How hard is it to learn a guitar solo if you have never played.
- Thread starter Fordiesel69
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I've had an air for music all my life. Whenever I was very young one of my brothers was learning to play the guitar and I told him that I thought I might like to learn to play the guitar so he showed me a cord and asked me if I could do it and I tried and my fingers just were not move and that way on the fretboard. I don't remember exactly but my suspicion is that he was showing me a B chord, and some B chords are very hard to do.
Back in the 90s I decided that I really wanted to learn to play the guitar so I borrowed an acoustic guitar from that brother and learn to play just enough of it that I could then go to different music shops and play their guitars until I found one that I liked. I found one fantastic sounding acoustic guitar but I did not like that the neck on it seem too narrow for me. And everyone had been telling me that a Martin D28 was one of the best but there was only one shop locally that had one and it was all scratched up so I wasn't going to buy that. So I bought a Martin D28 buy mail order from elderly instruments. First thing I found out was that whatever the Polish was they were using was supposed to be a really fantastic polish but I couldn't stand the smell of it. And then I began to realize that the guitar had not one but two sections of the fretboard neck where the strings would buzz when they weren't supposed to because they would be too close to the neck. It turned out that this brand new Martin D-28 had two warps in the neck. I took it to local Lutherthers ( that is what a person who fixes guitars is called because one of the first stringed instruments was the loot), and it was not fixable and besides that I shouldn't have been trying to have to get it fixed in the first place because it was a brand new guitar. So I had 60 days to return it to elderly instruments and get my money back so I bailed out on that guitar, and got my money back. I then went and bought the one that really sounded fantastic that I had found when I was searching and thought that maybe I could learn to play with the narrow neck. But the narrow neck was not proper for my big long fingers so after a few months I called up the manufacturer and sent it back to them to have a wider neck put on it. That cost me almost as much as the guitar initially. Also while they had it I had them put in an electric pickup. Now I have a fantastic sounding acoustic guitar with an electric pickup. Though the only time I really use the pickup it's when I'm tuning it when I'm outside and it's too windy which happens fairly often because I like to play in a local park.
There's a couple of songs that I can play fairly well but in general I'm probably below average especially for someone who's been playing a guitar since 1997.
My Guitar is a 1994 Taylor 815CE that is in fantastic shape. One of the reasons that it is in such great shape is that I have kept the humidity inside the case very close to the ideal humidity of 47% for all the years that I've owned it. This is extremely important because wood will lose moisture if the ambient air is too dry or gain moisture if the ambient air is too moist and that causes it to shrink or expand and if it does that too much it can distort or crack to the point where it is not repairable. And while this is extremely important it's not that hard to do if you simply get a huge clear plastic luggage bag and put the entire case with the guitar in it inside that clear plastic bag and then monitor the humidity with a digital humidistat gauge. I actually have a humidistat gauge the transmits the temperature and humidity By Radio to a receiver. Another thing I do is I roll up a couple of wet wash Rags inside of a hand towel and I keep that off to a corner of the big clear plastic bag that the entire case is in and I can roll that up into a corner so that it cannot circulate humidity to the rest of the bag or I can unroll it and allow it to expose humidity to the inside of the guitar case by the air of the inside of the bag. This is extremely important to keep the guitar in good shape. Also waxing the guitar once in awhile especially the back of the fretboard is important.
Two of the best beginner books for a beginner in guitar are Mel Bay guitar one, and Hal Leonard guitar one. When I bought them you could get the optional CD with it if you spent a little more and that's worth doing but nowadays I think they may have an online subscription that you can subscribe to when you buy those books. Those two books are like the Bible of learning to play the basics of a guitar.
The local Community College offered adult evening classes at a local high school taught by a person with a master's degree in music who was working on his doctorate in music and I took guitar one and guitar too soon after I bought my guitar. That is a very good education and how to read music and also the basics of playing the guitar.
Back in the 90s I decided that I really wanted to learn to play the guitar so I borrowed an acoustic guitar from that brother and learn to play just enough of it that I could then go to different music shops and play their guitars until I found one that I liked. I found one fantastic sounding acoustic guitar but I did not like that the neck on it seem too narrow for me. And everyone had been telling me that a Martin D28 was one of the best but there was only one shop locally that had one and it was all scratched up so I wasn't going to buy that. So I bought a Martin D28 buy mail order from elderly instruments. First thing I found out was that whatever the Polish was they were using was supposed to be a really fantastic polish but I couldn't stand the smell of it. And then I began to realize that the guitar had not one but two sections of the fretboard neck where the strings would buzz when they weren't supposed to because they would be too close to the neck. It turned out that this brand new Martin D-28 had two warps in the neck. I took it to local Lutherthers ( that is what a person who fixes guitars is called because one of the first stringed instruments was the loot), and it was not fixable and besides that I shouldn't have been trying to have to get it fixed in the first place because it was a brand new guitar. So I had 60 days to return it to elderly instruments and get my money back so I bailed out on that guitar, and got my money back. I then went and bought the one that really sounded fantastic that I had found when I was searching and thought that maybe I could learn to play with the narrow neck. But the narrow neck was not proper for my big long fingers so after a few months I called up the manufacturer and sent it back to them to have a wider neck put on it. That cost me almost as much as the guitar initially. Also while they had it I had them put in an electric pickup. Now I have a fantastic sounding acoustic guitar with an electric pickup. Though the only time I really use the pickup it's when I'm tuning it when I'm outside and it's too windy which happens fairly often because I like to play in a local park.
There's a couple of songs that I can play fairly well but in general I'm probably below average especially for someone who's been playing a guitar since 1997.
My Guitar is a 1994 Taylor 815CE that is in fantastic shape. One of the reasons that it is in such great shape is that I have kept the humidity inside the case very close to the ideal humidity of 47% for all the years that I've owned it. This is extremely important because wood will lose moisture if the ambient air is too dry or gain moisture if the ambient air is too moist and that causes it to shrink or expand and if it does that too much it can distort or crack to the point where it is not repairable. And while this is extremely important it's not that hard to do if you simply get a huge clear plastic luggage bag and put the entire case with the guitar in it inside that clear plastic bag and then monitor the humidity with a digital humidistat gauge. I actually have a humidistat gauge the transmits the temperature and humidity By Radio to a receiver. Another thing I do is I roll up a couple of wet wash Rags inside of a hand towel and I keep that off to a corner of the big clear plastic bag that the entire case is in and I can roll that up into a corner so that it cannot circulate humidity to the rest of the bag or I can unroll it and allow it to expose humidity to the inside of the guitar case by the air of the inside of the bag. This is extremely important to keep the guitar in good shape. Also waxing the guitar once in awhile especially the back of the fretboard is important.
Two of the best beginner books for a beginner in guitar are Mel Bay guitar one, and Hal Leonard guitar one. When I bought them you could get the optional CD with it if you spent a little more and that's worth doing but nowadays I think they may have an online subscription that you can subscribe to when you buy those books. Those two books are like the Bible of learning to play the basics of a guitar.
The local Community College offered adult evening classes at a local high school taught by a person with a master's degree in music who was working on his doctorate in music and I took guitar one and guitar too soon after I bought my guitar. That is a very good education and how to read music and also the basics of playing the guitar.
OP, As to whether you'll ever be able to play a very complicated fast song like the one that you've mentioned, I have thought of getting a violin and learning to play the violin and I still might do that but even if I do I don't think I'll ever be able to play the Orange Blossom Special like Mark O'Connor.
By the way, for a good guitar nowadays you can expect to pay somewhere between $2,000 to $4,000
Think that Eminence Front solo has some alternate tuning in it. It would take some time to copy Pete. He was the best rhythm guitar player to ever play lead. Love his playing.
The average player definitely does not need to spend $2000 minimum for a "good" guitar. That's US-built Fender money or Gibson money and aren't necessary at all. If you get good, sure, save up and get one.... I'd buy an older, used one over a new one though.
My buddy from our folk song days 60s era, has an old Martin, he will take 5 million for it,,,lol
Fourth grade through sixth grade I was second string trumpet in the school orchestra. [there was no third string or lower] Then I took up guitar . I at the time could read music so I could play the notes. 50 years later a dear friend was friends with a retired pro musician he played gigs etc but at one time played with George Benson. We bacame friends over time and were chatting about music and he looked me in the eye and asked where my family ancestory came from, Italy I said He gave me a smile and said My family tree came from Africa and with a glimmer in his eye and a huge smile said you gots no rythm. Which to be honest is true. Any how the best way to find out is to try. Online there are tabs that tell where you can put you fingers on the fret bord to hit the proper notes. Musical instruments are simple devices but to play them is a whole different story. Again give it a try,,, about every 5 years I pick up a Guitar and try to play it, then realize Guitar is my worst failure in life. I do not regret my time spent trying to play an instrument though
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Like anything else it depends on what one wants to do. I wanted to meet women, so as a result my level was mediocre. But I could do vocals which was a plus. Today with YouTube it is easy to become aware of talent.
I would say as long as one wants to play for enjoyment, it’s absolutely doable and worth it. If one wants to play professionally well then it’s one of those things, there is a such thing as too late to start. If people have been playing hockey since age 4, should I start at 16? For enjoyment, absolutely. To try to make it to the NHL, no….
I would say as long as one wants to play for enjoyment, it’s absolutely doable and worth it. If one wants to play professionally well then it’s one of those things, there is a such thing as too late to start. If people have been playing hockey since age 4, should I start at 16? For enjoyment, absolutely. To try to make it to the NHL, no….
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- Jul 10, 2022
- Messages
- 3,676
I always wanted a Martin D-28. At $3299, it is simply not something that would make sense at this time or going forward.
Amazingly they have used this Yamaha that is $350 in the same sentence. Even this FG380 is better than what a beginner needs, but it may be worth it. Say a cheap guitar is $150 and a person really takes it up….
I should have gotten one at $280 a couple years ago…
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