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How to get better at guitar

jakeworth.com

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Re: How to get better at guitar

#221

Post by javier123454321 »

raincole wrote: post #141
jcattle wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No need for absolute pitch. All you need is relative pitch. You play a note, compare to the note you heard, maybe even play them at the same time. And then change the note till you find the right one.

How do you do that with chords? I know everyone who isn't completely tone deaf can do that with one single note. But when it comes to chords, unless you already know some music theory, aren't there infinite number of combinations you have to try before you find the correct one?

It wouldn't hurt to know how to do the 'cowboy chords' and then the 'barre chords' before (or in parallel to) doing the transcriptions. Anyway, you should start with easy songs that mostly just include those until that seems easy.

Re: How to get better at guitar

#222

Post by javier123454321 »

manlymuppet wrote: post #105

How do I get started if I don't even know the notes yet though?

The prerequisite to starting is having a working instrument (roughly) in tune. Then you can start. If you don't know absolutely anything at all, then it wouldn't be so bad to learn some things in parallel to learning by ear, such as basic chord shapes. But you can get started with trying to transcribe happy birthday by ear. Try to play it and find the notes. After a few nusrsery rhymes, you can move on to something simple that is perhaps more inspiring. But to answer your question, you start by taking the first step.

Re: How to get better at guitar

#223

Post by twodave »

Sure, this is a way to get better at learning songs, in particular. Any consistent practice will result in getting better, though. After about 20 years of playing (though less as the years have gone by and life has been busy), I actually find playing live to be the most impactful thing. You have to find a way to make the song work and keep up with the tempo! Often that means improvising. Being able to improvise even a little covers so much that can go wrong while playing.

But there are lots of ways to get better, and to a degree it depends on what your goals are. I enjoyed the article.

Re: How to get better at guitar

#224

Post by javier123454321 »

carabiner wrote: post #75

Is there any quick test I can do to see if I can innately determine tones like this? If I fail said test, I can know that I'm not cut out for guitar.

The interesting thing that is not obvious to the general public (it certainly wasn't to me when I started) is that unless there is a medical condition that is extremel rare called cogential amusia, you can develop the skill. It's not easy, and some people definitely have more natural ability but it's learnable. You likely don't have amusia, as people that do have it have a hard time recognizing an instrumental section of a song. If you can recognize 'happy birthday' by someone humming the melody, you don't have it.

Re: How to get better at guitar

#225

Post by javier123454321 »

dyauspitr wrote: post #129

> When you hear the first guitar note, stop the song, find the note on the guitar, and write it down I think the problem for me is I’m so tone deaf I can’t tell which note is the right note.

You can develop the ear. Start simpler. Try nursery rhymes.

Re: How to get better at guitar

#226

Post by calebm »

I very recently inherited a guitar-harp. One thing I love about it is that it is so straight forward to play - unlike guitar (where you have to press frets), a guitar harp is laid out like a piano (left to go lower frequency and right to go higher frequency). So it's been easy to just listen to a song and play along. I can't sight-read music, and trying to learn a song by reading music is tedious and boring to me. Just listening and playing along feels MUCH better.

Re: How to get better at guitar

#227

Post by skeeter2020 »

gritspants wrote: post #66
analog31 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a jazz musician, and my kids are both professional classical players. I've asked them why they don't learn to play jazz. My daughter described pretty much what Glass is saying here. She calls it "fear of sucking." She knows what good jazz improvisation sounds like, and trying to make herself do it is pretty discouraging. Not that there's anything wrong with loving and playing classical music, which is a factor to…

I picked up Violin as an adult, have done recitals, and I suck. Being able to suck and find joy in something anyway even if you're not top nth percentile is a valuable life skill.

Finding happiness being an amateur at anything is a super power! IME nothing kills the joy like transitioning to being a professional.

Re: How to get better at guitar

#228

Post by skeeter2020 »

WalterBright wrote: post #62
freetime2 wrote: post #32

This brought to mind a quote from Ira Glass: > Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your…

I was at a dance hall the other day, and this young lady came floating in. It's hard to describe how she walked - just like she was effortlessly gliding. It looks easy, but anyone else would look like a moose trying it. It's the result of a lifetime of ballet dancing. Probably 10,000 hours, at least. I was just in awe.

My daughter just stopped competitive dancing last year after essentially a lifetime. The impact of all that ballet on her posture is worth it alone. Also she's phenomenal at posing for otherwise unscripted photos; her smile is always perfect.

Re: How to get better at guitar

#229

Post by functional_dev »

beachy wrote: post #3

Sting famously learned to play bass using this sort of technique with music on LPs, lifting the needle and dropping it back a bit in the track over and over again as he gradually worked out the notes and fingering. Probably almost any method is effective at learning guitar, as long as it includes the key factor - time spent practicing.

100% true, but method still matters

Re: How to get better at guitar

#230

Post by nodesocket »

I’m a beginner electric guitar player and what motivated and helped me is learning songs I want to play. The first was Zombie by The Cranberries. The satisfaction and sense of accomplishment when you pin down the chords and strumming is amazing.

Second was Tomorrow by Silverchair (excluding the Daniel Johns solo which is way beyond my skills). Rant: Silverchair is super underrated of the grunge area bands, Daniel Johns is a fantastic musician.

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