Wild hair, took up guitar lessons at age 58

[memphislawyer]

Ok, between now and dead, as Dr. Laura Schlesinger says, what do I want to accomplish? Well, went to Costa Rica and ziplined. White water rafted various rivers. Will go skydiving. Will get up to Canada and stalk elk or some big game, not to shoot, but to just see nature. Saw Grand Canyon and Vegas and will get up to Yosemite to see Yogi Bear and BooBoo. So, what else? Guitar. Play a set at a club. Well, first second Friday in August, I went and got a used amp, a stand, and a new Squier Bullet Telecaster in foam green. Trying to shoot for 15 to 30 minutes a night. Been watching you tube videos to teach myself strumming and chords.

Fast Forward. Still practicing guitar. 26 days into it. Learned 7 chords. C major is hard. So is G. And sometimes my fingers deaden strings. Oh and a D2 as they call it, or D plus 6 over 9. Learned that to play Horse with No Name. Simple but yet hard for me. Singing while playing, not as easy as it looks. Sorta slows me down. But if it was not challenging I probably would lose interest. No sense in singing to it yet, lol. Beale Street is so far away. I am having fun. Gotta make my fingers longer. And my pinky locks up at times.

 

[tonyb]

Good for you, young man.

When you’ve mastered “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” let us know.

 

[DanH]

Excellent, stick with it. I dislike clichés but it really is a journey not a destination.
I've been playing bass for over 40 years and still find ways to improve.

 

[Peacoat]

Good for you. I have been a blues/rocknroll harp player for over 40 years now (mostly retired), and the journey isn't easy, but it sure can be fun.

 

[nick123]

Good for you. I’m a relatively novice player; uncoordinated both in real life and guitar, but can tell you this:

Your fingers, with enough practice, will magically lock in to their proper chord positions. And you’ll get even better at quickly changing over from chord to chord. Just keep doing it. And learn a few (pentatonic?) scales. May seem laborious at first, but they will give you some insight as to finding your way around the neck.

Try “House of the Rising Sun” to get some string accuracy. Or “Rumble” if you just want to feel cool. (DDE, DDA) And lastly,

MORE REVERB! Learn “Pipeline” and you’ve knocked out The Chantays and Johnny Thunders in one swoop. Lol.

 

[GHT]

Fast Forward. Still practising guitar. 26 days into it. Learned 7 chords. C major is hard. So is G. And sometimes my fingers deaden strings. Oh and a D2 as they call it, or D plus 6 over 9. Learned that to play Horse with No Name. Simple but yet hard for me. Singing while playing, not as easy as it looks. Sorta slows me down. But if it was not challenging I probably would lose interest. No sense in singing to it yet, lol. Beale Street is so far away. I am having fun. Gotta make my fingers longer. And my pinky locks up at times.

For a Memphis Lawyer I would have thought that Beale Street was just around the corner. Only teasing, tell you what, when you have cracked the opening riff to Chuck Berry's: "Johnny B. Goode, let us all know, we'll all come to your first gig. And here's how you do it.

 

[Edward]

Johnny B Goode is the reason I wanted to play guitar. Got distrcted along the way... I must learn it!

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

“In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”! Oh, my lost youth! I'll be 65 in less than four weeks. When I read that, it summoned a vivid memory of driving on a particular road at night near Pittsburgh with three friends and hearing that blasting from the car's dashboard radio.

A few years back, I was playing cards in a pool room with some friends, and the kids at the place were putting money in the juke box (well, it was a computer pretending to be a juke box) and playing one awful rap tune after another. Finally I'd had enough, so I strolled over to the juke box and dug up that one. Seventeen minutes and five seconds of rap-free contentment.

 

[memphislawyer]

I think the fingering will come as will my fingers hitting the right string and pressing hard enough to not make a buzz. Sometimes, I use my pinkie and it wants to lock up, but heck, it was never really used to this kind of work, lol.

Lessons: I have watched a guy names Marty Scwartz and another named Nate Savage on you tube. I guess it is to learn the chords. Both have videos on ten songs to play using two chords and then one for three chords. It is just a matter of grabbing the guitar and sitting down with it and replicating what they teach for 15 to 20 minutes. Maybe next month (today marks one month that I have had the guitar) I will get a live lesson.

Thinking of getting an acoustic guitar for the office to learn on that as well. Beats having to drag the electric to the office and back. Besides, I read where it is a bit harder on the hands so that would be good to build up dexterity and hand strength and stretching. I tend to overlook things so I am reading up on what a "best" or "best value" beginner acoustic guitar is. May just run down to a pawn shop or the local used guitar store.

 

[3fingers]

Just run down to Walmart and pick up one of these from the toy department.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I think the fingering will come as will my fingers hitting the right string and pressing hard enough to not make a buzz. Sometimes, I use my pinkie and it wants to lock up, but heck, it was never really used to this kind of work, lol.

Lessons: I have watched a guy names Marty Scwartz and another named Nate Savage on you tube. I guess it is to learn the chords. Both have videos on ten songs to play using two chords and then one for three chords. It is just a matter of grabbing the guitar and sitting down with it and replicating what they teach for 15 to 20 minutes. Maybe next month (today marks one month that I have had the guitar) I will get a live lesson.

Thinking of getting an acoustic guitar for the office to learn on that as well. Beats having to drag the electric to the office and back. Besides, I read where it is a bit harder on the hands so that would be good to build up dexterity and hand strength and stretching. I tend to overlook things so I am reading up on what a "best" or "best value" beginner acoustic guitar is. May just run down to a pawn shop or the local used guitar store.

A couple of comments:

1. Congrats on picking up the guitar. You’re never too old to learn.

2. Keep in mind that an acoustic guitar will be significantly harder to fret than an electric. So if you’re having trouble getting the strings pressed down on the electric, it’ll be worse with the acoustic. Not that you shouldn’t play an acoustic, just don’t let that discourage you further. It’ll come.

3. I highly recommend getting some real life lessons. Some of those online lessons are quite useful, but you don’t get feedback or correction on *your* playing, a chance to ask questions, or someone to point out and help you correct bad habits. A live teacher will do all three. And it will help immensely. As does practice. There’s just no getting around it.

4. You don’t have to spend a fortune on a guitar, but get one that sounds decent and most of all will stay in tune. Nothing will give a headache faster than an out of tune guitar. And it will discourage you from wanting to play/practice.

5. Finally,...ok, I guess more than a couple of comments...play/practice songs you like. It’ll make you want to play more.

Good luck!

 

[memphislawyer]

Hudson, thank you

Been liking the Justinguitar series on YouTube. Think I am going to stick with that, so many lessons. I will, probably in 2 or 3 weeks, try to get a one-on-one guitar lesson as you suggested. I am thinking that working on dexterity, learning the chords, just getting use to the guitar, that will be good and then the lessons can focus me. Someone I can see once a week or every other week to keep me accountable, correct bad habits, move me to the next step.

Today, taking this lesson: Stage 1: One Minute Changes. Switching between A,D and E as many times as I can in one minute. Will use his fingering of the A chord instead of what Marty at Guitarjamz taught me. And I am working on playing Horse with No Name.

I wonder if I need a tuner that connects onto the guitar, like a Snark tuner, I am told. I have on that plugs in. Maybe for the Acoustic? Metronome or wait on that?

I have seen some Yamahas on Facebook marketplace and well, the reviews on some of them show some entry levels that aren't all that great. One of Justin's tutorials says don't buy a super cheap, not good sounding acoustic, or else I may sour on what it produces. I may to to a local guitar shop to pick up a few and see what they have. May be better to spend $100 there than $70 on Facebook

 

[HudsonHawk]

No sure how Marty teaches the A chord, but you can play it multiple ways. The most common and obvious is the first finger on the 4th string, the second finger on the 3rd string, and the third finger on the 2nd string (all on the second fret). Another way, and the way I use most often, is the first finger on the 3rd string, the second finger on the 4th string and the third finger on the 2nd string. Your finger sort of overlap each other. I've found this easier when you have trouble getting all your fingers in line, and it's easy to move between A and D.

As for tuners...I have a couple of the clip on types, and they do a pretty good job. They're fairly intuitive and easy to use without having to plug in. Mine don't stay on the headstock very well when I move, however. Perhaps that's just me. Metronomes are good for working on rhythm and timing. There are apps you can download to your phone that have tuners and a metronome. I have one, and it works pretty good too, though you obviously can't play very loud with them.

A good used guitar may be your best bet, but under $100 is pushing it. $250 or so will get you a much better sounding guitar. Go to the local shop and play a few. Ask for advice. A lot of beginners are intimated by guitar store personnel, but I've never met one yet who doesn't love to talk about guitars with anyone, even if you're just starting out. Keep in mind that everyone will have an opinion, and while that's good that you can get lots of information, at the end of the day your guitar is your friend, so choose wisely...one you want to spend time with.

 

[memphislawyer]

The way you do it is how Justin teaches it. The first way you mentioned is how Marty teaches it. G chord, marty uses first finger on 5thstring, middle finger on 6th and ring finger on first. Justin and a guy named Nate Savage use second, third and pinkie. I dont know if this will be wrong or not, but using the first, second and pinkie help me with the G. Now if that is not good form, which of the two would you suggest? And any tips on how to stretch my fingers to get the C chord?

And I will probably head to the music store rather than a pawn shop.

 

[HudsonHawk]

The way you do it is how Justin teaches it. The first way you mentioned is how Marty teaches it. G chord, marty uses first finger on 5thstring, middle finger on 6th and ring finger on first. Justin and a guy named Nate Savage use second, third and pinkie. I dont know if this will be wrong or not, but using the first, second and pinkie help me with the G. Now if that is not good form, which of the two would you suggest? And any tips on how to stretch my fingers to get the C chord?

And I will probably head to the music store rather than a pawn shop.

On the G...you need to learn it both ways...the 4-fingered G and the three fingered G using the second, third and pinkie fingers. It's the same chord, but there are times when you want to use one and times when you want to use the other. I'd stay away from the first, second and pinkie on the G chord. There are many chords that are that way, and how you play it isn't a big deal except it makes it easier to get to the next chord. Learn chords different ways and you'll find you use different fingerings depending on the song. The A chord, for example, can also be played by just barring across the second, third, and fourth strings with one finger. It's tricky to get at first, especially if you're not good with barre chords, but once you get it, you'll find all sorts of songs where it's useful.

 

[memphislawyer]

Thanks. I sorta figured that some chords can be played different ways

For some reason, the opening riff of Midnight Rider might be fun to play for friends to show that I am having fun. Saw guitarmadeez video. Now, my electric guitar, when he says to hammer the a string, third fret, it does not ring like the acoustic. Gonna look at various videos, but if I can practice it, this weekend I will try it before family. So pumped

 

[HudsonHawk]

Hammers and pulls are just another wrinkle you'll learn as you go. They are fun and are what really give lead players speed. It's a never ending journey.

 

[memphislawyer]

Well, ended up at a local Guitar Center. Tried out a Seagull S6 Dreadnaught acoustic. They had one that was used at $279.00. Really liked that sound the best, but maybe it was because I read up that it is all wood and made in Canada. Tried an Ibanez

Then went to local guitar shop and tried a used Washburn at $219, a used Yamaha FX800sc, listed at $259.00, let it go at $179.00, and a $299 Austin. Austin was the next best, but I got this

http://www.ibanez.com/products/ag_d...&cat_id=3&series_id=85&data_id=116&color=CL01

Love the look, smaller sized, loud and good base and clear mid and high notes. He threw in a free cord and cheap gig bag, and that would have been another $30 at Guitar Center. Friend says I could use some Elixir nanoweb 10 guage lightweight strings, and he is replacing them tonight, and I will keep the 12 gauge it had, but I was fine with those.

He wanted me to get this

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez...ncert-Acoustic-Guitar-with-Thermo-Aged-Top.gc.

I could get it for $349.00, $150 off list price, but I could not see that it was worth almost twice the one I got. I am not there yet on distinquishing tone. And then the extras would have been another $30. There was a $299 Fender but I would have gotten the used Seagull for $279 or spend $50 more and gotten the Ibanez Vintage.

Soundwise, the Seagull and then this Ibanez I got were the richest to me. They had me singing and my friend says get the ones that sings to you.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I absolutely LOVE Seagull guitars. I have two of them, and they are hands down the best sounding guitar for under $500. Heck, the $300 Seagulls sound better than most $1,500 guitars. They are THE best value in acoustic guitars, IMO. The S6 has a really wide neck, so there’s that to consider, though they I think they make a model with a normal size neck.

 

[memphislawyer]

Yes, I sorta thought the Seagull sounded the best, but as a new guy, my ear will only get better. And the used one at $279 was $80 more and then the tax and gig bag and cord, well,$110 more, almost 60% price increase and well, I do love the one I got.