Gospel Blues Rhythm guitar

[westcountryvillain]

I'm still battling on with my first acoustic guitar, chords no probs but identifying individual notes on the fretboard and learning fingerstyle is another matter altogether. I played piano in my formative years and can still knock a tune out now & know all the notes despite never really bothering to play at all beyond late ****s so this guitar stuff must just be my age!

I'd love to be able to play the Boxer - then I know I've made it

[soulman101]

I'm still battling on with my first acoustic guitar, chords no probs but identifying individual notes on the fretboard and learning fingerstyle is another matter altogether. I played piano in my formative years and can still knock a tune out now & know all the notes despite never really bothering to play at all beyond late ****s so this guitar stuff must just be my age!

I'd love to be able to play the Boxer - then I know I've made it

Hi, I took up the guitar late in life.
I learn the fretboard by Ist leaning the notes on the the low e and a strings. The dots are a good guide, the 3rd fret is G 5 is a 7 is A 9 is B.
Do the the same on the A string. Next learn the octaves , the octave of G on from the G on the low E ( fret 3} is on d the D string fret 5.
Same pattern from the A string , 3rd fret is C octave is on D string 5th fret.
Learn the the low E and The A string and knowing the octaves , you will have learnt 4 strings EADG
If you know the low E the High E is the same, so then you have got 5 strings then learn the B string.
The 5th fret is useful, to navigate and also for tuning the note are ADGCEA. The interval between between the strings are 4ths apart from from between the G and B which is a 3rd
Also check out the cage system.

[Omegstrat6]

I'm still battling on with my first acoustic guitar, chords no probs but identifying individual notes on the fretboard and learning fingerstyle is another matter altogether. I played piano in my formative years and can still knock a tune out now & know all the notes despite never really bothering to play at all beyond late ****s so this guitar stuff must just be my age!

I'd love to be able to play the Boxer - then I know I've made it

Been playing myself on and off for years but it's so much easier to learn these days with the advent of you tube and all the lessons you can find online. For beginners I recommend checking out both Justin Sandercoe (Justin guitar) and Marty Schwartz (if you haven't already discovered them!) There are also plenty of free guitar tab sites -although, like the many you tube tutorials, they vary in accuracy/quality.

Good thing about guitar is that you don't need to read music or to know much theory to progress as long as you can read guitar tab and "box" chords, although obviously it will be more beneficial to you if you do. (As you play keyboard already you'll already probably know more than most beginner guitarists anyway)

Personally I always think it's good to learn a mixture as you go along so you learn chords as well as single note riffs/licks and finger styles. Like everything, it takes practice but it should be fun too and I find that even learning pretty simple riffs such as Pretty Woman or Day Tripper can be rewarding so recommend you mix learning stuff like this inbetween learning new chord shapes. With the chords themselves experiment with playing them not only with different strum patterns but with various fingerpicking patterns too. Should be lots of resource online to learn including finger styles.

As for learning the notes I guess guitar is a little harder than keyboard where the octave pattern repeats itself up and down the keys but you already know the intervals between notes and the fret markings on the guitar will help you learn where the notes are. On the bottom E string the note on the third fret is G, the fifth A and the seventh B and then the ninth is D flat and the twelfth (with two dot markers) is E an octave higher than the open E string. The E shape chord has its bottom root note on the bottom E string. Move it up one with a Barre at the first fret and it's F. Move it up to the third fret its G and at the fifth it's A and so on.

The A shaped chord has its bottom root note on the open fifth string (the bottom E string isn't played). Move it up one fret with a Barre on the first string this chord shape becomes a B flat. Move the same shape to the third fret and it's a C, at the fifth it's D , the seventh E and so on.

Most players learn chords in the first position to begin with but it's good to begin to use moveable chord shapes too once you've mastered the Barre as you get a greater variety of sounds -plus you'll need it for power chord playing as well as all that Chuck Berry derived rock and roll /Blues style"shuffle" rhythm playing.

Anyhow, sorry if all this is this is teaching you to suck eggs but hope you enjoy learning!

[Omegstrat6]

Know I've probably written too much already but ref getting to know the notes on the guitar, the fret markets at the 3 5 7 9 and 12 frets are -as Soulman points out-the best way to navigate the fretboard. Also learning to tune by "relative" tuning rather than just relying on an electronic tuner will help you remember.

As you know, the standard tuning bottom bass to top treble is EADGBE. The note on fifth fret of bottom E string is same as open fifth string (A).The note on fifth fret of fifth string is same as open fourth string (D). Note on fifth fret if fourth string is same as open third string (G). The odd one out is the fourth, not fifth, fret of third string is same note as open second string ( and then fifth fret of second string is same as open top string (E).

Tbh, whilst I always know the chords I'm playing I don't really consciously think about names of notes I'm playing on guitar whereas I'm constantly worrying about it when I'm playing keyboard. Maybe I'm just finding it more difficult learning keyboard because I'm now having to learn to read music more and understand more theory-or it could be that I'm just getting old😞

[westcountryvillain]

Thanks for these tips fellas - think I need to bookmark this thread!

[kettering_baggie]

Have a go at playing bass guitar, you have to know where all the notes are as there is no strumming required. I very much enjoy playing bass but you need to keep the beat with the drums.

[Omegstrat6]

Have a go at playing bass guitar, you have to know where all the notes are as there is no strumming required. I very much enjoy playing bass but you need to keep the beat with the drums.

I've been toying with the idea of getting a bass guitar myself and it looks like I can pick up a cheapie one for about £80-90 but am I right in thinking that I will also need a bass amp or will it play through my guitar amp? I only have a small practice amp these days so don't know if it will be man enough although I won't be playing the bass at any real volume. The amp is a line 6 spider IV 15w.

[kettering_baggie]

I've been toying with the idea of getting a bass guitar myself and it looks like I can pick up a cheapie one for about £80-90 but am I right in thinking that I will also need a bass amp or will it play through my guitar amp? I only have a small practice amp these days so don't know if it will be man enough although I won't be playing the bass at any real volume. The amp is a line 6 spider IV 15w.

Don’t play a bass guitar through a guitar amp, you are likely to blow a hole in the speaker! I have a 25W bass amp from Gear4Music, excellent value, and I bought another off eBay for £25.

If you don’t happen to get on with your neighbours then a bass guitar will endear you to them even more! I like bass, turn the volume UP!

[Omegstrat6]

Don’t play a bass guitar through a guitar amp, you are likely to blow a hole in the speaker! I have a 25W bass amp from Gear4Music, excellent value, and I bought another off eBay for £25.

If you don’t happen to get on with your neighbours then a bass guitar will endear you to them even more! I like bass, turn the volume UP!

Thanks for this👍 Looks like I'll have to save my pennies. Amazon do a starter kit Inc a 25w amp for about £130 but not sure how good it might be. My local guitar shop has sadly closed so might have to trawl eBay and see if I can find a bargain instead.

[kettering_baggie]

Thanks for this�� Looks like I'll have to save my pennies. Amazon do a starter kit Inc a 25w amp for about £130 but not sure how good it might be. My local guitar shop has sadly closed so might have to trawl eBay and see if I can find a bargain instead.

If you are thinking of buying a starter kit I would recommend going to Gear4Music, the amp I bought off them is very good value and I have bought other stuff off them too. Try going to their website direct rather than through Amazon, my compressor pedal was £10 cheaper direct from G4M than from Amazon; they get some good reviews, too.