Hey guys, I’m sorry if this post comes across as super dumb but I was just wanting to ask for some advice about learning electric guitar.
Over a decade ago I inherited a guitar from a friend who took his life, I tried learning it at first but ended up getting distracted by life and dropped it. Recently though I saw it sitting and collecting dust and decided that, even if it was a cheap electric guitar, I didn’t want it to spend its life like that.
So yesterday I got some new strings, a new (and better) amplifier than the $20 one I bought secondhand over a decade ago, and a couple books about guitars, one of them being a book with nothing but like 300+ different chords, I also fixed the intonation on the bridge.
So here’s my questions:
I’m looking to try and play punk rock music (All American Rejects, My Chemical Romance, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, stuff with that kind of sound). What chords should I focus on learning that would be good for that kind of genre?
And I’m guessing the chords are can be played by strumming all of the strings together at once or you can play the notes individually, one after the other?
Sorry again if this post is really dumb, I really want to try and make sure I don’t drop this guitar again, I’d like to properly honor my friend’s memory and give this guitar the attention it deserves.
I’d recommend checking out Justin Guitar. He’ll teach you a really solid fundamentals. The absolute gold standard for learning guitar on the internet.
But to answer your question, you’re going to want to learn how to do power chords, and barre chords. Barre chords are going to be a bitch, but it’s worth it. It’s a huuuuge plateau for new guitarists to get over.
Ain’t no dumb questions. So long as you’re trying to work things out, doing your own work as best you can, and put the question and where you’re up to clearly, it ain’t dumb! We’ve all gotta learn some how!
If you want to learn punk guitar, then learn some punk songs! I highly recommend watching a couple tutorials on how to play Ramones tunes, which are mostly power chords (simple shapes that you shift around the next).
So much of punk and pop punk is power chords, I’m sure you can start from there and then take it into those other bands that you like. And these days you can just search YouTube for lessons for just about any semi- popular song.
Learn exaclty what is relevant to the songs you wanna play. If you wanna play the music from the bands you listed, practice power chords.
Learn basic open chords first. Then power chords. but practice changing between chords.
Justin guitar has good tutorials on the matter. With strumming the biggest thing is rythym. Learn weird strumming patterns like down-up-down-up-up-down.
Also try not to practice witb an electric unamped. It’s easy to not hear/see mistakes like too aggressive picking, missed mutes etc. is anything a small mini amp that shuts off when headphones go in can still help. I have an orange crush micro for just that.
These videos are on point.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FTndcu891g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF4EMZqt4AE
Source: started learning 3 years ago. Not a serious player but mostly play to songs I like.
Yeah I got an amplifier when I stopped by the music store a couple days ago to get new strings and the reference materials, I’ve been using the amp every time I practice.
I probably spent way more money than I needed for something for a beginner, but I wanted something that would last a little bit longer than the $20 one I bought a decade ago that died like a couple months into use.
I’ll say this. The first months are the fucking hardest. Rythym is hard. And the basics are hard. Your fingers hurt until they have calluses and shit sounds REALLY bad until magically things click and it doesn’t.
I’ll say this. Guitar is not this thing where you, specifically, will notice improvement day over day. It’s a series of large jumps and plateaus where things click and make sense.
But the feeling when you hit one of those plateaus is really cool and worth chasing so stick with it.
The first 6 months are the hardest to stay motivated. But even 10-15 minutes a day will go a lot further than 4 hours one day a week. It’s a weird hobby where sometimes sleeping on it makes the muscle memory sink in and the next session is better.
Yeah so far I haven’t been hitting the grind too much, I’ve been trying to do 30 minutes to an hour of practice every day.
I’m still trying to memorize chords, the F chord is doing its best to kick my ass. It takes me a while to get my fingers in position, and the 5th and 6th strings still buzz a little. I figured out you’re supposed to use the side of your index for barres, but it’s still awkward. It’s hard to imagine a player quickly and accurately switching to that chord in the middle of a song. I have a grip strength of like 125lbs in my left hand and I’m still baffled by how much strength it takes to play that chord, it’s crazy.
I’m waiting until an extension cord for my headphones comes in on Monday and I can really get comfortable with the guitar, as of right now I have to sit right by the amplifier if I want to practice without bothering anyone.
But yeah, it really does feel hard to imagine me ever playing anything. All I do is strum some chords, I know you gotta crawl before you walk, but it’s just hard to visualize!
early rhcp is very punk inspired. A lot of the ramones stuff is prettt simple too.
That f chord gets easier and is the basis of barre chords.
There’s definately some simplified songs out there that you can…kinda play. It kept me interested. A lot of popular songs are pretty accessible as long as it’s not like John Mayer.
Fortunately for me. John Frusciante is one of my favorite guitarists and he really has accessible material. But I struggled to find early songs.
If you get that strumming pattern here down listed first here, it will make a shitload of stuff accessible
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/watch?v=2FTndcu891g
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
