Favorite guitar and musical tutorials.

Does anyone have a favorite tutorial related to playing the guitar?
Please share it.

Other instruments are also welcome, although my focus would be on the guitar.

I was taught some guitar when I was much younger, and despite a degree of success with copying records, there were many songs that I could never figure out entirely.

Suddenly nobody wanted to hear the guitar anymore, and the popular culture turned to rave and electronic music.
For many years the guitars gathered dust, but in my dreams I would always be playing.

Over this Christmas I started playing my acoustic guitar again.
I didn't aim for anything fancy, just solid cord progressions.
It actually got a very good reaction.
My fingers are hurting, but it's so much fun, I can't stop!

So here is my favorite tutorial, and I'm hoping to play it on New Year's night:

John Lennon - Happy Xmas (War is over):



This is the original song:



I'm still looking for the original cords to Scott McKenzie's If you're going to San Francisco.

Well, if you'd like to share any tutorial on music or dance, then please feel free to do so.

Tutorials could range from clips to lyrics and cord progressions, or simply questions and advice.

I hope to store and share my favorite lyrics and guitar progressions here.
It would be great to share the original (if possible) and the tutorial.

Good idea, thought I hate being reminded how fat my fingers are haha

But forcing my fingers into those convoluted chords made me want to get an acoustic again. Might restring the cheap pos I have one day, but wasting money on good strings on crap hardware is a shame.

Good choice in song too, didn't realise how simple that song was!!

reply to post by winofiend


Thanks for the great post!

Keep working-out those fingers...

I've played guitar since I was about 6 years old, when my dad started teaching me old Buddy Holly songs on his acoustic.

It all depends on what you want to play I guess. If you want to be a "guitar hero" and play solos then you have to learn the pentatonic minor scale, and practice it over and over for hours on end like


If you want to play something pretty and acoustic that will make people like you then there are these two.





If you play either of those around a camp fire then people will love you.

If you want something different then try some flamenco



I find flamenco by far the most satisfying to play

Edit to add.

If you start playing classical or Spanish guitar then you will spend just as long looking at finger nail care tips then guitar tips

Something to try at a later stage, but fun watching.

That capo just makes everything look more impressive.

How to play I walk the line by Johnny Cash.

Here's something to aim for

Being rooted in the Blues and basically a dobro player, these are some of my favorite.

www.youtube.com...

Congrats on picking up your guitar again.....you won't regret it and sounds like you are having fun which is great.

I've only been playing about a year, so i'm no teacher or someone with huge experience to give, but i would say get yourself onto Ultimate Guitar Tabs for getting used to some songs that you recognize. However remember that those submissions are exactly that, tabs and chords submitted by anyone. They can be wrong or something to be improved upon.

I make sure i play mine for even just a few minutes a day, never have it in a case (always hung up so i can see it) and play what you love.

Always start slowly. Many people are in such a rush to play fast, they too often start off that way. Slowly and lots of practice. Theres a reason you can do your shoelaces up without looking....you have done it a million times.

Members like Dave will be able to advise better than me, but also take care when deciding to get a better guitar. Thats not an "if", it's a "when" lol. GAS (guitar acquisition syndrome) hits ever player at some point.

Don't fall into the trap of being pressured to by a top name just because someone else has one, it might sound great in their hands, but you may hate it. It's YOU that will be playing it. Guitars are so individual, even two of the same models with the same build and woods can sound so different. I'd advise just going to a guitar shop with a good selection, playing everything in your budget and see how they feel and sound.

Of course some manufacturers are more renowned for their quality, and some are more famous than others (Gibson, Taylor, Martin & Co etc), but again, you could play a £3000 Gibson and think it's sounds rubbish.

I started off with a cheapy Yamaha, the day i wanted to upgrade, i heard an elderly guy play it like a demon! Have never got rid of it, but have brought a couple more since.

I just spent a lot of time learning the basics, i followed Justin Guitar's programme for a while, found that very handy as a beginner.

Justin Guitar

If you want to play in public, no matter what the audience size, i'd recommend doing it asap, or at least play around others. Yes you'll mess up, yes you'll forget things, but you'll get used to the art of performing. It can be a very nerve racking experience if you've not done it before. Often though, most in the audience will not even notice if you mess a chord up or forget something.

Most of all, just enjoy it. You do get a few...actualy a lot of guitarists that like to show off, it has been said that a guitarists ego is a huge thing indeed, but i like to think thats not always the case.

The best bit about learning the guitar, or at least i found, was being able to pass on my knowledge of just a few chords and techniques to my kids, who have now gone on to be better than i am.

It really does amaze me when people say they could never play the guitar, with just a little patience and good advice, they could be playing in minutes.

Good luck.

CX.

Originally posted by halfoldman

I'm still looking for the original cords to Scott McKenzie's If you're going to San Francisco.

Play around with these chords....no capo, just do a single strum for each chord till you get it matched with the tune then embellish it up as you wish....

Chords: Intro....G for a few strums (8 downward strums would give you the very basic idea)...

Em C G D
If you're going to San Francisco

Em C G D
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair

Em G C G
If you're going to San Francisco

Em G C D
You're gonna meet some gentle people there


That'll get you started, if you're really stuck, i'll do a meager YouTube video with the basic chords. There are better chords and probably more complicated, but just wanted to get started so i hope this helps.

CX.

ETA: The chords above arem't above the exact words where they need to change, they are in my reply box but when i submit it it just bunches them together. You'll hear when to change the chord though.....Start with Em....If you're (C) going.....to (G) San Fran (D) Sisco..... that make sense?

reply to post by halfoldman


Well a year ago I was right there with you, and I had all my first position chords down fairly well. I will give you a few tips that opened up the whole world of music for me and then point you to my favorite tutorial.

First, I was missing my A and E barchords. My buddy told me instead of making my A and E with the first three fingers and then changing my position for the barchords, to use my last three fingers for the first position chords, leaving my index finger free, and leaving me allready in position for sliding my fingers up the neck, and simply laying my index finger down to bar the chords. This made a huge difference for me in itself.

Then he told me how to find the key to a song and play in that box. To find the key to a song, you just need to learn the first 12 notes on the top two strings. Not hard to commit to memory with just a little practice. To find the key, you simply slide your finger up the frets till you find the note that fits best with what you want to play along with. That will be your leading note, and pretty much anything you do up and down the strings in that 4 fret "box" will sound good!

I went to ultimateguitar.com and I see CX also recommends it and signed up for the Blues guitar tutorials from Griff Hamlin, and even though I was a bit advanced for some of the earlier stuff, (it starts with very basic stuff) I still found things I could use to build on at my level, and as it went on, I learned a LOT of my favorite music. It seems to be endless also, as the emails are still coming about twice a week. Rock n roll riffs were born from the blues.

Each email consists of a popular riff from some of your favorite rocknroll songs broken down into easy to see, and copy form and one builds on the one before it to make your guitar playing much more expressive and concise. Now I am grabbin those leads that always eluded me, and was pleasantly surprised by finding the "key" that many of the songs I could not hook into were in the first position right there in the campfire chords.

Also keep in mind that all 7 of the basic first position chords have a couple of places where they can be played higher on the neck in the barchords, and that you can grab different side notes for different effects depending on where you play those chords.

The main thing is to practice daily, as once I committed to daily practice I really made some advancement after playing guitar half a**ed for thirty years, I finally became a guitar player instead of a guy playing with a guitar.

Zack Wylde has some great tutorials on youtube also, and he has some great tips for improving pick speed and accuracy.

Peace and hope it all helps.

The community of wire and wood is solid but don't neglect the other wonderful ways to make music.

I started with the 6stg and still spend most of my playing time there but I have found my true voice with
the tenor sax; moved to the standup bass and have found a very comfortable place as a sideman with my crew.

I would recommend learning keys for the most comprehensive musical background.

And sing!!! and dance and revel in one of the most noble ways to express our humanity.

Bless your heart!!

Something a bit more complex for electric guitar.

How to play We will Rock You by Queen.

This is where I stalled last (about 4 years ago), because I had conflicting tabs.
Next, the E-string on my Fender Squire Bullet snapped when I tried to use a coin as a plectrum, like Brian May.

Now the amp's dead, and the leads are loose at the ends.

I need a roadie!


I can practice this in a lower key on an acoustic though.

It's mainly one of those solos one wants to see broken down, just to see how it was done.