Hi,
I am a new guitar player - I've always liked listening to music and had taken piano lessons when I was young, but never stuck with it (didn't recognize a lot of the songs I was learning), but recently, I have felt the desire to learn to play an instrument again, and I love the sound of the guitar, especially acoustic, so I got my wife to buy me one for my birthday.
Any ways, with three young kids, I don't have much free time to be heading off to lessons, so I have decided to learn on my own. I've bought two books - "Modern Guitar Method: Grade 1" by Mel Bay Publications and "You Can Teach Yourself Guitar Chords" by William Bay.
So far, within the last week, I have used the Modern Guitar Method book to learn the notes on the bottom three strings. I am working through this book sequentially and am having a ton of fun. I have been dedicating anywhere from 1/2 an hour to 1 1/2 hours a day practicing - my fingers are just starting to not hurt, so I am quite happy about that.
I have also found a simple tab layout for a song I like - the tabs do not include multiple notes (which I believe are called chords), so I have been able to work at the song a little as well - this helps to keep things diverse this early in the game when my "repertoire" is quite limited.
Any ways, my general question is, I am happy with my current course of learning, and progression, but I just want to make sure I am not missing any other basic concepts. The Grade 1 book I have does eventually progress into chords, so I know this is another concept I will learn, but is there any other areas I should concentrate on in the short or long term. So far, I have decided to hold off on looking at the Chords book until I am more comfortable with the fundamental notes - both playing and reading.
Any thoughts/suggestions are welcome.
Thanks.
Hey welcome to the board!
From what you're saying it sounds like you have a pretty good handle on it. Chords and single notes, reading and playing. That pretty much sums it up.
Chords - yes, notes stacked one on top of the other, sorta like every *other* note in the scale. They can be played as individual notes (arpeggios) either with a flatpick or with the fingers, or they can be strummed, again with a pick or with fingers.
Single notes - the same basically - either with a pick or fingers. Listen for lengths of notes - too short or too long, or if one sustains over into the next (which sometimes is a good thing) or whether they're supposed to be short and bright or long and flowing.
But other than that, it looks like you're having fun with it, which is the bottom line, really.
Best regards.
The Bay books will eventually wind their way through all the chords that you'll see in chord books, but they take a while. The presentation is to bring in materials as you learn each key (the level 1 book covers the keys of C, Am, G, and Em), and they present a programmed approach to technique... things like 9th chords are down the road quite a bit. By the end of book 1 you'll be equipped with only about ten chords.
Bay is excellent for learning to read, and I use it for beginning students. Folks who've been playing a while will find the progression rather slow, but if it's all new to you that's not an obstacle.
On the down side, there's very little in first several levels that prepare you for playing music found in other sources. Volume 1 will show you only three strums: a downstroke on every beat, a bass note on beat 1 with downstrokes on the rest, and an alternating bass and strums on the beats.
With my students, I use reading books like Bay's for about 1/3 of the lesson time. For the first couple of months, I also show 2-3 new chords in each lesson, and one new strum pattern, and we work at playing songs from songbooks or charts I prepare. Although the Modern Method will eventually cover all the 'out of book' stuff I do, the majority of students want to be playing songs their friends will recognize.
If the Bay books are sufficient to hold your interest, you'll eventually get the chops you need from them, and your reading abilities will end up being pretty good. If you're looking for more stuff to add, a chord book, some strumming patterns, and whatever songbooks you choose make great supplemental material.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
You are absolutely on the right course.
The Mel Bay books are what I first worked my way through along with the accompaning videos.
The TABs you downloaded and are working your way through, given your description, are likely built on arpeggios.
That is basically where you finger a chord and pick the individual note in it.
Much easier than trying to pick and finger one note at a time.
When you progress to a point that you feel stuck you may consider some half hour lessons once a week or so.
Good Luck
Thanks for all the feedback - its great to have this kind of outlet available. The Mel Bay book did not come with any video/DVD, so my strumming (and finger positions) might need some more external sources to get right.
I have recently downloaded some video of guitarists playing songs and some learning software which has some visuals in it, so I can get an idea of different strumming techniques and finger placement. This is all so I can learn some chords and (beginner) songs on top of the Grade 1 book.
Thanks again.
