Things you wish you knew starting out

Okay folks, what are some things you wish you knew when you started playing that could prove useful to beginners?

3 handed tapping

The strumming pattern doesn't have to be exact. Not every tab or song instruction is accurate. Record yourself to hear how bad you and improve

Ask your parents to spend more money then they want to for your dream

i wish i knew how to use the catalog so i could post in the guitar general

me too dude

>Relative minors
>CAGED system
>alternate time signatures

Knowing how to play guitar would help.

Your strumming hand is as important if not more important than what your left hand is doing

my strumming hand is my left hand (I'm a faggot)

i wish you weren't a flaming homosexual, user

you can just fuck around with the circle of fourths and bar chords and play good shit

how to search reddit for the exact same thread a bajillion times, but with better replies

Learning the notes of the fretboard is useful, and something I struggled to learn later on. I should have just been learning it from day one. Even today I'm still a little rust on the B string.

Learn to play chords instead of just learning random riffs. When it came time to play a chord I skipped it because they seemed to hard to play.

Once I learned Wild Thing I was so much more comfortable with chords.

I learned that I was correct in my early assumption that there was no correct way in approaching the instrument. I learned in the most fucked/retarded way possible and it didn't matter. stop worrying and just play. I learned completely on my own without watching tutorials or any shit like that

Setting your intonation is very important and also easy to do. So learn how to do it. Right away.

Use your goddamn picky.

Focus on the fundamentals before you try to do cool shit. You'll be better off for it in the long run and be better suited to doing cool shit.

There are like 5 patterns for each scale...I only learned one

My experience has empirically demonstrated that that is not true. The first song I tried learning was King crimons' larks tongues in aspic pt 1. I figured if I could play the most difficult music the rest would come easy. tried for 2 years with downstrokes only. But it kept me going and interested. I had a goal. Then a couple years later I learned chords, then a year or so late i learned scales and alternate picking and everything else eventually came together. I think telling beginners to learn fundamentals is only good if you want less guitar players around. I'd tell them to do whatever the hell they want, as long as they wiggle their hands on the instrument and feel impelled to learn smth new at various points in time it'll work out

This is an absurdly retarded attitude to have

Fundamentals are taught for a reason. Developing muscle memory and strength, scales and key relativity, how and why they sound pleasant, rhythm structure and sense of timing etc. All the basic skills from which you can then build on. If you aren't prepared to put in the initial effort then you'll never be a good musician

I am a good musician so your assertion is false. Also, fuck you

There are exceptions to every rule but I would generally not advise people to start out that way unless they're extremely unmotivated otherwise (in which case they should reconsider the hobby).

For what it's worth I do think there should be fewer guitarists, though. Literally everyone plays it an it's a magnet for retards because it's very easy to learn to dick around and play fun songs without having to put in the effort to actually be good.

prove it

It doesn't matter when fundamentals come. That's my point. For me it was 3-4 years after I've been playing. And I think it is possible or even likely learning fundamentals first off may not be a good idea for a few reasons. First reason is, they are beginning and have no confidence, and fundamentals will make it seem too difficult for them. unless their mind is really fascinated with this stuff, which is very rare, it will most likely have a negative effect. i've been playing guitar for 11 years and I've never felt like it was a chore. I never had to force myself to play, i always did it naturally like I just had to do it. Even when learning fundamentals/boring stuff, I was at a point where I had enough confidence to not be too overwhelmed by it all. Alternate picking for example, I never really "chose" to learn. I just did it over time. My way of learning all came organically like this. And also, I have a theory that the unique way in which you learn creates a unique player and musician. By going your own way, you develop a musical personality. This is obvious by looking at classically trained musician, who all sound the relatively the same, while rock guitarrists have more creative and individual voices. This is until the 80s when classical training was introduced to rock guitarrists. And this has shown to have a horrible effect, and even can be said to have killed guitar in some ways. But it became only a problem in its proliferation. If there was just a cult of steve vai lovers, it'd be fine. But instead it created a bad culture

practice improv and jamming instead of learning tons of songs

I can dig it, the problem though is that not everyone has the natural creativity to find their own path. Sure someone like Hendrix can teach themselves and have a unique style, but for me personally I find myself needing to learn more theory because I feel like I don't have enough creativity and talent to play without it. And that's fine, it's totally normal for the vast majority of people to not be on the level of Hendrix lol.

Unless you're absolutely sure your rhythm is on point, practice to a fucking metronome.

I do the same thing too. and so did hendrix and everyone else. But there is a balance I think

The notion that you think all classical musicians sound the same shows me that you don't have any understanding of it whatsoever. Expressiveness and finding an individual voice is a central component of being a great interpreter of individual works.

As for your approach, I don't doubt that you're skilled but you'd be better if you had started with the fundamentals and had some discipline instead of only being able to do what was fun to you at the time.

this is good advice

Don't shy away from learning a song because of difficult chord changes, or a difficult riff. Make a practice routine and get through the song, until you can play it. You will become a much better player this way.

bzzz incorrect

OP! I have the most important piece of advice.

Figure out what you like to listen to by listening to everything. Become everything you love.

Also practice slowly with a metronome.

I wish i knew what is a key, what are it's six "main" chords and how to fit a vocal melody over those chords, i could have write songs while i still had the drive, now i am a burned out 27 year old wage slave.

This, just keep trying. You'll get it eventually.

shoving the lower horn of a stratocaster up your ass feels good

I know that which is why i used "relatively". of course every musician has a bit of unique voice. that's the main function of a human musician, as being the interpreter of works. yes I understand this. but still, it is true that there is a wider degree of separation in the arts where proper form is not instituted. But just as a religion can't kick the human out, neither can classically training somebody. But the truth of the matter is that it tries hard at it, but humanity is hard to kill

learn your fretboard, learn what the notes are, what fits in each key and just start creating. dont take scales too literally.

And also I understand that if you want to be able to play serious music, it is necessary to be classically trained. There of course is a purpose to the stuff, you just have to ask yourself what you care about. That's why people should just find their own path and not let someone tell them how to learn. But of course, people have a way of doing what they want to do anyway. The problem just has to do with the pressure put on them, which can happen to beginners who don't know what the hell they want and are confused, and can be easily fooled into thinking there is one way to learn

Well, that depends on how you would define serious music. Classical isn't the only way to learn that, but it does teach you some of the things that are important for serious music such as precision, expressiveness, and theoretical literacy. Steve Howe and Steve Hackett were both classically trained and they're head and shoulders above almost any other guitarist in rock, including most of those lauded as being the best.

Hm, you know what, you convinced me. I could probably use more focus on disciplined training. I may have gotten too complacent lately and it could shake things up

Variety is important; always find new ways to challenge yourself. That's what the best instrumentalists do--when they get really good at some element of their craft, they find a new area to improve on.

But it works both ways. Someone who focused exclusively on technical exercises for years might benefit a lot from stepping back and focusing on slow blues improvisation.There are many elements to being a good musician, so it's good to know what your own weak points are and address them.