So I just picked up a guitar about a week ago and I've been going through a few of the chords. I'm looking for some beginners guitar tabs that I can learn to help me speed up my chord changing. The only problem with that is I'm trying to figure out the strum patterns as well and I can't seem to get them. Anyone know of any websites that have tabs and strum patterns? thanks for anything
New to guitar, looking for some help
- Thread starter crizzut
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tommyhil4_6
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Look on youtube. Believe it or not there are alot of great videos for finger picking, strumming, chords etc. That's where I started and was playing jack johnson songs in 3 weeks.
learn to strengthen your hand, it takes a great deal of dedication and practice and some discipline. btw what kind of guitar did you get?
just an Ibanez acoustic, I've found the tabs for Night Moves, Bob Seger. I just can't figure out the strum pattern.
if you want tabs go to tabcrawler.com lots of tabs on there. i dunno if it helps with strumming though. Ive been playing for like 10 years and though Im not great alot of it has to do with just practicing and all.
google and youtube, i am now teaching myself the banjo. I would like to canoe down the river playing dueling banjos (deliverance)
ultimate-guitar.com has alot of tabs on it. That is the site i always use. The best way to speed up your chord changes is to just pick two chords(G and D for example) and just play G then switch to D, then switch back to G, ect. Just do it until you are sick of doing it, then take a small break, then do it some more, but just a little faster changes. After a week or so of doing this with the basic chords, you should notice improvement.
I have been playing for about 9 months now and this is the technique that my private guitar teacher(who is one of the best guitarists I have ever seen) had me do to improve my chord switch speed and it worked very well.
I have been playing for about 9 months now and this is the technique that my private guitar teacher(who is one of the best guitarists I have ever seen) had me do to improve my chord switch speed and it worked very well.
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I started out just listening to a lot of music and deciding what songs I wanted to learn how to play. At that point, you start to figure out on your own what sounds good and it goes from there. Practice is key.
My first songs to play were:
Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
Candlebox - Far Behind
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Now, I can play a lot of finger picking style songs like Eric Clapton - Classical Gas, and Paul Desmond type stuff. I'm not a natural so I had to practice like a bitch to get it right.
I bought "Guitar for Dummies" and it was useless to me. Tabs taught me more about chords....
My first songs to play were:
Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
Candlebox - Far Behind
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Now, I can play a lot of finger picking style songs like Eric Clapton - Classical Gas, and Paul Desmond type stuff. I'm not a natural so I had to practice like a bitch to get it right.
I bought "Guitar for Dummies" and it was useless to me. Tabs taught me more about chords....
Let me start off by saying that although a lot of people hate it, the metronome is your best friend when it comes to improving almost any technique on guitar (or any instrument, for that matter). Most people try it out and then get bored with it, but STICK WITH IT. Use it to practice various strumming patterns, such as the ones in the link below (just randomly googled "guitar strumming patterns" and found this one with video and charts):
http://www.guitar-lessons-central.com/guitar-strumming-patterns.html
Also, you can use it to practice changing chords. As stated in the above post, pick two chords that you're familiar with, say C and G, and then start the metronome at a very slow pace (60 bpm, for example). Strum C four times, once on every click, then without missing a click, switch and strum G four times. If this is too fast for you, slow the tempo down. If it's too slow for you and you can sit there all day nailing each change without a problem, speed it up a few clicks at a time until you can't hit each change without messing up, then slow it down a few clicks and start playing it over and over again.
Once you're up to a speed you're happy and comfortable with, try strumming twice (eighth notes) for every click, with each strum evenly spaced. You can eventually start mixing in different strumming patterns, such as the ones seen in the video, but I suggest working on strumming patterns and changing chords separately for now since you just started.
The same metronome technique applies to working on the various strumming patterns you may find or come up with yourself. But keep the strumming pattern practice to just one chord for now and keep working on it until you're happy with the tempo, while practicing the chord changes one strum per beat separate until you have them each down separately. Then once you're comfortable, you can start combining them.
And you may have to slow it back down when you start mixing chord changes in with the various strumming patterns, but that's how it goes! Never practice anything sloppy or inaccurately. You want every note and chord to ring clearly and every strum to be on the intended beat.
BTW, if you've been getting random advice from a ton of people on this and you're not sure who to listen to, I may not be a mechanic or car expert, but one thing you can absolutely listen to me on is music and guitar advice. I graduated from Berklee College of Music with a Bachelor's in Classical Composition (comp, theory and history) and also spent my first two years their as a Guitar Performance major along with the Composition. I started playing when I was eight and I now teach guitar and theory at a music school in CT. My last band was a nationally sponsored Jagermeister band and my current band just picked up two major endorsements
.
Not trying to toot my own horn, but I know how much horrible guitar and music related information is thrown around out there by high school age kids or other amateurs who like to sound like they know what they're talking about and don't realize how wrong what they're saying is. I'd rather come off sounding like a pompous ass but give you good info that you'll actually use than be just another internet rockstar that you're not sure if you should believe or not. You really have to weed out the good and the bad and when you're just starting, it can be difficult knowing which is which.
Bottom line: METRONOME.
EDIT: And I should add, once you start to get comfortable with some chord changes and different strumming patterns, in my opinion, the next best thing to do is find some songs you like with those chords and start playing along to them. And you can always PM me if you ever have any questions. :beer:
http://www.guitar-lessons-central.com/guitar-strumming-patterns.html
Also, you can use it to practice changing chords. As stated in the above post, pick two chords that you're familiar with, say C and G, and then start the metronome at a very slow pace (60 bpm, for example). Strum C four times, once on every click, then without missing a click, switch and strum G four times. If this is too fast for you, slow the tempo down. If it's too slow for you and you can sit there all day nailing each change without a problem, speed it up a few clicks at a time until you can't hit each change without messing up, then slow it down a few clicks and start playing it over and over again.
Once you're up to a speed you're happy and comfortable with, try strumming twice (eighth notes) for every click, with each strum evenly spaced. You can eventually start mixing in different strumming patterns, such as the ones seen in the video, but I suggest working on strumming patterns and changing chords separately for now since you just started.
The same metronome technique applies to working on the various strumming patterns you may find or come up with yourself. But keep the strumming pattern practice to just one chord for now and keep working on it until you're happy with the tempo, while practicing the chord changes one strum per beat separate until you have them each down separately. Then once you're comfortable, you can start combining them.
And you may have to slow it back down when you start mixing chord changes in with the various strumming patterns, but that's how it goes! Never practice anything sloppy or inaccurately. You want every note and chord to ring clearly and every strum to be on the intended beat.
BTW, if you've been getting random advice from a ton of people on this and you're not sure who to listen to, I may not be a mechanic or car expert, but one thing you can absolutely listen to me on is music and guitar advice. I graduated from Berklee College of Music with a Bachelor's in Classical Composition (comp, theory and history) and also spent my first two years their as a Guitar Performance major along with the Composition. I started playing when I was eight and I now teach guitar and theory at a music school in CT. My last band was a nationally sponsored Jagermeister band and my current band just picked up two major endorsements
.Not trying to toot my own horn, but I know how much horrible guitar and music related information is thrown around out there by high school age kids or other amateurs who like to sound like they know what they're talking about and don't realize how wrong what they're saying is. I'd rather come off sounding like a pompous ass but give you good info that you'll actually use than be just another internet rockstar that you're not sure if you should believe or not. You really have to weed out the good and the bad and when you're just starting, it can be difficult knowing which is which.
Bottom line: METRONOME.
EDIT: And I should add, once you start to get comfortable with some chord changes and different strumming patterns, in my opinion, the next best thing to do is find some songs you like with those chords and start playing along to them. And you can always PM me if you ever have any questions. :beer:
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cool thanks, I've been practicing chord changing. I've only been playing for a week so I don't expect much, but I've learned a few of the chords so Im happy with that. now it's just a matter of changing chords faster and the only way to do that is repetition. Thanks for the link, I actually don't get bored strumming along with the metronome, I find myself playing for 30 minutes before I realize how long it's been. If I have any questions I'll definitely PM you thanks again.
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