Greetings From The Left Coast

Hey everybody. I just joined GT about a week ago. I'm living in Oregon and made the decision about a month ago to get serious about learning to play guitar. After buying a "garage sale" acoustic I learned a few cords and strumming patterns. Then I bought an electric, a practice amp and Mel Bay's "You Can Teach Yourself Blues Guitar."

To make a long story short, I was in search of a better way to learn and some other aspiring guitarists to interact with. After checking out several sites and trying lots of free lessons I ended up here on GT. I look forward to getting to know you all and sharing my musical journey.

Peace

Welcome Cardmnal. I love this site and am almost done with Guitar Fundamentals II. I will be a member here forever. What a great way to learn.
Enjoy!

Welcome! If you are serious about learning the guitar, this is the best place to be. Best resources, best teachers and it's all there for you to access whenever you want it.

Enjoy, because you will be surprised how quickly you will progress through the lessons. This is just my third week with my guitar in hand ( signed up before I got the guitar) and I'm half way through the guitar fundamentals.

Go for it!

Hi cardmnal,

Good to have you here, I think you'll really learn a lot in our blues course. (I have) :)

So I keep getting these emails, some dude named Neal Walter. He plays a little guitar and then says something like someday I'll be good like him...eventually I figure out that Neal wants my money. In exchange for my money, I will be able to play just as good as Neal. Fair deal, so I send the money. I waited a couple days, then picked up my guitar. Here's what I figured out so far...

Well, it didn't work. I still suck.

So then I start going through lessons. Then I figure out there are GIRLS that can play better than me. (Don't say nuthin' but there's LOTS of 'em). and I still suck.

So now, I'm takin the slow approach, I've been goin' through all the fundi's, then the blues section (hey, them blues are fun!!) sorta defeats the whole angle of havin' the blues, know whut I mean?

Actually, my hat's off to these folks. After 30 years of the guitar sittin' in a closet, I picked it up again and my playing is comin' back pretty quickly. The last time I played guitar Algore hadn't even thought of the internet yet, and learnin' WAS a whole lot more difficult. This setup here is awesome, and I thank you all, even the girls, for showin' me some pretty good stuff!

Gregg in San Diego, CA

If that really worked, I'd be rich! and I might feel the need to wear a funny robe and awe-inspiring head gear.

Gregg, thanks for your post, that was really great to read. :)

Maybe they should call the blues something else? ..the funs? ..nah.

Thanks for the laugh Gregg. Fact is...we all suck! "Hi, my name is Rich, and I've been playing for almost 35 years off and on and I still suck...".

:-)

It's human nature to be harder on yourself than others. In asking Anders for help with improvising, he told me about a period where he wasn't happy with his playing. I'd be the happiest man on earth if I could play as good as he on his worst day ever!!!

But the bald dude that sends out all of those email (hi Neal :-) is right - this site will help you learn a lot. Certainly, you won't suck as much after going through these courses. The song lessons are incredible!! I've never seen such great breakdowns of songs.

@cardmnal - Not to bust on Mel Bay, but I had one of those Mel Bay book back when I was a kid...it sucked. I got absolutely nowhere with it. My buddy showed me a few chords...and off I went. I remember thinking "why couldn't that stupid book have started off with chords." When I was taking lessons with an instructor, I had asked if I should get a book. He pointed to a Mel Bay book (no I'm not making this up) sitting on a chair. He said it was one of his student's who had forgotten it. He just let that make a statement about how useful it was in teaching guitar.

I remember using song books when I was a kid and I had a similar experience, the chords always seemed "not quite right". I was thinking "who's writing this stuff?! I just want to play the song!"