Guitar users

Hi , just wondering is there any guitar users on here who can give me some pointers .I've been playing for a while then put the guitar down and now picked it back up again . I know basic chords A E C D and so on and can play them pretty well , I just need some sort of structure for practice and was wondering if anyone on here could help , cheers in advance .

Ps its acoustic I play .

 

Loads of advice on you tube

 

Yeah seen them all but just wondered if anyone could just say focus on a certain area as I just seem to sit and pick bits at stuff rather than a routine

 

If you're not talking about lessons, a good way is to buy a tab book of a band you like and teach yourself the songs using the diagrams/ tab. Especially playing along to a stereo. Pick a song where you know most of the chords and maybe there's a new one or two that you don't and build up your chords and practice chord changes like that.

 

This. Pretty much taught myself the bass to the level I wanted by just finding tabs for songs I liked. Knowing what it's supposed to sound like is half the battle, then the tabs tell you how to get there and you just need to practice till you get it more or less right. Loads of them downloadable online as well.

If you're after anything more than that then you probably want a teacher, to be honest.

 

Look up Marty Music on YouTube, he has lots of stuff for beginners

 

I've tried all the you tubers I've got the tab books , what I'm trying to say is I need a structural as I just flit from one song to another without actually learning anything

 

If you really don't want lessons, you just really need to find something that you can't quite play but would like to, then sit down and work on it!

I'm awful with music practice by myself - I always noodle around on stuff that I can achieve because it sounds nice and feels good to play. But I know deep down that if I really want to get better then I'm not going to do it without repeatedly playing stuff that doesn't sound good or feel nice, at least to begin with. It's really tricky - like I say, I'm happy with where I am at the bass, but I prefer the piano. With that, I've only ever really improved during the sporadic times that I've had a teacher.

 

I’ve been playing for donkey’s years and my main regret is not learning the piano/keyboard before I went anywhere near a guitar. If you really want to progress, even a rudimentary understanding of musical theory will help. It’s so much easier to understand scale and chord theory on a keyboard simply because it’s linear. I also neglected learning my scales (boring) until I’d been playing for several years. I wish I’d done so much sooner. Final point I would make is that playing with other people, once you feel reasonably confident, will pull you along in a way that countless hours of practicing on your own will never achieve.

 

So much on Youtube

I'd recommend this guy. He's been doing it years, there's everything from beginner to advanced, whole courses, a million songs, seminal tracks that you can learn to play in half an hour. And if he's not your cup of tea, just playing a couple of his videos will mean Youtube will recommend a dozen others also doing great stuff who you may relate to more.

https://www.youtube.com/@justinguitar/featured

 

You wanna check out guitar George. He knows all the chords. Right little swinger.

 

Playing with other people - preferably friends who are just slightly better than you - really is the gold standard for picking up music. It was so much easier between the ages of about 14 and 23. Wish I could go back and have a word with myself!

 

Glad you said word.

 

Thought you were supposed to be behaving yourself nowadays.

 

Toning it down. Don't want to strike any chords.

 

More than enough chords for the entire Status Quo canon theer!

 

That's the sort of answer I was looking for , thanks

I've been a keen follower of Justin and I think he's one of not the best on tube , but like I say I defiate from Jim and just do a mash up of all sorts . I need someone to say 5 mins of this 5 mins of that and so on

 

You're at a very common sticking point for a lot of people.

What got me through it is realising I play guitar for my enjoyment, and what I don't enjoy is making this a chore. I looked up the chords to songs I wanted to play and then I played those songs.

Sounds daft and simple but just playing simple songs builds muscle memory, finger and wrist strength and stamina, timing, rhythm, and confidence.

You also start to see the relationship between the chords and what notes work in them.

As far as resources go, if you're a video kind of guy there's tonnes of stuff on YouTube, if you're a "learn by doing" kind of guy you can get software that plays guitar tabs along with you (I use Guitar Pro and Songsterr), and if you want to read then hands down the best book I've looked through is called Fretboard Theory by Desi Serna. It's so simple and easy to follow and you can take it at your own pace. That book will look at scales, and the CAGED system, and teach you how popular songwriters use these things to make music.

Keep going though! What a gift it is to be able to play and make music.

 

I've been playing about 30 years now and never had a proper lesson, but i probably learnt more in an hour or so playing with a mate of mine who was really good than I did playing tabs etc.

I don't have time to practice anymore now but if money is an issue id maybe go for tabs of guitarists that will test you rather than basic chords you'd get with an Oasis song.

Stuff that brought me on was Muse, Incubus, Chili Peppers, John Mayer, Hendrix... all more complex stuff.