Guitar Newbie

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by LEAKYSEALS951

If it is your low E
and IF you can hear it as annoying
or IF other devices register it as wrong
and IF after changing strings, it still is out of whack,

Then you might have a nut problem. It's okay to talk about these things as we get older.

or Saddle.

But it's probably your nut.

If I walk in to pick it up Tuesday and the tech is wearing a white coat and purple nitrile gloves, I'm pretty sure its a nut problem.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

He knows me, knows I play chess, backgammon, solitaire, checkers with my computer. He said, "Do it for the same reason you play games. Enjoy it just for the fun of doing it." I can't wait to get going on it again with a new attitude.

Excellent! I had feared my remarks would discourage you, but now I see that you like hard things. It sounds to me like you just might be someone who will pursue this to the point of competence. I notice that some folks just can't play golf, for instance. Failure dissuades them. Others, like you I think, are energized by a challenge. The harder the challenge, the more you put your shoulder in it. You very well might play to an audience, my friend. It will take a lot of time, but hopefully it will be a labor of love. As your other friend suggests. Do it as long as it is fun. If it is fun, then you will get good at it. Guaranteed.

[Superman]

After meditating further on your question(s)....

Again, the more time you play on a steel string acoustic guitar the better you will be when you pick up an electric. It's okay if the guitar is set up nicely, but these guitars are harder to play and as a consequence you will learn fundamentals and precision better compared to playing an electric, which allows much more sloppiness.

Print a copy of the chord chart, showing the umpteen basic chords. Often there is one printed on the back cover of many songbooks.

Today, you have YouTube. I use it all the time. Guys (and girls) are forever making videos of themselves playing popular songs.

Play music you love. Stuff that you have a passion for.

[wdfifteen]

Thanks Supe. I appreciate the advice and encouragement.

[Superman]

It's fun. I'm joining a band and I have 40+ songs initially to work on. I'm a gigging bassist and I play 3 or 4 hours per night, which is upwards of 50 songs. Anyhow, much of the music is Country and quite simple. 1-4-5 stuff (E-A B for example, or D-G A, etc.). 1-4-5 songs are very basic but form the background of a great deal of rock, blues and country music. Frankly, the stuff I (and everybody else) likes the best is this blues progression (variants of 1-4-5). You probably like it too. Start there.

Or Canadian stuff. With all due (and immense) respect, lots of that Canadian stuff is two-three chords for the whole song. Easy Schmeezy. And sounds great.

One of the songs I am learning is Oh! Pretty Woman, which I have not played before. Different animal. Lots of various interesting chords. The point is that you start with the easy stuff...Eagles, Gordon Lightfoot...or heavier stuff (Iron Man was the very first song I learned) but keep it simple and you will have quick successes.

It is also helpful to take lessons or....do what I did and get together with other guys who have acoustic guitars and learn and play with them. This experience teaches you very quickly.

I'm excited for you. I turned 60 last month and I'm having a BLAST with music again. Was pretty competent in high school and college then gave it up for 30 years. Took it back up again 4-5 years ago. Having a blast. Music is VERY complex. Makes physics seem easy. Totally creative and rewarding. Good luck.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Superman

I'm excited for you. I turned 60 last month and I'm having a BLAST with music again. Was pretty competent in high school and college then gave it up for 30 years. Took it back up again 4-5 years ago. Having a blast. Music is VERY complex. Makes physics seem easy. Totally creative and rewarding. Good luck.

I hope to have fun with it. Physics easy? I was a physics major and dropped to electrical engineering because physics seemed so impractical. I found physics hard because I couldn't see an end use. Same problem I had with music.
Different attitude now. I don't have a use for chess either, for that matter now that I'm retired I don't have a practical need for anything I do. The sky is the limit!

[wdfifteen]

It's been all of three weeks now. I practice every morning after I row. I have a little setup in my basement office. The first week I was limited to just a few minutes by the pain in my fretting fingers. That's mostly gone away now. I dedicate half an hour to strumming chords and picking simple tunes, but I often go over. I get a great sense of accomplishment from being able to do the smallest thing that I couldn't do before. I played an F this morning! Garageband said every string was true. I have to admit the feedback from Garageband is really helping to make it fun.