Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Mikejelai]

So I went to the musical instrument area near Chongno recently and bought a cheap acoustic guitar (left handed) and he threw in a free electronic tuner.

Someone suggested youtube, but the lesson videos there all seem to be for right handed players. Any suggestions?

[methdxman]

[morrisonhotel]

[Kurtz]

Learn how to hold to pick correctly. I was taught to play by an Irish backpacker 12 years ago, even though I can play reasonably well, I can't pick well due to poor technique.

Best to learn some common chords like A, Am, C, D, F, E, Em and learn to change chords by learning some easy chord progressions like G-D-C. Heaps of easy songs to learn for beginners, check out YouTube.

Once you've mastered the open chords, next try the barre chords.

Some of the world's best players know nothing about music theory, it's up to you if you want to learn it or not.

Heaps of tutorials on the net.

[machoman]

other people have said it, and i'll re-iterate: learn the basic open chords, then go to barred chords. most people give up once they get to the barre chords because they can't do it. suck it up, it'll hurt at first.

now the next part is important, start training your ear. this means you need to know what intervals are, so i suggest picking up a basic music theory book. (idiots guide to music theory is a good basic one).

i taught myself guitar years ago, and could play chords and scales but didn't know what to do with them. people are going to criticize and say "you dont need music theory." but don't listen to those people, music theory will only help you. my friend once told me music theory is the science behind music, why things sound good together and why certain things don't.

and, everything is explained in music theory, even crazy experimental music can be explained, so don't think that music theory will restrict you.

with theory, you'll know why chords are chords, so then you can make your own chords, you'll know why certain chords sound good together, you'll realize that lots of songs use the same chord progressions, you'll know which scales to use, you'll know HOW to apply those scales, etc.

i bought so many guitar books over the years which didn't help me at all. they just taught me licks and riffs, but i wanted to know why and how these licks/riffs worked and how i can make my own. so yeah, don't be a fool and try to "play from your heart dude...." of course you'll play from your heart, but you'll know why it sounds good too.

so yeah. youtube is good, look up a guy named justin sandercoe. he teaches you all the things you need to know. i learned so much useless information and if i could condense everything that was useful, it'd be justin's lessons.

[ESL Milk "Everyday]

1. Learn some scales, get yourself a chord chart and press hard.
2. Find some songs that you like and learn how to play them.
3. When you get bored, learn something new-- a new technique or a new song with a new chord in it or something... go at your own pace.
4. Use your brain.
5. Don't give up if it sounds bad.

And I AM gonna say this: being good at playing the guitar is pretty easy. Too many people play the guitar, and most of them are okay at it. There are even people who are really good at playing the guitar, but they're still boring to listen to because a lot of people are also really good at playing the guitar.

The hardest thing in music is to have good taste (it's not a relative thing either-- people who say that usually have crap taste in music). Don't just be one of those obvious people who plays obvious things in an obvious way... open your mind, find something new, and then learn from that.

[Globutron]

You may not like jazz but its the window to success in this scenario:

http://www.filecrop.com/Jazz-guitar-chord-bible-pdf.html

[erasmus]

http://bettylou.zzruss.com/bettyloupop.htm

This site has tones of songs that use really basic chords.

[warmachinenkorea]

When you feel like smashing the guitar put it away for a few hours or day or two and then come back to it. Trying to continue on while frustrated makes most people hate it. Set it down rest your fingers and brain then pick it up again.

Don't pick off the calluses that will form from playing.

Choose a good gauge string for you but I wouldn't go below a basic set of .011's.

Make sure to get the guitar set up as well as it can be. It makes things easier.

Learn everything you can about the guitar. Chords, scales, patterns, phrases. Theory will help too. Good luck and have fun.

[Underwaterbob]

I hope it wasn't too cheap. The action (how high the strings are above the fret board) on a guitar is probably the number one beginner killer. Lower action = much easier to play. Too many beginners buy cheap acoustics that have horrible action and then give up when they realize how hard it is to make it sound good, when a better guitar would have sounded better to begin with.

[warmachinenkorea]

+1 underwaterbob

[Leon]

Always make sure its in tune before playing it. If you play with it out of tune it will sound bad and you won't develop your ears.

[eamo]

[Globutron]

Never shower before playing guitar. Callus death...

[Gom]