Help me to learn electric guitar

kevin.mini · Joined: Apr 26, 2008 Posts: 1 Location: NC

Hello everyone,

I really want to learn electric guitar. My favorite electric guitarists are BB King, SRV, Buddy Guy, Eric Johnson, David Gilmour etc.

How difficult is it for a fingerstyle player to learn electric guitars and be able to play Blues Solo? I only play with thumpick and three fingers and never learn to play with a pick. And I am very new to scales etc. I personally feel that learning online lessons could be a better option then going to private classes…Anyone here knows a good source for online lessons for beginners interested in electric guitars.

Wout Blommers · Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 5:43 am Post subject:

Hi kevin.mini...

Are you sure you posted on the right forum?

And, no, on line lessons is not the way to learn to play music at all, only as illustrations. Ask somebody who already plays the electric guitar, ask a guitar in loan from somebody and join a band as soon as possible...
Mouth to mouth Smile

learning is the best way to learn that kind of music.

Wout

elektro80 · Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 6:18 am Post subject:

Moths??

Anyways, good advice. And the teach yourself by playing along to your favorite LPs and do get a non-virtual in-the-flesh teacher.

wainscotting · Joined: Jul 07, 2008 Posts: 4 Location: Florida, USA

I play guitar, Kevin, and I can answer your questions:

1. The blues are not hard to learn to play, but it's a very difficult genre to play well. The blues scale is quite simple, blues song structure is a pretty standard I7-IV7-V7 chord progression (or some variant thereof), and it's not hard to hide your mistakes if you are quick on your feet. But the problem is that it often seems like everything's been done already. You've really got to have something new to say to really capture a listener's interest.

2. Get lessons with a real teacher. I cannot stress this enough. You can ask a real teacher questions. You can jam with a real teacher (which is very different from playing along with a Quicktime movie). And perhaps most important, you can get objective assessments of your progress from a real teacher. Don't waste your money on online lessons. Take $20 a week out of your beer fund and sit with a guitar teacher for half an hour. You will be amazed at how quickly you improve.

Hope that helps.

PoisonedV · Joined: May 30, 2008 Posts: 9 Location: Illinois

I don't know much about music theory, and I pick up a bunch of flack from people in music communities because of it. I can't read any music other than tabs and a bit of sheet music and I don't know much about time signatures, song sections, or rhyming schemes. I just use my passion and everything ive learned through listening to music. I've pretty good at guitar and I can play most any song, and write my own, and I've never taken lessons. I guess it depends on the person.

blue hell · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 5:49 pm Post subject:

geg3 · Joined: Apr 21, 2008 Posts: 25

i cant tell you what to do, but i can tell you what i did and what sucked or ruled about it

started off w/ guitar lessons. it was cool, dude showed me some basic stuff and i was playing songs pretty quick. badly, but progress felt good. the songs sucked cause the dude liked bad music. eventually i got VERY bored learning scales and quit the lessons. spent 2 years playing sonic youth style jams and making my guitar feedback. i hit the wall with just learning about shit by accident, and went back to the same guy for lessons, this time focusing on scales and theory. this time the math of it all finally jived with the sounds in my head and that was awesome. after about a year of lessons i got bored again and just played in band after band after band, making friends and starting new bands with the best musicians i knew. i learned the most from playing w/ other people

might not be true for you, but is for many people: music is a social thing. gotta get outside!

Jyoti · Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 7:14 pm Post subject:

Jyoti · Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 7:16 pm Post subject:

x_x · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 12:17 am Post subject:

you don't need a teacher...

teach yourself... I'm mostly self-taught, I made it to the orchestra without any prior lesson (double bass) ... As I write this I'm learning Chopin's sonata #2 first movement in piano which I've never had a piano lesson before. My point is be your own teacher, guitar is an easy instrument to learn. Want to play blues solos? start with the "blues scale". Search for music theory, and just try to play what you hear, be sure to watch technique videos on how to hold the guitar and fingers (use the tip of the finger!). Learn the rules and then forget them and just play the instrument. Oh yeah, and be patient.

GovernorSilver · Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 2:31 pm Post subject:

http://electro-music.com/forum/topic-26451.html

Gothboy · Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 8:48 am Post subject:

Just learn about 10 chords and bang on the thing! Laughing

I'm still trying to unlearn all the technique I practiced so hard to achieve.