The Old Folks' Beginners Thread

Stephen82,

Your performance story is AWESOME, but just to put it out there for my fellow BEGINNERS, you lost me at 6-line modulating thingamobobber!

I strummed a few songs on my acoustic at the last campfire and got people to sing along with Country Roads and Wagon Wheel. It felt GREAT to make music and have people enjoy it. People seemed to disperse after a while and I'm still not sure whether they were sick of hearing me play or they had to put kids to sleep. My wife says the latter, but I'm a bit self-conscious about playing in front of others and I have not yet recorded myself and listened to it.

I've been playing for 6 mos. and I can play chords, I have learned the 12-bar form for Blues. I know the major and minor scales, some of the pentatonic scales (but not really sure what to do with all those scales). I know how to strum about 15 songs, though I can probably only play 3 "perfectly" (maybe not perfect perfect) without making any mistakes or losing the rhythm. Do you think it's too soon for me to get one of those modulating sample back-tracking thingamobob's? Is it difficult to learn how to use it? I'm guessing that it plays music and vocals in the background while I would strum chords?

I am not sure what service Stephen used but he got me googling and I came across Karaoke_Version.com

I think you as well as others would be very interested in this site sgautier82. I am pretty stoked on it. I went ahead and made a purchase and created a screen capture of the process.

You can view the process here

Originally Posted by: sgautier8th

sgautier8th,

I've been playing for 6 mos. and I can play chords, I have learned the 12-bar form for Blues. I know the major and minor scales, some of the pentatonic scales (but not really sure what to do with all those scales). I know how to strum about 15 songs, though I can probably only play 3 "perfectly" (maybe not perfect perfect) without making any mistakes or losing the rhythm.

Hey sgautier8th; Have you learned all that in 6 months ??? !!! ???

Thats amazing ; I'm just finishing GF1 and a few songs after 4 months and thought I was progressing reasonably :)

Originally Posted by: William MG

I am not sure what service Stephen used but he got me googling and I came across Karaoke_Version.com

I think you as well as others would be very interested in this site sgautier82. I am pretty stoked on it. I went ahead and made a purchase and created a screen capture of the process.

You can view the process here

thats a brilliant video ; well done sir

Glad you found it useful.

Thanks for your comments.

William, that is the site I used for the backing tracks. The music and lyrics are pretty good and I just need to play the guitar part. They come as mp3 files and you can play them on anything. The video is a good reference for everyone. I love playing along with these tracks. They make me feel like I am in the band.

In terms of my line 6 reference, it is a brand of Amplifiers from Yamaha. I have a Spider v 30 - only because the guy in the music store suggested it to me.

They are modelling amps. That means that they can "model" the sound of other amplifiers, speaker cabinets and all sorts of effects. For example, I can choose to sound like a particular model of Marshall Amp, or a Fender etc. I can add some reverb or chorus, I can add a fuzz box, I can add a compressor etc. I can do it on the amp but I usually do it by plugging in my computer and see the it all on the screen. Once I have the sound I like I then save it to a preset. In my case I save them by song name and then I can simply scroll through them as I play my set. It sounds a lot of work, but there are a lot of factory presets to get you started and you can just use them or tweak your own.

I play my backing tracks on my computer and they come through the amp. For practice this means I can listen on headphones and hear the full bakcing track along with my guitar.

Put all of this together and I can get a really great sound.

In terms of how much I have learnt, I played guitar a fair bit when I was a teenager (never well enough to perform for anyone). However, sport and family got in the way and while I always had an accoustic I would strum on occasionally, I did not play much for maybe 30 years. So I am not a true beginner but more like a second time beginner (and I certainly meet the Old Folks category).

I saw my wife take up photography and learn so much from you tube and courses on the web, it inspired my to pick the guitar up again. I searched for some website lessons and found guitar tricks.

I think I joined in March 2018. Since then I have learnt so much. In fact so much more than I ever learnt before. The teachers are sensational and while I have worked through the lessons to some extent, it is the songs that I have found great.

My best tip would be to slow it down. Use the feature to slow the song down to 75 or 50% and practice at that until you have the fingering down while playing along with the music. I have found this to be the best way to learn. Once you have the fingering, it is easier to increase the speed gradually and maintain the correct form.

One thing I have learnt is that some of the great songwriters and guitar music is clever but not that difficult. For example, The Rolling Stones Satisfaction or the Beatles Day Tripper - even the lead solo is not that difficult but great fun to learn and play.

Computers, the web, technology are all great tools that are available to help the learning and I had none of these when I was younger.

Cheers

Stephen J

Hi mid 50's here, never picked up guitar until 2yrs ago. Did some research on the best way to learn online and here I am. I've made my way through the fundamentals 1&2 and heading into the Blues lessons. I'll go slow time here as I really need to go back and spend time on basic songs to get better with the basics of keeping good rhythm and chord changes.

I've found GT a great resource for practicing particularly being able to play along with their lessons, slow it down etc. Currently I have a Vox stomplab modelling processor and plugged into that and my PC or tab, and headphones, I can get good quality practice in and not annoy anybody :-)

Anyhow, thanks Stephen and William for sharing your posts on the backing tracks and I have had look at the Spider Amp. Even more great tools to work with, but I'll stay away from that amp for now as I'll get distracted!

Cheers

Well it looks like they put us oldies out here in this post but , i'm totally cool with that. I'm 57 and never had a chance to pick up a guitar and try to play it, well now i'm retired, kids all gone and grandkids old enough to be doing their on thing. So I had to try. Without getting into details of why and how, simply know I started a 14 day trail , and was eager to start paying my way . I'm 34% through ( just starting as a newbie as we all now know ) the first chapter of this part of my life. I will learn to play simply so I can play my wife a love song and my greatgrandkids lullabys before I pass on. Everything I do I can't help but feel I'm always behind everyone else. This has been no different. But seeing these post do help me feel i'm not alone on this journey. Will I ever pick up an electric guitar and try to rock with my grandson? Who knows, but maybe one day he'll pick up an acoustic and play a simple song with me at Christmas.Thanks GT for this . And I wish everyone greasy fingers on those sticky frets!

Originally Posted by: Simon Keyes

Originally Posted by: sgautier8th

sgautier8th,

I've been playing for 6 mos. and I can play chords, I have learned the 12-bar form for Blues. I know the major and minor scales, some of the pentatonic scales (but not really sure what to do with all those scales). I know how to strum about 15 songs, though I can probably only play 3 "perfectly" (maybe not perfect perfect) without making any mistakes or losing the rhythm.

Hey sgautier8th; Have you learned all that in 6 months ??? !!! ???

Thats amazing ; I'm just finishing GF1 and a few songs after 4 months and thought I was progressing reasonably :)

YES - and if your done with GF1 after 4 months, you are on the same pace that I was on. IF you can strum G, C, D, E, A and a few Barre Chords (F, F#, Bm) there are probably thousands of songs that you can strum right now, you just have to find the tabs on the internet. I've used Ultimate Guitar Tabs, great site and also found a few songs on YouTube. I say about 15 songs, which is correct. It takes a while to learn and remember that many.

I did GF2, which should go a little quicker at first than GF1, but then slows down and gets "dense" with stuff to learn and practice. Don't get frustrated at the 7-chords or Barre Chords, you'll get through it, just practice and slow the videos down if it helps.

I JUST finished Blues1 and moving into Blues2. Started doing Rock1 and Country1, but it was too much. I'm goiing to finish Blues2 before doing Country and then Country and then Rock (the way that American music progressed chronologically in life).

I can strum, not always the best at rhythm. I can do scales. I find it difficult to strum a song and mix in some "lead" riffs, even a few notes, and then get back in rhythm, but I assume that this skill will come in time with practice.

Also, see if you can find some of Chris Schlegel's music theory lessons. I watched a few and they are phenomenal - no guitar, just learning how notes and chords relate to each other and how MUSIC works - mindblowing!

Originally Posted by: shannon77n

Everything I do I can't help but feel I'm always behind everyone else. This has been no different. But seeing these post do help me feel i'm not alone on this journey. Will I ever pick up an electric guitar and try to rock with my grandson? Who knows, but maybe one day he'll pick up an acoustic and play a simple song with me at Christmas.Thanks GT for this . And I wish everyone greasy fingers on those sticky frets!

There are folks much older than you on this thread, so you are AHEAD of the game! Go get yourself an electric guitar and an amp, you deserve it!!

I am 65 and started playing 4 years ago. I realized right away, I was too old to learn gutar without structured lessons. Guitar Tricks has been the perfect platform for my learning. The lessons are relaxed and easy to follow. Am I great guitarist? No, but I can play some songs, know my barre chords and the most important thing is, I am having alot of fun. And that is what I was looking for.

Hi y'all! 58 here and second time around as a rank beginner. Had a guitar in my teens - to early 20s but never got far. I'm hoping now to actually learn to play this time around!

I'm really impressed with the GT program so far! I've had to cut my sessions shorter than I'd like ... for now, due to flayed finger tips! Hope they toughen up soon. Even so, I feel I've already made some real progress. Any way, glad I'm not the only 'geezer' here! 😑😏🙄😆

Good luck Kerry,

Many of us grey beards here!

42 here. Been trying to play off and on for roughly 25 years. Love the feeling I get when I start feeling the music and get going.

Originally Posted by: kerryoriginals

I've had to cut my sessions shorter than I'd like ... for now, due to flayed finger tips! Hope they toughen up soon.

Kerry - I found that using Custom Light strings and getting your guitar "set-up" (about $40 at your local guitar shop and should take 30 mins.), where a professional will lower the action and release some of the tension on the strings, will make your guitar INCREDIBLY easier to play and will sound great. You'll need to change your strings more often (I do about once a month or 6 weeks) to keep them sounding great, so get the $6-$10 set, not the $22 ones. Hope this helps, us old folks need to stick together.

Originally Posted by: William MG

I am not sure what service Stephen used but he got me googling and I came across Karaoke_Version.com

I think you as well as others would be very interested in this site sgautier82. I am pretty stoked on it. I went ahead and made a purchase and created a screen capture of the process.

You can view the process here

William - Thank you! This was awesome. You are obviously a production-wizard. I barely have enough time to learn guitar, but I want to find the time to work on creating backing tracks, record music, make a video and post it, etc...

I am glad it was helpful sgautier8th. I have since purchased many other jam tracks and one of my greatest enjoyments is that I can download a track with no drums, no guitars.

My son is a drummer and it is great that we can jam together.

Seeing some posts my new old folks in other places, so bumping this Thread up on the list so that the new Old Folks can be comforted and inspired by the collective experiences of all of us old folks.

I'm still pounding away on the Blues. After reading some posts and working on stuff, I decided just to stick to the Blues course until I get that completed, rather than trying to do Blues and Country at the same time. On top of that, I went back and did Blues 1 all over again (just over the course of a week) before moving forward in Blues 2. It takes some willpower to fight the urge to learn "new" stuff and go back and re-learn and practice what we already covered, but well worth the effort. Obviously, we all need to go over the basics time and time again. I would say that it felt really good to go back to lessons that I already completed and being able to appreciate how "far" I've come and how much easier the lessons were, but also picking up on new nuances in those lessons.

So much to learn!

Hi guys, I guess I am in the right place. I took a few guitar lessons when I was 14. My instructor taught Mel Bay Classical Method. I lost interest pretty quickly. However all through my life I have wanted to play music. I have spent a small fortune on musical instruments, 3 keyboards, flutes and recorders, still have my autoharp and never had any success. At 64 the urge to make music is as strong as ever. I am retired now with lots of time and more dollars than sense to put into my pursuits. I saw a great buy on a guitar amd bought it, went out and bought a good amp and subscribed to Guitar Tricks. So now, in spite of bruised fingertips, I am going to keep on learning guitar till I make it or die trying. Since learning guitar is truly a never ending process (always one more song to learn), looks like I will die happy, trying.

72 here, and never picked up an instrument until a month or so ago when, for some reason, I decided to get a guitar. Smart? Probably not. Admit to getting frustrated with my old, fat, short fingers hitting every string on the thing, but hope to get better some day. Wish me luck.