Guitar thread

Mike

Mike

New member
Jun 27, 2006
6,777
116
0
51
On the firing line
After close to 20 years of not playing, I've decided I want to take up guitar again. Last time I took guitar lessons, I was in middle school and didn't really have a clue why I wanted to learn guitar other than I kinda liked the sound.

Now, after maturing a little bit (not much considering guys never really mature beyond 13 anyhow), I realized I LOVE the sound and style of classical guitar. Also really like flamenco.

Looking at getting a Manuel Rodriguez to start: Manuel Rodriguez C1 Cedar Top Classical Guitar | GuitarCenter

For the price (and to my untrained ear) it sounds pretty incredible.

Would love to hear any stories, tips, tricks, whatever from anybody actually playing right now.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXC9tuumjiA"]Canon in D (Classical guitar) by Johann Pachelbel - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kjEvg_ZkgI"]Fur Elise- classical guitar - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn9DYvH8Tvc"]Esteban - Zorro - Classical Guitar - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTXa6FFnPI0"]Spanish Guitar Flamenco Malagueña Malaguena !!! A must see By Yannick lebossé - YouTube[/ame]

Merry Christmas - from Esteban:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wjCfhvIORg"]ESTEBAN: Carol of the Bells (Improvised) - YouTube[/ame]
 


First thing I would do is start developing your finger tip calluses - it's too easy to put that guitar down when your fingers can't support any type of lengthy practice. Just roll through chord changes and scales and work on a comfortable finger picking style - regardless of how shitty it might sound at first. I started out with a classical guitar and a (thankfully) patient instructor years ago and he turned me on to the Christopher Parkening Guitar Method - looks like it might fit well with the direction you are heading.
 
I played Classical guitar for a while, gave it up cause I got bored of playing songs I didn't enjoy. Just got back into playing it on my terms though (songs that can be sung along to rather than just 'tunes') need to relearn a bit, and I'm starting off with just chord based stuff. I've fallen behind a bit, but so far I can play (while singing along)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXvzzTICvJs]Ed Sheeran - You Need Me, I Don't Need You (Official Video) - YouTube[/ame]
and
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAWcs5H-qgQ]Ed Sheeran - The A Team (Official Music Video) OUT NOW! - YouTube[/ame]

plus the times they are a-changing, and a few others.
 
Play for 15-20 mins every day.

Don't practice playing anything fast. Focus on playing well and speed will come naturally.
Avoid resting your thumb over the neck whilst you're still learning, and maintain the correct form. When you're good you can do things like that and not develop a bad habit as a result.

It's difficult at first, but stick with it.
 
-joe- said:
I played Classical guitar for a while, gave it up cause I got bored of playing songs I didn't enjoy. Just got back into playing it on my terms though (songs that can be sung along to rather than just 'tunes') need to relearn a bit, and I'm starting off with just chord based stuff. I've fallen behind a bit, but so far I can play (while singing along)


plus the times they are a-changing, and a few others.
Click to expand...


Nice!

I'm kind of the opposite. I prefer just straight instrumental music, and tend to be annoyed by lyrical stuff. When I work it's either Glitch Mob type stuff (not sure what you call that - electronica?) or classical playing in the background. The last thing I want is anything with a singer.

Something I've wondered about: are the lessons very different based on the type of guitar / style? Or are they pretty much the same regardless, and you find your own style as you advance?

That's something I've never been clear on, and I don't remember the lessons I took years ago. I am truly starting from scratch.

quintana said:
Play for 15-20 mins every day.

Don't practice playing anything fast. Focus on playing well and speed will come naturally.
Avoid resting your thumb over the neck whilst you're still learning, and maintain the correct form. When you're good you can do things like that and not develop a bad habit as a result.

It's difficult at first, but stick with it.
Click to expand...

Funny, that's true of anything you want to get better at. "Start slow. Be precise. Speed will come."
 
Mike said:
Nice!

Something I've wondered about: are the lessons very different based on the type of guitar / style? Or are they pretty much the same regardless, and you find your own style as you advance?

That's something I've never been clear on, and I don't remember the lessons I took years ago. I am truly starting from scratch.

Funny, that's true of anything you want to get better at. "Start slow. Be precise. Speed will come."
Click to expand...

The fundamentals are the same (chords, scales), but style will depend on who you have teaching you.

As for speed, it's one of the biggest mistakes guitar players make. Only a few people have made sloppy playing work, like Stephen Malkmus, but he's definitely not a classical guitarist.
 
Okay, so what should I be looking for in a teacher if I want to learn classical guitar and not a variation of?

Slow is fine with me. I like precision more than speed anyhow.
 
Mike said:
Nice!

I'm kind of the opposite. I prefer just straight instrumental music, and tend to be annoyed by lyrical stuff. When I work it's either Glitch Mob type stuff (not sure what you call that - electronica?) or classical playing in the background. The last thing I want is anything with a singer.

Something I've wondered about: are the lessons very different based on the type of guitar / style? Or are they pretty much the same regardless, and you find your own style as you advance?

That's something I've never been clear on, and I don't remember the lessons I took years ago. I am truly starting from scratch.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I generally only listen to stuff with no lyrics when I'm working, but that's just cause the lyrics distract me. And for this, I'm teaching myself (well, youtube videos too) but back when I played standard classical guitar, I had a teacher (well, learnt it for a while, so had 3).

And yeah, they're very different. Main thing to look for is not someone who just does grades - they're pretty much a waste of time, and you end up spending way too long on a single tune just to get it precisely perfect, sounding exactly the same every time, where your time would really be better spent choosing what you want to play, rather than what some examiner has decided you should, and getting it so that it's almost perfect, and then moving onto something more advanced. That extra time spent getting something from "pretty much perfect" to "spot on perfect, sounds exactly the same every single time" is where your learning efficency goes way down, and you're not learning anything anymore, just getting the muscle memory perfect for one individual tune, which won't help you play the next tune any better.
 
There are two things I want to make time for.

Learning to throw knives and learning to play the guitar.
 
  • Like
Reactions: scottspfd82
funny this thread, yesterday decided to start to write a new acoustic piece along with my piano/symphonic shit.

the only thing i know classicalish is classical gas
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55A9H-PqOvY]Classical Gas - Eric Claptrollolololol - YouTube[/ame]
 
I have always wanted to be able to play the intro to one by Metallica.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXPkmIwwobA]Metallica - One (Studio Version) - YouTube[/ame]
 
Metallica before the Black album... nice!

For some reason that reminded me of this:


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOt3r_aNNxE]May i help you riff - YouTube[/ame]
 
conjamuk said:
I have always wanted to be able to play the intro to one by Metallica.
Metallica - One (Studio Version) - YouTube
Click to expand...

It's incredibly easy to learn.

Mike said:
Okay, so what should I be looking for in a teacher if I want to learn classical guitar and not a variation of?

Slow is fine with me. I like precision more than speed anyhow.
Click to expand...

Just talk to a few and see what they think.

For an adult, to learn classical it will take years and years of practice. You will need to spend at least 1 hour a day to get where you need to be. 15m is good for starters, but after a few months you'll need to get serious about practicing. Classical is about one of the most difficult things to earn. You will also need to realize that most classical teachers do not want their students learning other genres of music due to the fact that non-classical genres can 'teach' you bad form.
 
Don't buy a cheap guitar.
Go to your local guitar dealer and get a good classical guitar for like 1,200 USD. Why? It helps your motivation. How would you feel like spending a thousand bucks (of course only if you can afford it) on a piece of equipment you'll rarely use because after a few hours and reaching a few plateaus you've quit. The biggest issue for beginners is keeping your motivation. Chords are hard, fingerpicking as well. Don't think about flamenco and other more complicated styles when you have no experience.
Second point is that cheap guitars (like less than 250 bucks) usually have shitty mechanics so they'll go out of tune every time you pick it up. When you're a beginner getting your guitar in tune is a daunting task.

I've started playing almost a decade ago. Started with a private teacher but I got bored because I had to play the songs the guy chose for me and the stuff I liked (lots of thrash and death metal) was not his thing and too complicated for a beginner like me. After making almost no progress in the first two years I stopped doing private classes and thaught me everything myself. GuitarPro tabs saved my life. There's an online version of it called Guitar Tabs With Rhythm | Songsterr - go check it out. For me it was the fastest way to learn new songs and scales.

I've learned almost everything by myself, just asked a few other guitar players for more advanced stuff like sweeping.

For me keeping my motivation was the biggest issue. There are many ways to learn guitar, so don't take my word for it. Good luck and have fun man!
 
Check out Paco De Lucia for some brilliant flamenco playing. His album "entre dos aquas" is well worth getting.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fNMne7U4GY]paco de lucia entre dos aguas original[/ame]
 
guerilla said:
There are two things I want to make time for.

Learning to throw knives and learning to play the guitar.
Click to expand...

There are three things I want to make time for.

Learning to use a Bow Staff, increasing my nunchuk skills and learning to play the guitar.

Since I can already play guitar, that leaves a lot of extra time for the first two.

Seriously though, for classical guitar I don't think it get's much better than Christopher Parkening (& Andres Segovia). I saw him play in Orange County several years back and it's a level of guitar that is nearly unobtainable by mere mortals. Here's a taste.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iX8tsA0N7E"]Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring-Christopher Parkening. - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPpW-_ixWEk"]Christopher Parkening - Spanish Dance No. 1 (Duet) - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9efHwnFAkuA"]Andres Segovia - Asturias - YouTube[/ame]
 
Here's a few classical-oriented pieces from the best guitarist.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QupS8MIA-MQ][HD] Buckethead - La Gavotte (Electric Sea) - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKgwBzO2ASA]Buckethead - Yokohama - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m59s6W6AbZ8"][HD] Buckethead - The Homing Beacon (a tribute to Michael Jackson) (Electric Sea) - YouTube[/ame]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom