Wall of Mouths

I’m not very far along from where you are and I’d say that you’re just fine with a Spanish. I found it a lot easier to toughen up my fingers doing stuff on that and it sounds beautiful when you can get it right.

I’ve found this book pretty easy so far. It takes the strings a couple of notes at a time and also introduces music notation in a really really simple way. I never thought I’d be able to read music but now I can a tiny bit thanks to this book. :P

Just keep practising and good luck!

If I were you I’d invest firstly in a voice recorder.

I’m from back in the day of tapes (C90’s) but I suppose with technology the way it is you could probably record your vocals directly into the computer (don’t know software, I still actually use tapes) or even into your phone perhaps.

Listen to them back, try playing along.

I would also find a mate (or stranger) who does actually play guitar so you can bounce ideas off each other and also they could show you how to play.

I was playing piano from the age of 7 and its all about the ear which helps you pick out the melody of a song, whether its singing or guitar, so I subesequently have never had a lesson, not that I would ever advise against it.

Any guitar you own is good enough to play along with any song, you don’t need an amp and loads of distortion to work out either your own songs or those of T? et al. you just need the love for the music and most importantly…

A guitar that is in tune.

Learn both the basic open chords and standard rock power chords and its onwards and upwards from there.

The next step is just to put your songs or your covers on youtube and watch as everyone berates you no matter what.

@ man-fish: Yeah it’s a good thing I can keep the guitar. I might still want to let it get looked at first to be on the safe side though : )

@ jamo: Yeah I’ve heard Nirvana songs are good for practicing and they can sound great on a classical guitar. Right now I have a book and the garage band application on my computer to learn from, I also have quite a few friends who play the guitar who could perhaps teach me, I’m thinking of using various ways to keep things interesting. As for gear I think it’d be best to keep my expenses at the level of time I’m putting into it, if that makes sense. Anyway if I can get good equipment later I will but I will start out simple - basic stuff for learning the basics, you know ; ) I’m going to set up a budget for this anyway and spare me some money - what I don’t spend now I’m sure I’ll need later.

@ Singularity: yeah, playing together with some friends (I do have a few who play guitar) will be fun and I will ask them once I know the basics so the session is worthwhile, I’m looking forward to it. I think the Garage Band application also has a voice recorder in it which I can use once I figure it out. Trying to do both the vocals as the guitar and then melting it into one is a great idea though - that could keep the time I put into both at the same level. It’s kinda essential if I ever want to do anything with my lyrics without help from a singer so.

As for putting stuff on Youtube, I’m a long shot away from that and it’s not my main intention but I might when I’m happy with something I did and feel I need the feedback… If I ever get to that point chances are bigger I’ll ask for feedback here or on other music forums I’m on though, ‘cos there’s no greater pain than reading Youtube comments x’)

Currently the strings on my guitar are too old and I didn’t manage to tune them, but I have a chromatic tuner on my PC so once I get some new ones I should manage to tune it and I can finally start out. A bit of a letdown I can’t practice now already during my breaks (I don’t really have time to go down to the music store) but oh well I’ll cope and there’s plenty to learn / read up on in the meantime…

I got some sites on tabs and other stuff I might wanna know and a load of reading to do, expect me to really get at it when exams finish (somewhere in the beginning of February).

@ interzone: maybe if the inspiration starts to fade, right now I want my head to be clear :p