The Official Guitar Thread

[Madferret]

Sure, if memory serves me correctly


C - F- G
C- F - G - F

Am - G - Am - G
C - G - E - G - G7

Alright cool - now if you were noodling / soloing over that is it safe to assume you'd use the C pent or the A pent?

 

[Madferret]

Bender how are the chops coming along?

I'd love to find the time to practice more, but my life is a bit too hectic right now to really take it to another level, but I do have a bunch of songs I'm working on right now. It's just trying to find that balance.

Writing songs is never bad practice. What kind of keys do you like to write in or is it just whatever falls out of the guitar?

Usually in the Key of C but not always. Sometimes I try to mix it up, and sometimes stuff just falls out, but C is usually the key.

Interesting - you a piano player too?

I've dabbled in it for fun, but not with any theory. Just watch some Youtube vids and see if I can follow

Middle C!

 

[Madferret]

Bender - try soloing using the dorian mode / scale but play it in G. Here's the scale / formula:
G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F
1  2  3b  4  5  6  7
Notice how even though you're playing it in G you're still safe?

 

[Tigger]

I'd offer an example but most of my stuff these daze is in D or F with pentatonic relief and riff based crap.

...or in the key of b#...

 

[Bender]

It's funny, but I think my favourite songs are ones with simple chords and progressions. This is one of my favourite songs of all time:

http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/c/cat_stevens/where_do_the_children_play_crd.htm

What simple chords!!

 

[Madferret]

This one isn't mine but she sure is pretty - not many guitars can pull off a white paint job with gold trim. Plays like a dream  too I love the Bigsby. Gotta love that jersey sneak too..

 

[donkeyy0]

Sure, if memory serves me correctly


C - F- G
C- F - G - F

Am - G - Am - G
C - G - E - G - G7

Alright cool - now if you were noodling / soloing over that is it safe to assume you'd use the C pent or the A pent?

Got into a whole complex thing about how C minor pent wouldn't work. But I deleted it cuz it got too long. Unless you meant C major pent?

The E chord seems weird to just stick in there, all of a sudden he's changed the key area by like 4 raised notes.

G dorian would sound cool, or Bb major over the IV chord (in this case F) would be cool too. Don't wanna play Dorian over the Gmajor chord though.

 

[67royalstar]

This one isn't mine but she sure is pretty - not many guitars can pull off a white paint job with gold trim. Plays like a dream  too I love the Bigsby. Gotta love that jersey sneak too..

They do a great job making these reissue designs look good, but beware of the build quality if you're looking to buy an Asian made guitar.  Check out this blog on a similar one ~ it explains a lot:
http://thehosercaster.blogspot.ca/2011/01/2010-epiphone-casino.html

 

[Madferret]

Sure, if memory serves me correctly


C - F- G
C- F - G - F

Am - G - Am - G
C - G - E - G - G7

Alright cool - now if you were noodling / soloing over that is it safe to assume you'd use the C pent or the A pent?

Got into a whole complex thing about how C minor pent wouldn't work. But I deleted it cuz it got too long. Unless you meant C major pent?

The E chord seems weird to just stick in there, all of a sudden he's changed the key area by like 4 raised notes.

G dorian would sound cool, or Bb major over the IV chord (in this case F) would be cool too. Don't wanna play Dorian over the Gmajor chord though.

I would have said minor!
     
Yeah that E makes things interesting - love it

I'm trying to get him to get out of his comfort zone - it sounds like he has hit the "bored with the hammer-on pents" wall. What better way than tackling one of the more awkward modes!

How's your band doing? Still playing a lot?

 

[Kin]

This one isn't mine but she sure is pretty - not many guitars can pull off a white paint job with gold trim. Plays like a dream  too I love the Bigsby. Gotta love that jersey sneak too..

Bah. Pony up the 25 thousand and go with a vintage White Falcon.

 

[Madferret]

This one isn't mine but she sure is pretty - not many guitars can pull off a white paint job with gold trim. Plays like a dream  too I love the Bigsby. Gotta love that jersey sneak too..

Bah. Pony up the 25 thousand and go with a vintage White Falcon.

I know right - the guitar that takes you out for dinner

 

[Bender]

Sure, if memory serves me correctly


C - F- G
C- F - G - F

Am - G - Am - G
C - G - E - G - G7

Alright cool - now if you were noodling / soloing over that is it safe to assume you'd use the C pent or the A pent?

Got into a whole complex thing about how C minor pent wouldn't work. But I deleted it cuz it got too long. Unless you meant C major pent?

The E chord seems weird to just stick in there, all of a sudden he's changed the key area by like 4 raised notes.

G dorian would sound cool, or Bb major over the IV chord (in this case F) would be cool too. Don't wanna play Dorian over the Gmajor chord though.

I would have said minor!
     
Yeah that E makes things interesting - love it

I'm trying to get him to get out of his comfort zone - it sounds like he has hit the "bored with the hammer-on pents" wall. What better way than tackling one of the more awkward modes!

How's your band doing? Still playing a lot?

I kind of like the E in there also - it's kind of an homage to The Kinks' "Strangers" and I always felt the E was a beautiful chord to drop in that spot. Playing it again though I don't remember the strumming pattern for what I put down. I wouldn't play it as a straight pattern because it'll sound boring.

 

[Bender]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grP22coLFhw

Simple, simple, simple song but I absolutely love it. If this were country music I probably wouldn't listen to much else.

 

[Damian]

Hey guys.... what do you think of the ESP LTD DELUXE EC-1000 or the EPIPHONE LES PAUL CUSTOM PROPHECY CX.

Looking to upgrade but keep it 800 or less. Thoughts?

 

[louisstamos]

Hey guys.... what do you think of the ESP LTD DELUXE EC-1000 or the EPIPHONE LES PAUL CUSTOM PROPHECY CX.

Looking to upgrade but keep it 800 or less. Thoughts?

The ESP has EMG pickups in them right?  I would go with that, but bear in mind, those are powered active pickups, so you might have to replace the battery every now and then.

btw all you guitar enthusiasts, June is Monster Days @ Long & McQuade.  6 months of 0% financing on ALL gear!  I just ordered a MicroKorg for myself.

 

[donkeyy0]

Sure, if memory serves me correctly


C - F- G
C- F - G - F

Am - G - Am - G
C - G - E - G - G7

Alright cool - now if you were noodling / soloing over that is it safe to assume you'd use the C pent or the A pent?

Got into a whole complex thing about how C minor pent wouldn't work. But I deleted it cuz it got too long. Unless you meant C major pent?

The E chord seems weird to just stick in there, all of a sudden he's changed the key area by like 4 raised notes.

G dorian would sound cool, or Bb major over the IV chord (in this case F) would be cool too. Don't wanna play Dorian over the Gmajor chord though.

I would have said minor!
     
Yeah that E makes things interesting - love it

I'm trying to get him to get out of his comfort zone - it sounds like he has hit the "bored with the hammer-on pents" wall. What better way than tackling one of the more awkward modes!

How's your band doing? Still playing a lot?

Missed this response by a couple months I'm actually in between bands now, the rest of the guys basically decided they've got other stuff on their plates so the band gets forgotten about.

I'm spending a lot more time just chunking out chords on my acoustic than anything else. I'm writing a bit, but unfortunately the last time I played in front of an audience was in March (which was fun, jazz duo, jazz can be fun when it's not all you do)

 

[Rick C.]

Time to pull this out of the archives...

So I'm brand newbie.  I've got a basic acoustic, and a basic classical guitar that I can use.  Since I have a fat head and a fat ass, my fingers are chubby too.

I don't really want to take lessons when everything is free somewhere on the 'Net.  So which guitar do I learn on?  And should I try and figure out how to read those tab things, or just start out with some easy youtube lessons for a particular song or two?  Suggestions on what you'd do if you were just starting out?

Please help - I want to surprise a couple people at the annual campfire later this summer...

 

[Kin]

Time to pull this out of the archives...

So I'm brand newbie.  I've got a basic acoustic, and a basic classical guitar that I can use.  Since I have a fat head and a fat ass, my fingers are chubby too.

I don't really want to take lessons when everything is free somewhere on the 'Net.  So which guitar do I learn on?  And should I try and figure out how to read those tab things, or just start out with some easy youtube lessons for a particular song or two?  Suggestions on what you'd do if you were just starting out?

Please help - I want to surprise a couple people at the annual campfire later this summer...

Well, I'm reading Keith Richards' autobiography right now and no less an authority than the man himself strongly, strongly advocates learning on an acoustic before graduating to electric and I'd tend to agree. There's no hiding mistakes on an acoustic and if you want everything to ring out right, which you probably want to do around a campfire, you'll be playing on an acoustic anyway.

As to the sort of general question I think a lot of it depends on how much musical knowledge you have going into it. When I learned, guitar was my first instrument so having actual instruction from someone who taught me a little bit of the ins and outs and tricks of the trade was pretty valuable.

That said, it's not entirely necessary if all you want to do is strum out some sing-alongs. My advice would be to just find a chord chart(something like this http://www.chordie.com/chords.php but any place that sells sheet music will sell an offline one for cheap) and memorize the major chords and just practice switching between them. Once you've got a good idea of what an A chord is and how to play it, what a B is and how to play it, etc then as you say there are lots of sites that will list songs, their chords and when to make the changes. Play along with songs to get the timing and you should be able to play at the level you're aiming for fairly quickly. You'll be limited by your memorization as opposed to learning things by ear but that's something you can learn as you go.

 

[Rick C.]

Well, I'm reading Keith Richards' autobiography right now and no less an authority than the man himself strongly, strongly advocates learning on an acoustic before graduating to electric and I'd tend to agree. There's no hiding mistakes on an acoustic and if you want everything to ring out right, which you probably want to do around a campfire, you'll be playing on an acoustic anyway.

As to the sort of general question I think a lot of it depends on how much musical knowledge you have going into it. When I learned, guitar was my first instrument so having actual instruction from someone who taught me a little bit of the ins and outs and tricks of the trade was pretty valuable.

That said, it's not entirely necessary if all you want to do is strum out some sing-alongs. My advice would be to just find a chord chart(something like this http://www.chordie.com/chords.php but any place that sells sheet music will sell an offline one for cheap) and memorize the major chords and just practice switching between them. Once you've got a good idea of what an A chord is and how to play it, what a B is and how to play it, etc then as you say there are lots of sites that will list songs, their chords and when to make the changes. Play along with songs to get the timing and you should be able to play at the level you're aiming for fairly quickly. You'll be limited by your memorization as opposed to learning things by ear but that's something you can learn as you go.

Thanks.  I'm going to aim for your suggestions.  I'll get the chords down as quickly as my fingers and memory will let me.  I'll likely also trying and get at least one song going so I'm not bored or feeling that it's going nowhere (with just chords).

 

[Kin]

Thanks.  I'm going to aim for your suggestions.  I'll get the chords down as quickly as my fingers and memory will let me.  I'll likely also trying and get at least one song going so I'm not bored or feeling that it's going nowhere (with just chords).

Well, if I can suggest three chords in particular I'd aim for G, C and D. Get those down pat and with a little fooling around you'll be able to play, oh, 50% of everything recorded post 1962.