Things that are making you crabbit! [3]

Squach - what type of stuff you play on guitar? Other than your own.

Mostly just chords of the songs I like - I like to think I have quite a varied music taste.

All Time Low, Taylor Swift, The Script, Ed Sheeran, Imagine Dragons and Fall Out Boy  

I can play pick patterns but I'm not as good at those, probably because I'm self taught.

I am pretty much self taught too.... but been playing for a long time now. Not actually really very good and have a poor technique. Especially when standing up as I found out recently after getting a new strap with my new guitar (old one broke ages ago and been playing sitting down for about 4 years!!!)

Do you play acoustic then?

Yeah I have a cheap acoustic Brunswick model that I've had for about two years now.

(My strap is fluffy and cow print   )

Been looking at getting a decent guitar that would set me up for playing small gigs. I need one that is electric-acoustic.

I would also really like a 12-string and an electric, but I'd have to save up for those myself.

That is the benefit of being old like me. I have a little collection of guitars now.... not that I gig or anything any more. I just like them!!

Fluffy cow print is good!!!

I'd save up for a few lessons rather than a fancy instrument. The lessons will give you ideas for things to work on, which is good to do while still young with time on your hands. The instrument will still be there when you're ready to buy it; but lessons are better when you are young and inspired.

Just my advice from hindsight. Delay the new instrument purchase for a year and find a good teacher for what you want to do (definitely ask around), you'll be so glad you did. You only need a half dozen lessons to set you on your path.

Halfy - I think I agree to an extent. If you have an instrument that does the job then keep on with it and try and learn a bit of theory. On the other hand, a bad instrument can make you develop some horrible techniques.

Also, I think too much theory can be a bad thing. Some people that know every scale, technique, style etc may well be able to play something well, but they lack a good musical ear which I think is often developed by trying to play what you hear rather than learning learning the theory to allow you to play.

You cant learn feeling, but I think you can learn too much technical stuff to lack any feeling after a while.

Either way, early doors I think a good instrument and some basic theory is good.

Well I have lessons for both violin and clarinet so it wouldn't really be financially suitable and the local guitar teacher is a bit... meh, according to my music teacher. I would like to improve my technique but that also comes a little bit from practise  

Yep... and playing with other musicians. You can learn a lot doing that!

Lancebloke wrote:Halfy - I think I agree to an extent. If you have an instrument that does the job then keep on with it and try and learn a bit of theory. On the other hand, a bad instrument can make you develop some horrible techniques.

yes and no to that. a good instrument with good sound is of course motivating, but i don't think a bad instrument can make u develop bad habits. maybe if the instrument is too small you might have difficulties playing on a proper sized instrument, but other than that i don't think the quality of the instrument has anything to say.
i agree with Halfy, invest in a good teacher and then start saving for a new guitar :)or find some youtube lessons

Lancebloke wrote:
Also, I think too much theory can be a bad thing. Some people that know every scale, technique, style etc may well be able to play something well, but they lack a good musical ear which I think is often developed by trying to play what you hear rather than learning learning the theory to allow you to play.

You cant learn feeling, but I think you can learn too much technical stuff to lack any feeling after a while.

Either way, early doors I think a good instrument and some basic theory is good.

too much theory? it's clear you've never taken any lessons. it's a nice balance. u learn the theory needed to play music, chords and notes and stuff, but i'de say there is far less theory when learning to play the guitar than for instant the violin. the more heavy one about "what notes belongs to what" and etc, u'll wait until you've played a while anyway. the main focus will me learning good techniques and playing music and reading it, new chords

no, teacher first, then new instrument, have it as a kind of goal

edit: just read your answer posts, there is a lot of good lessons to find on youtube  and different books


AND U PLA VIOLIN! never stop doing that! 

Well I half-learnt through YouTube (chords and strumming patterns etc.) but the rest was just a lot of practise to solidify those techniques. The music teacher I mentioned earlier is also a pretty good guitarist so he gives me tips and tricks when he thinks something needs changing/improving in my playing.

yeah, but then you're sorted then  start saving ^^ and really, if you are going to learn an instrument by yourself, learn the guitar rather than the violin

I can see how having theory before you've developed your musical personality can be overwhelming and crowd out your own style, but it's evident Squach is musically mature enough that new knowledge will open her up rather than box her in.

BUT, there is FAR MORE theory learning to play guitar than violin.  It can do chords, after all.  It all depends on where you are musically: I think you can take theory with violin much earlier, but with guitar it can be overwhelming at first.  I would guess that Squach is ready though.

Yeah, if the local guitar teacher is no good it's not worth taking lessons.  That's a shame.  Youtube and your general music teacher may have to be the way to go then.  Musical Theory I think needs to be taught by a live person though, it's deep stuff.

Yeah, I'd much rather keep my lessons on violin and clarinet than swap one for guitar lessons.

well said Squach ^^go violin (and clarinet)

Halfwise wrote:BUT, there is FAR MORE theory learning to play guitar than violin.  It can do chords, after all.  It all depends on where you are musically: I think you can take theory with violin much earlier, but with guitar it can be overwhelming at first. 

wait.. what? NO! no no no!. do you read sheets ? no. keys? i got two different keys to sort out. there is lots of maths in it. and i get musical history sped in. nope nope no. i learn octaves and fifths and whatnot.

Norc wrote:

Halfwise wrote:BUT, there is FAR MORE theory learning to play guitar than violin.  It can do chords, after all.  It all depends on where you are musically: I think you can take theory with violin much earlier, but with guitar it can be overwhelming at first. 

wait.. what? NO! no no no!. do you read sheets ? no. keys? i got two different keys to sort out. there is lots of maths in it. and i get musical history sped in. nope nope no. i learn octaves and fifths and whatnot.

I do think that theory is much more important to my violin and clarinet than it is guitar, but I don't know whether that is because I do exams on both violin and clarinet. This year I'm aiming to work on Grade 5 for both, so I need to do Grade 5 theory exams to be able to say I'm an all-round Grade 5. As I don't have lessons, I'm not taking exams on guitar but that's partly because with what I want to do (accompany myself in live playing), I don't really need grades. Classical guitar is something that I can appreciate musically but I don't think I would have the time for it along with two other graded instruments and the fact that I'm now starting GCSE. So in that sense guitar is my 'fun' instrument that I use for song-writing and (hopefully in the future) gigs.

Uh, Norc - do you know what Fdim7/D would mean? Guitar players do, and that's just folk guitar. Then you add in the melodic parts, and if playing jazz you have to know how to fit the proper scale with the proper chords (see above).

In classical guitar you are reading regular sheet music in polyphony, possibly with tablature. I've done a number of instruments, classical guitar was by far the hardest, even harder than piano. Jazz theory is harder than classical theory (though you don't get all the fun of voice leading).

I think people get the impression guitar is easier because it can be used as a portable relatively inexpensive accompanying instrument, so more people take the time to learn it. And it doesn't take an embouchure.

But make no mistake, it's the hardest instrument out there if played to full potential. Many people play it at the lowest level and get by. You can do that with guitar...

yeah, classical guitar is a lot of work  but i am guessing u wanna learn so u can play pop-songs

aso.. u take exams? and past grades? in music? i have never done that, i play concert at the end of the year, but not exams.

Yeah, I hate having to do exams. They smell. But it's one of the only ways to prove you're a half-decent player (where I live, anyway)

it might seem so, but i am not completely ignorant, guitar can be a pretty hard instrument to play i know, but i am guessing squach isn't going to learn guitar to play jazz or tabs  as she said, she wants to accompany herself, so i am guessing pop mucis, and then it is muuuch more theory in violin  but i do get your point. but do u know how to tune a harding fiddle? or tune a violin for that matter? 


do u have to do exams to prove that you can move on to the "next level"?

Ugh. Don't even mention tuning.

I can use a tuner to tune guitar easily enough, but tuning a violin in just... Bleugh.

When I was in junior school I tried tuning some girls violin and I broke the string.  

Yeah... A broke the a string twice in two days becaus .. Yah. The tuning things is shit, gonna switch em out, get new ones because my violin is a bitch to tune. But it's listening thats the hardest part

Okay, you got me. Why is tuning a violin harder than tuning a guitar??

Because you have to get the balance between the tuning pegs and the fine tuners. (Pegs are the sticky-out things at the end of the violin, fine tuners are the four twisty things on the tail piece) Tuning pegs are less accurate than the fine tuners, but the fine tuners will only go so far before you can't turn them any longer. The tuning pegs slip, are very unreliable and move around a lot if you don't keep them in good condition. Turn the tuning pegs too tight, the string snaps but they are very fiddly and hard to pull tight if you're a weakling like me.. I don't like them. I much prefer a tuning system like the guitar.

All the time I've spent with musicians I never noticed them using the fine tuners. Well I'll be.  

Now I'm gonna have to go look up why guitar pegs don't slip.