tiggz

thanks! i was practicing chords last night and getting worried about finger placement. that's one of the biggest problems i had with piano. hopefully my instructor can teach me the secret. :)

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eatstake.livejournal.com

I'm thinking of picking one up myself and attempting to learn how to play, too. I just have to wait a few more weeks to recover from a hockey memorabilia purchase. What type (make/model) did you get? I've been looking at stuff online and it's overwhelming.

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got one word for you... ibanez. great guitars and they're not as expensive as gibson. depending on what you want to do with it, depends on the guitar you get. if it's just to start out and you might not do much, get a cheap starter. but if you want something good, you're going to spend a pretty penny.

everyone in the store raved about mine but it cost me a limb!!! then again, i went all out.

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eatstake.livejournal.com

Thanks for the tip. If I end up buying one, I'm probably going to aim a notch above a starter so I don't have any regrets over the quality if I really get into the guitar. I figure I can probably afford something around the $200 mark in a month or so.

I also have a possible lead on a free one because a co-worker is leaving to spend several years in Thailand as a missionary starting in late summer and he'll be cutting back on his possessions.

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i definitely recommend going higher. my guitar doesn't have any enamel which i'm told is better for the sound quality although i have to have special cleaners and a humidifier for it so the wood doesn't dry out. the sound is so clear and it's supposed to only get better with age.

you can never go wrong with free!

and just so you know, my friends would shoot me for giving advice to a flyers fan. ;) they're all devils fans.

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mine is a new york pro. i've never heard of them, but all my musically inclined friends/co-workers say it sounds great. my co-worker even told me he'd buy it off of me for more than i paid for it. this is good.

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pidgehuss.livejournal.com

Ohh, it is pretty! ::matches your cool pony icon with a less cool pony icon::

I have this sekrit plan that once I settle in a place that I'm probably not going to move from for a few years (I cannot believe I'm moving again in July, I thought this would stop when I graduated from college, but grad school is proving to be just as annoying), I'm going to buy myself a cello. I love the sound of the cello and I used to say that I either wanted to marry a cello player, or learn myself. My boyfriend, while fairly musical, is not going to learn the cello, so it's up to me now. I'll probably try and teach myself at first (getting pointers from my friends that play violin and things), but I bet I'll take lessons before too long. I've very excited about my sekrit plan, because while I used to play the piano and hated practicing, I think I'm ready to give music a shot again.

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i would say not to wait to graduate, but i can imagine how busy you are working and going to school.

i'm really excited to start my lessons and learn how to use it.

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my teacher is going to write up the music for a couple of songs on live's new CD. i'm liking this guy!

and you'll like it. it's not as hard as piano but it will take a while to learn what's what. but the fun stuff is learning to write songs. that's pretty neat!

and just remember, you're supposed to get callouses. i got my first blister this weekend. non-stop playing for hours will do that. my parents even say i'm getting really good. :D

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cool guy!

i'm not really worried about the blisters. someone mentioned that i should get that liquid bandaid stuff and put it on the tips of my fingers. i may do that once i start playing a lot.

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amy37.livejournal.com

Pretty! Now that's an impulse buy...

I found piano easy, but I grew up with one, so I *see* the chords on a piano, the finger spreads, etc. But Jake started guitar when he was only nine, and he got pretty good pretty quick. (I thought he was too young, and guitar would be really hard, but clearly not.)

Yay you! Tiggy the rock star, baby...

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it definitely was. i really do blame anthony for giving me that final nudge.

i wish piano had come easy. i wish my parents had forced me into music lessons of some sort when i was a kid. i might have hated it then, but i'd be grateful for it now.

rock star? maybe not, i just hope i can learn to sing and strum at the same time. *g*

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oh, and practice this progression:

4/4 ||:G|G|C|C:||
4/4 ||:C|C|G|G:||
4/4 ||:G|G|D|D:||
4/4 ||:D|D|G|G:||
4/4 ||:E|E|A|A:||
4/4 ||:A|A|E|E:||
4/4 ||:F|F|C|C:||
4/4 ||:E|E|F|F:||
4/4 ||:A|A|D|D:||
4/4 ||:C|C|F|F:||

that should get you going to practice transitioning. slow and steady at first and keep up with the beat. tap your foot or tap the top to keep the rhythm. i'll give you more later. ;)

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ummm...yeah. the only chord i'm semi-comfortable with at this point is G and my fingers don't really like the way i have them positioned. i'm hoping i'm just doing it wrong and the instructor can teach me the right way.

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argh. had a long post and i hit back on my mouse by mistake. will call later to give you more pointers and see what's up with your fingers.

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The G I play I think is actually not a proper G but sounds better (and fits songs with G better) and I play it thus:
Index finger on A string at 2nd fret
Middle finger on low E string (top string) at 3rd fret
Ring finget on B string at 3rd fret
Pinky on high E string (bottom string) at 3rd fret

I think the actual G has the index finger muting the A string instead.

If you keep the ring and pinnky fingers in the same place and just bring the other two fingers one string closer each (same fret positions though) you get a variant of C and move them closer again and it's a D variation (I think) They sound good together and is a very simple progression.

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Like the piano, once you learn one chord, The basic chord structure will usually work in various places up and down the neck.

Also, if you've ever heard the phrase, three chord rock, that's how easy some songs, real songs, are to play.

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foxant10 and i were discussing just how easy some of the current music is to play. the older stuff is more advanced. isn't that crazy?

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hehehe, though it really depends on the artist. I just got the new Tool CD and that, not so easy. ;) A lot of the music I;'ve always listened to has been a bit trickier than the average which is possibly one of the reasons (well after severe laziness though) that I'm not a better guitar player. Most of the music books I have are by bands like Soundgarden, Hendrix, Rush, Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Joe Satriani. It slows things down when half the songs (mainly Led Zep and Soundgarden) are in different tunings. Soundgarden has one cool song called "Mind Riot" where every single string is tuned to E. I can't even attempt it since I'm afraid I'll pop some strings trying that tuning. hehehe But then songs like "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty are extremely easy.

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power chords!

surprisingly, a lot of the good rock is only three chords.

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Power chords take care of most metal. I think the end of 50% of all old Iron Maiden songs was a three chord power chord riff where it goes (fret postions on E,A&D strings respectively) 5,7,7 - 3,5,5 - 5,7,7. (Or 7,9,9 - 5,7,7 - 7,9,9) My old band in highschool started doing that at the end of every song just because, even .38 Special's "Hold on Loosely." No, no one actually watched up play this as our biggest basement crowd was 3 people. I was the singer then. I'm way off topic and babbling. Too much caffeine. ;)

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littlexander.livejournal.com

I've been thinking about learning the guitar too. I just need to go and price things - not sure how much they go for over here.

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hee! we can start our own bronzer band. ;)

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ubervixen.livejournal.com

good luck with the lessons!

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