guitar megathread

[ekka]

I'm new to guitar but was wondering if i could get tips on how to play most opeth songs. I thought this forum needed more guitar related threads.

Questions :
1) Favorite songs/ riffs to learn on guitar - again by opeth.
2) Any tips on learning opeth songs - i read the sticky describing power tab and guitar pro but any tips that i may need to learn full songs.
3) fingerpicking!! arggghhh should i try most of the acoustic riffs with a pick or with should i finger pick them.
4) and is there a place where i can get the tab for " when day descends - adaptive " or anyone willing to help me learn the song?

thanx in advance all!

ekka

 

[Bereavement]

you played guitar how long? Opeth's song basically is not for beginner IMO.
some of them are quite easy and some are damn hard.

as I don't know your guitar skills level.

1. Demon of The Fall(quite easy and fun for playing it)
2. Actually many powertabs and guitar pro are meant to be full song tabbed or you want to learn a song by yourself then you have to have a precise ears because opeth uses alot weird chords and it's not easy to learn with and actually I watched an old video interview with peter and mikael, Mikael demostrate The Drapery falls and saids some chords he actually don't know what chords are they."
3. for those Opeths acoustic tracks you probably needed to use fingerpicking techniques and some heavy track's acoustic riffs(like, some riffs in Demon of the fall, you have to use pick to approach it)
4. sorry, I can't help with this question

good luck and I hope that what I said can help you a little bit

 

[soundave]

Yeah. Definitely not for beginners. Maybe try Harvest?

 

[prowlergrig]

opeth songs are not as hard to play as they seem... at least most of the riffs are pretty basic, the challenge comes when putting'em all together and playing the song start to finish... my favourite to play is prolly the moor (incidentally, my fav song too )..advent is really cool, too

 

[Ermz]

Yeah, you can never have enough guitar threads.

1) The most interesting Opeth songs to play are:
- The Leper Affinity
- Bleak
- Benighted
- Face of Melinda
- Serenity Painted Death

2) Just keep at it. Even if you learn all the notes but find yourself struggling to nail the technique just keep at it, and before you know, you'll be playing it fluently and won't even realize.

3) If practical, finger pick them, definitely. It's a better sound and it gives you this level of control over the notes and expression that I just love. You can't be an Opeth fan/guitar-rip-off-wannabe-dude without learning how to fingerpick well

4) No idea.

Good luck.

 

[Benighted Joe]

Favourite songs of Opeth? Pick em yourself

But maybe you aren't ready to play Opeth songs... They tend to be quite hard, change in tempo and beat a few times during one song.

But start with songs like Credence" & "To rid the disease" the latter is quite hard, but you asked for it

 

[ekka]

Thanks for all the tips -

in response to some of the replies

i'm not that new to guitar i can play a bit of metallica and iron maiden.
I was having trouble with a couple of songs actually ...

in godheads lament theres a part that goes like :
its the third riff -

d|-
a|--------------------------1^(1/4)--------------0-2-1--1-----0--
E|-0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0-----------0-0-2-3-2-3-------3---2-3----

d|-
a|-2-3\5--3-5
E|------------

that 1 3 1 part is hard to change to. Any tips?
Also for some of there solo's like for black water park they have sweeps or something with that name where they play like a chord but one string at a time - how do we play those? With my distortion pedal theres all this background noise from the open songs.


Benighted is kinda taking some time to learn but it seems possible. But when do we know when to finger pick and when to use just the pick to play every stirng of the chords.

Like my question would be in face of melinda - when they break away from the verse and play the bridge with the chords in 5-7 fret area - and then theres that small lead thats played then they go into another riff which is all finger picked - how would we go from pick to finger picking -


ANd for when day descends - is it possible to find a power tab of guitar pro tab for there(his?) stuff?


thanks again for all your help

 

[OpethGuitarist]

practice

 

[annt]

in godheads lament theres a part that goes like :
its the third riff -

d|-
a|--------------------------1^(1/4)--------------0-2-1--1-----0--
E|-0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0-----------0-0-2-3-2-3-------3---2-3----

d|-
a|-2-3\5--3-5
E|------------

that 1 3 1 part is hard to change to. Any tips?

Make sure you have a finger for each fret on your left hand (assuming you're right-handed), ie. play all notes on 1st fret with your index finger, all on 2nd with your middle finger etc. Of course this depends on where on the neck the riff is played.

Also for some of there solo's like for black water park they have sweeps or something with that name where they play like a chord but one string at a time - how do we play those? With my distortion pedal theres all this background noise from the open songs.

Sweeps are probably not the stuff for beginners, but anyway: you play them like you would slowly strum a chord, but you stop the sound after each note by lifting your finger, and don't lift the pick between strings.

Benighted is kinda taking some time to learn but it seems possible. But when do we know when to finger pick and when to use just the pick to play every stirng of the chords.

you don't necessarily need a pick to strum chords, but if I remember correctly, there's no strumming in Benighted. Might be wrong though.

Like my question would be in face of melinda - when they break away from the verse and play the bridge with the chords in 5-7 fret area - and then theres that small lead thats played then they go into another riff which is all finger picked - how would we go from pick to finger picking -

All of the picking stuff is not necessarily played with fingers. You can try using the pick on these parts.. But if you want to finger pick, then I suggest you just throw your pick away before said part


I'm sorry if some of my sentences are cryptic or just nonsense, I just came back from night shift. Correct me if I'm wrong somewhere.

edit: Oh yeah, and practice! And practice! And practice! And... well, you get the idea.

 

[phagist_]

Benighted is kinda taking some time to learn but it seems possible. But when do we know when to finger pick and when to use just the pick to play every stirng of the chords.

for most finger picking, i hold the pick with my thumb and index finger and arpeggiate all the notes of the chord, except the bass note with my fingers. So the bass note is left to the pick, and the other notes are left to my fingers.

 

[ekka]

do you guys have any websites that helped you aLong the way to becoming a more proficient player?


and btw thanx for all the tips -
phagist - thanx for the tip on using the other four fingers for picking - but for some opeth songs like patterns in the ivy i need to use my pinky and thumb inclusive to play bits - i.e. use all 5 fingers for finger picking so i think i'll just finger pick the arpegiated parts. but is there a trick to picing chords with a pick? like do we alternate pick each string when we do that? So lets say if we wanted to play hope leaves with a pick - would we alternate pick each string for that?

thanx again you all are awsome!

 

[Ermz]

I strum with my hands. When it comes to an all-acoustic or arpeggiated/strummed song, I just use the bare hand.. no plectrum in sight.

I think instead of asking these questions on an online forum, where you're bound to get varied answers, I'd say invest in a few guitar lessons. Even just a few will let someone who knows what they're doing show you in person how these very fundamental techniques are executed.

It's crucial that you get these stepping stone techniques down at the start, because if you learn the 'wrong' way... and by that I mean a way that will ultimately impede your playing instead of allowing it to continually develop, you'll need to rework those techniques, and believe me, dropping those habbits is one of the hardest things you can do.

So I'd say hit the websites after you already know how to play your instrument. Just use the internet to expand your musical vocabulary, so to speak, afterward.

 

[Julian Zembrowski]

Opeth is not too advanced when you start.. Within a few month's of starting guitar I was learning a few songs. (Minus some of the solos.)

I'm too inconsiderate and narcassistic to read everyones replies so don't mind me probably unintentionally running over a dead body.

Fingerpicking helps you go a lot faster when it comes to acoustic ballads and eventually if your not already into classical music your going to want to play some classical songs on acoustic which require some fingerwork.

 

[NickFBM]

I finger pick a lot, using the pick in between thumb and index is cool, but can be limiting as it obviously efectively cuts out the use of one finger, can be good though if the piece combines finger picked passages and also plectrum use.

Moonie is dead on as usual, get a couple of guitar lessons it really will help. Somone giving you objective opinons on your playing and pointing out mistakes and stongpoints will help enourmously. I teach guitar in my spare time, and I don't claim to be anything special, but even someone as ill qualified as me can make a difference to new players.

And what most people have said - practice. Play whenever you can in front of the TV, and play all styles they all help each other and will make you into a great player.

 

[affinityband]

Even though Opeth songs are immposible to be played immaculatley by a beginner this is the best band to improve your playing. You learn many different things justfrom one song. Its much easier for someone to one to one teach you also.