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Really dumb questions about learning guitar (sorry) (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hey guys, I'm sorry if this post comes across as super dumb but I was just wanting to ask for some advice about learning electric guitar.

Over a decade ago I inherited a guitar from a friend who took his life, I tried learning it at first but ended up getting distracted by life and dropped it. Recently though I saw it sitting and collecting dust and decided that, even if it was a cheap electric guitar, I didn't want it to spend its life like that.

So yesterday I got some new strings, a new (and better) amplifier than the $20 one I bought secondhand over a decade ago, and a couple books about guitars, one of them being a book with nothing but like 300+ different chords, I also fixed the intonation on the bridge.

So here's my questions:

I'm looking to try and play punk rock music (All American Rejects, My Chemical Romance, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, stuff with that kind of sound). What chords should I focus on learning that would be good for that kind of genre?

And I'm guessing the chords are can be played by strumming all of the strings together at once or you can play the notes individually, one after the other?

Sorry again if this post is really dumb, I really want to try and make sure I don't drop this guitar again, I'd like to properly honor my friend's memory and give this guitar the attention it deserves.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’ll say this. The first months are the fucking hardest. Rythym is hard. And the basics are hard. Your fingers hurt until they have calluses and shit sounds REALLY bad until magically things click and it doesn’t.

I’ll say this. Guitar is not this thing where you, specifically, will notice improvement day over day. It’s a series of large jumps and plateaus where things click and make sense.

But the feeling when you hit one of those plateaus is really cool and worth chasing so stick with it.

The first 6 months are the hardest to stay motivated. But even 10-15 minutes a day will go a lot further than 4 hours one day a week. It’s a weird hobby where sometimes sleeping on it makes the muscle memory sink in and the next session is better.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah so far I haven't been hitting the grind too much, I've been trying to do 30 minutes to an hour of practice every day.

I'm still trying to memorize chords, the F chord is doing its best to kick my ass. It takes me a while to get my fingers in position, and the 5th and 6th strings still buzz a little. I figured out you're supposed to use the side of your index for barres, but it's still awkward. It's hard to imagine a player quickly and accurately switching to that chord in the middle of a song. I have a grip strength of like 125lbs in my left hand and I'm still baffled by how much strength it takes to play that chord, it's crazy.

I'm waiting until an extension cord for my headphones comes in on Monday and I can really get comfortable with the guitar, as of right now I have to sit right by the amplifier if I want to practice without bothering anyone.

But yeah, it really does feel hard to imagine me ever playing anything. All I do is strum some chords, I know you gotta crawl before you walk, but it's just hard to visualize!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

early rhcp is very punk inspired. A lot of the ramones stuff is prettt simple too.

That f chord gets easier and is the basis of barre chords.

There’s definately some simplified songs out there that you can…kinda play. It kept me interested. A lot of popular songs are pretty accessible as long as it’s not like John Mayer.

Fortunately for me. John Frusciante is one of my favorite guitarists and he really has accessible material. But I struggled to find early songs.

If you get that strumming pattern here down listed first here, it will make a shitload of stuff accessible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FTndcu891g