EWB Musicians

[VerbalPuke]

Hey, I know we had that guitar thread but I can’t find it. Actually, I just don’t want to look. I’d prefer a thread for all musicians rather than just guitar. So talk about that here if you play music. Share recordings, talk about strings, yeah. 

I’ve been splitting guitar and bass lately. Eventually I want some drums because they are fucking fun. I like jamming with friends, really fun.

[Redefine Sick]

I make angry beeps and boops, but have been having some incredibly bad writer's block as of late.

[LittleDaniel]

I haven't drummed since I left Baltimore but I don't have anywhere to store a drumset and I've been too broke to get a new one anyway.

Plus, I was always fucking awful.  But, like, you don't gotta be too good to be a drummer in a shitty punk band soooooo.

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

I play a bit of guitar and did bass for a while but there's seemingly no drummers anywhere where I live so any hope of a band is near non-existent.

It's nice to just play a little bit occasionally for fun though.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

[VerbalPuke]

I'm gonna jam with a friend this Wednesday, he has a drum kit and that is exciting. I kind of want to jam with people and everybody switches instruments every so often, mostly because I want to be proficient in everything. Also, because I just like bass, guitar, and drums for various reasons. They're all fun. 

[LittleDaniel]

The best thing that ever happened to me while jamming with some kids -- my friend and I (who played together as a band) came in to jam with this guy because he wanted to play a show before he moved away and joined some commune.  There was someone else there playing as well, and at the end of the sesh he came up to me and was all 'oh hey, you were pretty okay on the drums; what instrument do you usually play??'

[METALMAN]

I've mostly played guitar and bass, simply because it's far easier to join a band with one of them. I'm not a great guitarist though - I'm far more proficient at piano, trumpet and trombone. Quite tough to find a band looking for brass though. Unless it's a brass band, obvs. 😕

I actually originally learned organ, because my dad ticked the wrong box when intending to sign me up for piano lessons. I actually stuck with it for a few years - and really liked it. I was eventually hamstrung by my lack of an organ to practice on when things started becoming a bit more complex and specialised and moved to piano, but organ was cool. I'd have loved to have been able to continue with it.

[VerbalPuke]

@ClouDOOM

Tell us about your guitar endeavors.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Ahoy!

So, like, in the past week or two I've picked up guitar and been messing with it. And it didn't sound.. right. Like, I kept trying to play that intro part to "Smoke on the Water" and it would sound really soft and.. muted. My friend brought up that music sounds different to your ear when you're playing it vs. when you hear someone else playing it, and I went "okay". Sounds plausible, right?

Anyway, I recorded myself playing today, and when I played it back I was like "something is DEFINITELY wrong, ok" so I text my friend and am like "yeah I'm def doing something wrong".

And she texts back "How are you holding your pick? How hard are you pressing down on the frets?"

Fucking. 

Light.

Bulb.

Moment.

 

This entire time, it turns out, I just wasn't pressing down on the frets hard enough!  So I press down harder. EUREKA. THAT'S WHAT WAS GOING ON.

[VerbalPuke]

Ha, you’ll have many more to come  as you continue playing. I’ve been playing since 2013 and I’m not as good as I could be do to not practicing enough (life gets in the way). 

One thing I wished I had known earlier in my guitar playing was the power chord. They’re simple, they cam be a good confidence booster for new players (you need “wins) and you can play a ton of songs with them. I still use them a lot when I’m wanting to play faster stuff. They are a bit more difficult on accoustic but also have a cool menacing sound.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Do you ever watch anyone on YouTube? I've been following Marty Schwartz/MartyMusic's beginner acoustic lessons lately.

I've also been watching this guy Pat David Music, 
 

I figured it was a good place for a beginner to start. I can't keep up with him or really finger at the speeds he does, but I can play stuff like "Smoke on the Water" or "Seven Nation Army" and it sound like it's supposed to sound, just.. a lot slower.  I need to learn some crunchy doom metal riffs, that's more my speed (or lack of speed).

[VerbalPuke]

Marty has some great lessons. He has a good one on drop D tuning that I’ve borrowed liberally from. 

You may want to google Justin Guitar. He’s got a really amazing site that will teach you from beginner to advanced lessons. 

Also, have you had a guitar set up done? If not, might be worth considering as a good luthier can make it a much nicer playing instrument. Bring your own strings for that.

[MalaCloudy Black]

I have not had a guitar set up done. Prior to me getting this guitar off my brother's wall and plonking around on it, this guitar probably hasn't even been touched in years and years and years.

[MalaCloudy Black]

https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/neil_young/heart_of_gold_chords_56555

Difficulty: novice

me: 😡

[FLiam]

I found that Marty Schwartz's lessons were the best on YouTube. He structures his videos so well, it's almost like having a real guitar teacher. Learned a lot from his channel. 

[MalaCloudy Black]

Guys guys guys

I can kind of, half-assed, very badly right now, play "Iron Man". Sort of. Woo!

[VerbalPuke]

Good. I can sorta half assed play Paranoid. 

I'm not good at learning songs unfortunately. I always give up because I want to do my own thing. 

[MalaCloudy Black]

That's cool. I figure once I learn some more chords I'll be more comfortable noodling around doing my own thing, but right now I'm just learning bits and bobs of songs that are either "novice level" or that I want to learn. Turns out the two coincide nicely, because for example 'Iron Man" is relatively easy to play and a song I wanted to learn. 

You play bass too right @VerbalPuke?
 

Ever watched this guy's videos or go to becomeabassist.com? I'm noodling around learning shit on guitar, but what I really want to play is bass so I wind up watching a lot of "how to play bass" "easy bass riffs" "beginner bass riffs" type videos too.

[VerbalPuke]

 

I can play this now though, and it's fun especially when I get my fuzz pedal just right. 

3 minutes ago, ClouDOOM said:

That's cool. I figure once I learn some more chords I'll be more comfortable noodling around doing my own thing, but right now I'm just learning bits and bobs of songs that are either "novice level" or that I want to learn. Turns out the two coincide nicely, because for example 'Iron Man" is relatively easy to play and a song I wanted to learn. 

You play bass too right @VerbalPuke?
 

Ever watched this guy's videos or go to becomeabassist.com? I'm noodling around learning shit on guitar, but what I really want to play is bass so I wind up watching a lot of "how to play bass" "easy bass riffs" "beginner bass riffs" type videos too.

Yes I do. I've never seen these videos, but I'll check them out.