Newbie...

Welcome to GN!
A different teacher may be all you need. try getting started again with some of the lessons here.

Welcome to GN!
A different teacher may be all you need. try getting started again with some of the lessons here.

That's just it... I have no clue where to start, LOL. I really don't think I could teach myself. I know that practicing chords seems to be the big thing in learning. I just don't understand how I can get from practicing chords to playing songs on the radio or playing Johnny Cash, Nickelback, etc.

Oh yeah... thank for the welcome.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no expert (I've only been playing close to 2 months), but don't have too high expectations, its a hard thing to get into if you have no experience.

I've always loved music, and i think thats helped me learn to play. Listen to you're favorite songs, the ones you know off by heart. Start with slow ones and try to listen carefully to any changes in tone, most likely thats a chord change. Try and get a feel to the song, and start thinking of it in terms of phases, or a measure, as they often repeat themselves.

I'm teaching myself, from the sites such as this, from tab websites, from a couple of books i've bought and from simple experimentation, and i'm quite happy with how much i've learned. Just make yourself aware of the different aspects of playing and then practice them all, ESPECIALLY the ones that you aren't so good at. Start little, start slow, if it takes you a minute to switch between chords, so what? At least you did it! You will speed up in no time.

I doubt very much you are tone deaf, as it is caused by damage to the ears. But your ears need practice too! Try and learn a couple of major chords (maybe E minor and A major as they are easy to play imo) and play them very slowly and hear the difference. Try playing some major scales as well, this helps me in my ear training.

And rhythm is just as important as being able to play chords/riffs/solo's, try doing some strum patterns that mix things up a bit. Just on one chord perhaps.

I also find that reading up on some theory helps as well, helps you see what musicians are trying to do, or doing. Again i'm learning this from a book very slowly. But i know a lot more than i did at christmas!

And remember, even if you are deaf, you could probably still play, its been done before! So if you really want something, know that you CAN do it. Sure its gonna be hard, but it will be worth it when you're playing along with your radio :).

Nath

I have no clue where to start, LOL.
Welcome Supe.
I vote you start here:
https://www.guitarnoise.com/lessons/horse-with-no-name/
2 simple chords for a song most people know. There are mp3 files with the lesson so it's a lot like being taught in person by someone.
Good luck!
:)

Welcome to Guitar Noise, SuperMan! We look forward to seeing you around the forums! :D

I've been playing for quite a few years now, but, in the beginning it was hard to see how everything fit together. I agree with Boxboy, start with "Horse With No Name". It's a simple two chord progression (Em and Dadd6add9), and, once you get used to changing between those two really simple chords, and get a grip on the meter (the 4/4 time), you'll be playing a full song in no time! From there it'll be much easier to move on to a 3 chord song, then a 4 chord song, etc....

You might also want to go here and learn a bit about chords and their structure. In fact, why don't you just go here to the Absolute Beginners section. There is a lot of wonderful information that may clear some things up for you. (Especially the Rosetta Stone).

And, everyone on this forum is here to help you learn. No question is a stupid question. All questions are valid.

Good luck to you! We're here for you! :D

I've started learning just over a month ago so take this for what it's worth. :)

If finding another teacher is out of the question...

Find a song YOU like - nothing too fancy, Van Halen's Eruption can wait :) , and find the tab for it. If it's got lead and rhythm parts you want the rhythm part.

Take it a measure at a time. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. Repetition is your salvation, I kid you not.

Look at what the tab is telling you to play - dissect each chord/note - go and look them up via google and see how they "should" be fingered - I put "should" in quotes because there's usually multiple ways to do things, especially with chords. Do what feels comfortable for you.

Do NOT worry about speed. If it takes you two minutes to do one whole measure know that with practice that time WILL do down, you might not even notice it.

Google for a backing track for the song when you feel you are getting up to speed on a few measures. Be careful doing this too early as it could lead to frustration. You got all the time in the world to learn and build up speed so take it easy and go for accuracy.

Once you get one song well on the way to being down, you're likely going to find other songs aren't so hard anymore.

For me, I'm starting to get where I don't have to think too much anymore on a certain chord fingering - if I let it go my fingers just do it on their own. If I think about it, my brain and my fingers seem to fight over who is in charge. :D I'll have a good practice session (at least I feel it is) and then the next day I can't seem to do anything correctly. I'm not worried though, I know the next day after that I'm likely to nail things even better than the previous good session (it's just the way it's been for me - I get worse right before things "click" and learn to let my fingers' memory take over for my brain, which doesn't want to give up).

All part of the fun. :D

Ugh, sorry for the horrible rambling. Just try not to get discouraged, guitar takes time. :D

Superman, Everyone here is offering great advice. You're going to hit highs and lows. It's tough to learn, and you never stop learning. Get ready for a long journey, and have PATIENCE.

I'm not big on learning someone elses songs. Learn chords and how to change between them. Borrow riffs and licks from other players and make it belong to you, change them up. Music is about creativity, so, be creative and do your own thing. Don't worry if you miss a note or five just keep playing.

I started by my teacher telling me for my first lesson," here is the low E string, make a song with it and only it, with no hand on the neck". Yup, create a song with only one note. I made my own song. In other words, don't spend 5 hours a day to sound exactly like the artist that palys it on the recording. If you ask any guitar player they will tell you that even they don't play a song the same exact way every time. Also remember to play just single note rythms too, look at Led Zeppelins "Heartbreaker", the whole intro is done with single notes.

This place is the best home for new players I've see on the net to date. Hang out, you will learn tons. As a side note, I would always rather listen to someone just jamming to a simple drum track then play a song note for note.

And remember the most important rule...HAVE FUN!

I've only been playing for 2 months and teaching myself and all I can really add is "Patience Grasshopper". Don't get too hung up on what you can't do right now (all that comes with time and practice) but instead spend some time every day on just working on getting a little better than where you were the day before. Focus on doing the simple/fundamental things well and build on that as you get more comfortable.

As far as how best to learn, I think that really varies by individual and you'll get a different opinion depending on who you ask and what there experience has been, but whether or not you go with an instructor or the self-taught route the reality is "you get out of it, what you put into it" (translation...practice, practice, practice). I've always enjoyed the self-study thing and here's what has worked for me so far (I'm toying with idea of eventually hooking up with an instructor to have someone to play regularly with), but again what works for you will totally be dependent on your learning style.

- Hal Leonard Guitar Method, 3 book series - Starts out very simply and each lesson builds on the last. Comes with a CD (I think most do now) so you can have something to judge your lesson progress against.
- Blues Guitar Riffs and 101 Blues Licks - Both books contain short, fun little riffs/licks. Most are pretty easy to learn and, for me, it helps break things up a bit.
- Blues You Can Use - Just got this one and its definetely more advanced then what I'm ready for so I work through the lessons very slooooooooooowly, but I find it helps if I push myself every now and then with some more difficult lessons.
- Hal Leonard Guitar Play Along (Blues edition, do you get a sense for the kind of music I'm into...lol). I thought it would be a good thing for me to learn to play through some songs from begining to end so I've picked out the ones in the book that seemed easier to learn and working them into my practice routine (working on I'm You're Hoochie Coochie Man now, not sure how I'm going to tackle the guitar solo but the challenge is half the fun).

Anyway, best of luck, enjoy the journey and remember...IT'S NOT A RACE.

First, find out if you're actually tone deaf. Take these tests:

http://jakemandell.com/tonedeaf/
http://tonometric.com/adaptivepitch/

(They're both meant to be very hard, don't expect to get 100%.)

If you pass the tests, you're not tone deaf. Now all that's left to do is practice. :)

Thanks for everyone's advice! It's nice coming to a forum and seeing positive comments rather than not-so-positive. I've decided to take lessons, so I have my first one next week (which I'm excited). I just hope that after a while I can pick out the chord changes and what key the song is in and figure out the chords (and well be able to play the chords, lol). Should I learn the major, minor and sevenths chords to start out with? There are so many variations of a Major C chord that it intimidates me :shock: . Again, thanks for the welcome and I hope to become a regular on the forums and at some point maybe giving advice, lol.

welcome. I am glad to read you decided to take lessons. I believe that is the best way to gain a footing. later you can self teach as your interests grow and lead you to other guitar styles, etc.
I am really happy to read...'I'm so excited' in your last post. that is important.
make guitar playing a part of your life. do not drill yourself into the ground.
the learnign may be tough at times, but the rewards are most excellent all the time.

Should I learn the major, minor and sevenths chords to start out with? There are so many variations of a Major C chord that it intimidates me :shock: .

Your teacher will guide you to the first set of chords to learn. Likely majors and minors to start with. Believe me, you'll have enough to worry about with them. Once you get them though, look out! You'll be playing tunes!!!!

I would not worry about how many C chords there are. For quite a while, you'll be learning chords in the open position, meaning at the top of the neck in the first 3 frets mostly.

Your teacher will guide you to the first set of chords to learn. Likely majors and minors to start with. Believe me, you'll have enough to worry about with them. Once you get them though, look out! You'll be playing tunes!!!!

I would not worry about how many C chords there are. For quite a while, you'll be learning chords in the open position, meaning at the top of the neck in the first 3 frets mostly.

Thanks for the advice. I'm hoping that the teacher can also help me get my ears tuned so that I can hear chord changes and to be able to tell what chord is played. I ultimately want to be able to hear a song and play along whether it be on TV, radio, or with friends.

Would some of Johnny Cash's songs be a good starting point? My taste ranges from Country to Rock (not the rock where everyone is screaming).