Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Sector7G]

Some musicians on Dave's will surely recognize this as one way for beginners(like me) to remember the open guitar strings - E-A-D-G-B-E.

I'm an old dog trying to learn a new trick. I bought a used classical guitar about a month ago and have learned 5 chords so far -C,G,D minor,E minor, and A minor.

An acquaintance who plays got me started , but since then I have learned mostly from lessons I found online.

Anyway, any tips or insights would be greatly appreciated.

I will listen now to what you say..........

I will take take some time
and learn how to play.......

[robot]

Learn the basic chords. Then try adding or subtracting one finger at a time to see what other ones you can come up with. Some constructions will sound like crap, but some will be awesome and will become your favorite chords.

Also Google "guitar tabs" and try to learn your favorite songs.

[Underwaterbob]

My advice is to ignore robot's first point of advice. Right now (nor ever really) you don't need ornamental stuff like sixth, seventh, ninth or suspended chords unless you're going for a specific sound, like jazz or funk.

Learn all your basic major and minor chords first. Spend extra time on bar chords, they trip up a lot of beginners because they're hard and they hurt your fingers. Unless you only play three chord wonders in the keys of G, D and A, (entirely possible, there's a great deal of music that is exactly that) you will need bar chords.

Learning your favorite songs is an excellent idea. It maintains your interest and gives you an idea of what kind of guitarist you might want to be. It'll also teach you to recognize common chord progressions, which is a necessity if you ever want to jam with others. It might be a bit early, but it's a good idea to try and learn them by ear. Learning them by ear will hopefully give you at least a modicum of rhythm, something horribly lacking in a lot of self-taught guitarists.

If you want to move beyond rhythm and chords, the pentatonic scale is the way to go. It's easy to learn, and you can solo over nearly any chord progression with it and sound cool. It's also either major, or minor depending on the tonic note. Meaning you can play the same set of notes, just start in a different place and you get a different key.

Take my advice with a grain of salt. I was a bloody slow learner. After twenty years of playing, I'm at a level I probably should have been at fifteen years ago.

[warmachinenkorea]

After you learn your basic chord shapes try to change to as many different combos as possible. Yea they might not all go together musically but it will help with your developement. Also, try learning some scales and patterns for exercises. Sometimes I just sit and do different patterns again and again. It's helped me be more accurate and with stamina.

[Sector7G]

Thanks for the advice guys. I am already getting some chords down pretty good.