name, city, instrument, years of playing, current band, gear
 #172194  by FiddyNut
 
Hello to all.
I'm FiddyNut and I recently decided I want to learn how to play guitar.

Just a little about me. I live in SE Wisconsin. First show was 2\73 but I don't remember because I wasn't born yet but mom was pregnant with me so I was there on a cellular level. Unfortunately she wasn't a head and that's the only one she went to. It would be the mid and late 80's shows at Alpine that had me on the bus as a teenager. As the 80's progressed and I got to be a more angry kid my musical tastes gravitated to punk rock and I drifted from the great music and influence of the Dead. I spent many years away from the music and the scene. One day out of nowhere either Ripple or UJB came on the radio at work and everything I had experienced about the scene in my teens came back too me. Just hearing the song filled my heart with love and I knew I needed to get back on the bus. I love many types of music but there is just something so special and unique about the Dead. I also really enjoy seeing other bands take on GD music, especially local bands. Seeing them playing the music for us to dance to is what makes me want to learn to play.
My other interests include motorcycles and mountain bikes. I work in the motorcycle industry and have for most of my adult life. I like to go fast and have fun, for me riding is exciting and the best way to clear my head and get rid of stress. I live about 20 min from Alpine Valley and that's where I do much of my mountain biking. The trail cross crosses the ski hill behind the music theater and there are some great views of the venue from up there. I always have my speaker on when I ride the bike there and its nice to have the sweet sounds of GD echoing through the trees again after all these years.

I stumbled upon this forum and it looks to be a great resource. Ive had one guitar lesson so far and have been playing about 10 days. I'm doing this at the tender young age of 48 years old. Haven't had any experience with musical instruments so everything is new to me and pretty confusing. I know I just need to take it easy and learn as I go. I need to pick a GD song practice it. I was thinking Help/Slip would be a great first song to learn LOL just kidding, even i know that's much too difficult a starting place. Im probably going to pick FOTM because the basic parts sound fairly straightforward and its a great song (even if it gets a little repetitive at the end).

I hope y'all had great holidays and time with those you love.
Fiddy
 #172195  by lbpesq
 
Well hello Fiddy, season’s greetings, and welcome to the club! Never too late to get on the bus. A couple of suggestions on learning guitar: Try to have it in your hands everyday. You’ll get further faster if you play for even 20 minutes every day than if you play for two hours one day, skip a day, play an hour, skip two days, play two hours, etc. As for starter Dead tunes, a couple of the easier to pick up are Cold Rain & Snow and Fire on the Mountain. Good luck and keep playin’!

Bill, tgo (the guitar one)
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 #172196  by Jon S.
 
>> I know I just need to take it easy and learn as I go.

Welcome! As for learning guitar, you already have the right approach. That + what Bill just said!
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 #172201  by FiddyNut
 
@Bill. Thanks for the encouragement and advise. I'm on board with practicing everyday for sure. Im trying to learn how to read tabs so I can start practicing a GD song.
Ive got much love for the Bay Area, I lived in Oakland for a few years and really enjoyed my time there.

@Jon. Hello and thanks for the encouragement as well. We will see if this old dog can learn a new trick or two!
 #172202  by strumminsix
 
Welcome. Lots of great songs for beginners in the catalog.

FOTM is a great one. And you can play it in different keys to work on chording hand:

Original is a bop from B to A. Nut as a beginner, you're still learning open chords so do it:
E to D
A to G
D to C

Then you can work on Iko Iko to work on your strumming hand. Chords are a bop from D to A. But again, can change keys
A to E
C to G
G to D
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 #172205  by FiddyNut
 
@strumminsix. Thanks for your advise and encouragement. I'm in my absolute infancy so I don't even know what A to B (or E to D, A to D or D to C) means. I can kind of get the tabs that show what string and which fret to hit but not the ones that (I think) just list the cords. Im set up for weekly lessons with someone who seems to know a lot about how to play and tomorrow morning I've got a lesson and I hope I can get him to graph it out for me. Then I can start playing along while listening to the song and that should be a lot of fun and just the type of think that will make me want to practice more.
Thanks again...Fiddy.
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 #172206  by wabisabied
 
Welcome, Fiddy!

I suggest you start your guitar journey by learning some basic open chords, even before you take a lesson. Charts are easy enough to find online, and much easier to figure out than tabs. Here’s one; there are plenty more that expand further, but these are most of the easiest chords to start with:

Image

The thickest horizontal line at top of each chart is the nut of the guitar, with high e string on the right side, and low E string on the left. It’s the view you would have of the fret board if your guitar was sitting in a stand or hanging on the wall, vertically.

“X” at the top means don’t play that string, “O” means play it open (no finger on the string.) The numbers on the dots indicate which finger to use, with 1 = index finger, 2 = middle, 3 = ring finger, and 4 = pinky.

Learn what notes each of the six strings are when played open. There are only six, and the top (high) and bottom (low) are the same name, so no huge task. This is with standard tuning, don’t worry about alternate tunings for now. Knowing the strings by name is essential to communicating with a teacher or jam partner. As you can see below, they can also be referred to by number, but most of the time we call them by letter.

Image

If you go into your first lesson already knowing, or at least being familiar with, these basics, you will get a lot more out of the lesson.

Lastly, keep it fun! Learning guitar can be as frustrating as anything else, just play a little every day and you’ll be pleased with your progress.
 #172209  by strumminsix
 
Hey Fiddy. Gotcha. I was listing chord names.

wabisabied has a good post above. IMO, and before paying for lessons, I'd spend a few weeks or months learning the chord shapes and studying what's called the CAGED method. Again, IMO, you'd get more from that, at first, than studying with an instructor.
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 #172210  by FiddyNut
 
@wabisabied. Thank you for your advise and encouragement and also taking time to make your educational post. As it turns out your timing is perfect because when I went to my lesson this morning there was a note on the door saying they were closed due to covid exposure. The cords you posted give me something new to practice over the next week. I had been hoping to learn at my lesson the basic rhythm parts to Fire on the Mountain. Since the lesson is off I'm going to try and learn it anyway and the cords you posted should help make that easier on me. As it turns out I've got a lot of free time in the next few days so no excuse not to do a lot of practicing.
Cheers... Fiddy.
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 #172211  by FiddyNut
 
@strumminsix. Thanks for your original and follow up post. I'm slowly learning the terminology so things are making more sense to me as I go. I will focus on practicing cords and look up this CAGED method you speak of.
My reasoning for the lessons was to try and get off to a good start. Starting out I needed someone to show me even the most basic things like how to hold a guitar and a pick. I also had heard about bad habits and was hoping to avoid starting off doing the wrong things which would be harder to change down the road.
With my lesson canceled this is a perfect time to work on the fundamentals you guys are telling me about so I trust its working out this way for a reason. Now I just have to make the most of it and put the time and work I to it.
I hope your having a grateful day brother...Fiddy.
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 #172212  by Jon S.
 
Are you starting on an acoustic or electric guitar and what's the make and model? Also - very important - is the neck straight and the action adjusted (this means has the guitar been set up by someone who knows his stuff to play easily and in tune)? I ask because too many beginners lose the desire and drop out because their initial instrument is so hard if not painful to play.
 #172218  by FiddyNut
 
@Jon S. Hey buddy I'm starting on electric guitar. When I see people reaching around the big body of an acoustic it looks less comfortable to me. I also like a lot more music that would normally be played on electric with all the pedals and effects.
A buddy at work lined me an old SG model G-310vw and that's what I'm learning on. It needed a string when I got it so I bought a set of strings and a clip on tuner and watched a coup!e of YouTube vids and put them on. The neck seems straight and it stays close to tune although I do usually have to tighten the strings a quarter to an eighth of a turn every time I tune it. It feels pretty comfortable to play and my fingers only get sore if I'm pressing too hard. I'm a mechanic so I don't have soft hands so to speak.
My thought is there is plenty of time to upgrade once I learn how to play some. I'm not the type to have the fancy expensive guitar that I don't even know how to play.
You bring up a great point about not wanting to play a guitar that sounds like shit and sucks to try and play. Maybe having someone who knows what they are doing take a good look at it and make whatever tweaks wouldn't be a bad idea at all.
Thanks for your thoughtful post...Fiddy.
 #172219  by FiddyNut
 
@Jon S. Hey buddy I'm starting on electric guitar. When I see people reaching around the big body of an acoustic it looks less comfortable to me. I also like a lot more music that would normally be played on electric with all the pedals and effects.
A buddy at work lined me an old SG model G-310vw and that's what I'm learning on. It needed a string when I got it so I bought a set of strings and a clip on tuner and watched a coup!e of YouTube vids and put them on. The neck seems straight and it stays close to tune although I do usually have to tighten the strings a quarter to an eighth of a turn every time I tune it. It feels pretty comfortable to play and my fingers only get sore if I'm pressing too hard. I'm a mechanic so I don't have soft hands so to speak.
My thought is there is plenty of time to upgrade once I learn how to play some. I'm not the type to have the fancy expensive guitar that I don't even know how to play.
You bring up a great point about not wanting to play a guitar that sounds like shit and sucks to try and play. Maybe having someone who knows what they are doing take a good look at it and make whatever tweaks wouldn't be a bad idea at all.
Thanks for your thoughtful post...Fiddy.
 #172222  by Jon S.
 
For sure.

And to be clear, it doesn't really matter at this point what the guitar sounds like. What key is that it fits you ergodynamically and is comfortable to play. It sounds like you already have this - nice!
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 #172223  by lbpesq
 
Yea, as long as you can play it without your fingers hurting, it is fine for now. As you progress you will learn what you want in a guitar and move up according.

**********************************************

Jon - "ergodynamically"?

Should be a real word, I know exactly what you meant!

Bill, tgo