Starting with the guitar

[Rick Lee]

Play music you enjoy. I got stuck playing Mary Had a Little Lamb and Love Me Tender when I started and it made me not care about practicing. Nowadays you can go to songsterr.com, enter any song you can think of and the TAB is right there. It's not always right, but it points you in the right direction. Youtube is invaluable too. Also lots of junk there, but again, points you in the right direction. Once I got back into it after a few years of not playing, I was 13 and made Stairway to Heaven my first goal song. Yeah, it's cliche, but you don't see too many people playing it all the way to the end, note for note perfect. I got it down by the old "play, pause, rewind, play, pause" routine and can probably still bang it out. And that was long before the Internet. That exposed me to the rest of the songs on LZ IV, then I worked my way back to I and II, learned most of those songs and I was off to the races.

[Steve Carlton]

Originally Posted by Superman

Polytune (TC Electronic). You're welcome.

I'm aware- I have one (haven't seen it for a while, though). And a Peterson strobe tuner- both excellent tuners. The image on my cell phone is much larger and easier to read. I think the app if $4.99 and accurate to 0.1 of a cent, which is a small fraction of anything you're going to hear. I like putting my phone on my knee and not clipping and unclipping a tuner.

[Steve Carlton]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

I’m trying again. My wife gave me a Seagull acoustic just before we moved to the “ranch”. Between the arthritis in my hands and the work load here I didn’t get far. I’m following along with the Apple GarageBand app. The lessons are OK as far as I know, but I’m having trouble with the built in tuner. When the tuner says it’s right, the B string sounds awful. If I tune it to sound like the guitar the guy who is leading the lesson sounds, the tuner says it’s way out. I do have a tin ear, so I don’t trust it.
Is there an on-line app that will give me the note and let me try to match it? What should I do?

If you haven't done so, I'd recommend having your guitar "set up." You might have an intonation issue (which might just be old strings), but it's important to get the action (distance from the string to the fret along the keyboard) right. It very likely will make your guitar easier to play- oftentimes a lot easier. It shouldn't cost more than $75-100 unless your guitar has an issue. Well worth the money. Find a good local tech or luthier and take it there. Talk to a couple of good local guitar stores to find a recommendation.

[wdfifteen]

Steve, i did that, and they did adjust the action, but it’s been 6 years. Time to take it back?
Thank you for the advice.

[ckcarr]

I don't know if they have the wood for beautiful guitars anymore. Or, they're extremely expensive. Your guitar is very nice. A Les Paul is higher end and your wood looks fine.

And then when you get frustrated you can go to the guitar store...
Gibson SG
Gibson Flying V
Fender Stratocaster
Fender Telecaster

Ha!

Having only finger picked acoustic for 50 years (I still suck) I really want to learn electric blues... So I'm putting effort into that. When I tend to reach for the acoustic, I say "Nope, not gonna do it" and force myself onto the electric.

Originally Posted by dmcummins

Wow!!, that top sure looks nice. Mine is on the plain side, I’m a little impatient and really didn’t look around any. But after checking, after I already paid for it, I find that I got a decent deal.

[Dpmulvan]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Play music you enjoy. I got stuck playing Mary Had a Little Lamb and Love Me Tender when I started and it made me not care about practicing. Nowadays you can go to songsterr.com, enter any song you can think of and the TAB is right there. It's not always right, but it points you in the right direction. Youtube is invaluable too. Also lots of junk there, but again, points you in the right direction. Once I got back into it after a few years of not playing, I was 13 and made Stairway to Heaven my first goal song. Yeah, it's cliche, but you don't see too many people playing it all the way to the end, note for note perfect. I got it down by the old "play, pause, rewind, play, pause" routine and can probably still bang it out. And that was long before the Internet. That exposed me to the rest of the songs on LZ IV, then I worked my way back to I and II, learned most of those songs and I was off to the races.

A minor pentatonic

[Steve Carlton]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Steve, i did that, and they did adjust the action, but it’s been 6 years. Time to take it back?
Thank you for the advice.

Probably not. What I would do is buy one of those tools to measure the gap between the strings and frets.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/search?s=string+action+tool

[dmcummins]

Another update, it been almost two months and I bought a new amp. From what I’ve read the katana’s are good for the price ,so I bought the 100 watt head. It’s got a small speaker built in and I figure I can add a cab at a later date.

[Rick Lee]

I have that head and it’s excellent. You can’t outgrow it.

[Rapewta]

I couldn't agree more with LWJ's post #3.

If you want to feel good with the guitar playing, learn some chords that are 1-4-5.

Stuff like E, A and B7. Wont' take long at all and you will love what you are doing.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

I’m trying again. My wife gave me a Seagull acoustic just before we moved to the “ranch”. Between the arthritis in my hands and the work load here I didn’t get far. I’m following along with the Apple GarageBand app. The lessons are OK as far as I know, but I’m having trouble with the built in tuner. When the tuner says it’s right, the B string sounds awful. If I tune it to sound like the guitar the guy who is leading the lesson sounds, the tuner says it’s way out. I do have a tin ear, so I don’t trust it.
Is there an on-line app that will give me the note and let me try to match it? What should I do?

Tuners are cheap, buy one of those clips on ones

[dmcummins]

Originally Posted by Rapewta

I couldn't agree more with LWJ's post #3.

If you want to feel good with the guitar playing, learn some chords that are 1-4-5.

Stuff like E, A and B7. Wont' take long at all and you will love what you are doing.

I think I’m doing good as far as open chords, still having a little trouble changing to the full f chord, but I can play it. I have no one to compare with, but I can play most of the beginner stuff on Justin guitar websight. Songs like John Denver, country roads, eagles peaceful easy feelings. And many others.

I’m still working on Led Zeppelin.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Steve Carlton

I'm aware- I have one (haven't seen it for a while, though). And a Peterson strobe tuner- both excellent tuners. The image on my cell phone is much larger and easier to read. I think the app if $4.99 and accurate to 0.1 of a cent, which is a small fraction of anything you're going to hear. I like putting my phone on my knee and not clipping and unclipping a tuner.

What does the "2" next to the "A" mean? And the "1.2" in the lower right?

[Rapewta]

Yep.... That "F" chord is tough. The "B" can be tough too.
It is all about loving the sound you make. Not so much all the gear you just "got to have."
Enjoy.

[Steve Carlton]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

What does the "2" next to the "A" mean? And the "1.2" in the lower right?

The "2" indicates which octave the note is in the tuner's range, which is probably some standard range. The display indicates it's the low E string on the guitar and is more useful. The "1.2" indicates (in this case) how sharp the E note is vs the standard note in cents. One half step is 100 cents, so it's a very tiny amount to be sharp or flat. That's why the bar is green. I would think it's an imperceptible variation to the human ear- a very fine degree.

[wdfifteen]

Thanks Steve, I appreciate it.

[Rick Lee]

You can download free tuner apps. All you need is one string to be tuned to the tuner. The rest you need to know how to do by ear. And even then, you should be able to keep a regular E or A in your ear and be pretty close to the tuner. I don't trust tuners at all, as I can very clearly lear intervals smaller than those tuners are programmed for. Drives my bandmates nuts when we're practicing and I don't tune in silent mode. But I just don't trust tuners. I only use them because you pretty much have to tune silently at gigs and they're good for setting intonation.

[scottmandue]

Found my old guitar tuner.

This may sound silly but try playing really, really loud.

My first experiment with electric guitar was playing in our (detached) garage, got some pretty amazing sounds.

There is a reason they played through Marshall double stacks 😉