Ever wanted to learn guitar? It's not too late.

[sixstringsteve]

one thing to help with the chord changes is to remember that your ring finger doesn't move at all between the G and D. Also, he kinda cheats on his G chord (and so do I). He isn't playing the 5th string (where his index finger is). He's muting this string with his middle finger. If none of that made sense, just ignore it. If it did make sense, it may make it easier to switch.


Also, he plays his D with his thumb on the 6th string. That's extremely tough. I wouldn't try to do that yet, I'd just go to a normal D shape (XX0232).


I'm not sure how he teaches the strumming, but you're right, that's a tricky rhythm for most people. I teach my students to say "down" or "up" when learning to strum. So that strumming pattern would be:

D....D U... U D U
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

 

[DerekM]

I know this is an old thread, but recently I have gotten interested in learning. I need a guitar but have a hard time paying $200+ if it isn't something I am going to stick with. Does anyone have input on this here Epiphone??
http://www.amazon.com/Epiphone-DR-100-Acoustic-Vintage-Sunburst/dp/B0002F7IV2/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

It has pretty good reviews everywhere I've read. Should I buy this one, or do I really need to find a more expensive guitar? I just don't want to get annoying buzz sounds

 

[nnnnnate]

First time seeing this thread. Sweet.

My wife bought me this guitar a few years ago and I never really played it. Its an Ibanez ew20asn.

I mainly picked this one because it was pretty and I have dreams of playing flamenco. I play the piano well, know a couple guitar chords, and can kind of read tab. Is this supposed to have nylon strings? Is it an abomination that it has metal? The only recent times I have touched that guitar have been to move it so I could paint that room, and to take that picture.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I know this is an old thread, but recently I have gotten interested in learning. I need a guitar but have a hard time paying $200+ if it isn't something I am going to stick with. Does anyone have input on this here Epiphone??
http://www.amazon.com/Epiphone-DR-100-Acoustic-Vintage-Sunburst/dp/B0002F7IV2/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

It has pretty good reviews everywhere I've read. Should I buy this one, or do I really need to find a more expensive guitar? I just don't want to get annoying buzz sounds

I'd recommend going to the Great Salt Lake Guitar Co in downtown provo. They're really knowledgeable. If you choose to buy something like that epiphone, it'll probably buzz out of the box. Usually buzz can be fixed with a good setup. For $25, the guys at great salt lake guitar co do a killer setup.

 

[sixstringsteve]

First time seeing this thread. Sweet.

My wife bought me this guitar a few years ago and I never really played it. Its an Ibanez ew20asn.
View attachment 93049
I mainly picked this one because it was pretty and I have dreams of playing flamenco. I play the piano well, know a couple guitar chords, and can kind of read tab. Is this supposed to have nylon strings? Is it an abomination that it has metal? The only recent times I have touched that guitar have been to move it so I could paint that room, and to take that picture.

It is not supposed to have nylon strings. It has the correct strings, and it does indeed look beautiful.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Check this out. I haven't used it. I'd love to do a 2 day demo of it to see how well it does. I will say, what it does do is make it super fun to practice, and the more you practice the better you'll get.

rocksmith.ubi.com

As an instructional designer (and guitar teacher), I totally geek out with stuff like this. Basically it looks like guitar hero with an actual guitar instead of 4 buttons.

I think my favorite part is that it teaches you how to practice.

Here's how it works:
[video=youtube;FVXl3hlxoZs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVXl3hlxoZs[/video]

 

[McFate]

I've been playing for close to 15 years now, and Rocksmith is one of my favorite tools. I've probably made more progress playing guitar with Rocksmith than I have in the years leading up to it. Mostly because it does make it fun to practice, and it's actually a pretty decent way to learn a new song.

You'd definitely want to pick up the 2014 edition though. The UI is a lot easier to use, the overall experience is better, and the session mode (just jamming with a virtual band) is pretty awesome.

 

[sixstringsteve]

i'll have to try it.