Resources
The following are questions posted to the website: http://ask.metafilter.com. Some of the questions are similar, but all contain useful answers. If you have a specific question you can either ask us or go to the source.
The questions have been divided into the following categories:
- Tips on Learning
- Buying/selling a guitar
- Other equipment
- Travelling with your guitar
- Guitar maintenance
- Song suggestions
- Exercises
- Software
- Other
Clicking on any of the questions below will open a new window with the answers on MetaFilter.
Tips on learning
- I got a guitar for Christmas! Acoustic. I've never played before, but I do read music. What now? How do I learn to play? Books, DVDs, videos? Or are private lessons the way to go?
- For you pickers out there: I'm in need of some online resource for country & western guitar riffs. It can be any style or period of country (Merle Travis to Ricky Skaggs). Would prefer tab and/or video but mostly just a big emphasis on country music. I've tried a number of sites but maybe I'm missing a good one?
- I'm a left-handed guy who's been playing guitar, right-handed, for about 4 years. I'm thinking of going lefty and wondering what other people's experiences with the switch have been.
- I have recently been turned on to bluegrass, and am especially in awe of banjo players. I play guitar and would love to add banjoesque picking techniques to my arsenal, and assume other players have already done so. Are there any guitarists who employ banjo picking patterns? Online instruction, tabs, &c.?
- I got music in my soul. Help me learn to belt it out on the guitar! Of course, there's...
- Question from a very beginner guitar player about chords and strumming.
- What little things separate a hack guitarist from a decent one and how does one make the transition?
- I do not use a plectrum. At all. Everything I play (and I am in the initial - mid level proficiency stage) whether it is chords, scales, full songs, licks - I play them on my acoustic with my right hand fingers. I feel fine doing this, and I know that I am probably never going to play an electric. Should I be worried about anything in the future (besides the low volume as compared to a pick)?
- Hope me with a certain aspect of fingerpicking on my guitar!
- How can I become a better guitar player?
- What's the best resource for a rhythm guitar player to learn how to shred, in as little time as possible?
- What do I need to be doing in order to transition from being a strictly open chords style guitar player to a lead/riff oriented player?
- How do I learn to play guitar and sing at the same time?
- So, this afternoon I am going to pick up my first guitar. What's the best way to get started?
Buying/selling a guitar
- Any recommendations for buying an electric guitar?
- What should I look for in a $50 guitar?
- I have a pretty fancypants guitar that I'm trying to sell. Should I try to sell it on eBay, or go to a local guitar store?
- What electric guitar should I buy? I currently have a dreadful Encore (£60 second hand) and need advice on a second guitar. Budget: £300 - £500. Music style: tech/math rock. Skill level: been playing for two months, practice two hours a day. I need advice on: makes and models, where to buy from, whether to buy new or used. I don't care about name-brands - I just want something good.
- I'd like to buy a beginner's acoustic guitar.
- I want to buy an electric guitar, but I have no idea what to get. How do I choose a good first guitar in the $200-$300 range? Any suggestions? Feel free to ask questions that might help with answers.
- I'm about to purchase a new acoustic guitar. How important is humidity?
- I'm looking to buy a classical guitar in the near future, i was wondering if anyone had bought a classical guitar off the internet and if so where? any recommendations?
- Questions about and recommendations for buying an acoustic guitar.
- Which semi-acoustic guitar should I buy?
- Help me pick the best first instrument for a very small 6 year old.
- What are the best cheap acoustic guitar strings and where is the best place to buy them?
- Where can I get a cheap acoustic guitar in London?
- I'm looking for the very best guitar shop in Europe. Where is it?
Other equipment
- Looking for recommendations for a $500-ish guitar head.
- Guitar pickers - what kind of strings do you prefer for your acoustic and more important, what kind of string treatment do you use?
- I'm a semi-skilled guitarist looking to add pedals and effects to my rig. I like the idea of those several-pedals-in-one processor thingies, but I'm baffled by the array of stuff out there and a bit wary of the opinions of the possibly-commissioned staff of the local music store.
- Hello guitarists! Technical question here: Is there any advantage to having two overdrive/distortion devices in my signal chain?
- Help me pick a new guitar amp. Specifically for recording.
- How do I make my guitar sound cool?
- Looking for a cheap SS guitar amp to complement my Fender Deluxe 90 so I can use my effects pedals' stereo features.
- Does anyone know how to make a bottleneck guitar slide? I tried google and couldn't find anything reliable. Bear in mind that running to the hardware store and buying expensive equipment is out of the question. Obviously there'll be SOME expense, but things like electric belt sanders simply aren't going to happen. Thanks in advance.
Travelling with your guitar
- Has anyone flown with a guitar lately? How did you secure the case? Any tips? What did you do with it at the hotel when you wanted to go out without it?
- Is it a good idea (or even practical) to disassemble an electric guitar for air travel?
- I'm going on vacation and I'd love to take my guitar with me on the flights. What experiences have you had since the last question (October 2005) on this problem? Experiences involving United Airlines and U.S. Airways especially relevant.
- Am I a complete lunatic for flying with my guitar as checked baggage?
Guitar maintenance
- Help me clear up all the guitar stringing advice I've received. Should you remove all the strings from your guitar and then add the new ones, or change the strings one-by-one?
- I'm a noob. Forgive me. Why can't I change these acoustic strings? (picture inside)
- How do I properly clean and tune a newly purchased, but second-hand, acoustic guitar?
- Is it normal for a guitar to go out of tune like this?
- Is it safe to hang my guitars by the neck?
- Two questions regarding getting my acoustic guitar strings replaced at the local music shop.
- How do I get rid of the musty smell in an old guitar that's spent a lot of time in a damp basement? (It's a pre-Beatle Hofner bass with f-holes.)
Song suggestions
- Guitarists: Sitting around a campfire (or a dorm room) with some beers and an acoustic guitar, what's your favorite song to play? Fans of guitars: What are some of the best songs you've heard done on a solo acoustic? (there's more inside, kids)
- What are your favorite songs featuring steel guitar (lap/pedal steel)?
- I would like recommendations for pretty and simple Spanish/Latin American guitar pieces.
- Looking for guitar music with finger picking...
- I'm looking for information about medieval guitar music, specifically useful scales/chord progressions, techniques, and (especially) tabs.
- Help me de-lame-ify a friend's playlist for guitar busking
- How/where can I learn some simple, instrumental spanish guitar-sounding songs on my acoustic?
- Help me to find guitar tabs/chords for childrens songs.
- Guitar playing (and guitar listening for those who dont play) What are some good songs to entertain on the guitar that do not require singing that are comperable to 'Little Martha' by the Allman Brothers?
- Help me find "picking-heavy" guitar tabs for acoustic guitar!!
- I'm looking for modern rock songs that feature slide guitar. Think "I Want to be the Boy" by the White Stripes.
- I would like to learn a few great songs on the guitar, and need suggestions from the great people here.
- I need to find a song with a killer guitar solo for an Air Guitar competition.
- Help me decide what song(s) to play at a friend's wedding?
- Help me pick out songs to sing and play on the guitar for my soon-to-be-born son.
- What's your all time favorite melodic guitar ballad? Along the lines of "American Tune" by Paul Simon, I'm looking for emotional, touching, tunes I can play and sing along with on the guitar. Emphasis on melodic and ballad, so "Vincent" by Don McLean would be a fit, but "More than Words" by Extreme wouldn't cut it for me, although it's a nice tune -- it's relatively lacking melody and relies a lot on gimmicky syncopated guitar work.
- I'm looking for some songs to play on my guitar...
- What songs can an acoustic guitar playing non-singer sing?
- One-string tunes for guitar or bass?
- I'm looking for a list of songs with the classic D A G (or equivalent) chord progression.
- Please suggest songs of increasing difficulty I should master on acoustic guitar for entertainment, edification or attention seeking purposes.
- My 9th grade son has taught himself guitar and he's thinking about entering the school talent show. He's trying to pick a good song that he can play and sing, and I'd like to help him out. What's a good song for one young man and an acoustic guitar and a high school audience?
- I've just bought my first guitar & amp. I want to teach myself. What songs are easy for a complete newcomer to pick up?
- What are some good songs to play on a guitar tuned to open D (or E)?
- Help me find some good songs or artists featuring the acoustic guitar.
Exercises
- I've played the regularly guitar for eight years now and find that bar chords tire my hand/wrist/forearm *very* quickly. If the ratio between them and other chords is more than 50%, I just can't get through a whole song. This isn't terribly limiting overall, but it does make certain styles inaccessible. So I need some help.
- How do I get rid of stiffness from my fingers?
- What tips do people have for hardening fingers so they're good for extensive guitar playing.
- How can I keep my picking hand from cramping up when I play guitar?
- Bar chords hurt...
- I've been playing guitar for a couple years now and I find my strumming arm getting more & more tired as I try to play faster & more aggressively. Does anyone have any exercises or tips to help me out?
Software
- Guitar Tablature Software: I'm looking for pro stuff I could actually use to publish with. I'm thinking PostScript or PDF output is therefore a must. It's gotta do the rhythm-notated tab. Is this pretty much Sibelius vs Finale, or are there other options?
- Home recording question: for those with limited funds and limited equipment, what's the best method of accomplishing a big, full, warm-sounding acoustic guitar sound?
- How do I convert my Palm into a guitar player's best friend?
- I found - and lost - the name of a website where it was possible to play guitar via loops and then add some other instrument as bass, drum, etc... It was an online program
- What's the best way for me to record music with my computer for under $100?
- I'm looking to use some kind of tablet device, pocket pc, or possibly even e-book reader to display lyrics and chords for me while playing guitar. Criteria: cheap, readable, hackable, in that order.
Other
- I've been learning guitar for just over a month now and it seems to be going quite well. I'm trying to get my chord transitions fast and smooth with the easy open chords before I move on to more difficult ones. I've found a few songs that I can play with just these chords by looking through the usual guitar tab/chord websites, but finding them this way manually is time-consuming. Where I can search for songs that only include a specified set of chords?
- I'm performing with my guitar tonight (I'm playing, someone else is singing). Now I can play the song alright, but this will be my first time playing in front of a large group since I started playing (about 6 months ago). During the auditions for this event I got nervous enough that my fingers trembled slightly making it hard for me to play (obviously). Any tips on how to stay calm during the real thing and play okay (besides the cliched 'picture them in their underwear' thing)? Advice from guitar players and non-guitar players alike is most welcome.
- A friend left her guitar at my house while she moved to the West Coast, so I hung it on one of those guitar hooks to get it out of the way--until it came crashing down two days later, suffering a huge crack in the headstock. Since it's a Gibson Sonex with a bolt-on neck, can the neckpiece simply be swapped out? Is there a good place to get a spare piece? What are the options when a guitar sustains serious neck damage? I assume I'll be paying for it since it was in my care at the time, but then again, I was never asked to babysit--it was just left behind. I guess that leaves me with another, stickier dilemma...
- Where can I find (free) videos of guitar legends doing their thing?
- Guitarists (and other musicians), how did you make your move from player to songwriter?
- Who's the guy who played guitar upside down...
- I've gotten my 5 year old a 1/2 size guitar for Christmas. I remembered as he picked it up for the first time from under the tree this morning- that he is left handed. I'd like to be able to teach him the basics. Should I restring the guitar for a leftie, or teach him to use his right hand for strumming? What do most left handers do? Should I train him Jimmy Hendrix style?
- Sometimes, but not always, when I play my acoustic guitar, I get this dark "dirt" on my fingertips...
- I've been asked to give music lessons to a young blind boy. He has been blind since birth, and he is a music fanatic. Please help me figure out the best approach to take in teaching him about music.
- Why do different electric guitars have different tones?
- Guitar tuning through harmonics: Could you fine fine folks explain the physical/mathematical principles behind the increased "distortion" as two guitar strings being tuned through harmonics approach being tuned?
- I'm a total guitar noob and have been learning for only a month now, so please forgive what may be a really dumb question. why is it that to play certain chords on the guitar (for instance, C major, or A minor) you don't play the open low-E string, but you do play the open high-E string. it's the same note, isn't it? so why doesn't it sound as good?
- How much does it cost to open a guitar store?
- On a guitar, in regular tuning, what is the chord you get when you play it open? (basically, what chord is made by playing EADGBE)?
- Tell me what to expect learning the guitar later rather than sooner.
- how can i paint my laminate top guitar?
- Crazy idea for a modified guitar - has this been done? is it feasible?
- What happened to my Strat?
- Assuming no musical talent, which would be better for a n00b to try to learn - piano or guitar?
- My arm broke. Is there a guitar I can still play?
- I have planned to write and sing a song on the guitar for my wife on our wedding. Problem is, I am not great on the guitar…
- Advice and resources for a guitar teacher?
- How long does it take to learn the guitar?
- I would like to find the best way to hang a guitar on a wall at an angle.
- Guitarist looking for other string instruments to play around on...
- At what point do you give up on trying to learn a musical instrument? Are some seemingly "normal" skills impossible for some people to learn even with time and instruction? Can lack of skill trump desire?
- Who are the most talented guitar players alive today?
- How is it to be a subway performer? I play classical guitar and have at times considered taking it down into the Chicago underground.
- Given a set of guitar chords, I want to know how I can determine what key a song is in.
- Guitar Tabs. Does anyone know of a web site that explains how to translate guitar tablature into standard music notation? Or, if this is relatively easy to explain, would anyone like to do that?