years of piano lessons for one (age 11) and a year for the next one (age 7) they want to try guitar. I plan to try to learn a little with them so that hopefully we can play together at least until they get too good to want to play with me.
I'm hoping we can pick a song and all learn it together for fun and the pick another one, etc. We may add a keyboard, bass and drums eventually. Hmmmmm maybe this is just a delusional Partridge family fantasy
...........No touring. I just want to have some fun and spend some time with my children doing somethine we all like to do. They can already play a mean Em11.
I am picking up some cheap, but hopefully good enough to learn on equipment and if they show some effort over the next year or two I'll buy them something much better. So far I am getting a used Yamaha FG-75 acoustic (red label, as if it makes a difference) and a Squier Fat Strat, both in OK condition. I bought some new, lighter strings for the Yamaha. Total outlay on the guitars including shipping is $200 and I will probably spend $50-70 or so on a used Fender Frontman amp or something similar. I have a bid in on a Fender Frontman 25R, but probably won't bid past $75 or so. If I add a bass to the lineup for me to learn it will probably be a Squier Jazz Standard bass with a Fender Rumble amp or something else cheap. It will take another month or two as I have to build my cash reserve back up. New helmet, seatbelts, exhaust system, and a few unexpected repairs take their toll.
So am I nuts or what?!?!
Thanks,
Rob