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Topic starter
07/12/2004 7:08 pm
I plan on taking lessons after Christmas, but I was hoping to get a start before then. I like Rock, and Country, and was wondering if anyone might reccomend some basic chords and scales I could work on before I start the lessons.
07/12/2004 7:23 pm
Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon
07/12/2004 7:25 pm
blues scale!!
07/12/2004 7:27 pm
The order I learned them was G,C,D,A,E,Am,Em,Dm,F.
After that I started learning other chords as needed for whatever I was working on at the time.
07/12/2004 8:08 pm
There are hundreds if not thousands of song you can play with just C D G F. Add a A7 and you've got hundreds more, especially country songs. Merle Haggard wrote about a dozen songs that only have D and A7.
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07/12/2004 9:59 pm
To reiterate the excellent advise of musenfreund start with anything that will fuel your desire to play and learn further!
Just to share my experience, I wish I had learned the fretboard before jumping into playing scales. Just my 2cents ...
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Topic starter
10/12/2004 4:46 pm
What about scales..any certian ones that might be beneficial to they type of music I'm interested in? I've started out with one of the pentatonic scales so far. You said anything to keep my interest, well I'm interested, but just want to learn things that will give me a head start on my leasons ini the meantime.
10/12/2004 5:03 pm
Pentatonic scales are a good starting point, but keep in mind these scales are based on the respective major or minor scales. So if you chose to learn the major or minor scales forms you will have already learned the pentatonic scales for that key.
That is a round about way of saying I'd go for the major scales first and expand from there. Also spend some time learning the notes of the fretboard and the notes in each scale, not just the patterns on the fretboard. Major scales will also serve you well for most country music.
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10/12/2004 5:13 pm
Apart from agreeing with musenfreund's sentiment about anything that is fun, I go along with narn. The basis of all western music is the major scale, starting with C.
If you learn not just the notes, but the intervals between notes, you will find learning other scales a lot easier, because they are just variations on the major scale.
Assuming you can get one in time, I would recommend Tom Serb's book for guitar theory beginners (Tom posts under the name "Noteboat", here on GN).
You can order from http://www.noteboat.com .
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10/12/2004 5:28 pm
Isn't country and rock/metal based on alot of the same chords/scales?
10/12/2004 7:09 pm
Isn't country and rock/metal based on alot of the same chords/scales?
Sure, that along with blues can all be linked to the same musical foundations.
For order of learning... I would say start with the major scale definitely. Get to playing it starting on several places on the fretboard, learn some note names, the open note of each string in standard tuning, for example. Practice some simple melodies: if you have an ear for it or some prior musical training picking out "Mary had a little lamb" or "Twinkle Twinkle little star" shouldn't pose too much difficulty if you keep it all on one string.
Of course all this assumes you have a guitar that's properly set up, you know how to tune the thing and hold it correctly. Most guitar shops should be able to get you started with that stuff.
Here's a decent place to see fretboard diagrams of chords and scales.
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10/12/2004 7:11 pm
BTW: The good stuff you're looking for is under 'Basics', that should bring up a screen where you can see the chord and scale finders.
Do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life...
11/12/2004 1:14 am
Someone posted a link to a page that showed a portion of the fretboard, with all the notes on each string identified. Does anyone remember where that was?
11/12/2004 1:52 am
There is another version on my page below (My Stuff)