hey guys! so I want to learn how to play guitar and have no clue about them. But first, back story.
Ok, when I was around 5, I would go from happy to sad, hyper to down…so my doctor sent to do some testing. They thought I was either bi-polar or ADD. They weren’t sure, so they gave me a pill for ADD, and they told my mom to have someone with her because I would literally freak out and have a tantrum. And in the end, it was a fiasco. We found out I was bi-polar real quick…haha. So within a few weeks I was seeing a doctor to prescribe medicine. He also said I needed to find something artistic, like instruments or something. I started taking the pills,and in Christmas of '05, guess what I got!? A brand new B.C Rich black/white warlock electric guitar. I was amazed. But I soon found out, that you can’t just strum strings and this beautiful melody comes out. Within a year of trying, I gave up. I stuck to the medicine for around 3 or 4 years. I stopped because I found Christ. It was Awsome not taking pills everyday. But good things only last so long. And for the last few months this bi-polar thing has gotten worse. Back to the way it was. Luckily I still have Church, and yoyo’s:) I just need something more. This is where the guitar comes in.
My mom took the guitar to the local music shop and got it up and running again. From what I have seen theres quite a few guys who can play on YYE. I would really appreciate it if someone could give me a few pointers. What gear to use and what videos to watch. Please help me. I feel like it could really help me when I get in a mood.
Well, most people learn Smoke on the Water first, as I did. It’s a simple fun easy riff I still play today.
After that I would suggest trying to getting a guitar lesson book. I had the Hal Leonard guitar book and it was very helpful. Eventually you will move on and get a songbook, with nothing other than the songs you want to play. Keep going a year or two and if you have the motivation, you could be a great guitarist.
At the place where I take lessons, they have a thing where you play in a band, and I was chosen because I’m one of the best guitarists there (Not to brag). So if you keep with it, you could start a band and make money playing gigs (3½-4 years off).
There’s also nothin’ wrong with the ol’ Smoke on the Water approach. Of course Studio42’s advice is good too if you don’t mind paying the money for lessons.
Learn how to change strings and tune the guitar. I’ve seen people who start out and
pour money out the drain to people to do this for them for the lack of knowledge.
-Learn some chords, doesn’t have to be a lot but even two or three can turn
into a whole song.
-Learn how to read tablature as you can find any song you’d like to learn just
by googling a song of choice and adding tab to the end of it.
-Practice learning/playing as much as possible and stop if you get angry or flustered.
-Understand what kind of music you’d like to play.
Hope that helps as that’s what I did with private lessons and years later, this is how I play.
That didn’t sound/look terribly difficult to play (No offense). I looked up the tab and it looks as though you need an ability to do hammer-ons/pull-offs well, speed, and a liking to play at higher frets.
I’d like to add to Ibanez Guy88’s list
-If you find a song too difficult, try something simpler
Learn the penatonic scale at the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 13th, 15th, 17th, and 19th frets
EDIT Looks like your guitar is suited for metal rather well…
Hi I read your post And it really intruiged me. It seems that you are a yong teenager (like myself) who wants to play guitar but loses interest when not intruiged. What I would do is 3 things.
Step1: learn the basic's, like string names, chords, and chord progressions.
Step 2: start out playing a type of music you like, and learn that style of music; for example: if you like metal you would learn how to solo.
Step 3: find friends who play instruments and possibly form a band. Or youtube guitar videos (that helped me drastically).
Please let me know if this helps because i am alot like you i have Adhd, know christ, and play guitar, and yoyo. Your story really made my day Ty, AC
[quote=“Yoyofreak737,post:10,topic:35505”]
There’s a reason none of us mentioned soloing. It takes a few years before you actually learn stuff like pinched harmonics, wailing notes, etc. And metal isn’t the only type of music that you can solo in…
I play bass guitar. I found it suited me better. I picked it up and I play by ear now. The strings are bigger, fewer in most cases, and there is no pressure to be “the lead.” or to learn chords. I’m an odd one, and I play the bass as a lead instrument, so I play melodies on it. I have effects that make it sound like a guitar when I want. Visit a music store, pick up a bass and see if that instrument might suit you better. I had a guitar, but as soon as I picked up the bass, I knew that was “the one.”. If the guitar is your thing, definitely take some cheap lessons, $25 per week for a lesson…just search around for the best deal if your parents can afford them. If not, strum that guitar, and have patience cause eventually you will string the notes together so they sound nice, and it costs nothing to learn by ear if the talent is there. Work on patience because no matter which route you take it is very necessary toward your goal.
Guitar is not like yoyoing, the last thing you want to do is sit down and start learning a random song. Get a method book, and support it with any technique tutorials you can find on the internet (this is supposing you don’t want to pay for lessons, which are almost always the best option). This will provide you with a strong base and you can eventually start playing classic songs and songs you really enjoy. Also, I would suggest trying to pick up a little music theory on the way. Being able to read notation may not be the most pivital thing for guitarists today with all the tab out there, but i would reccomand at least becoming familiar with it.
And it is actually a lot like yoyoing. You cant exactly pick up a yoyo and start learning Yukki’s Slack right away? Can you? No, it involves learning over time. So does guitar.