Hello folks.
Really interested in learning how to play. Back when I was in my teens I took lessons and learned a song. Got smacked by a truck on my bike on my way home from a lesson and just kinda gave up. Broken shoulder and short term memory issues really put a damper on it all. I picked up a guitar again in my late 20s, but never really even tried to learn. I just made noise with it and cheesed my wife off.
Fast forward to a month or 2 ago and my daughter mentioned wanting to learn how to play guitar so she could play Nirvana songs. Took her to the music shop and she picked up the most janky guitar there for $70. While she wasnāt home I tinkered with it (both playing and fixing) and it really got me jazzed up about learning to play. I picked up a Slick SL57 for myself and have been practicing quite a bit for weeks now.
Iām in my later 40s and love to hobby hop (idk that I love itā¦. But it happens). I truly hope this hobby sticks. I think it canā¦ it has elements of several interests. I love music of all types, electronics (love old electronics and tinkering), gear and shiny stuff (or not so shiny in the case of the Slick).
Welcome Jeremiah, youāll love it. You practice and move on at your own pace. Post videos of you playing, showing both hands, guitar, and your face if youāre comfortable as that shows a lot too. Youāll get great feedback and no one ever says anything nasty; just good, honest and helpful feedback.
Hi Jeremiah, welcome to the community. Since you now have an electric guitar, if you have the money and the time you can spend a lot of money and time on GAS ( gear acquisition syndrome) buying an amp and pedals, but not so much that you forget to practice
Welcome to JustinGuitar and this fantastic community.
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We are a supportive and encouraging group of students and guitarists from across the world. Essentially, we are all here for music and to improve as players. We truly are a ācommunityā. Members help and support one another and a friendly, positive attitude underpins this. We hope that all - young or old, experienced or new players - adopt and foster the pay-it-forward ethos that Justin personifies and embedded all those years ago when he started the website and forum.
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Justin also has a small group of Approved Teachers he recommends for people wanting 1-to-1 lessons to supplement his courses - of which I am privileged to be one.
Wife and I are both big Nirvana people. I heard Bleach back in 1990(ish) and was hooked. My father had a cleaning business and one of his contacts was with a company that managed student housing for the local university. Found the tape while doing a clean out at the end of the year. Found lots of oddball stuff. Nirvana and Violent Femmes were the only ones that stuck.
What I love is that when I asked my daughter what her favorite song was, she came back with All Apologies from Unplugged. Made me smile that it wasnāt Teen Spirit. Nothing wrong with that song, just enjoyed the very specific song she gave.
Yeah, unfortunately slow is how I am going. Kinda stuck on getting good clean A ā> D changes nailed down. I feel like I really need to get them down and down solid before moving on. Iāve also just realized that Iām crippling myself by looking, so Iāve kinda started over and am retraining without the constant looking at my fretting hand.
I did cheat yesterday and started to add in E, just to mix it up a bit. Iām getting bored hearing A and D over and over.
Hey there Jeremiah
Old toot here who started mid sixties.
Itās a fun long process.
Iām more than a bit jealous that youāll be learning alongside your kid.
One piece of unsolicited advice: take your guitar to a) an experienced guitar playing friend to see if it needs to be āset upā, or b) take it to a good music shop to have it set up (maybe $75/guitar). If the strings are too āoffā, it just makes it hard to play, and you, being a nube, donāt know what is you, and what is the guitar, and have few ways to self evaluate. If that cost is not an option, Youtube is a great resource on setting up a guitar.
Also, Iād suggest querying this forum for ideas. Questions similar to yours have been asked before. Youāll get a whole pile of ideas.
