I've been playing music for a while. I played trombone throughout middle and high school. I started playing bass guitar when I was around 11 or 12. I took lessons for both instruments, and they helped me correct many bad habits, as well as advance more rapidly than I could have normally. I recently bought a guitar and have been playing frequently for about a month. However, I know that I could benefit from having an experienced guitar player to guide me.

If it matters, my music influences are punk, ska, reggae, and various kinds of rock. There's plenty of people offering guitar lessons in this area, but I'm looking for some references to a skilled and experienced instructor. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

11/22/2010 8:49:46 PM

i have a guitar in my bedroom that is turning into nothing but a decorative piece

i, too, am looking for some lessons. instructor must have the virtue of patience

11/22/2010 8:54:25 PM

You don't need instruction to play punk.

11/22/2010 9:08:34 PM

^

But ska/reggae styles are harder than they sound... I was going to give this place a shot last summer but forgot. Maybe give them a call?... http://www.raleighmusicacademy.com/instruction.html

11/22/2010 9:29:12 PM

Quote :

"You don't need instruction to play punk."

You're absolutely right on that. Just saying, that's where I'm coming from, and there are definitely punk bands out there with incredibly skilled guitarists. I'm trying to get better across the board.

11/22/2010 9:38:45 PM

I was actually just joking for the most part.

With regard to Samwise though...I've got to disagree. Most ska/reggae stuff just uses the guitar in a similar way to a percussion instrument. Hold a power chord, but use your index finger to press all the strings rather than just the low e string so that you engage the higher pitched strings...Strum it in time like you're playing a drum and you've got a ska song.

[Edited on November 22, 2010 at 9:47 PM. Reason : l]

11/22/2010 9:44:39 PM

my (male) friend took classes at meredith

11/22/2010 10:35:45 PM

^2 idk, I found the particular style to be just harder than I imagined... not saying it was super difficult but took some practice

I need to start playing more... I wanted to get into a routine but with this schedule it's hard >.<

11/23/2010 12:22:17 AM

You don't really need lessons for any style of music on guitar unless you want to become chet atkins overnight. I got good by not having any life and playing guitar for like 6 hours a day. Its pretty tough if you're a busy body with like a real job, but it an be done.


I'd reccomend learning how to read tabs and get Guitar Pro. Just learn songs you want to learn how to play. Unless you want to learn obscure no-name bands from poland written 1974 you can find a Guitar Pro tab for it, though who knows how accurate it will be.

Second most important thing if you're trying to be serious about guitar is just playing with other people.

Between those two you really don't need lessons. Someone is just going to relay information that helped them learn. I seem to get the feeling that people who don't take lessons end up being better musicians because their style isn't necessarily rooted so heavily in the conventional things you're taught first. And be prepared because you're going to suck forever. When you first think you are good, thats probably when you are in actuality the worst.



I started out playing punk rock and i learned every NoFX song (literally solo's and everything lol...) and through all the shitty metal and neoclassical crap i've learned or attempted to learn after that i don't think anything provided more of a solid basis than the NoFX. The guitar playing in that band even in the early days is seriously underrated. The only thing thats difficult about starting to play ska is getting the timing right for depressing he frets after each chord is played. If you're at the point where you can play the basic ska chords you shouldn't have trouble transitioning between chords. All you need for ska is to be able to play the highest 4 notes of an Fmaj, Amin, Emaj., Dmaj Transposed to different frets.



idk i'm against lessons on any instrument. I tried taking piano lessons a long time ago and people either just taught too slow or just basically just gave me a list of things to go home and practice... which is what you should be doing but i'm sure you can find all that kind of stuff on the net for free

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11/23/2010 7:17:23 AM

I think as long as you have an awesome teacher, lessons can be worth it. I took them for the first two years I had my guitar but the teacher I had was a life-long family friend and really awesome. He taught me some music theory but also let me pick the songs I wanted to learn... It was a good experience

11/23/2010 10:22:24 AM

this thread is relevant to my interests.

11/23/2010 1:21:07 PM

I wish I would have taken either guitar or piano lessons when I was younger. I have trouble with some stuff these days because of bad habits with hand positioning over many, many years of playing because I taught myself.

Nothing wrong with teaching yourself though really, you can just sometimes run into some walls.

[Edited on November 23, 2010 at 1:46 PM. Reason : .]

11/23/2010 1:45:27 PM

I do have terrible fingering habits but in some cases it makes certain chords easy to switch between. As long as you can play the basic 7 or 8 stereotypical singer songwriter chords you should be okay as a beginner to intermediate player.

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11/23/2010 1:53:12 PM

Agreed.

11/23/2010 2:00:50 PM

Quote :

"idk i'm against lessons on any instrument. I tried taking piano lessons a long time ago and people either just taught too slow or just basically just gave me a list of things to go home and practice... which is what you should be doing but i'm sure you can find all that kind of stuff on the net for free"

There are a ton of resources on the internet, but I'm the type that will benefit greatly from having someone guide my progress.

Ska chords I've already learned for the most part, but that has more to do with the rhythm than the specific chords. Properly done, you're not depressing the frets, you're palm muting into each upstroke. What I'd rather be learning more about is chords, alternate fingerings, and chord progressions.

[Edited on November 23, 2010 at 5:20 PM. Reason : ]

11/23/2010 5:20:30 PM

To me there's something very inorganic about guitar lessons. Learn to play songs on your own, through the internet and by playing with people you know. You'll pick up some bad habits along the way, but that's part of playing guitar and not being a robot about it. If you want to be Esteban, you can pay some guy to drill theory into your head, but by carving your own path, you'll pick up what you need naturally and become a more unique musician. Basically, unless you aim to become classically trained, guitar is easy enough and fun enough to learn quickly and effectively without paying some guy.

11/23/2010 5:34:56 PM

^ for me, taking lessons makes me more likely to practice because someone's holding me accountable. also spending the money is motivation too.

11/23/2010 10:43:55 PM

Quote :

"I got good by not having any life and playing guitar for like 6 hours a day."

This is the preferred method. Back when I started, I had to rely on my trusty cassette player and crappy magazines. Now with the internet, there's really no reason to pay for beginner lessons. Check out Marty Schwartz on youtube. He's got some cool lessons for both beginner and advanced players.

11/23/2010 10:56:17 PM

idk when i was younger i had such a passion for practicing that i never really needed motivation.

Now i only really practice enough to keep my fingers loose, or when i'm having extreme difficulty with something.


I'm AstralAdvent and i approved this message.

11/24/2010 1:48:14 AM

this is my warm up routine

I'm AstralAdvent and i approved this message.

12/5/2010 3:18:04 PM

That was straight up baller as fuck. I would love to play like that.

At moment I'm so full of fail that I keep breaking strings when putting on new strings and trying to tune the guitar.

12/25/2010 8:01:58 PM

^ Why/how? Standard tuning?

If you're just trying to change the strings and go to standard tuning you shouldn't be breaking them....especially if you give them a bit of time to stretch (Tighten strings close to the note you're tuning to...give it a few minutes, tighten it some more, etc. Eventually they'll quit stretching and hold the correct note). Now if you're tuning to some crazy shit, yeah, it happens. There's a guy I started listening to called "The Tallest Man on Earth" that has some crazy tunings that have caused a few broken strings. (CFCFCF in particular-capo 5th, DADEAD, etc)

I want a classical guitar. That chick is badass. I am the suck



[Edited on December 25, 2010 at 11:48 PM. Reason : ]

12/25/2010 11:43:15 PM

Because I didn't know you had to let the strings stretch.

12/26/2010 6:55:30 AM

I always do. May not be necessary, but I've found it's a little easier on the strings. If you're using quality strings, you shouldn't be breaking any when you restring your guitar and tune to standard tuning.

What I do:
1) Go the direction from low E string (thickest) to high e string (thinnest)
2) Put on the low e. Tune it to where it is taut and makes a decent sound. Don't really care if it's the correct note, just put it on to where its somewhat tight and starts a bit of stretching
3) do the same with all others
4) Tune the low e to it's rightful pitch. Work your way down through the rest of the strings....tuning them to thier pitches
5) By the time you tune all of the others, the low e will be out of tune again becuase it'll stretch out and the other strings will move the neck a bit. Re-tune the low e string. and continue re-tuning the others.
6) after a few times (usually 3 or so passes), all of the strings will stop "going out of tune" and stretching and will all stay holding their proper notes


[Edited on December 26, 2010 at 10:56 AM. Reason : ]

12/26/2010 10:53:30 AM

hmm so maybe all these complex female guitarists I'm looking for are in classical music

12/26/2010 12:17:22 PM

that video above just inspired me to pick up my classical for the first time in a while


is it a bad sign that after i finished running through my old fingerpicking warmups i naturally reached down to cut off the volume pot

12/26/2010 12:48:37 PM

Yeah... volume pot should always be on ten :o

I'm astraladvent and I approved this message.

12/27/2010 2:51:03 AM

Bump...saw this on slickdeals. Really good deal


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Too lazy to tinyurl it. Probably won't last long

[Edited on December 28, 2010 at 11:54 PM. Reason : ]

12/28/2010 11:53:38 PM

what's volume pot?

12/29/2010 7:40:47 AM

volume potentiometer (volume control)

12/29/2010 7:52:50 AM

Same as the knob, pot or potentiometer is the more technical term

[Edited on December 29, 2010 at 7:58 AM. Reason : Too slow on iPhone ]

12/29/2010 7:56:27 AM

ahh, so volume pot is guitar-nerd speak for volume control. Got it.

According to spinal tap, shouldn't it be on 11?

12/29/2010 8:20:32 AM

^The amp should be at eleven.

12/29/2010 9:59:49 AM

Quote :

"my (male) friend took classes at meredith"

most laid guy ever

12/29/2010 11:02:45 AM