Guitar - the beginners edition

[FETCHER.]

Hey everyone!

I started learning to play guitar in the last 2/3 weeks and I thought this place would be great for beginners to share tips, ask questions, to get advice on your playing journey and most importantly just talk about it!! Not many people irl care 😅😂

I had never picked up any instrument until 3 weeks ago so I'm probably learning some pretty basic stuff.

_______

The first and probably the most important thing I have picked up:

I love my acoustic guitar but wish I had bought an electric because I learned on my first lesson that electrics are much quieter when they aren't plugged in... this would help me practice much more often.

It would have saved me some money had I known as I'm now going to buy an electric on my next payday 😅

________

Please share yours no matter how big or small! They will help me and hopefully others out massively 😌

Hopefully we have some experienced players willing to pitch in and help us out here 👀😂

[Guybrush]

Grats on your start as a burgeoning guitar player 😊

I was never very focused with my guitar learning (never had a teacher) and it wasn't until I was about 20 that I leaned into it more as I was more focused on drums up until then.. but I have dabbled since childhood so have absorbed a bit of guitar know-how still.

I'll share and perhaps show some things that I found useful a little later on 🙂

Also, I prefer to have acoustics around because they're so easy to just pick up and play! Getting into electrics, you also have to think about guitar amps and perhaps effects.. although you can of course practice just playing it unplugged.

[Guybrush]

This might be a miss 😄 not quite sure about your level just yet BUT I did catch your trouble with the F as its a barred chord and - I assume - similar troubles with other barred chords.

You have to know them, but sometimes you can get around them and with better sounding or more interesting results, so just made a short vid about that 😊

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MGcPAqeQM0vIevMvUqLVk4_mgQjZl68B/view?usp=drivesdk

In essence, you can sometimes just play the open chord shapes you're used to further up the neck. On certain bars you will get dissonance, but elsewhere it might sound better or more interesting than the straight barred version.

I'll admit the F is something I do play barred unless I can get away with dropping the F down to an open E on the top (brightest) E string and play an Fmaj7 chord instead.



For my hands, that's a very comfortable chord to play and it's easy to move up the neck, so might be good to learn 🙂

It can become yet another way to play various chords without barring them with your index finger. Like say you play this starting from the fifth bar, you practically have an A chord. From third you have a G, etc.

[FETCHER.]

I'll try this version of the F chord out next time I practice. Thank you!

I don't play it fully barred yet. I have tried it but it's crazy difficult just now 😩 my instructor got me to try the below

High E string muted
B string 1st fret
G string 2nd fret
D string 3rd fret

I'm mostly struggling with pressing down on the strings effectively on this chord and not having my fingers piggy backing on other strings accidentally 😩.

On another note 😏 when I was practicing today I noticed a slight buzzing sound from my guitar when I was playing out certain chords, is this normal? I tuned it up and it still done it after tuning. It might be because I'm strumming and going between chords so slowly but I'm not sure.

[Guybrush]

I'll try this version of the F chord out next time I practice. Thank you!

I don't play it fully barred yet. I have tried it but it's crazy difficult just now 😩 my instructor got me to try the below

High E string muted
B string 1st fret
G string 2nd fret
D string 3rd fret

I'm mostly struggling with pressing down on the strings effectively on this chord and not having my fingers piggy backing on other strings accidentally 😩.

On another note 😏 when I was practicing today I noticed a slight buzzing sound from my guitar when I was playing out certain chords, is this normal? I tuned it up and it still done it after tuning. It might be because I'm strumming and going between chords so slowly but I'm not sure.

The cheat F he's trying to teach you is almost the Fmaj7 🙂 To complete/advance it, you can do this:

High E string open
B string 1st fret
G string 2nd fret
D string 3rd fret
A string 3rd fret
E string 1st fret

You can ditch the lower E string if you don't get your thumb to it comfortably. Then you can mute the top E like your instructor suggested to turn it into a cheat F 🙂 and if you nail the whole thing, you can move this whole chord up the neck and play it elsewhere, so a versatile shape to know.

About the string buzz, maybe you can do this simple analysis:

Does it go away if you only press the strings hard enough? Then it's probably technique.

Does it go away if you press the body of the guitar against your body? Then the buzz might come from the guitar body, like a back brace coming unglued.

Is the only way to get rid of it to play further up the neck? Your guitar might need a truss rod adjustment. In the guitar neck, there's a steel rod that you can bend with a hex key. If it's not set up right, it might cause your guitar's neck to curve, causing the strings to come too close to the frets.

Last, it could be a saddle thing causing too low string height (low action), but I think you wrote you bought a new guitar, so the saddle should be alright.

Last after last, it could be a belt buckle or a piece of jewelry or something touching the guitar bod as you play 🙂

[FETCHER.]

Lots to think about here, thank you!

I'm done practicing for the evening, my fingers are killing me 😆 but I will try all of these tomorrow night. There is every chance it is technique because my fingers are hurting 5/10mins in. I'm trying to practice little and often to hopefully overcome it asap

[FETCHER.]

From practicing I think the buzz is most definitely my technique.

I've not practiced much recently but when I have I've been practicing the Simpsons theme song which is great fun 😂.

I've found a few "easy" songs to play about with. One has a brilliant easy riff at the start that I've almost mastered.

I've fell out with F chord and B minor at the moment so needed some new songs. Those chords aren't fun 😊.

[FETCHER.]

I have still been chipping away at various different songs and melodies. I have had a bit of a leap the last 2 or 3 weeks and I can hear my skills progressing and coming together, it is so exciting!

I have an acoustic and I work unsociable hours so I've mostly been practicing with muted strings, practicing chord shapes etc which I feel has held me back a bit.

Has anyone got any recommendations on an electric guitar fit for a beginner? I don't want to buy too cheap, I would prefer to buy something nice but not too expensive. Please help as I have no idea what I am looking at 😊.

Currently I have an Ibanez acoustic which I do love! I just need something for practicing with at night

[Guybrush]

I have still been chipping away at various different songs and melodies. I have had a bit of a leap the last 2 or 3 weeks and I can hear my skills progressing and coming together, it is so exciting!

I have an acoustic and I work unsociable hours so I've mostly been practicing with muted strings, practicing chord shapes etc which I feel has held me back a bit.

Has anyone got any recommendations on an electric guitar fit for a beginner? I don't want to buy too cheap, I would prefer to buy something nice but not too expensive. Please help as I have no idea what I am looking at 😊.

Currently I have an Ibanez acoustic which I do love! I just need something for practicing with at night

If you wanna keep things simple, I'd recommend getting an Epiphone or a Squier. Gibson bought Epiphone and uses that brand to sell cheaper versions of classic Gibson guitars with the most iconic being the Les Paul

Fender owns Squier and does the same thing, selling budget Telecasters and Stratocasters.

I bought an upgraded Epiphone Les Paul once and it was actually pretty great. They have a shorter scale neck than the fender guitars, so if you have smaller hands, a Les Paul might be a little easier to play than most other guitars.

This is an Epiphone Les Paul:



This is a Squier Stratocaster:



So those are probably the most iconic guitars and even the cheapo versions can be good 🙂 I'd consider getting one second hand (and maybe upgraded).

Epiphone probably makes an SG, which I'd like (never had). Ibanez also makes a lot of reasonably priced guitars, though mostly in the realm of metal. However, I'm very fond of my upgraded Ibanez RC 320 which is a bit like a Les Paul / Stratocaster blend 😄



So those are popular, cheap options.

If you do come across a Godin electric guitar while second hand shopping, I find them to be generally very good even if they sometimes are ugly 😅

[FETCHER.]

This is exactly the information I wanted and needed, thank you so much!

I knew that Squier was owned by Fender and was the cheaper version but I wasn't sure if the quality differed from Fender or not.

I'm going to go a hunt around the local music shops this weekend and aee what 2nd hand stuff they have 😍 I'm not in any rush either so I have plenty of time to shop around!

Thank you again 😌 I'll let you know what I get & when I get it!

[Guybrush]

This is exactly the information I wanted and needed, thank you so much!

I knew that Squier was owned by Fender and was the cheaper version but I wasn't sure if the quality differed from Fender or not.

I'm going to go a hunt around the local music shops this weekend and aee what 2nd hand stuff they have 😍 I'm not in any rush either so I have plenty of time to shop around!

Thank you again 😌 I'll let you know what I get & when I get it!

The quality does differ and it would be even better to get a Fender or Gibson, but they of course cost more. However, it might be worth mentioning a couple of things.

For fender guitars, some were made in Mexico for a while. The build quality is a little more hit or miss so these are cheaper, maybe half the price of an American made fender guitar. So that's the cheapest fenders you'd normally find. If you see lower priced fender guitars, they might be "MIM Strats" or teles (Made In Mexico).

For Gibson, they have or used to have a studio range, so let's say Gibson Les Paul Studio. I think the point was to sell guitars that had similar build quality, but lacked some of the bells and whistles appearance wise, so they're a little cheaper.

For Epiphone Les Pauls, I think some of them were made in Japan for a while, possibly by Ibanez. I think people like those.

[FETCHER.]

The quality does differ and it would be even better to get a Fender or Gibson, but they of course cost more. However, it might be worth mentioning a couple of things.

For fender guitars, some were made in Mexico for a while. The build quality is a little more hit or miss so these are cheaper, maybe half the price of an American made fender guitar. So that's the cheapest fenders you'd normally find. If you see lower priced fender guitars, they might be "MIM Strats" or teles (Made In Mexico).

For Gibson, they have or used to have a studio range, so let's say Gibson Les Paul Studio. I think the point was to sell guitars that had similar build quality, but lacked some of the bells and whistles appearance wise, so they're a little cheaper.

For Epiphone Les Pauls, I think some of them were made in Japan for a while, possibly by Ibanez. I think people like those.

I don't know how I missed this, sorry!

I am now considering buying the unbranded cheapy electric guitar at the music shop for £65 because I don't need anything fancy just now and my funds are kind of stretched atm. If I do decide to go for the cheap one, I will possibly buy myself a nicer one next year.

I will definitely refer back here if that is the case though. This is all great info and I want to say thanks for it! I don't have any musically inclined friends of anyone I could really ask.

I wish I had taken some videos when I started, so I could compare things to now. I feel like I'm getting much better. Although I'm not quite there with playing a song seamlessly, I can definitely hear it all coming together 😁.

[Guybrush]

I don't know how I missed this, sorry!

I am now considering buying the unbranded cheapy electric guitar at the music shop for £65 because I don't need anything fancy just now and my funds are kind of stretched atm. If I do decide to go for the cheap one, I will possibly buy myself a nicer one next year.

I will definitely refer back here if that is the case though. This is all great info and I want to say thanks for it! I don't have any musically inclined friends of anyone I could really ask.

I wish I had taken some videos when I started, so I could compare things to now. I feel like I'm getting much better. Although I'm not quite there with playing a song seamlessly, I can definitely hear it all coming together 😁.

Sure thing 🙂 Everyone will want a "proper" guitar eventually, but the cheap ones can have great value for their price. Also, you don't have to worry so much about trying to fix them yourself or put stickers on them, etc.

I'd still recommend checking out the second hand market. You can find some great deals. In my last post, I may have forgotten to mention that "Mim Strats" are only found on the used market.. Unless Fender production has opened back up in Mexico.

Something weird about practicing, for me, is I find sleeping on it makes me better. So if I try to learn something and I can't quite get it, it will be easier after a night's sleep. At least for me.. it's weird 🙂