Anybody here play the guitar?

[Gomboman]

I'm not the greatest, but I dabble a bit with acoustic guitars. It's nice to unwind after a stressful day. Does anyone else play? Any spa dealers out there keep a guitar in the back room?

Here's a link to a pretty cool Pearl Jam cover by Aaron Lewis from Staind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXxl-Vr-XJ4

[hotubinn]

Man, that is just awesome!

[Brewman]

Yeah, I play.  Same as you- not anywhere near pro caliber, just for fun.
In fact, I just bought a Fender Strat- (American Deluxe) back in January, and along with it a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp (Tube).  It's a lot of fun.  A pal lent me a few Lesson DVD's so I've been spending some leisure time trying to get my chops back after about 8 years of not playing.
 My other guitar is a Yamaha acoustic that I purchased back in the early 1980's.  That one I lent to my niece when she went away to college.  She still has it- I'd love to get it back and start playing it again too.  

As an aside, I'm starting to putz around with electronics again, too.  I'm in the process of building a distortion pedal for the Fender.  It's a clone of the 1970's Ibanez Tube screamer which was made famous by Stevie Ray Vaughn.  Originals go on Ebay for up to $1000.  I'm trying to cheap out on this one and should be able to get the parts all for under $30.  We'll see how well it works.  
 Apparently there isn't much demand for electronic parts much any more, the local Radio Shacks have a very poor selection of this stuff, so I had to order everything online.  But the parts are all starting to arrive, and I should be able to complete the pedal in the next week.  My copper PC board should be here tomorrow, so I can get started on that.  

[leaky]

Always longed to start playing again after decades...I have a nice Yamaha FG-300 acoustic that my dad had shipped over from Japan in the 70s, in beautiful shape.  Also, I have a 1978 Gibson Les Paul Standard in coffee sunburst that I got as a graduation present that still looks and sounds awesome.

Both have been mothballed for years, but my son's interest helped peak mine, and I went and picked up a mini Marshall amp a few weeks ago.  I'm having a blast playing again; my left fingers are still numb as I type this.  I'm kind of new to this "tabbing" thing.  I learned for years reading music, figuring out chords, and actually playing per instructions.  Regardless, I'm going to have my son start lessons soon.  Maybe we can even play together after a while!

[Brewman]

I'm picking up on tabbing too.  I came up the old way and learned to read sheet music.  I look at it this way:  Learning to tab teaches you to play songs or licks.
Learning to read music, understanding scales, etc... teaches you to play the guitar.
 Sounds like you have a nice Les Paul.  Hang onto that- have you priced them lately?
 My acoustic is a Yamaha FG-345- bought it in the early 80's.  Not sure if it's made in Japan or not, but they are going on Ebay for more than I paid for it new.  Not much more, but for the money it a really nice guitar.  Bet your Yamaha is similar.

[Vinny]

As far as tabs, my son's drum teacher said it's very similar to sheet music. I think he said the tabs are usually in 16th notes. Maybe it's only true for drum tabs.

[Chas]

I play an Epiphone DOT - when I play. I play keyboard mostly now - every week in fact.


For years I had a Gibson ES-330. Loved it. The 330 was the hollow version before the ES-335. The 335 is the same as the DOT only costs more - Gibson owns and operated Epiphone. I sold my 330 because it smelled of cigarette smoke from years playing in clubs - hey, everyone has a past.

I sure miss it - it had a very good mellow jazz sound. The pickups were open, so I had to stay away from certain lights and my amp, but the sound has never been matched in my opinion.



These are both arch-top guitars.

 8-)

[geekd]

I play bass.  I tried for years to "make it".  My band put out 3 CDs and toured the country 3 times on our own back in the '90s.  In the end, I got tired of being poor and got a real job.

The band is still together, and we still play shows about once a month, but we're getting old (I'm 37).

you can check out a bunch of our music here:  http://theexperiments.com

-geekd

[Brewman]

As far as tabs, my son's drum teacher said it's very similar to sheet music. I think he said the tabs are usually in 16th notes. Maybe it's only true for drum tabs.

Must be unique to drums.  Guitar tabs layout the strings and tell you what fret to play for each string, but don't give any indication of the note type.  They're fun if you already know the song and want to just learn a riff, but it can be a hard way to learn a song you've never heard before, since the tabs tell you what note to play but not how long to play it for, no rests, etc......

[leaky]

The main "tab" problems I've found are twofold:

1) Simple chords that are picked are still shown as individual notes rather than a set postition, and

2) No matter what string and fret they describe, there is no indication what fingers are used to make the process the simplest.  

I'm still planning on brushing up on my scales.....

[Brewman]

I've been spending some time with tabs, which is the "fun" instant results kind of playing, which I think has some value like keeping my interest going, but I'm also trying to learn the scales and some theory, which will ultimately make me a better player.  
 I practiced some pentatonic scales last night, along with some finger drills.  Boring stuff, so it's nice to hit the tabs on a few fun song riffs.  

I agree that tabs are not the easiest way to learn chords, other than power chords.

[geekd]

Tabs are fun for picking up a song quick, but it's a great learning experience to figure it out from the CD on your own.

Figuring it out yourself will train your ears.  Soon someone will play you a riff and you can play it back to them (after a few tries, of course).

When my band does a cover song, usually the singer will come in with the words and chords written out simply (A or E or Emin), with the chord changes over the word they happen at.  Then we play it a few times and make it "out own".  Since we a re a punk band that usually means playing it faster and harder.

Learning a song note for note has it's value, but developing your own style is important, too.

Another option are "cheat books".  My guitar player had a Beatles cheat book, and it's way fun at parties.  It will get you 80% through the song.  It skips over the complex parts, and the solos are not note for note.  You get enough to "cheat" like you know it.

-geekd

[Gomboman]

Very nice. Here's another classic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3nP6YyCfDQ

[Chas]

When I think of experimental music, I think of this group. I love their stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilsa2bNVrqw

 8-)