All Guitar Players Read

[SpikeFayeJettEdBebop]

I just got an electric guitar. Im not taking lessons, and I dunno if I will, so I was wondering if anyone could give any tips for a starter, or any easy songs that I should learn(Any type of music). Any tips would help thanks.

 

(I wasnt sure where to put this, but i figure it could work here, so thats where I put it).

[Guest Ahhee]

I consider this the biggest tip to any guitar player of any skill level. It's so simple, and yet so often overlooked.

 

When you practice, do so with a metronome or a drum machine.

 

Also, while it may be cool for someone like Eddie Van Halen to say he never took a guitar lesson, he did have several years worth of piano training. Don't be afraid to take a lesson or two.

[Red Hot Thumbtack In The Eye]

2 things for a starting guitarist.

 

metronome or a drum machine.

 

and find all the scales you can and play them to death. Even if you aren't playing songs(this can and probably will get very boring at the start) play scales like mad. this will help strengthen and add flexibility to your fingers. Other than that, just jam even if it's really simple shit you are doing.

 

insaneguitar.com

[The Man in Blak]

The metronome is essentially a must, if you're truly serious about this. The music doesn't move without rhythm, and the metronome is the best tool to help you build a rhythmic sense.

 

Also, it wouldn't hurt to grab a cheap guitar tuner. If you get used to hearing what a guitar sounds like when it's actually in tune, it will help build your musical ear for the future. And don't tune your guitar with the "fifth fret method", no matter how easy all of the guitar pros tell you it is. (Not only is it slightly inaccurate, but a beginner's ear can easily misjudge a change in timbre (sound) between strings as pitch deviation and throw the guitar even more out of tune).

 

Focus on building speed with your frethand, rather than your pickhand, with the scales like everybody's mentioned. All of the real chops come from how you can move around the fretboard and, while a lot of people love thrashing power chords to popular songs they know when they first start learning, scales will definitely help you build a more sound technique in the long run.

 

If I had to pick scales to work with, I'd start with the Major and Pentatonic scales (which is the blues scale), then move to the Minor scales and all their variations. Get to know how each scale sounds and you'll eventually start hearing pieces of them in popular music (especially the Pentatonic, which serves as the basis for a ton of classic rock guitar noodling).

 

Some popular songs to investigate:

 

Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (easy chord progression, easy solo, not a bad practice song for singing & playing at the same time either. In fact, just check out almost any Nirvana song you can stumble upon, given that Kurt wasn't exactly a guitar hero and many of the songs are quite tuneful.)

 

Metallica - "Enter Sandman" (an easy hook and easy chord progression, but lay off of the solo for a lil' bit)

 

Jimi Hendrix - "Purple Haze" (though the solo will be off limits for a while, the actual main lick isn't terribly difficult and the chord progression is fairly simplistic, even with the "Purple Haze" jazz chord)

 

Pearl Jam - "Yellow Ledbetter" (the ultimate (pardon the pun) jam song, with a dirt-simple chord progression, plenty of expressive lines, and plenty of room to mess around with your own solos)

 

Hope that helps out.

[Murmuring Beast]

Try playing Velvet Underground's There She Goes Again.

 

Basic chords and a silly solo in the middle which requires no effort.

 

And it sounds good too.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

And don't tune your guitar with the "fifth fret method", no matter how easy all of the guitar pros tell you it is

 

Damn right. It's all about harmonics.

 

I cut my teeth on a lot of Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana, Black Sabbath (the best thing to play when learning the bass, primarily), some easy Led Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones. You will suck when you get started. I never took a lesson in my life, and I consider myself rather good on the bass, and passable on guitar, which I play much less often. Everyone's been pretty correct about advice so far. Keep it simple, practice constantly, learn your damned scales, and play with your effects, and playing on different parts of the guitar. Goof off and fuck around a lot.

[MrRant]

What type did you buy?

[Nighthawk]

If you end up in a band, smash your guitar at the end of the set. They will love it, even (perhaps especially) if your performance sucked.