guitar help?

Question

i took guitar lessons for about four months then quit, it was just getting too expensive. and now i have been.. playing guitar for about a year, or at least that's how long i've had it. i dont want to take private lessons because it just takes up too much of my time and i dont have the money for it. any ideas? any websites? is there online lessons? i do have some experience but i dont feel like im progressing on my own. i've looked at guitar tab and i just dont understand most of it. i want to be able to play normal songs, like one on the radio, ones that people know. i play acoustic, i really like it and i'm willing to take a lot of time to learn some more, i just dont understand it...

thank you! im pretty much willing to try anything, but most of the things online that i've found you have to pay a monthly fee... heyyy i dont have a job! (im only 15... =P)

is there any site with easy tab so i can practice maybe...? im willing to try out tab, i just dont know how to read it!

(its not that i dont have time to take lessons... i just dont want to waste my time with a teacher i guess, i already tried private lessons... i didnt like them too much!)

Answer 1

Just learn your basic chords A,B,C,D,E,F,G
Then learn your minor chords Am,Bm,Cm,Dm,Em,Fm,Gm
Then learn your 7th chords the same way.

Use this pattern to start- A,B,A,C,A,D,A,E,A,F,A,G
B,A,B,C,B,D,B,E,B,F,B,G

Do you see what I'm doing ? Practice chord changes in sequences while watching TV or something to build up your fingers, and change chords without missing beats.

Then try strumming with chords that go together to make up songs like>
A,E,D and D,A,G and F,C,G, and E,A,B, and C,G,F and Em,G,D
Those are just basic.

Most popular songs are all basic. If you practice enough, you can recognize chords you hear in songs and figure the song out relatively easy.

That was your first guitar lesson on line free. If you need more contact me.

Answer 2

I've been playing for more than 30 years and i don't understand tab either!! I've never had a lesson. I basically would go to a music store that sold guitars and there would usually be sheet music available w/ chord charts. So i would buy song collections, sometimes 1 artist, sometimes a collection and would learn the chords and then learn the song. Of course, if you've heard the song enough, you should be able to play some by ear - that's how most of the early rock&rollers learned to play.
If you can handle the basic chords like E, C, G, D, A, F, Bb you can play a whole bunch of 3 chord rock by learning the progressions. A lot are just I, IV, V which means your beginning chord followed by the chord 4 steps up then the chord 5 steps up. So if the song starts in E your IV chord is A and your V chord is B or B7 sometimes.
By all means keep playing. It took me 10 years b4 i felt like i could halfway play a song that someone would recognize but i just kept at it and now i'm pretty comfortable w/ about 35 songs because they are the ones i play the most and have memorized.

Answer 3

Well if you don't have the time to take private lessons where are you going to find the time to actually practice the guitar?

If you want to learn how to read tab its easy but you may not understand if I type it out for you so go get a guitar world magazine and they tell you how to read tablature in it with visual aids in the back with the songs that they have transcribed for people. They also have helpful lessons and things in there you can use to practice.

I teach guitar as well and go to people's houses to do it so maybe you can find a teacher in your area that will come to your house if it is just a matter of going somewhere.

Answer 4

I play guitar hero a couple years before I pick up the guitar the only thing that helped me with was by coordinations with my fingers and to build some muscle in my hand and that's about it

Answer 5

I have no idea. guitar tabs would have been my answer, but you don't like those. hmmm... there are self teaching books you could buy, that have notes and chords and stuff inthem. those would help you out.

Answer 6

You need a teacher. Regardless of what else you use to practice, you need an experienced hand and eye to tell you what you may be doing wrong, or what you could do better.