Starting Electric - Will my acoustic skills help

[tanmoy]

After 4 years of playing acoustic, I am starting to play some electric.

I have mostly played fingerstyle blues/country type songs till now (Mississippi John Hurt or so). I have used a pick for the first year of my learning while learning the chords, scales etc. but almost never touched a pick from then on.

So my question is, Am I starting the electric from scratch? Or my acoustic skills will pay off? Also can you suggest some easy solos/riffs that I can play to practice as well as sound reasonably well.

More information:
I am thinking of playing electric metal solos only. I am not thinking of writing my own solos and want to go straight (as soon as possible) to play solos.

I am using a Stratocaster clone if this helps.

[Vognell]

What you've learned from playing acoustic will translate well to the electric, though you will find the feel and dynamics of the electric instrument take some getting used to.

Avoid the temptation to go for a heavily distorted sound (at first). It's cool if you wanna be a shredder, but you want to make sure you're playing it "clean". Distortion and effects can hide a lot of ills, so make sure your foundations are solid.

If nothing else, your acoustic experience means you have strong fingers and well developed callouses. Have fun!

*** check out Rob Chapman's Guitar Forum http://www.robchapman.tv/forum/ for a nice group of metal-heavy guitar enthusiasts. Lot's of good insights there.

[Davis Webb]

You will find things very easy to play on the electric and your mistakes will be amplified. Other than that, its not a hard transition.

Go to youtube and search for Marty Schwartz. His videos teach a lot of the classic rock riffs which you should master before going on to metal.

For metal riffing, Aeolian mode, harmonic minor scales and Djent are all basic. Djent can only be done with high gain on a Strat, bridge position and a metal pedal or effects chain. For that a modeling amp would be perfect.

I see metal as the classical of rock. I would say competence in the form takes about 10 years. It will be easy to do Sweet Child of Mine, but hard to really do something other than random-shred until you understand all the modes, and classical music solo progressions.

No matter what, you should learn the Marty S. material first so you know the classic riffs. Have fun with it. And be prepared for GAS pretty soon. If you are wanting metal, you will end up with an Ibanez. Can be had used and decent for $350.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by Vognell

What you've learned from playing acoustic will translate well to the electric, though you will find the feel and dynamics of the electric instrument take some getting used to.
<<snippet>>

+1.

Tanmoy, In addition to the metal solos (I love playing them too), you're going to work on some rhythms too. I find metal rhythms very different than acoustic rhythms (i.e. lots of downstroking on the electric).

Are you looking at specific songs (solos) to learn?

[terrapin]

Sure. You are just gonna have to forget all those "cowboy" chords!!!

[Choctaw2]

Acoustic vs Metal quite a change.

[sweiss]

Originally Posted by tanmoy

.......I am thinking of playing electric metal solos only. I am not thinking of writing my own solos and want to go straight (as soon as possible) to play solos........

Is your goal to be half a guitarist? That's what you'll be if you concentrate strictly on soloing. Every good soloist is nearly always a proficient rhythm player as well.

I don't know if you ever plan to be in a band, but if you you do.....no band wants or needs someone who plays only solos, and just stands there the rest of the time.

By all means practice soloing, but spend an equal amount of time learning to be a solid rhythm player too. You'll be much better off if you do.

[terrapin]

Originally Posted by sweiss

Is your goal to be half a guitarist? That's what you'll be if you concentrate strictly on soloing. Every good soloist is nearly always a proficient rhythm player as well.

I don't know if you ever plan to be in a band, but if you you do.....no band wants or needs someone who plays only solos, and just stands there the rest of the time.

By all means practice soloing, but spend an equal amount of time learning to be a solid rhythm player too. You'll be much better off if you do.

Great point, and exactly why I made the comment about losing the Cowboy Chords. To be a useful electric guitarist you need great rhythm chops. Chord voicings, playing intervals, inventing parts that compliment the song. The best "lead" guitar players spend most of their time playing rhythm. IMO it is ALOT more fun than "wanking" out solos anyway.

[DESERTRAT1]

I agree with Vognell about starting out clean. The transition isn't all that difficult but you're going to be better off in the long run to get the same kind of understanding of your Strat that you have with your acoustic. There are also a few techniques that are used more often on electric that acoustic such as palm muting and string bending that are best learned clean. Another reason to start out clean is that the most common scenario that dirt players use when setting their amp tone is to dial in a clean sound that they like first and then apply the over drive which leaves them with only small adjustments to get where they want to be.

[donh]

Short answer: of course there is carryover, and of course they are very different!

A long answer: You already got some great advice - here's a bit more. The electric anchors the strings differently and the sound comes out faster - these are both from the same reason. The acoustic guitar gets the energy from the string, moves, and the sound comes out. The electric pickup senses the string instantly and the sound is modified by the body makeup (and the electronics, but let's not go there yet). And the electric typically has smaller wires, as well as string anchors that tend to stay in place more as the string vibrates. So the touch is different and the response is different AND the timing is different. (but the notes are in the same place) One tends to automatically adjust to the timing differences, but it's nice to be aware of them. This same effect occurs with other instruments - piano and pipe organ, trumpet and tuba (or any short/long wind instrument pair), electric bass and tuba (I met a guy that plays both and we discussed this), and to some extent even plucked as opposed to bowed string bass.

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by tanmoy

After 4 years of playing acoustic, I am starting to play some electric.

I have mostly played fingerstyle blues/country type songs till now (Mississippi John Hurt or so). I have used a pick for the first year of my learning while learning the chords, scales etc. but almost never touched a pick from then on.

So my question is, Am I starting the electric from scratch? Or my acoustic skills will pay off? Also can you suggest some easy solos/riffs that I can play to practice as well as sound reasonably well.

More information:
I am thinking of playing electric metal solos only. I am not thinking of writing my own solos and want to go straight (as soon as possible) to play solos.

I am using a Stratocaster clone if this helps.

I suggest you supplement all this advice with some from a forum that's not oriented primarily toward acoustic.

[tanmoy]

Thanks guys,

So it seems from the replies and I feel it too after trying to play some solos that most metal songs are fast and does not sound good at slower tempos. So with the advices I would start with some electric rocks and slowly move into metal.

For the rhythm part yes I should also concentrate on that though I don't like it I agree that it is important.

So can you guys list down some easy rock riffs that will make my practice time more enjoyable.

I have find out I can bend strings much easily here so if the riffs include bending (but slow tempo) I would like it too. I probably would like electric blues also to develop my electric skill.