nekotcha wrote:but why dont you just make ten a little louder and make ten the highest number... |
How easy is it to learn guitar? • Page 3
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dufftownallan 4,723 posts
Seen 3 years ago
Registered 15 years ago -
M83J01P97 7,607 posts
Seen 2 years ago
Registered 14 years agoAmazon currently have a range of electric guitar starter sets for around £80 (example) are those sorts of things utterly shit? Or fairly decent for starting out wth? -
Nah, they're fine for starting out. You'll soon develop gear-buying fever once/if you get into it, but there's no reason to throw money at it from day 1. -
GrandpaUlrira 3,879 posts
Seen 6 hours ago
Registered 16 years agoAs someone who spent two years or so learning on his own and has been going to lessons for three or four months I would definitely recommend lessons, especially not long after starting. I feel like I've progressed far more in the last few months than I ever did learning from books and tutorials on the web.
It might not be for everyone, but at the very least I would recommend finding someone who can stop you developing habits that will make it more difficult for you in the long run. -
FWB 56,369 posts
Seen 6 months ago
Registered 20 years agoM83J01P97 wrote:
Amazon currently have a range of electric guitar starter sets for around £80 (example) are those sorts of things utterly shit? Or fairly decent for starting out wth?
As a beginner that's all you need. Don't bother with anything flashy until you know you want to take it seriously and can make the most of quality. -
Salaman 24,162 posts
Seen 6 days ago
Registered 17 years agoI'd second the lessons. Even if it is just 2 or 4 hours so you can make sure you've got the basic technique right.
YOu'll spend lots and lots of time practising and practise makes perfect. Practising a wrong technique makes it near impossible to unlearn though, so get yourself some starter set, take a few hours and carry on from there. -
nekotcha wrote:
It's not an amp, it's a "bloody amp thing" - I've got a box which feeds my signal into my laptop. Problem is, although the driver's installed, it's not being recognised by its own software. However the OS is seeing it so I was able to play it through Garage Band OK. So it's all fine now. Well, sort of. ;p
otto wrote:
Jeez it's taking forever to get this bloody amp thing set up. :/
Plug amp into mains.
Plug guitar into amp.
Set all dials to 11.
What could be simpler?
The other problem is that I don't have a headphone plug adapter handy so I can't listen to the signal straight from the preamp or whatever it is (Line 6 Tone Port). -
FWB 56,369 posts
Seen 6 months ago
Registered 20 years agoBTW otto, I think that Pod interface should allow you to play the plugins (effects in Garageband) in real time. I've not personally used it, but a mate has the GX. -
Zomoniac 10,628 posts
Seen 3 hours ago
Registered 17 years agoI play drums to a pretty high standard and piano to a reasonable standard and found them both really easy to pick up. I've tried learning guitar so many times and just can't do it, so a musical ability won't count for everything. What I suspect it is is that I'm a clumsy fool, and the size of the space you have to hit in a guitar is absolutely tiny compared to the other two, and the other strings are in much closer proximity, so it requires a degree of precision I just don't have. Of all the instruments I've tried to learn (drums, lots of percussion, piano, sax, clarinet) it's the only one I've felt that no amount of work will ever get me to a competent standard. -
FWB wrote:
Yeah, it does, but it won't output sound through the computer, you need to plug it in to speakers or put it through headphones and it only has those large (1/8"?) sockets and I don't have an adapter. I'll have to pick one up tomorrow.
BTW otto, I think that Pod interface should allow you to play the plugins (effects in Garageband) in real time. I've not personally used it, but a mate has the GX..gif)
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FWB 56,369 posts
Seen 6 months ago
Registered 20 years agoCool. Has anyone here actually bought extra Garageband plugins? Are they any good? I don't do most of my production but quite fancy something to use for ideas. I do have some old Cubase somewhere, but being a Mac user now I'd rather stick with Garageband. -
Zomoniac 10,628 posts
Seen 3 hours ago
Registered 17 years agoFWB wrote:
Cool. Has anyone here actually bought extra Garageband plugins? Are they any good? I don't do most of my production but quite fancy something to use for ideas. I do have some old Cubase somewhere, but being a Mac user now I'd rather stick with Garageband.
Are they comparable? Certainly the Garageband of old wasn't. I just got a Tascam US-122L bundled with Cubase LE for my laptop for about £100, USB soundcard with 2 XLR and 2 jack in, MIDI I/O, headphones and stereo line out with phantom power and the like. Solid bit of kit and a bargain. Got it to replace my Pro Tools LE/M-Box setup which is a bag of arse selling on the PT name. I've got an PTHD3 rig on the desktop which is amazing (but given the obscene cost its MIDI features don't even compare to the £50 Cubase LE, no drum mapping even), but the LE version is wank. Does GarageBand support VST? If so I can list a lot of must-have plug-ins. -
kendoji 441 posts
Seen 3 years ago
Registered 14 years agoI'm 32, and started playing acoustic guitar a few months ago. I've not been practicing nearly enough, but have already learned to play several fingerstyle folk songs, including a couple of my all-time favourites. It takes time, but it's loads of fun, and despite what some people say it's never too late to start. -
FWB 56,369 posts
Seen 6 months ago
Registered 20 years agoZomoniac wrote:
Are they comparable? Certainly the Garageband of old wasn't. I just got a Tascam US-122L bundled with Cubase LE for my laptop for about £100, USB soundcard with 2 XLR and 2 jack in, MIDI I/O, headphones and stereo line out with phantom power and the like. Solid bit of kit and a bargain. Got it to replace my Pro Tools LE/M-Box setup which is a bag of arse selling on the PT name. I've got an PTHD3 rig on the desktop which is amazing (but given the obscene cost its MIDI features don't even compare to the £50 Cubase LE, no drum mapping even), but the LE version is wank. Does GarageBand support VST? If so I can list a lot of must-have plug-ins.
Sorry, no Garageband can't use VST (there is a converter but I can't be arsed to mess about), but it does have some of it's own that can be purchased. I've no idea what the quality of them is. I'm not really after anything amazing - I've also got my effect deck I can plugin - but if they're alright it'd be quite nice for my lazy arse. -
MrSensible 26,517 posts
Seen 2 days ago
Registered 16 years agodufftownallan wrote:
thefilthandthefury wrote:
how!?
I was trying to learn the bass recently but I've pretty much given up. It cripples your hands.
Try plucking the strings with your fingers for hours at a time. I can barely get half way through a song before my hand starts seizing up as it is. I literally couldn't move some of my fingers for five minutes at one point. -
Martin85 151 posts
Seen 11 years ago
Registered 13 years agoM83J01P97 wrote:
So first question, how easy is it to pick up guitar and be playing decent if not basic tunes? Or is that an impossible question to answer? I can easily get my hand on a few different tutorial books but I know they don't always help.
It all depends on how much you practice. I was playing perfectly passable indie tunes and AD/DC stuff within a couple months. If you play for more than an hour a day, and practice properly (as in, not just playing randomly with your guitar for an hour, but practising specific techniques in a methodical way, and so on), then you should be shredding the tits off it within a few years.
M83J01P97 wrote:
Secondly, someone once told me it's easier to learn on an acoustic guitar than electric, but in the long run I would like to pick up electric guitar purely so I can make lots of odd sounds and live out my fantasy of becoming the next Kevin Shields...
That's mostly an old wives' tale, I'm afraid. The reality is quite the opposite. Electric guitars have shorter scale-lengths, lighter gauge strings, thinner necks, smaller and more ergonomically-shaped bodies, etc. They are much easier to 'play' than an acoustic guitar. However, and this is where the confusion comes in, acoustic guitars are associated more with strumming and crooning along, whilst electric guitars are heavily associated with doing face melting solos and what have you. So the material that most people play on acoustics can tend to be much more simple than your average metal song or whatever. I think that's where people get confused.
I would say starting on an acoustic is valuable for the very reason that it's more difficult to fret the notes properly, etc. If you can whizz across all your scales and arpeggios on an acoustic, then you'll find it pathetically easy to do on electric. So while the tale itself is wrong, it still is probably a good idea to start on acoustic. Not to mention the fact that all the amp settings and stuff can be bewildering to begin with, and have a huge potential to detract you from actually practising. You can tend to sit there fannying about with your settings rather than just playing guitar. Acoustic guitars remove all of this.
Also, I suggest you start with this almighty duo to start you off..
Yamaha 112V
Roland Micro Cube
You won't need any other gear for ages. -
FWB 56,369 posts
Seen 6 months ago
Registered 20 years agoI approach electric and acoustic in two very different ways. The former is more about textures and sounds, mastering effects for me. Acoustic is about striping it down and the notes (or spaces) I play, so I'd say it really depends what you want to do.
There are also classical and Spanish guitars. -
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FWB 56,369 posts
Seen 6 months ago
Registered 20 years agoThe marshall will be fine. You've already admitted it's a bi-annual attempt, which suggests you may not keep it up so best not putting more money into it until you're really taken it on. Probably can go for something even cheaper than that Epiphone if you want to save a hundred quid, but it'll still be fine. -
Metalfish 9,191 posts
Seen 1 year ago
Registered 16 years agoThe only important thing about learning an instrument is that your first one is cheap. That way you won't mind so much when you give up like a spoilt little girl.
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Metalfish 9,191 posts
Seen 1 year ago
Registered 16 years agoHey, if you haven't given up an instrument for chicks or drugs at some point then you've probably led a sheltered life. -
FWB 56,369 posts
Seen 6 months ago
Registered 20 years agoI've given up a chick for instruments, what does that make me? -
Metalfish 9,191 posts
Seen 1 year ago
Registered 16 years agoIf it wasn't rich, then I have no idea. -
StixxUK 8,755 posts
Seen 2 days ago
Registered 19 years agoHmmm.
How much can I expect to pay for a proper, but cheap accousitc guitar?
I've been playing electric for ages and want to branch out a little. I love my current guitar, but it's designed for one thing and one thing only, and that's shredding like a motherfucker. -
BanjoMan 13,692 posts
Seen 4 years ago
Registered 15 years agoSpend about £200 and get something like a second-hand Yamaha or Tanglewood. Fuck Stagg. Never, ever buy Stagg, no matter how cheap it is. -
DUFFMAN5 26,890 posts
Seen 2 hours ago
Registered 17 years agoLove the guitar, however bastard eczema plays up even if I look at a guitar (strings) let alone play it, one of the great shames in my life. Doesn't matter what style of axe, strange thing is I get the breakout on my face and not hands. Once again I repeat bastard! -
sirtacos 8,279 posts
Seen 4 months ago
Registered 14 years agoDuff - that's so fucked up it's almost funny. It sucks though, sorry.
Learn the piano? Wear gloves?
OP: don't get a cheapo. A nice instrument is reward in itself, but you're probably also more likely to stick with it if your initial investment is sizeable. -
BanjoMan 13,692 posts
Seen 4 years ago
Registered 15 years agoStarting out though, you want a cheap (£200-£300) instrument. Now that my band is gigging my starter banjo (£200) needs replacing with a Deering Maple Blossom. So I'm saving up the £2000 needed.
I've already spent a load on upgrading my original banjo, but there comes a time when you need a pro instrument. I've out-grown my beginner's instrument, and a proper acoustic instrument will last more than a few lifetimes, if treated right. -
sirtacos wrote:
Duff - that's so fucked up it's almost funny. It sucks though, sorry.
Learn the piano? Wear gloves?
OP: don't get a cheapo. A nice instrument is reward in itself, but you're probably also more likely to stick with it if your initial investment is sizeable.
Thanks fella.
It is ok I'm going to make my son play the guitar (hehe) he WILL be a rock god.
.gif)
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