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Old 10-20-2006, 04:24 PM
HopefulMusician HopefulMusician is offline
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Default Learning methods

I plan to self teach myself through the help of friends (I know some pretty fine guitarists) and books. A lot of people tell me that they dont really play chords and just know tabs....This confuses me, i've heard its a quicker yet flawed way to learn, is it best in the long run to fully learn chords and stuff?

Can anyone provide further elaboration as still kinda confuses me.

Another query, can chords be played on any fret and how would you play chords for this and the tabs at the same time. Also how do you know when to change tabs or is this tablature just assuming you'd know when to for this particular song?

http://www.guitaretab.com/n/nirvana/21919.html
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Old 10-24-2006, 04:16 PM
HopefulMusician HopefulMusician is offline
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Can someone give me an answer for my questions please....I need understanding

Just to bulk this post out I learnt my first tune on a friends guitar!

x7x8757578875x

played on the bottom 'e' string

I feel pleased heh
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Old 10-24-2006, 04:22 PM
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ljguitar ljguitar is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HopefulMusician View Post
I plan to self teach myself through the help of friends (I know some pretty fine guitarists) and books. A lot of people tell me that they dont really play chords and just know tabs....This confuses me, i've heard its a quicker yet flawed way to learn, is it best in the long run to fully learn chords and stuff?
Hi there Hopeful...
Find some friends who play guitar, and keep asking them to show you the chords. When you are up and playing, then decide which style of guitar you'd like to learn and either add a local teacher, some DVD teaching videos or both to your life.

I'm assuming you want to play some songs and enjoy doing so. That happens pretty quickly if you learn chord progressions and sing a few familiar tunes.
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Old 10-24-2006, 04:26 PM
HereIGoAgain HereIGoAgain is offline
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According to Robert Fripp, a good guitarist is self-taught with the help of a teacher. You're on the right track there.

As far as the tab vs. chord question, It comes down to this. You should know both eventually, but how do you want to learn to play: Do you want to lean songs by others, or do you want to learn music and apply it to the guitar so you can form your own path?

I first learned chords, then I learned some single-string lead techniques. I used some songs to practice chord transitions. Once I was able to change chords in rhythm and time (this sometimes takes months to accomplish for new players), I then tried my hand at figuring out chords to songs by listening to the songs.

Had I to do it over again, I would not have spent so much money on gear and would have instead spent that money on lessons. Learning fundamentals, techniques, excercises, musical concepts, etc. is a slow-going process, but the time it will save you down the road makes the process worth it.

Oh, the first recognizable riff learned by many players is Nirvana's "Come As You Are."
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Old 10-24-2006, 04:28 PM
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Hopeful,

If you just want to learn chords, then tab may not be the best way to go. Chords can be played on any fret position, and there are many books out that show where all the chords are and how to finger them.

Tab is used mostly for fingerpicking and fingerstyle guitar, and is most useful when alternate tunings are used.

Most of us began by learning a few chords in the first position and went from there - not a bad way to start. If you want more, it's a lot easier to advance from knowing some basic chords.

Hope this helps.
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Old 10-24-2006, 04:31 PM
HopefulMusician HopefulMusician is offline
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Thats good advice! At first I'm going to be learning tunes by others. I wont really know whats best for me though until I actually have a guitar and am playing a lot....

Darn my cash flow...I want a guitar now darn it!
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Old 10-24-2006, 04:34 PM
Herb Hunter Herb Hunter is offline
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HopefulMusician,

I'm not sure I understand your questions. Anyway, I'm largely self-taught but I can't read music (standard notation) or tablature. I started out learning a few chords, then simple arrangements for solo guitar, then more chords and then more complicated solo arrangements.

I believe it will be less frustrating for you in the long run if you to start out learning chords both open chords and barre chords. I also think that you shouldn't follow my example, you should get a good teacher and learn to read music. I don't know any guitarist that has been playing by ear for a long time that doesn't wish he'd learned to read music when he was younger.
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Old 10-24-2006, 04:36 PM
YummyPork YummyPork is offline
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Tab is perfectly fine way to learn. There seem to be a few varieties which may be confusing you. Some just show you the chords the song uses. Some show you the melody or main riff. Neither one is a complete song but are really meant to be learning aids or guides to a song. So, as shorthand version to help you learn music, I think they are fine.

Looking at the one you posted: The first line of is showing you how to play the chords listed above it (F Bb etc..). The notes that make up those chords can be played elsewhere on the neck but the way it's written there is how the tab author thinks Nirvana was playing them.

One thing you might want to try is to learn how to strum a few chords - I reccommend G, C and D.

Find the "tab" for a song you know that uses those chords and try and play it. Try and find a tab that just lists the chords (save the soloing for later). If you look at the tab on this site: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/ you will see that they differentiate between "tab" and "chords". Pick one listed as "chords".

At first, you may find that the chords aren't hard to play individually but changing between them might be. That's where the practicing comes in....

Hope this helps

Pork

Edit: Weird - I must not have looked to closely but when I started typing, there were no other responses. Now there are several... that's why I like this place. So many helpful people!
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Last edited by YummyPork; 10-24-2006 at 04:40 PM. Reason: typed before looking I guess...
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  #9  
Old 10-24-2006, 04:43 PM
HopefulMusician HopefulMusician is offline
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Ok, that is very useful...my main confusion was what are chords and what are tabs and are they played together and stuff. But I get it now and will probably begin with learning a few chords and see how things go.
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Old 10-24-2006, 05:08 PM
RogerC RogerC is offline
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i first learned by ear (i've been playing instruments since i was 5) and then progressed to tabs. now that i've been playing for about 16 years, i'm finding that chords and chord structures are where it's at. if you want to be a really good lead player, you really need to know chords and scales.
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