[ghostrider4385]

To zaphod: To add to what navin said, well, out of experience, when not in use, loosen the strings of your guitar. It prevents the neck from bending or wraping. I will find out the address of that place I mentioned... it's on the way to North Campus and Red fort ISBT n all, pretty close to MAMC (Maulana Azad Medical Collage)... and PM you. There is no use of you starting to learn the guitar from a teacher if you going to TN so fast. It takes time to learn. To start off, what you can do is find sites which teach you chord placements, print out a copy and keep it with you (or if you can, pick up a good book on chords). Whenever you free or travelling, pick up your guitar and start learning and practicing! Contrary to what many people say, I am against tabs!!! it's a BIG NO NO!!! If you start playing using tabs, you really dont learn anything. You do not get the chance to experiment and become highly dependent on them. The best way to start learning is through chords! This not only improves you ear for music, but also helps you start composing music on your own and identifying chords which someone else is playing...by ear! Slowly once you start getting better, you can move onto learning more about scales and chord progressions, etc, et al.!

Also, someone reading this thread asked me what action in a guitar meant, so thought I'd do the needful and explain it to whoever is reading this and doesnt know about it. Action is, in simple language, the distance between the string and the fretboard, which directly influences the amount of pressure applied to press the string to the fretboard. The more the distance or height between the string and the fretboard, the more is said to be the action, and hence the more force it takes to press the string down. On electric guitars this action can be increased or decreased by tightening the screws on the bridge. People usually lower the distance between the strings and the fretboard, to the extent of the string nearly touching the fretboard, so that the pressure used is minimal and helps them play faster. Ofcourse this must be done in such a way as to not compromise on sound quality.

Hope this lil snippet of info helps!

Godspeed.

Alok.

[navin]

Originally Posted by ghostrider4385

To zaphod: To add to what navin said, well, out of experience, when not in use, loosen the strings of your guitar.... Contrary to what many people say, I am against tabs!!! it's a BIG NO NO!!! If you start playing using tabs, you really dont learn anything. You do not get the chance to experiment and become highly dependent on them. The best way to start learning is through chords! ...Slowly once you start getting better, you can move onto learning more about scales and chord progressions, etc, et al.!

...People usually lower the distance between the strings and the fretboard, to the extent of the string nearly touching the fretboard, so that the pressure used is minimal and helps them play faster. Ofcourse this must be done in such a way as to not compromise on sound quality..

Well said Alok,

a) yes loosen the trings but say about 2 turns esp the bass strings
b) yes try to avoid tabs
c) I would learnt he scales first as it really improves finger accuracy and your knowledge fo the fretbaord.
d) next the open chords then bar chords.
e) when messing with the action remember that the string must not buzz at any fret across the fretboard.

if you are not playing yout guitar (I retired some years back) give them away (like I did) or they'll die an early death and one a neck warps beyond a point there is little you can do to fix it.

and I'd take a Marshall over any amp. call me old fashioned.

[ghostrider4385]

Originally Posted by navin

if you are not playing yout guitar (I retired some years back) give them away (like I did) or they'll die an early death and one a neck warps beyond a point there is little you can do to fix it.

Talking about guitars dying an early death, my guitar is the best example of it. I had mentioned about my mom buying me a roland accoustic guitar from New Zeland. This baby had real ivory fret markers with an ivory rose plant design down the whole length of the fretboard! Well, after the 12th, I went off to Delhi to study, and left my guitar in Hyd as mom wanted to keep her playing in shape (she's one hell of a guitarist!). Eventually she lost interest in playing and dumped it into the attic, forgetting to loosen the strings. When I came back recently to Hyd for good, I took out my guitar, what do I see? The fret board is totally bend, enough to fit a fat man's thumb through it! And the wood was bitten into all over by god knows what, and my ernie ***** had been gnawed through!!! We had to throw the poor thing away :(, as it was in no condition to play.
Well, good thing I had left my guitar and picked up the drums meanwhile, it lessened the blow for me.

OFFTOPIC: Any idea how do I take out permanent marker ink from my drumsticks? I don't want to spoil the wood using any abrasive substance as they are these real good genuine hickory wood Vater heartbeater's... BTW, these sticks have amazing balance and would recommend a pair to anyone who for some reason have a thing against zildzian and the likes!!! Ofcourse, the downside is i'm pretty sure you wont get these in India.

Godspeed.

Alok.

[navin]

Originally Posted by ghostrider4385

OFFTOPIC: Any idea how do I take out permanent marker ink from my drumsticks?
Alok.

never tried this but...

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf788353.tip.html

or

http://forum.doityourself.com/archiv...x.php/f-6.html

or

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Rem...Stain&id=89118

or

http://www.goclean.com/Stain%20Removal%20Guide.pdf

also try asking these guys

http://amodexink.com/8400/index.html

or

http://www.removepaints.com/products...itiex_4800.asp

[ghostrider4385]

To navin: Thanks a heap man! But I'm scared the wood might lose it's color. Any idea of a product you get in India which can help removing this stuff? I had bought the pledge wood polisher and stain remover from the states. Other than making the drumsticks shine it didnt do much :P

Godspeed.

Alok.

[navin]

pledge will not help much it is not a stain remover. unfortunately most stain removers will affect the colour of the wood. if it only colour you are worried about you could recolour it using OLD ENGLISH WOOD STAINER.

I would fear the Timbre of the wood chainging though.

[ghostrider4385]

Well, navin, I did try pledge on a lil part of the wood before. Didnt change the color. And more over pledge is made for all kinds of woods... I mean it is specially made to keep wood in good condition. But ye, I never thought about the timbre of the wood changing. Gotta be careful about that.

Thanks and hit me if you get any more ideas.

Godspeed.

Alok.

[Abhay]

Alrite, I visted a musical shop here, which I know sells acoustics, and they had only 2 electrics on display.
gb&a (apparently a chinese brand) and gibtone....I could tell both were crap even though I dont know much abt e-guitars or not a good player!
It was too heavy, had a thick neck, crappy strings and 3 single coil pickups only (also was a hardtail - no tremolo arm)....cost = 5,500 , I played it thru a 15W Kustom amp that the guy had.
If a entry level Yamaha Pacifica 012 costs $150 (maybe 10-11k here) why should anybody buy that gb&a stuff :s

I am trying hard to get my sister to bring back the Pacifica or a Ibanez GRX20 from the US (she goes there on sunday and comes back in 2 weeks...ideal!)
But being my older sister she has to act weird/stubborn/bossy and not help me out LOL.

If not her and if a close friend of mine is coming over in March I may ask him to get one of those and get the amp locally. If nothing of that works out then I will visit Furtados in Mumbai, and do my purchase there...atleast will see how the Givsons are and if any cheap imported ones are on hand as well.

[navin]

I'd take the GRX20 over the Pacifica. Ibanez does make beutiful electrics and I hope the processes they use for their 7 string Steve Vai models would trickle down to the GRX20 as well.

[zaphod]

ghostrider, yeah - since i'm not sure of my plans for the next couple of months, it would be better if I started learning the chords on my own - then once i am sure of staying in one place for a few months, i can hire a teacher.
If you know someone in Noida, do tell me.

I got my friend's accoustic repaired - it's a St. Louis....

Unfortunately I'm tone deaf so the only way of tuning it is if i can find my pitch pipe - i could hook up my ****ty electric to the comp's sound card and use some s/w for tuning it - I could try the s/w with a mike for the accoustic - but i really should learn to tune my guitar first.

I have a book for beginners by Russ Shipton(The complete Guitar book ?) and the Guitar Handbook by Ralph Denyer (they're lying with my sis so I'll have to check with her)

I assume those should suffice for self learning purposes ?

btw, why do you think tabs are a bad idea ? - to me it seems that for a beginner , they're the fastest way to learn to play their favourite songs. (okay, they are a short cut....)

After I've masterd the basic (15 ?) chords ? (i may type some howlers but im relaly an ignoramus about guitars) , i'd lik eto move on to try playing some of my favourite songs - what rock songs would you recommend for a beginner ?

One thing I can attest to - if you're a complete beginner - avoid the temptation to go for an electric - i did the mistake and bought a sh***y
Givson - it turned me off learning for almost 5 years - if i'd gotten a decent acocustic, I might have been still playing and not left it after a couple of months.

Maybe we can get you guys to jam together if the Team-BHP national meet takes place !

cheers

zaphod

[ghostrider4385]

To zaphod: I will surly let you know about the teacher in Noida... lemme get in touch with my friends there. I don't know much about the books, but one thing you can do is go to Parikrama School of Music, which is in Hauz Kauz village, and ask Sonam Sherpa (the guitarist of the band Parikrama) to advice you on a good book. Or even better, ask his wife, Dina Ralte, who is always there. Tell her my name. But if they ask you to join, I advice you not to (avoid telling them this ofcourse :P. There are reasons behind this, which are ofcourse nothing personal, that I wouldnt like to disclose!). Tell them that you going away from Delhi soon so it doesnt make sense to join. Dina's number is 98181 20822. Tell her Alok, the chap who used to learn the drums, from Hyd, referred you to her . I'm pretty sure she didn't forget me!

I have put this info up here instead of PM'ing zaphod so that anyone from TBHP can go there if needed, and do what I have adviced. They also have guitars up for sale there, and a good collection of music from Indian rock bands.

About tuning your guitar, go in for a guitar tuner. It looks like a metronome, and is pretty accurate! That is until you learn to tune on your own, which takes time. Like playing a guitar, everyone have their different styles of tuning too, so all you need to do is find your groove!

I know so many people who had bought electrics to learn with, so they wont have to spend money on buying one later. But all of them went and bought themselves accoustics later on, the reason being that the feel of an accoustic is totally different. And more over, an accoustic (with/without a pickup) sounds better and richer that a electric, even when there is no electricity and you need to play the guitar, or when an electricity outlet is nowhere close-by (like when you are sitting around a campfire on the goa beach and singing at our national meet...hopefully!) . An electric without being connected to an amp is not at all appealing compared to a standalone accoustic! What you could do is buy a good second hand guitar for cheap!

As for why you should not go in for tabs, I have already explained it. From tabs you only learn the finger placements for every bar of a music piece. They do not teach you chords nor scales! The way I see it they nothing but cheap thrills and nothing which a serious guitarist should go by. Read my post again and then tell me what you didnt understand, or if you have anything contradictory to say against it please let me know.

I seriously don't know which rock songs are easy for people. But from what I have seen around me, it seems everyone starting to learn the guitar always begin with summer of 69 and hotel california for some reason... haha, I know it sounds lame, but thats what I have noticed. What you can do is... make a list of your fav songs. find their chords, and learn them. So that way, you will not only learn different chords, but also learn to play your favourite songs...say what navin?! But this advice is ONLY for those who are not really serious about learning to play the guitar, and are seeing it as just a pasttime or a passing fancy!

Godspeed.

Alok.

[Abhay]

I am neever going to be a musician/professional, but what I want to be is play decent music (from my favourite songs) and maybe try and compose bits n pieces of my own (if I can). I play my guitar coz when I do it keeps my mind kinda focussed and in a good state....

btw Alok, I have learnt most of the chords (Maj/minor/7) and some scales when I used to go learn from a guy back when I was in college.
Good thing is inspite of not playing for many years I never forgot the basic chords/scales which was the only thing my teacher taught me (and no songs!) which actually has helped me a lot. I see many people who go to classes can only play the tunes/melodies (mostly hindi :s )taught in class and also have hardly any knowledge abt theory like what the notes are and how they are placed all over a fretboard etc.
Now though I have taken up the "tab" route, since I dont have time to go to a class regularly.

[navin]

Originally Posted by ghostrider4385

About tuning your guitar, go in for a guitar tuner.

I know so many people who had bought electrics to learn with

As for why you should not go in for tabs

I seriously don't know which rock songs are easy for people. But from what I have seen around me, it seems everyone starting to learn the guitar always begin with summer of 69 and hotel california for some reason... haha, I know it sounds lame, but thats what I have noticed. What you can do is... make a list of your fav songs. find their chords, and learn them. So that way, you will not only learn different chords, but also learn to play your favourite songs...say what navin?! But this advice is ONLY for those who are not really serious about learning to play the guitar, and are seeing it as just a pasttime or a passing fancy!

Godspeed.

Alok.

I agree with ALok on all counts.

a) In fact I would guess that one should have an electric, a steel acoustic and a nylon acoustic. nylon acoustis have a tiber that is very different and since the string spacing a bit more they lend them selves to some wonderful finger picking.

b) use tabs after you have learnt the chords and scales. tabs are not bad they just divert one from learning chords and scales. too bad i did not know tabs existed till after i had spent some time with the guitar.

c) Seems to me the 1st song everyone learns is Smoke on the Water and then just about every 3 chord AC/DC song. I would over suggest learning the Beatles stuff as they have some very eclectic chord progressions and use some wonderful chord changes and cover minor, 7th and lots of lesser used chords.

d) learning songs you like is definitely the way to go as long as you dont intend to sit for Trinity School exams. I dont read music (that is bad and one should not follow my example) I learnt from listening to songs and watching the finger placements of friends who i hung out with.

e) writing songs and lyrics is a great high. you can really tell when you got a good hook or not. there will be days when you feel like writig and days you wont so dont rush it. let it flow.

f) if you dont enjoy it anymore stop.

[zaphod]

cheers for the advice, navin and ghostrider... will get some picks tomorrow and start learning the chords !


BTW, I thought I'd start off with patience - it's one of my favourite accoustic songs - or every rose has a thorn......(after i get the basics right)


cheers

zaphod

[navin]

get nylon picks not plastic.