frustration

Before we can give you an idea of where to go we need to know where you are. It's kind of like giving directions when you're lost :) What kind of style would you like to play? What, if any, songs can you play so far? Have you learned any theory, scales, chords?

Give us this information and you'll find allot of help from us here at GuitarNoise!

Hope to hear from you soon

Well first I don't think there is anyone here who is more vocal about his frustration than I. I understand exactly what you're going through. Secondly, lord_ariez is right...we need more information as to where you are, what you are currently working on and where you want to go...

I agree, we need more info, but you also have to understand a lot of people just don't sit down with the tab and have it down cold after a couple attempts. It takes time to "soak it all in", practice it and get all the transitions to flow fluently....... so yes, you do have to sit down and read a lot. It's the nature of the beast.

TABs may imply that you are trying to play lead or a somewhat complicated rhythm part.
I found that learning basic open chords and a couple of strumming patterns would allow me to strum my way through some easy songs and actually make some music, songs like "every rose has its thorn" or "knocking on heavens door" are fairly easy to play and keep my interest and enthusiasm up while I work on the more dificult songs.
Just don't bite off more than you can chew or you will get frustrated.

I know most of the basic chords and im interested in playing just about anything til i get my own style down. id like to learn easy songs. I see the tabs and alot of them show the chords but how do you know the strum pattern?

Strum patterns arent very immportant for most songs, you will just have to listen to get the timing down. Since you're just beginning you can start with one strum for every beat to learn how the chords change and progress throughout the song. Once u have the down the strum pattern should come naturally, or you can invent your own, the most immportant part is that you have fun with it. I know the frustratin that you are going through, cuz I've been through the same thing, but when your frustrated your not having fun, and if you're not having fun then you're not gonna learn anything.

With tabs you not only need to know what the song sounds like but you need to be able to isolate the guitar part and identify the strumming pattern,

or --

have a bunch of strumming patterns in your arsenal and try them all until you find a good fit.

It isn't too often that an internet tab will give you the strumming pattern, let alone the correct chords.

But you are lucky, you are in the right place. Look into the Beginners Songs lessons and in the Easy Song Database on the Forum. Lots of songs there with strumming patterns included. Also a few lessons here and there on strumming.

Don't give up,
Michael

how do you know the strum pattern?
I have to agree with Mikey when he says
have a bunch of strumming patterns in your arsenal and try them all until you find a good fit.

I also agree with Lord_ariez advice to start with something very simple and get fancier once you've nailed the other aspects.
Since you're just beginning you can start with one strum for every beat to learn how the chords change and progress throughout the song.

I have several books of songs, but only one gives detailed strumming patterns. It's a book of early Dylan songs, so it's fairly easy to give strumming instructions because it was only him playing originally.

And when I look at that book, several things are immediately obvious - one being that he often changes the strumming pattern every two or three bars anyway. There's also one song that they include twice - in different keys, and with totally different strumming. Chopping around is very common with people playing live.

When I first tried playing songs I was a bit puzzled as to why they didn't sound much like I thought they should. Eventually, I realised that one reason was because the "tune" or melody line that had stuck in my head came from the singer, not the rhythm guitar playing chords like I was. And sometimes I was trying to produce something that it had taken a whole band to do...... :)

But as my arsenal of strums and tricks improved - as Mikey says - I was able to put together my own 'arrangement' of the song, which still sounded good and was fun to play. Sometimes it even sounds a bit like the original too. :wink:

Hang in there.

Cheers, Chris

Thanks alot everyone! :D

Just use your thumb to strum in the beginning. DOWN, DOWN, DOWN. DOWN-UP, DOWN-UP then if you get a song down
start using the pick.

The timing is more important than the strum pattern (well, when you're trying to learn the song).

Have you tried the Easy Songs in the Easy Song database?

If your young and you're trying to play Green Day and the chords look easy don't let that fool you. These guys are masters with timing and sounding different.

Don't give up.

Tab is hard and confusing when you're fist starting out. There is a lot to work on without ever lookng at any tab.

You can work on learning the chords you already know, better. You can work on learning new chords. You can work on changing chords easily without losing the rhythmn. You can work on learning the names of the strings and the names of individual notes. You can work on learning a basic scale, for example, the C major scales, or the pentatonic scale in e minor.

Math280. Welcome to GN.

As many people have indicated focus on learning chords, scales and as many strumming patterns as you can. Once you build the arsenal of chords and patterns you can figure out how to play most songs by adapting the patterns.

Good luck

I find it helps to take a song you are trying to learn and break it down into small parts. Just learn one riff or one line at a time and go on to something else and come back to it later. you will find every thing will fall into place and befor you know it, you can play the thing :D

I do what smokindog does. When trying to learn a song, I usually start with the intro. I'll keep playing it until I feel I have it down. Then I'll work on say the next eight measures or so, then the next eight, until I have the first page of the song down. Then I'll play the complete first page until I've got the flow of it. I repeat this with the other pages of the song. I still don't have any songs complete, but I've got several songs anywhere from halfway to mostly complete. I try to remind myself that this isn't a race. This is a life long hobby. Take your time and break the songs up into digestable chunks and it'll come together for ya.