Play the guitar!?

[beavereater]

I have 2 guitars, given to me by friends who just don't need them anymore. I figured, after 4 years of having them on display, I would learn how to play. So, my question is, does anyone know of an app that would teach me how to play the guitar!? Free is always best!!

[adam]

I've tried a few programs and they all seemed pretty weak, but I tried them after already playing for about 10 years so maybe I'm too set in my ways.

My personal advice, even though you didn't ask for it.

Get yourself a chord book and just learn the first 20 pages worth until you can switch between them easily. If possible, use an acoustic or a guitar with high action that is hard to play. You will build up strength and dexterity and once you switch to that fancy electric you will feel like a badass. When you first start its going to hurt like hell on your fretting hand until you build up calluses. If it feels like you can't play anymore, put super glue on the tips of your fingers. Instant calluses, and all the extra wear and tear on them will actually build up calluses faster.

Learn how to read tabliture and then learn as many songs as you can. You can get lots of homebrewed free tabliture at http://www.harmony-central.com/

Eventually you will be able to pick out chords and notes by ear and then you can just sit next to the radio and play along. I learnt so much just by doing that.

Once you have a basic grasp and a love for it, then you can get serious. Get a scales book and learn the basics then start reading up on theory.

[beavereater]

Thanks I will look for that at amazon.com or something. Any books that you would recommend. I've been wanting to play the guitar for so long, but just don't have any guides. Don't wanna pay for lessons, wanna go the route of learning alone. I have some musical friends...so I am sure I can get a couple tips from them. Anyway, thanks for the advice!!

[Marco33]

This site generates just about every cord. Just start at the top and learn them all.

http://guitar.to/folder/guitar.html

Then surf on over to this site and learn some songs.

http://www.guitartabs.cc/home.php

[galactica]

back when i was learning, my parents bought me this
eMedia Guitar Method v1

its pretty good for beginning, has video clips so you can watch people play and has all the "beginner" stuff

honesltly, im selft taught and i went to the store and bought a chord poster. between that and the cd, it just took time

practice practice practice....

[housepig]

there's a book I've had ever since I started playing (16+ years), I can't remember the right name off the top of my head - I'll check it when I get home.

covers everything - care & feeding, equipment definitions and diagrams, chord encyclopedia, theory, famous players, etc...

damn, this is going to bug me until I figure out the name!!!

[curryman]

try harder housepig, i'm trying to learn aswell and any help would be great

[housepig]

the drag is, I can see the pages in my mind, I can see the cover - but I can't remember the name of the book or the authors!

I know exactly where it is in my house, I'll be home in about 3.5 hours, so if I can't think of it before then, I'll post as soon as I'm home.

the other suggestion - learn by ear. if you can hum something, you should be able to figure out at least the root notes or the melody. find a song you like, and try to learn it. break it down into smaller and smaller pieces until you can get a chunk of it.

learn to write some kind of notation (even if no one else can read it) that makes sense to you, so that by the time you figure out the chorus, you don't have to re-learn the verse.

and remember that there's nothing to it but to do it - if you spend enough time working at it, you will be a good guitarist. don't let yourself get discouraged.

[housepig]

okay, I found it.

The Guitar Handbook, by Ralph Denyer.

fantastic book. (and not a bad price from Amazon, either - it's definitely worth it).

[Pwyll]

I found these sites to be helpful.

http://guitarnoise.com/ for lesssons and theory

and

http://olga.net/ for massive amounts of tab

[curryman]

thank you housepig i shall go grab myself a copy now.
i'll check those sites aswell, cheers all

[curryman]

housepig, i've ordered the book from Amazon £12($21)
i'll let you know when i can play a little guns and roses(by 2010 hopefully)

[housepig]

housepig, i've ordered the book from Amazon £12($21)
i'll let you know when i can play a little guns and roses(by 2010 hopefully)

it's been a long time since I tried to play any, but it struck me that, solos aside, most of Appetite for Destruction is not super-difficult.

I wonder if I still have the guitar tablature book for that album....

if you put the time in, you'll be able to play it, no sweat.

[curryman]

I wonder if I still have the guitar tablature book for that album

mate, I have a very limited understanding of tab but i'm getting there, if you could dig it out and post it - I would be very grateful

[housepig]

mate, I have a very limited understanding of tab

easy explanation:

six lines (instead of 5 for normal musical notation). lowest line is the low E string. top line is the high E string. number on the tab represents the fret number where you hold down the string.

if you see 0 listed, you play that string open. if you see X or no notation, you don't play that string.

so an E-minor chord, low to high, would be 0, 2, 2, 1, 0, 0. a G minor would be 3, 5, 5, 4, 3, 3.

check out www.tabmaster.com - tons of tab there, when you find one you like, hit ctrl+a (copy all), open Notepad, ctrl+v (paste) and save it as a .txt file. I just pulled down a ton of Simon & Garfunkel, Traffic and Rolling Stones tabs from that site. I have no doubt that they have a fat wad of G'n'R.

[tompika]

You guys will love this program
http://www.power-tab.net/downloads.php

And a good song for it
http://www.powertabs.net/pta.php?page=song,4501

And a bonus mp3
http://people.freenet.de/HillValley/martysolo.mp3