guitar pro 5

I've found this program invaluable. As a beginner I find it's great because you can easily download tracks from sites like Ultimate Guitar and then slow them down to a more manageable speed. You can take the song you're trying to learn and play along with the tab at half or quarter speed and then speed it up as you learn the song. It's really straight forward to use as well. I imagine that writing your own music might get complicated but for my purposes it's simple straightforward and effective.

As a beginner - one of the things that has really been working well for me is a metronome. If you feel you are going nowhere I strongly recommend getting hold of one and playing along with it. The software you mentioned may also help (sorry I haven't used it).

Say you can play a lead fragment smoothly and you'll feel satisfied with it. Satisfaction also leads to stagnation - what you need to do is pick up a metronome and play the same lead with the metronome. The metronome keeps increasing its pace and you have to keep up. It becomes quite challenging and encourages you to improve your playing ability.

It's just something that has been working out quite well for me otherwise I also tend to play a few chords for some songs and then get bored because it feels like there is no where to go. Lately I've learnt a lead fragment thats just 16 notes long but playing it consistently with a metronome is a different ballgame altogether.

Just so you know I have a Korg MA-30 from the Guitar Center. They said it was for $30 but gave it to me for $10 bucks cuz I told them I had no money :P

Just my 2 cents!
:)

I like the software. Many of us use it. It helped me to understand how to play some songs before I was able to get the feel of it all.

jigbounce,

Welcome to GN!

I put all my lessons and exercises in Guitar Pro, then use it to play along with when I practice. 8)

Helps me with timing and rhythm.

It also has a metronome feature that provides both a count down at the beginning to set the beat and clicks the beat throughout the tune.

B.S. :D

From Glee Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 9:30 am : https://www.guitarnoise.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10913
http://www.tuxguitar.com.ar/download.html

This is freeware that plays guitarpro files.
You need java and have to download a sound bank for java.
If you need help pm me I can guide you through it

I'm a fan as well. It's a really nice tool to help with timing and whatnot. I have to say though, don't get too dependant on it. Everyone once in a while, try and figure out a song by ear instead of just going straight for a tab right away. Still though a very fun and useful program! :smile:

P.S. Welcome to GN! It's good to see another guitarist from the great state of Nebraska around here!

If you just want to slow the song down, your "WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER" lets you do that. Just hit Ctrl/Shift/S and it cuts the speed in half while keeping the pitch the same. While a song is playing you can right click at the top of the player and see all the options.

If you just want to slow the song down, your "WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER" lets you do that.

Other MP3 players (like Winamp) can also do that as well.

What I like about the speed change in GP5 is the loop trainer.
It lets you select a chunk of the tab, and loop it starting at whatever speed you want, and have it go a bit faster with each repeat of the loop.
Start at 60 bpm, the next time thru, it can be 61, and after 60 loops, it's up to 120. Speed, rate of increase, number of loops are user settable.

And while doing all that, it shows you where you're at in the tab.
Very handy for beginners like me.

I think this is my biggest aid right now. I have only been at this a year so it was really proving difficult to nail down strumming and rhythm patterns. With GP5 it was a real Eureka moment for me. You can mute out certain tracks to really get to the heart of the song and slow it down with a loop to keep your hands on the guitar instead of your mouse. The best tab site I have found so far is http://www.gprotab.net/ They seem to have a very extensive selection. A lot of the tabs are definitely interpretations so beware of that. I agree to not rely solely on this program as I think that some of the tabs are a bit misleading.

PS It also has a keyboard map so you can transpose a songs to piano, a neat feature for a layman like myself.

The best tab site I have found so far is http://www.gprotab.net/ They seem to have a very extensive selection.
And when I haven't been able to find a tab already done, I sometimes search out a midi file online, and import that into GP5, which will auto-magically convert it into a tab.
If the part you want to play is being played by a different instrument in the midi file, the tools in GP5 can change the instrument, and will let you transpose to a comfortable key, and re-figure out the fingering in the tab to be relatively easy to finger.

I've done this with several Christmas songs recently, and it let me play some songs that I couldn't find a tab for.

I have been thinking about getting this as well. A friend of mine has some sort of program where you can run a song through it and take out, for example, the vocals so you can more clearly hear the guitar part you are trying to learn. Does this program do anything like that?

Yep. You can turn tracks on and off, set track volumes, pans etc.