Any guitar players on TW?

I haven’t had the greatest luck with pedals get. I built one from a kit that was ok. I copied an MXR pedal that sorta worked for a bit, and then I tried to do a boost/A/B pedal that stopped working when I combined them.
And I want to try an amp

 

CNC would sweet to have access too. I'd go that route

 

How did you all learn to play? I did start out with some online lessons from justinguitar but stopped after i moved. Started playing again today and honestly im having more fun just picking a song and trying to learn it than i was with actual lessons. I feel like just learning songs might be the way to go. What do yall do?

 

It's really whatever helps keeps you engaged and having fun. Learning songs will still teach you a lot and still help build your skillset; as you progress, you might find yourself wanting to circle back around to lessons and/or theory, or maybe not, it's just wherever your journey leads you.

Just have fun and make noise

 

I've been playing for over 20 years now and the biggest thing is to enjoy what you are doing. When I first started out, I learned the basic open chords then the E-shape and A-shape barre chords up and down the neck. I spent countless months trying to fluidly change between all the open chord shapes, and spent time learning to play songs I liked to listen to. Working my way through a song gave an immediate payoff and was tangible fun - working through scales and fingerboard exercises can be tedious because you aren't 'making music'. Once you know how to play most chords up and down the entire neck, you can play along with any song.

After years of doing that, it kind of became somewhat boring - just look up the chords (or try to figure them out by listening), then play them when the song does. I never played in a band and had no desire to - that's when theory became more fun to me. I would practice scales and learn new scales, try to figure out how chords are made from scales and why certain notes worked and others didn't when playing along. Once you have a bit of playing foundation, you can REALLY get lost in the weeds with music theory and start to pave your own way.

 

I'm 4 years into playing. I started at age 54 a year before retiring. I started with Justin guitar and PartyMarty. I still follow partymarty. Then after 3 months of YouTube I found an teacher. 1 on 1 live at his studio. Have been taking lessons ever since. He figured out my learning style. I just wanna play songs, so learning chords and barre chords. Gonna start singing too. I like playing songs that I can hear the melody of.

 

I tried to learn in middle school bc my brother could play, but I just wasn't good at it and gave up. I was more of a drummer, and could actually do that well. It wasn't until some friends and I decided to start a band that I tried to pick up guitar. Funny enough my friends also couldn't play guitar and starting the band was just a means of forcing ourselves to grow in our instruments, so we all kinda learned together. Just learning to "imitate" or learn songs to cover was how I learned. It wasn't until much imitation later, that the "innovation" set in. Thats where the fun began. So my philosophy is this; learn to imitate something perfectly (maybe a 4 chord progression), then once you've mastered that, start innovating on top of it (maybe some hammer ons, passing chords, little passing lick, etc). That goes for acoustic/rhythm. As for lead/electric, I've never been great at that, but I'd apply the same philosophy if I desired to be better at shredding. Imitate scales, then innovate from there. Having music be a social event helps, doing it with friends, surrounding yourself with people better than you, accountability, etc.

 

I started like most others, just learning songs I liked. That never got me fully engaged though, and I did not put much real effort into it. I got older and got into more complex music, then quickly realized I needed to work on technique and theory. I never learned the notes on the fret board (though I know strings 1,2,6 and 7 now--if you can explain why those 4 strings and not 1,2,3,4, or 7,6,5,4, you already know some theory) but I know intervals very well. I completely started over and figured out for myself how a scale is built, how a chord is built, the different positions of the same scale/chord and inversions.

I think most people want to express themselves through an instrument. My wife is an excellent pianist, but has no desire to write anything. She likes to master other people's work. I am the opposite, where I want to create. I thought I would just feel the music and things would fall into place. Never happened. I realized music is it's own language, and for me at least, theory opened up way more words then I thought existed. Now I just have to get out of my own way...

 

One last piece of advice: learn to play on time! You don't have to use a metronome or drum track every time you play or practice, but always circle around to one and learn to internalize the beat or groove. You can be a sloppy player constantly hitting wrong notes, bad chord shapes, etc.....but if you can strum or pluck on beat and stay with a drummer, it will always sound infinitely better than if you play the most clean notes and chord changes but are off beat.

If you ever decide to jam out with someone or play in a band and have trouble staying on beat or holding a rhythm, you are going to be the frustrating one. Once your internal metronome is solid, you can add in lots of your own personal flair and have the feel to get back on the groove.

 

I first started playing in 1986 as a teenager, taking lessons from a local music shop, and did so for about 2 years. Since then, it's been a combination of learning songs by ear, reading from tabs, working on skills from books, and just from playing with others. Many times, one method would lead to another - I might be working on playing a cover by ear, getting stuck on something not sounding quite right so I'll look up a tab.

Different methods work for different folks... the most important thing is to find what method(s) are giving you what you want to get out of playing.

 

I have my guitars hanging around the living room walls on hangers. The other night, I got a notification on the phone saying there was a burn ban and the RH would be very low. What I did not expect, was the dramatic effect the low RH had on my guitars. I was watching TV and heard a sort of musical "ting". at first I wasnt sure what it was. The more I thought about it, I realized that they were contracting to the point of pulling the strings over the nut! I know ideal humidity is a factor in keeping your instruments at peak level. but this just REALLY drove that point home. I have a few throw away RH meters laying around the house. all were reading around 22. SUPER DRY! just though I would share.

 

I get it. Wood is more sensitive than people think. Always expanding and contracting.

 

Definitely want to monitor if you like leaving them out. I too leave all mine out full time; I installed a whole home humidifier and keep a gauge in the music room to keep an eye on things. Humidifier keeps things steady in the winter; then come summer the AC usually pulls enough out of the air to keep it from going to high. Though if it ever goes too far out of range, I'll at least throw my acoustics and semi-hollows back in their cases until it stabilizes again.

 

Why not? Got one on my neck. Found this used so I snagged it.

 

I have a Warmoth wenge neck and it's amazing. I sanded it down further with 400 to 2000 grit. Soo slick!

 

I remember hearing a song from that album on Snowboarding video, this was in the 90s before they blew up. I went from record store to record store trying to find it. Good times. Was all about punk then. Mostly fat wreckords stuff.

 

You guys made me dip back into my 90s goodness! We will start it off with some 311 and Sublime

 

Tim Mahoney lives about an hour and a half from me. Great guitarist!

I tried to upload a video of him killing it to YouTube so I can post it in here but…I’m having a hard time doing it from my phone.

 

I taught myself to play by reading magazines. Then my parents got this crazy AOL interwebamajig and I found it had tabs on it. Mind blown lol.

I picked up my first electric guitar at a garage sale when I was 15. My cousin had already given me an acoustic. I’ve been playing about 26 years now.

 

I used magazines for tabs. Guitar Player I think. So different back then.