What you did today

[Hurlshort]

I found a nice deal for an electric with amp, strap, case, stand, and cord for $200, plus it came with four group lessons I can take in December. It's a Squier Strat, which I guess is the discount brand for Fender. So far I've been watching the DVD and trying to learn the first two chords. The hardest part has been tuning it, I got an auto tuner with the package but it seems to not work very well. I'm using youtube video to help as well. I'm pretty excited, but also overwhelmed by all the stuff I need to learn.

 

Don't worry. The first few chords are gonna be a little difficult but then it gets easier. Then harder again. Then easier. Then harder.

 

 

Remember, fret each note with the tips of your fingers (not with the pads, or you'll accidentally mute other strings by touching them). Also, speed IS important. Don't feel like you've "mastered" a chord until you can transition to it without pause in between. Best way to practice this is to take your hand off the guitar, then fret the chord, take your hand off the guitar, fret the chord, repeat! Good luck!

 

So far my biggest issue is buzzing when I fret a chord. So I need to work on my finger placement a bit. I wish there was more time in the day, I'm getting about an hour of practice and I'd like more.

[Blarghagh]

I have a cheap Squier just like you. The amps that come with those cheap "starter sets" are terrible, though. I thought I just couldn't play the damn thing for years until I plugged it into my friend's bigger, more expensive amp. Then I discovered I'm actually pretty good!

 

Have you figured out how to read tabs yet?

[Hurlshort]

I have no idea what a tab is, so I guess not

 

I'm really a total noob, I don't know how to read music, I don't know any of the terminology. Thankfully we have the internet and basically a wealth of stuff I can learn from.

 

I think my tuner is a piece of junk. My droid phone seems to work better at picking up the sound, so I'm using an app, and a website that plays the sound to help me do it by ear. Also, GuitarSolo for the Droid is fantastic, it shows me how to do all the chords, so when I'm watching a video and I miss something, I just check it on my phone.

[Krookie]

I have no idea what a tab is, so I guess not

 

I'm really a total noob, I don't know how to read music, I don't know any of the terminology. Thankfully we have the internet and basically a wealth of stuff I can learn from.

 

I think my tuner is a piece of junk. My droid phone seems to work better at picking up the sound, so I'm using an app, and a website that plays the sound to help me do it by ear. Also, GuitarSolo for the Droid is fantastic, it shows me how to do all the chords, so when I'm watching a video and I miss something, I just check it on my phone.

 

The beautiful thing about the guitar is you don't need to be able to read music, at all. Tab is essentially cheat codes for guitar. Shows you how to play music without knowing how to play music. Give someone enough time, and someone who has never played the instrument before can learn "Smoke on the Water" in 10 minutes with tab.

[Enoch]

I have no idea what a tab is, so I guess not

Tab is what some guitar players use instead of real music. It supplements the "G-7" "Db dim." "E7 #11" and the like that work just fine for the people who play all the other instruments with grids filled with dots.

[Blarghagh]

Well, only for chords. The real thing where tabs shine is where they just tell you what fret to press to make that note you heard in that one song. That's all tracks filled with numbers!

 

It's the easy way to learn guitar. I should know, I learned basic guitar from it without ever learning how to read music or taking a lesson.

 

Hurlshot, just google "how to read tabs". It's pretty easy.

 

EDIT:

Edited November 6, 2010 by TrueNeutral

[LadyCrimson]

Stayed up all night, playing/testing FONV stuff while listening to the loud rain. Rain rain rain rain!

 

And Hurl, I'd advise at least learning some basic music-reading. It's not hard learn the basics of that at all, and it doesn't hurt to know, even if you end up mostly using tabs.

[Shryke]

got more done on my tattoo last night, so now i have an amusing shaved patch on my arm hehe

[Hurlshort]

Stayed up all night, playing/testing FONV stuff while listening to the loud rain. Rain rain rain rain!

 

And Hurl, I'd advise at least learning some basic music-reading. It's not hard learn the basics of that at all, and it doesn't hurt to know, even if you end up mostly using tabs.

 

I'm sure I will, I'm pretty anal about the whole learning process. I've already got a group lesson scheduled, so I'm guessing that will help too. Plus I plan on hitting up my co-worker the music teacher once I get over the first steps for some help.

 

It's going great so far. I am able to play the first practice track somewhat successfully on the instructional DVD, I've got calluses forming, and I've got 5 chords down. Yay for progress.

[Calax]

Mainly I learned I slept like crap last night, and walked around a bit trying to find a bus before learning that they run only once every 45 minutes and even then they're not on time so I just said screw it and went home (was trying to move my car back to the stadium but I can do that tomorrow).

 

I also learned that 4Kids entertainment (a company known best for basically slaughtering anime productions during "localization" like changing foods, turning guns into walkie talkies, changing theme songs, changing character names, removing anything that might be the most remotely violent or offensive to anyone...) is basically deader than a doornail. They were kicked off the NYSE and ended up as a "pink sheet" (basically really dangerous investment) within the past year. In the past two and a half years their stock price dropped from 25 bucks a share... to 52 cents a share.

[Tigranes]

Just realised that the Commonwealth PhD Scholarship app needs not just recommendations from your side, but also recommendations from potential supervisors. Due in about 10 days. Which sucks, because I've been putting off actually emailing potential supervisors because it's scary And from experience, academics to reply to a strange email in 10 days, let alone positively?

 

Also a bunch of other idiotic stuff like "leadership statement", but I guess that's just the requisite posterior muscle flexing exercise.

[Guard Dog]

Can't sleep. I'm going to Dallas in the morning, which is like three hours from now. I really hate flying. Not because of fear, just hassle. Anywho, when I took this job they said there would be little travel and all of it regional. That has not turned out to be the case. I'll be in Dallas for two days and week after next I have to go to Mordor-on-the-Potomac (aka Washington DC) for a new training class on the new FCC spectrum licensing and use policies which I'll bet are identical to the old ones. I'm ready to just resign, sell the house and land and move to some small dirtbag town in the middle of nowhere and open a bait and tackle shop. Nah, not really but it would be a lot less hassle.

[Raithe]

Arg, well back from morning labours. Some physical workout is nice, but trying to maneuver beds and furniture around stairways and narrow doors is so much fun. It's not so much the weight as the general awkwardness and lack of a good handholds...

 

Still, having that slight pause for lunch now. Don't know exactly why but having that mix of tired and depressed wave kicking in while my brain is feeling generally mushy rather then sharp and aware.. Get this sorted, then off to post a parcel to a cousin serving in Afghanistan and a few more chores to take care of...

[LadyCrimson]

After staying up all weekend (stupid video games, haha) I finally crashed hard at 9pm last night....just waking up now. Gonna be a busy day of family obligations, errands, and other little things.

[ShadySands]

I found out that I got promoted last month which took me by surprise because I've basically been out of the military for nearly 2 years. Rested XP ftw!

 

Now I have to update the rank on a bunch of uniforms that I don't wear just in case I get called back to active duty.

[Malcador]

Fixed a huge problem for a client by changing an 'OR' to an 'AND'. Took 3 days to determine what was going on. Bug hunting is sort of fun, the moment when you're just about to find the problem is the most exciting, better than the joy at fixing the problem, or the unravelling of the workings of the code - when everything falls into place and you slowly zero in on the problem..ah nothing like it.

 

Also, fell behind on C++ learning so wasting my lunch break on that. =)

[Raithe]

Handled post, some grocery shopping, and a few other odds and ends... tried to do a touch more C# revision to kick the plaque away..but my brain seems to have locked in the "mushy" role since this morning.

 

Tried to help explain some basic, reallly basic computer matters to my mother. Okay, my mother is an intelligent woman, she's capable in so many areas.. but computer.. it doesn't register. No matter how simple you make it, how many times you explain it.. it just won't stick. She'll cheerfully admit to this. But trying to explain why saving 30+ silly games to the desktop, installing them from there and never uninstalling and deleting them when she's finished and having her blank stare when I try to show her how to save things to other places...

 

I get many, many stabby pains erupt in my head.

 

When I try to explain about backing up some files.. she gives me a blank look and a "so how do I move to a different folder?"

It's.. bizzare. She took to ebay like a duck to water, taking photographs, uploading them, cropping them, using ebay features to organise items...

 

But simple, basic computer matters..and aaargh! It can drive me nearly to the point of eating the keyboard in frustration.

Edited November 8, 2010 by Raithe

[Syraxis]

Also, fell behind on C++ learning so wasting my lunch break on that. =)

 

It amazes me how the difficulty of learning a programming language can vary depending on how well written a book one has.

[Raithe]

Also, fell behind on C++ learning so wasting my lunch break on that. =)

 

It amazes me how the difficulty of learning a programming language can vary depending on how well written a book one has.

 

I've always found the interesting point is learning from the examples in a book, and then making the jump to being able to adapt techniques to other situations. Some books can make that easier then others...

[Hurlshort]

I'm at the doctors for a pre-op, I have surgery on my leg tomorrow. I broke it last year, and now they need to take out the titanium rod. I hope I get to keep it.

[RPGmasterBoo]

I'm at the doctors for a pre-op, I have surgery on my leg tomorrow. I broke it last year, and now they need to take out the titanium rod. I hope I get to keep it.

Hurlshot, man of steel

[Calax]

I'm at the doctors for a pre-op, I have surgery on my leg tomorrow. I broke it last year, and now they need to take out the titanium rod. I hope I get to keep it.

Hurlshot, man of steel

... dude, collossus isn't the man of steel!

 

 

SUPAMAN MUTHA FU*KA!

[I want teh kotor 3]

I'm at the doctors for a pre-op, I have surgery on my leg tomorrow. I broke it last year, and now they need to take out the titanium rod. I hope I get to keep it.

Hurlshot, man of steel

... dude, collossus isn't the man of steel!

 

 

SUPAMAN MUTHA FU*KA!

... dude, superman isn't the REAL man of steel!

 

IRONMAN MUTHA ****A!

Edited November 9, 2010 by I want teh kotor 3

[Krookie]

... dude, superman isn't the REAL man of steel!

 

IRONMAN MUTHA ****A!

 

Uh...Wouldn't Ironman be the man of iron?

[Hurlshort]

It's ok guys, these are all adequate descriptions of me