Being a beginner: My experience and perspective!

[Rad Synner]

Hello everyone!

So as a more intermediate guitar player, I was thinking what it meant to be a beginner and I remembered a couple of things that I did when I was a beginner as well as a more recent a experience that changed my perspective! I thought it would be better to do it in video format so if you guys have a bit of time to spare to watch the video and share your perspective, I think it would be cool! I am curious to hear your stories of being beginners and everything!

 

[Alicia Willis]

Thank you so much for posting this !

I am a beginner and you hit the nail on the head when you said that intermediate and advanced players sort of forget what it’s like.
As a beginner, I was so scared to ask questions because I felt they were stupid or other people wouldn’t understand why I couldn’t do something so easy. However, everyone here is beyond amazing with answering any questions I’ve ever had.

I also loved how you talked about learning how to hold the bow for your cello. It’s the same with learning how to hold a pick. I was holding my pick wrong for awhile as many students were and something so simple can change your playing drastically.

Also, loved the 15 minutes mention. I try to practice at least that much.
I find when I practice for long periods at once I tend to get very overwhelmed and honestly pissed off to the point I won’t want to play for a few days.

 

[Rad Synner]

Thank you so much for posting this !

I am a beginner and you hit the nail on the head when you said that intermediate and advanced players sort of forget what it’s like.
As a beginner, I was so scared to ask questions because I felt they were stupid or other people wouldn’t understand why I couldn’t do something so easy. However, everyone here is beyond amazing with answering any questions I’ve ever had.

I also loved how you talked about learning how to hold the bow for your cello. It’s the same with learning how to hold a pick. I was holding my pick wrong for awhile as many students were and something so simple can change your playing drastically.

Also, loved the 15 minutes mention. I try to practice at least that much.
I find when I practice for long periods at once I tend to get very overwhelmed and honestly pissed off to the point I won’t want to play for a few days.

I am so glad you enjoyed the video!!!

Thank you also for sharing your perspective! I am so glad though that you are as active as you are and trying to become a better guitar player! This community is really awesome and thats the only way of putting it!

And yeah, at the beginning of learning an instrument, there is a lot that comes down to your body just getting used to hold and play the instrument properly! Muscle memory is super super important and thats why going slow helps a lot too. In a way, its sort of refreshing to go from to ground up with a new instrument. I guess thats why I wanted to make this video!

But yeah i completely get the part of getting pissed off. Sometimes its just so infuriating when the instrument feels like its resisting you... but yeah the best way is to go one day at a time

 

[Jesse Salmons]

Sweet video man. Honestly, my experience as a beginner was that of a kid in the 70’s (kind of) when i started the internet was just starting to (almost) get to the point where it is now (circa 2010-11) and honest to god i had to learn from watching my favorite players play live on youtube (from like, Led zeppelin in the 70s(TSRTS) to avenged in the early 00’s) and playing along with my jimi hendrix CD’s. I am entirely self taught up until i came to this website, and my ear developed rather quickly (figuring out riffs) and melodies always stuck in my head. Anymore im to the point where i can roughly play/figure out a song just by listening to it, and only use tabs really for solos. Also, being comfortable with a guitar and pick always came natural, probably bc of all those old Zeppelin videos i watched giving me the mojo of jimmy page i even played bass for a while, so that gave me a good sense of rhythm early on in my playing. There’s a lot of things i wouldve done different given if i wouldve had a teacher, but honestly im at the point i am now for a reason and i love it.

 

[Rad Synner]

Sweet video man. Honestly, my experience as a beginner was that of a kid in the 70’s (kind of) when i started the internet was just starting to (almost) get to the point where it is now (circa 2010-11) and honest to god i had to learn from watching my favorite players play live on youtube (from like, Led zeppelin in the 70s(TSRTS) to avenged in the early 00’s) and playing along with my jimi hendrix CD’s. I am entirely self taught up until i came to this website, and my ear developed rather quickly (figuring out riffs) and melodies always stuck in my head. Anymore im to the point where i can roughly play/figure out a song just by listening to it, and only use tabs really for solos. Also, being comfortable with a guitar and pick always came natural, probably bc of all those old Zeppelin videos i watched giving me the mojo of jimmy page i even played bass for a while, so that gave me a good sense of rhythm early on in my playing. There’s a lot of things i wouldve done different given if i wouldve had a teacher, but honestly im at the point i am now for a reason and i love it.

See thats the thing! Its so different from one person to another! And the way you learned thing really molded you into the guitar player you are! I mean, you seem to work a lot with your ear to figure out songs and thats an incredible skill to have! On my side, I am a bit to reliant on tabs which is something I would like to work on down the line!

And I agree with the last part too about learning another instrument. I play drums and bass too which really help me to see music in a sort of multi dimensional way if that makes sense?

 

[Jesse Salmons]

See thats the thing! Its so different from one person to another! And the way you learned thing really molded you into the guitar player you are! I mean, you seem to work a lot with your ear to figure out songs and thats an incredible skill to have! On my side, I am a bit to reliant on tabs which is something I would like to work on down the line!

And I agree with the last part too about learning another instrument. I play drums and bass too which really help me to see music in a sort of multi dimensional way if that makes sense?

Yeah that makes sense. And the only thing i can tell you to better develop your ear, is to not only play a large variety of music, but listen to a large variety as well. And dont just listen to the song, but “listen” to it. Are they playing notes in a scale that you recognize? What chords are they playing, and what scales work over those chords? The biggest thing it comes down to is just play man, and study theory

 

[Rad Synner]

Yeah that makes sense. And the only thing i can tell you to better develop your ear, is to not only play a large variety of music, but listen to a large variety as well. And dont just listen to the song, but “listen” to it. Are they playing notes in a scale that you recognize? What chords are they playing, and what scales work over those chords? The biggest thing it comes down to is just play man, and study theory

I agree! And its funny you say that because these last couple days, I ve been diving in a lot of different genre. I've been listening to some Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis and I ve been learning soem of their song and the structures. Like for exemple, ''What a wonderful world''. This song is 2 min yet has so many different chords. Its quite impressive and fun to dive into the components of a song

 

[Dominik Gräber]

Hello everyone!

So as a more intermediate guitar player, I was thinking what it meant to be a beginner and I remembered a couple of things that I did when I was a beginner as well as a more recent a experience that changed my perspective! I thought it would be better to do it in video format so if you guys have a bit of time to spare to watch the video and share your perspective, I think it would be cool! I am curious to hear your stories of being beginners and everything!

Awesome video! I can agree with you about being a beginner and quite honestly, although I play since 2015 only this site and especially the last few months put me in a position in which I start to feel like an actual musician and guitarist. I can't really tell how hard it is as a beginner to ask questions but I can imagine. I was on the school since day one more or less and quickly discovered the open mindedness of this school is I was always comfortable to ask questions.
For me it was more being overwhelmed, cause I didn't understand the connectections on the guitar. Getting into theory, scales and chords really opened my eyes.

It was a real pain in the ass to try and find good tabs for a song, learning it bit by bit without understanding what you actually do and without the practice to get it down quickly. I see exactly that with my brother, who just gave the guitar another shot. He wants to learn a new lick of a song but his fingers aren't quick enough. I learn it within three minutes but he has to sit there for days. I guess no ones journey is easy, you know what I am talking about, you just picked up a freakin new instrument! But I am incredibly thankfull for this school cause it allows us to give and get advice, make friends and grow as musicians and as a community.

PS.: Don't let @Christian J.S. Schulze Aguiar see that Ghoul mask, he might steal it. lol

 

[chris_is_cool]

When I started a couple of months ago, for the first weeks i physically couldn't play for more than five minutes per day, my fingers would just hurt too much. I didn't have much hope that I could possibly ever be able to really play guitar at that point.

Then, after my calluses finally built up and my finger dexterity and strength got a bit better, I suffered from an immense lack of direction. I thought, hey, let's learn Nothing Else Matters, that's supposed to be easy, right? Then I would get discouraged after watching youtube lessons and discovering just how much is going on in that supposed beginner song. Similar stuff with other songs. Luckily, I had some solid music theory foundation from learning trumpet as a child/teen, but that didn't help me at all at improving my guitar techniques.

Getting a real life teacher was the biggest help in focussing my direction, choosing songs based on how much I like them and what they can teach me. Now, after about 4 months, I'm finally getting some confidence, I can already make some cool sounds come out of the instrument, have a couple of songs in my "repertoire" (some of them not even close to full speed, but it's recognizable) and I can feel making weekly improvements. I can finally see that, with solid practice and enough time, I can be the guitarist that I want to be.

Anyway, that's my current thoughts about being a beginner.

 

[Rad Synner]

Awesome video! I can agree with you about being a beginner and quite honestly, although I play since 2015 only this site and especially the last few months put me in a position in which I start to feel like an actual musician and guitarist. I can't really tell how hard it is as a beginner to ask questions but I can imagine. I was on the school since day one more or less and quickly discovered the open mindedness of this school is I was always comfortable to ask questions.
For me it was more being overwhelmed, cause I didn't understand the connectections on the guitar. Getting into theory, scales and chords really opened my eyes.

It was a real pain in the ass to try and find good tabs for a song, learning it bit by bit without understanding what you actually do and without the practice to get it down quickly. I see exactly that with my brother, who just gave the guitar another shot. He wants to learn a new lick of a song but his fingers aren't quick enough. I learn it within three minutes but he has to sit there for days. I guess no ones journey is easy, you know what I am talking about, you just picked up a freakin new instrument! But I am incredibly thankfull for this school cause it allows us to give and get advice, make friends and grow as musicians and as a community.

PS.: Don't let @Christian J.S. Schulze Aguiar see that Ghoul mask, he might steal it. lol

Yeah I agree with you! Though thats another thing that I seem to see a lot is that a lot of people (and that includes myself) start playing an instrument and get scared at the quantity of things to know. There are also the expectations that come with it and the impatience and frustration of not getting there fast enough.
But thats the thing. Understanding what works better for you and which way will make you grow. I mean, me 2 years ago would say ''fuck theory'' but now well, lets say I guess I changed my perspective!

Time does a lot of good in all that!

Also for that Ghoul mask, uhm. Please @Christian J.S. Schulze Aguiar dont steal it. I like it a lot...

 

[Rad Synner]

When I started a couple of months ago, for the first weeks i physically couldn't play for more than five minutes per day, my fingers would just hurt too much. I didn't have much hope that I could possibly ever be able to really play guitar at that point.

Then, after my calluses finally built up and my finger dexterity and strength got a bit better, I suffered from an immense lack of direction. I thought, hey, let's learn Nothing Else Matters, that's supposed to be easy, right? Then I would get discouraged after watching youtube lessons and discovering just how much is going on in that supposed beginner song. Similar stuff with other songs. Luckily, I had some solid music theory foundation from learning trumpet as a child/teen, but that didn't help me at all at improving my guitar techniques.

Getting a real life teacher was the biggest help in focussing my direction, choosing songs based on how much I like them and what they can teach me. Now, after about 4 months, I'm finally getting some confidence, I can already make some cool sounds come out of the instrument, have a couple of songs in my "repertoire" (some of them not even close to full speed, but it's recognizable) and I can feel making weekly improvements. I can finally see that, with solid practice and enough time, I can be the guitarist that I want to be.

Anyway, that's my current thoughts about being a beginner.

Yes man I feel you there, trust me! Right now with the cello, I cant do much over 20 min. Its annoying but know that it was very normal!

And yeah I did sort of the same when I started. Thinking I could go to the big songs directly! For me, it was beast and the harlot! The intro is relatively easy but after that... nop. I use to play the intro over and over again hahaha!

Nothing else matters though is defintely a hard song and I would advise learning it completely finger style. its one of my favorite and I just love it so much. Though definitely take your time with it!

But all and all im really happy to hear your story! Im fucking thrilled to hear that you kept on going and that you are now at a better level! Keep on working on you'll be a great guitar player before you know it!

 

[Christian Schulze]

Yeah I agree with you! Though thats another thing that I seem to see a lot is that a lot of people (and that includes myself) start playing an instrument and get scared at the quantity of things to know. There are also the expectations that come with it and the impatience and frustration of not getting there fast enough.
But thats the thing. Understanding what works better for you and which way will make you grow. I mean, me 2 years ago would say ''fuck theory'' but now well, lets say I guess I changed my perspective!

Time does a lot of good in all that!

Also for that Ghoul mask, uhm. Please @Christian J.S. Schulze Aguiar dont steal it. I like it a lot...

I cant guarantee anything.....XD