Useful tips for guitar beginners!

This is what I was after, thank you Neil and Mark:

cheat - don't use every finger on every string like the books suggest in strange cramped positions.

if you want open chords 90% of songs are D C and G



2 bar chord shapes and don't worry about extending your fingers to cover the bottom E - move them up and down the neck is all you need.

You don't always need all 6 strings - pick what feels the most comfortable and sounds OK, Ronnie Wood hooks his thumb over to get the bottom string so so can you.

and comfort yourself with fact that if you try it on an acoustic guitar with strings that could hold up a suspension bridge, it'll be agony, which is what not all, but many acoustic guitarists deserve.

If it still doesnt sound right, get a loud valve amp and a fuzz box!

Bar Chords are only really useful for Prog Rock, Jazz and Gay Disco, pretty much EVERYTHING else is G, C and D. Possibly Em and Am if you want to be fancy, but be CAREFUL.

If anything learning is easier on electric guitar, cos (as a rule, with the exception of spectacularly bad electrics) there's less tension in the strings, so it's easier going on your wrists... If you actually mean how much pain you're in with your fingertips some guitarists recommend applying surgical spirit to the fingers of your fretting hand last thing at night. I did that when I was learning, though the *real* noticable difference it made, i don't know. it certainly didn't do any harm, though.

Start with your open chords - C, D, G, A E AND THE MINORS Am, Em Dm then when your hands are more used to it go on to barre chords, I'd start with the E-shape, then the A-shape. If you want really easy stuff to go at you don't even need barre chords. Power chords will do it, but if I explain them it will seem much too wanky. You can move them anywhere and not worry about whether you're playing the right one or not. If all else fails, do what the kidz are doing nowadays. Tune the E string (bottom E, thickest string) down to a D and use one finger on the E, A and D strings. Now move it up and down the frets anywhere you like. Instant modern rock music. Also, you get to say "I play in drop D" and people will assume you know what you're on about and that you must be able to play guitar.

As an afterthought - if you do get your electric back and want an amp to go through that costs next to nothing and doesn't sound too horrendous, you could do much worse than this:



It's really Orange's equivalent of those old tiny plastic novelty marshall stack amps that guitar shops have sold forever. The difference is that this one has it's speaker housed in a wooden cabinet so it doesn't sound like a guitar shop joke. It's no 2x12 Valve amp either but it's small, cheap and perfectly functional. It does distortion too, for when you want to pretend you're Ace Frehley. and the real clincher is that it has a built-in guitar tuner. And you'll get one for about the price of a cheap guitar tuner.

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Barfly Camden presents Captain Soul

This months highlights are Captain Soul, the fantastic Mika Bomb and Kat Bjelland's Katastrophy...

Last batch of listings for the day... this months highlights are Captain Soul, the fantastic Mika Bomb and Kat Bjelland's new band Katastrophy...

Wed 20th June - NME On Night #1: Tahiti 80 + Ikara Colt + Valve.
Thu 21st June - NME On Night #2: Hell Is For Heroes + Kid Galahad + Bunny.
Fri 22nd June - Little White Lie + Monkey 7 + Define (SPUTNIK 10.30 till 2am).
Sat 23rd June - CASINO ROYALE Presents: The Soul Winners + Mcfly + Lounge-fly. (8pm-2am).
Sun 24th June - Closed
Mon 25th June - FF VINYL presents: Psycho Squad + James Michael Cooper + Goldrush
Tue 26th June - XFM present: American Hi-Fi + Briskeby.
Wed 27th June - SHIFTY DISCO Presents: Somatics + Six Ray Sun + Calc + DJ's.
Thu 28th June - CLUB KERRANG feat: Cortizone + One Dice + Matter.
Fri 29th June - Canteen + Small World + Lumiere (CLUB SUPERMARKET 10.30 till 2am).
Sat 30th June - John's Children + Neil's Children + The Nightjars (SUPER ELASTIC BUBBLE PLASTIC 10.30 till 2am).
Sun 1st July - KBY presents: Evil Knievel + Zeta Reticuli + Kabal-Ah.
Mon 2nd July - Moke + Belasco + Alex Valentine.
Tue 3rd July - One*Iota + Phonic + Lorien.
Wed 4th July - XFM present: The Bettina Motive + Boy Done Good + Quinn.
Thu 5th July - The 45's + Bareface + Parva.
Fri 6th July - Mika Bomb + Bunny + Danko (SPUTNIK 10.30 till 2am).
Sat 7th July - CASINO ROYALE Presents: Fonda 500 + Heist + Captain Soul.
Sun 8th July - KBY presents: Nu Titans + guests.
Mon 9th July - Gonzo Hopper + Stone Blue + Boe Dekka.
Tue 10th July - A.S.C.A.P. : Grim Northern Social + Blue Print + guests.
Wed 11th July - Skindive + Mash + Tixe.
Thu 12th July - Primera Dolz + Keane + Doll.
Fri 13th July - Hinterland + Alaska + Dog Bonfire (CLUB SUPERMARKET 10.30 till 2am).
Sat 14th July - CLUB SUPER ELASTIC BUBBLE PLASTIC till 2am.
Sun 15th July - KBY presents: Nu Titans + Black Candy + Oneroot.
Mon 16th July - Katastrophy Wife feat. Kat from Babes In Toyland + guests (£6.50 adv).
Tue 17th July - Metro Camel + Bikini + Grand Western.
Wed 18th July - RAINBOW QUARTZ presents: Shazam + guests.
Thu 19th July - XFM presents: The Soft Parade + guests £6 adv. (residency)
Fri 20th July - The Equidistant Sound + Acetate + Morning Star (SPUTNIK 10.30 till 2am).
Sat 21st July - CASINO ROYALE Presents: Mania 7 + International Harry
Sun 22nd July - KBY presents: Nu Titans + Occupational Hazard + Resister + Solitary.
Mon 23rd July - Xfm X-posure Live feat. Herbert + Organic Audio + guests.
Tue 24th July - Magoo + The Mau Maus + Carbon 4.
Wed 25th July - Jumbo + Mos Eisley + Kinesis.
Thu 26th July - XFM presents: The Soft Parade + guests £6 adv. (residency).
Fri 27th July - Brewster + Mama Jamas+ Chikinki (CLUB SUPERMARKET 10.30 till 2am).
Sat 28th July - TBC (SUPER ELASTIC BUBBLE PLASTIC 10.30 till 2am).
Sun 29th July - KBY presents: Celtic Bones + Girls On Top.
Mon 30th July - Nutonic + Doll + The Kennedy Soundtrack.
Tue 31st July - TBC
Wed 1st Aug- XFM presents: The Soft Parade + guests £6 adv. (residency)

Barfly Camden ~ 49 Chalk Farm - London NW1 (Nearest tube - Camden Town or Chalk Farm).

Advance tickets for all weekday shows can now be purchased online at www.barflyclub.com or the Barfly ticket line: 0870 907 0999

Any questions, email info@barflyclub.com...

pauly :: 2001 :: Comment / reply

Man alive it's cold today

Heating in office not working can't type much... Heating was also out in the flat at the weekend, good work Andy in tracing which valve went to which pipe, and getting the temperature up. Lovely to see you both.

Fun show on Daily Sourcecode today, Adam had the BBC in tow, they were interviewing and filming for The Culture Show, which I think is new. So for a behind the scenes version of their take on podcasting, hear this MP3. The producer of that show's been in touch, maybe they'll interview me. Will they be as stern with me..?

Seems the BBC has at least one podcast, there are sure to be more...

2004 :: Comment / reply