Middle Aged Crazy.

[April Rose]

At age 63, I have just taken up the Guitar.

[Anita]

Good for you, April. Make it sing! There are many videos for beginners on Youtube now, and there are also lots of videos on how to play popular songs. So if you've always liked that riff at the beginning of "Browned-Eye Girl," you can find four or five videos that'll tell you how to do it. You can pick the one where the person seems to explain it well, and where it actually sounds right, too. Have fun, gal!

[TammyT]

Go for it! Just be warned that the tablature for some songs on some websites can be hopelessly wrong, which bothers me no end.

[Marda]

April, My suggestion is a good teacher and scales/chords. Perseverance and practice pays BIG! Quitting is easy.Also, Anita is on track, and I recommend "Oldschool "House Of the Rising Sun"

Also, ask Anita for help keeping your head screwed on right about "rhythm guitar "Concepts" because we already have enough "wanker/ Shredders" Also Google "Nashville Cats"! 60s Stuff is BEST!

Never too old, Lost a Friend to Cancer in his 80s, Started Picking in his 70s with industrial injury damages to his fingers
Also had friend, great songwriter,terrible guitarist due to ignorance and ego. Expensive gear and no courage or lessons. Ego
play on>>>
Checkout Bluegrass for basic skills help and open, organized,friendly jamming and fun challenging too
And practice with "recorded music". I was going to say "CDs"
And "Beach Boys", A?
And Rolling Stones "Last time">>>

Love,
Marda



*** Post edited to remove redundant quote, as per: http://crossdressers-haven.com/forums/v ... 65&t=10059" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - SL

[April Rose]

Thanks, all for the encouragement. I have a teacher. My son has been in multiple bands, and even toured the country with one of them. He was talking about giving lessons to pick up some extra cash, so we agreed that I would be his beta test. And My brother gave me an old guitar, so it's all sort of a family affair.

[TammyT]

Expensive gear and no courage or lessons.

oh dear, this is rarely a good combination. Starting off with expensive gear can be a very helpful thing (so long as it's good!), but you need to know what to do with it and how to get the best from it!

And yes, I agree about having a firm grasp of rhythm guitar (chords) before possibly progressing to shredding (soloing, lead guitar). Chords are the basic root of most music (music pun!) -- it's the foundation on which leads and singing melodies are built. If you have a capo, guitar chords can be easily transferable too.


A familial connection, eh April? Should be a piece of cake, then!

[April Rose]

Tammy,I think we can leave any threat of me shredding right out of it. I'm going for something more like strumming on the porch swing.

[Carol Elizabeth]

Patience is critical. As we age - our reaction time slows - movement becomes difficult especially if arthritis is setting in - and frustration in slow progress can become discouraging.

But the advice above is good - go for it - and don't give up. You can have many many hours of joy from the music and that will help to keep you young at heart.

[SilverLady(SO)]

Tammy,I think we can leave any threat of me shredding right out of it. I'm going for something more like strumming on the porch swing.

Sounds like you'll be 'picking and grinning' bluegrass style then?

I've got a Martin D-35 - a bluegrassers favorite, action set low - but you can't have it.

Bluegrass Rules!!


- SL

[April Rose]

Bluegrass does rule, SL, it's one of the presets on my Sirius car radio. Here in New England though, you're more likely to run into a Celtic music crowd. It's essentially the same thing, sort of the roots of bluegrass, but with pipes or flutes instead of banjos. I've been to house parties where a "master" musician will set up in the living room,and everyone with an instrument, even beginners, can sit in or out on parts,according to their ability. It's great fun; Food and drink and kids everywhere.

My punk rocking son, who is my guitar teacher, has said that attending these kinds of parties growing up is what probably made him a musician. I suppose that wanting to be more than a spectator at these things is what's getting me started as well.

And Carol; patience I've got. I drew my avatar.

[SilverLady(SO)]

I love Celtic music - especially the Scottish bag pipes! - almost as much as I do Bluegrass and Country music. If I ever wanted to have paybacks on an obnoxious neighbor I was sure to play bagpipe music . . . loud enough to annoy them, but not too loud for 'disturbing the peace' . . . I usually won.

I've attended many bluegrass festivals and 'jam sessions' over the years - started with my uncles and cousins when I was a child - that's what sparked my interest in playing guitar, too. Best thing was to sit across a good guitar player (my friends in the bluegrass band were preferred) who would call out the chord change just before it happened to help me, and after a while I could tell on my own; this worked especially well on songs I've never heard or played before. I miss those days.

It was always stressed to me to learn the proper way to play a chord before 'cheating' at it, ie wrapping thumb around the fret board to hold down the G string, which was always a big no-no by the band. They called that being lazy and it was never tolerated.

It's been a while since Virginia and I have had the guitars out, and as I just re-fractured my right wrist and arm a week ago today, it's going to be even longer. At least they're just hairline fractures and not actual breaks so my healing time will be much faster.

Good luck with your guitar lessons!


- SL

[TammyT]

It was always stressed to me to learn the proper way to play a chord before 'cheating' at it, ie wrapping thumb around the fret board to hold down the G string, which was always a big no-no by the band. They called that being lazy and it was never tolerated.

Tell that to jazz guitarists! Using your thumb frees up your index finger that can add a range of colour to a base chord. To be fair, though, I can see why the traditionalists might not be so keen, and it is best to avoid using your thumb while you're still learning as it changes your wrist position.

[SilverLady(SO)]

The idea was to first learn the correct way to play the chord before becoming lazy and cheating at it.

I do know quite a few guitarists - bluegrass, country - that do 'cheat' on the chords, but they all stressed to learn it the correct way first. That being said, there are some people who have to use the 'cheater thumb' due to physical impairment, but that's a completely different scenario and one in which I can empathize.

Their thought is you cheat by using a capo, especially for songs that have a lot of bar chords . . . and most everyone hates bar chords (including me).


- SL

[Anita]

SilverLady wrote:

Their thought is you cheat by using a capo, especially for songs that have a lot of bar chords . . . and most everyone hates bar chords (including me).

Ah, yes. If you play a certain style of hard rock (or metal), you get away from bar chords almost entirely. Technically, a a musician needs a minimum of three different notes in order to say they're playing a chord, but in rock and metal, we use two-note "chords" all the time. There's several reasons for that, but I'll just note that one reason is that the sound is so thick from the electronics that we don't want to use much more than that.

I'll play a five or six string chord for effect sometimes, on a very 'clean' setting on my pedal board. But as soon as I stomp back into the crunchier rock sound, it's back to two-note fingering. Sometimes when I've got three quick chords in a row, I'll play only one note, on the bottom string, for the second chord in the sequence. The listener still hears a 'chord' there, but I'm stripping it down, trying to keep the sound clear.

[April Rose]

OKAY, you people are scaring me now,,,, m