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The bullman comes crashing in

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(@minotaur)
Posts: 1089
Noble Member
Topic starter
 

Hi...

My name is Frank. I'm 51 years old (as of yesterday). I took guitar lessons about 18-20 years ago, on a 6-string acoustic. I also have a 12-string acoustic which I like using every now and again for certain songs.

Before my first lessons I was trying to learn by myself, on and off since my teens. I fell out of learning until this past January when the bug bit me, and I signed up for lessons. A few weeks later I bought my first electric, a Jackson JS30DKT Dinky Hardtail:

I love it.

I haven't been happy with the way my lessons have been going. It seems that everyone wants to learn and teach soloing... everyone wants to be Slash, so that's what the teachers focus on. Well, I'm a rhythm guy and tried to make that clear. So, I'm withdrawing from lessons for a while to focus on getting better at chord changes, strumming and rhythm. The barre chords, pentatonic scales, lead can come later.

This is just a fraction of what I like:

Against The Wind
Angie
Bad Moon Rising
Classical Gas
Every Breath You Take
Heart of Gold
Hey Jude
Horse With No Name
House of the Rising Sun
I Hear You Knocking
Imagine
Dust in the Wind
Let It Be
My Sweet Lord
Night Moves
Proud Mary
Losing My Religion
(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay
Still The Same
Sundown
Working Class Hero
Yesterday

It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.

 
Posted : 16/07/2008 3:34 pm
(@sparky1ma)
Posts: 54
Trusted Member
 

Welcome, minotaur, to the most helpful guitar site on the net (IMHO). In the few months I've been lurking around here I've gotten some excellent advice on repairs, alternate tuning and just about any silly question I can think to ask. One thing though, never and I mean never be afraid to ask any question that is on your mind, I can guarentee that somebody on here can and is more than willing to answer it. Everyone I've "talked" to on this site has been nothing but nice and polite.
Have fun and ROCK ON!!!
Rich

Where am I going....and why am I in this hand basket?

 
Posted : 16/07/2008 3:47 pm
(@minotaur)
Posts: 1089
Noble Member
Topic starter
 

T'anx you very much. :wink:

I actually stumbled on the whole site because I was looking for something more on Heart of Gold than my teacher gave me. Well lo and behold! :lol: So I just tooled around the site, downloaded the mp3s for Heart of Gold and Horse With No Name, and... well... here I am!

It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.

 
Posted : 16/07/2008 4:01 pm
(@urbancowgirl)
Posts: 428
Reputable Member
 

Welcome Minotaur!

Many of us have stumbled upon this site only to find it a very helpful tool to learn with.
Enjoy your stay. :) That's a nice looking guitar you've got there.

All my life I wanted to be somebody. Now I see I should have been more specific.

 
Posted : 16/07/2008 4:42 pm
(@minotaur)
Posts: 1089
Noble Member
Topic starter
 

Thanks. I love the guitar (did I already say that? :lol: ).

There's a lot I want to learn.

It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.

 
Posted : 16/07/2008 5:34 pm
(@twistedlefty)
Posts: 4113
Famed Member
 

Welcome to GN!
nice song list too!

#4491....

 
Posted : 16/07/2008 9:45 pm
(@minotaur)
Posts: 1089
Noble Member
Topic starter
 

Thanks.

I also have some guilty pleasure numbers like Ode To Billy Joe, San Francisco (Be sure to wear flowers in your hair), These Boots Are Made For Walking, Coconut (put de lime in de coconut... I always have to play that for my 15 year old stepdaughter) and a host of others. :lol:

It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.

 
Posted : 16/07/2008 9:49 pm
 KR2
(@kr2)
Posts: 2717
Famed Member
 

Hey Minotaur.
Welcome to Guitar Noise.
Your song list got a lot of nods from me. You obviously have good taste in music.
Are you a Taurus also?

Sidebar: Ewww . . . a pic of UrbanCowGirl! Sweet.

You going to translate that Greek for us?

It's the rock that gives the stream its music . . . and the stream that gives the rock its roll.

 
Posted : 16/07/2008 10:35 pm
(@minotaur)
Posts: 1089
Noble Member
Topic starter
 

I like classic rock. The closest I get to metal is Zep.

I'm a Cancer. Birthday was yesterday. :wink:

The Greek is:

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ (Molon lave) Come take them
(Leonidas to Xerxes at Thermopylae).

Ειμαι O Μινώταυρος (Eimai O Minotavros) I am The Minotaur

I am not Greek, but an "honorary" Greek with my Greek friends. :lol:

It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.

 
Posted : 16/07/2008 10:59 pm
(@vic-lewis-vl)
Posts: 10264
Illustrious Member
 

Welcome to GN, Minotaur! I turned 51 a month ago, and from the look of your song list, we grew up listening to the same radio stations!

Dunno what that Russian writing is at the bottom of your posts, though - it's all Greek to me!

EDIT - ha, you beat me to it.....you must have posted at almost the same time!

:D :D :D

Vic

"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)

 
Posted : 16/07/2008 11:00 pm
(@minotaur)
Posts: 1089
Noble Member
Topic starter
 

Thanks for the welcome. :)

Yeah, I grew up with the Beatles, Stones, Derek and the Dominoes, all the classic rock. Then Bob Seger burst onto the scene. I'm sorry to say, and don't mean to offend anyone, but today's rock can't hold a candle to the classic stuff. :wink:

Here in NJ the classic rock station is Q104 (WAXQ, 104.3) out of NYC.

Btw...

Я говорю только немногую русское
(I speak only a little Russian) :lol:

It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.

 
Posted : 17/07/2008 12:39 am
(@jick-jackson)
Posts: 90
Estimable Member
 

I haven't been happy with the way my lessons have been going. It seems that everyone wants to learn and teach soloing... everyone wants to be Slash, so that's what the teachers focus on. Well, I'm a rhythm guy and tried to make that clear. So, I'm withdrawing from lessons for a while to focus on getting better at chord changes, strumming and rhythm. The barre chords, pentatonic scales, lead can come later.

Welcome Minotaur! :D

Some of us young guys/gals (38 heh heh not so young I guess) love CCR, the Beatles, Zep so I'm with you but i am also into "alternative (to what?)" country and "alternative" rock (most of which gets it's roots from the classics anyway) so glad to have you on board :D .

As to your comments about lessons, I took one guitar lesson when I was about 12 and the guy said I was doing it wrong (I had already kind of taught myself some rudiments and I play with my thumb over the top of the neck alot) so I quit. My peers consider me to be an accomplished and talented guitar player :oops: so I think all you really need to know is the basics, which it sounds like you do. I mean, I could get someone to teach me how to "shred some wikked solos" but I don't have any desire to so I don't. I took what I learned in piano lessons in grade school and figured out the guitar and it made me a much better musician for it. Don't blow your money on lessons, just PRACTICE. I play about three hours a day, even though I work probably 70 hours a week (I even have an epi valve jr and an overdrive pedal in my office :D ).

So just keep at it, sometimes just one simple "aha" moment can lead to a whole new slew of possibilities.

And all those songs you listed, they mostly share one great thing that most of the "great" guitar players have it too: They are EXCELLENT rhythm players. Keep us posted on your progress and glad you got the guitar back into your life!

Peace,
Jick

Wait, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?
Visit The Best Show on WFMU at wfmu.org

 
Posted : 17/07/2008 4:15 am
(@big-lar)
Posts: 165
Estimable Member
 

...I'm a Cancer. Birthday was yesterday. :wink: ...

Happy Birthday Minotaur! Mine was the 11th. Us Cancers have to stick together. Welcome!

 
Posted : 17/07/2008 2:18 pm
(@minotaur)
Posts: 1089
Noble Member
Topic starter
 

Welcome Minotaur! :D

Thanks! :)
Some of us young guys/gals (38 heh heh not so young I guess) love CCR, the Beatles, Zep so I'm with you but i am also into "alternative (to what?)" country and "alternative" rock (most of which gets it's roots from the classics anyway) so glad to have you on board :D .

You know, I don't know a whole lot of Country, but what I've heard I like. I've had some sampler cds (I love samplers :mrgreen: )... really, because you get to... well... sample! I have samplers of Scottish pipe and drum, Indian classical; my next trip to the music store may find me picking up some other ethnic and Native American samplers.

But anyhoo... what I like about the Country I've heard is the rhythm base.
As to your comments about lessons, I took one guitar lesson when I was about 12 and the guy said I was doing it wrong (I had already kind of taught myself some rudiments and I play with my thumb over the top of the neck alot) so I quit. My peers consider me to be an accomplished and talented guitar player :oops: so I think all you really need to know is the basics, which it sounds like you do.

Yeah, I think some of us overthink what we need to know, and the technicality of it. I never knew that Heart of Gold is, what, 3 chords? Horse With No Name is 2! Nilsson's Coconut is 1 chord for all 3+ mins. of the song (C 7) and finger-picked. I'm realizing that all the rest of the song(s) are bass, drums, a second guitar. And bells and whistles. A good rhythm, singing (OK, that comes later :oops: ) and you're good to go.
I mean, I could get someone to teach me how to "shred some wikked solos" but I don't have any desire to so I don't.

Shredding! Eeeewww! :lol:
Don't blow your money on lessons, just PRACTICE. I play about three hours a day, even though I work probably 70 hours a week (I even have an epi valve jr and an overdrive pedal in my office :D ).

So just keep at it, sometimes just one simple "aha" moment can lead to a whole new slew of possibilities.

And all those songs you listed, they mostly share one great thing that most of the "great" guitar players have it too: They are EXCELLENT rhythm players. Keep us posted on your progress and glad you got the guitar back into your life!

Peace,
Jick

Thanks for all that advice Jick. :wink: I'm going to seriously think about and revisit the idea of not taking lessons.

Someone on another forum told me (copied from the post):

"The fact is this - there are a lot of guitarists who really don't get why rhythm is so important...there's so much to it and it is so rewarding to learn to do properly. It really truly is the essence of playing guitar.

I have a 73 year old student, and I knew I would have to do some research and revise my methods a bit for him. Man, I really dig the rock from the 50's and 60's. You put on a Chuck Berry tune, and dog - THAT is rock and freakin' roll!!! Of course I went over technique first, and taught him how to count properly and how to stay in the pocket. But once we started learning Tooty Fruity, and now working on Johnny B. Goode...the light just went on for him, and all the stuff I had to really teach him went out the window, and he just got it without me saying anything.

Rhythm is the essence of life. You wake up in the morning, you take a shit, you go to work, eat, come home...eat some more, take another shit...LOL! Just like we master the rhythm of life, we need to master the rhythm of music. You understand this, and I think you should go with your gut instinct here."

I'm telling you, I am finding sooo much on the internet and in books. I have Guitar For Dummies and Rock Guitar For Dummies. I "played", practiced and studied on the internet for about 2 hours last night, and I do not know where the time went!

It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.

 
Posted : 17/07/2008 2:54 pm
(@minotaur)
Posts: 1089
Noble Member
Topic starter
 

...I'm a Cancer. Birthday was yesterday. :wink: ...

Happy Birthday Minotaur! Mine was the 11th. Us Cancers have to stick together. Welcome!

Thanks Big Lar. :)

I hope you're not a moody Cancer like I am. :wink:

It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.

 
Posted : 17/07/2008 2:55 pm