# 9 - slow it down until it's clean -- I can't stress that enough! 30 years as a pianist and I'm still learning how to do this well! Don't be afraid to loop a bar at whatever speed you need, as long as you need. Hell, spend a half hour practicing a single bar at half or even quarter speed. The results are amazing. The goal of practicing a passage isn't to get it good NOW - it's to get it good LATER after the days and weeks and months practicing has sunk in. Patience -- a real acceptance that "this is not going to sound good today" is really helpful! I'm a beginner at guitar and I'm really appreciating your videos!
I just wish I started earlier, I started at 40 with a busy job being self employed, but having money to buy guitars.... wich means buying and selling guitars but no time to practice. Now I'm 52 and still not playing well, but come december I'm going to start and take lessons again... hope I have the courage to continue. I just love guitars.
Frank Van Aelst you can do it...my motto is it is never too late. I have a similar story and i decided five months ago to eliminate a few time suckers from my life and replace them with guitar study. So far every day i have played at least 15 minutes...some days hours. Plus most every day i have watched an instructive or inspirational guitar video...btw I am 60....so you have 8 years on me already. 👍🏼
I've said the same thing in so many comment threads and all the "Shredders" jump on me with the "you're just jealous" "you probably can't play" "people like you should be ignored" etc etc. It's really sad. They treat it like a sport, not an Art.
@@stevesherrell9487 almost always, less IS more because less creates space to interact with the music, gives time to breathe, etc. The most intriguing aspects of music, to me anyway, are interactions between players and/or harmonies and rhythms. If we all spoke in rapid-burst staccato tones, what kind of conversations and communications would we have? Music can be conversational, can be poetic, can be profound...just like literature. Good luck.
What are the things you guys wished you spent more time on as a young player? 1. Don't just replicate - create! 0:27 2. Choosing the right amp 1:21 3. Be Dynamic! 2:26 4. How to set up my own guitars 3:10 5. Knowing my neck! 4:20 6. Learn to Listen 5:32 7. How to EQ my amp 7:27 8. Simplify! 8:18 9. Play it until it's clean! 9:39 10. Learning basic theory 11:04
I've only been playing for about a year now, I could stand to know where all of the notes are a bit better anything above the 5th fret I have to think about for a bit, and being an accoustic player I know almost nothing about amps...
I am NOT a "young guitar player." I bought my first guitar in 1969… First, there's an obvious relationship between volume and tone knobs on the guitar and the amp settings, but I have no idea what that relationship is. I should watch the "tone" video. The only advice I've ever gotten was "turn your guitar all the way up, turn your amp down to about a 2, and then fiddle with the EQ." Second, I'm totally intimidated - and I mean terrified - by music theory, so I've spent years NOT learning it. Whatever I can play, I've learned by ear, then replicated it, then used that as a basis for at least a little creative exploration. I don't qualify as a musician, and if someone asked me to characterize my guitar playing, the honest answer would be "inept." But, with all that, I really like your/Darrell's instructor's advice to treat guitar-playing like a conversation, with loud and soft, pauses and acceleration, and sometimes, silence and/or listening. Those are things I've learned to do, largely because I don't have to know any theory to do them…
I would agree with you on the 1x12 amp although I think the ideal setup is a 2x12 cab with a head on top. 2 speakers because if one blows at a show you still have the other one. Also some pedals works better in stereo, plus you have 2 ears so having a dual sound source for your guitar makes sense to me. Good vid.
I wish I was less intimidated when asking advice or getting lessons, I'm no spring chicken but at times I still feel like I'm inadequately prepared to seek help. learning to slow down and get things clear sounding helps heaps. When people ask me if I play guitar, I reply that "I play at playing guitar."
Sometimes the best "guitar videos" have no guitars IN them! At least, not being played, set up, etc. Having "played at" guitar for some 54 years now, I have to agree with each and every one of these, and I'm still working like crazy at most of them. But the one thing I wish you could have had room for is the one thing I wish somebody had told me very early on, which is: stop watching players' left hands; watching their RIGHT HAND IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT than watching their left!! I'll bet you agree, Darrell!
I started at 38. Most of my family plays acoustic guitar. I am the first electric player. I play both for 10 months. What my teacher told me is that I play it naturally. I don’t need to count beats, I just play it by ears. I think what helped me was growing around music. I love, love music! I just wish I could have started when younger. But what stopped me from doing was the negative thought “ I cannot do it!” Well, I am! Not perfectly yet, but I feel the improvement
The only thing I wish I understood 4-5 years ago (before quiting guitar for years until now) is: don't give up! If a song is too difficult now, focus on other songs on your level, set accomplishable goals for the present, push hard on technique and try again with that hard song you love a year later if it's necessary.
@@ricksanchezito8972 yea, there is a 21 day guitar course on UA-cam which is split into 3 videos (the last is a little tricky to find) I recommend learning from that first as it really gets the basics done well and introduces songs
@@ricksanchezito8972 Dont throw technique aside, so many people disregard proper technique at the beginning at it bites them in the ass later on. Spend as much time practicing technique as you do learning riffs and it will help you a ton in the long run.
@@Sacrifice13 The trick to life (respect, civilization, those things) is to close the video, not dislike it - affecting the creators ratings, income and perspectives. So there.
These are the Ten Commandments to learning to play the guitar. Thank you Moses. I'm another one of those old farts (I'm 72) who deceided I'm going to get serious about learning to play the guitar. But arthritis crooked weak fingers and painful wrists are fighting me. I will persevere but my big past mistake was I was too cheap to buy a decent guitar to learn on. Cruddy acoustic guitars wasted my time. However, I've finally learned the glass is half full so learning guitar is my best therapy. Thank you for your great video and like a classic book I will be visiting it many times. Thank you again for sharing. Lastly I can't stop looking at your gallery of treasures on the back wall.
I don't know anything about amps I've only recently even been interested in playing electric at all. This video also makes me grateful for my teacher who makes sure I know how to read sheet music, also we do dynamics.
I started playing when I was 8. I'm 45 now and I play like I'm ten! Haha. Anyway.... Lots of great great advice here. I wish I knew a lot more when I was younger but I am self taught and I learn by ear. My rhythm playing is decent but my solos are less than stellar. I get by on stage but it's not where I want to be in my head. Number 11 on this list should be UA-cam itself. It's a very powerful tool for the guitar youth of today. Back when I was learning how to play stuff ( I.e.Metallica's "Kill 'M All), I'd lock myself in my room and play along with the cassette until I got it. Not a great way to learn (nowadays) but it does have its merits. Great job Darrell.... This is priceless!
Darrell sir I’m so glad you did this video!! So much important info there buddy!!! And unfortunately, the same stuff most of us struggle with. I’m going to forward this to my partner down at the music school in Innsbruck. Maybe it will help with some of his “problem” students. I struggled with a lot of the same things, and also ended up with a 100w head and 412 cab. The dogs hated it, and the cats would hide under the bed. Even the horses in the corral up on top of the hill behind my house would leave for the pasture. Hmmm maybe it was my playing... naw, it was the volume hahahaha. It did sound good turned up though lol. I sold the beast and ended up with a Fender Super Champ combo. But they have a single 10” speaker. Next was a microterror with a 112 heritage 30 in it. I swapped out the 12AX7 for a 12AY7 and was really able to get a nice clean tone out of it. I always liked the tone of the Laney Cubs. Clean was almost Fender and dirty was almost Marshall. Not quite on either, but close enough for that time. I bought the cub212R combo. Open back just really filled the room with sound. I still have that beast but I only use it for acoustic guitars now, plugging into the effects loop, bypassing the Laney preamp. Sounds great. Lots of presence. But my baby for now is the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. Did the Tube swap on V1 with a 12au7. Fixed the knob issues they have and no longer peels the paint off the walls when the volume knob is on 2. It’s 40w of tube and really an amazingly powerful amp. Swapped out the original speaker in it and put a Celestion George Allesandro in it and added an attenuator so I can crank the hell out of it, get that beautiful gain structure and harmonics, without getting evicted lol. Anyway pizza and a movie night, great video Darrell and thanks for saying it. Hopefully someone learns our lessons, without having to go through it themselves!! Bob in Germany
1) there are more tunings than E Standard 2) floyd rose is a pain in the ass to set up and won't make you cooler 3) the ultimate tone is difficult to find cuz IS YOURS 4) Metal bands didn't take a year to be big, it takes time and hard work 5) using right hand is more important than using a pick 6) some songs are very painful to play 7) dont avoid bar chords cuz you will regret it 8) theory is fundamental 9) jumbo frets are PERFECT 10) buying rig does not buy you a better player reputation
Hi.absolute agree on every thing you said... recently i m in a rut musically ..can u please help me out ..well if u can further explain on 'using your right hand right ' .. and also please suggest some alternate tunings and how should I approach it...I hope u understand my point..thnxxxx
Those are good advises. But the #6. Man that's something people starting need to know. Is nothing wrong with your body, it's just painful, even though you can make it less painful by a good position
Good stuff Darrell. Learn to play my Dad's Sears Silvertone at 6, gave up on guitar when I couldn't master the F chord and at 62 I decided I was going to learn to play for me. Older learners do have the patience that young kids don't. I am in no rush. Thanks for sharing.
Tim Barber Amen! I picked up a guitar the first time after having back surgery at 35. Needed a new hobby. That was a couple years ago and I never miss a day! Practice 365 days a year, minus my time in the hospital for surgery. Even bought a travel guitar to play on vacation. It’s so addicting! Take care of yourself though. I’ve slightly injured my nerve in my fret hand by overuse. Lose feeling in 3 fingers if I play too long.
When I was young I wanted the most wattage for the buck. In my senior years I'm still the same way; I want the most wattage for the buck. That's why I settled for a Crate Power Block 150CPB. I found that through the years you usually have to pay $1.00 per watt. With Crate, and you shop around, you can usually get a high wattage amp for less than $1.00 per watt. With the Crate it is amp only--no bells or whistles, i.e., reverb and tremolo and provides a very clean signal. Only extra is a gain control to add overdrive to the clean signal and sounds like a tube amp. All these effects can be done through various pedals that you can put into the effects loop. What sold me on Crate, is that it is also a stereo amp (maybe not true stereo) which can split the signal into 2 parts to send to 2 separate speakers. Also it has a stereo effects loop so that you can put 2 different pedals into the effects loop. Also there is a stereo input that you can input an effects generator or CD/cassette/turntable enabling you to play along with prerecorded music. Crate CPB meets all these requirements for me. I did a lot of research on amps before I decided on this particular amp.
This is great advice all around if you want to be a muso rather than just a player and really contribute to a band. BTW that HSS tele in the background (to the left of the HSS strat) is drop-dead gorgeous...
I also learned to play pre-internet (in the eighties)... It took me decades to learn some of the basic stuff. Here's my top 3: 1- Tuning: I didn't understand why those Slash GnR cords didn't sound good even though I was tuned (according to my tuner). So learn to tune your guitar and learn to ear when a chord/note is out of tune. 2- Pick hand technique: This is an area of electric guitar teaching that is (almost) nonexistent. Books back in the days would just describe alternate picking as an up and down motion. It's useless. Nowadays, there are very good videos on youtube describing how to do it. 3- Muting techniques: If you play with gain, learn to play cleanly by muting the other strings. Something as simple as to use the tip of your index finger when playing power chords to mute lower strings.
Total beginner here at 34 years old, I'm a keyboardist who decided to try something different and bought an electric guitar. Back in the day I used to repair amps, so figured one day I'd like to learn how to play, today is that day 🙂
It would be awesome if you did a little series on these concepts, I'm 17 and struggle with the motivation to learn theory and such, but your videos have helped me be able to better understand my guitar and how to set it up, which has just massively improved my tone and playing, I just need to practice more theory and scales as well as work a bit more on my amp
I watch other Channels (I know, hard to believe) and almost all have an intro, some short, some longer. With all of them I've become skilled at skipping past the intro's, oh but not here though. With DBG's intro I've actually make a bit of a game out of it, trying to be quick in cranking up the sound on my headphones (so as to not disturb the unappreciative = stay married) and not to miss out on any extra tonal wattage. :) Another awesome informative session, thanks.
Darrell, I love your channel!! I was a drummer for over 30 years, picked up guitar in college in '94 and on again, off again with guitar and drums... I've got the dynamics (from drums) and had to learn the rest the hard way... Wish I would've taken lessons... Still got my custom (made for me) drumkit back when I was sponsored, and I currently have sizable collection of guitars.... Fender and Marshall tube amps and love to play like nothing else... Maybe a new band in the future, who knows... Just wanted to say, keep the great content coming!! Thanks!!
Store keeper: what can i do for sir? Me: im a beginner and i need a 4x12 cab and a 100w marshall head. Store keeper: Wouldn't a 20w practice amp do sir? Me: hell no who begins with that?
Excellent Video Darrell. I switched from Cello and still love playing Cello. I actually prefer a 1 - 15" combo. There is a "fatness" that cannot quite be achieved with 1 - 12" speaker. I did love a 4 - 10" Bassman type amp when younger but I am 70 years old now and the ease of transport has become an issue. My "travel amp" is a Roland Blues Cube Artist and yes it has had the speaker swapped to a 15" Weber.
It would be great if more instructors really “got” this concept. I haven’t met an instructor yet who integrated these ideas into their teaching program.
@ 5:33 you really started talking to me. Learning to listen. I couldn't play try though I might. I was listening to Eric Clapton and Howlin' Wolf play "lil Red Rooster". I grabbed a string and started sliding up. I suddenly hit their key and I just played. Walked all over them and I've never looked back.
These things can be learned with time... I guess everyone here that is playing for a while already know that. But as you said, I wish I knew em earlier It's great you're telling the new players things we take a while to learn by ourselves, sharing your knowledge. Hope they pay attention :)
On #1 I would maybe add: Yes, be creative and compose and improvise, right from the beginning, but also learn songs. Learn lots of songs and learn them well and learn them by ear. Knowing repertoire makes you useful to other musicians and bands, and people will want to play with you. Transcribing parts and solos from your heroes will teach you riffs and licks and tricks that integrate themselves into your playing without you even noticing it, even if you're not literally writing it down.
If there’s any way possible practice with a band or multiple bands. It brought my playing to the next level. I was stuck in the mud for about 5 years then once a week started practicing with a local band. It really help me a lot.
Hi Darrell, played for a few years through my teens into early twenties, just stumbled on your channel and have been bing watching. Mate, you’ve almost convinced me to pick up the guitar again (47 now), your passion for the guitar shines through so thanks Mate, new subscriber and might have to go and grab a guitar again!👌👍
These are really excellent videos Darrell. I hate everybody and everything - so that's saying something coming from me! This channel is worth 100 of those other derivative channels all repeating each other. Every one of these vids I've watched here has informed and entertained - most importantly informed. Very good work!
This video is an old one, but will remain exceptionally relevant! You hit some really great points here that I too wish I had known earlier in my musical journey. Every single thing you touched on here is just so incredibly vital. Once, I started really taking my music seriously after playing a few years, I learned all these valuable lessons myself. They made me the songwriter I am today, rather than just another musician who plays cover songs. As far as writing your own music these points are really essential. Great way of explaining, and breaking these things down for younger, or inexperienced players to glean knowledge from. Love what you do with the channel. Keep up the great videos!
Getting my first guitar tomorrow and watching all of these videos and talking to people I'm realizing this is one of the most LEAST toxic communities I've ever came across in 28 years of living. It's more motivational than anyone could ever imagine.
From Leo: The whole set up thing was an imaginary wall that frightened me. I could replace the cam shaft in a V8 Chevy, but I was afraid of making adjustment on the guitar, for fear I would ruin it. Thankfully, I lost that fear, and I can even get most cheapie guitars to play pretty well.
I tried setting up my new Squier Stratocaster Standard but could not get the frets to stop buzzing near the body. Took it to a pro who diagnosed it as a slight twist in the neck. Hah! He leveled the frets in that area and surprise--no more fret buzz! I'd never have sorted that one out ...
After 30 + yrs playing I would say learning the first 3 to 4 Pentatonic scale positions will open up the whole guitar neck for the beginner . It just works on a makes sense level . Setting up your guitar & doing it yourself is vitally Important as well . If I had the Internet in the early 80's I might have ended up being a Vai or Satch level Guitarist ? Make time to practice even if its only 15 minutes every day a little is better then none imho ??
I'm a 35 yo drummer and I am finally getting serious in learning guitar, and I totally agree with all of this. I tried to take shortcuts with several concepts with drums in the past... and that never works. I would add one thing tho : figure things up by yourself. It's easier to remember stuff when you understand what's behind
Bob, you never went over how to get those 200 different sounds and effects and how to wire them into the guitar? i can understand about the push pull pots, but how do you wire them and what chips and things do we need and how do we wire them into the guitar? That is the most important instruction. thanks Pete
Hey Darrell, thanks for those great advices. Did you do a video about this "global view" / "big picture" on music theory ? if not i would definitely watch one ! :)
As usual, a great video Darrell. This video should be mandatory for new players, and it's also a great reminder for those of us who have been playing for many (in my case many, many, many) years. The benefit of being an older player is having the time to devote to getting better. Thanks for all your work here, you bring the standard for guitar based videos much higher.
For me, the NOISE GATE! The least interesting pedal for some. For ten years, I was the front man (lead guitar and singer) of a metal band called The Uninvited. I always liked the Strat, and that meant I needed another booster into the pre-amp of even my Marshall JCM 800 and a Boss Compressor/Sustainer pedal for solos. I always had to fight the gain when I played. which meant I had to play a note even when I didn't wont to. Once I bought a noise gate, it became so... simple to play what I wanted to play, with pauses, dynamics, forced tempo and so on. No fighting feedback, or rushing notes into the melody because I had to. Metal = Noise Gate. It will change your life.
Very interesting and accurate story-advice telling, would like to see growing this types of videos on ur channel, it's little bit strange to listen u around the comparison of sound👍 it's could be good to see video about choosing the amp or about variation of tones by knobs control
Not to belittle any guitar player. But I wish I had started learning, and stuck with learning the electric guitar back in my 20's/ I'm 52 now. Learning acoustic was boring and painful. So I quit. Decided to check out electric and have played on it an hour or more every day since last January. Yes, there was pain. But I shrugged it off and it was considerably less than with acoustic. I should be further along than I am. But I'm still impressed that I;ve gotten as far as I have.
Hi Darrell, when i was a kid i kind of learn how to play guitar with an acoustic classic guitar, then my father bought me an electric guitar, one of those guitar + 10w amp combos, never learned anything else, i just played it straight trough, obviously, it was awful, but i never realized. A couple of years later i got bored and sold everything, almost 20 years later, at my 34 y/o, i re-discovered the guitar last year, and i've been learning new things almost every day, it's very exciting, now i know that i was doing everything wrong in the past, and by everything i mean everything. Thanks to channels like yours, is that i'm into this again, thnaks so much, and keep the good work.
1. There isn't a lot of room for "creation" in classical music when the expectation is that you play the music as written from the score! The "creation" there is *interpretation*. . .which, loosely is what you as a musician ADD to the piece that ISN'T written in the score (dynamics, tempo, phrasing, tone color, etc). As a classical guitarist, I'll say that we do actually spend a lot of time working on that, but usually not until after a few years of strong technical foundation is built first.
This might be one of the most genuinely useful videos I've seen for guitar players. Not just for young players, either (I am not a youngster). Thank you!
I found the following path to theory having not played any other instruments. First just started with basic chords. Then began looking at scales and how chords fit into that. Then began learning notes on the 5th and 6th strings. Along the way switched back and forth between strumming chords and fingerpicking. Haven't really got to much into learning pentatonic scales as the acoustic doesn't really lend itself to the styles needed for improvisation. Learning the notes on 5 & 6 has helped understand and use barre chords a lot more and the shapes. How have other people got into music theory?
Ive learned theory by using the circle of fifths. Combine scales with the right chords and your good too apply any technique you want so being creative gets much easier. I find that once you get in the creative zone you tend too drift off from theory and it only gets so much better. Modes should come next but thats where my creative process hasnt gotten me yet. I really dig 11 gauge strings. The frets wear out but i overbend anything less than 11 gauge and the guitars go out of tune lol.
Messing around with my guitar taught me theory in conjunction with me researching it. A lot of people are intimidated by it, but I find it interesting.
When I bought guitars I was interested on how they looked like and how they sounded. If they were difficult to play, I assumed that’s because I was not used to them and that it was just a matter of time until I would get to know them better. What a mistake! Now the first thing I do when grabbing a guitar is to check how the neck feels in my hand. If it doesn’t fit immediately I put the guitar away.
I wish I hadn't learned each of these 10 things the hard way! I wish this video and youtube were around when I was learning. Great video! My #1 thing I wish I had known when I started learning: all genres of music can contribute to your skill. I was stuck on 80's glam rock and Metallica. I wish I was more open minded to the so many wonderful guitar styles.
Oh yeah, and +1 to #10 too! Theory can be a slog, but if you're good at theory (which includes ear training like being able to hear chords and recognize intervals and such), it's so helpful, and so impressive to others, that it's almost like magic. And it lets you jam and sit in (and fake it) much more easily.
The best thing I did was downscale my rig to a more simple and better sounding config. Fender Stratocaster => Blues Driver BD-2 => Blues Junior IV. I wish I had just gone this route from the beginning as it would have saved me a lot of money and stuffing around with different amps, pedals and guitars.
Thank you Thank you Thank you for bringing up the importance of understanding music theory! Way too many guitar players don't have a clue as to how to read notes. The joke - how to get a guitar player to stop playing is put a sheet of music in front of him - is unfortunately sad but true too often.
Number 10 really can't be stressed enough. I've been playing for over 50 years and still don't call myself a musician because I never learned theory. If somebody told me to play a B flat, sure, I'm okay...but if somebody told me to play a B flat with a flatted 5th I wouldn't know what the 5th was to flat it.
The best things that I learned early..when practicing play/harmonize or imitate against a violin, saxophone solo. More nuances and dynamics and feeling involved. Also do the same to singers in opera/classical/broadway music even if you don't like the genre. Same reason as above plus you develop a better ear. Most important: be yourself. It's fine to play covers but music comes from within. People love hearing unique .. just be yourself and don't worry about what anyone thinks. Great video, common mistakes but mistakes teach us.
I especially recognized myself in #9. I remember being asked during a lesson to ascend and descend the pentatonic scale and playing it as fast as I could reasonably get it yet scratching notes up and down the scale. I tended to have problems with my fingers getting in the way and I "rediscovered" that shortcoming recently when learning some music that's much more challenging. It has a 16th note run that's supposed to be played at 160bpm. Sure enough, when I slowed down and just practiced with a metronome, gradually speeding it up, it was a lot smoother and sounded more like the record. Not quite at my goal yet, though.
I learn everything super slowly lol. When i start playing fast my fingers hardly lock up or get stuck. Its so painful when your going slow but the gains are worth it.
I have to take the problem passages and make them into exercises which I do every day. The gains are indeed worth it because everything is in sync and the hands know what to do. My tendency to want to move faster than I could is pretty much the reason I never did learn to play "Master of Puppets". :P
I got my first guitar at 16. No teacher could tell me what to do i was going to teach myself via guitar tabs. 16 years later i am taking lesson learning to read music the right way and taking music theory. If only i had a teacher that tried to relate to me and my age then i might have listened.
Grabbed a used MIM strat less than 2 hours ago after watching your videos. Used to have a fender hss years ago while I was kicking around in a band with friends. My buddy's guitar bit the dust and I was forced to trade it away to get him kitted up to keep us at venues and regretted it ever since... Especially without ever fully appreciating what I had. However, today I have regained a piece of me that was long lost, thanks in part to you my friend. Again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you! Couldn't be happier
So, this past Thanksgiving, I took my wife and kids to visit my parents down near Richmond, VA. We started in Germantown, MD. I decided to bring my LP Special II and my Fender Mustang amp just in case I felt the urge to play a little. Yeah, I know. Rude, right? As old as I am, there is still a part of me that wants to show mom and dad what I can do. So, I plug in, tune the guitar according to my amps built in tuner( I forgot my Snark). I plug in my cell to play some jam tracks to improvise to. Unfortunately, my guitar sounds like total crap. I was mortified. For not being in tune. But, also because I'm not a performer. I'm the guy that can perform awesome in front of a mirror. Just not real people. It's funny. My wife and kids think I suck. Because they never hear the electric guitar. As I always have to practice in headphones. Anyway, lessons learned are your amp's built in tuner is probably crap. And in a pinch, UA-cam has tons of tuning videos. I just wish I had remembered that last one.
11. Patience and perseverance. Don’t give up if you don’t get it after five minutes lol.
That is definitely GREAT advice too!
You mean PATIENCE. Unless you're a doctor building a clientele!
Todd Sauve, haha too true. Stupid Bloody Autocorrect 😂
in other words, take it slow and get it clean?
Absolutely, perserverence furthers!
# 9 - slow it down until it's clean -- I can't stress that enough! 30 years as a pianist and I'm still learning how to do this well! Don't be afraid to loop a bar at whatever speed you need, as long as you need. Hell, spend a half hour practicing a single bar at half or even quarter speed. The results are amazing. The goal of practicing a passage isn't to get it good NOW - it's to get it good LATER after the days and weeks and months practicing has sunk in. Patience -- a real acceptance that "this is not going to sound good today" is really helpful!
I'm a beginner at guitar and I'm really appreciating your videos!
Playing any instrument truly is a lesson in humility.
00ŕŕ888
The overall production of this channel is awesome.
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I just wish I started earlier, I started at 40 with a busy job being self employed, but having money to buy guitars.... wich means buying and selling guitars but no time to practice. Now I'm 52 and still not playing well, but come december I'm going to start and take lessons again... hope I have the courage to continue. I just love guitars.
I love them too. I'm 26
I started at 60 ? So where does this leave me ? Having a great time and I can buy what I want 😎🏁
Frank Van Aelst you can do it...my motto is it is never too late. I have a similar story and i decided five months ago to eliminate a few time suckers from my life and replace them with guitar study. So far every day i have played at least 15 minutes...some days hours. Plus most every day i have watched an instructive or inspirational guitar video...btw I am 60....so you have 8 years on me already. 👍🏼
Hey, if you have the time and the mindset you can do whatever you want.
Frank Van Aelst You just need to make sure you spend at least 15min. Everyday and you will see a change in your playing
Dude, GREAT advise.
Your advise is spot on! Love your teaching videos. I'm 67 and when I was young all I cared about was speed.
Thanks Bob!
Now I've got that picture of Fat Freddy in my head saying, "Speed Kills!"
I wish someone would have told me to slow down. I was so interested in being super sonic that I missed out on a lot of musicality.
I've said the same thing in so many comment threads and all the "Shredders" jump on me with the "you're just jealous" "you probably can't play" "people like you should be ignored" etc etc.
It's really sad. They treat it like a sport, not an Art.
@@mattgilbert7347 sometimes less is more
@@mattgilbert7347They would probably be dismissive of Peter Green who I would listen to all day over most shredders but each to his own.
Right, especially when it comes to listening to a specific genre.
@@stevesherrell9487 almost always, less IS more because less creates space to interact with the music, gives time to breathe, etc. The most intriguing aspects of music, to me anyway, are interactions between players and/or harmonies and rhythms. If we all spoke in rapid-burst staccato tones, what kind of conversations and communications would we have? Music can be conversational, can be poetic, can be profound...just like literature. Good luck.
What are the things you guys wished you spent more time on as a young player?
1. Don't just replicate - create! 0:27
2. Choosing the right amp 1:21
3. Be Dynamic! 2:26
4. How to set up my own guitars 3:10
5. Knowing my neck! 4:20
6. Learn to Listen 5:32
7. How to EQ my amp 7:27
8. Simplify! 8:18
9. Play it until it's clean! 9:39
10. Learning basic theory 11:04
I've only been playing for about a year now, I could stand to know where all of the notes are a bit better anything above the 5th fret I have to think about for a bit, and being an accoustic player I know almost nothing about amps...
I am NOT a "young guitar player." I bought my first guitar in 1969… First, there's an obvious relationship between volume and tone knobs on the guitar and the amp settings, but I have no idea what that relationship is. I should watch the "tone" video. The only advice I've ever gotten was "turn your guitar all the way up, turn your amp down to about a 2, and then fiddle with the EQ." Second, I'm totally intimidated - and I mean terrified - by music theory, so I've spent years NOT learning it. Whatever I can play, I've learned by ear, then replicated it, then used that as a basis for at least a little creative exploration. I don't qualify as a musician, and if someone asked me to characterize my guitar playing, the honest answer would be "inept." But, with all that, I really like your/Darrell's instructor's advice to treat guitar-playing like a conversation, with loud and soft, pauses and acceleration, and sometimes, silence and/or listening. Those are things I've learned to do, largely because I don't have to know any theory to do them…
I would agree with you on the 1x12 amp although I think the ideal setup is a 2x12 cab with a head on top. 2 speakers because if one blows at a show you still have the other one. Also some pedals works better in stereo, plus you have 2 ears so having a dual sound source for your guitar makes sense to me. Good vid.
I wish I was less intimidated when asking advice or getting lessons, I'm no spring chicken but at times I still feel like I'm inadequately prepared to seek help. learning to slow down and get things clear sounding helps heaps. When people ask me if I play guitar, I reply that "I play at playing guitar."
Sometimes the best "guitar videos" have no guitars IN them! At least, not being played, set up, etc. Having "played at" guitar for some 54 years now, I have to agree with each and every one of these, and I'm still working like crazy at most of them. But the one thing I wish you could have had room for is the one thing I wish somebody had told me very early on, which is: stop watching players' left hands; watching their RIGHT HAND IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT than watching their left!! I'll bet you agree, Darrell!
I started at 38. Most of my family plays acoustic guitar. I am the first electric player. I play both for 10 months. What my teacher told me is that I play it naturally. I don’t need to count beats, I just play it by ears. I think what helped me was growing around music. I love, love music! I just wish I could have started when younger. But what stopped me from doing was the negative thought “ I cannot do it!”
Well, I am! Not perfectly yet, but I feel the improvement
The only thing I wish I understood 4-5 years ago (before quiting guitar for years until now) is: don't give up! If a song is too difficult now, focus on other songs on your level, set accomplishable goals for the present, push hard on technique and try again with that hard song you love a year later if it's necessary.
Great advice!
I don't have a teacher, I have a bedroom and a squire I picked up second hand
That's going to be me in a week. Just ordered my setup last night. Any tips for me? Thanks in advance
@@ricksanchezito8972 yea, there is a 21 day guitar course on UA-cam which is split into 3 videos (the last is a little tricky to find) I recommend learning from that first as it really gets the basics done well and introduces songs
@@thesovereignonion2283 I've been watching Justin guitar, but I will definitely check that out. I appreciate you taking the time to reply man
@@ricksanchezito8972 Dont throw technique aside, so many people disregard proper technique at the beginning at it bites them in the ass later on. Spend as much time practicing technique as you do learning riffs and it will help you a ton in the long run.
@@JanoIsHere I have been practicing a song, chords, and trying to learn theory
No idea why anyone would give this video a thumbs down. 🤦🏽♂️
LEnriqueC44
Pearls before swine.
I almost disliked it. Like too shallow, ok for super extreme beginner. Border waste of time. And the one above me aswell
@@Sacrifice13 wow, the ego
@@ifwecouldvote no it's not ego. I replied to a comment, I gave my honest opinion about a video, without disliking it.
@@Sacrifice13 The trick to life (respect, civilization, those things) is to close the video, not dislike it - affecting the creators ratings, income and perspectives. So there.
These are the Ten Commandments to learning to play the guitar. Thank you Moses. I'm another one of those old farts (I'm 72) who deceided I'm going to get serious about learning to play the guitar. But arthritis crooked weak fingers and painful wrists are fighting me. I will persevere but my big past mistake was I was too cheap to buy a decent guitar to learn on. Cruddy acoustic guitars wasted my time. However, I've finally learned the glass is half full so learning guitar is my best therapy. Thank you for your great video and like a classic book I will be visiting it many times. Thank you again for sharing. Lastly I can't stop looking at your gallery of treasures on the back wall.
I don't know anything about amps I've only recently even been interested in playing electric at all.
This video also makes me grateful for my teacher who makes sure I know how to read sheet music, also we do dynamics.
I started playing when I was 8. I'm 45 now and I play like I'm ten! Haha.
Anyway.... Lots of great great advice here. I wish I knew a lot more when I was younger but I am self taught and I learn by ear. My rhythm playing is decent but my solos are less than stellar. I get by on stage but it's not where I want to be in my head.
Number 11 on this list should be UA-cam itself. It's a very powerful tool for the guitar youth of today. Back when I was learning how to play stuff ( I.e.Metallica's "Kill 'M All), I'd lock myself in my room and play along with the cassette until I got it. Not a great way to learn (nowadays) but it does have its merits.
Great job Darrell.... This is priceless!
That was really valuable! Thanks so much for putting together this list.
Darrell sir I’m so glad you did this video!! So much important info there buddy!!! And unfortunately, the same stuff most of us struggle with. I’m going to forward this to my partner down at the music school in Innsbruck. Maybe it will help with some of his “problem” students.
I struggled with a lot of the same things, and also ended up with a 100w head and 412 cab. The dogs hated it, and the cats would hide under the bed. Even the horses in the corral up on top of the hill behind my house would leave for the pasture. Hmmm maybe it was my playing... naw, it was the volume hahahaha. It did sound good turned up though lol. I sold the beast and ended up with a Fender Super Champ combo. But they have a single 10” speaker. Next was a microterror with a 112 heritage 30 in it. I swapped out the 12AX7 for a 12AY7 and was really able to get a nice clean tone out of it. I always liked the tone of the Laney Cubs. Clean was almost Fender and dirty was almost Marshall. Not quite on either, but close enough for that time. I bought the cub212R combo. Open back just really filled the room with sound. I still have that beast but I only use it for acoustic guitars now, plugging into the effects loop, bypassing the Laney preamp. Sounds great. Lots of presence. But my baby for now is the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. Did the Tube swap on V1 with a 12au7. Fixed the knob issues they have and no longer peels the paint off the walls when the volume knob is on 2. It’s 40w of tube and really an amazingly powerful amp. Swapped out the original speaker in it and put a Celestion George Allesandro in it and added an attenuator so I can crank the hell out of it, get that beautiful gain structure and harmonics, without getting evicted lol. Anyway pizza and a movie night, great video Darrell and thanks for saying it. Hopefully someone learns our lessons, without having to go through it themselves!! Bob in Germany
A great video with lots of invaluable tips, thanks for sharing your hard gained knowledge Darrell! Goes along well with my own modest experience.
1) there are more tunings than E Standard
2) floyd rose is a pain in the ass to set up and won't make you cooler
3) the ultimate tone is difficult to find cuz IS YOURS
4) Metal bands didn't take a year to be big, it takes time and hard work
5) using right hand is more important than using a pick
6) some songs are very painful to play
7) dont avoid bar chords cuz you will regret it
8) theory is fundamental
9) jumbo frets are PERFECT
10) buying rig does not buy you a better player reputation
Hi.absolute agree on every thing you said... recently i m in a rut musically ..can u please help me out ..well if u can further explain on 'using your right hand right ' .. and also please suggest some alternate tunings and how should I approach it...I hope u understand my point..thnxxxx
Those are good advises. But the #6. Man that's something people starting need to know. Is nothing wrong with your body, it's just painful, even though you can make it less painful by a good position
Good stuff Darrell. Learn to play my Dad's Sears Silvertone at 6, gave up on guitar when I couldn't master the F chord and at 62 I decided I was going to learn to play for me. Older learners do have the patience that young kids don't. I am in no rush. Thanks for sharing.
Tim, I started this year at 62 as well.....results come slowly....but as you said...we have patience...
John Fazio you’re gonna wake up one day and know how to play. It’s weird. It just kind of clicks at some point.
@@J_Madison My attitude is "Sometimes the journey is better than the destination", so I am going to enjoy the ride while I learn! :-)
Tim Barber Amen! I picked up a guitar the first time after having back surgery at 35. Needed a new hobby. That was a couple years ago and I never miss a day! Practice 365 days a year, minus my time in the hospital for surgery. Even bought a travel guitar to play on vacation.
It’s so addicting! Take care of yourself though. I’ve slightly injured my nerve in my fret hand by overuse. Lose feeling in 3 fingers if I play too long.
Tim, I am the same way but only a little younger than you (28). This journey will be great, I hope to have the patience that you will throughout
This video is spot on. I wish I’d known this when I was starting out!!
When I was young I wanted the most wattage for the buck. In my senior years I'm still the same way; I want the most wattage for the buck. That's why I settled for a Crate Power Block 150CPB. I found that through the years you usually have to pay $1.00 per watt. With Crate, and you shop around, you can usually get a high wattage amp for less than $1.00 per watt. With the Crate it is amp only--no bells or whistles, i.e., reverb and tremolo and provides a very clean signal. Only extra is a gain control to add overdrive to the clean signal and sounds like a tube amp. All these effects can be done through various pedals that you can put into the effects loop. What sold me on Crate, is that it is also a stereo amp (maybe not true stereo) which can split the signal into 2 parts to send to 2 separate speakers. Also it has a stereo effects loop so that you can put 2 different pedals into the effects loop. Also there is a stereo input that you can input an effects generator or CD/cassette/turntable enabling you to play along with prerecorded music. Crate CPB meets all these requirements for me. I did a lot of research on amps before I decided on this particular amp.
like this all-smiling guy.
Июльское Утро
Typical Canadian, polite, friendly and speaks perfect English.
@@ricklewis5804 and sexy
This is great advice all around if you want to be a muso rather than just a player and really contribute to a band. BTW that HSS tele in the background (to the left of the HSS strat) is drop-dead gorgeous...
Good vid darrell keep rocking in the free world
Darrel your thumbnails are great!
In fact they work so well, I can't stop clicking on your videos & commenting.
I also learned to play pre-internet (in the eighties)... It took me decades to learn some of the basic stuff. Here's my top 3:
1- Tuning: I didn't understand why those Slash GnR cords didn't sound good even though I was tuned (according to my tuner). So learn to tune your guitar and learn to ear when a chord/note is out of tune.
2- Pick hand technique: This is an area of electric guitar teaching that is (almost) nonexistent. Books back in the days would just describe alternate picking as an up and down motion. It's useless. Nowadays, there are very good videos on youtube describing how to do it.
3- Muting techniques: If you play with gain, learn to play cleanly by muting the other strings. Something as simple as to use the tip of your index finger when playing power chords to mute lower strings.
Total beginner here at 34 years old, I'm a keyboardist who decided to try something different and bought an electric guitar. Back in the day I used to repair amps, so figured one day I'd like to learn how to play, today is that day 🙂
It would be awesome if you did a little series on these concepts, I'm 17 and struggle with the motivation to learn theory and such, but your videos have helped me be able to better understand my guitar and how to set it up, which has just massively improved my tone and playing, I just need to practice more theory and scales as well as work a bit more on my amp
Good idea!
I'll see what I can do :)
This is a great channel Darrell. You know your stuff and explain it in a very simple easy to understand way. well done and keep up the great work.
I watch other Channels (I know, hard to believe) and almost all have an intro, some short, some longer. With all of them I've become skilled at skipping past the intro's, oh but not here though. With DBG's intro I've actually make a bit of a game out of it, trying to be quick in cranking up the sound on my headphones (so as to not disturb the unappreciative = stay married) and not to miss out on any extra tonal wattage. :) Another awesome informative session, thanks.
😂 That's awesome!
Darrell, I love your channel!! I was a drummer for over 30 years, picked up guitar in college in '94 and on again, off again with guitar and drums... I've got the dynamics (from drums) and had to learn the rest the hard way... Wish I would've taken lessons... Still got my custom (made for me) drumkit back when I was sponsored, and I currently have sizable collection of guitars.... Fender and Marshall tube amps and love to play like nothing else... Maybe a new band in the future, who knows... Just wanted to say, keep the great content coming!! Thanks!!
Another one hit out of the park. Thanks!
If I played as if I was having a conversation with my wife, I would never play a note!
And all tabs you will find on the internet are wrong. Corollary to "learn to listen"
Now that is the truth! 👍
Lol dude trying to tab a Gilmour solo will just confuse you more.
The people who are always asking for tabs are the same ones who can't make Ramen noodles without a recipe.
@@alan4sure Or just newer players....
In addition, all "authentic" tab books are wrong as well.
Brilliant! You could make a video on each concept. Thanks so much.
Store keeper: what can i do for sir?
Me: im a beginner and i need a 4x12 cab and a 100w marshall head.
Store keeper: Wouldn't a 20w practice amp do sir?
Me: hell no who begins with that?
Excellent Video Darrell. I switched from Cello and still love playing Cello. I actually prefer a 1 - 15" combo. There is a "fatness" that cannot quite be achieved with 1 - 12" speaker. I did love a 4 - 10" Bassman type amp when younger but I am 70 years old now and the ease of transport has become an issue. My "travel amp" is a Roland Blues Cube Artist and yes it has had the speaker swapped to a 15" Weber.
2x12 is the sweet spot for me
It would be great if more instructors really “got” this concept. I haven’t met an instructor yet who integrated these ideas into their teaching program.
When you say young player does that mean me ,, just starting at 53 😃
Great advice right there..👍
Me too (52 this year) played a few songs when younger but now want to learn to play properly :)
@ 5:33 you really started talking to me. Learning to listen. I couldn't play try though I might. I was listening to Eric Clapton and Howlin' Wolf play "lil Red Rooster". I grabbed a string and started sliding up. I suddenly hit their key and I just played. Walked all over them and I've never looked back.
Awesome concepts! As a multi-instrumentalist I'd agree with all these points, definitely if you are trying to play with other instruments in bands 😀.
These things can be learned with time... I guess everyone here that is playing for a while already know that. But as you said, I wish I knew em earlier
It's great you're telling the new players things we take a while to learn by ourselves, sharing your knowledge. Hope they pay attention :)
100% agree. loved this video
He's just so pleasing..
On #1 I would maybe add: Yes, be creative and compose and improvise, right from the beginning, but also learn songs. Learn lots of songs and learn them well and learn them by ear. Knowing repertoire makes you useful to other musicians and bands, and people will want to play with you. Transcribing parts and solos from your heroes will teach you riffs and licks and tricks that integrate themselves into your playing without you even noticing it, even if you're not literally writing it down.
If there’s any way possible practice with a band or multiple bands. It brought my playing to the next level. I was stuck in the mud for about 5 years then once a week started practicing with a local band. It really help me a lot.
Solid solid advice that folks just won’t take.
Hi Darrell, played for a few years through my teens into early twenties, just stumbled on your channel and have been bing watching. Mate, you’ve almost convinced me to pick up the guitar again (47 now), your passion for the guitar shines through so thanks Mate, new subscriber and might have to go and grab a guitar again!👌👍
Do. It! Same as me, i even own a guitar. I'm 50!
Laura Hulland Yes already started to look for another guitar, can’t wait to get back to it! Thanks for the push.👍😀
Good tips, especially guitar set up and theory, if I could do it all over again...!
These are really excellent videos Darrell. I hate everybody and everything - so that's saying something coming from me! This channel is worth 100 of those other derivative channels all repeating each other. Every one of these vids I've watched here has informed and entertained - most importantly informed. Very good work!
This video is an old one, but will remain exceptionally relevant! You hit some really great points here that I too wish I had known earlier in my musical journey. Every single thing you touched on here is just so incredibly vital. Once, I started really taking my music seriously after playing a few years, I learned all these valuable lessons myself. They made me the songwriter I am today, rather than just another musician who plays cover songs. As far as writing your own music these points are really essential. Great way of explaining, and breaking these things down for younger, or inexperienced players to glean knowledge from. Love what you do with the channel. Keep up the great videos!
Thanks for sharing!
Great intro on your videos. Very slick!
Thanks JB!
Getting my first guitar tomorrow and watching all of these videos and talking to people I'm realizing this is one of the most LEAST toxic communities I've ever came across in 28 years of living. It's more motivational than anyone could ever imagine.
From Leo: The whole set up thing was an imaginary wall that frightened me. I could replace the cam shaft in a V8 Chevy, but I was afraid of making adjustment on the guitar, for fear I would ruin it. Thankfully, I lost that fear, and I can even get most cheapie guitars to play pretty well.
I agree. I never wanted to try a set up I thought I would break my guitar. I thought adjusting the truss rod would just snap the neck
I tried setting up my new Squier Stratocaster Standard but could not get the frets to stop buzzing near the body. Took it to a pro who diagnosed it as a slight twist in the neck. Hah! He leveled the frets in that area and surprise--no more fret buzz! I'd never have sorted that one out ...
I love making adjustments to my guitar! Only been playing for 2.5 months! Perks of buying a used Squier! Haha
Some true wisdom... Love it!
that's a sick long and mcquade shirt Darrell
Fantastic advice and so true.🎸🎶🌞👍
After 30 + yrs playing I would say learning the first 3 to 4 Pentatonic scale positions will open up the whole guitar neck for the beginner . It just works on a makes sense level . Setting up your guitar & doing it yourself is vitally Important as well . If I had the Internet in the early 80's I might have ended up being a Vai or Satch level Guitarist ? Make time to practice even if its only 15 minutes every day a little is better then none imho ??
I'm a 35 yo drummer and I am finally getting serious in learning guitar, and I totally agree with all of this. I tried to take shortcuts with several concepts with drums in the past... and that never works.
I would add one thing tho : figure things up by yourself. It's easier to remember stuff when you understand what's behind
Thank you!
Bob, you never went over how to get those 200 different sounds and effects and how to wire them into the guitar? i can understand about the push pull pots, but how do you wire them and what chips and things do we need and how do we wire them into the guitar? That is the most important instruction. thanks Pete
I wish I'd known that old Les Paul the shop was asking as much as I paid for my car back then would be worth more than my house, now.
Great advice! Nicely done sir.
Hey Darrell, thanks for those great advices. Did you do a video about this "global view" / "big picture" on music theory ? if not i would definitely watch one ! :)
GOOD STUFF ! as usual 😎🏁
Sounds like my history of playing guitar!
I think we all went or are gonna pass through this situations...
I can't believe that you don't already have a billion subscribers... there is no justice in this world.
As usual, a great video Darrell. This video should be mandatory for new players, and it's also a great reminder for those of us who have been playing for many (in my case many, many, many) years. The benefit of being an older player is having the time to devote to getting better. Thanks for all your work here, you bring the standard for guitar based videos much higher.
For me, the NOISE GATE! The least interesting pedal for some. For ten years, I was the front man (lead guitar and singer) of a metal band called The Uninvited. I always liked the Strat, and that meant I needed another booster into the pre-amp of even my Marshall JCM 800 and a Boss Compressor/Sustainer pedal for solos. I always had to fight the gain when I played. which meant I had to play a note even when I didn't wont to.
Once I bought a noise gate, it became so... simple to play what I wanted to play, with pauses, dynamics, forced tempo and so on. No fighting feedback, or rushing notes into the melody because I had to. Metal = Noise Gate. It will change your life.
Very interesting and accurate story-advice telling, would like to see growing this types of videos on ur channel, it's little bit strange to listen u around the comparison of sound👍 it's could be good to see video about choosing the amp or about variation of tones by knobs control
Not to belittle any guitar player. But I wish I had started learning, and stuck with learning the electric guitar back in my 20's/ I'm 52 now. Learning acoustic was boring and painful. So I quit. Decided to check out electric and have played on it an hour or more every day since last January. Yes, there was pain. But I shrugged it off and it was considerably less than with acoustic. I should be further along than I am. But I'm still impressed that I;ve gotten as far as I have.
I learn classic guitar when i was 14 onwords but started electric guitar playing rock at 25 can play both 56 now never to old
Hi Darrell, when i was a kid i kind of learn how to play guitar with an acoustic classic guitar, then my father bought me an electric guitar, one of those guitar + 10w amp combos, never learned anything else, i just played it straight trough, obviously, it was awful, but i never realized. A couple of years later i got bored and sold everything, almost 20 years later, at my 34 y/o, i re-discovered the guitar last year, and i've been learning new things almost every day, it's very exciting, now i know that i was doing everything wrong in the past, and by everything i mean everything. Thanks to channels like yours, is that i'm into this again, thnaks so much, and keep the good work.
1. There isn't a lot of room for "creation" in classical music when the expectation is that you play the music as written from the score! The "creation" there is *interpretation*. . .which, loosely is what you as a musician ADD to the piece that ISN'T written in the score (dynamics, tempo, phrasing, tone color, etc). As a classical guitarist, I'll say that we do actually spend a lot of time working on that, but usually not until after a few years of strong technical foundation is built first.
Great pieces of advice. The first one is by far the most important.
Long and Mcquade shirt! Great shop :)
Thank you for the advice 🎸
Great videos Darrell, I've subscribed, but anyone who buys a Wants vs Needs shirt didn't get the message!
This might be one of the most genuinely useful videos I've seen for guitar players. Not just for young players, either (I am not a youngster). Thank you!
thanks a lot
Could you please do a video on your amps, practice and/or stage ? Thanks
I found the following path to theory having not played any other instruments. First just started with basic chords. Then began looking at scales and how chords fit into that. Then began learning notes on the 5th and 6th strings. Along the way switched back and forth between strumming chords and fingerpicking. Haven't really got to much into learning pentatonic scales as the acoustic doesn't really lend itself to the styles needed for improvisation. Learning the notes on 5 & 6 has helped understand and use barre chords a lot more and the shapes. How have other people got into music theory?
Ive learned theory by using the circle of fifths. Combine scales with the right chords and your good too apply any technique you want so being creative gets much easier. I find that once you get in the creative zone you tend too drift off from theory and it only gets so much better. Modes should come next but thats where my creative process hasnt gotten me yet. I really dig 11 gauge strings. The frets wear out but i overbend anything less than 11 gauge and the guitars go out of tune lol.
Messing around with my guitar taught me theory in conjunction with me researching it. A lot of people are intimidated by it, but I find it interesting.
When I bought guitars I was interested on how they looked like and how they sounded. If they were difficult to play, I assumed that’s because I was not used to them and that it was just a matter of time until I would get to know them better. What a mistake! Now the first thing I do when grabbing a guitar is to check how the neck feels in my hand. If it doesn’t fit immediately I put the guitar away.
I wish I hadn't learned each of these 10 things the hard way! I wish this video and youtube were around when I was learning. Great video! My #1 thing I wish I had known when I started learning: all genres of music can contribute to your skill. I was stuck on 80's glam rock and Metallica. I wish I was more open minded to the so many wonderful guitar styles.
Oh yeah, and +1 to #10 too! Theory can be a slog, but if you're good at theory (which includes ear training like being able to hear chords and recognize intervals and such), it's so helpful, and so impressive to others, that it's almost like magic. And it lets you jam and sit in (and fake it) much more easily.
The best thing I did was downscale my rig to a more simple and better sounding config. Fender Stratocaster => Blues Driver BD-2 => Blues Junior IV. I wish I had just gone this route from the beginning as it would have saved me a lot of money and stuffing around with different amps, pedals and guitars.
8:55 free talkin’ & talkin’ buttons!
8:55 free talkin’ & talkin’ buttons!
8:55 free talkin’ & talkin’ buttons!
Thank you Thank you Thank you for bringing up the importance of understanding music theory! Way too many guitar players don't have a clue as to how to read notes. The joke - how to get a guitar player to stop playing is put a sheet of music in front of him - is unfortunately sad but true too often.
Best channel for guitar tinkering. Any videos of refretting or neck installation?
Thanks!
Nothing on regretting yet, but lots of neck installations :)
@@DarrellBraunGuitar who said anything about regret?;)
😂 Oops!
Haha great vid. And I love how you said you didn’t need a 4x12 cab with a 100 watt Marshall head as I’m playing into mine.
3:04 you mean diminuendo
Number 10 really can't be stressed enough. I've been playing for over 50 years and still don't call myself a musician because I never learned theory. If somebody told me to play a B flat, sure, I'm okay...but if somebody told me to play a B flat with a flatted 5th I wouldn't know what the 5th was to flat it.
The best things that I learned early..when practicing play/harmonize or imitate against a violin, saxophone solo. More nuances and dynamics and feeling involved. Also do the same to singers in opera/classical/broadway music even if you don't like the genre. Same reason as above plus you develop a better ear. Most important: be yourself. It's fine to play covers but music comes from within. People love hearing unique .. just be yourself and don't worry about what anyone thinks. Great video, common mistakes but mistakes teach us.
I wish I had seen this video 20 years ago.
I especially recognized myself in #9. I remember being asked during a lesson to ascend and descend the pentatonic scale and playing it as fast as I could reasonably get it yet scratching notes up and down the scale. I tended to have problems with my fingers getting in the way and I "rediscovered" that shortcoming recently when learning some music that's much more challenging. It has a 16th note run that's supposed to be played at 160bpm. Sure enough, when I slowed down and just practiced with a metronome, gradually speeding it up, it was a lot smoother and sounded more like the record. Not quite at my goal yet, though.
I learn everything super slowly lol. When i start playing fast my fingers hardly lock up or get stuck. Its so painful when your going slow but the gains are worth it.
I have to take the problem passages and make them into exercises which I do every day. The gains are indeed worth it because everything is in sync and the hands know what to do. My tendency to want to move faster than I could is pretty much the reason I never did learn to play "Master of Puppets". :P
Good on you!
You are such a humble and wholesome person. Thank you for the incredibly useful videos.
Glad to help!
I got my first guitar at 16. No teacher could tell me what to do i was going to teach myself via guitar tabs. 16 years later i am taking lesson learning to read music the right way and taking music theory. If only i had a teacher that tried to relate to me and my age then i might have listened.
Grabbed a used MIM strat less than 2 hours ago after watching your videos. Used to have a fender hss years ago while I was kicking around in a band with friends. My buddy's guitar bit the dust and I was forced to trade it away to get him kitted up to keep us at venues and regretted it ever since... Especially without ever fully appreciating what I had. However, today I have regained a piece of me that was long lost, thanks in part to you my friend. Again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you! Couldn't be happier
So, this past Thanksgiving, I took my wife and kids to visit my parents down near Richmond, VA. We started in Germantown, MD. I decided to bring my LP Special II and my Fender Mustang amp just in case I felt the urge to play a little. Yeah, I know. Rude, right? As old as I am, there is still a part of me that wants to show mom and dad what I can do.
So, I plug in, tune the guitar according to my amps built in tuner( I forgot my Snark). I plug in my cell to play some jam tracks to improvise to. Unfortunately, my guitar sounds like total crap. I was mortified. For not being in tune. But, also because I'm not a performer. I'm the guy that can perform awesome in front of a mirror. Just not real people. It's funny. My wife and kids think I suck. Because they never hear the electric guitar. As I always have to practice in headphones. Anyway, lessons learned are your amp's built in tuner is probably crap. And in a pinch, UA-cam has tons of tuning videos. I just wish I had remembered that last one.