guitarists... make a suggestion

[evil1rox]

I know ... DRUM FORUM...but most of you are multitalented so I thought who better to ask.. (Fullback...feel free to chime in here.)

I'm looking to branch out into guitars.. bass would follow suit of course. Specificly though I'm looking to learn both bass and guitar ASAP.

Being that I'm not a star of stage and screen... I won't be able to sit with an instructor for 8 hours a day. I do at some point plan to take lesson s(actually it will probably an elective in my college corses once I get to the intermediate level) but I need something to get the ball rolling.

Any suggestions on interactive software etc that is good for the beginner? I want to learn notes, scales, fingering, picking etc, not just shortcut everything. Is there any software out there that does this and is good for a beginner?

-Guitar Hero/Rockband responses will be met with a stink face

E

[Colquhoun]

Just the other day I spotted this software:


Guitar Shed
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/GuitarShedwin/
Same software, just from the developer's page:
http://www.astoundit.com/products/guitarshed/index.html

I have NO idea if it works well at all. Just saw it and figured I'd pass it along. Chord library looks pretty cool. There is a demo, so give it a whirl.....
Available for PC and Mac.

[evil1rox]

Looks good... any other recomendations for the rookie noodler???

-Keep in mind I want to the correct way (scales, chords, site reading etc) not just the easy way. If there's an easy and correct way I'm all in!

E

[mightygorgon]

If you will get an instruction at some point, I believe its best to do at the beginning, not to lose time later fixing the bad habits.

You can get a video, dedicated to a playing style or artist, that shows how a few of the related songs can be played showing both hands simultaneously. I would not recommend a software though, as I always found them to be sooo boring to work with. Also it's a good idea to get "guitar pro" and you have immediate access to the tabs of all the songs around... my 0.02$..

[Fullback32]

You give me WAY too much credit E! To be honest, I'm not sure I can help with your specific question on software and such. I pretty much taught myself the bass back in the 70s after several years of piano lessons and about a three years of guitar lessons. Because of that background, I had a lot of music theory behind me...especially from the piano lessons. So, picking up the bass and getting down scales and having a basic understanding of stringed instruments wasn't that big a deal. Since I had a lot of the basics down already, for me, over the years I spent time studying bass players that I really liked.

As I am teaching my daughter, I am teaching her the old fashioned way. She has a lot of music basics down from piano lessons and playing the trumpet in middle school band. She decided she wanted to play bass and kinda of started teaching herself. But like I said in another post, she was getting frustrated with string riding and wanted more. We have worked a lot on scales, fretboard knowledge, finger position, pick versus finger and so on. I bought this book and give her assignments to practice. It's pretty good at providing the basics and it has helped her alot.

http://books-videos-music.musiciansfriend.com/product/Hal-Leonard-Electric-Bass-Method-Composite-Book?sku=900283

In addition, we have been working on specific bass players...mainly Paul McCartney and Gene Simmons (he's actually a lot better bassist than most of you realize) and other blues based players who are not necessarily that difficult. As she gets that down (along with her lessons from the book), we are progressing into increasing difficulty....Steve Harris, Geddy, John Entwhistle, John Paul Jones. The biggest thing for playing the bass is to get those basics down. Any hack can pick up a bass and string ride with some downloaded tabs. But if you want to really play it, those basics of knowing the fret board like the back of your hand and understanding and practicing your scales is the foundation. To anyone I give advice on rock bass playing to, I always tell them to study blues and blues-oriented rock bassists. If you can do that, you can and will PLAY the bass and not be a string-riding hack.

Now, you notice I didn't mention studying jazz players like Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clark and so on...those guys rule as players and I have nothing but respect and appreciation for them, but jazz is not my thing...I'm a pure rock and blues bassist. In fact I find jazz fairly annoying to listen to over long periods of time, so I really haven't bothered with studying it. I know it would make me stronger bass player, but damn, I just really don't like that music. I'm not baggin' on jazz; I'm just being honest about why I haven't bothered with it.

One other thing, don't be chincy on your first bass. Now, don't get stupid either. To buy something like an Alembic would be silly, but at the same time, a real cheapo bass will frustrate you with bad action and fret buzz and so on. The low to mid-range Yamahas and Ibanzes are usually pretty good for learning on.

I'm not sure if any of this helped you, but to me, they are really good starting points.

[evil1rox]

You give me WAY too much credit E! One other thing, don't be chincy on your first bass. Now, don't get stupid either. To buy something like an Alembic would be silly, but at the same time, a real cheapo bass will frustrate you with bad action and fret buzz and so on. The low to mid-range Yamahas and Ibanzes are usually pretty good for learning on.

(EDITED-FOR BREVITY)

I'm not sure if any of this helped you, but to me, they are really good starting points.

Dude...very helpful!

-I'm looking at a MusicanMan... (I like em..decent instrument! Yammies are excellnet too but i think I'm sold on the MusicMan)...and a Gibson SG (Angus!).

E

[Fullback32]

Nothing wrong with a MusicMan! Those are good instruments. Oh, and I forgot, make sure you study Jack Bruce of Cream!