Most important steps....

JaDaRu · Unread post by **JaDaRu** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 11:49 am

Yah, I've recently come to realize how important strumming/muting are. My hand just doesn't flow though....its just herky jerky up and down. Oh well, in time it will get better

Jason

DreaminBassMunky · Unread post by **DreaminBassMunky** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 12:03 pm

The best thing to do is to just keep playing...as much as you can.

fatjack · Unread post by **fatjack** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 12:52 pm

JaDaRu wrote:Thanks everyone....now for a more specific questiosn: Should I learn scales and if so which ones? And lastly, are there any exercises I cad do or any other ways I can improve my strumming?

Gracias

Jason

learn the major scale up and down the neck... every other scale is based off it.

JaDaRu · Unread post by **JaDaRu** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 12:56 pm

Stupid newbie question cause I don't have any theory knowledge at all. Which major scale? (Yes, I realize this may not make sense, but I'm confused.)

Jason

fatjack · Unread post by **fatjack** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 12:57 pm

JaDaRu wrote:Stupid newbie question cause I don't have any theory knowledge at all. Which major scale? (Yes, I realize this may not make sense, but I'm confused.)

Jason

learn the shape for the major scale... then it will apply to every key

JaDaRu · Unread post by **JaDaRu** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 12:57 pm

gotcha....thanks

Jason

Lying In My Grave · Unread post by **Lying In My Grave** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 1:51 pm

for strumming, i don't think there is a proper way to go about it. i could never strum when i first started, but finally i got sick & tired of sounding so choppy, so i just did it anyways. that's what i suggest - just do it (with no correlation to nike

). it sounds dumb and totally unhelpful, but thats the only advice i can give on that.
force yourself, don't think about it, just do it.

also, with using your pick, be sure to learn to go up, down, up, down, on each string when picking. so on the low E string, if you were to go 1, 2, 3, 4 on the frets, you'd pick it as (D= down, U= Up...obviously) D1, U2, D3, U4. it's incredibly frusterating, but it can help you out a great deal later on, when frusterations really matter.

thejoe · Unread post by **thejoe** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 3:12 pm

isaac wrote: isaac isaac isaac

NOT issac

it's right there!

*sighs* you'd think i can go a day without someone spelling my name wrong.

anyway! glad you were amused by the star wars vid. hopefully others were, too...+30 views and only 3 responses. hehe.

back to the thread- as saleen said, lessons are definitely a plus. but it's a lot easier when you find a teacher that you enjoy. i had an awesome one, and just made me love guitar even more, especially through the basic stuff.

ohh sorry isaac :oops:

cgalves · Unread post by **cgalves** » Thu Aug 07, 2003 10:27 am

Although I am far from being proficient at guitar (YET), I have been around music and guitars my whole life (my whole family plays some sort of instrument, my brother in fact plays classical on an acoustic 12 string), there are 3 or so steps which mark significant achievements towards your goal of becoming a better guitar player.

1: Switching between basic chords (Em, Bm, D, C, D, etc) easily and quickly. Although this is very basic, this is the first step towards developing finger accuracy and finger speed. To facilitate this, you might want to play some simpler songs that contain these simple chords, such as Whiskey in a Jar, or Yellowcard - Something of Value. Live, lightning crashes works too

2: The next step up is in mastering the all powerful bar chords. These huge pains in the asses will take lots of time, patience, and finger strength to master, especially switching between these chords with relative ease. A good song to get these down is Dispatch, the General.

3: Scales / Muting / Finger Excercises
This step is the longest, and never really ends. It is just a progress meter on how you feel you are progressing. Practice numerous finger excercises to improve your speed and accuracy (these are the BEST way to get better as a guitarist, short of playing the Stone over and over again). If anyone is interested, I can tab out 30 or so excellent finger excercises I have from a book I have been learning off of. Muting is also quite difficult, something which teaches you the subtley of guitar playing, which I have only recently been getting the hang of.

Bottom Line: If you love playing guitar and have a passion for it, play every day. Im sure every experienced guitar player on this board can identify with going through these steps at one point or another, and I think these 3 symbolize the major "landmarks" of beginners progressing. These 3 steps should not however, be taken alone. These are steps which are a result of you never being satisfied with your current ability and constantly wanting to improve your technique. Satisfaction is a killer. Go from there.

Oh yea, since we are on the topic of scales, would anyone care to drop a link as to where I can read about them and learn some? I have heard scales and know some basic theory behind them but am confused as to how to play them. Appreciate it.

isaac · Unread post by **isaac** » Thu Aug 07, 2003 10:31 am

i'd love to check out those finger excercises, mate. and i'm sure someone here can probably help you out on the scales...probably fatjack. he's a 3AMer.

JaDaRu · Unread post by **JaDaRu** » Thu Aug 07, 2003 2:48 pm

I'd appreciate those exercises as well. Thanks for the great post....

Jason

swift360 · Unread post by **swift360** » Thu Aug 07, 2003 10:19 pm

yea.. same here (the excercises and the scales...)
thanks all.. i appreciate it (and so does anyone and everyone else)

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Most important steps....

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