Guitar Beginner: Tips and Suggestions?

[_Brutalism_]

Hi guys, so after playing drums for almost 8 years and having too many guitarists quit on me in my band I decided to pick up the guitar and do things myself. ( I play a bit of bass so that helped me get a foot in the door early, luckily enough).

Not only will this help me improve my AE skills as I can get into the know-how of pickups, strings and general electronics of amps and related gear, but it will allow me to expand creatively.

I bought a PRS Tremonti SE from a friend who never used it and I'm loving the feel. I am currently learning some basic scales, namely the Minor Pentatonic, the Blues scale, the Dorian Mode and the Harmonic Minor scale.

I've been searching youtube for videos and looking for good sites (which are in abundance as I can see!), but I thought I'd also turn to you knowledgeable folk here for some tips on getting started and suggestions as to where I can find some helpful videos.

I know that the best thing to do is to find a teacher and go to lessons, but that isn't an option at the moment. What I do have is time and patience, as I'm not looking to become a virtuoso any time soon.

So, what do you guys recommend? What scales should I turn to next in order to build on my playing and do you recommend and websites or books in particular?

Thanks a lot in advance

 

[colonel kurtz]

you're on it already, man...just keep learning scales, and practicing fretting and picking technique, and soon enough you'll be fucking shit up!

 

[professorlamp]

Learn the modes, it'll beef up your vocab and possibly save you some time. Learn peoples songs that you like the style of. read a FUCKTON. Don't neglect theory because you think it will 'restrict' you ,that's just retarded.
Oh and last but not least chord construction is single handedly one of the best things about guitar.

 

[LeSedna]

Ask a lot of questions about practical stuff and find good videos about what you are learning. It helps more than a written text.

Don't try to learn all the scales possible. Just the few useful ones, I don't even myself know by heart and 100% a single one. I just don't feel the need since you can achieve a lot with knowing a few ones. You can invest some time on minor harmonic causeit gives a lot of color to a solo over a non melodic riff, as well as Arabic sounding scales.

Learn the basic chords, this is very important to be able to play all of them easily. Then, a few stretching exercices, strict picking, palm mute, and finger arpeggios. Later, a little sweeping, string skipping, at least for training.

Guitar is not so hard, at least to reach the level of any average metal music.

 

[_Brutalism_]

Many thanks guys, will definitely take your advice

Cheers for the support

 

[guitarguru777]

Most important thing you will ever learn!

USE A METRONOME!

 

[EerieVon]

practice as much as possible--scales, picking, etc. And stay off youtube--there are 13 year olds on there that blow my mind and if might discourage you although I would suggest checking out meghanthemetalqueen

[youtube]<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HczJ1Hy5AOM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HczJ1Hy5AOM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>[/youtube]

 

[_Brutalism_]

Most important thing you will ever learn!

USE A METRONOME!

Hehe, yeah I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to finalising something, so once I actually get good enough to play something coherent I won't neglect it! Thanks for the advice though


As for the youtube vids, haha, I used to find such videos of young virtuosos and people who you wouldn't expect to be so good (hope that didn't sound sexist because chicks can fucking kick ass ) such as the chick in the video to encourage the guitarist in my band to step up his game. Now it's my turn to get inspired!

I love The Faceless and DAMN that chick has got it tight!

 

[Fragle]

since you're a drummer, i guess you'll know the importance of timing, so i'll just skip that part and second what people said above about using a metronome.

if you want to do METAL, a few things come in handy:
don't be a pussy with your pick attack. tone IS in the hands, and the guys with the best tone tend to pick HARD. just like drums, hehe. but obviously always keep control of what you're doing.
get accustomed to thicker strings. what tuning are you playing in? a good starting point would be 10-46 for E standard, 12-56 for C standard, and 13-63 for B standard. this will prevent the strings to go out of tune with heavy pick attack, and will result in a fatter tone. it's tough at first, but don't settle for anything less really.
picks are also pretty important, but largely a matter of taste. some people love the dunlop jazz III, some the tortex .88 (the hetfield pick ), i personally love the tortex sharp 1.5mm, but these are not easy ones for a beginner imho, due to the thickness. just grab a bunch of different ones and try them, don't go for anything below like 0.7mm as it's just to thin to get any real attack in the rhythm playing imho.

other than that, i'd suggest you grab some tabs of your favorite songs and start to learn them. youtube is also your friend, carefully look at the way the good guys are playing. i wish i had youtube back when i started hehe.
anyways, scales are important, but they are nothing without the knowledge how to apply them. plus it's important to play some songs, it keeps you motivated and gets you a better knowledge of how your favorite music is constructed.

oh yeah, and don't try to run before you can walk!!! start slow, and start with easier songs, and get those right first. picking up the guitar and playing some loomis stuff isn't going to help you hehe.

 

[colonel kurtz]

oh, one thing i didn't mention earlier that's helped me TREMENDOUSLY is to watch yourself play in a mirror. it's a lot easier to see when you're using fucked up technique when you aren't looking at your hands from above...

 

[EerieVon]

And if you screw up a part don't stop playing, play through it and nail it the next time

 

[Jaymz]

Learn how to hold the pick the correct way and keep your movements down to a minimum

 

[_Brutalism_]

Cheers guys, will take all your suggestions to mind.

Fragle, thanks for your long and detailed post, very informative!

I intend to play in C sharp/D flat tuning as that's how the band's songs were written, so I will get thicker strings. The pick I am using is 0.6mm! Very flimsy; thanks for your guide, I will get thicker strings and a thicker pick

Holding the pick will take some time to get it perfect but I'm hoping I get it decent early as not to get into bad habits!

The mirror tip is very helpful, thanks a tonne colonel kurtz!

I'll take it easy and pick up from there. The thing is, I composed many guitar parts for the band, but never actually played. I used guitar pro (very roughly) or the good ol' sing-a-long method with a recording device lying around. Actually playing the stuff is going to be a great challenge I'm looking forward to!

Thanks again!

 

[XnaySaturo]

Semi-thread highjack, but does anyone have any ideas for metal songs to learn in E standard apart from the obvious Megadeth and co.?

 

[ATLA]

sylosis

 

[Airborne]

Semi-thread highjack, but does anyone have any ideas for metal songs to learn in E standard apart from the obvious Megadeth and co.?

Mercyful Fate, Judas Priest, Savatage,..

 

[Airborne]

The thing is, I composed many guitar parts for the band, but never actually played. I used guitar pro (very roughly) or the good ol' sing-a-long method with a recording device lying around.

That’s cool. I think you’ll learn faster during the song writing process. (How to create music with all the basic stuff like scales, chords, etc.).

 

[Fragle]

Cheers guys, will take all your suggestions to mind.

Fragle, thanks for your long and detailed post, very informative!

I intend to play in C sharp/D flat tuning as that's how the band's songs were written, so I will get thicker strings. The pick I am using is 0.6mm! Very flimsy; thanks for your guide, I will get thicker strings and a thicker pick

Holding the pick will take some time to get it perfect but I'm hoping I get it decent early as not to get into bad habits!

The mirror tip is very helpful, thanks a tonne colonel kurtz!

I'll take it easy and pick up from there. The thing is, I composed many guitar parts for the band, but never actually played. I used guitar pro (very roughly) or the good ol' sing-a-long method with a recording device lying around. Actually playing the stuff is going to be a great challenge I'm looking forward to!

Thanks again!

i suggest 11-52 strings for that tuning. d'addario or ernie ball are both fine, i've used them for years. d'addario are a little brighter but the ernie balls seem to last longer for me.

as for holding the pick, very good point. if you have any guitar playing friends, let them show you how to do it.
i basically wasted my first year of playing guitar due to holding the pick incorrectly. it worked fine for me at the time, but then i just hit a barrier and couldn't improve any more. switched the way how i hold the pick to "normal", which was quite difficult at first to be honest, but i haven't looked back ever since.
there are some name players who do all kinds of weird shit, and it just works for them. most of the stuff they're doing really only works for THEM, though

 

[muckypup1]

practice as much as possible--scales, picking, etc. And stay off youtube--there are 13 year olds on there that blow my mind and if might discourage you although I would suggest checking out meghanthemetalqueen

[youtube]<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HczJ1Hy5AOM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HczJ1Hy5AOM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>[/youtube]

This chick is good! She answered some technique questions of mine before ages ago as well

 

[muckypup1]

i suggest 11-52 strings for that tuning. d'addario or ernie ball are both fine, i've used them for years. d'addario are a little brighter but the ernie balls seem to last longer for me.

as for holding the pick, very good point. if you have any guitar playing friends, let them show you how to do it.
i basically wasted my first year of playing guitar due to holding the pick incorrectly. it worked fine for me at the time, but then i just hit a barrier and couldn't improve any more. switched the way how i hold the pick to "normal", which was quite difficult at first to be honest, but i haven't looked back ever since.
there are some name players who do all kinds of weird shit, and it just works for them. most of the stuff they're doing really only works for THEM, though

I learnt how to hold the pick in a fucked up way haha, I've been trying to break out of the habit though, I hold it with two fingers and my thumb, instead of just one finger and the thumb. It makes it easier for me to play faster rhythm guitar because my technique is pretty shit!